ARLINGTON, Va. — Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper is set to meet Nov. 25 with top U.S. Navy officials to discuss the way ahead in the wake of Secretary Richard V. Spencer’s sudden departure, a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement. Esper has proposed a retired Navy admiral to replace Spencer. 

Esper is meeting with Navy Undersecretary Thomas Modly, who is the acting civilian chief of the sea service, and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael M. Gilday, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in the release.  

Esper “has asked for the resignation of [Spencer] after losing trust and confidence in him regarding his lack of candor over conversations with the White House involving the handling of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher,” Hoffman said.  

Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Gallagher was tried by court martial for 10 crimes, including murder, allegedly committed during operations in Iraq, but was acquitted of the charges in July except for one count of posing for an unofficial picture with a human casualty, for which he was reduced in rank to petty officer first class.  

In a Nov. 24 tweet, President Trump said he “was not pleased with the way that Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s trial was handled by the Navy. He was treated very badly but, despite this, was completely exonerated on all major charges. I then restored Eddie’s rank.” 

“After Secretary Esper and Chairman [of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark A. Milley] spoke with the commander in chief on [Nov. 22] regarding the case of Gallagher, Secretary Esper learned that Secretary Spencer had previously and privately proposed to the White House — contrary to Spencer’s public position — to restore Gallagher’s rank and allow him to retire with his Trident pin,” the Defense Department release said. 

“When recently asked by Secretary Esper, Secretary Spencer confirmed that despite multiple conversations on the Gallagher matter, Secretary Esper was never informed by Secretary Spencer of his private proposal,” the release said. 

“Secretary Esper’s position with regard to [Uniform Code of Military Justice], disciplinary and fitness-for-duty actions has always been that the process should be allowed to play itself out objectively and deliberately, in fairness to all parties. However, at this point, given the events of the last few days, Secretary Esper has directed that Gallagher retain his Trident pin.” 

“I am deeply troubled by this conduct shown by a senior DOD official,” Esper said. “Unfortunately, as a result, I have determined that Secretary Spencer no longer has my confidence to continue in his position. I wish Richard well.” 

Spencer, who assumed office in July 2017, is a former Marine Corps helicopter pilot and business leader who worked to change the culture of the Navy and its business practices and warfighting readiness. He became frustrated with ongoing delays with the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its progress toward fleet service. Spencer openly criticized the Navy, congressionally imposed cost caps and the builder of the carrier, Huntington Ingalls, for the problems with the ship’s advanced weapons elevators. 

Trump said in the Nov. 24 tweet that he was disappointed with Spencer’s failure to address cost overruns from the contracting procedures of previous administrations.  

In his Nov. 24 resignation letter, Spencer said, “The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries. Good order and discipline is what has enabled our victory against foreign tyranny time and again, from Capt. Lawrence’s famous order, “Don’t Give up the Ship,” to the discipline and determination that propelled our flag to the highest point on lwo Jima. The Constitution and the Uniform Code of Military Justice are the shields that set us apart and the beacons that protect us all. Through my Title 10 authority, I have strived to ensure our proceedings are fair, transparent and consistent, from the newest recruit to the flag and general officer level. 

“Unfortunately, it has become apparent that in this respect I no longer share the same understanding with the commander in chief who appointed me. In regards to the key principle of good order and discipline, I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 

In his resignation letter, Spencer continued: “The president deserves and should expect a secretary of the Navy who is aligned with his vision for the future of our force generation and sustainment. Therefore, with pride in the achievements we’ve shared and everlasting faith in the continued service and fidelity of the finest Sailors, Marines and civilian teammates on earth, I hereby acknowledge my termination as United States secretary of the Navy, to be effective immediately.” 

Esper proposed to Trump that Ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite II, current ambassador to Norway and a retired Navy Reserve rear admiral, be considered as the next Navy secretary. Braithwaite is a former naval aviator who flew P-3 maritime patrol aircraft and who later became a Navy public affairs officer. 

