JUNEAU, Alaska — The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Mellon
(WHEC-717) continues their North Pacific patrol in support of Operation North
Pacific Guard (NPG) 2019, protecting living marine resources, enforcing
international fisheries agreements and conducting global security missions, the
Coast Guard 17th District said in a statement.

Since June, Mellon’s crew has conducted 40 boardings and
issued 61 violations. A total of 25 were serious violations because of their
potential to severely impact fisheries and/or blatant disregard for
conservation and management measures. Their most frequent violations were
improper vessel marking (9), illegal shark finning (4) and improper use of or
intentional tampering with the vessel monitoring system (2).

“These fisheries patrols are vital to demonstrating the
U.S. commitment to our regional partnerships while strengthening regional
maritime governance and promoting sustainability of living marine resources,”
said Capt. Jonathan Musman, commanding officer of Mellon.

“I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done this patrol,
and it’s a direct result of the hard work of this crew as well as the continued
support of our international partners. Together, we’ve put in a lot of hours
and a lot of work, and we’ve seen impressive results because of it.”

Mellon’s deployment is in support of U.S. goals for the
conservation and management of high seas fisheries resources to eliminate
illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activity from the North
Pacific.

NPG 2019 showcases a multimission effort between the
Coast Guard, NOAA, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, five Pacific Rim
countries and three regional fisheries management organizations. Unlike
previous years’ operations, Mellon has conducted high-seas boardings and
inspections on the North Pacific Fisheries Commission fishing vessels, while
continuing to conduct Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
boardings.

“We’ve seen a 344% increase in boardings and 867% increase
in violations compared to last year’s operation,” said Lt. Cdr. Kristen
Caldwell, living marine resource program manager for the Pacific Area. “This
increase highlights the significance of employing differing authorities, all
aimed at mitigation of IUU fishing, capitalizing on a highly capable resource
to maximize time on scene and the targeting of IUU vessels.”

NPG 2019 was designed to conduct law-enforcement
operations in support of RFMO in the North Pacific Ocean. Through the North
Pacific Coast Guard Forum and North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission’s
enforcement coordination process, each partner nation contributes to this
at-sea enforcement effort by providing surface patrols and/or air surveillance.

This operation is in direct support of the National
Security Strategy as it aligns with the tenant of “achieving better outcomes in
multilateral forums” as well as by addressing the risks to sovereignty of
developing nations by China identified in the Indo-Pacific Region. The 2018
National Defense Strategy (NDS) also has identified China as a “strategic
competitor using predatory economics to intimidate its neighbors while
militarizing features in the South China Sea.” A goal of the NDS is to “support
U.S. interagency approaches and work by, with, and through our allies and
partners to secure U.S. interests and counteract this coercion.”

Due to the increasing threat, complexity and diversity of
tactics in IUU fishing, it is critical to ensure oversight and enforcement in
regions in which the United States has jurisdiction and authority to mitigate
the rapidly developing influence of specified fleets known to engage in IUU
fishing. Efforts to increase the ability of the United States to check the
threat of IUU fishing in the Pacific Ocean have been continuous, with the
recent success of the adoption of high-seas boarding inspections (HSBI) for the
Northern Pacific Fisheries Commission and continued efforts in the Western and
Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and North Pacific Anadromous Fish
Commission’s Convention Areas.

During NPG 2019, Mellon embarked two Canadian shipriders
from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans as well as two aircrews
from Coast Guard Air Station North Bend.

Mellon, a 378-foot high-endurance
cutter with a crew of 150, is homeported in Seattle and routinely deploys in
support of counter-drug and alien migrant interdiction, living marine resources
and search-and-rescue missions.

CHANTILLY, Va. — VT Group, a middle-market technology
integrator and C4ISR solutions provider, has been named by Naval Information
Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) as one of six award winners for an indefinite
delivery, indefinite quantity contract.

VT Group will compete for work in the areas of afloat
installation and integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems aboard the U.S. Navy’s growing fleet
of surface ships and submarines. The contract vehicle has a ceiling value of
$2.45 billion over a five-year base period and one five-year option period.

