Category: United States of America

Source: United States Navy

By the end of September, four Navy fitness centers on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) will be open around the clock and in May, gyms were outfitted with $600,000 in new fitness apparatus.

JBPHH Fitness Center celebrated the start of 24/7 access this month with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Two other gyms – Pier Side Fitness Center and the Wahiawa Annex Fitness Center – are scheduled for round the clock access by Sept. 30. Hickam Fitness Center has had 24/7 access since 2017 but will be updating its computer system and offering expanded access to its showers and basketball court.

“I am thrilled that we’re able to provide 24/7 gym access to the service members on the joint base. We will continue to do everything we can to improve the quality of life on the base,” said Capt. Samuel White, JBPHH commander.

Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC), which oversees all 70 Navy bases around the globe, signed a memorandum on March 8 authorizing installation commanding offers to move forward with implementing 24-hour entry to fitness facilities. “If we require our Sailors to be physically fit and healthy so they can fulfill the Navy mission and deploy at a moment’s notice, then we must provide the facilities and resources for them to do so,” said Vice Adm. Scott Gray, commander of Navy Installations Command. “Not only does this make sense, it is the right thing to do for the quality of life of our Sailors and other service members.”

Military personnel stand duty at varying hours of the day, including night shifts, depending on their roles and responsibilities. As a result, service members often had difficulty getting to the MWR gym during normal business hours and were forced to find alternatives.

“Maximizing access to fitness facilities makes it more convenient for our Sailors,” Gray said. “We all know that exercise benefits one’s physical health, but it also reinforces mental, emotional, and social health, which are important for our Sailors’ overall wellbeing.”

In addition to 24/7 access, four manned fitness centers received $600,000 worth of new gym equipment including treadmills, elliptical machines, strength training machines and squat racks.

In the past, gyms on Navy installations with 24/7 access did not allow the use of any free weights like squat racks, Olympic benches, Smith machines, and dumbbells over 75 pounds, according to Dawn Pierce, sports and fitness program director for Commander, Navy Region Hawaii (CNRH) and JBPHH, JB9. This current rollout does, a key benefit for Sailors and civilians who like to weight train.

Pierce added that the Department of Defense requires that Navy fitness centers update at least 20% of their gym equipment each year.

Melissa Darling, the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) director for JBPHH, said unmanned fitness centers are also benefitting from the equipment upgrade. The gently used equipment replaced by the new gym equipment is being distributed among five unmanned Navy gyms: Family Fitness Center, Ford Island Fitness Center, Makalapa Fitness Center, and West Loch Fitness Center.

To gain 24/7 gym access, registration is required and is only for authorized users 18 years of age and older. The process can be completed at any participating fitness center and involves completing a form to create a household within the MWR system. The fitness center user must then register their common access card (CAC) for updated access privileges.

Darling said the fitness center upgrades will have positive and lasting impacts.

“Ultimately … the fitness program is essential to mission readiness and contributes directly to our MWR mission,” she said. “This is hopefully going to have a positive effect on the quality of life for our military service members.”

Source: United States Navy

Bernard, a CHDS alumnus, took the helm at his alma mater starting in July. He comes from the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN), a component of DOD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), where he served as the Talent Portfolio Director as well as Acting Managing Director.

“I’m immensely grateful to have been appointed CHDS Director, and I’m looking forward to working with the outstanding faculty, staff, and students at the nation’s leading homeland security educational institution,” Bernard said. “I see this as an opportunity to continue contributing to the growth and innovation of the homeland security enterprise using empathy, systems thinking, and creative problem-solving while building trust and collaborative partnerships.”

Bernard referred to himself as a “strategist, innovative problem solver, and storyteller” working in the national and homeland security mission space. He takes over for longtime CHDS Director Glen Woodbury, who retired last summer after two decades with the institution, headquartered in Monterey, Calif.

Jodi Stiles has served as interim CHDS Director since Woodbury’s retirement. In a message to CHDS staff, Stiles said she was “excited to welcome Greg aboard, and I am really looking forward to his ideas and energy for the center.”

Retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Ann Rondeau, President of NPS, said Bernard is an ideal choice to lead CHDS into the future, noting his reputation as an innovator at the federal level and his knowledge and experience with the institution’s educational programs.

“Dr. Bernard brings broad experience in developing solutions to complex problems across a range of federal, state, and local governments, the private sector, academia, and the international community,” Rondeau said. “We are looking forward to his ideas on how to continue and further grow CHDS’ excellence.”

