OSHKOSH, Wis. — Oshkosh Defense successfully demonstrated the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle-based Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary (ROGUE) Fires at the Sink at Sea Live Fire Training Exercises in Hawaii, the company said Aug. 18.

As part of the demonstration, a Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) launcher, based on a ROGUE Fires chassis, successfully launched a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and scored a direct hit on a target at sea, said the company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oshkosh Corp.

The exercise, known as SINKEX, is a component of the U.S. Navy’s Large-Scale Exercise 2021, a global event in which Sailors and Marines test and validate the Navy and Marine Corps’ operating concepts.

ROGUE Fires is an unmanned ground vehicle that leverages the Joint Light Tactical Vehicles’ extreme off-road mobility and payload capacity and Oshkosh’s advanced autonomous vehicle technologies to support Ground-Based Anti-Ship Missile operations. The unmanned technology associated with ROGUE Fires allows the vehicle to operate in teleoperator or leader-follower modes, which protect warfighters from threats by removing them from the vehicle entirely.  

“ROGUE Fires was purpose-built and leverages next-generation capabilities from several proven Oshkosh Defense vehicle platforms and technologies,” said Pat Williams, vice president and general manager of U.S. Army and Marine Corps Programs.

“Much like the JLTV itself, ROGUE Fires is tailorable to the mission at hand. The flexible design allows for the integration of scalable weapon system payloads to offer the combatant commanders flexibility based on the mission’s requirements.”

Since receiving the JLTV production contract in 2015, Oshkosh Defense has worked closely with leading weapon system manufacturers to integrate and test various weapon system payloads and levels of firepower onto the platform. 

“The successful LSE demonstration validates the maturity of ROGUE Fires as a weapons platform and highlights its ability to add significant firepower and capability into the light tactical wheeled vehicle fleet,” Williams said.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Under the direction of U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Navy and Coast Guard units have been deployed to provide disaster relief to the victims of the Aug. 14 earthquake that struck southern Haiti. More than 1,400 people are confirmed dead from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake, according to press reports. 

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has established a joint task force on Aug. 15 to handle the relief efforts. The command also established a Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH) Situational Awareness Team in the Haitian capital, Port-Au-Prince, to help coordinate the relief efforts. 

The U.S. Coast Guard responded Aug. 15 with several helicopters and maritime patrol aircraft to help evacuate injured people. 

“On August 15, at the request of the Haitian Government, the Coast Guard surged aircraft and personnel to help critically injured patients from impacted areas to Port au Prince where they may obtain higher levels of care,” said Coast Guard Seventh District Commander, Rear Adm. Brendan C. McPherson. “Additionally, we are coordinating with USAID and U.S. Southern Command to move urban search and rescue responders, medical personnel and supplies to impacted areas. Our crews are trained and empowered to use sound on-scene initiative to judge the risks as they respond to the most urgent requests for help. Our people have a true bias for action and know how to lead through a crisis.” 

Kirby said the Navy was sending the San Antonio-class amphibious platform dock ship USS Arlington to Haiti. The ship is carrying two MH-60 helicopters and one landing craft. 

Also en route is the USNS Burlington, a Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport operated by the Military Sealift Command, which is carrying ScanEagle surveillance unmanned aerial vehicles. 

Two P-8A maritime patrol aircraft deployed to El Salvador have been staged near Haiti to provide support for the relief efforts with imagery of damaged areas of the country. 

Two UH-60 and two CH-47 helicopters from Joint Task Force-Bravo are also en route to Haiti, where they will provide critical airlift support to ongoing relief efforts. 

Kirby also said that four field hospitals also were being dispatched to Haiti. 

The Coast Guard 7th District said its efforts from Aug. 15-16 included more than 38 Coast Guard members deployed, 34 aviation evolutions, 51 people saved and 12 people assisted.

Seventy-two Fairfax County Fire Department’s urban search and rescue crews, USAID Disaster Assistance Response Teams, medical personnel and first responders transported 5,500 pounds of medical supplies.

Coast Guard assets deployed for the relief efforts include two Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrews, a Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew, a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew, a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater HC-130 Hercules aircrew and the Coast Guard Cutters Reliance, Winslow Griesser and Margaret Norvell.

