WHITE BEACH NAVAL FACILITY, OKINAWA, Japan-A humvee belonging to the
31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is moved from the USS Denver (LPD 9) to
the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), March 4. Elements of the 31st MEU
switched ships mid-deployment, allowing the MEU to remain ready to
respond. The transition comes midway through the MEU’s scheduled
deployment to the Asia-Pacific region, enhancing theater security and
conducting bilateral training with multiple nations. The 31st MEU is
the U.S.’s only continually forward-deployed MEU, and remains a force in
readiness in the Asia-Pacific region at all times., Capt. Caleb D. Eames, 3/4/2011 6:10 AM
WHITE BEACH NAVAL FACILITY, OKINAWA, Japan-A 31st Marine Expeditionary
Unit humvee is moved from the USS Denver (LPD 9) to the USS Harpers
Ferry (LSD 49), March 4. Elements of the 31st MEU switched ships
mid-deployment allowing the MEU to remain ready to respond. The
transition comes midway through the MEU’s scheduled deployment to the
Asia-Pacific region, enhancing theater security and conducting bilateral
training with multiple nations. The 31st MEU is the U.S.’s only
continually forward-deployed MEU, and remains a force-in-readiness in
the Asia-Pacific region at all times., Capt. Caleb D. Eames, 3/4/2011 6:10 AM
3/5/2011
By
Capt. Caleb D. Eames
,
31st MEU
WHITE BEACH NAVAL FACILITY, OKINAWA, Japan
— Elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit
switched naval vessels as they disembarked from the USS Denver (LPD 9)
and embarked aboard the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) in port, March 5.
The move was designed to keep the MEU available and ready to respond
while still allowing the Navy vessels opportunity to maintain
operational and maintenance cycles.
“We will be moving about 500 passengers, 100 pieces of equipment, 30
vehicles and six M777 Lightweight Towed Howitzers to the USS Harpers
Ferry in the next 24 hours,” said 1st Lt. Charles Breaux, the team
embarkation officer for the move. “It takes a lot of cooperation
between multiple members of the Navy Marine Corps team to get the job
done safely and quickly.”
The process of moving people and materials to another ship begins with developing a plan.
“You have to understand the blue (Navy) and green (Marine Corps)
sides of the equation to come up with a plan,” said Breaux. “Then you
verify that plan with all the different people on the ships involved and
make sure that it will work correctly, and everyone understands it.”
Once the plan was in place, the ships then moored side-by-side at the
White Beach Naval Facility, and the transition of Marines, Sailors, and
materials began.
“It takes coordination between a lot of people to make this happen,”
said Staff Sgt. Chad Schwan, the team embarkation assistant, of
Watertown, S.D. “We work with all the outside agencies, bring everyone
together, and try to make the moving parts work like a fine tuned
machine.”
The planners also worked with the Navy’s beach landing and landing craft air cushioned crews to ensure mission success.
“If we encounter challenges, well, retreat, hell,” said Schwan,
quoting the MEU’s Battalion Landing Team 2d Battalion, 5th Marine
Regiment’s motto. “Teamwork is essential to overcoming challenges.
There is no MEU without our Navy brethren, so we work together to get
the job done.”
The ship-to-ship move involved several elements of the 31st MEU
including portions of BLT 2/5; the BLT’s artillery and amphibious
assault vehicle attachments; parts of Combat Logistics Battalion 31 as
well as a contingent from the command element.
“It takes the coordinated effort of over 100 people on the Navy side,
and just as many on the Marine side, to move passengers and equipment
over to our ship,” said Lt. Daniel Tyler, operations officer aboard the
USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49). “It takes a lot of teamwork, foresight, and
planning ahead, to making sure everyone is on the same page from start
to finish.”
The ship is loaded with thought toward future missions as well as the
ever-necessary consideration for a possible humanitarian assistance
disaster relief contingency, said Breaux. The 31st MEU has participated
in four HADR missions in the last two years.
“In the end, the success story is that it all gets on the ship in the
right order,” said Tyler. “Everything gets where it is supposed to go,
and the ships can leave on time and carry on with their mission.”
The transition to another ship comes midway through the MEU’s
scheduled deployment to the Asia-Pacific region, enhancing theater
security and conducting bilateral training with multiple nations.
Once the move is complete, the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) will head
back out to sea and continue the remainder of the deployment.
The USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) now joins Amphibious Squadron 11, the
group of Navy ships which regularly carry Marines and Sailors of the
31st MEU during patrols of the Asia-Pacific region. The other two ships
of PHIBRON 11 are the USS Essex (LHD 2) and the USS Germantown (LSD
42), both underway at sea.
The 31st MEU is the U.S.’s only continually forward-deployed MEU, and
remains a force-in-readiness in the Asia-Pacific region at all times.
