Navy Rear Adm News

The 2022 biennial, multi-national Rim of the Pacific's (RIMPAC) exercise has come to a close.This year’s exercise with the theme of “Capable Adaptive Partners,” featured 26 participating nations and 38 surface ships, three submarines, more than 30 uncrewed systems, approximately 170 aircraft, and more than 25,000 personnel.RIMPAC 2022 featured a wide range of capabilities--projecting the inherent flexibility of maritime forces and helping to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, and took place in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California, June 29 to Aug.

NOAA has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing across borders and promote sustainable fisheries abroad, as the U.S. ramps up its fight against practices that threaten global food security, damage economies and risk the sustainability of fisheries and marine ecosystems.This partnership builds on NOAA's larger work with the U.S. State Department and U.S. Coast Guard under the Maritime SAFE Act…

The commander of the U.S. Navy’s Norfolk Naval Shipyard has been ousted amid ongoing performance issues in repairing and modernizing the service's ships.Commander of Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Vice Adm. Bill Galinis relieved Capt. Kai Torkelson, due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command, according to statement from the U.S. Navy.Rear Adm. Howard Markle, Director of NAVSEA’s Industrial Operations Directorate (SEA 04), has assumed duties as the acting commander until a permanent relief is named, the Navy said.

Maritime navigational safety near two U.S. Navy installations in Kings Bay, Ga., and Portsmouth, N.H. has been improved thanks to new Physical Oceanographic Real-Time Systems, also known as PORTS, installed by NOAA and the U.S. Navy. They are the first new PORTS in two years, and the 34th and 35th in the nationwide network.The system near Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, the East Coast home to America’s Ohio-class submarines, is an integrated series of sensors which will provide critical real-time information on oceanographic and meteorological conditions.

The advent of autonomy in the maritime and subsea space has received a significant boost with the announcement that a pair of U.S. government titans, the United States Navy and NOAA, have inked an deal to jointly expand the development and operations of unmanned maritime systems.“With the strengthening of our ongoing partnership with the Navy, NOAA will be better positioned to transition unmanned maritime technologies into operational platforms that will gather critical environmental data that will help grow the American Blue Economy,” said retired Navy Rear Adm.

NOAA  announced a total of $2.7 million in grants supporting 14 projects to address the harmful effects of marine debris on wildlife, navigation safety, economic activity, and ecosystem health. With the addition of non-federal matching contributions, the total investment in these marine debris projects is more than $5.2 million.The grants, selected competitively from 82 community-based marine debris removal and research proposals received this year, are spread across 10 U.S. states and territories and 2 federally recognized tribes.

Arctic region experienced the second-warmest air temperatures ever recorded; the second-lowest overall sea-ice coverage; lowest recorded winter ice in the Bering Sea; and earlier plankton blooms due to early melting of sea ice in the Bering Sea - these are the findings of NOAA’s annual report card on the Arctic.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report, which measures the changing climate of the polar region including warmer air and ocean temperatures and declines in sea-ice that are driving shifts in animal habitats, said that in addition to annual updates on ocean temperature, snow cover, tundra greenness and melting on the Greenland Ice Sheet…

NOAA acting administrator retired Navy Rear Adm. Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., has appointed three new members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that gives NOAA independent advice for improving a range of services and products that support safe navigation and coastal resilience. Sean M. Duffy Sr., executive director, Big River Coalition, New Orleans, La. Retired USCG Capt. Julie Thomas, senior advisor, Southern California, Coastal Ocean Observing System, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif.

Naval maritime forces from 19 countries are gathering in Lima, Peru, to kick off the 58th iteration of the annual multilateral exercise UNITAS. The meeting will conclude on July 26. This year's exercise will be hosted by Peru and commanded by Peruvian navy Rear Adm. Alberto Alcala. Participating countries include the United States, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Italy, Panama, Mexico, Spain, Canada, and the United Kingdom. While participating in UNITAS 2017, U.S. forces will be under the operational control of Commander, Task Force (CTF) 138/U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet (USNAVSO/FOURTHFLT) Rear Adm. Sean Buck.

Rear Adm. Joe Tofalo will take command of Submarine Forces, a post that comes with a third star and oversees the submarine force's manning, gear and training. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that the president has made the following nomination: "Navy Rear Adm. Joseph E. Tofalo, for appointment to the rank of vice admiral and for assignment as commander, Naval Submarine Forces; commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; and commander, Allied Submarine Command, Norfolk, Virginia. The nomination is the latest in a string of new assignments at the top rungs of the nuclear Navy. Adm. John Richardson, the head of Naval Reactors, has been nominated to be the next chief of naval operations; a new NR boss hadn't been named as of May 20.

Leaders of the maritime component of PANAMAX 2014 have paused about halfway through the exercise, to assess its benefits so far, informs U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs. Rear Adm. Benjamin Calle of Colombia is the Combined Forces Maritime Component Commander (CFMCC) and U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Jon Matheson, the deputy commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet, is deputy CFMCC for the exercise, which began Aug. 4 and is scheduled to continue through Aug. 15. "This PANAMAX exercise is a huge event," said Calle. Sources say that 38 to 40 ships transit the canal daily between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, carrying some five percent of world maritime trade.

