ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. — The USCGC Glen Harris (WPC 1144) became the U.S. Coast Guard’s newest fast response cutter during a commissioning ceremony Aug. 6 at Coast Guard Sector Field Office Fort Macon, the Coast Guard Atlantic Area said in a release. 

The Glen Harris will be homeported in Manama, Bahrain, and serve at U.S. Patrol Forces Southwest Asia. Adm. Linda Fagan, the vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, presided over the ceremony.  

“Coast Guard Cutter Glen Harris is one of six fast response cutters that will relieve the 110-foot patrol boats which have boldly stood the watch in the 5th Fleet AOR since 2003,” said Fagan. “It is clear the Coast Guard is poised now more than ever to seamlessly integrate with the Navy and Marine Corps team to support the advantage at sea and the Tri-Service Maritime Strategy. We are poised to be a key part of that strategy.” 

The cutter’s namesake is Chief Petty Officer Glen Livingston Harris, a native of North Carolina. He acted as a landing craft coxswain during the landing of Tulagi, which took place Aug. 7-9, 1942, during World War II. Along with three other U.S. Coast Guard coxswains, Harris landed the first U.S. Marines on Tulagi. Over the next three days of conflict, he made repeated trips under heavy enemy fire to deliver ammunition and other supplies to U.S. forces. In September of the same year, he landed against forces at Taivu Point, Guadalcanal Island, thereby materially contributing to the enemy’s eventual defeat. Harris was awarded the Silver Star Medal for gallantry by Adm. Chester Nimitz. 

“The Coast Guard will build 64 fast response cutters, name each for an enlisted hero like Glen Harris, and each dedication uncovers a little-known story, and each story adds volumes to our understanding of our own Coast Guard history,” said Fagan. 

Stacy Howley, Harris’s eldest granddaughter, was present and ship’s sponsor, and Madison King, Harris’s eldest great-granddaughter, served as the long-glass presenter. Several members of the Harris family were in attendance, including his sister Allie Gaskill. 

“My grandfather was one of the most honorable men I have ever known. He was so proud to be an American and a member of the United States Coast Guard. He was our papi, and we absolutely adored him,” Howley said. “He was an extremely humble man and rarely spoke about his time in World War II. But I believe if he were here with us today, he would most certainly say that his actions in the Tulagi Islands, as well as his crewmates that were by his side during the mission, were not heroic at all, but simply a reflection of the Coast Guard’s long tradition of life-saving missions and of putting others before oneself.” 

The Harris crew is already credited with saving lives. While in pre-commissioning status, the crew was first on scene and essential in the response, rescuing a member of the 175-foot lift boat capsizing eight miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on April 13. The U.S. Coast Guard and multiple good Samaritan vessels responded to the capsized vessel and searched for multiple missing people in the water.  

“Clearly, this crew is already inspired by Glenn Harris and the cutter’s motto Gallantry Abroad,” said Fagan. 

The Glen Harris is the 44th fast response cutter in the U.S. Coast Guard’s fleet and the third of six FRCs planned for service in Manama, Bahrain. Stationing FRCs in Bahrain supports U.S. Patrol Forces Southwest Asia, the Coast Guard’s largest unit outside of the U.S., and its mission to train, organize, equip, support, and deploy combat-ready U.S. Coast Guard forces in support of U.S. Navy 5th Fleet, U.S. Central Command, and national security objectives.  

The Sentinel-class is a key component of the Service’s offshore fleet capable of deploying independently to conduct missions, including port, waterways, coastal security, fishery patrols, search and rescue, and national defense. They are 154 feet in length, 25 feet in beam, and 353 long tons in displacement. They have a top speed of more than 28 knots, a range of 2,500 nautical miles, an endurance of up to five days, and can hold a crew of up to 24. These new cutters are replacing the aging Island-class 110-foot patrol boats in service since 1985.  

The U.S. Coast Guard accepted the Glen Harris on April 22. They will transit to Bahrain later this year with their sister ship, the Emlen Tunnell (WPC 1145), delivered July 1 and due to be commissioned in Philadelphia before departure.  

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service. Once a ship has been commissioned, its final step toward becoming an active unit of the agency it serves is to report to its homeport and officially load or accept any remaining equipment. 