MOBILE, Ala. — Austal USA was awarded a sustainment execution contract (SEC) by the U.S. Navy Aug. 13 for repair, maintenance, and modernization for all littoral combat ships (LCS) homeported in Mayport, Florida, the company said in an Aug. 16 release. 

The SEC East contract is the second major service contract for Austal USA this month following the SEC West award Aug. 5. As a result, Austal USA is now positioned to support the entire LCS fleet worldwide. This award also marks a milestone in Austal USA’s expansion to the east coast.  

“Austal USA is committed to the success of the LCS program and the growth of our services business. This award enables us to support both variants anywhere in the world,” Austal USA interim president Rusty Murdaugh said. “The SEC West and SEC East awards are a direct reflection of the growth of our services capabilities and the confidence the U.S. Navy has in Austal to provide critical services to the fleet regardless of location.” 

The SEC East award is yet another building block to Austal’s continued investment in its service business. Following continued investment in its service centers in Mobile, San Diego and Singapore, Austal USA was awarded an SEC West contract Aug. 5 to support all LCS homeported in San Diego. Additionally, In September 2020, the company invested in its U.S. Gulf Coast service operation, expanding its Mobile service center by purchasing 15 acres of waterfront property along the Mobile River. The purchase included 100,000 square feet of covered repair facilities and a 20,000-ton Panamax-class floating dry dock and supports both government and commercial service and repair. 

“We’re excited to add service capabilities in Mayport to support the U.S. Navy’s Southeast Regional Maintenance Center and grow our involvement in the Jacksonville community,” Murdaugh said. “We continue to invest in our service business to ensure our customers have the very best service and support available to them anytime, anywhere.” 

FORT MACON, N.C. — The Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead (WPB 87324) officially arrived at its new homeport in Fort Macon, North Carolina, Aug. 6, 2021, the Coast Guard 5th District said in an Aug. 17 release. 

The Steelhead is a coastal patrol boat with a crew of 11 men and women whose area of operations ranges from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay near Cape Charles and Cape Henry, Virginia, to the South Carolina border.   

Steelhead joins Coast Guard Cutters Maple, Bayberry, Smilax, Richard Snyder, and the Nathan Bruckenthal in Fort Macon.  

“We are pleased to announce the Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead has relocated to Fort Macon, North Carolina,” said Capt. Matt Baer, commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector North Carolina. “As a multi-mission, maritime service with vast responsibilities and limited resources, we are constantly seeking ways to be more efficient and effective. Cutter Steelhead will conduct both law enforcement and search and rescue operations spanning the entire North Carolina coastline, providing an outstanding addition to the Coast Guard’s layered response strategy of shore-based boats, aircraft, and cutters. The change of homeport will ensure critical mission support functions for cutter maintenance and personnel needs are met, while improving offshore response capabilities from the Outer Banks throughout the Crystal Coast and across southeastern North Carolina. The crew and families of the cutter Steelhead are excited to join the long-standing heritage of lifesavers who call the Coast Guard community of Cartaret County their home.” 

The 87-foot coastal patrol boat is a capable multi-mission platform designed for search and rescue, law enforcement, and fisheries patrols, as well as drug interdiction and illegal alien interdiction duties up to 200 miles offshore.  

ARLINGTON, Va. — As a major step in its 20-year plan to upgrade and modernize its shipyard capacity and capability, the Navy has awarded a major construction contract for a multi-mission dry dock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNSY) in Kittery, Maine.  

The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, awarded 381 Constructors of Omaha, Nebraska, a $1.73 billion firm-fixed-price contract for construction of the dry dock, an Aug. 13 Defense Department contract announcement said. The funds will be disbursed in increments over a seven-year period. Work is expected to be completed by June 2028. 

PNSY is a Navy-owned shipyard which specializes in the repair, modification, and overhaul of nuclear-powered attack submarines. The upgrades are part of the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP), a 20-year plan to modernize the Navy’s four shipyards. The other three shipyards are Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia; Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; and Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii. 

