Cpl News

On a windswept island 50 miles north of Seattle sits a U.S. Navy monitoring station. For years, it was kept busy tracking whale movements and measuring rising sea temperatures. Last October, the Navy gave the unit a new name that better reflects its current mission: Theater Undersea Surveillance Command.The renaming of the spy station at the Whidbey Island naval base is a nod to a much larger U.S. military project, according to three people with direct knowledge of the plans:…

Over the last few months Reserve, La. based dredging equipment manufacturer DSC Dredge has been redefining its team by investing in them, promoting from within and adding fresh perspectives. On April 23, 2023, DSC Dredge introduced Josh J. Louviere as vice president of operations. In his new role, Louviere will lead and oversee all aspects of the company’s operational activities. With over 16 years of experience in manufacturing and industrial equipment automation, Louviere spent the majority of his career leading operations in the manufacturing sector…

The U.S. Navy needs more ships. And that means the Navy has to build more ships than it is decommissioning.The sea service has a stated a goal of 355 ships, and as many as 500 and more when unmanned platforms are counted. There are 298 ships in the fleet today. For surface ships, this number includes a high-low mix of highly capable large surface combatants, and smaller ships such as littoral combat ships LCS).The Navy’s smallest combatants are the 330-ton, 197-foot coastal patrol boats (PCs). Up until recently, ten of them have been serving in the Middle East with the U.S.

The U.S. Navy commissioned its newest Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB) ship USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5) Saturday, at Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado, Calif.Built by General Dynamics NASSCO, the 785-foot USS Miguel Keith is the third ESB variant of the Expeditionary Transfer Dock platform (ESD). Expeditionary Mobile Base was previously known as Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) in the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) program. ESBs are highly flexible platforms that provide logistics movement from sea to shore supporting a broad range of military operations.

Rederij Doeksen’s Vlieland underwent repairs at Damen Shiprepair Harlingen (DSHl) in the Netherlands following a recent incident that took place as the passenger/car ferry was departing the harbor in Harlingen.The Vlieland operates a ferry service across the Wadden Sea between Harlingen in the north of the Netherlands and the island of Vlieland, and the recent accident caused the vessel’s SB engine room became flooded. DSHL said it carried out an emergency operation, closing the hole…

Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer named the next Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in honor of Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and Navy Cross recipient Lance Cpl. Patrick Gallagher. In 1966, Gallagher, who immigrated from Ballyhaunis, Ireland in 1962, joined the Marine Corps where he served in H-Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division during Operation Hastings in the Republic of Vietnam. "Lance Corporal Gallagher is an American hero. His exemplary service in defense of our nation and his strength and sacrifice leaves an example for all servicemen and women to emulate," said Spencer. Gallagher was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on July 18, 1966, when he selflessly threw his body on an incoming grenade, shielding his fellow Marines.

Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have completed Five Power Defence Arrangements exercise in international waters, off the coast of Malaysia as part of the longest standing multilateral arrangement in South East Asia. Acting Chief of Joint Operations, Major General Stuart Smith, said Exercise BERSAMA SHIELD was an important opportunity for the Australian Defence Force to strengthen cooperation with other nations. “Around 300 Australian personnel have taken part, drawn from Navy, Army and Air Force,” Major General Smith said. “All have worked seamlessly with other members of the participating nations through a variety of exercise scenarios.

Navy’s deployed ship in the Middle East, HMAS Arunta, has had its small arms weapons inspected, serviced and certified during a recent port visit. HMAS Arunta is serving on a nine-month Operation MANITOU deployment which has necessitated an all-important maintenance period. With all previous ships only spending six months away, the requirement to have weapons inspected and maintained while in the area of operations had not been required. The fly-away team was required as embarked personnel are not qualified to conduct the tightly-controlled specific technical maintenance which is undertaken by the joint logistic units at Australian major bases in Sydney and Perth.