VT Group has a 50-year history providing the Navy with C4ISR
solutions and full lifecycle engineering services — in the air, ashore and at
sea. Its maritime solutions business has integrated C4ISR technologies aboard
every existing class of warship and submarine, building differentiated
expertise in undersea warfare platforms and systems.

“VT Group is proud of its longstanding partnership with
the U.S. Navy,” said John Hassoun, VT Group president and CEO.

“This award showcases our
growing portfolio of fleet modernization capabilities and highlights the
exceptional performance of our shipboard leaders and technicians. We look
forward to continuing to provide NAVWAR with the deck-plate innovations and
engineering expertise they have come to expect from our team.”

ARLINGTON,
Va. — The U.S. Navy is creating a new high-level position in the office of the Navy
secretary to oversee information management policy, including cybersecurity.
The position will be the special assistant for information management and will
be given authorities on the level given to the four assistant secretaries of
the Navy.

A person has
been selected for the position and that person’s name will be announced in
coming weeks, Navy Undersecretary Thomas B. Modly said when he spoke to
reporters Aug. 16 at the Pentagon.

Navy
Secretary Richard V. Spencer commissioned an independent cybersecurity study last
year in the wake of some significant cyberbreaches in the industrial base. Spencer
sought the assessment to see how the Navy was doing in cybersecurity and how it
should be organized to combat such threats.

“No one at a
senior level had responsibility for this,” Modly said, noting that the CIO
office was “more of a compliance shop, less for developing strategy.”

Modly said
the Navy wanted to change the portfolio of one of its ASNs but that Congress
did not like the idea. Like the other military branches, the Navy is limited by
law to four assistant secretaries, three of whom must be an ASN for research, development
and acquisition, an ASN for manpower and reserve affairs and one for financial management
and comptroller. The fourth, an ASN for energy, installations and environment,
is allowed by law but not prescribed.

Given the
limitation to four ASNs, the Navy elected instead to create the special
assistant, who will report directly to Modly and Spencer.

Modly has
been acting as chief information officer for the Navy, a position with has been
vacant for 20 months, to maintain “the elevation of the job.”

He said that
his meetings with the Defense Department’s CIO and the CIOs of the other
services convinced him of the need for the Navy to have an official to set
policy for information management, especially for cybersecurity. The CIO
position exists in the law.

The new
special assistant, who also will be the Navy’s CIO, will not require
confirmation by the Senate. The position will be co-located with the
department’s chief management officer and will be at an echelon just below the
ASNs. Modly said it would be an “E-ring office” in the Pentagon.

The special
assistant will oversee two four directors: chief technology officer, chief data
officer, chief of digital strategy, and chief information security officer. In
addition, two officials, the deputy chief of naval operations for information
warfare and the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for information, will be
dual-hatted as deputies to the special assistant.

“We are
intending to bring in people from the private sector to help us in this
particular office, so we’re scouring both internally and externally to find the
right types of people to bring in, particularly in the digital strategy area
and the data strategy area,” Modly said. “There’s a lot more expertise outside
this building that inside this building and we need to rely on the lessons
learned in the private sector to do that.”

He said that
a couple of functions of the chief management officer that would migrate to the
special assistant’s portfolio, including chief data officer.

Modly said the new office
would not involve adding a huge staff at the headquarters, just “moving pieces
around the chessboard,” and that he did not anticipate that additional funding
would not be needed.

HONOLULU —
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL-757) arrived Aug. 16 at its new
homeport in Honolulu, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a statement. 

The
Midgett is the eighth of the Coast Guard’s national security cutters and the
second to be homeported in Hawaii. Its sister ship, the Cutter Kimball (WMSL-756)
arrived on Dec. 22. Both cutters are scheduled to be commissioned Aug. 24 during
a ceremony presided over by Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz. 

“The
U.S. Coast Guard has an enduring role in the Indo-Pacific Region, going back
over 150 years, and our commitment today is as strong as ever,” Schultz said.
“The national security cutters are the flagships of the fleet, and the
homeporting of the Kimball and Midgett in Hawaii and their future deployments
throughout the Indo-Pacific demonstrate the U.S. Coast Guard’s dedication to
safeguarding the nation’s maritime safety, security and economic interests
throughout the region.”

