Just as “Big Navy” is conducting programs to modernize its battle fleet, one of its fleets of small boats has been going through a substantial modernization: the small surface craft that support special operations forces (SOF), in particular the Navy’s SEALs and Marine Raiders in their clandestine operations.

The SEALs use special operations craft, operated by special warfare combatant craft operators, to approach shores and insert and extract teams of special warfare operators. These craft are fast, quiet, capable of shallow-water operations, and armed with machine guns for use if their cover is blown. The small craft also can be used for coastal patrol missions and to interdict hostile craft and conduct visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) missions.

Check out the digital edition of the September Seapower magazine and other past issues here.

Navy Special Warfare Command, the parent unit of the SEAL teams, as a component of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), receives much of its equipment not through normal service acquisition channels but through SOCOM. SOCOM is a combatant command but is unusual in that it has its own acquisition budget and programs.

Special Warfare Small Boat Recapitalization Well Underway

During a May webinar, the vSOFIC (Virtual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference), Special Operations Command provided an unusual look into the acquisition programs of its naval craft and showed the special warfare community nearing completion of recapitalization of two classes of small boats and well along in a modernization program that will increase the capabilities of its special operations craft.

The Navy’s special operations boat capabilities and capacity has expanded greatly over a decade ago, when the special boat squadrons operated the Mark V special operations craft, the Naval Special Warfare Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boat and the Special Operations Craft-Riverine (SOC-R).

The CCA “is a great workhorse. It’s small enough, modular [and] easy to move around a theater, which is a great attribute for SOF craft.”

Capt. Rocky Russell, Special Operations Command program manager for surface systems

The aluminum-hull, 33-foot-long SOC-R, built by U.S. Marine Inc. (USMI), is designed for short-range insertion and extraction of SOF in riverine and littoral environments. The 40-plus-knot craft, heavily armed with machine guns, carries a crew of four as well as eight SOF personnel.

“At any given time, we’ve got 12 that are in training or in deployment rotations,” said Capt. Katherine Dolloff, who leads the Special Operations Command’s program executive office for maritime. “We’ve got 12 that are in lay-up. This is our only riverine capability.”

“It’s a great hull,” said Capt. Rocky Russell, Dolloff’s program manager for surface systems. “It’s aging. We’re working on the sustainment. We’re starting to think about the serious design effort on what the next-generation craft should look like.”

Craft to replace the Mark V boats are well established. 

“The program for the Mark V special operations craft ended in 2013 as next-generation craft were being procured to replace the legacy craft,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a SOCOM spokesman.

The first craft to modernize the special boat squadrons is the combatant craft-assault, built by USMI. The 41-foot combatant craft-assault (CCA) is a low-observable, composite material, medium-range boat that provides expanded range, payload and speed over similar-sized special warfare craft such as 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boats. The CCA is equipped with a small mast with a surface search radar, electro-optical/infrared sensor and satellite communications. It also can be airdropped from a C-17 transport aircraft.

Seven-Year Road for a ‘Workhorse’

Development of the CCA began by 2010 and the first boat was delivered 2013. Full operational capability was reached in 2017 with 32 CCAs fielded.

“This is a great workhorse,” Russell said. “It’s small enough, modular [and] easy to move around a theater, which is a great attribute for SOF craft. [It] can carry squad-size elements. It’s great for the VBSS mission and getting operators where they need to go. … We’re heavily employed overseas, doing great things.”

“We did just award a new [five-year] production contract with USMI, which will both add to the [CCA] fleet and replace aging craft,” Dolloff said.

Russell said the CCA design is “stable in the hull form, but we’re actually working on some major modifications, one of them being a new mast to incorporate the CC FLIR II [Combatant Craft Forward-Looking Infrared II] and a new comms box setup that help us have more modular, adaptable configuration for bringing systems on and off the CCA as technology evolves and mission needs evolve as well.”

This year, SOCOM will field the last of the current production run of the main replacement for the 82-foot-long Mark V, the combatant craft-medium (CCM) Mk1, built by Vigor Works. The CCM is a 60-foot fast craft designed to be clandestine, agile, and adaptive and that can insert and extract SOF in a medium threat environment. The CCM is small enough to be carried inside a C-17 transport aircraft, a large advantage over the legacy Mark V, which required the larger C-5 transport for movement.

The CCM was ordered in 2014 under an indefinite quantity contract. A total of 30 had been ordered as of 2020. Initial operational capability was achieved in fiscal 2015, and full operational capability is in track by the end of fiscal 2020.

“We’ve got 27 of 30 craft fielded [as of May 2020],” SOCOM’s Dolloff said. 

“The CCM has been on a deployment cycle,” Russell added. “It’s done many things down range. There has been a big learning curve for us on a craft like this. It’s not quite as large as the Mark V, but it comes with a lot of different aspects that make it suited for today’s environment.”

“As pleased as the operators are with the CCM, SOCOM is focused on bringing a lot of things to CCM,” Russell said. “One of those is maritime precision engagement. We’re going to see a topside configuration change with the integration of CC FLIR II.”

Maritime precision engagement is envisioned to be “a standoff, loitering, man-in-the-loop weapon for combatant craft capable of targeting individuals, groups, vehicles [and] small oceangoing craft with low collateral damage,” he said, noting that the installation would involve craft alterations, launchers, and missiles.

Russell said the maritime precision engagement was a “very difficult challenge for the SWAP [size, weight and power] conditions on CCM to get it integrated smoothly.”

The CC FLIR II, built by FLIR Systems, is a “big upgrade from our legacy maritime FLIR,” Russell said. It is used to detect, recognize, identify, range, track and highlight objects of interest.

“It is in production and actually going on the craft,” he said, noting that as of May, 21 of 58 ordered had been delivered. Initial operational capability was achieved in fiscal 2018. Full operational capability is scheduled for fiscal 2024.  

Another plus for the CCM is Maritime Tactical Mission Networking, nicknamed “Mountain Man.” This is being added to “give this boat much more connectivity to prove utility to offboard partners and bring situational awareness to the crew and whatever ground force we are carrying,” Russell said.

The program office also is working to install a retractable .50-caliber Mk50 machine gun system that retracts into the bow of the CCM.

Large, Stealthy, Exotic SEALION Gains Favor

The largest craft in the Navy Special Warfare Command’s fleet is the combatant craft-heavy (CCH) Mk1, which also is the most exotic and stealthy.

