BOSTON — U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Seneca returned home to Boston on Jan. 28 after a 57-day deployment to the Caribbean Sea, the Coast Guard 1st District said. 

During the patrol, Seneca rescued 187 Haitian Migrants, conducted countless hours of training exercises with Coast Guard Air Stations Jacksonville and Clearwater and spent several weeks as a law enforcement presence in the southern Caribbean aided by Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron Jacksonville. 

In late December, the Seneca crew intercepted an overloaded Haitian sail freighter. Coordinating a joint response with the Turks and Cacaos Royal Police, the two agencies rescued all 187 Haitian nationals from the vessel. 

“I am exceptionally proud of this crew and their success and achievements,” said Cmdr. John Christensen, commanding officer of the Seneca. 

“Over the course of the last two months, they persevered through the challenges of conducting operations at sea, put aside their personal sacrifices, particularly throughout the holiday season, and displayed an unwavering commitment to serving the United States and our partner nations throughout the Caribbean Sea.” 

Coast Guard Cutter Seneca is a 270-foot medium-endurance cutter with a crew of 100. Seneca missions include counter-narcotics, migrant interdiction, search and rescue and living marine resource operations from the Gulf of Maine to the Pacific Ocean. The cutter was commissioned in 1987.

McLean, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC Pacific), in partnership with the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), has awarded Booz Allen Hamilton a $178 million contract to provide technical engineering services toward the modernization of advanced GPS systems, the company said in a release.  

The NIWC Pacific Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) Division is the Navy’s principal research and development center for navigation sensors and systems. SMC is the center of technical excellence for developing, acquiring, fielding and sustaining resilient and affordable military space systems. 

By executing this contract, Booz Allen will continue to serve as a key mission partner for NIWC Pacific and SMC on the important endeavor of modernizing PNT systems for U.S. and allied warfighters. 

Booz Allen will provide a range of essential services, including system definition, requirements synchronization, capability improvement, cybersecurity engineering, platform integration and testing and acquisition program management. Specifically, Booz Allen’s work will aid in the development and modernization of GPS systems through major programs such as Military GPS User Equipment, GPS III and Next Generation Operational Control System. 

“Booz Allen’s robust track record of work in both systems engineering and cybersecurity continues to inspire trust from our clients,” Vice President Brian Zimmermann said. “Our deep bench of leaders and technical experts reassures our clients that no project is too big or too complex. It’s our privilege to help the Navy and Air Force modernize GPS systems that are so vital to the security of our nation.” 

SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Coast Guard and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego launched the Blue Technology Center of Expertise on the Scripps Oceanography campus with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and expo on Jan. 24, the Coast Guard 11th District said in a release. 

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.); Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.); Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.); UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla; Port of San Diego Commissioner Marshall Merrifield; and Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Mission Support Vice Adm. Michael F. McAllister spoke at the event to celebrate the partnership between Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Coast Guard.  

“The Blue Technology Center of Expertise will better connect the Coast Guard with the tremendous government, academic and industry innovation ecosystem in the San Diego area,” McAllister said. “It will create a unique pipeline for the rapid identification and implementation of new maritime technologies into critical Coast Guard operations around the globe.” 

Blue technology is any technology, system or platform designed for use above, on or below the surface of the ocean that can support or facilitate Coast Guard maritime domain awareness, search and rescue, emergency response, maritime law enforcement, marine inspections and investigations. The Coast Guard was authorized to establish the Blue Technology COE by the 2018 Save Our Seas Act. 

A COE is a group of people from different disciplines who work together to increase performance and efficiency in certain areas. The Blue Technology COE will enable sharing of information between the Coast Guard and the private sector, other federal agencies, academia and nonprofit organizations. 

Scripps Institution of Oceanography is a leading center for marine research and education, with an emphasis on innovation dating back to World War II. The institution is home to significant programs such as the Coastal Data Information Program, an extensive network for monitoring waves and beaches along the U.S. coastlines, and HF-Radar Network, a near real-time ocean surface current measurement network of shore-based radar systems.

As the last commanding officer of the USS Pittsburgh said
Jan. 17, “the old must be replaced by the new.” And with that salutation, the
crew of the Los Angeles fast-attack submarine, past commanding officers, Navy
League members and supporters bid farewell to the boat during its inactivation
ceremony at the U.S. Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport, Washington.

The USS Pittsburgh Relief Crew under the auspices of the
Pittsburgh Council has provided significant support to the submarine over its
35 years of active service. Though the boat, named for the city in
Pennsylvania, has been deactivated, a scholarship sponsored by the council for
current or past crew members and dependents of the sub will live indefinitely
at the Pittsburgh Foundation, a Pittsburgh metropolitan area philanthropy
organization.

