USNS Hershel "Woody" Williams (T-ESB-4) Archives

Deployed to Africa, USS ‘Woody’ Williams Key Platform to Train, Engage Partners in Piracy Hotspot

6 September 2021

Members of a Brazilian Navy Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) team participate in a drill aboard the Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams (ESB-4) as part of Operation Guinex, Aug. 23, 2021. US Navy Photo

The small, rigid-hulled inflatable boat sped from the Brazilian Navy Frigate BNS Independencia (F-44) last week, taking an armed boarding team to a ship suspected of harboring illicit or piracy activities off western Africa’s coast.

It was just a practice drill, though, for...

Navy Prefers Fielding ‘Revolutionary’ Combat Capability Through New Weapons Rather than New Hull Designs

13 August 2019

Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001) pulls along pierside in Naval Base San Diego, Dec. 7, 2018. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – The Navy is striving to field “revolutionary combat capability” in new ships and through mid-life modernizations, but it can do so while keeping risk low by focusing on new weapons and systems rather than radical new hull designs, the program executive officer for ships said.

Noting previous challenges with revolutionary ship designs such as the Zumwalt-class destroyer and the Littoral...

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/13/navy-prefers-fielding-revolutionary-combat-capability-through-new-weapons-rather-than-new-hull-designs

Top Stories 2018: Marine Corps Operations

25 December 2018

An F-35B Lightning II assigned to the “Avengers” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211 sits on the flight deck of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) on March 7, 2018. US Navy Photo

The Marine Corps spent 2018 preparing the force for a new era of warfare, modernizing how it conducts its business in ways large and small.

Arguably the biggest headline for the service this year was the first deployment of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter on a routine Amphibious Ready...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/25/top-stories-2018-marine-corps-operations

Marines See Future for Special Purpose MAGTFs Even As Ship Count Rises

30 October 2018

Landing Support Specialists with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa conduct helicopter support team drills with an MV-22B Osprey at Morón Air Base, Spain, Oct. 4, 2017. SPMAGTF-CR-AF deployed to conduct limited crises-response and theatre-security operation in Europe and North Africa. US Marine Corps photo.

THE PENTAGON – The Marine Corps may have expanded its use of ground-based Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (SP-MAGTFs) in response to a shortage...

https://news.usni.org/2018/10/30/marines-see-future-for-special-purpose-magtfs-even-as-ship-count-rises