Known as the SEALION, for SEAL Insertion, Observation and Neutralization, the 40-ton, 80-foot low-profile craft built by Vigor Works, could be described as a semisubmersible. It has retractable masts for sensors and communications. Jet Skis, inflatable rubber raiding craft and diving equipment can be carried and launched out the stern. The SEALION also can be transported inside a C-17 aircraft. SEALION is based on an earlier prototype, the Alligator, which has been transferred to Israel, according to one report.

The Navy developed two as demonstrators, SEALION 1 and SEALION 2, and SOCOM was able to turn them into operational craft, Dolloff said. “One is forward deployed at any given time, … focused on national-level missions.”

The first two SEALIONs entered service with SOCOM in 2014.

“It’s a great craft,” Russell said. “Low numbers [in service], but it can do things that other craft can’t.”

A third SEALION is being built at Vigor. In June 2017, the company was awarded a $17 million contract for SEALION 3, which is designed based on the lessons learned from operation of the first two SEALIONs. Delivery is expected in 2021.

“We’re really excited to get SEALION 3 into the force,” Russell said. “That should be in early calendar 2022.”

In March 2019, SOCOM held a capability collaboration event to assess a CCH Mk2, a well-deck-capable, diesel-powered boat capable of crossing the ocean and delivering and extracting SOF and launching and recovering small unmanned surface and underwater vessels. But SOCOM is not actively pursuing that program, Russell said.

With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan largely in the rearview mirror and a growing emphasis on the Pacific region and littoral operations, the U.S. Marine Corps is committed to returning to its amphibious roots. And that includes a major restructuring of the service itself that involves getting lighter and more agile.

One of the ways the Marines are doing that is by embracing new technology — such as drones small enough to fit in a rucksack. And one of the new unmanned aircraft the service is experimenting with is SkyRaider — a platform that is small in stature but aims to make a big impact and show that an increasing number of missions can be done by smaller and more technologically advanced equipment.

Check out the digital edition of the September Seapower magazine and other past issues here.

The Marines have started to ramp up their procurement of the SkyRaider. Manufacturer FLIR Systems received a $10 million contract for dozens of the drones. SkyRaider has long-range, high-resolution electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imaging sensors, and it can also be used for delivering external loads, asset extraction and “other specialized missions,” according to a June 30 FLIR Systems statement announcing the contract award.

“The SkyRaider vertical takeoff and landing small unmanned aircraft system [sUAS] was procured to fill a capability gap,” the Marine Corps said in a statement, noting that the need for SkyRaider came out of the Small Unit Remote Scouting System operational requirements document and a series of Urgent Universal Needs Statements.

“The SkyRaider vertical takeoff and landing small unmanned aircraft system [sUAS] was procured to fill a capability gap.”

Marine Corps statement

“The sUAS will be primarily supporting the ground combat element, specifically our infantry and our light armored units by providing improved electro-optic and IR capabilities, along with an ability to carry light payloads within size, weight and payload restrictions,” the statement reads. “As we procure more systems, we plan to expand usage to other units.”

The Marine Corps plans to buy 71 systems in fiscal 2021, 60 in 2022 and 53 in 2023.

More Than Just a Drone With a Camera

David Proulx, vice president of product development for FLIR, told Seapower in an interview that while it may resemble a commercially available drone, this system has capabilities that go far beyond anything available to consumers.

For one thing, it has a robust operating envelope that can handle some of the more extreme environments that the Marines have to deal with, Proulx said.

“The Marines don’t get to just deploy on nice, sunny days at reasonable altitudes,” he said. “We had to build a UAS that can keep pace with their operations, tolerate winds at 50 miles per hour, fly up to 15,000 feet and tolerate precipitation.”

Additionally, the SkyRaider is more than just a drone with a camera, he said.

“Our customers, as their missions evolve from [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] to resupply to providing aerial comms relays, they need something that can adapt to those missions,” Proulx said. “We not only offer a range of payloads, but different operating envelopes.”

He said the UAS is designed to operate without constant input from an operator or even an active GPS signal. It can be autonomously launched and recovered on moving platforms.

SkyRaider is brand new — FLIR launched the drone at a conference just two years ago, and the UAS was in development for three years before that.

FLIR has been working on enhancements to the platform. For example, the company recently expanded its payload from 4.4 to 7 pounds.

“That may not sound like a lot from a manned aviation perspective, but for a small drone that can fit in a rucksack, it’s important,” Proulx said. “In terms of the cameras and optics it can carry, we’re now talking about payloads where previously you would need a Group 2 or 3 UAS.”

FLIR recently expanded SkyRaider’s payload from 4.4 to 7 pounds. “That may not sound like a lot from a manned aviation perspective, but for a small drone that can fit in a rucksack, it’s important.”

David Proulx, FLIR vice president of product development

FLIR is also looking to make the UAS usable from the deck of a ship, primarily for use in littoral environments as opposed to the open sea. The SkyRaider could help a ship’s crew get closer to a target or see around obstacles. It also can operate as a communications relay that provides over-the-horizon connectivity, essentially acting as a communications node in the sky.

Jonathan Wong, a policy researcher at Rand Corp., said the Marine Corps has been getting more creative in its use of small UAS.

Small UAS are “a relatively new technology that they know has broad military utility, but they’re not sure how,” Wong said. “They could have taken a traditional acquisition route of exhaustively figuring out what they need and then procuring that solution at scale. Instead, they bought a wide range of platforms in relatively small quantities, gave them to Marines, and said, ‘Here, figure out what you can do with this.'”

The Marines have experimented with these UAS, hanging radios from them to serve as retransmission nodes or even using them to support light armored recon missions, Wong said.

“That iterative approach is evident in the force redesign efforts that [Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger] is pursuing,” Wong said. “He calls out sUAS specifically, because the Marine Corps is convinced that they can be a force multiplier, especially for disaggregated or distributed units. However, the Marine Corps also sees that the threat environment demands that sUAS be more lethal and more robust and autonomous in terms of being able to operate in a communications-degraded environment.”

He added that SkyRaider appears to be a step in that direction. While the drone is not lethal, it can do things that previous platforms in its size and weight category could not do.

“It can carry a payload. It can operate autonomously,” he said. “The current contract that the Marine Corps has signed with FLIR isn’t huge — it calls for dozens, not thousands, of systems. But it strongly indicates that the Marine Corps is continuing to iterate in this technology space.”