Pacific Partnership 2017 (PP17) and Malaysian partners embarked aboard expeditionary fast transport USNS Fall River (T-EPF 4) arrived in Kuching, Malaysia, Apr. 14. As the second and main mission stop in Malaysia, and the third mission stop overall, activities in Kuching will kick off the large focus on humanitarian aid and disaster response, as well civil engineering projects for Pacific Partnership 2017 Malaysia. According to Lt. j.g. Robin Pepper, the mission's engineering sail-in echelon officer in charge, Kuching is going to be an exciting change of pace for the sail-in team after working only one-on-one with the host nation engineers at their last projects in Sri Lanka.

Stolt-Nielsen Limited announced today that its subsidiary, Stolt-Nielsen Gas B.V., has purchased 10 percent of the shares in HIGAS S.r.L., with an option to acquire up to 80 percent of the company. HIGAS is a joint venture between Gas and Heat S.p.A. and CPL Concordia Soc. Coop, with plans to build and operate an LNG terminal and distribution facility in the port of Oristano, Sardinia. The LNG is to be shipped to the terminal by LNG tankers and distributed to customers via pipeline and trucks. The terminal is expected to be completed in 2017. Commenting on the project, Andrew Pickering, President, Stolt-Nielsen LNG Holdings Ltd., said, "This joint venture represents SNL's third strategic investment in the LNG segment, where our focus is on meeting what we call 'stranded demand' for LNG.

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) arrived in Saipan on Aug. 8 and is providing disaster relief in the wake of Typhoon Soudelor. When the ship was tasked to go to Saipan earlier in the week, Ashland's Sailors and Marines quickly reconfigured the ship's well deck and flight deck to support equipment and supplies that needed to be transported. Master Sgt. Hugh Weise, the MEU's motor transport operations chief, said no task is too tough for the MEU's vehicles. "We can move anything, if it's palletized, if it's containerized, if it's just loose bulk type cargo, we can dress trucks to make sure it happens," Weise said.

Last September, an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) unsettled much of the U.S. maritime industry when he dismissed with prejudice a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) action to revoke a Merchant Mariner’s Credential (MMC) despite his finding that the mariner’s urine had tested positive for cocaine. The case is referred to as USCG v. Hopper, SR-2014-14. American Maritime Safety, Inc. (AMS) considered the Hopper outcome to be a bad decision, both because it imposes harsh evidentiary consequences…

Ireland’s largest bulk port company, Shannon Foynes Port Company (SFPC), announced yesterday the commissioning of the first ports infrastructure project since the turn of the millennium, with a €50million capital investment programme at Foynes. Launched by Minister for Transport and Tourism Paschal Donohoe, the programme is the implementation of the first key element of the port company’s masterplan, Vision 2041, which is aimed at transforming the Shannon Estuary into a major national and international economic hub. Today’s announcement will see SFPC commence a seven year programme in quayside infrastructure development with a €12.5million investment in infilling of 3.45 acres on the port’s East Jetty, with work beginning this month.

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. Lance Cpl. Sean P. Neal, 19, of Riverside, California, died Oct. 23, in Baghdad, Iraq, from a non-combat related incident. The incident is under investigation. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force - Crisis Response - Central Command, whose headquarters element deploys from Camp Pendleton, California.

In keeping with AVO Training’s philosophy of offering the types of Electrical Safety Training Courses industry and utilities require today, this new course subject has been added to the over 50 courses currently available at the Institute. Maritime workers face a maze of regulations with overlapping jurisdictions. This course was developed to address and clarify electrical safety compliance necessary for workers. It is the only course of its type that combines OSHA Maritime and NFPA 70E compliance issues. This course is intended for any maritime personnel who work on or around electrical equipment rated at 50 volts or more and is one of the only electrical safety training courses of its type offered to the Maritime Industry.

Pacific Partnership 2013 engineers from the New Zealand Army are working with students at the Tabaka Rural Training Center to remodel a student accommodation building on the training center's campus, August 7. Tabaka Rural Training Center trains Solomon Islanders on their choice of agriculture, carpentry, electrician work and mechanics. The remodeled building will be used to house the training center's staff and students during their training. "It was pretty much a shell on poles that was about to fall over when we arrived," said New Zealand Army Cpl. Justin Roys, one of the site supervisors. "We've basically given the building back its integrity. We've taken out all the rotten timbers, relined it, reroofed it, added new windows and fixed up the stairs.

