The U.S.-built pier that will funnel humanitarian aid into Gaza is ready for deliveries, according to photos released by U.S. Central Command on Thursday.
The pier, assembled by the U.S. Army 7th Transportation Brigade, was positioned and fixed to the shore this...
Congress
Carrier USS Ronald Reagan Leaves Japan for the Last Time
The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group left Yokosuka, Japan, on Thursday to carry out its last Indo-Pacific patrol as the Forward Deployed Naval Force–Japan (FDNF-J) aircraft carrier before returning to the United States...
https://news.usni.org/2024/05/16/carrier-uss-ronald-reagan-leaves-japan-for-the-last-time
Pyle: Red Sea Operations Demonstrate Importance of Trainers for Surface Community
The decade-long $6 billion investment in live, virtual and constructive training for the surface community is paying dividends in the Red Sea, the Navy’s director of surface warfare said Tuesday.
Instead of “figuring out on the fly” how to apply “defense in depth,” as USS Mason (DDG-87) had to do when attacked by two cruise missiles in the Red Sea in 2016,...
HASC Mark Would Give Sailors Under E-6 Basic Housing Allowance
Sailors under the E-6 pay grade may be eligible for a basic housing allowance under House authorizers’ draft defense policy bill for Fiscal Year 2025.
Under the House Armed Services Committee chairman’s mark of the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, released Monday, sailors and service members under E-6 would get a basic housing allowance.
“In authorizing an allowance under this...
https://news.usni.org/2024/05/14/hasc-mark-would-give-sailors-under-e-6-basic-housing-allowance
Navy, Marine Corps Focus on Smaller Eligible Population As Recruitment Problems Mount
The Navy’s ongoing struggle to meet recruitment missions and the Marine Corps’ growing concerns over the shrinking pool of possible enlistees topped a Senate panel’s hearing on personnel issues facing the sea services last week.
The Navy predicts it will be 6,200 enlistees short of its...
HASC Chairman’s Mark Authorizes Second Virginia-class Submarine, Cuts $1B from Delayed Frigate Program
House authorizers added a second Virginia-class submarine in their mark of the Fiscal Year 2025 defense policy bill, a departure from the Biden administration’s decision to ask for only one attack boat in the annual request.
The House Armed Services Committee chairman’s mark of the bill, released Monday, shows lawmakers approving $1 billion for another Virginia-class attack boat. The HASC seapower and projection forces subcommittee’s mark of the...
HASC’s Adam Smith Says Pentagon Must Assess Platform Capability for Modernization Efforts
The Pentagon must make modernization choices between legacy systems and new technology like lasers by evaluating each platform’s capability,the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said this week.
“The aircraft carrier battle groups have been enormously helpful” in deterring Iran and its proxies over the...
Report to Congress on Economic Effects of Red Sea Disruptions
The following is the May 8, 2024, Congressional Research Service In Focus report, Red Sea Shipping Disruptions: Estimating Economic Effects.
From the report
Attacks by the Yemen-based Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023 have disrupted a critical maritime passage for global supply chains, creating bottlenecks at the Suez Canal and Bab al-Mandab Strait—one of the world’s most significant trade chokepoints—and forcing vessels into longer and more costly...
https://news.usni.org/2024/05/09/report-to-congress-on-economic-effects-of-red-sea-disruptions
GAO Tells Senate Panel U.S. Shipyards Are Major Readiness Concern
Even with space available in shipyards, fewer than 40 percent of Navy ships completed availability repairs on time, the Government Accountability Office’s director of defense capabilities and management told the Senate Armed Services readiness subcommittee last week.
Diana Maurer told the Senate panel Wednesday her office put shipyard conditions second only to...
https://news.usni.org/2024/05/07/gao-tells-senate-panel-u-s-shipyards-are-major-readiness-concern
Senate Panel Questions Navy Submarine Build Rate, FY2025 Virgina-class Buy
The Senate Armed Services seapower subcommittee chair said the Navy needed to “run fast” to catch up on delays to the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine program and also meet the U.S. commitment of delivering at least three Virginia-class submarines in the 2030s to Australia.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) questioned Navy leaders how the service...