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane returned to homeport in Portsmouth on Nov. 21 following a 78-day patrol in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard 5th District said. 

The crew of the Harriet Lane started their patrol by transiting to the northern Chesapeake Bay to evade Hurricane Dorian’s path. After the storm passed, the crew headed south to conduct a joint law enforcement patrol with the Belize coast guard within Belize’s territorial seas. The result of the joint effort provided for a greater maritime security in the region, in support of the Coast Guard’s Western Hemisphere Strategy. 

The crew of the Harriet Lane also worked with a Coast Guard tactical law enforcement team to conduct numerous boardings, including a go-fast vessel and a self-propelled semi-submersible vessel, resulting in the interdiction of more than 5,800 pounds of cocaine and 5,400 pounds of marijuana, which has a combined street value of over $109 million. 

“Our crew’s professionalism and adaptability were vital to the success of this patrol,” said Lt. Zachary Dietz, the operations officer aboard the Harriet Lane. “They proudly demonstrated the importance of remaining ready, relevant and responsive in order to address the maritime security challenges our country is facing today.” 

The crew of the Harriet Lane conducted the patrol in support of the Coast Guard’s 11th District and the U.S. Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force South and routinely deploys in support of counter-drug, alien migrant interdiction, fisheries and search-and-rescue missions. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps must change course. Peer
competition from Russia is resurgent and China is rapidly expanding its
influence. A return to a Fleet Marine Force is the new reality — and the sea
service must do all this in the face of budgetary uncertainty from Capitol
Hill, a top deputy of Commandant Gen. David H. Berger told a gathering at Navy
League headquarters on Nov. 21.

Brig. Gen. Robert C. Fulford, Berger’s legislative assistant,
told defense industry representatives at the Navy League’s monthly “Special
Topics Breakfast” that Berger is determined to carry through with the striking
directives he set forth this year in his “Commandant’s Planning Guidance” soon
after rising to become the 38th commandant of the Marine Corps. This includes
the notion that the Corps must restructure and, in Fulford’s words, “divest in
order to reinvest.”

“The recognition that there is a need to change is resonating
across the force,” Fulford said.

To do this, he said, the Marine Corps is taking a
“force-design approach.” He told a questioner later during the breakfast program
that this restructure didn’t necessarily mean doing away outright with certain programs
— just that some would need to be scaled back to better integrate Marine
missions with those of the U.S. Navy.

Fulford, who said he was “in the amphib business” and up until June was director of the Expeditionary Warfare School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, delivered a history lesson of sorts, saying the Corps was a “threat-based force” in a “bipolar world” from 1947 to 1991 when the single “peer competitor” to the U.S. was the Soviet Union. Now, he said, after years of fighting terrorism, the world the U.S. faces is “multipolar” with the Russian and Chinese surges, Iran and North Korea’s aggression and the continuing threats from nonstate actors.

“I know that the world ahead of us is going to be profoundly
different than the world behind us,” he said. He also mentioned that Navy
Secretary Richard V. Spencer is “intimately involved” in Berger’s proposed
force restructure and that the reception to it had been warm from leaders in
Congress.

But Fulford, who noted that he didn’t have a legislative
affairs background, also spoke at length about the cycle of continuing budget
resolutions in Congress that hampers Marine and Navy efforts to carry out any
force restructuring.

He said the sea services face the prospect of having to operate under a full-year continuing resolution (CR), which freezes spending at prior-year levels, rather than the regular appropriations process that allows for budget expansion — or at least flexibility — and proper defense program planning in conjunction with the defense industry.

The U.S. Senate is set to vote on a short-term, House-passed
CR that would avert a government shutdown but only extend funding through Dec.
20. In an atmosphere filled with impeachment hearings and resistance to funding
for President Trump’s border wall on the southern border with Mexico, Congress
may need another CR and may not be able to return to regular order anytime soon.

