News & Analysis

Pre-Boot Camp Quarantine for Navy, Marines May Continue Into Next Year

Poolees study Marine Corps knowledge at The Citadel, a public military college temporarily utilized to stage poolees for a 14-day observation period in Charleston, S.C. on May 6, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

The Navy and Marine Corps basic training commands are unsure if they’ll have enough money to finish out the fiscal year, due to costs incurred from COVID-19 prevention measures they’ve implemented – but they’re going to keep doing what they’re doing because it’s allowed training to progress...

Theodore Roosevelt Air Wing Flies Off Ahead of Carrier’s Return to San Diego

An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the Black Knights of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 154 flies over the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on June 17, 2020. US Navy Photo

The air squadrons assigned to USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) are back home after the end of a deployment that was interrupted by a COVID-19 outbreak, Navy officials confirmed to USNI News on Tuesday.

The aircraft from Carrier Air Wing 11 departed the carrier Tuesday, bound for naval air stations in California,...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/07/theodore-roosevelt-air-wing-flies-off-ahead-of-carriers-return-to-san-diego

House Appropriations Bill Includes Funding for Second Virginia-Class Submarine

Sailors aboard to Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Delaware (SSN-791) on Nov. 5, 2019. US Navy Photo

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee today released its draft Fiscal Year 2021 defense funding bill that would buy nine Navy ships, including the second Virginia-class attack submarine that the House Armed Services Committee is fighting to include in next year’s ship-buying plans.

The HAC-D legislation includes $22.3 billion in shipbuilding funds for the first Columbia-class ballistic missile...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/07/house-appropriations-bill-includes-funding-for-second-virginia-class-submarine

Suspect in Marine Corps Base Twentynine Palms Shooting in Custody, Injured

Twentynine Palms

An early morning shooting at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., has resulted in no injuries to personnel and a suspect in custody, Marine officials told USNI News.

At about 6:30 a.m. local time, military police responded to gunshots at the Marine Corps base and cordoned off the area.

“An individual sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound at approximately 8:30 a.m.,” Marine Capt. Joseph Butterfield told USNI News in a Tuesday email. “The individual is...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/07/suspect-in-marine-corps-base-twentynine-palms-shooting-in-custody-injured

U.S., Chinese Navies Hold Dueling Exercises in the South China Sea

The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) transit the South China Sea on July 6, 2020. US Navy Photo

The U.S. and Chinese navies are holding competing naval exercises in the South China Sea, as the Beijing accuses Washington of militarizing the region.
On Saturday, the U.S. Navy’s Reagan and Nimitz carrier strike groups transited from the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea and held the first dual-carrier drills there since 2014.

USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/06/u-s-china-navies-hold-dueling-exercises-in-the-south-china-sea

State Department Approves E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Sale to France

Sailors perform pre-flight checks on an E-2D Hawkeye from Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 125 on the flight deck aboard the Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) during flight operations on Aug. 16, 2019. US Navy Photo

The State Department approved a possible sale of three E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft to France, in a deal that would bring the U.S. and French carrier air wings even closer together.

If finalized, France would become the third country to operate...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/06/state-department-approves-e-2d-advanced-hawkeye-sale-to-france

Air Force Gen. VanHerck Nominated to Serve as Next NORTHCOM/NORAD Commander

Maj. Gen. Glen VanHerck, Commander of US Air Force Warfare Center, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, presents the Legion of Merit to Colonel Raymond O’Mara, August 12, 2016. US Air Force photo.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Glen VanHerck was nominated to serve as the next commander of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

VanHerck currently serves as the director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He is a fighter and bomber pilot and previously served as...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/06/air-force-gen-vanherck-nominated-to-serve-as-next-northcom-norad-commander

Political Commissars on Chinese Warships Play Crucial Role in Interactions With Foreign Vessels

Chinese leader Xi Jinping aboard a PLA NAvy ship. Xinhua photo

Confrontational or irrational moves by Chinese warships and planes may not be actions of a “rogue commander” but rather decisions by a political commissar, a new report describes.

Cmdr. Jeff Benson, a senior military fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former U.S. Naval Institute fellow, said Tuesday at a CSIS event that the role the political commissar plays aboard a People’s Liberation Army Navy...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/03/political-commissars-on-chinese-warships-play-crucial-role-in-interactions-with-foreign-vessels

Sailor on USS Theodore Roosevelt Dies of Medical Emergency; Cause Not Yet Released

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) participates in dual carrier operations, June 23, 2020. US Navy photo.

A sailor assigned to the “Blue Diamonds” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 146 deployed on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) died today following a medical emergency, the Navy announced.

It is unclear if the medical emergency is related to the COVID-19 outbreak the carrier had faced throughout the spring.

“The sailor received immediate medical care aboard the ship and was then...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/02/sailor-on-uss-theodore-roosevelt-dies-of-medical-emergency-cause-not-yet-released

Marine Corps Finds 2018 Crash Investigation Had Flaws, Proposes New Safety Measures

(From top left, clockwise) Lt. Col. Kevin R. Herrmann, Maj. James M. Brophy, Staff Sgt. Maximo A. Flores, Cpl. Daniel E. Baker and Cpl. William C. Ross

A review of two previous Marine Corps aviation mishaps and their subsequent command investigations concludes that “organizational culture and command climate” contributed to both a 2016 and 2018 mishap within 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Japan – and it adds that some conclusions made by the chain of command regarding the fatal 2018 crash were...

https://news.usni.org/2020/07/02/marine-corps-finds-2018-crash-investigation-had-flaws-proposes-new-safety-measures

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