Just like any city or town, Sailors on ships or Marines ashore generate trash. Getting rid of rubbish isn’t always as simple as filling the dumpster in the back of the building or rolling the bins down to the curb once a week. The days of burning trash in smelly, smokey incinerators are over, and we no longer “dump all trash clear of the fantail.”

A small company, Hanover, New Hampshire-based Creare, Inc., has come up with a solution that turns the problem upside down.

The Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) and Navy Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) expressed an interest in technologies applicable to a forward operating base (FOB) or a remote location to efficiently dispose of its garbage. 

Dr. Jay Rozzi, Creare’s principal investigator for the effort, said “Solid waste disposal is an ongoing problem for the Department of Defense. So, we turned solid waste into useful energy.”

Creare partnered with Cogent Energy System of Merrifield, Virginia, which had developed an innovative and scalable gasifier to cleanly and efficiently process waste. Cogent’s Heliostorm uses  multiple stacked electrodes to fill the 3,800 cubic-inch  gasifier with an energized plasma field. Waste is fed directly into the plasma field that can reach up to 10,000 degrees Celsius — hotter than the surface of the sun.

The result is what Rozzi called “complete vaporization of the waste into its constituent elements,” resulting in the “full ionic conversion of waste into surplus energy.” 

Unlike plasma-assisted gasification technologies, the Heliostorm produces very little residue because waste is placed in direct contact with the plasma. Glass and metals  turn into inert  slag that can be used as construction material. Everything else becomes a very pure syngas.

“Once conditioned, we have high-quality syngas containing only hydrogen and carbon monoxide for reformatting into electricity or hydrogen-based fuel,” Rozzi said. “We turn waste to value.”

Creare designed the waste handling system, which can handle between one and four tons of waste per day, as well as a way to capture the resulting syngas from the vaporization process to power a diesel generator that provides the electricity to run the system. The result is a compact waste-to-energy (WTE) system.

Creare has received funding from the Navy’s Small Business Innovation and Research program to develop the process. The company is seeking opportunities to conduct a demonstration at a military installation with an operational prototype. According to Paul Movizzo, Creare’s DoD business and commercialization development manager, the company wants to transition the system out of the lab and into a representative operating environment to better understand how much it costs to run, how many people are required to operate it, what the mean-time-between failure will be for the different components, and how to refine the design towards more compact production systems.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The second Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) will be named for the state of Wisconsin, the secretary of the Navy said during an Oct. 28 webinar. 

In a discussion with retired Rear Adm. Frank Thorp IV, president and CEO of the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., Navy Secretary Kenneth J. Braithwaite took the opportunity to announce that the second new SSBN would be named USS Wisconsin (SSBN 827). 

The SSBN will be the third U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Wisconsin, the 30th state.  

The first USS Wisconsin (BB 9) was an Illinois-class pre-dreadnought battleship, commissioned in 1901. The ship served as flagship of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and later joined the U.S. Asiatic Fleet. It participated in the second leg of the Great White Fleet’s circumnavigation of the globe. It was put in reserve status in 1910 and became a training ship in 1912. BB 9 was decommissioned in May 1920 and scrapped.  

The second USS Wisconsin (BB 64), an Iowa-class battleship, was commissioned in April 1944. The battleship served in the Pacific Fleet in the last year of World War II, using its 16-inch guns for shelling enemy installations and its smaller guns to protect carrier task forces. The ship was decommissioned in 1948 but recommissioned in 1951 to serve in the Korean War, used to shell enemy positions in Korea. The ship was decommissioned for the second time in 1958. 

Thirty years later, as part of the Reagan Administration naval build-up, the Wisconsin was modernized with Tomahawk missiles and recommissioned in 1988. The ship served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, striking Iraqi targets. The Wisconsin was decommissioned for the last time in September 1991. The ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 2006 and in 2010 was donated to Norfolk, Virginia, as part of the Nauticus Museum.  

ASTORIA, Ore. — The crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Alert (WMEC-630) returned to their home port Tuesday following a 60-day living marine resources patrol that began in late August.  

The cutter and crew patrolled the California coast, spanning from Humboldt County to the Southern Maritime Border with Mexico, enforcing federal, state and local policies aboard U.S. commercial fishing vessels.  

