Navy Will Host Scaled-Down RIMPAC Exercise in Hawaii With At-Sea-Only Events

(Right) Australian Army officer Captain Christopher Moroney, from the 2nd Battalion (Amphibious), Royal Australian Regiment, works with Indonesian Joint Terminal Attack Controllers to call in artillery fire at Pohakuloa Training Area during Exercise Rim of the Pacific 18. Australian Defence Force photo.

U.S. Pacific Fleet will host its major biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise this year amid the global COVID-19 pandemic, opting to limit the exercise to just two weeks of at-sea-only events...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/29/navy-will-host-scaled-down-rimpac-exercise-in-hawaii-with-at-sea-only-events

Marines Suffer COVID-19 Outbreak at San Diego Boot Camp

New recruits with India Company, 3rd Recruit training Battalion, are issued gear after arriving at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Calif., April 27, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

SAN DIEGO — Marine Corps officials found an outbreak of the COVID-19 virus among recruits who arrived a month ago at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, service officials confirmed to USNI News.

Nearly four dozen recruits with Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, tested positive for COVID-19. However,...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/30/marines-suffer-covid-19-outbreak-at-san-diego-boot-camp

In Role Reversal, Boeing’s Defense Programs Prop Up Commercial Business

P-8 Poseidon in Seattle Factory. Boeing photo.

In the near term, Boeing’s leadership is counting on its defense programs to provide bottom-line stability as its commercial aircraft business buckles under pressure from COVID-19-related travel restrictions.

Commercial air traffic has all but ground to halt – down 95 percent in the U.S. from where it was a year ago – Dave Calhoun, the chief executive of Boeing, said during a Wednesday conference call with analysts to discuss the company’s...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/30/in-role-reversal-boeings-defense-programs-prop-up-commercial-business

USS Bunker Hill Conducts 2nd South China Sea Freedom of Navigation Operation This Week

USS Bunker Hill (CG 52) transits the Philippine Sea, on March 24, 2020. US Navy Photo

Guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill (CG-52) conducted a freedom of navigation operation through the Spratly Island chain in the South China Sea, U.S. 7th Fleet announced on Wednesday.

According to a statement from the Navy, the cruiser tested excessive maritime claims of China, Vietnam and Taiwan. All three countries have overlapping claims in the contested island chain.

Bunker Hill, without prior...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/29/uss-bunker-hill-conducts-2nd-south-china-sea-freedom-of-navigation-operation-this-week

Sailors Begin Returning to USS Theodore Roosevelt After Quarantine Period on Guam

Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Nicholas Beemer, from Huntington, Ind., enters a restricted area of the hangar bay aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) to sanitize and secure the space on April 26, 2020. US Navy Photo

The crew of USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is beginning to return aboard the aircraft carrier after almost a month of isolation on Guam designed to combat a major COVID-19 outbreak, U.S. 7th Fleet announced on Wednesday.

Over the next several days, more than...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/29/sailors-begin-returning-to-uss-theodore-roosevelt-after-quarantine-period-on-guam

Pandemic Isn’t Slowing Down Columbia-Class Submarine Construction

An undated artist’s rendering of the planned Columbia-class submarine. Naval Sea Systems Command Image

General Dynamics Electric Boat remains ready to start construction of the first Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine in October, company officials announced Wednesday.

To date, Electric Boat’s preparations to start building the first of 12 planned Columbia-class boomers, along with work at the yard building the Virginia-class fast attack submarines, has not experienced significant delays...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/29/pandemic-isnt-slowing-down-columbia-class-submarine-construction

Early ‘Aggressive’ Military Sealift Command COVID Mitigation Result in Zero Infections

William Courtney, the prospective chief mate aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), communicates with his crew during a supplies onload while the ship is moored in New York in support of the nation’s COVID-19 response efforts. US Navy photo.

The Military Sealift Command is keeping supplies moving uninterrupted throughout the globally operating Navy fleet and has done so with zero COVID-19 infections among its civilian mariners due to early and aggressive...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/29/early-aggressive-military-sealift-command-covid-mitigation-result-in-zero-infections

Navy to Expand Investigation Into Removal of Carrier Theodore Roosevelt CO

Capt. Brett Crozier, then-commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), addresses the crew during an all-hands call on the ship’s flight deck on Nov. 15, 2019. US Navy Photo

This post has been updated with a statement from Acting Secretary of the Navy James McPherson.

The Navy is set to widen the investigation of the removal of the former commander of USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), taking a closer look at the service’s overall command climate in the Pacific, the...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/29/navy-to-expand-investigation-into-removal-of-carrier-theodore-roosevelt-co

Navy Speeding Up Science And Technology Spending

Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham, Navy surgeon general and chief, US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, visited the Naval Medical Research Unit Dayton (NAMRU-Dayton) on February 25. NAMRU-Dayton biochemist, Lt. Cmdr. Taj King explains current research studies taking place in NAMRU-Dayon’s inhalation toxicology laboratory – the Department of Defense’s largest inhalation toxicology laboratory for non-chemical and biological weapons on Feb. 25, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Navy’s is doubling-down on science...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/29/navy-speeding-up-science-and-technology-spending

Navy Looking to Buy Aircraft Engines as Civilian Demand Dwindles

Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class Caleb Fisher, left, and Aviation Machinist Mate 1st Class Ricky Souza, both assigned to the Skinny Dragons of Patrol Squadron (VP) 4, install a spinner cone to the CFM56-7B engine of a squadron P-8A Poseidon aircraft as a part of a scheduled maintenance inspection on Feb. 4, 2020. US Navy photo.

The Navy is moving forward with its plans to take advantage of a commercial aviation slowdown by accelerating new orders, buying spare parts and conducting depot...

https://news.usni.org/2020/04/28/navy-looking-to-buy-aircraft-engines-as-civilian-demand-dwindles

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