BLACK SEA — The Legend-class national security cutter USCGC Hamilton (WMSL 753) transited from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, concluding the crew’s recent Black Sea operations and engagements, May 14, 2021, the Coast Guard Atlantic Area said in a May 15 release. 
 
Hamilton entered the Black Sea on April 27, 2021, in support of NATO Allies and partners. Hamilton is the first U.S. Coast Guard cutter to visit the Black Sea since 2008. The last U.S. Coast Guard cutter to visit the Black Sea, USCGC Dallas (WHEC 716), sailed to the Black Sea twice, in 2008 and 1995. 
 
“Operating in the Black Sea these last few weeks has strengthened our enduring partnerships with regional maritime forces,” said Capt. Timothy Cronin, commanding officer of Hamilton. “Our time in this critical waterway also reinforced our commitment to maintaining freedom of movement in international waters for all nations. The Black Sea is not owned by any one nation; it belongs to the world.” 
 
While in the Black Sea, the crew of Hamilton operated with Black Sea partner navies and coast guards and made two port visits. 
 
Within the first week of arriving in the Black Sea, Hamilton’s operations with the Turkish navy Yavuz-class TCG Turgutreis (F 241) included passing exercises and cross-platform helicopter operations with a Turkish Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter and their embarked U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. 
 
Hamilton conducted exercises with the Georgian coast guard. Hamilton crewmembers executed search and rescue patterns, simulated survivor rescue training, helicopter hoisting evolutions, approaches for towing, and ship communications with the Georgian coast guard vessels Dioskuria (P 25) and Ochamchire (P 23), May 2-3. These maneuvers and operations enhanced the proficiency in specific mission areas familiar to both coast guards. 
 
On May 4, the Hamilton team called on Batumi, Georgia, for engagements with Georgian coast guard leadership and local Georgian representatives. Upon arrival, the crew was greeted with a Georgian demonstration of dancing and singing after conducting the U.S. and Georgian national anthems. The Georgian coast guard and Hamilton also conducted several tours, a dinner, and a five-kilometer run to foster camaraderie. 
 
Hamilton conducted maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and ship handling operations with Ukrainian navy vessel Island-class patrol boat Starobilsk (P 241) and Ukrainian border guard vessel Kuropiatnikov (BG 50), May 9-10.  
 
These operations increased interoperability as a part of a regional effort to bolster maritime partnerships with NATO Allies and partners. The next day, Hamilton conducted a port visit in Odesa, Ukraine, where the crew conducted maritime law enforcement training with the maritime border guard and exchanged damage control and firefighting expertise with the Ukrainian navy. Hamilton also served as the training platform for the Ukrainian 73rd Special Force Unit to conduct maritime law enforcement training. 
 
The Hamilton crew conducted its final operations in the Black Sea with Romanian Navy Frigate Mărășești (F111) and Bulgarian corvette Bodri (BGS 14) on May 13, 2021. The vessels executed passing and communications exercises and flight operations with the Hamilton’s MH-65 Dolphin helicopter detachment aircrew. 
 
The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting a routine deployment in U.S. Sixth Fleet, working alongside Allies, building maritime domain awareness, and sharing best practices with partner nation navies and coast guards. 
 
Hamilton is the fourth national security cutter and is the fifth named for the father of the U.S. Coast Guard, Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury and advocate for creating the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The biggest problem facing U.S. Navy and Marine Corps plans to deter great power competitors is how to supply a widely distributed maritime force in a contested environment, the commandant of the Marine Corps says.

With his Force Design 2030 plan, Gen. David Berger, seeks to reshape the Corps so it can operate and survive inside the area of operations of a peer competitor equipped with advanced manned and unmanned aerial systems and cruise missiles.

“For the first time in a generation, we have a strategic competitor and that is China,” Berger said May 12 at the McAleese Associates FY2022 Defense Programs Conference webinars. “I think our force must be lighter, must be more mobile, has to be more expeditionary. We’ve got to be able to operate from a variety of platforms.”