I'm harping on the Pacific Horizon 11 Exercise because I believe it to be extremely important not only to the Marine Corps but also for the Navy and even the entire Defense establishment.
This Brigade level event is in my opinion the first 'post' War on Terror
exercise and is a vivid example of the move away from the second land
army thinking/necessity- back to the sea.
An amphibious assault vehicle with 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion
drives onto a roll on/roll off discharge facility attached to USNS Sgt.
William Button near Camp Pendleton, Calif. during Pacific Horizon 11,
March 3. Pacific Horizon 11 provides 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and
the Navy's Expeditionary Strike Group-3 the opportunity to exercise
essential core competencies at the brigade level to rapidly respond to
an emerging crisis with a flexible, full spectrum capability.
An amphibious assault vehicle with 3rd Amphibious Assault Battalion
drives onto an improved Navy ligtherage system attached to a roll
on/roll off discharge facility and USNS Sgt. William Button near Camp
Pendleton, Calif. during Pacific Horizon 11, March 3. Pacific Horizon 11
provides 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Navy's Expeditionary
Strike Group-3 the opportunity to exercise essential core competencies
at the brigade level to rapidly respond to an emerging crisis with a
flexible, full spectrum capability.
USNS Sgt. William Button floats off the coast near Camp Pendleton,
Calif. during Pacific Horizon 11, March 3. Pacific Horizon 11 provides
1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Navy's Expeditionary Strike
Group-3 the opportunity to exercise essential core competencies at the
brigade level to rapidly respond to an emerging crisis with a flexible,
full spectrum capability.
An improved Navy ligtherage system prepares to dock to a roll on/roll
off discharge facility attached to USNS Sgt. William Button near Camp
Pendleton, Calif., during Pacific Horizon 11, March 3. Pacific Horizon
11 provides 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Navy's Expeditionary
Strike Group-3 the opportunity to exercise essential core competencies
at the brigade level to rapidly respond to an emerging crisis with a
flexible, full spectrum capability.
U.S. Navy sailors and Marines unload
equipment from USNS Sgt. William Button near Camp Pendleton, Calif.,
during Pacific Horizon 11, March 3. Pacific Horizon 11 provides 1st
Marine Expeditionary Force and the Navy's Expeditionary Strike Group-3
the opportunity to exercise essential core competencies at the brigade
level to rapidly respond to an emerging crisis with a flexible, full
spectrum capability.
If the planners were to skip the Type 26 altogether and proceed directly to the lower end version of the Future Surface Combatant design, they might possess a vessel more relevant for future threats. Rather than hundreds of millions, vessels costing in the tens of million pounds seem
the right answer for today’s threats. Most importantly, you could build
a whole squadron of such vessels for the price of a single Type 26.
It
looks like the Global Combat Ship is dead in the water, from the Canadian
perspective at least. That also seems to go for any UK-Canadian collaboration
on future ships.
Without Canadian participation, I can't see how this ship will escape the budget axe thats swinging over at the UK's Ministry of Defense. I would almost bet that Canadian participation was seen as a shield against the possibility of it being cut. That doesn't exist anymore.
Seems like the days of smaller, less complex ships is about to dawn.
Mike at New Wars must be smiling, laughing at those like me that doubted him and pouring himself another glass of what ever drink he likes (probably iced tea).
Galhran over at Information Dissemination has a post out on the recent retaking of a hijacked ship and of the forces that did the work. Read the story here....but his parting statement is eye catching.
What is Bulkeley's "specialist boarding team?" I am not familiar with
this new term. Is this Navy Special Warfare Command? SWOs in VBSS? SOF?
Marines?
Who are these mysterious pirate fighters of the Indian Ocean? Inquiring minds would like to know.
I don't quite know what to make of this. Maritime Special Purpose Force (MSPF), Force Recon and Navy SEALS are well known commodities. Even a Public Affairs Officer (no insult intended) would have knowledge of those guys...so why the murky language?
Tracking info on the USAF isn't as easy as with the other services for some reason. I wonder why that is? If anyone has sites that would provide info on them (and I mean straight from a PAO's mouth) I'd appreciate it.
PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The first F-35C test aircraft (CF-1) flew faster
than the speed of sound for the first time over a test range near the
Navy and Marine Corps F-35 integrated test facility at Naval Air Station
Patuxent River March 4.
During a test flight to expand the flutter envelope, CF-1 reached Mach
1.02 at 30,000 feet with U.S. Marine Corps pilot Lt. Col. Matt Taylor at
the controls.
“It’s great to be part of bringing stealth capability to the big-deck
carriers,” said Taylor. “We accomplished a large number of test points,
and CF-1 handled great going past Mach 1. It was a privilege for me to
take the F-35C over that milestone for the first time.”
