VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Cape Henry Associates (CHA) and KOVA Global (KOVA) have partnered in pursuit of upgrading the U.S. Navy’s training curriculum. CHA and KOVA came together to form Tanya Faye Kocha (TFK), a joint venture that leverages both CHA and KOVA.  

CHA and KOVA have worked together for more than a decade on defense contracts. KOVA is a woman-owned small business made up of more than 80% surface Navy veterans while CHA is a veteran-owned business whose employee base is 58% veterans and has a 99.5% on-time product delivery rate. 

TFK was formed specifically to compete for a Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division contract for development of training requirements analysis and curriculum modernization products and program management for the Navy. 

CHA and KOVA have worked together on similar contracts, such as the Carrier-Advanced Reconfigurable Training System (C-ARTS). Both parties are experienced in the systems and processes of this specific type of contract. 

TFK combines the high-speed agility and technical capabilities of KOVA and melds them with the sophisticated systems and processes of CHA to offer a focused, purpose-built joint venture with proven performance in high-volume production pipelines of diverse training analyses and content development.

OSHKOSH, Wis. — Oshkosh Defense said the U.S. Army Contracting Command-Detroit Arsenal has placed an order for 1,240 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) and associated kits. The U.S. Marine Corps also will use the JLTV. 

In addition to the Marines, this order includes JLTVs for Slovenia and Lithuania and kits for the Marines, the Army and the two foreign countries. 

“We work side-by-side with the Joint Program Office to give the military the necessary technological edge to compete with and defeat the most advanced adversaries,” said George Mansfield, vice president and general manager of joint programs for Oshkosh Defense. “Without sacrificing mobility or transportability, the JLTV can accommodate over 100 mission package configurations, a true testament to its agility and modularity.” 

The JLTV’s digital architecture allows incorporation of advances in weapons, lasers, sensors, networking and communications. Additionally, foreign interest in the highly capable JLTV platform continues to grow. The award includes orders for JLTVs to Slovenia and JLTVs to Lithuania through the Foreign Military Sales process. 

“We are proud of our vehicle and proud of this program,” Mansfield said. “The JLTV stands out as one of the few major programs delivering on its promises — it is on time, on budget, and delivering against all program requirements. Our mission is to enable the brave men and women of our Armed Forces and our allies to complete their missions and return home safely.” 

WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced on Feb. 14 that it has awarded more than $280 million in grants through the new Port Infrastructure Development Program. This funding is designed to improve port facilities at or near coastal seaports. 

“Ports are gateways to the world and port infrastructure investments will improve the regional economy, increase productivity and economic competitiveness and create more jobs,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao said. 

The Port Infrastructure Development Program supports efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve facility and freight infrastructure to ensure U.S.  freight transportation needs — present and future — are met. The program provides capital financing and project management assistance to improve port capacity and efficiency.  

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to work more directly with America’s ports to enhance their facilities,” Maritime Administrator Mark H. Buzby said. “The grants awarded will ensure that these facilities are operating at their highest, most productive capacities.” 

The grant recipients were: 

• Anchorage 
• Long Beach, California 
• Los Angeles 
• Cape Canaveral, Florida 
• Miami-Dade County, Florida  
• Savannah, Georgia 
• LaPlace, Louisiana 
• Duluth, Minnesota 
• Harrison County, Mississippi 
• Cleveland 
• Toledo, Ohio 
• Charleston, South Carolina 
• Corpus Christi, Texas  
• Houston 
• Milwaukee

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant returned home here on Feb. 16 after a 55-day counter-drug patrol in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard 7th District said in a release. 

The Vigilant crew’s efforts during their patrol led to the seizure of 2,155 kilograms of cocaine, 30 pounds of marijuana and one pound of amphetamine, together valued at $81.7 million, and the detention of 11 suspected traffickers. 

While on patrol, the Vigilant crew interdicted three suspected drug smuggling vessels with two of the interdictions both occurring within a 24-hour span. The first interdiction occurred when the crew intercepted a 45-foot low profile vessel smuggling 810 kilograms of cocaine. The Vigilant crew resumed their patrol after the four suspected smugglers aboard were detained and evidence to facilitate prosecution was collected. 

Eight hours later, the crew interdicted a second vessel, a 35-foot panga, on which Vigilant’s boarding team seized 355 kilograms of cocaine, 30 pounds of marijuana, and one pound of amphetamine, and detained four suspected smugglers. 

While in the Pacific, the Vigilant crew worked with several U.S. and partner nation assets, including a Military Sealift Command ship and three Coast Guard cutters. In Panama, the crew conducted a professional exchange and training with officials from Panamanian law enforcement and military agencies to promote regional stability and security, economic prosperity and resiliency through collaboration. 

The Vigilant also hosted Panama’s Tactical Unit of Drug Operations and the National Aeronaval Service to share the Coast Guard’s process for collecting and preserving evidence to support the prosecution of smuggling cases. During a brief stop in Ecuador, the crew liaised with the Ecuadorian navy and local government officials to coordinate a short-fused custodial transfer of an Ecuadorian national suspected of drug smuggling. 