“Our naval shipyards need these major modernization efforts to sustain our ability to maintain our nuclear submarine fleet,” said Vice Adm. William Galinis, commander, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), in an Aug. 16 release. “The Navy needs combat-ready ships and submarines to go where they’re needed, when they’re needed, and these major upgrades and reconfigurations at our naval shipyards will enable the fleet to meet its future missions.” 

The seven-year project will construct an addition to Dry Dock 1 within the existing flood basin area, as well as new concrete floors, walls, pump systems, caissons, and other mechanical and electrical utilities, enhancing the 221-year-old shipyard’s ability to handle multiple Los Angeles-class and Virginia-class submarines, the Navy said. 

SIOP is a joint effort between Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command and Navy Installations Command “to recapitalize and modernize the infrastructure at the Navy’s four public shipyards, including repairing and modernizing dry docks, restoring shipyard facilities and optimizing their placement, and replacing aging and deteriorating capital equipment,” the Naval Facilities Systems Command said.  

“We look forward to getting this critical construction mega-project underway,” said Rear Adm. John Korka, commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, and Navy chief of Civil Engineers.  “This project — and other work being planned at all four of our naval shipyards — is one of the most significant and direct contributions that our systems command team can make to enable our Navy’s lethality and maximize its readiness for many years to come.” 

NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND, Calif. — The last E-2C Hawkeye to complete the planned maintenance interval two (PMI-2) procedure at Fleet Readiness Center Southwest (FRCSW) departed the command’s test line Aug. 3 to Carrier Airborne Early Squadron 116 (VAW-116) stationed at Naval Base Ventura County, the center said in an Aug. 12 release. 

The aircraft was inducted Sept. 21, 2020, from VAW-123. 

Developed by the Grumman Aircraft Co. in the mid-1960s, the twin turbo-propeller E-2 Hawkeye and its sister airframe, the C-2A Greyhound transport, still serve aboard naval aircraft carriers. 

Production of the airborne early warning system (AEWS) E-2C variant began in 1973. With its detachable 24-foot diameter rotodome radar system, the Hawkeye’s ability to guard against airborne threats remains the standard for protection of naval carrier battle groups to this day. 

FRCSW performs two levels of scheduled maintenance on the airframe: PMI-1, or a light maintenance interval at FRCSW’s Site Pt Mugu and FRC Mid-Atlantic, and PMI-2, or a heavy maintenance which is handled at FRCSW’s Building 460 onboard Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI). 

During PMI-1, artisans assess the attachment points of the flight control surfaces on the body of the aircraft, the engines, and other areas identified in the maintenance specification. Sheet metal repairs are made and worn parts replaced. 

FRCSW is the Navy’s sole provider of PMI-2 events to the airframe, and employs approximately 120 artisans and 53 indirect support personnel. Though not a complete overhaul, PMI-2 is a substantial disassembly of the aircraft down to the fuselage. Artisans remove the aircraft’s wings, engines, landing gear and tail. 

By using chemical or physical means, the aircraft’s corrosion preventive paint is removed and an in-depth metal assessment is performed to locate surface anomalies like cracks, corrosion, exfoliation and missing fasteners. 

PMI-2 procedures are completed under a project management method called the Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) program. CCPM designates resources — like people and equipment — needed to complete a task in a specific amount of time. A software program called “Concerto” is used to manage the aircraft’s throughput as well as multiple CCPM projects. 

The E-2 CCPM throughput is divided into four procedures: induction, repair, assembly and test line. Each step has a targeted completion time for a total of about 220 days, depending on material availability.  

During fiscal 2020, FRCSW inducted five of the aircraft for PMI-2 and one for PMI-1. Approximately 29 E-2Cs remain in service. The command will continue to support the maintenance requirements of the airframe as the Navy transitions to the technologically advanced E-2D, the fourth variant that will replace the E-2C.  

FRCSW delivered its first E-2D Hawkeye to complete PMI-2 last January. 

MIAMI — Haitian’s government requested Coast Guard assistance following a magnitude 7.2 earthquake, the Coast Guard 7^th District said in an Aug. 15 release. The Coast Guard has committed numbers of air and surface assets to help in transporting medical personnel and supplies and transporting critically injured citizens to facilities needing a higher level of care in Port au Prince, Haiti.   