“We all recognize the tyranny of the congressional
calendar,” Fulford said, adding that military services — the Corps included —
had “normalized life under budget uncertainty.” He mentioned that projects such
as the restoration of housing at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, were still slowed
by budgetary uncertainty more than a year after Hurricane Florence struck the
base.

The commandant also “appreciates the impact of the CR on the industrial base,” Fulford added, recognizing that industry representatives were in the audience at Navy League HQ.

“We understand what it means to the small-business owner,” he said.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The continuing resolution currently in effect instead of an enacted fiscal 2020 budget already is taking a toll on the readiness of U.S. Navy units and acquisition plans, with two ship overhauls delayed indefinitely and more to come unless Congress acts soon, Navy officials said.  

Seven weeks into fiscal 2020, a CR is limiting Navy budget expenditures to 2019 levels, the sole year in the last decade in which the defense budget was enacted on time. When a CR is in effect, not only are expenditures and production orders limited but no new programs can be started. 

Inefficiencies also are induced that complicate government and industry planning, cause cash-flow problems and add costs to programs. The cascading effects include uncertainty in hiring workers and ordering materials. The uncertainty of the duration of the CR magnifies the problems for planners. 

“The No. 1 impact of a CR is instability,” said James F. Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, who spoke with Thomas W. Harker, assistant secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller, at a Nov. 15 media roundtable in the Pentagon. “It makes all your work unstable and inefficient.” 

Geurts said the Navy has had to postpone indefinitely the overhauls — called “availabilities” by the Navy — of two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, USS Bainbridge and USS Gonzalez, which were supposed to start on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8, respectively.  

Burned by many years of CRs, the Navy has learned to plan few new program starts for the first quarter of a fiscal year to reduce the impact of a CR. 

Geurts presented an analysis of the effects of the six-month CR and a year-long CR to reporters. A six-month CR would force the Navy to delay the procurement of one Virginia-class submarine, one Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ship and two utility landing craft and the start of the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis. It also would delay the production of 32 new training helicopter systems, 22 F-5 adversary jets, five F-35C strike fighters and three MQ-9 Reaper UAVs, the latter for the Marine Corps. The CR also would create a cash shortfall of $1 billion for maintenance, equipment and spare parts and delay 17 new-start research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) projects. 

A year-long CR would delay all of the above plus the completion of five ships; the start of the FFG(X) frigate program; the procurement of a KC-130J tanker aircraft; more than 500 weapons; and another seven RDT&E projects, plus 33 military construction projects. 

The RDT&E projects delayed would include new unmanned systems planned for the fleet such as the Large Unmanned Surface Vessel, Conventional Prompt Strike, Artificial Intelligence development, surface and shallow-water mine countermeasures development, and digital warfare. 

The one-year CR would restrict operations and maintenance with a shortfall of about $5.6 billion, which would result in the cancellation of 14 ship availabilities; shut down nondeployed carrier air wings and expeditionary squadrons; reduced flight hours for aircraft and steaming days for ships; delays in repairs of hurricane-damaged bases; and delays in Marine Corps unit training and exercises.    

Geurts said the top three procurement programs that would be impacted by a CR would be the new Advanced Helicopter Training System, the FFG(X) and the RCOH of the USS John C. Stennis. 

Geurts said the Navy has some flexibility to deal with anomalies in the budget to shore up some programs. The sea service is working on plans to keep the Columbia ballistic-missile submarine program from being affected and to start the construction program in 2021 on time despite the CR. 

The Columbia is the Navy’s top procurement priority.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk repatriated 23 of 28 Dominican migrants to the Dominican Republic navy in Santo Domingo following the interdiction of an illegal migrant voyage in the Mona Passage, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release. 

Five of the interdicted migrants remain in Puerto Rico to face possible federal prosecution on charges of violating U.S. Code for attempting to illegally re-enter the United States, which carries a potential maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000. 

The interdiction was the result of ongoing efforts in support of Operation Unified Resolve, Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG).  