In direct support of the Coast Guard’s Ocean Steward and Ocean Guardian strategic guidance, the Alert completed 38 vessel boardings that enforced fisheries regulations and reporting compliance resulting in 47 violations.  

The Alert crew discovered 30 safety violations and terminated the voyages of three commercial fishing vessels, which were determined to be unsafe to continue operating. The vessel terminations were due to overdue survival craft servicing, expired hydrostatic releases on survival craft and expired flares. At-sea boardings are critical to ensuring safety of life for fleets operating on offshore fishing grounds. These efforts identified potential life-threating situations and required the three vessel operators to correct these deficiencies before continuing their voyage.  

In addition to safety inspections, the Alert’s crew also checked for fisheries regulation compliance, and issued 17 living marine resources violations, that primarily consisted of fishing vessels not broadcasting vessel monitoring system codes, declaring incorrect vessel monitoring codes, fishing in closed areas and not having required vessel markings or logbooks aboard.  

The Coast Guard plays a critical role in helping the nation recover and maintain healthy populations of marine-protected species through its statutory mission of living marine resources.  

The nation’s maritime ecosystems are key to the United States’ economy and well-being and ensuring the country enjoys a diverse and sustainable marine environment is an important Coast Guard mission. This effort includes aiding in the prevention and decline of protected marine species populations, promoting the recovery of endangered marine habitats and partnering with other agencies to enhance the sustainment of marine ecosystems. 

“It was amazing safeguarding the waterways and channels so close to where I grew up,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Riley Wright, a boatswain’s mate aboard the Alert and a native of Murrieta, California. “It felt great knowing that we identified multiple dangerous situations with on-board safety gear and that our actions during this patrol potentially saved several lives.” 

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, numerous safety measures and precautions were put into place aboard the Alert.  

The boat crews and boarding team members followed both Coast Guard and CDC guidelines to protect the fishing fleets and crews. All personal protective equipment was worn and the Alert’s small boats were decontaminated after every boarding. 

The 51-year old ship overcame several disabling equipment casualties during the patrol.  

The crew also embarked two California Fish and Game Wardens in an effort to build upon standing federal and state level law enforcement partnerships and improve maritime domain awareness for those tasked with regulating safety and oversight of the California commercial fishing industry.  

“I’m extremely proud of the Alert crew for their dedication and devotion to duty during our living marine resources patrol off the coast of California,” said Cmdr. Tyson Scofield, the Alert’s commanding officer. “The fishing industry is a vital component of the West Coast economy, and the Coast Guard is ready to keep the industry safe and sustainable. Alert’s first District 11 Living Marine Resources patrol in several years was a resounding success, paving the way for future major cutter operations in the region.” 

The Coast Guard Cutter Alert is a 210-foot medium-endurance cutter homeported in Astoria.  

The 11^th Coast Guard District is headquartered in Alameda, California and encompasses the states of California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah, along with the coastal and offshore waters from the California-Oregon border south including Mexico, Central America and down to South America. 

MOBILE, Ala. —Austal USA, in Mobile, Ala., hosted future USS Santa Barbara ship sponsor and keel authenticator, Mrs. Lolita Zinke, Oct. 27 at a keel laying ceremony for the 16th Indpendence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Mrs. Zinke welded her initials into the ship’s keel plate officially authenticating that the keel of the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) “has been truly and fairly laid.”  

Lolita Zinke is a native of Santa Barbara. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Lolita graduated from California Western School of Law.  

Lolita married Ryan Zinke and began a second career as a Navy spouse and additionally served as a civilian employee on the Flag Officer staff of Adm. Jeremy Boorda at the commander in Chief, U. S. Naval Forces Europe in London, United Kingdom. Her husband is a retired U.S. Navy SEAL who served in the Navy for 23 years; a former United States Representative from Montana; and the 52nd Secretary of the Interior.    

Lolita was the Freshman President of the Congressional Club from 2015 to 2016, a congressional spouses club dedicated to furthering bipartisan relationships and charitable activities. She has served as a member of President Trump’s National Hispanic Advisory Council; the President’s Veteran’s Administration Landing Team; and the Veteran’s Administration’s committee on Veteran Families, Caregivers, and Survivors. 