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, victimized this spring by a COVID-19 outbreak, is back home in San Diego and seemingly healthy. U.S. Marines, no longer using their T-shirts as face masks, are rotating back to Australia but with strict disease-prevention measures in place. U.S. Navy ships and crews have resumed annual exercises with allies and partner nations — but at sea only, with no contact on shore. A “new normal” has settled into place. No one knows just how long this will last.

In the seven months since the novel coronavirus surfaced in China and spread to Europe, the U.S. sea services appear to have fought the contagion to a stand-still. Even as case numbers spike throughout the homeland, especially in the Sun Belt, they appear to be static in the military, at least among uniformed personnel.

Check out the digital edition of the July-August Seapower magazine and other past issues here.

While the virus has sickened 3 million stateside and killed about 132,000, the Navy has reported more than 4,300 cases — many of those on two ships, the Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Kidd. One Sailor has died. The U.S. Marine Corps reported another 1,600 infections among uniformed personnel, though an outbreak occurred among dozens of Marines at two bases on Okinawa.

Commanders, meanwhile, are strategizing how to operate in all this and keep the numbers down while demanding focus as always on the mission at hand.

CNO Cautions Against Returning to the ‘Old Normal’

In a June 30 message to the fleet, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday stressed “the importance of remaining vigilant” in the Navy’s long-term battle against COVID-19.

“Each of us will be faced with temptations to cut corners and return to the ‘old normal.’ Do not do it. Together, we will rigorously maintain health protection measures to protect our Navy family and assure mission success even when it may appear the [American public] may be relaxing them,” he added.

Some measures put in place during the initial response to the pandemic this spring may last longer. Case in point: any event that requires a large gathering.

The sea services came up with virtual alternatives to graduation ceremonies of new Marines, Sailors and Coast Guard grads. The U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, was the latest institution to join the trend on June 24. Instead of parading in dress uniforms on historic Dewey Field, the 427 students who earned diplomas gathered virtually to hear recorded speakers.

Interviews with prospective recruits and Fleet Week events around the country are being conducted online. Mandated measures governing training and operations include expanded testing of personnel, isolating crews before and after they go to sea, stringent and frequent cleaning of work and living space, social distancing of at least 6 feet — when possible —and wearing face coverings when it is not. Masks will be a regular part of Navy, Marine and Coast Guard attire for the foreseeable future.

Returning to Normal Operations, but Still Vigilant

A sign that the sea services are emerging from a 24/7 emergency mindset came from Navy Reserve Force, which issued new guidance in June for Reservists to resume regular weekend onsite drills beginning in mid-July, pending evaluation of local conditions and guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Navy also began resuming exercises around the world, including BALTOPS 20, a multinational, maritime exercise in the Baltic Sea with 19 NATO and partner nations; U.S. Navy and Georgian Forces conducting maneuvering exercises in the Black Sea; and the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducting a maritime training exercise with Italian and French ships and aircraft in the Mediterranean Sea. Meanwhile, aircraft carrier strike groups have continued to deploy in the Pacific and Atlantic as well as the Mediterranean and the Arctic.

“Each of us will be faced with temptations to cut corners and return to the ‘old normal.’ Do not do it.”

CNO Adm. Mike Gilday, in a June 30 message to the fleet

Despite the constraints imposed by the global health crisis, the Navy and U.S. Coast Guard did not stop patrolling the eastern Pacific and Caribbean during U.S. Southern Command’s fight against transnational narcotics trafficking. As one example, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Preble, with a Coast Guard law enforcement detachment on board, recovered 100 bales of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of $40 million, according to Coast Guard sources. Many more drug and migrant interdictions — both as part of the Navy-USCG partnership and by the Coast Guard alone — still are taking place routinely.

Virus Prevention Procedures Begin at Boot Camp

Strict adherence to those COVID-19 preventive guidelines is responsible for the continued flow of Navy and Marine Corps recruits into boot camp, according to the commanders of the services’ basic training commands.
Both the Navy and Marines have implemented 14-day restrictions of movement, where incoming recruits are quarantined off-site when they arrive at the Marine Corps Recruit Depots at San Diego and Parris Island, South Carolina, and at Navy Recruit Training Command at Great Lakes, Illinois. After 14 days the recruits are tested for COVID-19. If they test negative, they can start basic training. If they pop positive results, they isolate in a single room for monitoring and more testing.

Quarantining recruits in off-base facilities — like The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, for the Marines or hotels outside Chicago for the Navy — is costly, and both services are looking for long-term alternatives.

More than 8,100 new Sailors have been sent to the fleet during the pandemic, and 6,700 recruits are currently going through Great Lakes, Rear Adm. Milton J. Sands, commander of Naval Service Training Command, told media during a July 7 teleconference. He added that the Navy was on track to meet its goal of 40,800 new Sailors in the current fiscal year.

Speaking at the same briefing, Maj. Gen. William F. Mullen, commander of Marine Training and Education Command, said the number of recruits per company have been reduced at San Diego and Parris Island because of special distancing requirements.

That and some weeks left open without scheduled shipments of new recruits in case unforeseen COVID-19 problems back up the pipeline are expected to cut into the Corps’ goal of 38,000 new Marines this fiscal year. The traditional 10-day leave new Marines used to get after boot camp graduation has been canceled to keep them in the protective bubble before starting their follow-on training, Mullen said.

Concern for the Sub Fleet Leads to Innovative Measures

Norfolk, Virginia-based Submarine Squadron 6 (SUBRON 6) developed a COVID-19 plan that set the standard for Atlantic attack sub deployment with total assurance that crew are free of infection.

SUBRON 6 Commodore Capt. Jeffrey Juergens called the effort to man, train and equip his fleet of 15 attack subs homeported or undergoing maintenance at Norfolk in a COVID-free bubble “wholly unprecedented” in his Navy career. “Our medical and operations departments put together a testing regime, made sure they had the most up-to-date guidance, and knew what to do in case we had someone test positive,” Juergens said.

He credited Senior Chief Electronics Technician (Submarine) Joshua Sisk with much of the plan’s heavy lifting, like managing repairs and parts delivery on the pier without crew interaction.

“We’re now getting lots of phone calls from our counterparts to share lessons learned. Until further notice, this will be the new norm,” Sisk said.

