Senate Armed Services Committee

Report to Congress on U.S. Policy Toward Afghanistan

The following is the Feb. 26, 2019 Congressional Research Service report, Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy In Brief.

From the report

Afghanistan has been a central U.S. foreign policy concern since 2001, when the United States, in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, led a military campaign against Al Qaeda and the Taliban government that harbored and supported it. In the intervening 17 years, the United States has suffered around 2,400 fatalities in Afghanistan...

https://news.usni.org/2019/02/27/report-congress-u-s-policy-toward-afghanistan

Top Stories 2018: Navy Operations

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) as the ship transits the Strait of Gibraltar on Dec. 4, 2018. US Navy Photo

USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2018.

If 2018 made anything clear, it’s that the U.S. Navy noticed the increased Russian submarine activity in the Atlantic and won’t let it go unaddressed.

Much of the U.S. Navy’s major activities this year were focused on the Atlantic Ocean, on NATO allies...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/26/top-stories-2018-navy-operations

Navy Awards Bath Iron Works a Second FY 2019 Destroyer, In First Move to 3-a-Year Buy Rate

USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) during construction at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. BIW photo.

The Navy awarded General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works a second destroyer for Fiscal Year 2019, in the first contract option that accelerates DDG buys from the Navy’s previous two-a-year rate.

In September the Navy awarded the first 10 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in the five-year multiyear procurement contract that spans FY 2018 to 2022. Six ships went to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. – two...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/24/navy-awards-bath-iron-works-a-second-fy-2019-destroyer-in-first-move-to-3-a-year-buy-rate

Lawmakers Push for More Sub Repairs at Private Yards, Ahead of Navy Releasing Maintenance Strategies

USS Greeneville (SSN-772) sits atop blocks in Dry Dock #1 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Feb. 21, 2001. DoD photo.

As the Navy grapples with current backlogs of work at public maintenance yards and finalizes its longer-term plans for fleet maintenance, some lawmakers are pushing the Navy to send more attack submarine maintenance work to private shipbuilders.

In last week’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Navy...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/20/lawmakers-push-for-more-sub-repairs-at-private-yards-ahead-of-navy-releasing-maintenance-strategies

$3.6 Billion Needed To Rebuild Camp Lejeune Facilities Damaged By Hurricane Florence

A tree collapsed outside Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, during Hurricane Florence, on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Sept. 15, 2018. Marine Corps photo.

The Marine Corps is looking at a hefty construction cost to repair or replace hundreds of buildings at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune damaged during Hurricane Florence.

After evaluating storm damage, about 31 Military Construction (MILCON) projects on the base – not including base housing – a significant number were found to be either...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/13/39623

GAO: Navy Surface, Sub Repair Backlog Grew in 2018; 3 Attack Boats Now Not Certified to Dive

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) prepares to pull into Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Va. in 2017. US Navy Photo

CAPITOL HILL – Maintenance backlogs continue to plague the Navy’s surface ship and attack submarine readiness, with the service losing the equivalent of 17 ships for operational tasking this year due to delays in getting repairs, according to an analysis from the Government Accountability Office.

“For fiscal years 2012-2018, our analysis for key portions of the Navy fleet shows...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/12/gao-navy-surface-sub-repair-backlog-grew-2018-3-attack-boats-now-not-certified-dive

Navy, Industry Discussing Feasibility of Common Hull for Support Ships

USS Spruance (DDG 111), the Military Sealift Command (MSC) ammunition and cargo ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11), the guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73), the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), the Military Sealift Command (MSC) fleet oiler USNS Walter S. Diehl (T-AO 193) and the amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) steam in formation in the South China Sea Sea, Oct. 13, 2016. U.S. Navy Photo

CAPITOL HILL – Navy officials like the potential...

https://news.usni.org/2018/11/29/39049

Navy Wants Alternative Funding for Columbia SSBNs to Accelerate 355-Ship Fleet

Newport News Shipbuilding placed a 900-ton superlift into dry dock, continuing construction of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79). Nearly 90 lifts have been placed in the dock and joined together since the ship’s keel was laid in August 2015. Newport News Shipbuilding photo.

CAPITOL HILL – The Navy continues to push for the upcoming Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine program to be funded outside the normal shipbuilding budget, as opportunities exist to reach a...

https://news.usni.org/2018/11/27/navy-still-pushing-to-fund-columbia-ssbns-outside-shipbuilding-budget-to-allow-faster-growth-to-355

Navy Tackling Ford-Class Weapons Elevator Challenges; Decision on 2-Carrier Buy Still Pending

F/A-18F Pilot LCDR Jamie R. Struck the makes first carrier arrested landing using AAG system aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) off the Virginia coast. US Navy Photo

CAPITOL HILL – The Navy’s acquisition chief said the weapons elevators on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) will be built and installed by the time the ship comes out of its ongoing post-shakedown availability, but he may launch an independent review team to look at the long-term sustainability and reliability of the elevators.

The...

https://news.usni.org/2018/11/28/navy-tackling-ford-class-weapons-elevator-challenges-decision-2-carrier-buy-still-pending

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