The U.S. Lance Cpl. Roy M. Wheat, Tuesday, Oct. Blount Island Command, Jacksonville, Fla. Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Atlantic, Lt. Gen. Martin R. Berndt, is the ceremony's principal speaker. Margaret Taylor, wife of Rep. across the bow to officially name the ship. The ship is named in honor of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Roy M. (1947-1967), a native of Moselle, Miss. On Aug. sacrificed his life to save the lives of two other Marines. with his own body. and possible death. with Palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. mariners as a part of the Maritime Prepostioning Force (MPF) program. roll-on/roll-off and container cargo. airfield, a naval construction battalion, and a fleet hospital. tons fully loaded, and can sustain speeds of more than 20 knots.

The seventh annual Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism (SEACAT) exercise began in , Aug. 18. Designed to focus information sharing, cooperation and coordination, SEACAT brings six countries together for simultaneous bilateral exercises with the . The multifaceted exercises present participants with realistic situations involving criminal and terrorist threats requiring international coordination, communication and decision-making. SEACAT also provides participants with practical maritime interception training opportunities to enhance the maritime security and interoperability of the participating forces. USS Tortuga (LSD 46) is serving as an information fusion center for the various liaison officers from , , , and . Indonesian observers are also on board. Capt. Michael W.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Howard (DDG 83) trained with the navies of , , , and the Republic of the Aug. 17-20 during the Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism (SEACAT) exercise. The seventh-annual exercise focused on improving the interoperability between regional navies and their ability to collectively intercept vessels using the seas to transport criminals, contraband or terrorists. During the first day of the exercise, while Howard acted as an opposing force vessel, a commando team from the Brunei Special Forces boarded her.

M/V LTC John U.D. Page, one of two Maersk Line, Limited-operated ammunition prepositioning ships in Military Sealift Command's Prepositioning Program, marked a safety milestone on December 28, 2008, as the ship's crew celebrated seven years of operations without suffering a lost time accident (LTA). An LTA is defined as an accident that results in a crew member sustaining an injury requiring him or her to miss at least one shift of work. The number of LTAs occurring aboard a ship are a maritime industry standard for measuring safety performance. M/V Page is named for LTC John U.D. Page, a U.S. Army officer who earned the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War in 1950.

A team of Royal Navy aviators rescue an injured man from his yacht 70 miles offshore UK coast in Sea State 8 & a 40-foot (12m) swell. The duty crew of 771 Naval Air Squadron, based at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose in Helston, Cornwall, carried out the risky operation following a 'scramble' to a lone sailor in difficulties. Having conducted a visual search of the area for over an hour, 70 miles (113km) out at sea, in very poor visibility, the team located the sailor when he lit a flare.

Lance Cpl. Jeffrey A. Rapp and Lance Cpl. Nathan G. Seither, assigned to Military Sealift Command (MSC) roll-on/roll-off ship USNS Stockham (T-AK 3017), load rice on a HH-60H helicopter to deliver to outlying islands in support of humanitarian efforts. Stockham is in the Solomon Islands to facilitate the U.S. Department of State and non-governmental organizations humanitarian assistance operation. On April 2, an 8.1 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami struck the Solomon Islands causing casualties and significant damage. U.S. By Theresa Merto Cepeda, U.S. Military Sealift Command ship, USNS Stockham (T-AK 3017) stopped in Guam on April 26 for maintenance…

Two Florida brothers, Ralph and Robert Brown, will take to the high seas on the world's longest trans-Atlantic voyage in a 21-ft flats boat on June 27 to raise $3m for military charities in the name of fallen Marines. The I Am Second Wounded Hero Voyage Crossing the Atlantic Presented by Interstate Batteries will embark on a 48-day, 6,200-mile trip from Tampa, Fla., to Hamburg, Germany that includes 20 stops along the North American and European Atlantic coasts. The Browns will use the Intruder-21, the same vessel which landed them in the "Guinness Book of World Records" in 2007. The pair is out to prove the humble boat they designed and built, capable of sailing in two inches of water, can also weather the rough Atlantic seas.