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said, “Dr. Bernard’s distinguished federal service and his dedication to government innovation has prepared him to not only lead CHDS but propel the center forward. We look forward to the contributions he’ll make to advance our nation’s collective readiness and resilience to future threats.”

As NSIN Talent Portfolio Director, Bernard led a team responsible for changing the way the Department of Defense solves problems by building a diverse network, and delivering innovation programming designed to solve national security problems by matching them with non-traditional problem-solving communities, primarily in venture and academia.

Bernard has worked with the U.S. government since 2003, when he joined the DHS Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) as a contractor working on the Homeland Security Grant Program. He left his contracting firm in 2005 and joined ODP as a federal program manager.

In 2007, Bernard was approached by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office to help establish their Office of State and Local Affairs. In addition, he has worked in the Operations Support Directorate, developing state and local preventative radiological/nuclear detection capabilities. He also served as a risk assessment subject matter expert and Principal Deputy Assistant Director for Architecture and Plans, providing leadership and oversight of the organization responsible for the development, analysis and enhancement of the Global Nuclear Detection Architecture (GNDA).

Later, in 2016, Bernard served as the senior DHS representative to the first U.S.-China Counter Nuclear Smuggling dialogue and frequently briefed Congressional members and staff on national security risk and the GNDA. His last post at DHS was as the Acting Innovation Officer and Acting Chief of Strategic Analysis for the National Risk Management Center within the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Bernard graduated from CHDS in 2012 with a Master of Arts degree in Security Studies. His thesis was titled, “Whistleblowing in a Wikileaks World: A Model for Responsible Disclosure in Homeland Security.” He also helped found the CHDS HSx Program and completed that program in 2019.

Additionally, Bernard received a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) in Civil Security, Leadership, Management, and Policy in 2016 from New Jersey City University. His dissertation was titled, “Who is Professor Plum: A Framework for Defining Non-State Adversaries.”

A native of Maryland, Bernard lives in Monterey with his wife and two daughters.

Source: United States Navy

WASHINGTON -­­­ Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro issued a letter to Congressional leaders detailing the concerns and impacts of a six-month continuing resolution (CR) on the Navy and Marine Corps today, Sept. 16, 2024.

“This lengthy delay in new funding would force the Department of the Navy (DON) to operate at last year’s funding levels with the negative consequences lasting far beyond the time frame of the CR, impeding our ability to field the force needed to defend our nation while imposing unnecessary stress on our Sailors, Marines, Civilians, and their families,” said Secretary Del Toro.

Secretary Del Toro described how the CR would delay deliveries of the Virginia-class and Columbia-class submarines, in addition to delaying critical investments in the submarine industrial base.  

“The Department of the Navy stands ready to assist Congress in any way possible to ensure it has the information and resources to pass this essential legislation,” said Secretary Del Toro. “This is the best thing to do to support our nation’s defense.”

Read the full letter here.

Source: United States Navy

WASHINGTON – U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS) 1 deployed observational buoys in front of Hurricane Francine’s projected path on Tuesday, Sept. 10 during an eight and a half hour flight to provide real-time updates to other National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) Hurricane Coastal Impacts (NHCI) team for timely prediction and operational readiness.

The “Warlocks” of VXS-1 are on call to deploy environmental observation buoys in advance of hurricanes along the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico during the June through November hurricane season. The squadron quickly responded Tuesday morning to the rapidly evolving storm conditions of Francine.

“The Warlocks work closely with project representatives from National Oceanographic Partnership Program Hurricane Coastal Impacts to determine buoy deployment coordinates for optimum data collection,” said Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS) 1 Commanding Officer Cmdr. Aaron Roberts. “The squadron deployed 16 buoys ahead of Hurricane Francine’s landfall off the coast of Louisiana. Four different variations of buoys were used for data collection to include four submersibles, six spotters, three Directional Wave Spectra Drifters, and three Surface Wave Instrument Floats with Tracking.”

The aircrew are comprised of Commanding Officer Cmdr. Aaron Roberts, Maintenance Officer Lt. John Leyba, Safety Officer Lt. Avery Nwokike, Senior Enlisted Leader Chief Petty Officer (AWFC) Fred Lewis, First Class Petty Officer (AWF1) Amanda Moreland, Second Class Petty Officer (AWF2) Cody Buckingham, and First Class Petty Officer (AWF1) Gavin Naughton on board the NP-3C Orion.

“Hurricane predictions matter, the Warlocks are a small squadron of 70 personnel making a large impact to our nation,” said Scientific Development Squadron ONE (VXS) 1 Executive Officer Cmdr. Tony Levine. “It is not every day that you get a short notice call to fly on a hurricane. Our Sailors love supporting it and the public loves hearing about it. I could not be more proud of our Sailors’ professionalism and hard work that made this mission possible.”