Guam, Other Bases Become Safe Havens

Naval Base Guam is among the facilities designated safe-haven ports for Navy ships and subs. The base is equipped to resupply vessels pierside while protecting ships and service members. In this bubble, Sailors can enjoy mental and physical relaxation while their vessel is serviced. Also, on Guam, visiting crew members have access to a secured beach. Other safe-haven ports include Okinawa, Japan, and Naval Station Rota, Spain.

The safe-haven port concept grew out of the lessons learned from the ordeal of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the first naval warship hit with an outbreak at sea. More than 1,100 crew members tested positive while the aircraft carrier was sidelined on Guam for more than two months as it was clean and sanitized from bow to stern and sick crew treated.

Thanks to procedures put in place on Guam, the carrier put to sea in June to resume its deployment to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations and returned safely to homeport in San Diego on July 9.

All of the U.S. armed forces have been heavily impacted by the novel coronavirus — perhaps none more acutely than the U.S. Coast Guard.

A service focused on activities such as rescuing stranded boaters, apprehending criminals and boarding vessels for inspection has a lot of the human-to-human contact that everyone is trying to limit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the service is having to walk a tightrope these days.

Check out the digital edition of the July-August Seapower magazine and other past issues here.

Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Brittany Panetta told Seapower that the sea service is working hard to properly balance the safety of Coast Guardsmen with continuing operations that are entirely necessary.
The Coast Guard ramped up counter-drug operations in support of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) following an April 1 presidential directive, as the pandemic began to take hold worldwide.

In the meantime, the service has formed a coronavirus coordination team (CCT) that is working to improve productivity, share information and remove “unnecessary burdens” to ensure “mission readiness for Coast Guard personnel and their families,” Panetta said.

Now’s No Time for the Coast Guard to Lower Its Guard

As many governments stateside relax measures during the pandemic — even in several places where case numbers are skyrocketing — there is no timeline in the Coast Guard for easing mitigation measures due to COVID-19. In fact, the service is taking an aggressive approach to ensure Coast Guard personnel follow all guidelines when it comes to the virus and personally do their part to stop the spread, Panetta said.

“In [off-duty risk management], we expect members to employ a similar risk-based decision approach to off-duty behavior,” reads a July 1 directive posted on the Coast Guard website. “This health care crisis is not over, and the Coast Guard is not immune to the increasing COVID-19 cases occurring across the nation.”

“You’re going to have to interact with [people from interdicted vessels], and you don’t have a good idea of their medical history.”

Capt. Jeffrey Randall, commanding officer of the cutter James

That means all personnel are expected to “carefully consider” the risks of engaging in certain activities. Specifically, the Coast Guard should consider three fundamental COVID-19-related risk criteria: the physical location of the activity (indoors is a greater risk), the number and expected behavior of others at that location (proper spacing and mask-wearing) and the duration of time in close contact of others (contact that is longer than 10 minutes and within 6 feet is a high risk).

Interdicting People Who Are Possibly Infected

Capt. Jeffrey Randall, commanding officer of the Legend-class national security cutter James, told Seapower in an interview that his ship spends about 70 to 90 days at sea twice per year, and the most recent trip departed in early April and returned about 65 days later. The crew did a few stops, but just anchored off the coasts of Colombia, Ecuador, and Panama and avoided port visits as a COVID-19 mitigation measure.

The ship was involved in counter-narcotics work, which always carries a risk of virus exposure because the crew has to interact with people on vessels from places unknown who are suspected of running drugs.
“You’re going to have to interact with them, and you don’t have a good idea of their medical history,” Randall said.

“So, we have processes in place. When we go to send a boarding party to do an inspection of a vessel, they’re wearing masks, gloves, long sleeves, and sunglasses or eyeglasses. Then once we stop the vessel, we’re going to ask some questions and observe for visible symptoms, then we’ll conduct a boarding of the vessel with personal protective equipment on.”

Once the boarding party returns, they have a team that decontaminates the weapons, body armor and the people themselves. “All of their stuff stays on the outside of the skin of the ship,” Randall said.

The crew has had risky encounters, coming across two separate groups of detainees who ended up testing positive for COVID-19. Fortunately, because of the processes on board, nobody from the crew came down with the illness.

But there’s always risk. Even if the crew does everything right on ship, there’s still the question of how they handle themselves after a deployment. That’s why the Coast Guard also implements safety measures such as a restriction of movement for 14 days prior, limiting the crew to only the most essential activities like going to the grocery store. The crew of the James is tested for COVID-19 before the ship departs.

“They basically have a self-isolation order,” Randall said, adding that the crew aims to finish all work requirements at least two weeks before deployment to limit the exposure of the crew during that critical period.
COVID-19 hasn’t limited operations but has crews have to be more methodical. The James also has a team of eight people who deal exclusively with detainees and are in a separate berthing area of the cutter.

The engineers behind the development of so many cutting-edge U.S. Navy systems have long dreamed of creating a laser weapon that could defeat the fleet’s enemies. Now, they may be closer than ever to making that dream a reality.

Earlier this year, the Navy installed the first Optical Dazzling Interdictor, Navy (ODIN) on the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Dewey.

The system came out of Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren Division in Virginia as part of Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems, and it promises to radically change the way the Navy responds to a variety of threats at sea.

Check out the digital edition of the June Seapower magazine here.

NSWC Dahlgren is the same group that worked on the Laser Weapon System (LaWS), which had a similar purpose: blasting unmanned aircraft out of the sky with a concentrated beam. Perhaps “dazzling” is a more accurate way to describe what LaWS does to airborne drones.

LaWS was a 30-kilowatt laser that was installed on the amphibious transport dock USS Ponce in 2014. It underwent a few years of testing and experiments but ultimately never was slated for operational use. LaWS did provide a lot of the lessons learned for the latest generation of ODIN.

“[ODIN is] one of those cases where a naval warfare center was pretty much the main agency responsible for it, and it seems to have worked out pretty well.”

Bradley Martin, senior policy researcher, Rand Corp.

ODIN took just two and a half years for the Navy to move the system from an approved idea through design, construction and testing to actual installation aboard the Dewey — a notable achievement in defense program development.

“The Pacific Fleet Commander identified this urgent counter-intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance need, and the chief of naval operations directed us to fill it as quickly as possible,” said Cmdr. David Wolfe, head of the directed energy program within the Integrated Warfare Systems program executive office.