CF-1 gathered enough supersonic flutter data for the team to continue supersonic envelope expansion in the near future.
Flutter is an evaluation of structural loads on the aircraft experienced
at various speeds and while performing prescribed maneuvers. The test
and evaluation team at NAS Patuxent River will expand the flutter
envelope to demonstrate the required durability and reliability of the
aircraft in advance of delivery of the aircraft to the fleet.
The F-35C is distinct from the F-35A and F-35B variants with its larger
wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear for greater control in the
demanding carrier take-off and landing environment. Carrier suitability
testing for the F-35C variant is scheduled to begin later this year
with land-based catapult and jet blast deflector testing.
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program is in the system
development and demonstration phase, focusing on delivering three
different, new aircraft variants to the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Air
Force. The integrated test force at NAS Patuxent River is focused on
testing and evaluation of the F-35B and F-35C.
AF-7, the second F-35 Lightning II production jet, takes off on its
first flight Friday, March 4, from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint
Reserve Base. The F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant flew
for 1.3 hours. AF-7 is the second and final aircraft from Low Rate
Initial Production lot 1.
Fleet pressure prompts Israel to rebuild scrapped CH-53
By Arie Egozi
With no immediate substitute for the Israeli air force's Sikorsky
CH-53 transport helicopters in the frame, the service has decided to
rebuild one aircraft which was cannibalised for spare parts and dumped
in a scrapyard several years ago. The need to reactivate aircraft 985 is one outcome following an Israeli CH-53 Yasur crash in Romania in July 2010. Six Israeli crew members and one Romanian observer were killed when the aircraft came down during a joint exercise. According to a report in the Israeli air force magazine, the
service's 22nd maintenance unit will perform the rebuild, which will fit
the aircraft to its modernised 2025 standard.
The upgrade, already being carried out on all Israel's operational
CH-53s, will see the installation of 20 new systems, including an
advanced electronic warfare suite, and a satellite communications fit to
expand the type's operational capability. The project will also introduce an altitude hold-and-hovering
stabilisation system and a laser obstacle ranging and display
capability.
Israel plans to continue flying its current fleet until it can
acquire Sikorsky's new-generation CH-53K, under development for the US
Marine Corps.
Only the CH-53K is designed for the type of missions Israel's Yasur helicopters are required to perform, the air force says.
Wow.
Can we see a future joint helicopter formed from the CH-53K?
It would make sense.
It would lower costs.
It would be extremely capable across the entire spectrum.
The only problem is that the US Army is aiming for an airplane even larger than the 53K...something approaching the size of the C-130....
My best guess is that the CH-47 will continue to be modernized and that the Joint Heavy Lift Helicopter project will die a well deserved death.
Read the whole thing from the Montreal Gazette, but this is the operative paragraph....
As part of the Harper government’s efforts to promote the F-35
stealth fighter, a top Conservative MP is criticizing a respected
retired public servant who has advised government on defence purchases. Edmonton
MP Laurie Hawn, who’s the parliamentary secretary to Defence Minister
Peter MacKay, has been sending out emails promoting the F-35 purchase
and attacking critics of the deal, including former Defence Department
assistant deputy minister Alan Williams. The email, which has
circulated among retired and serving Canadian Forces members as well as
journalists, also attacks a retired Australian air force officer who has
raised questions about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and an
Australian aviation analyst who has done the same.
I've been amused and annoyed at the tactics employed by F-35 critics.
Let me assure you that the mailing lists for these notices are large..surprising...and if you follow the "FACTS(?)" provided and then read stories put out by so called journalist after the fact then you'd be more than disgusted.
Suffice it to say that a critic of the program got tarred with the same brush as supporters have for a couple of years now and he's running hoping that Mommy makes them stop.
Charlie Sheen 47, is all over the news because he’s a Celebrity drug
addict. While Andrew Wilfahrt 31, Brian Tabada 21, Rudolph Hizon 22,
Chauncy May 25, are Soliders who gave their lives this week with no
media mention.
The F-22 is still one of only three aircraft (in
service) that can supercruise (go faster than the speed of sound without
using the afterburner.) In addition to the F-22, the Eurofighter and
the Gripen can also supercruise.
Huh?
The Eurofighter and Gripen can super-cruise?
What then exactly is super-cruise?
And how is it that the SU-27 family isn't on this list...What about the later blocks of F-15/16's?
Is it even viable? The F-22 can buts it has much shorter legs than the much derided F-35 (I laugh at those who slam the F-35 for being short ranged yet talk about the F-22 being more suited to long patrols over the Pacific...can't they read...the F-35 can fly much further on internal gas).
What is fuel consumption like in S/C? Has its use been wargamed? Besides the launch of A2A and A2G weapons during the cycle to give them extra hmmph then what good is it really?