ASTORIA, Ore. — The Coast Guard Cutter Alert and its crew returned to homeport in Astoria Aug. 7 after completing a 60-day law enforcement patrol, during which the crew enforced federal law and safety regulations aboard commercial fishing vessels operating within the United States Exclusive Economic Zone off the coasts of Washington and Oregon, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in an Aug. 9 release. 

The two-month patrol focused heavily on albacore tuna fishing and saw law enforcement teams board 31 vessels — many of which have not been boarded in more than 10 years — and issue 22 violations to commercial fishing vessel operators. 

“I couldn’t be more proud of Alert’s hard-working crew,” said Cmdr. Matthew Kolodica, commanding officer of the Alert. “It is an honor to be part of a crew that is so passionate and focused on helping Oregon and Washington coastal communities operate safely and sustain their fisheries industries.” 

The nation’s maritime ecosystems are key to the United States’ economy and well-being. The Coast Guard plays a critical role in preserving and maintaining healthy populations of marine fish by preventing the decline of protected marine species populations, protecting and promoting the recovery of endangered marine habitats, and partnering with other agencies to enhance and sustain marine ecosystems. 

In addition to safety and fisheries enforcement, the ship’s crew also aided in saving a commercial fisherman’s life. The sole person aboard his boat, sinking 160 miles off Grays Harbor, Washington, escaped into the vessel’s life raft before the boat submerged. The cutter was dispatched from another location July 30 to assist. Once on site, the crew served as on-scene coordinator and directed the Coast Guard Cutter Blue Shark, an 87-foot Patrol Boat homeported in Everett, Washington, to launch its small boat and safely recover the man. 

Kolodica credited the versatility and success of the deployment — which was under the tactical oversight of the 13th Coast Guard District — to strong partnerships with the district and Coast Guard Air Stations Port Angeles, Astoria and North Bend. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III announced Aug. 6 that the president has made the following nomination: 

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Karsten S. Heckl for appointment to the rank of lieutenant general, and assignment as the deputy commandant for combat development and integration, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps; and commanding general, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.  Heckl is currently serving as commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. 

Below are excerpts from his official biography: 

A native of Stone Mountain Georgia, Heckl graduated from Georgia State University and was commissioned in April 1988.  He was designated an unrestricted Naval Aviator in September 1990. 

Heckl commanded Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162, which included a combat tour in Iraq in 2008 and Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1) in 2010.  From June 2018 to July 2020, he served as the commanding general, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing. 

As a CH-46E pilot, Heckl deployed with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 365 and HMM-263 and served as a CH-46E Instructor and Division Head at MAWTS-1, MCAS Yuma, Arizona.  Additionally, he was assigned as one of the initial cadre of pilots with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron 204 (VMMT-204).  

Staff assignments include CH-46E and MV-22 Requirements Officer, Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC) Aviation Department, Washington DC; J3 director of Operations, United States Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A), Kabul, Afghanistan; senior military assistant and Marine Aide to the secretary of the Navy; assistant deputy commandant for Aviation, HQMC Aviation Department, Washington DC; chief of staff, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO), Lisbon, Portugal. 

Heckl is a distinguished graduate of the Amphibious Warfare School (AWS) and the Naval War College. 

MELBOURNE, Fla. — The U.S. Navy has awarded L3Harris Technologies a $393 million contract to install increments II and III of the Undersea Warfare Training Range (USWTR), the company said in an Aug. 5 release. 

The award follows nearly 10 years of execution by L3Harris on Increment I and will replace and upgrade the remaining underwater training range sites. 

USWTR Increment I included installing the ocean sensor and shore electronics subsystems instrumenting the approximately 500-square-nautical-mile area near Jacksonville, Florida. Under Increments II and III, L3Harris will upgrade and replace the previously installed systems at the U.S. Navy’s three other range locations near Hawaii, Bahamas and Southern California. 

The USWTRs enable ships, submarines and aircraft to track targets on the surface and subsurface for anti-submarine warfare training. The ranges each include more than 600 miles of undersea cables, several hundred sophisticated acoustic sensors, as well as shore-based control, display and processing facilities. 

