Acting Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) James McPherson, right, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike M. Gilday and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Russell Smith are briefed by Recruit Training Command (RTC) staff members at Freedom Hall on May 7, 2020. US Navy Photo
The Navy’s top officer will be in quarantine this week after coming into contact with a member of his family who had tested positive for COVID-19, the Pentagon announced late on Sunday.
Adm. Mike Gilday initially tested...
An E-2C Hawkeye from the Sun Kings of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 116 prepares to launch from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) as part of a composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) in May 6, 2020. US Navy Photo
USS Nimitz (CVN-68) left San Diego this week for a composite training unit exercise (COMPTUEX) in the Pacific, Navy officials confirmed to USNI News.
The graduation exercise for the carrier strike group will be the first major test of the...
https://news.usni.org/2020/05/08/uss-nimitz-departs-san-diego-for-pre-deployment-exercise
USS Montgomery (LCS-8) conducts routine operations near Panamanian flagged drillship, West Capella, on May 7, 2020 in the South China Sea. US Navy Photo
KUALA LUMPUR — The U.S. Navy sent a pair of ships to patrol in the vicinity of a mineral rights dispute between Malaysia and China in the South China Sea for the second time in a month, U.S. officials told USNI News.
Littoral Combat Ship USS Montgomery (LCS-8) and replenishment ship USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE-14) conducted a presence operation in...
https://news.usni.org/2020/05/08/u-s-sends-warships-on-patrol-near-south-china-sea-standoff
The guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) steams through the Mediterranean Sea March 14, 2014. Navy photo
Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) spilled close to 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the York River on Thursday morning, the Navy confirmed to USNI News.
The spill occurred at 7 a.m. while Philippine Sea was pier side at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. The cruiser was in Yorktown to load ammunition aboard.
The Navy is now investigating the cause of...
https://news.usni.org/2020/05/08/cruiser-uss-philippine-sea-spills-diesel-fuel-into-york-river
Pfc. Arnoldo RomeroVelazco, with 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, post security to secure the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 27, 2020. US Navy Photo
Six weeks after arriving in Los Angeles to help regional hospitals cope with the COVID-19 outbreak, hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) discharged its final patient on Tuesday, five days after it stopped receiving patients, USNI News has learned.
Mercy, which is...
Kenneth Braithwaite, U.S. ambassador to Norway, delivers remarks at a reception aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge (DDG-96), in Oslo, Norway on June 25, 2018. US Navy Photo
The nominee for secretary of the Navy position blamed nearly a decade’s worth of Navy problems on a “breakdown” in leadership and culture during a Thursday confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Kenneth Braithwaite told the committee in his prepared opening...
U.S. Navy ceremonial guard march off the South Lawn of the White House in 2011. US Navy Photo
One sailor on the White House Military Office staff tested positive for COVID-19 this week, calling into question the possible exposure of the first family, West Wing staff and others to the military unit that tends to many of the daily needs of the White House.
CNN first reported today that a male sailor on the staff began showing symptoms on Wednesday and tested positive for COVID-19 through a rapid...
https://news.usni.org/2020/05/07/sailor-on-white-house-staff-tests-positive-for-covid-19
An artist’s concept of the HII Patrol Frigate.
Huntington Ingalls Industries executives are still smarting a week after the Navy awarded a potentially multi-billion-dollar frigate contract to rival shipbuilder Fincantieri.
HII has a backlog of work worth $45 billion, leaving the firm is in a strong financial position, Mike Petters, chief executive of HII, told analysts during a Thursday morning conference call. However, there’s no denying the company wanted the FFG(X) design and construction...
https://news.usni.org/2020/05/07/huntington-ingalls-industries-execs-disappointed-over-ffgx-loss
Sailors stand watch in the Fleet Operations Center at the headquarters of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet (FCC/C10F). Navy Photo
As the Navy tries ensuring COVID-19-related restrictions don’t hollow out the force, active-duty enlisted sailors with vital skills can now delay their high-year tenure separations for up to 24 months and sailors can reenlist up to a year before their contracts end.
The Navy extended by two years the high-year tenure waiver available for rates seaman, petty...
Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Sullivan, assigned to Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Medical Readiness Division, center, addresses the medical team while preparing for Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG-100) as part of the Navy response to the COVID-19 outbreak aboard the ship on April 28, 2020. US Navy Photo
When COVID-19 was first detected on guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG-100) late last month, the Navy put into action a new set of procedures to stem the...