Advanced
command-and-control capabilities and an unmatched combination of range, speed
and ability to operate in extreme weather enable national security cutters to
deploy globally to confront national security threats, to strengthen maritime
governance, to support economic prosperity and to promote individual
sovereignty.

Known as
the Legend class, national security cutters are capable of executing the most
challenging national security missions, including support to U.S. combatant
commanders. They are 418 feet in length, 54 feet in beam and 4,600 long tons in
displacement. They have a top speed of more than 28 knots, a range of 12,000
nautical miles, an endurance of up to 90 days and can hold a crew of up to 150.
These new cutters are replacing the high endurance Hamilton-class cutters (378
feet) that have been in service since the 1960s.

While
national security cutters possess advanced capabilities, more than 70% of the
Coast Guard’s offshore presence exists in the service’s aging fleet of medium-endurance
cutters. Many of these ships are more than 50 years old and are approaching the
end of their service life. Replacing the fleet with new offshore patrol cutters
is one of the Coast Guard’s top priorities.

Midgett is named to honor all members of the Midgett family who served in the Coast Guard and its predecessor services. At least 10 members of the family earned high honors for their heroic lifesaving efforts. Among them, the Coast Guard awarded various family members seven gold lifesaving medals — the service’s highest award for saving a life — and three silver lifesaving medals.

The Midgett’s transit to Hawaii was punctuated by two interdictions of suspected low-profile go-fast vessels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the first July 25 and a second July 31. The boardings resulted in a combined seizure of over 6,700 pounds of cocaine, estimated to be worth over $89 million.

HONOLULU —
The Coast Guard Cutter William Hart (WPC-1134) arrived in Honolulu Harbor on
Aug. 17, becoming the third 154-foot fast-response cutter homeported in Hawaii,
the Coast Guard 14th District said in a release.

The FRCs
are some of the newest Coast Guard vessels to come online, replacing the aging
patrol boat fleet currently in use. The FRCs represent the Coast Guard’s
commitment to modernizing service assets to address the increasingly complex
global maritime transportation system.

FRCs boast
advanced command, control, communications, computers, intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance systems designed to assist the cutter’s crew
with their primary mission to patrol coastal regions.

Recently,
the FRCs already stationed in Honolulu participated in longer over-the-horizon
voyages to the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Samoa, displaying the
potential of these cutters and their importance to the Coast Guard’s overall
Pacific strategy and regional partnerships.

William
Hart, the cutter’s namesake, was a Gold Lifesaving Medal recipient who rescued
a crew member of the tug Thomas Tracy. In 1927, Hart dove into the water in a
70-mph gale off Absecon, New Jersey, to save the mariner, who went overboard in
the storm.

Throughout
the 1930s, Hart served in the Army Corps of Engineers before returning to the
Coast Guard in 1939, advancing to chief petty officer and serving as a
boatswain’s mate. Once the United States entered World War II, Hart was
commissioned as a lieutenant junior grade and served in both the Atlantic and
Pacific theaters. He retired from the Coast Guard in 1950.

William Hart is the last of the three FRCs to be stationed in Hawaii. The crew transited the vessel from Key West, Florida, following delivery and preparation for sailing. Three more are scheduled to be homeported in Guam, increasing the Coast Guard 14th District’s total number of FRCs to six.

The Coast Guard is acquiring a total of 56 FRCs to replace the 110-foot Island-class patrol boats. Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, to whom the cutter crew will report, plans to commission the William Hart in a ceremony Sept. 26.

SAN JUAN,
Puerto Rico — The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Legare (WMEC-912) repatriated 22
Dominicans and returned one Venezuelan and two Haitians to a Dominican navy
patrol vessel Aug. 15 near Samaná, Dominican Republic, the Coast Guard 7th
District said in a release.

The
repatriation followed the interdiction of an illegal migrant voyage Aug. 13 off
the coast of Aguada, Puerto Rico.