“On behalf of the United States Coast Guard I express our deepest sympathies to the people of Haiti,” said Coast Guard District Seven Commander, Adm. Brendan McPherson. “Our hearts go out to our Haitian diaspora here in Miami and to those tragically impacted in Haiti. We are supporting USAID humanitarian relief efforts, U.S. Southern Command’s Enduring Promise, and coordinating closely with Ambassador Sison and her country-team to assist in every way that we can. Our helicopters and aircrews are transporting medical personnel and evacuating those requiring higher levels of care. Our cutters remain offshore and on standby to assist the citizens of Haiti and to support agency response locally. Our unity of effort, our commitment to our neighbors, and our ability to lead through crisis will help see us all through this tragic event.” 

ALAMEDA, Calif. – The Legend-class cutter Munro (WMSL 755) arrived in the Western Pacific Aug. 15 from its homeport in Alameda for a months-long deployment to the region, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in an Aug. 13 release. 

The crew is operating in support of United States Indo-Pacific Command, which oversees military operations in the region. 

Operating under the tactical control of commander, 7th Fleet, the cutter crew plans to engage in professional exchanges and capacity-building exercises with partners and allies and will patrol and operate as directed. 

“Forward-deployed Naval Forces routinely and seamlessly integrate as one maritime force with a proud heritage of serving and fighting together,” said Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet. “It is a fitting nod to that heritage that Munro joins us following the U.S. Coast Guard celebration of its 231st birthday on Aug. 4.” 

The Coast Guard’s deployment to the Indo-Pacific theater aligns with the integrated all-domain naval power of the naval service and increases the traditional influence of sea power regionally. 

“The U.S. Coast Guard’s unique authorities, capabilities, and missions position us to collaborate on maritime safety and security with partners around the world,” said Vice Adm. Michael F. McAllister, commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area. “An increased presence throughout the Indo-Pacific strengthens our alliances and partnerships through improved interoperability, which will enhance regional stability, promote rules-based order, and improve maritime governance and security in the region and globally.” 

Coast Guard forces provide expertise within the mission sets of search and rescue; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; maritime environmental response; maritime security; and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Deployable Coast Guard cutters, port security units, and advanced interdiction teams are also highly capable in augmenting naval operations in theater. 

As both a federal law enforcement agency and an armed force, the Coast Guard is uniquely positioned to conduct defense operations and security cooperation in support of combatant commanders on all seven continents. The service routinely provides forces in joint military operations worldwide, including the deployment of cutters, boats, aircraft and deployable specialized forces. 

The U.S. Coast Guard has a 150-year enduring role in the Indo-Pacific. The service’s ongoing deployment of resources to the region directly supports U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives in the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the National Security Strategy. 

Commissioned in 2017, Munro is one of four Coast Guard legend class national security cutters homeported in Alameda. National security cutters are 418-feet long, 54-feet wide, and have a 4,600 long-ton displacement. They have a top speed in excess of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 nautical miles, endurance of up to 90 days and can hold a crew of up to 170. Munro is the second cutter named for Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro, the only Coast Guardsman awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. 

National security cutters feature advanced command and control capabilities, aviation support facilities, stern cutter boat launch and increased endurance for long-range patrols to disrupt threats to national security further offshore. 

Since 2018, three other Coast Guard Cutters — Bertholf, Stratton and Waesche — have deployed to the Western Pacific. 

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Coast Guard Cutter James (WMSL- 754) and crew returned to Charleston, Aug. 14, following an 82-day counter-drug patrol in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard 7th District said in an Aug. 16 release.  

The James crew offloaded nearly 51,000 pounds of cocaine and marijuana worth an estimated $1.4 billion, Aug. 5, 2021, at Port Everglades, Florida. 

Working alongside other Coast Guard cutters, U.S. Navy ships and international allies, the James patrol efforts were in direct support of drug interdiction efforts in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean to put increased pressure on the drug trafficking organizations operating in Central and South America.  