Marines will be trained and equipped as a naval expeditionary force-in-readiness, prepared to operate inside actively contested maritime spaces in support of fleet operations. Berger’s plan calls for both force structure and operational changes, including dispersing smaller and highly mobile Marine expeditionary units — carried by smaller, cheaper and more numerous surface vessels

“Of all the things we’re working on in the naval force, and narrowly within the Marine Corps, this is the hardest problem going forward: logistical sustainment in a distributed environment, in a contested environment,” said Berger, noting, “nobody has contested our supply lines in 70 years.”

He added that this was an area where industry could help. The planned light amphibious warship (LAW), designed to complement and fill a gap in capability between the Navy’s large, multi-purpose amphibious warships and shorter range landing craft, is “going to give us the organic mobility that we so desperately need in the littorals anywhere in the world,” the commandant said.

He emphasized the driving force behind LAW’s concept is mobility, not creating an offensive weapons platform. “Perhaps at some point it would make sense to integrate some type of naval strike missile on a light amphibious warship, that’s not the driver,” Berger said. “My focus is on the mobility of it.”

He noted with its shallow draft, lower heat signature and organic mobility allowing it to remain forward deployed, the LAW gives commanders “the  ability to move the force around in a littoral environment.”

Unmanned systems in the air, and both on and beneath the sea will also play a “central, more prominent role” in the Marines, Berger said. “We’re doubling the inventory of our unmanned aerial squadrons,” he said.

Berger speculated that future platforms could be designed specifically for undersea warfare, carrying weapons systems, sonobuoys or sensor packages, and conventional amphibious ships with well decks might deploy unmanned surface vessels, possibly for a subsurface fight. “I think within a decade, half of our aviation, half of our logistics will be unmanned,” he added.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s top officer said reaching a production rate of three Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines a year will be a challenge for a number of reasons. 

“I do think that three a year is a challenge,” said Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations (CNO), speaking May 13 at the McAleese FY2022 Defense Programs Conference. “I think that industry recognizes that three a year is a challenge.  

“I do think that the analysis that was done highlighted the fact that, look, we believe we have an advantage right now under the sea,” Gilday said. “We need to maintain that advantage. [The attack submarine is] our most survivable strike platform. It performs a heavy lift for us across the world right now. We need to double down on it, if you will.” 

The Navy has too few attack submarines (SSNs) to meet more than half of the requirements of the regional combatant commanders, according to testimony before Congress in recent years. The Navy is facing a shortage in attack submarines that will become more severe during the mid-2020s because submarine production is too low to replace the Los Angeles-class SSNs that are being decommissioned. The Navy plans to extend the service lives of several Los Angeles-class boats to partially mitigate the shortfall. Accelerating procurement of the Virginia class from two to three boats per year, a move supported by key members of Congress, also would help alleviate the shortfall.  

Production now is underway on the first Columbia-class nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN), which is the Navy’s top procurement priority in that the strategic deterrence is the Navy’s No. 1 mission. The cost of the Columbia class is putting the Navy budget planning under heavy pressure, making the affordability of three Virginia SSNs per year a budget challenge. The capacity of the two submarine builders — General Dynamic’s Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls’ Newport News Shipbuilding — in terms of available infrastructure and skilled workers also raises questions about the ability to squeeze and other SSN in a given year. The addition of the Virginia Payload Module, which adds expense to the Block 5 of the Virginia class, also pressurizes the shipbuilding budget. 

“So, it’s really a challenge to industry,” Gilday said. “Can we get to a place where we produce three a year? I do think that is a challenge. Right now, the answer is we can’t produce three a year. We hope we get to a place where we could, but it’s also going to come down to affordability with respect to what the [budget] topline is, and how much money we have left for affordable growth with respect to capacity.” 

PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division announced today the start of fabrication of Legend-class national security cutter Friedman (WMSL 760). The start of fabrication signifies the first 100 tons of steel have been cut, the company said in a May 11 release. 

“Our workforce has invested more than a decade of effort, creativity and resolve to make the Legend-class national security cutter production line incredibly efficient and strong,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. “We are pleased to achieve this milestone and will continue to look for any additional opportunity in our processes and approaches to provide the most affordable and capable ships to our customers.” 

