PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division successfully completed builder’s trials for guided missile destroyer Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), the company announced in an Aug. 27, 2021, release. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer spent three days in the Gulf of Mexico testing the ship’s combat system, which included firing a missile.  

“Ingalls, Navy AEGIS Test Team, the Navy ship’s force, the program office, numerous combat systems participating acquisition managers, and supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair worked together to ensure a successful builder’s trial,” said John Fillmore, Ingalls’ DDG 51 program manager. “A successful builder’s trial sets us up for a final trial prior to delivery. We are proud of the work our shipbuilders have accomplished so far and look forward to finishing strong.”

DDG 121 is named for Frank E. Petersen Jr., who was the U.S. Marine Corps’ first African American aviator and general officer. After entering the Naval Aviation Cadet Program in 1950, Petersen would go on to fly more than 350 combat missions during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Ingalls has delivered 32 destroyers to the Navy and currently has four more under construction including Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), Ted Stevens (DDG 128) and Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129).Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships and can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management, to sea control and power projection — all in support of the United States military strategy. The guided missile destroyers are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles. The ship contains a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense well into the 21st century.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Being flexible while raising families
in an ever-changing environment continues to be a high priority for military
spouses, the spouses of top sea service officials said May 7.

The panel of spouses at Sea-Air-Space 2019 discussed
their experiences in dealing with the challenging but rewarding life of being
married to members of the military.

“It’s an adventure,” said Dana Schultz, wife of Commandant
of the Coast Guard Adm. Karl L. Schultz. Throughout their military careers, the
Schultzes have moved 21 times — an enormous challenge when you have five children
to raise.

“Four out of five of our kids would recommend this
way of life,” Dana Schultz said. “So, I think we were pretty successful
overall showing them the positive in this crazy life of ours.”

Constantly moving to new places around the world still can
be tough for kids and spouses, but Ellyn Dunford, wife of the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, said she believes the
best solution to fighting those challenges is making the best of your
situation.

“Bloom where you are planted,” Ellyn Dunford
said. “If you want to be miserable in life, you will be miserable. … It’s all
what you make of it. Are you going to look for opportunities that will help
satisfy whatever need is not being answered by the problem you are facing right
now?”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Grabb-It is turning car-windows into visual displays, grabbing not only the attention of occasional passersby, but their data as well.

Four cars lined up in front of the Gaylord National Resort
& Convention Center, which hosted Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space 2019 exposition,
showed off the start-up company’s digital display windows for their client,
Lockheed Martin. Video of the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter covered
the back-right window of the front car in the display — as if the window was
replaced by a computer monitor.

“We usually park the cars in strategic locations to
showcase whatever creative content they want to show or whatever call-to-action
they want to showcase,” a Grabb-It employee working the display said.

But the potential of Grabb-It’s display technology isn’t
limited to advertising, according to the employees at Sea-Air-Space display. “It
actually pings people’s devices while [the cars] are out in the city,” one
employee said. “There are sensors you can put on them to get a bunch of
data as they are driving around.” As in more specific data than a cellphone
tower can provide.

The employees also pointed out their clients have crossed
into various industries from banking to music and now defense, hence their presence
at the Gaylord for Sea-Air-Space.

“That’s the interesting part about it. It’s
something relevant to all kinds of industries, not just advertising or media,” one
employee said. “I never expected to be working with Lockheed Martin.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Sea services leaders expressed unwavering support during a May 6 panel discussion for the nation’s future ventures in space — no matter whether the effort is split among the nation’s existing military branches or a new United States Space Force is created.

The panelists at Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space 2019 reiterated
the need to increase the nation’s space initiatives as rival nations such as
China, Russia, India and Japan build their push toward the stars.

“Space is no longer an uncontested environment,” said
Rear Adm. Christian Becker, commander, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.

As other countries stake their spots in space, the U.S.
needs to hold its “ground,” like when the maritime forces were first formed, Becker
explained.

“Space is very much akin to the maritime,” Becker said.
“We first went to sea to trade, and then we went to sea when we realized other
people could stop our trade. … Made sure we can maintain freedom at sea.”

Don’t expect the U.S. Space Force to appear overnight,
however. Services like the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are still evaluating
the personnel needed to staff an agency dedicated to the Final Frontier.

“We are assessing as part of the [Navy Department]
how we can meet the mission needs of the Space Force,” Becker said. “We’re not
there yet at our level of understanding, but that’s what we have to pursue.”

Finding and retaining the talent necessary to develop a
fully operational Space Force is a significant challenge, said Brig. Gen. Lorna
Mahlock, the Marine Corps’ chief information officer.

“It’s exciting to think about space … but we have to make
sure we develop the skill [to maintain a Space Force] and do it right,” Mahlock
said.

However, she emphasized that, no matter the
obstacles, the Marine Corps “embraces building the Space Force” and will offer its
full support.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Kevin Torkarski, associate administrator for Strategic Sealift for the Maritime Administration (MARAD), said strengthening maritime commerce and transportation are vital to controlling the sea, but MARAD can’t meet those demands in its current state.

“It’s great to have a naval force. The naval force isn’t as strong as we want it to be, and we know that. But how are we doing with controlling the sea with maritime commerce? We’re not,” said Tokarski, during a Navy League special topic breakfast on Aug 3.

Our power as a nation comes from the ability to move weapons, ammo and resources to the right place, Torkarski explained. In that way, transportation not only enables the nation’s economy but protect our nation as well.

“There are a lot of very important pieces,” Torkarski clarified, “but when it comes to it at the end of the day, you got to be able to move people, put things in certain places. As we say in the transport community, ‘Nothing happens until something moves.’”

Torkarski explained if you can’t get resources to your bases of operation, you’ve more or less lost the battle — a lesson other nations have learned from watching the U.S as a powerhouse of the sea.

“All of us from a maritime perspective need to come together with the realization that we need a stronger maritime presence at sea,” he said.

According to Torkarski, the current administration understands the need to strengthen maritime transportation. The next step, however, is how. How do you revive the U.S. maritime commerce to its former glory? Tokarski believes providing more U.S.-flag ships would change a lot, including adding much-needed mariners.’

“Cargo preference is not a dirty word. Cargo preference is a sound policy that when the federal government buys things and ships goods and services, we’re going to use U.S.-flag ships … to the maximum extent. My agency believes in that.”

To further support the law, Tokarski added, “Cargo preference buys us readiness.”

Tokarski knows him and his colleagues have been frequently repeating their cry for support as of late, but because of their consistent message, he believes MARAD could see beneficial changes to come in the near future.

“It is a message that is worth repeating,” Tokarski said. “It’s almost like sending out an SOS. You don’t do it one time. You got to keep doing it. I think it’s a good parallel of where we are at as a maritime nation.”