An Infant System More Advanced Than Its Predecessors

The ODIN program is still in its infancy, but the Navy hopes to roll it out with other ships in the fleet over the next couple of years. The sea service is concerned with the growing prevalence of enemy unmanned aircraft and seeks ways to counter this threat.

The Navy hopes to learn lessons from the installation of ODIN on the Dewey, which will inform commanders about how the system could be implemented on other ships in the future. ODIN, like LaWS, could lead to the development of other laser weapon systems.

The Navy requested $299 million for shipboard laser systems in its fiscal 2019 budget.

Bradley Martin, a senior policy researcher at the Rand Corp., said ODIN is not going to be used like laser weapons you would see in science fiction movies, but rather as something that would scramble a unmanned aerial vehicle’s optical sensor. UAVs right now aren’t a threat to attack a ship, so destroying them quickly isn’t necessary.

“Typically, a UAV is not going to be used as a striking kind of weapon,” Martin said.

Instead, the laser would cause a drone to “lose its way” and eventually crash because it loses the ability to target and navigate. Any adversary using the drone to conduct surveillance of Navy activities would lose access to that asset.

Martin said that laser weapons have shown increasing maturity in recent years.

“Based on everything I’ve seen, [ODIN] is well-developed and on its way to being delivered,” he said. “It’s one of those cases where a naval warfare center was pretty much the main agency responsible for it, and it seems to have worked out pretty well.”

Cost-Effective Solution Best Suited for Smaller Surface Combatants

This type of system is best suited for surface combatants like cruisers and destroyers. Theoretically, it could be put on any class of ship, but ODIN is not a point-defense type of weapon so installing it on other types of vessels might be counterproductive, Martin noted.

The ultimate scenario when it comes to lasers for anyone in Navy leadership is a powerful laser weapon that would be precise in targeting and capable of destroying enemy craft without the need to use expensive munitions that cost millions for each shot. But the technology appears to be nowhere near that kind of capability.

However, as ODIN shows, this is not the only way to make lasers useful as weapons. ODIN works by emitting an infrared light that interferes with electronic sensors. This disrupts a drone’s ability to target or even navigate, which can cause a threat to crash harmlessly into the water.

ODIN will have some of the same limitations all lasers have: rain, smog and smoke could limit its effectiveness, but it’s another tool in the Navy’s toolbox.

ODIN has turned out to be a cost-effective weapon in a number of ways. Devoting power to a laser is less expensive than destroying an aerial threat such as a drone. Also, the system was developed rapidly and for not a lot of money (at least by Defense Department standards).

“It’s a well-developed concept and something that’s in the millions — not many millions — of dollars, and it could be used across the fleet,” Martin said.

He added that he believes we’ll see widespread use of this kind of technology in the Navy within a couple of years. “It’s an urgent need, and it could be used in very short order,” he said.

Martin called it a “good news story” for the Navy.

“A lot of the things they develop, it takes a long time and has to go to somebody outside the Navy to do the work,” Martin said.

Other systems in addition to ODIN are worth watching. With the Navy, Lockheed Martin has been developing the High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system. HELIOS recently underwent a successful critical design review and could itself be installed on a destroyer.

“HELIOS will provide an additional layer of protection for the fleet — deep magazine, low cost per kill, speed-of-light delivery and precision response,” Brendan Scanlon, HELIOS program director at Lockheed, said in a statement. “Additional HELIOS systems will accelerate the warfighter learning curve, provide risk reduction for future laser weapon system increments and provide a stronger demand signal to the supply base.”

Editor’s note: This is the second straight month that Seapower has taken an in-depth look at the profound structural changes ahead for the U.S. Marine Corps. Within the May issue, in “Rejoined at the Hip,” we examined how the Corps is reintegrating with the Navy. Here, we examine structural changes that will be required to make that shift and how those changes affect the Corps’ conduct of expeditionary warfare.

A profound structural shift is coming to the U.S. Marine Corps over the next decade.

The Corps in late March announced new force design initiatives intended to make the service the sea-based force it once was. To describe these collectively as a tectonic shift might be an understatement.

Check out the digital edition of the June Seapower magazine here.

Under the new plan, the Marine Corps will totally divest itself of law enforcement and tank battalions, decrease infantry battalions from 24 to 21, slash artillery cannon batteries from 21 to just five, reduce amphibious vehicle companies from six to four, and cut the number of helicopter and tilt-rotor squadrons.

Specifically, the Corps will deactivate Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264; Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462; Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469; Marine Wing Support Groups 27 and 37; the 8th Marine Regiment Headquarters Company; and 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines. The service also will deactivate Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 and relocate it to Camp Pendleton, California. And there will be 10 F-35B and C Lightning II joint strike fighters per squadron instead of 16.

Why are the Marines making this shift? It’s all about making the future “Fleet Marine Force” a modernized force with “new organic capabilities” by 2030, the Corps said in a statement.

“Throughout this 10-year initiative, the Marine Corps will be making investments in capabilities to include increasing long-range precision fires, advanced reconnaissance capabilities, unmanned systems and resilient networks,” the statement reads. “Future budget requests will include an expanded list of viable unmanned capabilities that will create significant opportunity for industries across the country.”

“Being a supporting asset to the Navy is a wholly new way of thinking for today’s Marines. This is the biggest change of all.”

Jonathan Wong, associate policy researcher, Rand Corp.

It is a dramatic departure from what the Corps has been doing since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the Marine Corps essentially acted as a second land army, despite its origins as an amphibious force. But the Marines always believed this was a temporary diversion and that they would at some point get back to the sea. Now, it appears that is really happening.

Arming and Manning to Match ‘Great Power Competition’

But the Marines have spent the better part of two decades investing in equipment and structuring itself in an entirely different way, so these 10 years of changes will not be easy. To make them happen, the Marines believe they need to get smaller and start eliminating “legacy” capabilities that don’t match up with future strategy.

This will result in a major personnel reduction — a total force cut of 12,000 over the next decade.

As a result of this shift, III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) will become a major focal point for the service. The Marines expect to have three Marine Littoral Regiments (MLRs) that can handle sea denial and sea control in maritime spaces as part of III MEF — a far cry from the work the Marines were doing in Iraq and Afghanistan but more in line with the service’s amphibious roots.