The ceremony was the crew’s final event before their ship
is decommissioned and stored at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton,
Washington.

“The backbone of any crew, of any service member, is the
family that supports them at home,” said Jason Deichler, the 14th and final
commanding officer of the USS Pittsburgh, who himself is a Pittsburgh native.

“To the families of current and crewmembers here today,
thank you. The power of your faces, smiles, family grams, small tokens and love
enable the strength required for the impossible tasks we ask the crew to
perform. It is what sets us apart in many ways from the armed services of other
nations. We know the faces of our family, and we work to truly honor them.”

Carol H. Sawyer, a professor of organizational leadership
at University of La Verne, California, also spoke of what it’s meant for her to
have been the submarine’s sponsor and a part of the Pittsburgh family since the
ship’s commissioning in December 1984.

“It means that every day for 35 years, I have embodied
the gratitude of the American people. In my very person, in who I am, I have
literally lived our gratitude for the commitment, the service, the
professionalism, the sacrifice and the patriotism that I have witnessed,”
Sawyer said.

Rear Adm. Douglas Perry, commander of Submarine Group 9,
and a prior crew member aboard Pittsburgh, served as the ceremony’s guest
speaker.

Pittsburgh completed its
last deployment on Feb. 25, 2019. Then the boat and her crew made their first
arctic transit for a final homeport change from Groton, Connecticut, to
Bremerton, arriving on May 28 to begin the inactivation and decommissioning
process. Pittsburgh is the fourth U.S. Navy vessel to be named for the city of
Pittsburgh.

McLEAN, Virginia — The U.S. Navy has awarded BAE Systems a prime position on a five-year, $34.9 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to provide life cycle sustainment and technical support for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s (NAWCAD) Special Communications Mission Solutions Division, the company said in a Jan. 23 release. The contract was awarded through the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Contracting Office.  

“For more than 40 years, BAE Systems has been the contractor of choice for life cycle sustainment and technical support for NAWCAD’s Special Communications Mission Solutions Division,” said Mark Keeler, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems’ Integrated Defense Solutions business. “As a leading systems integrator, we understand the need for quick-reaction field support to ensure our military customers are mission ready and maintain a tactical edge.”  

Through this award, BAE Systems will support and sustain variety of C5ISR (command, control, computers, communications, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) systems embedded within vehicles, watercraft and specialized communications platforms in the NAWCAD inventory. The company’s C5ISR efforts will include maintaining and upgrading command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems, integrated and networked to improve the situational awareness of military operators and decision makers. Work on this program will be performed in forward deployed mission locations include Central Command and Africa Command Areas of Responsibility. 

MCMURDO STATION, Antarctica — The 159
crewmembers of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) arrived Jan. 22
at McMurdo Station, following a 58-day transit from the United States, the Coast
Guard Pacific Area said in a Jan. 22 release. The cutter departed its homeport
of Seattle on Nov. 26.

This year marks the Polar Star’s 23rd
journey to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze, an annual joint
military service mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations, in
support of the National Science Foundation, the lead agency for the United
States Antarctic Program.

The 399-foot, 13,000-ton Polar Star
arrived after creating a 23-mile channel through the ice to McMurdo Sound, which
will enable the offload of over 19.5 million pounds of dry cargo and 7.6
million gallons of fuel from three logistic vessels. Together these three ships
carry enough fuel and critical supplies to sustain NSF operations throughout
the year until Polar Star returns in 2021.

Each year, the Polar Star crew creates a
navigable channel through seasonal and multi-year ice, sometimes as much as 21 feet
thick, to allow refuel and resupply ships to reach McMurdo Station.

“I am immensely proud of all the hard work
and dedication the men and women of the Polar Star demonstrate each and every
day,” said Greg Stanclik, commanding officer of the Polar Star. “Maintaining
and operating a 44-year-old ship in the harshest of environments takes months
of planning and preparation; long workdays; and missed holidays, birthdays and
anniversaries with loved ones. The Polar Star crew truly embodies the ethos of
the Antarctic explorers who came before us — courage, sacrifice and devotion.”

Commissioned in 1976, the Polar Star is the
United States’ only operational heavy icebreaker. Reserved for Operation Deep
Freeze each year, the ship spends the winter breaking ice near Antarctica, and
when the mission is complete, returns to dry dock in order to conduct critical
maintenance and repairs in preparation for the next Operation Deep Freeze
mission.

If a catastrophic event, such as getting
stuck in the ice, were to happen to the Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) in
the Arctic or to the Polar Star near Antarctica, the U.S. Coast Guard is left
without a self-rescue capability.