Seven
other Dominican migrants traveling in the group remain in federal custody
facing possible prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of
Puerto Rico on potential charges of attempted illegal reentry into a U.S.
territory.

The
interdiction is the result of ongoing efforts in support of Operation Unified
Resolve, Operation Caribbean Guard and the Caribbean Border Interagency Group
(CBIG).

“The swift
response by Puerto Rico Police Joint Forces of Rapid Action marine units and
efficient collaboration with the crew of the cutter Legare allowed for the safe
embarkation of the migrants, while the professionalism of our partners from the
Dominican Republic navy ensured their safe and expedited return,” said Capt.
Eric King, Sector San Juan commanding officer.

Coast
Guard Sector San Juan Command Center watchstanders were contacted Aug. 13 by
Puerto Rico Police. The watchstanders were told that two Police Joint Forces of
Rapid Action (FURA) marine units had interdicted a 25-foot migrant boat about 3
nautical miles off the coast of Aguada.

Coast
Guard watchstanders diverted the cutter Legare to the scene. Once there, Legare
crew members safely embarked 29 Dominicans, 25 men and four women; 2 Haitian women;
three Brazilian men; and a Venezuelan man.

Once
aboard a Coast Guard cutter, all migrants receive food, water, shelter and
basic medical attention.

The seven migrants facing
prosecution are in custody of U.S. Border Patrol agents in Puerto Rico, while
the three Brazilian migrants were transferred to Immigrations and Customs
Enforcement–Homeland Security Investigations Special Agents for further
immigrations processing.

Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Sustainment Robert McMahon will discuss industry’s role
in projecting and sustaining U.S. forces during an emergency or a crisis at the
National Defense Transportation Association-U.S. Transportation Command fall meeting
Oct. 7-10 at Union Station in St. Louis.

As one of
five keynote speakers, McMahon will discuss the private sector’s role in providing
augmented transportation capacity to support Defense Department requirements.

“Clearly,
DoD cannot accomplish its mission without partnering with commercial partners
in the world of logistics and sustainment. They are absolutely essential to our
success by ground, sea and air,” said Michael P. Kleman, a spokesman for USTRANSCOM.
“Our success is reliant on that partnership.”

The
collaboration’s foundation rests on the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement
and Civil Reserve Air Fleet programs, which provide commercial ships and
aircraft, respectively, to meet mission needs.

For
example, VISA involves the participation of all major U.S.-flag companies and
offers access to more than 90 vessels, contributing more than 3 million square
feet of force-projection capacity and 143,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of
sustainment capability. On the other hand, CRAF includes 25 safety-certified
U.S. air carriers, providing long-range international airlift for about 40% of
DoD air cargo and more than 90% of passenger transport.

In
addition, the Maritime Security Program, managed by the U.S. Maritime Administration,
consists of 60 military-useful, internationally-trading, U.S.-flags ships that
employ more than 2,500 U.S.-trained and credentialed mariners. MSP vessels are
required to be enrolled in the VISA program. 

After
completing a 34-year Air Force career, retiring as a major general in 2012,
McMahon was CEO of the 21st Century Partnership and then served as the director
of field operations and site lead for the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III Integrated
Sustainment Program. He later served as president of Fickling Management
Services of Macon, Georgia, from 2015 to 2017, leading a real estate company
that maintained properties in eight states.

“I have a
much greater appreciation of the private sector than I had when I wore the
uniform. They are great Americans, just as dedicated and patriotic as those in
uniform,” McMahon said.

In his
current position, McMahon works as the principal staff assistant and adviser to
the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, deputy secretary
of defense, and secretary of defense for sustainment in the DoD. As the
principal logistics official within DoD senior management, he also provides
oversight of logistics policies, practices and efficiencies to enable readiness
throughout the Pentagon as well as manages more than $170 billion in logistics
operations.

McMahon also oversees the DoD’s real property portfolio made up of 28 million acres, over 500 installations, and more than 500,000 buildings and structures valued at $1 trillion.  Those interested in attending Mr. McMahon’s keynote address and other fall Meeting activities can register here.