The realignment places a bigger emphasis on the Pacific Ocean, and the Marines will operate three Marine expeditionary units (MEUs) there to support the realignment.

Jonathan Wong, associate policy researcher at Rand Corp., said the most impactful changes have nothing to do with divesting or investing in certain forces or equipment but in how the Marine Corps will approach warfare. And the focus is countering a “Great Power Competitor” — the People’s Republic of China.

“The Marines realize that the Navy will face great difficulty projecting power in the Pacific in the future; there are too many accurate, long-range Chinese missiles for that to be feasible,” Wong said.

“So, the Marines’ response is to scatter themselves across islands in the Pacific before a conflict with sensors and long-range rockets and missiles of their own. This puts them in a position to degrade China’s missile advantage and protect the fleet. Being a supporting asset to the Navy is a wholly new way of thinking for today’s Marines. This is the biggest change of all.”

Indeed, the Marines say they expect to expand long-range fires, including a 300% increase in rocket artillery capacity along with anti-ship missiles, which they hope will “profoundly enhance our ability to support the fleet commander in sea control and denial.”

There are other major adjustments to the characteristics of the future force beyond more long-range attack capabilities. Infantry battalions also will be smaller and lighter. The Marines will double the number of unmanned aircraft squadrons. There will be an increase in littoral maritime mobility, including a new light amphibious warship. And the service expects to make big investments in directed-energy systems, electronic warfare, loitering munitions and other cutting-edge technologies.

Lower Budgets Bring About ‘All-In’ on Optimized Force for Peer Conflict

“If defense budgets were on the upswing, the Marine Corps could try to make this concept a reality while preserving their ability to project power, conduct crisis response, wage counter-insurgencies, or any of the other missions that the [Corps] has taken on in the past 20 years,” Wong said. “However, [Commandant Gen. David] Berger believes — rightfully so, I think — that budgets will be flat or decline in the near future. This forces the Marine Corps to make a choice: be a jack of all trades and master of none or go all-in on a force optimized for peer conflict. The Marine Corps has chosen to go all-in, so the reorganization is necessary to enable that.”

Wong said a forceful execution of this plan could improve the “initiative and decision-making abilities of its leadership up and down the chain of command” over the next decade.

“Instead of deploying as battalions in defined battlespaces, companies or even platoons will be operating beyond the range of support, sometimes without reliable communications,” he added. “This will force commanders to trust their subordinates to a much greater extent. Those subordinates will be forced to make decisions with truly nothing more than commander’s intent.”

He added: “I hesitate to make any predictions about force designs or capabilities 10 years hence, but I am very certain that the decision-making qualities of Marine leaders will be forced to mature dramatically if the Marine Corps follows through with their new operating concept.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate confirmed retired admiral and current ambassador Kenneth J. Braithwaite to be the 77th Secretary of the Navy. Braithwaite’s nomination was approved on a voice vote May 21 before the Senate left for a weeklong Memorial Day break.

Braithwaite, who was nominated to the top civilian job in the Navy Department by President Donald Trump in November, is a retired Navy rear admiral and current U.S. ambassador to Norway. A 1984 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Braithwaite is a former P-3 naval aviator who became a public affairs officer. He left active duty in 1993, resuming service in the Navy Reserve until 2011. He worked in the private sector and government after leaving active duty. 

At his May 7 confirmation hearing before the Armed Services Committee, Braithwaite pledged to restore good order and discipline in the Navy, which he said was in “troubled waters” after being rocked in recent years by the “Fat Leonard” corruption scandal, fatal at-sea collisions in 2017, recent judicial missteps and the COVID-19 crisis aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. 

“It saddens me to say the Department of the Navy is in troubled waters due to many factors, primarily the failure of leadership,” Braithwaite told the panel. “Successful organizations have a strong culture, which always starts with leadership,” he said, adding that his No. 1 priority, if confirmed, would be ‘’to restore the appropriate culture in the United States Navy.” The Navy’s culture wasn’t broke, he noted, but “I think it’s been tarnished.”  

Trump tapped Braithwaite for the Navy job after Richard Spencer abruptly left last November following the president’s decision to intervene in the discipline of a Navy SEAL convicted in the military justice system of posing with the corpse of an ISIS fighter. Thomas Modly, who replaced Spencer, serving as acting Navy Secretary, resigned in the midst of the Roosevelt COVID-19 crisis, which grew into a political imbroglio after Modly relieved the aircraft carrier’s captain. Army Undersecretary James McPherson, a retired Navy admiral, was appointed acting Navy secretary until a permanent secretary could be confirmed. 

In January, the U.S. Navy’s newest surveillance aircraft, the Northrop Grumman-built MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), embarked on its first deployment, a move to demonstrate what the Navy calls early operational capability.

Two MQ-4Cs assigned to Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19 (VUP-19), the first Triton squadron, deployed to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and were in place by Jan. 26 to fly missions in support of the U.S. 7th Fleet.

Check out the digital edition of the May Seapower magazine here.

“VUP-19 is operating Triton to further develop the concept of operations and fleet learning associated with operating a high-altitude, long-endurance system in the maritime domain,” Capt. Dan Mackin, the Navy’s Triton program manager, said in response to a query from
Seapower. “The squadron plans to conduct multiple flights per month in support of Commander Task Force 72, 7th Fleet and Indo-Pacific Command.”

“The fielding of the Navy’s premier unmanned aircraft system and its additive, persistent, multisensor data collection and real-time dissemination capability will revolutionize the way maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR] is performed,” Mackin said in a Jan. 26 Navy release.

“While developing the concept of operations, the MQ-4C Triton is actively conducting missions that are complementing the P-8A Poseidon,” said Cmdr. Kim DaCosta-Azar, commanding officer of VUP-19, in an email response to Seapower. “This complement brings increased persistence, capability and capacity through its multisensor mission payload.”

The MQ-4C’s mission payload includes a Northrop Grumman-built ZPY-3 Multifunction Active Sensor, an X-band radar with modes that include maritime surface search, spot synthetic aperture radar (SAR), strip SAR, inverse SAR snapshot and inverse SAR high-resolution. The radar’s 360-degree scan enables the Triton to cover 2.7 million square miles during a mission.

The Triton’s suite also includes a Sierra Nevada-built ZLQ-1 electronic surveillance measures sensor equipped with specific emitter identification and with an automatic identification system. A Raytheon-built MTS-B multispectral electro/optical/infrared sensor with a laser designator/pointer/range-finder capability also is installed.