By contrast, Russia currently operates
more than 50 icebreakers several of which are nuclear powered.

The Coast Guard has been the sole
provider of the nation’s polar icebreaking capability since 1965 and is seeking
to increase its icebreaking fleet with six new polar security cutters to ensure
continued national presence and access to the Polar Regions.

In April, the Coast Guard awarded VT
Halter Marine Inc. of Pascagoula, Mississippi, a contract for the design and
construction of the Coast Guard’s lead polar security cutter, which will be
homeported in Seattle. The contract also includes options for the construction
of two additional PSCs.

“Replacing the Coast Guard’s
icebreaker fleet is paramount,” said Vice Adm. Linda Fagan, commander of
the Coast Guard’s Pacific Area. “Our ability to clear a channel and allow
for the resupply of the United States’ Antarctic stations is essential for
continued national presence and influence on the continent.”

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) on Jan. 16 awarded a contract to MAC LLC — a Mississippi-based small business — for about $10 million for polymer ammunition to be used in the M2 machine gun. 

The ammo is significantly lighter and easier to haul than traditional brass casings. 

“Polymer ammunition meets the same specifications for effectiveness as the brass ammo,” said Lt. Col. Bill Lanham, MCSC’s deputy program manager for ammunition. 

Polymer is a class of plastic-like material that weighs less than brass and other metals commonly used in weapon systems. 

The Corps intends to replace brass ammunition with polymer ammo, steel cans with polymer cans and traditional metal links with nylon links used to hold ammunition. The transition from brass to polymer enables them to carry more ammo. 

Lightening the load of ammunition ultimately will increase efficiency on the battlefield, Lanham said. 

“When we go to war, we need more ammo to defeat our adversaries,” he said. “Polymer ammo gives Marines the opportunity to carry more ammunition or make trades with what gear is important to carry during combat.” 

In addition to the weight advantage, polymer has myriad other benefits over brass. For example, a machine gun often heats up when Marines rapidly fire brass ammo. Over time, the weapon’s high temperature can soften the material and accelerate erosion. Parts can also break more easily. 

However, polymer ammo absorbs heat expelled from the casing, preventing the machine gun from warming. This means Marines can fire for longer periods of time with less problems, said John Carpenter, assistant program manager for engineering with PM Ammunition. 

Carpenter also noted how the polymer ammo will provide logistical benefits. Before Marines access the ammunition on the battlefield, it must be transported across the ocean during a process that requires much fuel, manpower and money. Lighter ammo can mitigate this burden. 

“Everything goes on a boat, ship or plane,” Carpenter said. “But when we reduce the weight of ammunition, we also reduce the number of vehicles in a convoy, amount of funding and the number of Marines we put in harm’s way.” 

The Marine Corps isn’t the only service pursuing polymer ammo. The U.S. Army is exploring the 7.62 lightweight small-caliber ammunition with the same polymer technology, while the Navy is pursuing an effort to develop small caliber lightweight cartridges and links that exceed the ballistic requirements of traditional cartridges. 

The Navy will partner with the Marine Corps to further advance their lightweight case and link development for a solution. Per the contract with MAC Technology, MCSC will receive a small quantity of polymer ammunition in the fourth quarter of fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Marines will assess the ammo to increase familiarity and validate the polymer rounds during an operational validation scheduled for the third quarter of fiscal year 2021. 

The program office estimates fielding will begin in fiscal year 2022. Lanham and Carpenter said the Corps is excited for the potential that polymer ammunition will have in winning the future fight. 

“What you’re seeing is not a quick surge of new technology, but the work of engineers, project officers and logisticians for the past decade,” Carpenter said. “The goal is to provide innovative and effective technology for the Marine Corps.” 

AMARILLO, Texas — The first CMV-22B Osprey, built by Boeing and Bell Textron Inc., completed first flight operations at Bell’s Amarillo Assembly Center, Boeing said in a Jan. 21 release. The CMV-22B is the latest variant of the tilt-rotor fleet, joining the MV-22 and CV-22 used by the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force. 

The U.S. Navy will use the CMV-22B to replace the C-2A Greyhound for transporting personnel, mail, supplies and high-priority cargo from shore bases to aircraft carriers at sea. Bell Boeing designed the Navy variant specifically for carrier fleet operations by providing increased fuel capacity for the extended range requirement. The mission flexibility of the Osprey will increase operational capabilities and readiness, in addition to ferrying major components of the F-35 engine. 