LCS 32 will be the third U.S. Navy ship to be named after Santa Barbara. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has placed an order with Lockheed Martin for four MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopters for the government of Greece. 

The Naval Air Systems Command, through the Foreign Military Sales Program, awarded a $194 million contract modification to Lockheed Martin for the helicopters and three airborne low-frequency sonar systems to be used by the helicopters, according to an Oct. 26 Defense Department contract announcement. 

The MH-60R is the U.S. Navy’s maritime strike and anti-submarine helicopter. The helicopter type also has been exported to the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Danish Air Force, and the Royal Saudi Navy. Greece would be the fifth operator and has stated an intent to procure seven. Other nations intent on procuring MH-60Rs are the Republic of Korea and India, which have announced plans for 12 and 24 helicopters, respectively.  

Work on the contract modification is expected to be completed in February 2025.   

ARLINGTON, Va. — Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a Lockheed Martin company, has received an order from the U.S. Navy for six CH-53K King Stallion heavy-lift helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps. 

The Naval Air Systems Command awarded a $550.4 million contract modification to Sikorsky for Lot IV Low-Rate Initial Production of six CH-53Ks, according to an Oct. 26 Defense Department contract announcement. 

The contract modification also includes “associated aircraft, programmatic and logistics support, rate tooling and physical configuration audits.” 

The CH-53K is the Marine Corps’ heavy-lift replacement for the CH-53E Super Stallion. Designed to lift nearly 14 tons at a mission radius of 110 nautical miles, in Navy high/hot environments, the CH-53K is designed to lift triple the baseline CH-53E lift capability. The CH-53K will have an equivalent logistics shipboard footprint, lower operating costs per aircraft, and less direct maintenance man hours per flight hour.  

The Marine Corps has a requirement for 200 CH-53Ks. The work for the order is expected to be completed in July 2024.   

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The U.S. Navy awarded a contract to Vertex Aerospace, LLC (Vertex) on Oct. 20, 2020, for the Contractor Logistics and Maintenance Support (CLS) in support of the Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS) program for $70.4 million for the base year, with six options for a total contract value of $465.2 million, the Naval Air Systems Command said in an Oct. 23 release. 

Three proposals were submitted for the contract. The task order contract for CLS was awarded on a best-value tradeoff basis with a base and six options. CLS availability is scheduled to begin in calendar year 2021 and continue through calendar year 2027. 

The procurement of this CLS includes logistics, maintenance and supply for both the TH-73A and the TH-57. The resultant task order award will provide services and materials necessary to provide aircraft maintenance and logistics aircraft support for both the TH-73A and the TH-57 platforms, to include: the repair of airframe and aircraft subsystems, including engines; maintenance/repair and logistics support of support equipment (as required); and maintaining records and reporting for aircraft and associated systems. 

Using a combination of best industry and Navy practices, AHTS will ensure Chief of Naval Air Training efficiently produces rotary wing aviators who are prepared for advanced rotary wing and intermediate tilt-rotor training and who will meet the challenges faced in the fleet through 2050. 

“The new Leonardo TH-73A helicopters are the cornerstone of AHTS, which is the planned replacement to address the capability and capacity gaps of the current aging TH-57 Sea Ranger helicopter training platform,” said Capt. Holly Shoger, Naval Undergraduate Flight Training Systems Program Office (PMA-273) program manager. “This contract ensures the Navy can successfully maintain the TH-57 helicopters until the TH-73A is operational in the fleet. Vertex will ensure the Navy has capacity to train several hundred aviation students per year at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida.”  

EVENDALE, OHIO (October 26, 2020) – GE Marine recently hosted a virtual meeting that drew more than 60 attendees from the United States Navy, Bath Iron Works, Huntington Ingalls and other strategic partners, to celebrate the teams involved in the Module Modernization Program (MMP). The event also lauded those individuals who participated in the manufacturing and assembly of this first new module for the Arleigh Burke destroyer USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128).

This four-year collaborative U.S. Navy program resulted in the design, development, qualification and manufacture of a new lightweight composite module design for GE’s LM2500 marine gas turbine. GE currently has orders for 52 new composite enclosures for U.S. and international navy applications.