“The fielding of the Navy’s premier unmanned aircraft system and its additive, persistent, multisensor data collection and real-time dissemination capability will revolutionize the way maritime [ISR] is performed.”

Capt. Dan Mackin, the Navy’s Triton program manager

The Triton can transmit its data to a ground station, including video live-streaming. It also can be an alternative communications relay to space-based satellites.

“The MQ-4C Triton will provide 7th Fleet with a round-the-clock ISR capability, as the aircraft have capability to fly more than 24 hours during each mission,” DaCosta-Azar said. “The VUP-19 detachment has the ability to pilot the MQ-4C from Guam or from Jacksonville, Florida, mission-control station. The majority of the VUP-19 crew operates from Naval Air Station Jacksonville.”

VUP-19 is headquartered at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, but its Tritons are home-based at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California.

“The introduction of MQ-4C Triton to the 7th Fleet area of operations expands the reach of the U.S. Navy’s maritime patrol and reconnaissance force in the Western Pacific,” said Capt. Matt Rutherford, Task Force 72’s commander. “Coupling the capabilities of the MQ-4C with the proven performance of P-8, P-3 and EP-3 will enable improved maritime domain awareness in support of regional and national security objectives.”

Praise for — and Commitment to — the MQ-4C

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday praised the Triton during March 11 testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Defense subcommittee.

“The capabilities that the MQ-4 brings are game-changing in terms of long-range ISR at altitude, with sensors that we haven’t had supporting the fleet before,” he said. “We’re still committed” to the Triton.

Mackin said the Navy’s program of record remains at 68 UAVs, despite a gap of two years — 2021 and 2022 — proposed in the Navy’s 2021 budget proposal. The total does not include the two Navy-owned and one Northrop Grumman-owned test aircraft.

The Navy has ordered 20 Tritons to date and has accepted delivery of seven: three flyable test aircraft (including one owned by Northrop Grumman), one fatigue test article and three production aircraft, the latter three delivered to VUP-19. One of the VUP-19 Tritons was involved in a flight mishap during a landing at NAS Point Mugu on Sept. 13, 2018.

“The Triton aircraft damaged during the gear-up landing at Point Mugu has been stricken from inventory although some components were salvaged for use on training devices,” Mackin said.

Configurations With More Advanced Capabilities

He said the two MQ-4Cs deployed to Guam are in the Triton’s baseline configuration known as IFC 3 (Integrated Functional Capability 3). The Navy is working on deploying the Triton with IFC 4, which gives the UAV a signals intelligence capability and will put it on the path to replace the Navy’s EP-3E electronic reconnaissance aircraft. IFC 4, also called the multi-int (multi-intelligence) capability, is planned for fiscal 2022.

Multi-int capability deployed in four Tritons at a single site to establish a 24/7 orbit over the Western Pacific area of operations also will mark the achievement of initial operational capability for the Triton.

The Northrop Grumman-owned MQ-4C in the test program is being used to advance the Triton’s capabilities.

“We are … integrating and testing IFC-4 upgrades to meet the U.S. Navy’s and Australia’s multi-intelligence requirement, which will ultimately enable the U.S. Navy to retire the EP-3,” said Doug Shaffer, vice president and program manager, Triton program, Northrop Grumman, in response to a query from Seapower.

Mackin said there “is a plan for upgrading older aircraft to the multi-int configuration with some [aircraft] already” in the works.

VUP-19 eventually will operate 12 MQ-4Cs operated and maintained by 500 personnel. The Navy plans to establish a second Triton squadron, VUP-11, at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington. The two squadrons together eventually will field 20 Tritons at five sites to sustain five around-the-clock orbits. The remaining 48 Tritons would be used for training, attrition and the maintenance pipeline over the service life of the UAV.

The groundwork for the MQ-4C, based on the U.S. Air Force Block 20 RQ-4A Global Hawk, was laid more than a decade ago with the Broad-Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstration (BAMS-D) program, in which the Navy acquired from the Air Force two Block 10 RQ-4As and their integrated sensors that included an electro-optical sensor, SAR with a ground moving target indicator and wide-area search modes. The Navy added an LR-100 electronic surveillance measures sensor, the automatic identification system, inverse SAR capability, and maritime moving target and maritime search sensing.

The Navy in 2011 received three more RQ-4As from the Air Force for the BAMS-D. Since then, one RQ-4A was lost in a mishap in eastern Maryland in 2012 and another was shot down by Iranian forces last June. A third was damaged in a takeoff mishap in November. Mackin said repair is underway on the damaged RQ-4A.

The Navy deployed the RQ-4A to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in early 2009 for a planned six-month deployment. Now, more than 11 years later, after continuous deployment, the Navy still values the BAMS-D program as it awaits more deployments of the MQ-4C Triton.

According to the 2021 budget proposal, the Navy plans to phase out the BAMS-D, beginning in fiscal 2023, to allow the sea service to fund the whole MQ-4C program. “The MQ-4C will assume the signal intelligence mission from the EP-3E in [fiscal] 2022, which will require aircraft and control station modifications and calibrations to keep pace with emerging signals of interest at greater sensitivity thresholds.”

Allies See Triton’s Value, Sign Up to Take Delivery

Two allied nations are on track to operate the Triton. Australia signed a memorandum of understanding for up to six Tritons in June 2019, with delivery of the first scheduled for 2023. Germany also has announced its intention to procure three Tritons. Foreign procurement may be key in sustaining a steady Triton production line if the Navy gaps the procurement in 2021 and 2022.

“A two-year gap in production would have significant negative effects on the production line and the supplier base,” Shaffer said. “A pause would mean we lose the lessons learned that have enabled our suppliers and Northrop Grumman to achieve production efficiencies and get to this mature point of the program, which would then add more risks and costs to the program.

“We estimate that stopping and restarting the line alone will cost roughly $100 million to $150 million and then each aircraft likely costs about $20 million more. We are working closely with the Navy on multiple options [that] could keep the production line open and potentially result in cost savings for both the Navy and Australia.

“We have had multiple discussions with the U.S. Navy and Australia about options to fill the [fiscal] ’21 and ’22 production lines with Australian aircraft,” he said. “An acceleration of the Australian program would result in significant savings to Australia and ensure cost savings to the U.S. Navy by preventing a pause in Triton production. While any decision to accelerate the Australian program is between the U.S. Navy and Australia, we are prepared to provide the necessary support to an accelerated Australian program.”