NSC 11 is named to honor Elizebeth Smith Friedman. Friedman was a code breaker during the Prohibition Era who, as a civilian, intercepted and solved coded messages from racketeers and gangs and delivered them to the Coast Guard. During World War II, she worked against German espionage communications and developed information that was critical to counterintelligence work in the Southern Hemisphere. Friedman’s work resulted in hundreds of criminal prosecutions, saved thousands of lives and laid the groundwork for the science of cryptology and the establishment of the modern-day National Security Agency.  

The Legend-class NSC is the most technologically advanced ship in the Coast Guard’s fleet, which enables it to meet the high demands required for maritime and homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions. NSCs are 418 feet long with a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 120. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — While Pentagon planners and lawmakers puzzle over which platforms to retire and which to keep in service in the coming decades, it’s important to balance competing priorities of readiness to meet current threats as well as preparing for ones yet to be imagined, the second-highest ranking civilian in the U.S. Navy says.

It’s a “false dilemma” to say the Navy Department has to choose between current readiness and future readiness,” James “Hondo” Geurts said May 12 at the McAleese Associates FY2022 Defense Programs Conference webinars. “We have to do both of them. Balance is really important, particularly in today’s operational environment,” where thousands of Marines are forward deployed in the first island chain of the Pacific, and a third of the fleet is at sea.   

Geurts, until Jan. 21 the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, was designated as performing the duties of Under Secretary of the Navy in February by acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker. In the new role of principal assistant to the Secretary, Geurts acts as chief operating officer and chief management officer for the department.

Navigating the great power competition, in what is expected to be an era of shrinking defense budgets, will require resilience in dealing with cyber, climate and competition challenges, Geurts said, as well as balancing “how we think about future readiness in things like remotely crewed or unmanned systems with today’s manned systems.”

Geurts said that question has weighed on him for the last two years, but he was encouraged by the Unmanned Campaign framework released by the Navy and Marine Corps March 16. He also said he was feeling positive “that we have started the right motions, people are thinking about it,” but he wants to see improvement in the “scale and speed” at which technology discoveries move from development to deployment with the fleet.

As for the issue of retiring older platforms like cruisers and amphibious warfare ships, to make way for new technologies, a hot topic on Capitol Hill, Geurts said he wouldn’t discuss specifics until the Biden administration’s first defense budget is released. However, “we’re looking at what’s that right balance of keeping things while they’re still useful, but not keeping things to the point where they’re not adding value to the missions we see going forward,” Geurts said, adding “we want to maximize the return on investments made and maybe in new and interesting ways.”

He noted that Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday has been outspoken about continuing to use Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) in the Western Pacific. “There is a place for it. We just need to be creative in how do we maximize that previous investment going forward,” Geurts said.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy is finding the modernization of its Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers (CGs) its primary challenge in surface ship sustainment, a senior admiral said. 

“The cruisers across the force are 30 to 35 years old,” said Vice Adm. William Galinis, commander, Naval Sea Systems Command, speaking May 12 as the McAleese Associates FY2022 Defense Programs Conference webinars. “What we’re seeing is the ships’ infrastructure — the hull systems, the piping — that we’re having the biggest challenges with.” 

The cruisers “are — hands down — probably our toughest class of ship to maintain, followed by the LSD class [dock landing ships],” he said. 

In 2015, Congress approved the CG Phased Modernization Plan for seven cruisers, which, like the Cruiser Modernization (CG Mod) program, introduces new warfighting capabilities, improves material condition and readiness, replaces obsolete equipment, and reduces total ownership costs through technology insertion. Cowpens and Gettysburg were inducted into the program in 2015, Vicksburg and Chosin in 2016, Anzio and Cape St. George in 2017 and Hue City in 2019.    

Galinis said currently there are five CGs going through modernization, four of which are well into what he termed the “big modernization availability,” the third of three availabilities each cruiser is to go through in its path to modernization, the first being “removal of equipment and the start of structural repairs” and the second focused on structural repairs. The third availability got into the modernization piece. 