During their patrol, the James crew, augmented by an embarked armed helicopter aircrew from the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON), successfully interdicted 11 drug smuggling vessels and seized or disrupted nearly 13,608 kilograms of cocaine. The James crew also successfully executed two search and rescue cases off the coast of Florida, saving eight distressed mariners over Memorial Day weekend.  

“This patrol highlights our crew’s continued commitment to protecting the maritime border from our adversaries. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Capt. Todd Vance, James commanding officer. “The James crew demonstrated supreme resilience and the results of their exceptional performance are being showcased today.”  

The Coast Guard Cutter James is one of three 418-foot National Security Cutters (NSC) homeported in North Charleston, South Carolina. With its robust command, control, communication, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance equipment, the NSC is the most technologically advanced ship in the Coast Guard’s fleet. NSCs are equipped with three state-of-the-art small boats, a stern boat launch system, dual aviation facilities, and serve as an afloat command and control platform for complex law enforcement and national security missions involving the Coast Guard and numerous partner agencies.  

Navies that operate frigate-sized ships and larger will generally need to provide for a replenishment-at-sea capability, but many of those navies do not have large replenishment ships that can operate on extended missions to sustain their ships while deployed, or one may not be present where their warships are operating.

They can, however, be supported by oilers and replenishment ships from other navies, as long as both the combatants and logistics ships are built and operated to the international standard. When navies that follow that standard, there is a much large force of replenishment vessels for everyone.

According to Cmdr. J.H. “Han” van Huizen, NATO Maritime Command Branch head for Logistic Operations & Exercises, both NATO and the nations have collective responsibility for the logistic support of alliance opera­tions and missions (AOM).

“The nations are responsible for ensuring that maritime units and formations assigned to NATO are properly supported by an effective and efficient tailored logistics structure for AOM, including a proportional contribution to theater-level support capabilities,” he said.

“From the NATO perspective, logistics is a national responsibility, but the nations and NATO authorities have a collective responsibility for logistic support of NATO’s multinational operations. Logistics support must be sufficient to sustain maritime operations and is required in theater to support forward deployed maritime forces,” van Huizen said. “When operating in a task group, for example, the ships will coordinate efforts like replenishment at sea [RAS] with designated fleet logistic coordinators and a group logistic coordinator. Cooperation among the nations and NATO authorities is essential.”

Interoperability is achieved because the navies have agreed-upon standards. They use the same rigs, procedures, terminology and documentation. Interoperability starts with design standards and includes the concepts of operations and operational procedures. NATO and partner nations can do this because they have agreed to follow the same standards and the same manual.

The U.S. Navy’s manual for underway replenishment is essentially the same as the NATO manual, which provides conceptual interoperability from the start.

“ATP-16 is the NATO document that has the parts to procedures on how things are going to happen. This is the document to make sure all those countries that are listed in the manual can interact easily with each other,” said Richard Hadley, an underway replenishment (UNREP) engineer with Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division in California.

To achieve interoperability, the visual signals have to be the same on both the delivering and receiving ships. The sound-powered phones have to connect the same way. Emergency breakaway procedures have to be the same.

Interoperability has to be designed in from the beginning, not done as an afterthought. “There’s a device on a cargo receiving station called the NATO Long Link, and the pelican hook on all of the delivering ships will connect with that. It’s the same on all of the ships,” Hadley said. 

“We’re the engineers who design and support the UN­REP system, not the people who are out there every day conducting these evolutions, but we take our work very seriously,” Hadley said. “It has to be safe. It has to be effective and reliable. You don’t want the fleet to have logistics problems, because your system goes down. If the system doesn’t work, the fleet won’t be able to do what they need to do. We always have to be aware of that.”

Singapore-based Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific (COMLOG WESTPAC)/Task Force 73 (CTF 73), is the U.S. 7th Fleet’s provider of combat-ready logistics, operating government owned and contracted ships to keep those ships armed, fueled and fed.

“Reliable and responsive sustainment enable ships to remain at sea — ships at sea are key to the global presence that underpins regional security and stability,” said Cmdr. Rob Paul, deputy assistant chief of staff for Logistics, COMLOG WESTPAC/CTF 73. “Replenishments at sea are one way we enhance our interchangeability with friends, partners and allies in the region. This is true whether we are resupplying other nations, or they are resupplying us, because our partners and allies are able to supply us with fresh food, stores and fuel, and we can do the same for them. We can sustain nearly any partner or ally in this region and vice versa. That is at the core of interchangeability and interoperability.”

