A native of San Marcos, California, Thompson received his commission from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1997. His sea tours included USS George Philip (FFG 12), USS Cape St. George (CG 71), and USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53). He served…
Muslim Civil Rights Group Protests Name ‘Fallujah’ for U.S. Navy Ship
ARLINGTON, Va. — A Muslim civil rights group is protesting the U.S. Navy’s selection of the name “Fallujah” as the name of a future amphibious assault ship. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), self-described as the nation’s largest Muslim civil…
Marine Corps Adds Cherry Point Squadron to F-35B Operators
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corp is converting another AV-8B Harrier II attack squadron to F-35B Lightning II strike fighters, the first F-3B fleet squadron to be based on the East Coast. Marine Attack Squadron 542 (VMA-542) — the Tigers…
Coast Guard Establishes Cyber Reserve Component and Cyber Billets
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Coast Guard is creating three reserve entities to strengthen its cyber capabilities, the service’s headquarters announced in an internal message. The Coast Guard’s Office of Cyberspace Forces’ team in charge of implementing the cyber mission specialist…
Navy Requests Concepts for Attritable Mother Ship for Unmanned Systems
ARLINGTO, Va. — The U.S. Navy has issued a Request for Information for concepts for an attritable unmanned mother ship to “cost-effectively deliver large numbers of UxVs (unmanned systems) to forward locations in a contested environment,” the published notice of…
USS Zumwalt Returns from First Western Pacific Deployment
ARLINGTON, Va. — The guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), lead ship of its three-ship class, completed a short deployment to the Western Pacific Ocean on Nov. 11, marking the first operational employment the class as part of the fleet…
HII Announces REMUS 620 Next-Generation, Submarine-Deployable Medium UUV
ARLINGTON, Va. — HII’s Mission Technologies division has developed a new generation of medium unmanned underwater vehicle (MUUV) — the REMUS 620 — that leverages advances incorporated in its smaller REMUS 300 UUV, the company said in a Nov. 7…
Admiral: Guam Weather ‘Challenging’ for Navy’s Triton UAV Operations
ARLINGTON, Va. — The weather in Guam has proved to pose challenges to operations of the Navy’s MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, a Navy admiral said. He also praised the value of the Triton as a targeting platform. …
Navy to Merge Mine-Countermeasures Helicopter Squadrons
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy plans to deactivate one of its two fleet helicopter mine countermeasures squadrons next year and combine many of its personnel and helicopters with the remaining squadron. Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14 (HM-14), which operates the…
Navy to Consolidate Fire Scout UAVs on West Coast
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy plans to consolidate operations of its Fire Scout unmanned helicopters to the West Coast in 2023, a Navy spokesman said. The MQ-8 Fire Scouts have been by detachments of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 (HSC-22)…