“I’ll be honest with you: we’re having our challenges with the first three ships,” Galinis said. “We’ve got two on the East Coast, one in San Diego, and the fourth ship is up in Seattle.” 

He said a fifth cruiser is soon to be inducted into the third phase later in 2021. 

The admiral noted that the CG in Seattle “frankly is doing fairly well.” 

He said there were a “lot of lessons learned from the first to the second to the third ship and then the fourth ship.” 

OAK HARBOR, Wash. – Sailors from Patrol Squadron Nine (VP-9) returned home to family and friends after a successful deployment to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations, the U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs said in a May 10 release. 

VP-9 deployed to Cooperative Security Location Comalapa, El Salvador, last October to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter illicit drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Flying 1,060 mishap-free flight hours in the P-8A Poseidon multi-mission maritime aircraft, the Golden Eagles coordinated with U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and partner nation surface forces to disrupt more than 38,000 kilograms of cocaine and 18,000 pounds of marijuana worth a street value in excess of $2.7 billion dollars. 
 
“The Golden Eagles lived up to their reputation of operational prowess and mission success,” said Capt. Matthew Pottenburgh, commander of Task Force 47. “They flawlessly executed all the types of missions we train for as maritime patrol aviators which helped people in need and strengthened partnerships with our friends in the region.” 
 
Additionally, VP-9 provided support to two major hurricanes Eta and Iota off the coast of Honduras. Both hurricanes brought heavy rains, severe flooding, and landslides to many of the same areas. VP-9 flew reconnaissance missions in support of disaster response operations, providing real-time information to decision makers to ensure the proper flow of aid to the most severely impacted regions of the country. 
 
The Golden Eagles also participated in several training opportunities, specifically a tri-lateral anti-submarine warfare exercise with forces from Colombia and Peru. Planned in a pandemic environment with no face-to-face meetings, VP-9’s performance enhanced interoperability with two of our key partners and increased the naval warfighting readiness for all three navies. 
 
“The hallmark of VP-9’s deployment was seamless coordination,” said Rear Adm. Don Gabrielson, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet.  The squadrons are vital to our mission and our partner nation relationships.”   
 
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet supports U.S. Southern Command’s joint and combined military operations by employing maritime forces in cooperative maritime security operations to maintain access, enhance interoperability, and build enduring partnerships in order to enhance regional security and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Caribbean, Central and South American region. 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser crew repatriated 13 of 14 migrants to the Dominican Republic, following the interdiction of a migrant vessel just off the coast of Rincon, Puerto Rico, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a May 12 release. 

The migrant group consisting of 13 males, including a 16-year-old minor, and a pregnant woman, claimed being Dominican Republic nationals.  

One of the interdicted migrants remains in Puerto Rico to face possible federal prosecution on charges of attempted illegal re-entry into the United States.  

The interdiction is the result of ongoing efforts by Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG) partner agencies to combat illegal migrant smuggling. 

Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan received a call from a U.S. Border Patrol agent at 3:39 a.m. May 9 reporting a Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine unit had intercepted a migrant vessel, approximately three nautical miles off the island’s west coast. During the interdiction, two of the migrants jumped into the water and attempted to swim to shore. 

A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Borinquen launched to search for the two migrants in the water. Once on scene, the Coast Guard aircrew spotted the two men struggling to stay afloat and vectored in the Coast Guard Cutter Winslow Griesser’s cutter boat to their position. The Coast Guard boat crew safely recovered the two men, who were embarked, along with the other migrants, aboard the cutter Winslow Griesser. 

Prior to embarking, the Winslow Griesser crew provided the migrants with lifejackets. Once aboard the cutter, they received food, water and basic medical attention. 

“I commend the responding units in this case,” said Cmdr. Beau Powers, Sector San Juan chief of response. “Their efforts helped save two lives from drowning and ensured the safe return of 13 of the migrants to the Dominican Republic. We call out to anyone considering taking part in an illegal voyage across the Mona Passage that you not take to the sea. The perils are quite real, and your life and the lives of everyone else in the voyage will be in great danger.” 