“We are glad that we were able to arrive in time to safely recover all 28 migrants from this grossly overloaded vessel,” said Lt. Christopher Martin, commanding officer of the Donald Horsley. “This vessel could have easily capsized, and the people onboard would have had a very little chance of survival since they basically possessed no lifesaving equipment onboard. We appreciate the collaboration and coordination of are CBP partners, which allowed for a prompt response and successful outcome in this case.” 

The interdiction took place Nov. 14 after a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations DHC-8 patrol aircraft crew sighted a migrant boat just off Mona Island. The Donald Horsley diverted to the scene and interdicted the 30-foot migrant boat with 28 adult Dominican men aboard. 

The crew of the Donald Horsley transferred the migrants to the cutter Mohawk for their repatriation, while the five migrants awaiting prosecution were transferred to the cutter Joseph Napier. Ramey Sector Border Patrol agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, received custody of the five migrants awaiting federal prosecution.

SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of its third expeditionary sea base (ESB) ship, USNS Miguel Keith (T-ESB 5), on Nov. 15, Program Executive Office-Ships said in a release. 

Delivery marks the official transfer of the ship from the shipbuilder to the Navy. The USNS Miguel Keith will be owned and operated by Military Sealift Command. 

“The Navy and industry team overcame significant setbacks in the construction of this ship, and I’m extremely proud of the urgency and determination displayed on everyone’s part to deliver a high-quality ship that will support our operational requirements in the 7th Fleet area of operations,” said Capt. Scot Searles, Strategic Sealift and Theater Sealift program manager, Program Executive Office Ships. “Like the ship’s namesake, those who sail aboard Miguel Keith will embody his dedication to service to our country.” 

ESBs are flexible, modular platforms that are optimized to support a variety of maritime-based missions such as special operations force and airborne mine countermeasures support operations in addition to humanitarian support and sustainment of traditional military missions. 

ESBs include a four-spot flight deck and hangar and a versatile mission deck and are designed around four core capabilities: aviation facilities, berthing, equipment staging support and command and control assets. ESBs will operate as the component commander requires, providing the fleet with critical access to infrastructure that supports the flexible deployment of forces and supplies. 

USNS Miguel Keith was built by General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego. NASSCO is under contract for detail design and construction of ESBs 6 and 7 with an option for ESB 8.

WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer announced a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named in honor of late Sen. Thad Cochran, a Navy veteran, the secretary’s public affairs said in a release. 

Cochran was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1959 after graduating from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and completed his service in the U.S. Navy in 1961. 

He served on the staff of the Commandant of the 8th Naval District in New Orleans; taught military law and naval orientation at the Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island; and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. 

Cochran went on to serve in the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1978 and represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate from 1978 to 2018. He was recognized as the 10th longest-serving senator in the U.S. history. He was chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee from 2005 to 2007 and from 2015 to 2018. 

“From his service as a legal officer aboard the heavy cruiser USS Macon, to his dedicated work on behalf of our Sailors and Marines on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Thad Cochran was always a strong advocate for our nation’s defense and a courtly voice for cooperation and civility in American politics,” Spencer said. “We mourned his passing this May, but his legacy will live on wherever this Arleigh Burke-class destroyer may serve.”   

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. The USS Thad Cochran will be capable of fighting air, surface, and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam of 59 feet and be capable of operating in excess of 30 knots.

WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer announced a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will bear the name of the late Sen. Richard G. Lugar, a Navy veteran, Spencer’s public affairs office said in a release. 

Lugar served in the Navy from 1957 to 1960 and represented Indiana in the U.S. Senate for 36 years. He died April 28. 

“Senator Lugar dedicated his life to his country, first through service in the U.S. Navy then through service in Congress,” Spencer said. “I am honored to name a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer after him. It is fitting this class of ship should bear Senator Lugar’s name, just as he served under Admiral Burke in life. This ship and her crew will continue his legacy of service, safeguarding the safety and security of America and her allies all over the world.” 