The NHCI program consists of numerous government, industry and academic partner organizations, which are broken into five tasks and ten teams, with each team focusing on a specific task based on the team’s expertise and the available resources. NRL’s Marine Meteorology research team out of Monterey, California is assigned Task 0 while VXS-1 contributes operationally demonstrated with the airdrop ahead of Hurricane Francine.

The Marine Meteorology team uses NRL’s proprietary Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System for Tropical Cyclones (COAMPS-TC) and 11 member prediction ensemble system to accurately create hindcasts of hurricanes detailing the tropical cyclone track, size and intensity for retrospective analysis to contribute to atmospheric reforecasts and re-analyses. COAMPS-TC also provides real-time updates to other NHCI teams for timely prediction and operational readiness.

“The NHCI aims to predict coastal impacts during hurricane seasons ranging from 2022-2024. These research grade forecasts will facilitate innovation to better prepare coastal communities for extreme weather events,” said VXS-1 Maintenance Officer Lt. John Leyba VXS-1 has supported NHCI since August 2022.

The NP-3C Orion is an all-weather, medium-altitude, long-endurance aircraft configured to rapidly integrate science and technology projects. The NP-3C has a max endurance of 12 hours, weight and fuel dependent, max altitude of 30,000 ft., and a speed range of 160 to 300 knots indicated airspeed.

The aircraft can carry sensors in the nose and tail radomes and a configurable bomb bay equipment platform that can be outfitted with a spherical radome. Additionally, the aircraft has an external antenna mounting capability, the ability to mount sensors in the Doppler well, and the ability to drop sonobuoys from an unpressurized chute.

About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL is located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California, and employs approximately 3,000 civilian scientists, engineers and support personnel.

For more information, contact NRL Corporate Communications at (202) 480-3746 or nrlpao@us.navy.mil.

Source: United States Navy

PACIFIC OCEAN – While out to sea on Aug. 9, the Medical Department staff aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) learned one of their Sailors was experiencing severe abdominal pain.

One of the unique challenges of surgical evaluation on a U.S. Navy warship at sea is the requirement for reliance on physical examination skills and experience where high-tech advanced imaging is not immediately available. After medical personnel completed a comprehensive physical exam, it became clear the Sailor needed urgent medical attention. The medical team aboard “America’s Favorite Carrier” remained composed and managed the challenge.

“It was clear to me, based on multiple factors, that what we were looking at was likely appendicitis,” said Cmdr. Debra Lowry, the ship’s surgeon.

The absence of a CT scanner [medical imaging device] aboard Vinson, which is common in all carriers, coupled with the ship’s position in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations and its distance from a hospital, determined that surgery at sea was the best choice.

“We were not going to be anywhere close to shore anytime soon,” explained Lowry. “It’s a very routine surgery that I would do in the hospital, so I felt very safe in performing it. If we were deployed, we would possibly have to send the patient somewhere that might not be a military installation and that Sailor would be off the ship for possibly two weeks, maybe up to a month, or potentially have them sent back to homeport. When they get the surgery here, they can recover here and get back to their job within one to two weeks, so we aren’t taking them away from that.”

The medical team, comprised of five people, led by Lowry. Lt. Cmdr. Julia Camp, Lt. j.g. Kimberly Graff, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Christopher Melo, and Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Steve Choi, worked together to conduct the laparoscopic appendectomy. A laparoscopy is a modern minimally invasive surgical technique employing a slender, illuminated tube equipped with a video camera to inspect the abdominal organs, while an appendectomy refers to the surgical extraction of the appendix, an organ which is situated in the lower right region of the abdomen.

The medical team completed the procedure in just over an hour, performing the appendectomy and then transferring the patient to a post-operative care unit aboard the ship. The medical team monitored for any potential complications and administered medications and support to facilitate a prompt recovery.

“The surgery was very smooth,” said Melo. “It is our job as a surgical team at sea to always stay ready, so it’s important for us to be prepared at all times.”

Vinson is currently underway in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations. As an integral part of U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. 3rd Fleet operates naval forces in the Indo-Pacific in addition to providing realistic and relevant training necessary to flawlessly execute our Navy’s timeless roles of sea control and power projection. U.S. 3rd Fleet works in close coordination with other numbered fleets to provide commanders with capable, ready forces to deploy forward and win in day-to-day competition, in crisis, and in conflict.