West 2023

Pilot Course Aims to Build Marines’ Skills as Communicators for the Future Fight

Marines with 9th Communication Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, trouble shoot a network connection during a certification exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Feb. 27, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo

SAN DIEGO – Expeditionary communicators will be critical to the command and control of small Marine Corps units dispersed across far-flung islands in contested terrain, service officials say.

Those Marines will need to travel light, be nimble and have the...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/28/pilot-course-aims-to-build-marines-skills-as-communicators-for-the-future-fight

SECNAV Del Toro ‘Excited’ About New Landing Ship Mediums

ARLINGTON, Va. – Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said the Navy and Marines have “got to get the right concept … and design” to move forward with the new Landing Ship Mediums – the vessels projected to augment larger amphibious vessels.

Investing in the new ships did not mean the Navy was pulling back its commitment to larger amphibious warships, Del Toro said Wednesday, speaking at the National Defense Industrial Association Expeditionary Warfare Conference.

There will “probably be more LPDs...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/22/secnav-del-toro-excited-about-new-landing-ship-mediums

Marine Corps Needs Infrastructure Investment, Improved Technology to Ensure Readiness

U.S. Marines prepare their Rifle Combat Optics before they enter Hathcock Range on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Jan. 30, 2023. U.S. Marine Corps Photo

SAN DIEGO – A military installation’s sewer lines and electrical grids are critical to a unit’s combat readiness, meaning bases and stations must prepare to grapple with outages, breaks, attacks and other threats to critical infrastructure, a Marine Corps installation commander said last week.

“The sustainment of facilities – things that...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/20/marine-corps-needs-infrastructure-investment-improved-technology-to-ensure-readiness

Navy Starts $80M Project to Reinforce Four Puget Sound Dry Docks

Two submarines enter dry dock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. US Navy photo.

SAN DIEGO – The Navy started work on two Washington state submarine dry docks that the service shuttered last month over fears of earthquake damage, USNI News learned.

Late last month, the service closed four dry docks – three at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility in Bremerton, Wash., and the delta pier at the Trident Refit Facility in Bangor, Wash.

On Feb. 10, the Navy issued...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/16/navy-starts-80m-project-to-reinforce-four-puget-sound-dry-docks

Crew-Optional USNS Apalachicola Delivers to the Navy, Ship’s Unmanned Future Unclear

USNS Apalachicola (EPF-13) underway in the Gulf of Mexico. Austal USA

SAN DIEGO – A logistics ship that Congress directed the Navy to build with the ability to operate autonomously delivered to the service on Thursday, Naval Sea Systems Command announced.

Spearhead-class aluminum catamaran USNS Apalachicola (EPF-13) is now set to operate in the Western Pacific in support of U.S. 7th Fleet.

“The delivery of EPF 13 comes after several successful at-sea periods for the vessel, including Unmanned...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/16/crew-optional-usns-apalachicola-delivers-to-the-navy-ships-unmanned-future-unclear

Coast Guard Moving Cutter to Pacific as Regional Missions Expand

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bear, a 270 foot, medium endurance cutter, arrives in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to deliver supplies, Oct. 9, 2017. The supplies included donations collected by Customs and Border Patrol members. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bear, a 270 foot, medium endurance cutter, arrives in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to deliver supplies, Oct. 9, 2017. US Coast Guard Photo

SAN DIEGO – Driven by greater demand for its partnerships and presence in the Indo-Pacific region, the U.S. Coast Guard is growing its operational presence in the vast region that’s unsettled by continuing incursions from China’s naval militia and fishing fleet, the Pacific Area commander told an audience today.

Part of that plan...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/15/coast-guard-moving-cutter-to-pacific-as-regional-missions-expand

Naval Information Force Sending Officers, Enlisted Sailors to Submarines

USS Illinois (SSN-786) departs Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on a scheduled deployment in 2019. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – A Navy pilot program is testing the role of information warfare sailors and officers aboard submarines, the commander of Naval Information Forces announced Wednesday.

Two submarines – USS New Mexico (SSN-779) and USS Washington (SSN-787) – each have an information warfare junior officer and three sailors, Vice Adm. Kelly Aeschbach said during a talk at WEST 2023, hosted by...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/15/naval-information-force-sending-officers-enlisted-sailors-to-submarines

Marines Testing Battlefield Networks for Future Conflicts

Marine Sgt. Usbaldo Miranda, Jr., systems configuration coordinator, Marine Air Control Squadron 1, Marine Air Control Group 38, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), monitors his computer inside an expeditionary command and control (C2) node during a training exercise at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, Feb. 7, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo

SAN DIEGO – The success of small Marine Corps units dispersed across far-flung islands in contested terrain will need a better integrated joint operating picture.

A...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/15/marines-testing-battlefield-networks-for-future-conflicts

Marine Corps Requirements Call for 9 Light Amphibious Ships per Regiment

SAN DIEGO – The Marine Corps’ latest requirements call for nine smaller amphibious ships per regiment to shuttle Marines and equipment between islands and shorelines, service officials said today.

The service has said for months that it needs 35 Landing Ship Mediums – previously known as the Light Amphibious Warship – for the type of operations it envisions in the Indo-Pacific region. The idea is that the three Marine Littoral Regiments operating in the Indo-Pacific would each have nine LSMs,...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/14/marine-corps-requirements-call-for-9-light-amphibious-ships-per-regiment

Military Services Competing Over the Same Recruiting Pool of Less Than 500,000

Marine Corps recruits with Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, squat with a log during log drills at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Nov. 28, 2022. US Marine Corps Photo

SAN DIEGO – The Marine Corps and other service branches are competing to attract the same 412,000 eligible Americans between the ages of 17 to 24, a Marine recruiting commander said Tuesday.

There are approximately 32.8 million Americans, part of Gen Z, but when looking at those who qualify for and want military...

https://news.usni.org/2023/02/14/military-services-competing-over-the-same-recruiting-pool-of-less-than-500000

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