“This new module design provides significant weight reduction, improved sensors, along with reduced noise transmission and thermal heat rejection,” said Lee Fuglestad, U.S. Navy Technical Director of the AEGIS Destroyer Program Office (PEO Ships PMS 400). Fuglestad was the sponsor and leader of the MMP. “The lightweight enclosure is especially important since the U.S. Navy has more than 370 GE LM2500 engines in service as the backbone of the DDG fleet, logging over 6 million operating hours.”

“The MMP team is an excellent model of how the U.S. Navy and industry can partner on state-of-the-art fleet improvements. With delivery of DDG Flight III destroyers planned through 2028, GE’s LM2500 gas turbines will power these U.S Navy surface combatants until the 2070s,” Fuglestad concluded.

In addition to representatives from GE Marine, attendees included the U.S. Navy; Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, the lead design services shipyard; Huntington Ingalls, Pascagoula, Mississippi, construction lead on DDG 128; RL Industries, Fairfield, Ohio, composite fiber enclosure development and production; and Leonardo DRS Power Technology, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, gas turbine package integration.

According to Tony Mathis, Vice President, GE Military Systems, “GE appreciates the U.S. Navy’s leadership that brought the MMP team together. During this time of COVID, we are especially grateful for the opportunity to say thank you to our employees and our great partners that developed and produced this game-changing product.”

The virtual meeting included a summation by the U.S. Navy and GE team members of the improvements to the LM2500 including the composite module and components that yielded a 6,000-pound weight savings. In fact, GE recently delivered the first lightweight LM2500 composite module to Austal USA, Mobile, Alabama, for the future USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32). The future USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128), expected to be delivered in 2024, is under construction at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard.

MMP improvements include fewer shock mounts for weight reduction all while leveraging the experience and loadings from previous LM2500 shock tests with running units. The lightweight composite module wall temperatures are 25 F to 50 F degrees cooler so there is less heat rejected into the engine room.

USS AMERICA–The first-in-class amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) participated in advanced combined operations with Japan this week in the western Pacific Ocean, the ship’s public affairs office said in an Oct. 25 release. 

America conducted integrated air defense operations on Oct. 20 with F-35A Lightning II aircraft from the Japan Air Defense Command. The advanced training operations were designed to increase the tactical proficiency, lethality, and interoperability of the amphibious forces of the America Expeditionary Strike Group and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) in the maritime domain. 

“The U.S.-Japan alliance has been the cornerstone of stability and security in the Indo-Pacific for more than sixty years,” said Capt. Luke Frost, America’s commanding officer. “We have no more capable partner in the world than the Japan Self Defense Force. Every opportunity we have to continue to train and exercise together improves our interoperability and strengthens our joint integrated capabilities.” 

Our alliance will continue to play that role in the future. Operations included advanced tactics, techniques, and procedures to exercise command and control in employing the F-35A Lightning II in air defense and sea control. 

“These are the most advanced capabilities to ever sail or fly. America is a fifth-generation amphibious assault platform, built from the keel up to optimize the most advanced capability of the fifth-generation F-35 platform. We are forward-deployed to integrate exactly these advanced capabilities with Japan, recognizing the importance of our alliance and working together to maintain regional peace and stability,” said Frost. 

“The training proved to be a very significant opportunity for us,” said Col. Shinichi Nomura, flight group commander, 3rd Wing, Japan Air Self-Defense Force. “Training with assets of other services is essential to improve interoperability and joint operations capability.” 

USS America and the Japan Self Defense Forces operate routinely together in the Indo-Pacific to strengthen a shared commitment to regional stability and a free and open Indo-Pacific. 

“I am assured that our participation not only contributed to improving tactical skills but also confirming the robust Japan-U.S. alliance and commitment to the Indo-Pacific region,” said Nomura. “We will continue moving forward and further strengthen the Japan-US alliance and partnership.” 

America, the flagship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, is forward-deployed in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to support stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region. 

LOCKPORT, La. — U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien recently announced plans to conduct a feasibility study on whether to base U.S. Coast Guard Sentinel Class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) in American Samoa to counter “destabilizing and malign actions” by China in the Indo-Pacific region. Together with the FRCs currently based in Apra Harbor, Guam, these Cutters will help the United States challenge Chinese aggression, maintain the United States’ commitment to peace and prosperity, and ensure that America remains the partner of choice in the region, Bollinger Shipyards announced in an Oct 22 release. 