U.S. motor vessel Cape Ray departed Rota, Spain, this morning en route to the port of Gioia Tauro, Italy, where the ship will receive declared Syrian chemical weapons transferred from the Danish vessel Ark Futura, the U.S. Navy announced today in a press release. In a statement announcing the departure, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said the transit to Italy is expected to take several days. After the transfer is complete, the Cape Ray will depart Gioia Tauro…

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today ordered the amphibious transport dock ship 'USS Mesa Verde' into the Arabian Gulf, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said. The ship has completed its transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the admiral said in a statement. "Its presence in the Gulf adds to that of other U.S. naval ships already there - including the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush - and provides the commander in chief additional options to protect American citizens and interests in Iraq, should he choose to use them," Kirby said. USS Mesa Verde is capable of conducting a variety of quick-reaction and crisis response operations, the press secretary said, and it carries a complement of MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.

Twenty-three nations, 47 ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise scheduled June 26 to Aug. 1, in and around the Hawaiian Islands. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2014 is the 24th exercise in the series that began in 1971. Hosted by U.S.

U.S. Third Fleet Public Affairs informs that 47 ships, six submarines, more than 200 aircraft and altogether 25,000 personnel from 23 nations, will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise scheduled June 26 to Aug. 1, 2014 in and around the Hawaiian Islands. Two nations, Brunei and the People's Republic of China, will participate in RIMPAC for the first time in 2014. Also new at RIMPAC this year are two hospital ships, USNS Mercy and PLA (N) Peace Ark. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans.

As sea ice continues to recede at a record pace in the Arctic, officials at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) on April 14 announced new efforts to determine the pace of change in what some are calling Earth's final frontier. Scientists sponsored by ONR have traveled to the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Ocean, placing new sensors in the ice and in the frigid waters below, to better understand the processes contributing to a dramatic decline in sea ice thickness and extent-and provide new tools to help the U.S. Navy predict conditions and operate in once-inaccessible waters.

American forces yesterday boarded and took control of a commercial tanker ship, Morning Glory, that was seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a Defense Department news release issued today. "No one was hurt tonight when U.S. forces, at the request of both the Libyan and Cypriot governments, boarded and took control of the commercial tanker ‘Morning Glory,’ a stateless vessel seized earlier this month by three armed Libyans,” Kirby said in the release. The boarding operation, approved by President Barack Obama and conducted just after 10 p.m. EDT on March 16 in international waters southeast of Cyprus, was executed by a team of U.S. Navy SEALs attached to Special Operations Command Europe, Kirby added.

Exercise Sea Breeze 2013, the 16th iteration of the largest annual multinational maritime exercise in the Black Sea, ended July 20, as representatives from the 14 participating partner nations gathered together for the exercise closing ceremony. Naval, air and land forces from participating countries worked together both ashore and at sea from July 8-20 to strengthen interoperability and to improve maritime security. "The military leadership of the fourteen nations that participated in Sea Breeze know that we can only improve as a cooperative team if we challenge ourselves," said Capt. James Aiken, exercise deputy director. Much of the exercise focused on maritime interdiction operations as a primary means to enhance maritime security.

'INS Rahav', the Israeli Navy's 5th Dolphin-class submarine, inaugurated at Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems in Kiel, Germany. The new submarine  was unveiled at a special ceremony attended by Commander in Chief of the Israeli Navy Rear Adm. Ram Rothberg, Director-General of the Ministry of Defense Maj. Gen. (Res.) Ehud Shani and a delegation of Israeli and German officials. The INS Rahav was purchased after an extensive development and acquisition process led by the Ministry of Defense's Procurement and Production Directorate in cooperation with the Israeli Navy.

Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort's Medical Treatment Facility changed leadership May 25 as Navy Capt. Kevin J. Knoop assumed command from Navy Capt. David K. Weiss during a ceremony aboard Comfort at Canton Pier in Baltimore. Comfort's primary mission is to serve as an afloat, mobile, acute-surgical medical facility to the U.S. military, with a secondary mission of providing hospital services for disaster relief and humanitarian operations worldwide. Comfort's Medical Treatment Facility, or MTF, is crewed and maintained by medical personnel from the U.S.

Carl Vinson is scheduled to arrive at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, 3rd Fleet officials said in a news release. The carrier last week stopped in Hawaii and took on more than 1,000 family members and friends for the “Tiger Cruise” home. The air wing flew 6,600 hours and delivered 7,283 pounds of ordnance in supporting 1,085 missions in Afghanistan, according to 3rd Fleet. “The successful completion of this deployment is a testament to the high quality of men and women who volunteer to serve in our Navy,” Rear Adm. Thomas K.

The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2012 is the 23rd exercise in the series that began in 1971. RIMPAC 2012 will feature the first demonstration of a U.S. Navy "Great Green Fleet," during which U.S. surface combatants and carrier-based aircraft will test, evaluate and demonstrate the cross-platform utility and functionality of biofuels.

With the crack of a champagne bottle and the traditional words, "I christen you.," Military Sealift Command ship USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE 14) was christened May 5 during an evening ceremony at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego. The 689-foot Chavez, the newest of the Lewis and Clark-class of dry cargo/ammunition ships operated by Military Sealift Command, continues the Lewis and Clark-class tradition of honoring legendary pioneers and explorers. The ship honors Cesar Chavez…