According to Paul, the U.S. has conducted replenishment operations with Australia, France, India, Japan, Republic of Korea and Singapore. The U.S has received cargo and/or fuel from Australia, Japan and Republic of Korea in the past year.

Safety First

Because replenishments and refueling at sea are inherently dangerous, Paul said the most important attribute allied and partner navies share are basic safety features.

“Prior coordination before any RAS helps ensure safe and efficient operations. While there are standard operating guidelines we publish in an unclassified manual, before each replenishment operation we transmit an official message that reiterates agreed upon procedures and guidance regarding many factors from ship speed to acceptable weather,” he said.

After safety, it becomes a matter of efficiency, such as the standard NATO fittings that can provide the optimal fuel transfer rates.

“It’s also important to ensure you are delivering the right cargo,” Paul said. “We coordinate that at the fleet logistics level. Our CLF fleet replenishment oilers and dry goods and ammunition ships can receive cargo, stow it and transfer it using the same general process as any partner or allied cargo vessel.”

The U.S. and allied and partner navies follow the same protocols or procedures to seamlessly deliver or receive fuel, ammunition and stores at sea. 

Paul said great advances are being made in the areas of authorities and legal considerations as well. “We are making strides is at higher levels of engagement, specifically, navigating through the complex accounting process,” he said. “Both we and our partners are committed to strengthening and simplifying these channels to ensure the comprehensive process — from ordering, scheduling, paying and delivery — moves at the speed of combat.”

“At the tactical level, we routinely prove that our procedures really are very similar,” Paul said. “What’s important is that we continue working and exercising together, because through those exchanges we continue building a shared confidence in our interchangeability and interoperability during the sustainment process.”

One example of enhanced interoperability is the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) assigning an officer to the CTF 73 staff to serve as a liaison regarding replenishment at sea with their respective ships. The liaison officer works with the CTF 73 logistics officer in planning and executing combined replenishment operations to ensure the efficiency of combined logistics operations between the JMSDF, U.S. Navy and Military Sealift Command.

Tactical Edge

U.S., Japanese and French ships demonstrated the ability for allied and partner navies to successfully replenish each other’s ships this in May in the Philippine Sea when fleet replenishment oiler USNS Big Horn (T-AO 198) conducted a replenishment-at-sea with the French navy amphibious assault ship FS Tonnerre (L 9014), and JMSDF Replenishment Ship JS Masyuu (AOE 425)replenished the French Navy frigate FS Surcouf (F 711).

“Replenishment-at-sea is a maneuver of special interest for our Navy assets operating in the Indo-Pacific,” said French navy Rear Adm. Jean-Mathieu Rey, joint commander of French armed forces, in Asia-Pacific. “First, it highlights the excellent level of tactical interoperability between partners, as RAS is a complex maritime operation, requiring perfect seamanship training and technical coordination. Then, it allows our respective naval forces to operate durably at sea without the constraint of replenishment port visits. Today, in the specific context of the current pandemic, whereas access to some harbor is denied to our navy ship, this capacity is of first importance.”

Because of the interoperability and standard procedures, crewmembers involved with underway replenishment, either the delivering or receiving ship, know what to expect from the ship alongside.

“Coordinating operations throughout 7th fleet with our allies and partners ashore and afloat is made simple through the use of standardized publications and instructions and operations are conducted safely and professionally IAW standardized procedures,” said Ryan Snow, a cargo mate aboard USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE 10), currently operating in the Indo-Pacific AOR.

“We apply common skills, together with a number of international navies in support of operations at sea,” said Charles Drew’s 2nd Officer Brian Knudson. It is by these common procedures and safety protocols, that we are able to sustain joint operations.”

While it may appear to become routine, it isn’t.

Underway replenishment “happens all the time, every day, somewhere in the world, but it’s inherently dangerous,” said Hadley. “All sorts of bad things can happen if you don’t have professionals that know what they’re doing.”