The Vigilant is a multimission 210-foot medium-endurance cutter whose missions include illegal drug and migrant interdiction and search and rescue. The cutter patrols throughout the Caribbean basin, Atlantic seaboard and periodically the eastern Pacific Ocean.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Tampa returned Feb. 16 to their homeport in Portsmouth, Virginia, after an 80-day counter-drug patrol in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard’s 5th District said in a release.  

The Tampa’s crew interdicted four vessels with more than 9,200 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $154 million. The crew also detained 12 suspected drug smugglers, boarded three additional vessels and responded to one search-and-rescue case. 

The cutter began the patrol by embarking an armed helicopter crew from the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) in Mayport, Florida. Working together they were able to increase the Coast Guard’s ability to detect and stop vessels suspected of drug smuggling. 

Prior to entering the primary patrol area, the crew of the Tampa conducted a training engagement with the Guatemalan navy in Puerto Santo Tomás de Castilla as part of Operation Crested Eagle. The Tampa’s crew provided law-enforcement training, tours of the ship, and engineering technical support for Guatemalan vessels. 

The crew is looking forward to spending time with friends and family during a well-deserved stand-down period. They will then prepare for the biennial Tailored Ship’s Training Availability, a several-week program designed to train the crew and assess the readiness of the cutter through a variety of drills. 

“I am humbled and very proud of what our crew has accomplished during this patrol,” said Cmdr. Michael Cilenti, commanding officer of the Tampa. 

“Just keeping our 36-year-old ship operating is a full-time job, and our crew not only did that, but safely and professionally executed our counter-drug mission. Saving lives by keeping drugs off our streets and helping eliminate drug cartels’ destabilizing influence of our Central and South American neighbors is something we all care very deeply about.”

LOCKPORT, La. — Bollinger Shipyards delivered the USCGC Edgar Culbertson, the 37th fast-response cutter (FRC), to the U.S. Coast Guard on Feb. 6 in Key West, Florida, the company said in a release. 

Each FRC is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished himself or herself in the line of duty. The Culbertson is named after the boatswain’s mate first class petty officer who died in the line of duty while trying to rescue three teenage brothers during a fierce storm in Duluth, Minnesota, in April 1967. Culbertson was posthumously awarded the Coast Guard Medal for his bravery and heroism. 

“We are very pleased to announce the latest FRC delivery,” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger’s president and CEO. ”The USCGC Edgar Culbertson is the second of three fast-response cutters to be home-ported in Galveston, Texas. The industrial base of over 600 local men and women at Bollinger constructing these high-quality vessels have consistently delivered over half of the program of record to date, with the highest quality, on schedule and within budget.” 

“While providing the United States Coast Guard with an extremely capable and affordable asset, the Bollinger FRC program also provides tremendous benefits to … Louisiana, not only through highly skilled and well-paying jobs, but also through its direct and indirect spending, resulting in millions of dollars of economic benefits to the state,” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said. 

The 154-foot Sentinel-class has a flank speed of 28 knots, state-of-the-art command, control, communications and computer technology and a stern launch system for the vessel’s 26-foot cutter boat. 

Senior Coast Guard officials have described the FRC as an operational “game-changer.” The cutters have been deployed as far as 4,400 nautical miles from homeport, highlighting the FRC’s operational reach and capability. 

HOUMA, La. — A keel-laying ceremony was held Feb. 12 for the future USNS Cherokee Nation (T-ATS 7), the second ship of the Navy’s Navajo class of towing, salvage and rescue vessels. The ceremony was held near Gulf Island Shipyard at the Houma Terrebonne Civic Center. 

The ceremony formally marks the start of a ship’s life and the joining of the ship’s modular components. The keel serves as the symbolic backbone of the ship. 

In attendance to authenticate the keel was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Chuck Hoskin Jr., and the ship’s sponsor and deputy speaker of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Council, Victoria Mitchell Vazquez. 

During the ceremony, the keel authenticators etched their initials into the keel plate and declared it to be “truly and fairly laid.” 

“We are honored to have so many representatives of the Cherokee Nation in attendance to celebrate this early milestone,” said Mike Kosar, support ships, boats and craft program manager, Program Executive Office Ships. “The ship is critical to the operations of our fleet and will soon sail with the pride and determination of the Cherokee people, which it is named to honor.” 

The Navajo-class will provide ocean-going tug, salvage and rescue capabilities to support fleet operations. The current capabilities are provided by three T-ATF 166 and two T-ARS 50 class ships, several of which will reach the end of their expected service lives later this year. 

Navajo-class ships will be capable of towing U.S. Navy ships and will have 6,000 square feet of deck space for embarked systems. The platform will be 263 feet long, have a beam of 59 feet and can carry a load of nearly 2,000 tons. 

In addition to the future USNS Cherokee Nation (T-ATS 7), Gulf Island Shipyard is building the future USNS Navajo (T-ATS 6) and is under contract for the detail design and construction of the future USNS Saginaw Ojibwe Anishinabek (T-ATS 8).