The novel coronavirus has been a stunning and tragic disrupter of U.S. sea service operations — both major and routine, traditional events as well as long-planned operations.

Shortly after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, the effect on America’s military started to come into sharper focus.

Check out the digital edition of the May Seapower magazine here.

See: At War With the Virus — A Timeline

The U.S. Navy wants Sailors to toughen up.

That’s not to suggest Sailors lack in the toughness department. But working in today’s Navy can be stressful, and Sailors need the tools to handle the burden. Soon they may get them — thanks to a program in its pilot stage, Warrior Toughness.

The 3-year-old program — confined to the crews of some Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, principally the USS Maryland — could one day be used all across the sea service.

Check out the digital edition of the April Seapower magazine here.

Rear Adm. Michael D. Bernacchi, commander of Submarine Group 10, told Seapower that the program is a new approach to making sure Sailors are prepared for stressful jobs.

“What we were looking to do was to arm Sailors with additional tools to allow them to deal with stress so that they could perform better in stressful situations — both chronic and acute stress,” he said.

In creating the program, Bernacchi took lessons from the Navy SEALs, who are famous for their ability to adapt and even thrive in the most stressful situations imaginable.

“We wanted to adapt that to the general Sailor to give them more tools, whether that be standing the midwatch or dealing with a fire or whatever the case may be, you could respond well in any stressful situation and recall information,” he said.

Back to the Basics of Mind, Body, Soul

Bernacchi said there was nothing “new or magical” about the Warrior Toughness Program — it’s just about getting back to the basics of the mind, body, and soul and recognizing that they are all integral to the success of individuals.

“It’s about training your mind, understanding why it does the things that it does, making sure you’re in physical shape, understanding Navy core values — it’s a lot of different things, and we took a lot of it from the SEALs,” he said.

“What we were looking to do was to arm Sailors with additional tools to allow them to deal with stress so that they could perform better in stressful situations — both chronic and acute stress.”

Rear Adm. Michael D. Bernacchi, commander, Submarine Group 10

Right now, the program is just being tested on submarines, where Sailors have to deal with a lot of chronic stress just from living in that environment. However, Bernacchi envisions developing a fleet version that could be used in individual units.

When it was first rolled out at Navy Recruit Training Command, some Sailors were a little bit hesitant to embrace the new way of approaching training, but eventually most were on board, he said.

“When we started it at boot camp, most people didn’t want to do it,” he said. “I remember it getting called ‘recruit yoga’ and all kinds of other things. But you saw a huge increase in the performance of divisions, and then people wanted it. That’s the same thing we’ve seen here [aboard submarines].”

But what does the Warrior Toughness program look like from a Sailor’s point of view? Master Chief Matthew Glisson, Sub Group 10’s engineering department master chief (EDMC) and the Warrior Toughness lead, said there are many components. “There are psychology and a mindfulness techniques,” he said. “We’ve got a breathing technique called ‘recalibrate’ … where one learns to focus. The other benefit is that it lowers the heart rate.”

Another technique practiced in Warrior Toughness is the “body scan” — where a Sailor tenses as many muscles in their body as possible to find out where the tension is located. Then there’s “mental rehearsal,” where a Sailor envisions, in as much detail as possible, a stressful scenario and then rehearses what their immediate actions would be and where they can draw on certain tools to cope with and perform in that situation.

Four Pilot Programs on Four Subs — Then Off to Study the Data

Four pilot programs on four submarines will be up and running by the end of 2020, including the one that started on the USS Maryland last October. The next pilot will launch in April, and then another a month after. Once Warrior Toughness gathers enough data from the first three, the program will determine which sub should get the fourth pilot. After the fourth, the program will examine the data, see what has been and what has not been successful, and then potentially create a larger program from it.

The program’s exists because the Navy recognized that it hadn’t ever focused on the issue of stress, Bernacchi said. “We have never in the Navy sat down and taught you, ‘Hey, this is how you physically deal with stress,'” he said. “No one’s ever taught me how to meditate before. No one’s ever taught me, ‘Hey, this is how chemistry in your brain works.’ I’ve never had a psychologist sit there and explain to me that this is the chemical reaction when fear strikes, and this is how you counter it.”

“In the training cycle we just came out of, we found a lot of uses in the strategic and tactical warfare simulator training environment, and we were able to apply stress-management and mindfulness exercises.”

Cmdr. Michael Paisant, commanding officer, USS Maryland Gold crew

Cmdr. Michael Paisant, commanding officer of the USS Maryland Gold crew, said the crew has already just about reached the “run” phase of “crawl-walk-run” with this program.

“We’re still trying to figure out — specifically on board — how we’re going to apply it,” he said. “In the training cycle we just came out of, we found a lot of uses in the strategic and tactical warfare simulator training environment, and we were able to apply stress management and mindfulness exercises.”

For example, during a portion of the training that involved piloting the submarine into ports, Sailors underwent breathing and mindfulness exercises as well as a visualization exercise as they went through each stage of the navigation process. The crew is also looking at ways to apply Warrior Toughness in a maintenance environment and not just operationally.

Paisant acknowledged that some of the crew was skeptical of the program at first, but since it began he says there’s been a lot of buy-in.

“They initially may have thought it would be another thing added to their plate, which it is not,” he said. “It’s focused on the individual Sailor, and on being a better spouse, a better leader. I think they’ve seen the benefits of it, and I’ve had a lot of folks say, ‘Hey, I do this all the time now. I do this in my personal life.’ I think my crew has really embraced it.”

Bernacchi hopes to see the program continue to evolve and eventually make all Sailors ready to protect the nation while dealing with any kind of stress — even the worst trauma imaginable. “When we take a missile hit to a carrier and lose 1,300 Sailors, are we going to be able to take a knee, gather ourselves, and then turn around and deliver the blow to kill the enemy who did that?” he said. “The answer is, we have to. But I don’t want to wait. Throughout our history we’ve shown we can do that, but it takes time to adapt. It takes time to get over the shock.

“The next battle, because of the speed of weaponry and everything else, we may not have that time,” he added. “So, I need to have Sailors who are ready to fight from the very second it goes off. And that’s what this is about.”