“As the Coast Guard continues to evolve to meet the most pressing maritime and national security threats of the day — be it IUU fishing, piracy, drug or human trafficking — a larger fleet and expanded presence of American-made white hulls with red racing stripes around the globe will help further the regional partnerships and alliances necessary to curb the creeping influence of America’s strategic competitors and adversaries and reaffirm its continued leadership and commitment to rules-based order and maritime governance around the world,” said Ben Bordelon, president and chief executive officer of Bollinger Shipyards and chairman of the Shipbuilders Council of America.

“Should the proposed feasibility study demonstrate a need for additional FRCs, Bollinger Shipyards and the maritime defense industrial base stand ready to construct and deliver the high-quality and high-endurance vessels necessary to carry out and perform the mission at hand.” 

Earlier this year, Bollinger Shipyards delivered the USCGC Oliver Henry to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is the second of three FRCs to be home-ported in Apra Harbor, Guam, in support of Operation Aiga, which is an effort to strengthen island nations in Oceania, including through fishery patrols and enforcement. This USCGC marked the 163rd vessel Bollinger has delivered to the U.S. Coast Guard in its 35-year period and the 40th FRC delivered under the current program. Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Karl Schultz has acknowledged the importance of the Guam homeporting, saying, “by placing an ocean-going Coast Guard buoy tender and FRCs, we will promote ‘rules-based order,’ build capacity and affirm the United States’ positive and enduring role in the region.”  

In the feasibility study announcement, National Security Advisor O’Brien explained the rationale for the study’s launch by saying, “The USCG continues to modernize and enhance the capabilities of its fleet of major cutters, which play a prominent role in protecting our vital national interests, and where appropriate, those of our partners in the region. To that end, the USCG is strategically homeporting significantly enhanced Fast Response Cutters, built in a proven Louisiana-based shipyard, in the western Pacific.”  

O’Brien states that the new generation of Fast Response Cutters will “conduct maritime security missions, such as fisheries patrols, enhance maritime domain awareness and enforcement efforts in collaboration with regional partners who have limited offshore surveillance and enforcement capacity, and ensure freedom of navigation. … Enhancing the presence of the USCG in the Indo-Pacific ensures the United States will remain the maritime partner of choice in the region.” 

Bordelon continued, “Bollinger is honored to support and enhance the Coast Guard’s operational presence and mission in the Indo-Pacific region. Building quality vessels for the U.S. Coast Guard provides critical assets to bolster our national security interests, both domestic and abroad. We are proud and humbled to be partners in the FRC program.”   

The FRC program has had a total economic impact of $1.2 billion since inception in material spending and directly supports more than 650 jobs in south Louisiana. The program has indirectly created 1,690 new jobs from operations and capital investment and has an annual economic impact on GDP of $202 million, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) on the economic Importance of the U.S. Shipbuilding and Repair Industry. Bollinger sources over 271,000 different items for the FRC consisting of 282 million components and parts from 965 suppliers in 37 states.  

The FRC is one of many U.S. Government shipbuilding programs that Bollinger is proud to support. In addition to the design and construction of the FRC, Bollinger is participating in Industry Studies for five Government programs, including the U.S. Coast Guard’s Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program, the U.S. Navy’s Common Hull Auxiliary Multi-Mission Platform (CHAMP) program, the U.S. Navy’s Auxiliary General Ocean Surveillance (T-AGOS(X)) program, the U.S. Navy’s Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle (LUSV) program and the U.S. Navy’s Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) program. 

The FRC is an operational “game changer,” according to senior Coast Guard officials. FRCs are consistently being deployed in support of the full range of missions within the United States Coast Guard and other branches of our armed services.  This is due to its exceptional performance, expanded operational reach and capabilities, and ability to transform and adapt to the mission. FRCs have conducted operations as far as the Marshall Islands — a 4,400 nautical mile trip from their homeport. Measuring in at 154 feet, FRCs have a flank speed of 28 knots, state of the art C4ISR suite (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance), and stern launch and recovery ramp for a 26-foot, over-the-horizon interceptor cutter boat.