The Navy’s current 6th Fleet commander lives with great power competition every day. It’s front and center, as her sailors are operating every day in the same waters, seeing a resurgent Russia modernizing its fleet and pushing out beyond its borders — making its presence known as they operate and exercise often or near the same locations where the US and NATO forces are.
On Board the USS Gerald R. Ford — The skipper of the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft carrier says the ship has”absolutely” turned the corner and is now ready to work towards full operational status.
After a 15-month stint back in the shipyard where the ship was built, most of its plethora of new technology is now up and running. The ship is now ready to begin advanced trials as the crew and the Navy will now learn how to take Ford’s high-tech gear to the next level and earn a spot in the deployment rotation.
Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer minced no words about the USS Gerald R. Ford’s struggles and recent lawmaker comments about the ship while talking to reporters in Norfolk on Oct. 28, shortly after arriving back from a several hour visit to the ship, which is undergoing trials off the Virginia Coast. Defense & Aerospace Report’s Mark Faram was present at the discussion and captured this video.
WASHINGTON – The US Navy’s top acquisition official was upbeat as he met with media Monday in his Pentagon office. He was just back after a quick trip to the long-troubled aircraft carrier Gerald R Ford (CVN 78), now underway off the Virginia coast on sea trials after 15 months in a shipyard.
The Navy was kept in the dark by Huntington Ingalls’ leadership about the severity of engineering issues with Advanced Weapons Elevators on the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford according to Navy’s top civilian official speaking with reporters Sunday at Naval Station Norfolk.
Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer minced no words after being questioned about the Ford’s struggles and recent lawmaker comments about the ship shortly after arriving back ashore from a several hour visit to the ship, which is undergoing trials off the Virginia Coast.
The aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford headed back to sea this morning, its first trip to open water in nearly 16 months.The ship has been undergoing her post shakedown availability at the Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding, after being towed to the yard “dead stick” on July 15, 2018.
On Board the USS Bataan – As the Bataan amphibious ready group and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit ramp up for deployment, the Navy and Marine Corps team onboard the three ships is getting tight.
These sailors and Marines are not only learning high end naval warfare at sea, they’re also staying connected to the traditional amphibious bread and butter missions, too.
That’s essential for a force that must be as adaptable as a Swiss Army Knife. They’re learning much more, their leaders say, though security prevented them from getting into too much detail. But what they’re most proud of is with every step, this “Blue/Green” team is emerging as a tight-knit naval fighting force that’s more integrated than any such “Gator” team in recent memory.
The aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) is the most expensive ship ever built by the US government, and quite possibly by any government. No one knows the true price given the various computational ways to figure the costs of design and development of the ship and its various systems, building the carrier and buying thousands of installed systems and components, and getting all those systems to work as intended. The final bill isn’t in, but all things considered, it is safe to say it will be somewhere north of $15 billion.
The Navy has set Dec. 9 as the start date of the service’s annual quality control check of retirement eligible chief petty officers.That’s when, for the ninth time since 2009, the service will convene a Senior Enlisted Continuation Board in Millington, Tenn. The panel’s mandate is simple — cut out any “deadwood” should any be found in the in the Navy’s collective chief’s mess that includes active, reserve and full-time support communities.
Effective immediately, getting bumped up a paygrade for taking orders to hard-to-fill jobs is here to stay. Called “Advancement-to-Position” or A2P, the program was first announced as a pilot program for junior sailors in April. Navy officials are now saying those tests were so successful they’ve made the idea a permanent program.