Source: United States Navy

This year, Sailors from NAF Misawa and Commander, Task Force (CTF) 70 will sculpt the U.S. Navy F-35C Lighting II stealth fighter jet, which was recently forward deployed to Japan last year. Sailors selected for the team were chosen because of their superior work performance and dedication to the U.S. Navy both on and off-duty.

This year’s snow team will be led by Lt. Cmdr. Seth Koenig and Chief Aviation Ordnanceman Enrico Dagsindal, comprised of an eight-person team including Mass Communication Specialist First Class Caroline Lui, Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Matthew Fischer, Aviation Support Equipment Technician First Class Hernan Hernandez, Culinary Specialist Second Class Adallis Bookman, Religious Program Specialist Second Class David Johnson, and Builder Second Class Sawson Doty.

The team is scheduled to complete the snow sculpture by Feb. 3, spending the remainder of their time in Sapporo interacting with visitors at the Snow Festival until Feb. 7. Festival goers are encouraged to take pictures and engage in friendly conversation with Sailors at the site.

This is the 40th year the U.S. Navy has participated in the Sapporo Snow Festival, which has provided a unique opportunity for Sailors to experience Japanese culture and tradition and strengthen the close friendship between the U.S. Navy and citizens of Japan.

Source: United States Navy

As the premier naval conference and exposition on the West Coast, WEST offered industry and academia experts the valuable opportunity to engage with U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard leaders. Co-sponsored by Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association (AFCEA) International and the U.S. Naval Institute (USNI), thousands of people attended at the San Diego Convention Center Jan. 28-30 to discuss the landscape of increasingly complex challenges in alignment with the theme: the future is now, are we advancing operational capabilities that pace the threat?

NAVWAR Commander Rear Adm. Seiko Okano, representing the command for the first time at WEST, highlighted her organization’s commitment to supporting the Fleet with next-generation capability. On a panel with other military and industry experts, they discussed how the Department of Defense (DOD) is accelerating software development in support of the Replicator initiative, a DOD-wide effort to fast-track the acquisition of thousands of all-domain attritable autonomous systems.

She highlighted the need for a shift in both culture and the development ecosystem, emphasizing that transformative change is essential for driving progress. “This isn’t a technology problem; this is a culture problem. The faster we figure out how to shift this together, I think we win,” she said. “The Navy has always prided itself on having brilliant technologists at our research labs, but we should also embrace the really fantastic solutions from industry that we can leverage to help us innovate at speed.”

On another panel with systems commanders from the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard on acquisitions, Okano continued to speak about the unique role NAVWAR has in delivering innovative capability to the Fleet. “NAVWAR is at the center of a significant shift in warfare—where traditional domains are blurring, and the fight is increasingly multi-domain and multi-spectral. Our role is to deliver a decisive information advantage, requiring speed, agility and adaptability,” she said. “The challenge is breaking down silos, fostering collaboration and instilling a culture that embraces rapid change to meet the demands of modern conflict.”

During an informational brief about NAVWAR and its needs, John Pope, executive director of NAVWAR, reiterated the importance of rapid and easy adoption of new technologies. “In our world of information warfare, we need to be the ones who are the quickest to respond to what the Fleet needs,” he said. “To achieve that, we’re asking our workforce and our industry and academic partners to embrace our core values of audacious innovation and radical ownership to get after what we need to fix any outdated equipment until we can find modern solutions.”

At the Navy’s Information Warfare pavilion, experts from across the NAVWAR enterprise had a significant presence, interfacing with industry at engagement zones and presenting cutting-edge technology. From Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific; Program Executive Office (PEO) Digital and Enterprise Services (Digital); PEO Manpower, Logistics and Business Solutions (MLB); and PEO Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I), NAVWAR’s wide-ranging program offices were represented on the exhibit floor.

The tech demonstrations from NIWC Pacific showcased the latest and greatest from their labs, ranging from cloud development to cryogenic probes to a robot dog designed to assist in ship maintenance. One of the demos featured a Rapid Recreation into Modeling and Simulations (R2MS) tool, spearheaded by the Integrated Fires Team. This platform uses real-world data to create live virtual simulations at rapid speed, an invaluable tool for training and mission planning. “We’re exploring how AI and ML can take R2MS’ capabilities even further,” said Nadil Lopez, project manager for the Integrated Fires team. “There is a lot of untapped potential with this tool in creating complex and realistic environments for the Fleet.”

All of NAVWAR’s PEOs also had significant industry engagement throughout the course of WEST. Through PEO C4I’s annual Engagement Event and the joint PEO Digital/MLB Industry Open house, around 250 individual companies met government representatives and leaders for insightful and collaborative conversations across all three PEOs. NIWC Pacific program managers and technical leads also met with industry through the engagement zones to discuss their needs in an informal one-on-one discussion.

“As underscored by several of the leadership keynotes this year, the rapid pace of both technological and global change demand stronger partnerships across government, industry and academia,” said Michael McMillan, executive director of NIWC Pacific. “WEST 2025 provides NIWC Pacific the opportunity to showcase our latest innovations while forging connections that accelerate the transition of critical technologies from research and prototyping to operational capability. By strengthening collaborations today, we ensure our Navy remains ahead of tomorrow’s threats.”

Efforts from PEO Digital were also acknowledged at the Department of Navy (DON) Information Technology Excellence Awards, held Monday, Jan. 27 prior to WEST. In honor of leading Flank Speed Zero Trust, the DOD’s first zero trust compliance pilot, Darren Turner received the Person of the Year award for his exceptional leadership and dual roles for both DON Chief Information Officer (CIO) and PEO Digital’s technical director office. Zero trust is a network security philosophy that states no one inside or outside the network should be trusted unless their identification has been thoroughly checked. The Navy’s Flank Speed service currently delivers enhanced collaboration, productivity and robust zero trust security to more than half a million users worldwide, completed three years before the DON CIO’s 2027 deadline.