“I’m proud of our team for delivering Increment I two years early so we could accelerate this award to support the sailors and provide them with early access to the best undersea range technology available to maintain operational readiness,” said Christopher E. Kubasik, chief executive officer, L3Harris. “For six decades in partnership with both our U.S. and international navy customers, L3Harris has successfully developed, manufactured, installed and supported undersea training range technology. Our capabilities ensure that sailors train in an environment that is as close to their mission environment as possible, giving them a competitive advantage.”  

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy will christen its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Nantucket (LCS 27), during a 10 a.m. CDT ceremony Saturday, Aug. 7, in Marinette, Wisconsin, the Defense Department announced in an Aug. 6 release. 

The principal speaker will be Rep. Mike Gallagher, U.S. Representative for Wisconsin’s 8th District. In a time-honored Navy tradition, the ship’s sponsor, Polly Spencer, will break a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow. 

“The future USS Nantucket will be the third U.S. Navy ship commissioned to honor the maritime history and spirit of Nantucket,” said Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker. “I have no doubt the Sailors of USS Nantucket (LCS 27) will carry on the proud legacy from generations past in preserving sea lanes, countering instability, and maintaining our maritime superiority.” 

LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, winning against 21st-century coastal threats. The platform is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence. 

The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom-variant and the Independence-variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom-variant team is led by Lockheed Martin in Marinette, Wisconsin (for the odd-numbered hulls). The Independence-variant team is led by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls). 

The first Nantucket, a Passaic-class coastal monitor, commissioned on Feb. 26, 1863. Assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Nantucket participated in the attack on Confederate forts in Charleston Harbor on April 7, 1863. Struck 51 times during the valiant yet unsuccessful assault on the vital Southern port, the single-turreted monitor was repaired at Port Royal and returned to Charleston to support Army operations on Morris Island. The second Nantucket, a wooden light ship built in 1907 for the Lighthouse Service, was transferred to the Navy by executive order on April 11, 1917. During World War I, the ship continued its duties of warning vessels away from Nantucket Shoals and aided in guarding nearby waters against U-boats. 

MIAMI — Coast Guard Cutter James’ crew offloaded approximately 59,700 pounds of cocaine and 1,430 pounds of marijuana worth more than $1.4 billion, Aug. 5, at Port Everglades, which is the largest offload in service history, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release. 

The Coast Guard’s strong international relationships, with key partners like Canada and the Netherlands, along with specialized capabilities and unmatched authorities, allow for a unity of effort to disrupt transnational crime organizations, which threaten America and partner nations. 

“Today’s offload is a result of our combined efforts of our inter-agency partners and a dedicated international coalition,” said Vice Adm. Steven Poulin, commander, Atlantic Area. “The Canadian government and Canadian Defence Forces brings an incredible capability in defeating transnational organized crime, and I’m grateful to HMCS Shawinigan to showcase Canada’s commitment. Together we will disrupt, defeat and degrade transnational organized crime. We will strengthen our efforts and continue to build collaboration and capability.”  

“Canada and America are committed to expanding cooperation on defending North America against illicit trafficking and transnational crime and working together within our alliances,” said Maj. Gen. Paul Ormsby, Canadian Defence Attache. “We know that no nation can do it alone, and we know that we are stronger together. The kind of cooperation that we see on the pier today is one of the thousands of impressive examples of cooperation every day.”  

During at-sea interdictions, a suspect vessel is initially detected and monitored by allied, military or law enforcement personnel coordinated by Joint Interagency Task Force-South based in Key West, Florida. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific is conducted under the authority of the Coast Guard 11th District, headquartered in Alameda, California. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

The drugs were interdicted in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean Sea including contraband seized and recovered during 27 interdictions of suspected drug smuggling vessels by 10 American, Dutch and Canadian ships: 