Lugar attended Officer Candidate School in Rhode Island, with follow-on training in Florida, before serving as an intelligence briefer for Adm. Arleigh Burke, who was chief of naval operations at the time. 

As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Lugar was a co-creator of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which provided funding and expertise to secure and dismantle nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and delivery systems around the world. In recent years, funding provided through the program has focused on export and border control programs and on the detection of radiological weapons. 

In 2013, Lugar was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

The future USS Richard G. Lugar will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam of 59 feet and will be capable of operating in excess of 30 knots. 

PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division marked the start of fabrication of the U.S. Coast Guard’s newest Legend-class national security cutter, Calhoun, on Nov. 12, according to a company release. The start of fabrication signifies that the first 100 tons of steel for a ship have been cut. 

“Each new ship in this class has been an exciting opportunity to build on our legacy,” said Jay Boyd, Ingalls’ NSC program manager. “This is the 10th cutter in the class and a steady production line has allowed our shipbuilders to continually improve on how we build and deliver these technologically advanced cutters to the nation.” 

NSC 10 is named for Master Chief Petty Officer Charles L. Calhoun, who was the first MCPOCG. He served in the U.S. Navy for three years during World War II and was honorably discharged in February 1946 as a torpedoman second class but enlisted in the Coast Guard that September. Over the course of 14 years he held various Coast Guard leadership positions, serving as MCPOCG from August 1969 until August 1973. 

Ingalls has delivered eight Legend–class NSCs, two more are under construction and one additional is under contract. Stone, the ninth NSC, is scheduled for delivery in 2020. 

NSCs can meet all maritime security mission needs required of the high-endurance cutter. They include an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid-hull inflatable boats and a flight deck to accommodate a range of manned and unmanned rotary wing aircraft.

The Legend class is the largest and most technologically advanced class of cutter in the Coast Guard, with maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense capabilities. NSCs enhance the Coast Guard’s operational readiness, capacity and effectiveness at a time when the demand for their services has never been greater.

NEW YORK — The U.S. Coast Guard will name two of its new Sentinel-class fast-response cutters in honor of two public servants and Coast Guardsmen who lost their lives responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, the Coast Guard 1st District announced in a Nov. 12 release. 

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz made the announcement in New York’s Battery Park flanked by Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner James O’Neill and Fire Chief John Sudnik. 

The two new cutters will be named for Vincent Danz and Jeffrey Palazzo. 

Palazzo served as a Coast Guard reservist and New York firefighter at Rescue 5 in Staten Island. He died while helping others at the World Trade Center. Danz, also a Coast Guard reservist, was a police officer with the emergency services unit in the Bronx and was helping victims at Ground Zero when the Trade Center collapsed. 

“We are humbled and grateful for the opportunity to honor these brave men whose service and sacrifice spanned three great first-responder organizations,” Schultz said. “Their broad military and public service to both the nation and City of New York demonstrated their incredible dedication and character. When the call came, they answered. We are certain that the men and women who serve aboard Coast Guard Cutter Vincent Danz and Coast Guard Cutter Jeffrey Palazzo … will proudly carry on their sense of honor, respect and devotion to duty.” 

“On the day we needed them most, our city’s brave first responders ran toward danger without hesitation,” de Blasio said. “Officer Vincent Danz and Firefighter Jeffrey Palazzo lived and died in service to our city and our country, and I join the U.S. Coast Guard, NYPD and FDNY in remembering the sacrifices they made to keep us safe. They were heroes, plain and simple, and their spirit will live on through these vessels as they continue to protect our city and nation from harm.” 

The new cutters are scheduled for delivery starting in 2023. FRCs are the mainstay of the Coast Guard’s coastal patrol fleet, providing multimission capabilities and interagency interoperability.

They feature advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment; over-the-horizon cutter boat deployment to reach vessels of interest; and improved habitability and sea-keeping. They are replacing 1980s-era Island-class 110-foot patrol boats.