The crew of the cutter Winslow Griesser transferred 12 adult migrants to a Dominican Republic Navy vessel May 10 and repatriated the minor to Dominican Republic authorities in Santo Domingo Tuesday morning. 

Cutter Winslow Griesser is a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

WASHINGTON (NNS) – Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Gilday traveled to Bath, Maine, May 10 to visit Bath Iron Works with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, his public affairs officer said in a release. 

“One of the most important reasons I am in Maine today is to ensure every person here knows their work is critically important to our Navy,” said Gilday. “DDGs [guided-missile destroyers] are the workhorse of our Fleet, and simply put, you can’t get to the fight if you don’t have ships to sail there. To the entire workforce here at Bath Iron Works who are responsible for helping us generate warfighting readiness, you have my profound thanks.” 

During the trip, Gilday and the Senators saw Bath Iron Works’ shipyard facilities, toured and met with Sailors aboard USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118). 

“It was a pleasure to host Admiral Gilday in Maine to tour Bath Iron Works,” said Collins.  “I am proud of the highly skilled employees at BIW who build the best ships in the world.  Today’s visit provided Adm. Gilday with the opportunity to see firsthand the impressive work that they do to provide our sailors with high quality and technologically advanced destroyers.  As a senior member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I will continue to be a strong advocate for the shipyard, and I look forward to working with the Navy to increase the size and capabilities of our fleet.” 

During the tour they also visited the Bath Iron Works Training Academy, which teaches new workers to become pipefitters, welders, tinsmiths, and other tradespeople.  

“I’ve long believed that ‘one day of seeing is better than one hundred days of reading.’ Today, the CNO lived by that mantra by coming to get a firsthand look at the important work being done at Bath Iron Works,” said King. “The ships being built at BIW are the workhorses of the Navy, playing an outsized role in our national defense, and they’re all the product of the skill and dedication of Maine’s shipbuilders. I’m grateful to the CNO for taking the time to visit BIW, which is an essential part of our national defense infrastructure and a major economic engine for the state of Maine. In the months ahead, I will continue collaborating with Navy leaders and my colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee to ensure that this shipyard has the tools it need to continue bolstering our national defense and supporting thousands of good-paying jobs for families throughout Maine.” 

The visit marked CNO’s first trip to Bath Iron Works. 

BLACK SEA — The Legend-class national security cutter USCGC Hamilton (WMSL 753) conducted a series of operational exercises with Ukraine, May 9, 2021, in the Black Sea, the Coast Guard Atlantic Area said in a May 9 release. 
 
Hamilton conducted maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and ship handling operations with the Ukrainian navy vessel Island-class patrol boat Starobilsk (P 241). These operations were designed to increase interoperability as a part of a regional effort to bolster maritime partnerships with NATO partners. 
 
“Hamilton was honored to conduct at-sea operations with the Ukrainian navy,” said Capt. Timothy Cronin, commanding officer of Hamilton. “Because we have shared interests, these events promote our strong partnership in ensuring safe and lawful activity in the Black Sea.” 
 
The U.S. Coast Guard has a long and enduring partnership with regional maritime forces, particularly in strengthening maritime forces in Georgia and Ukraine. Hamilton conducted at sea engagements with the Georgian coast guard and a port visit in Batumi, Georgia, last week. 
 
“This was a great opportunity to interact and share best practices with the Ukrainian navy,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Dunsavage, Hamilton crew member. “Both of our crews take pride in being professional mariners, and today, we proved that. We look forward to doing it again.” 
 
Hamilton is the first U.S. Coast Guard cutter to visit the Black Sea since 2008. The last U.S. Coast Guard cutter to visit the Black Sea, USCGC Dallas (WHEC 716), sailed to the Black Sea twice, in 2008 and 1995. 
 
Hamilton is the fourth national security cutter and is the fifth cutter named for the father of the U.S. Coast Guard: Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury and advocate for the creation of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service. 
 
The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting a routine deployment in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations, working alongside NATO Allies and partners, building maritime domain awareness, and sharing best practices with partner nation navies and coast guards.