Coast Guard Cutter James  

Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk  

Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless 

Coast Guard Cutter Thetis  

Coast Guard Cutter Confidence 

USS Wichita 

USS Sioux City 

USS Billings 

HNLMS Holland 

HMCS Shawinigan 

The cutter James is a 418-foot national security cutter home ported in Charleston, South Carolina. The cutter Mohawk is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter home ported in Key West, Florida. The cutter Dauntless is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Pensacola, Florida. The cutter Thetis is a 270-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Key West, Florida. The cutter Confidence is a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Port Canaveral, Florida. The USS Wichita is a 378-foot freedom-class littoral combat ship homeported in Naval Station Mayport, Florida. The USS Sioux City is a 378-foot Freedom-class littoral combat ship homeported in Naval Station Mayport, Florida. The USS Billings is a 378-foot Freedom-class littoral combat ship homeported in Naval Station Mayport, Florida. The Royal Netherlands Navy HNLMS Holland is a 356-foot Holland-class offshore patrol vessel homeported in Den Helder, Netherlands. The HMCS Shawinigan is a 181-foot Kingston-class coastal defense vessel homeported in Halifax, Canada. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — GE, which provides gas turbine engines to naval ships around the world, is looking to provide engines for the U.S. Navy’s next-generation guided-missile destroyer (DDG(X)), a company official said. 

“We’re in a good position,” said George Awiszus, director, Military Marketing and Business Development for GE Marine, noting the success of his company’s family of marine engines, which company marketing materials point to a 99% reliability and 98% availability of its LM2500 engines. 

Awiszus noted during an Aug. 4 interview with Seapower that the U.S. Navy is looking to making its next-generation destroyer a “full electric ship.”  

He said the current Arleigh Burke-class DDG ‘is maxed out” in terms of electrical power and that more power will be needed for the sensors, weapons and propulsion that likely will be installed in the DDG(X). 

Awiszus praised the Navy’s efforts to get industry, including shipyards and naval architects, involved early in the concept design process. 

GE will be providing LM2500+G4 engines for the new Constellation-class frigate. LM2500 engines already are in use on the Fincantieri FREMM frigate that is the basis for the Constellation class. The Constellation’s engines will feature the Composite Enclosure that provides better noise attenuation, a 5,500-pound weight reduction, costs 50% less than the steel enclosure and keeps the engine room cooler. GE will have delivered 24 engines with the Composite Enclosure by year’s end. 

GE improves its marine engine designs over time as lessons are learned, new materials are provided, and processes are refined. The company now offers electric starting capability as an option along with hydraulic or pneumatic starting methods. 

GE has delivered 1,365 LM2500 and LM6000 gas turbine engines to navies worldwide and 2,585 used for industrial purposes. 

NASHUA, N.H. — BAE Systems has received a $93 million Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) to provide critical sustainment support for the F-35 electronic warfare (EW) system, the company said in an Aug. 4 release. 

BAE Systems has received a $93 million, five-year UCA from Lockheed Martin to provide critical sustainment support for the AN/ASQ-239 EW countermeasure system. The contract will ensure the mission readiness of the growing global fleet of F-35 aircraft. 

“We have a strong track record of sustaining electronic warfare systems to support our customers’ mission readiness,” said Rob Dykema, F-35 Sustainment program director at BAE Systems. “This contract lays critical sustainment groundwork, establishing and optimizing the infrastructure to support the aircraft.” 

Under the contract, BAE Systems will provide software maintenance, depot test equipment support, logistics analysis, obsolescence monitoring, technical field support, and reach-back support for the F-35 U.S. Reprogramming Laboratory. 

The contract complements the BAE Systems F-35 performance-based logistics (PBL) program, through which BAE Systems ensures EW material availability. Under the EW PBL, BAE Systems has demonstrated a 60% improvement in supply support, delivering better than 85% EW material availability to the F-35 enterprise with reduced cost per flight hour using a cost-effective, outcome-based support strategy. 

The AN/ASQ-239 electronic warfare suite provides real-time situational awareness and superior electronic warfare attack and countermeasure capabilities.  

NORFOLK, Va. — Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and U.S. Naval Forces Europe commenced Large-Scale Exercise 2021 in the USFF, PACFLT, and NAVEUR areas of responsibility, Aug. 3, Fleet Forces Command said in a release. 