The USS Normandy, while conducting maritime security operations in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, boarded a dhow in the Arabian Sea on Feb. 9 in accordance with international law and discovered a large cache of weapons, according to a Feb. 13 U.S. Central Command release. 

The weapons seized include 150 “Dehlavieh” anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), which are Iranian-manufactured copies of Russian Kornet ATGMs. Other weapons components seized aboard the dhow were of Iranian design and manufacture and included three Iranian surface-to-air missiles, Iranian thermal imaging weapon scopes and Iranian components for unmanned aerial and surface vessels as well as other munitions and advanced weapons parts. 

Many of these weapons systems are identical to the advanced weapons and weapon components seized by guided-missile destroyer USS Forrest Sherman in the Arabian Sea in November. Those weapons were determined to be of Iranian origin and assessed to be destined for the Houthis in Yemen, which would be in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that prohibits the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer of weapons to the Houthis.  

The seized weapons are in U.S. custody awaiting final disposition. The assessment of the material will be an interagency and international effort. International partner nations and organizations have also been invited to inspect the cache. The operation is ongoing, according to Central Command. 

WASHINGTON — The N.S. Savannah, the world’s first nuclear-powered merchant ship, was to begin its journey back on Feb. 13 from dry-docking in preparation for decommissioning, the Maritime Administration said in a release.  

Having spent the last few months at Northeast Ship Repair in Philadelphia undergoing maintenance, the ship will be back at home at the Canton Marine Terminal in Baltimore by Feb. 14.  

The only U.S.-built, nuclear-powered merchant ship, the Savannah was in Philadelphia for general inspection, repairs and structural modifications. The ship was a demonstration project for the potential use of nuclear energy and was named after the SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. 

The N.S. Savannah, which was deactivated in 1971, was in service between 1962 and 1972 as one of only four nuclear-powered cargo ships ever built. Soviet icebreaker Lenin, launched in 1957, was the first nuclear-powered civil ship. 

While the last nuclear fuel was removed from the Savannah nearly 50 years ago, there are still components of the nuclear power plant that need to be removed to support its decommissioning. A contract for decommissioning the vessel’s nuclear plant is expected to be announced later this year.  

Once the ship is back in Baltimore, it will be open for limited tours.

WASHINGTON — To meet the pressing needs of the National
Defense Strategy (NDS), the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are discarding development
measures that have slowed the production of new amphibious ships and other
platforms, Marine Commandant Gen. David H. Berger said.

“We’re not going to do that,” Berger said of past procedures where “the Navy and Marine Corps figure out what we might need, then we get with industry, then we go back and forth for a couple of years.”

Instead, he told a Feb. 11 congressional forum on amphibious
warships, “We have to accelerate production now. We cannot wait four or five
years to begin.” The requirements evaluation process is already underway, and
it is teamed with industry to determine what is in the realm of possibility,
Berger added.

When he became commandant in July, Berger said his top
priority is designing a force that could meet the threat of strategic competitors
like China, which is outlined in the NDS. His Commandant’s Planning
Guidance states that 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. His 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 — that can move their base of operations within 48 to
72 hours.

“The capability, the lethality of a forward Navy/Marine
Corps team is the unique contribution that we have. This is what amphibious
forces bring — the ability, at the times and place of your choosing, to put
your forces where you want to, when you want to,” Berger told the Capitol Hill gathering,
which was sponsored by the Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition.

In his opening remarks at the forum, retired Navy Rear Adm.
Sam Perez, the coalition’s chairman, noted that more than 70 companies in 44
states and more than 250 congressional districts provide parts worth more than
$1.4 billion for the construction of amphibious warships.

Two long-term studies — to determine how many and what kind
of ships the Navy will need in the next five to 15 years and what kind of
Marines and Sailors should man them — will be released soon, Berger said. A Force
Structure Assessment (FSA) conducted by the Navy in 2016 called for a 355-ship
fleet. A new FSA, known as the Integrated Naval FSA (INFSA), to include the new
integration of Navy and Marine Corps personnel and assets, is expected to
initiate a once-in-a-generation change in the Navy’s mix of ships. Berger said the
Corps’ work on the INFSA is done, and he’s waiting for Defense Secretary Mark
Esper and Deputy Secretary David Norquist to complete their review.

In addition to the INFSA, the Marines have conducted their own Force Design Assessment to determine the size and structure of Marine end strength. That document also is awaiting review by Esper and acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. In his commandant’s guidance, Berger said he was prepared to reduce force structure in exchange for more modernization funding. The Department of the Navy’s fiscal 2021 budget, released Feb. 10, called for reducing the size of the Marine Corps by 2,100 to 184,100 active-duty personnel.

“We’re not getting smaller for smaller’s sake,” Berger told reporters after his speech to the amphibious group. “We need resources, and when we shrink a little bit in structure, we’re going to take that money and pour it into the Marine Corps.”