Rodrick Adams, the Marine Corps Logistics Integrated Information Systems (LI2S-MC) security manager at PEO MLB, was also recognized with a Fiscal Year 2024 Copernicus Award from AFCEA International and USNI. This award honors individual contributions to C4I, information systems, cyber operations and information warfare. Adams’ efforts in leading the planning, development and implementation of the Naval Identity Services effort for Global Combat Support System-Marine Corps led to greatly enhanced financial transaction security for its users.

In continuing its commitment to helping the Navy reach new heights in cybersecurity and information warfare capabilities, NAVWAR leverages next-generation tools like AI/ML and industry partnerships to further drive innovation. As the battlefield becomes more complex, their role in the future fight demands a culture shift driven by collaboration, adaptability and agility.

About NAVWAR:

NAVWAR identifies, develops, delivers and sustains information warfighting capabilities and services that enable naval, joint, coalition and other national missions operating in warfighting domains from seabed to space and through cyberspace. NAVWAR consists of more than 11,000 civilian, active duty and reserve professionals located around the world.

Source: United States Navy

How does a Marine Corps unit train to recover a downed fighter, when no downed fighter is available to recover? At Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE), a unique depot training asset helped Marines gain real-world experience in recovering a damaged F-35B Lightning II without risking harm to an operational aircraft.

FRCE recently partnered with Marine Wing Support Squadron 271 (MWSS-271) to assist with the squadron’s F-35 familiarization and aircraft salvage and recovery training. The collaboration with FRCE allowed MWSS-271 access to a stripped-down F-35 airframe used for training and testing at the depot, along with the knowledge and expertise provided by FRCE artisans and engineers who support the F-35 modification program.

According to Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joseph Durand, the MWSS-271 Heavy Equipment Platoon leader who also serves as the squadron’s salvage and recovery officer, the three-day training simulated the recovery of an F-35 with collapsed front landing gear. The event consisted of three phases: learning proper F-35 lifting procedures through an introductory crane lift; stowing the front landing gear and using the crane to rest the aircraft’s nose on a temporary structure to simulate landing gear failure; and finally, establishing a controlled recovery site and recovering the aircraft.

While the training event simulated one specific set of circumstances, Durand said it included techniques that can be implemented in a wide variety of recovery scenarios, both in garrison environments and at forward locations. 

“Recovery has so many different scenarios, and the F-35 is a fairly new aircraft; recovery on this platform hasn’t really been conducted in a broad manner across the Marine Corps,” Durand explained. “We’re training to educate on how pertinent it is to be able to recover an F-35, the practices that go into that recovery and the hazards that come along with it. We’re really stressing the need for that aircraft to be able to get back into the air and do its job.

“What we’re looking forward to is being able to conduct this same recovery scenario, whether it be a front landing gear that went down or something more catastrophic, no matter where it happens,” he continued. “We need to be able to get that bird back into the fight, and do it in a safe manner that doesn’t harm the aircraft or the individuals working to recover it.”

FRCE’s ability to provide a nonoperational airframe for use in the Marines’ training offered the squadron unique advantages, said F-35 Branch Head Ike Rettenmair.

“Having an asset like this airframe on hand is really beneficial in terms of allowing for training without the concern of potentially damaging an operational aircraft,” he said. “While you plan for everything to go perfectly during a training event, there’s always the chance that mistakes could be made; that’s why there’s training in the first place, to provide that learning experience.

“Using an airframe that isn’t an operational aircraft helps provide a real-world, hands-on experience – everything looks, feels and moves the same – without the added pressure that comes from working with an aircraft that needs to be back on the flight line the later that day,” Rettenmair added.

Working with MWSS-271 to support the squadron’s activities also benefitted the FRCE team, Rettenmair explained. 

“Supporting MWSS-271’s training not only allowed their Marines to advance their F-35 aircraft recovery skills, it also gave our team the opportunity to sharpen their expertise while serving as subject-matter experts,” he said. “Developing a way to simulate a landing gear failure, for example, presented a challenge that the team proved ready to tackle. Teaching the Marines the proper way to crane lift the aircraft provided our artisans and engineers the opportunity to refresh their skills, as well. This really was a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

Durand agreed that the partnership between the squadron and FRCE yielded positive outcomes.

“It’s extremely effective for us to drive just 15 minutes down the road to FRC East and be able to execute training with all of our partners in the warfighting effort,” he said. “It makes it extremely reliable for us to be able to conduct additional training as scenarios start to develop across the nation and around the world.”

The F-35 airframe used in this exercise, which arrived to FRCE in early 2021, has also seen use as a training aid in the depot. Its status as a readiness enhancer is not limited to supporting recovery training.

“We have also used the airframe for artisan and engineer training at FRC East, although the depot maintenance environment is definitely different than an operational unit,” Rettenmair said. “For us, the airframe serves as a training aid that helps us improve processes and procedures, which can in turn drive down the modification turnaround times and enable us to return completed aircraft to the fleet sooner than planned.”

FRCE is the lead site for depot-level maintenance on the F-35B Lightning II and has conducted modifications and repair on the Marine Corps’ short takeoff-vertical landing variant of the aircraft since 2013. The depot also performs work on the Navy’s F-35C carrier variant and the Air Force’s conventional takeoff and landing F-35A variant.

FRCE is North Carolina’s largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $1 billion. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.