LSE 2021 is a Chief of Naval Operations-directed live, virtual, and constructive, globally integrated exercise that spans multiple fleets. LSE 2021 is designed to refine how we synchronize maritime operations across multiple fleets in support of the joint force. The training is based on a progression of fleet battle problems and scenarios that will assess and refine modern warfare concepts, including distributed maritime operations, expeditionary advanced base operations, and littoral operations in a contested environment. 

“We have shifted focus from the individual Carrier Strike Group to a larger fleet-centric approach, challenging fleet commanders’ abilities to make decisions at a speed and accuracy that outpaces the adversaries,” said Adm. Christopher W. Grady, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. “LSE is more than just training; it is leveraging the integrated fighting power of multiple naval forces to share sensors, weapons, and platforms across all domains in contested environments, globally.” 
   
Evaluating and improving naval integration and the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps’ ability to integrate all domains in a high-end global conflict is a necessary investment in the current and future readiness of our forces. 
   
“LSE 2021 provides our Navy-Marine Corps team the opportunity to plan, direct and establish full spectrum naval operations. We must build naval readiness and advance the art and science of naval warfare to be ready to fight tonight – the stakes could not be higher,” said Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet.  “The international rules-based order is essential to our nation, and our partners and allies for peace, security and stability.”   
   
Included in the exercise will be evaluations of experimental technology from a variety of warfare areas including unmanned technologies. 

“LSE will test our commanders’ abilities to deliver coordinated effects, from all directions, any time or all the time. It will help us build the necessary muscle memory to do this routinely at the operational to strategic levels of war,” said Adm. Robert P. Burke, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe. “By exercising the full weight of our operational fleets, working together in a global mindset, we will truly harness the inherent flexibility of naval forces in controlling the sea and projecting power.”  
   
LSE 2021 is part of an on-going series of exercises that demonstrates the U.S. Navy’s ability to employ precise, lethal, and overwhelming force globally across three naval component commands, five numbered fleets, and 17 time zones. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday discussed the Large-Scale Exercise during Sea-Air-Space 2021 this week.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The outbreak of COVID-19 on a forward-deployed U.S. aircraft carrier helped Navy medical personnel learn how to fight the virus at sea and prevent its spread ashore, the Navy Surgeon General says.

“Our wakeup call was the Theodore Roosevelt,” Rear Adm. Bruce Gillingham told a panel discussion on the coronavirus pandemic at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Expo in National Harbor Aug. 4.

After COVID-19 was detected among the crew following a port call at Da Nang, Vietnam, in March 2020, the USS Roosevelt was sidelined at Guam for months.

The data gathered by a deployed medical unit aboard the stricken carrier, where more than one thousand crew members tested positive for COVID-19 in early 2020, and one died, “helped us understand the behavior of the virus,” Gillingham said. “It was from that investigation that we really learned the role of pre- and asymptomatic transmission of COVID and how critically important it was to understand and prevent that.”

More than 76% of the crew who tested positive for COVID were not showing symptoms of the virus when tested, and only 55% later developed any symptoms.

With the experience gleaned from the Roosevelt and a smaller outbreak on the destroyer USS Kidd, “we were able to learn how to diagnose, quarantine and isolate in a shipboard environment, the surgeon general said. That led to a search for ways to create bubbles to manage the risk of COVID for forward deployed personnel, including restriction of movement for 14 days before deployment and testing personnel coming out of quarantine.

Another study by Navy scientists looked at Marine Corps recruits at Parris Island Marine Corps Recruit Depot to assess the response to the virus of healthy young adults in a tightly controlled, congregate setting. “Even in that environment, about one-sixth of recruits still became infected,” Gillingham said.

Both the Parris Island and Roosevelt/Kidd research findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. “I’m proud our folks were able to contribute to the national discussion on how to defeat COVID,” he said.

Another panelist, Rear Adm. Dana Thomas, director of Health, Safety & Work-Life at the Coast Guard, said it is also crucial to monitor the mental and emotional health of personnel working under the trying conditions imposed by the pandemic. 

In field communications, “I established, early on, Wellness Wednesdays,” hour-long panel sessions with chaplains, doctors and others to talk about stress and anxiety,“bringing that conversation into the ward room or the workplace,” she said.

“That was one thing we will continue as a best practice,” said Thomas, who is also an admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.