“With the ability to travel up to 1,150 nautical miles, the CMV-22B will be a lifeline for our servicemen and women out at sea,” said Kristin Houston, vice president of Boeing’s tilt-rotor programs and director of Bell Boeing’s V-22 program. “The quality and safety built into this aircraft will revolutionize the way the U.S. Navy fulfills its critical carrier onboard delivery mission.” 

Bell Boeing will deliver the first CMV-22B to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 in early 2020 for developmental testing.

WASHINGTON — Acting Navy Secretary Thomas B. Modly on Jan. 20 named a future aircraft carrier the USS Doris Miller (CVN 81) during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, honoring black Americans of the Greatest Generation. 

The day’s ceremony also paid homage to the beginning and end of America’s role in World War II and the scene where Doris Miller’s heroic actions cemented him into America’s history books.  

“It’s an honor to join you today on the birthday celebration of one of our nation’s — and the world’s — greatest spiritual, intellectual and moral leaders,” Modly said. “Seventy-five years ago, our nation bound together to secure victory against an existential threat, but also to secure opportunities for broader liberty and justice for the entire world.” 

“But we were not perfect in our own pursuits of these values here at home,” Modly continued. “That contradiction is an undeniable part of our history, one that cannot be glossed over or forgotten.” 

Doris “Dorie” Miller manned anti-aircraft guns during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, for which he had no training, and he tended to the wounded. He was recognized by the Navy for his actions and awarded the Navy Cross — the first black man to ever receive the honor. 

U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) delivered an emotional speech about the influence of Miller’s legacy on her own life. 

“All of my life, I’ve heard about how great Doris Miller was,” Johnson said. “[He] was my childhood hero. It was the spirit of Dorie Miller that made me appreciate being an American more than anything else because, in the days of real segregation, a black man from my hometown had stepped up to help save America. Dorie Miller started the civil rights movement and perhaps even gave Martin Luther King Jr. the spirit to lead us into the era of which he did.” 

Modly noted that throughout U.S. history, the finest of every generation have stepped forward to serve the cause of freedom around the world even if they were denied those same freedoms at home simply because of the color of their skin.  

On Dec. 7, 1941, Doris Miller did not let the prejudice of others define him, the Navy secretary said. Johnson said naming CVN 81 in honor of Doris Miller has done so much to recognize and highlight that no matter the color of a person’s skin, they can achieve anything. 

U.S. Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas), which includes Miller’s hometown of Waco, said it was an honor to pay tribute to one of America’s heroes from the Greatest Generation.  

“[Miller] was a man who exemplified the hearts of our Sailors and the spirit of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who we also recognize today,” Flores said. “Dr. King once said, ‘The time is always right to do something right’ and that is what Petty Officer Miller did. His story of bravery is a testament to his courage and commitment to serve both his fellow Sailors and his country.” 

For the members of Miller’s family present at the ceremony, it was a moment to reflect on the legacy their family lives to honor with every generation. 

“When Uncle Doris decided that he was going to step up to the machine gun and shoot, it was a ‘why not me?’ moment,” said Henrietta Blednose Miller, a niece of Miller’s. “As we go through life, we’re all going to be confronted with ‘why not me?’ moments whether they are small or big, but with each one, you will be affecting someone if you take an action at that moment.” 

CVN 81 will be the second ship named in honor of Miller and the first carrier ever named for a black American. The Doris Miller will also be the first aircraft carrier to be named in honor of a Sailor for actions while serving in the enlisted ranks.

WASHINGTON — Raytheon Co. has delivered its 10th AN/AQS-20C
mine-hunting sonar system to the U.S. Navy, the company said in a Jan. 15
release.

The sonar-towed body was officially transferred to the Naval
Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division. The system — which is the program
of record for the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship mine countermeasure mission
package — is now fully qualified and will move toward initial operating capability.

The AN/AQS-20C is made up of five
distinct sonars, including a synthetic aperture sonar that provides the highest
possible resolution for acoustic identification. The system detects,
classifies, localizes and identifies mines on the seabed, near-bottom moored
mines, volume mines and near-surface mines.

“AQS-20C is capable of enabling true single-pass, mine-hunting when paired with the Barracuda mine neutralizer,” said Wade Knudson, senior director of Raytheon’s Undersea Warfare Systems business area. “Delivery of the 10th towed body brings this critical autonomous technology one step closer to IOC.”

The AQS-20C system is platform agnostic and can be integrated onto various tow vehicles. It is a key element in single sortie detect-to-engage capability, which combines the search-detect-identify and neutralize elements of a mine countermeasures (MCM) mission on a single platform.

The program completed developmental testing last February and will undergo further integration on the MCM Unmanned Surface Vehicle early this year and ultimately aboard the littoral combat ship.