ALAMEDA,
Calif. — Crews aboard the precommissioned U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL-757)
interdicted a suspected low-profile go-fast vessel July 31 and seized more than
4,600 pounds of cocaine during a boarding in international waters of the eastern
Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard Pacific Area said in a release.

This was
the second at-sea cocaine seizure made by Midgett’s crew within five days.

Midgett’s
crew seized more than 2,100 pounds of cocaine July 25 from a low-profile
go-fast boat, the cutter’s first cocaine seizure ever since departing the
Pascagoula, Mississippi, shipyard in June following acceptance by the Coast
Guard.

The July 25
and July 31 boardings resulted in a combined seizure of more than 6,700 pounds
of cocaine with an estimated street value of over $89 million.

Low-profile
go-fast vessels are built by cartels for smuggling large quantities of
contraband by riding low in the water to avoid detection. They are designed to
be quickly sunk by using their integrated scuttling valves, a dangerous
practice that jeopardizes the safety of smugglers and the Coast Guard boarding
teams.

Nearly 80%
of all known illegal narcotics coming into North America are smuggled by
international cartels through the eastern Pacific corridor, an area greater in
size than the continental United States. The profits from cocaine manufacture allow
drug cartels to diversify and fund other illicit trafficking activities such as
the smuggling of opioids, synthetics, methamphetamines, people and weapons.

One metric
ton of cocaine (2,204.6 pounds or 1,000,000 milligrams) is equal to 20 million
individual doses upon arrival in the United States. The Coast Guard removed more
than 2 million pounds (923 metric tons) of cocaine with an uncut wholesale
value of more than $27 billion over the last five years.

“The
national security cutter gets you further, faster and delivers more capability
once on scene than any other cutter in the history of our service,” said Capt.
Alan McCabe, Midgett’s commanding officer. “I am incredibly proud of the crew’s
efforts who made these two seizures possible, and we are eager to conduct
future operations throughout the Pacific.”

Midgett, the Coast Guard’s
eighth national security cutter, is sailing toward its future homeport in
Honolulu, where it will be commissioned Aug. 24 along with its sister ship, the
Coast Guard Cutter Kimball (WMSL-756), in a ceremony presided over by Coast
Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz.

ARLINGTON,
Va. — The Raytheon Co. is ready to demonstrate a single-sortie mine
neutralization concept using systems it developed or is developing. The
technology will be demonstrated at Newport, Rhode Island, during the last week
of August at ANTX (Advanced Naval Technology Exercise) 2019.

The Raytheon plan
is to demonstrate “detect to engage” sea mines using unmanned systems, Andy
Wilde, director of strategy and business development for Raytheon Undersea, said
in an Aug. 15 interview with Seapower.

Wilde said that
unmanned systems will “revolutionize” mine countermeasures (MCM) that currently
take weeks or months to clear minefields and put minesweepers at risk. The Navy
is developing an MCM mission package for the littoral combat ship (LCS) that
will rely largely on unmanned systems.

Raytheon will
demonstrate its AQS-20C towed sonar, now in production, pulled through the
water by a riverine craft acting as a surrogate for the Textron-built MCM
unmanned surface vehicle (MCMUSV) that will be a component of the MCM mission
package for the LCS.

Under the concept,
an MCMUSV is launched from an LCS and deploys the AQS-20C. Once a possible sea
mine is detected by the AQS-20C’s synthetic aperture sonar, a Barracuda
expendable semi-autonomous mine neutralization unmanned undersea vehicle is —
on the same pass — launched into the water from a A-size sonobuoy launcher on
the MCMUSV.

The Barracuda deploys
a float that serves as an RF datalink to the CUSV and an acoustic data link to
the Barracuda. The tactical mission plan is downloaded from the LCS to the
Barracuda via the CUSV. The Barracuda starts a search track and, once it
acquires a mine, it maintains position at the mine. The operator on the LCS
confirms the object is s mine and commands the Barracuda to detonate the mine
with a charge. The MCMUSV would then continue its mission on its planned track.

Raytheon will
have a time slot during ANTX 2019 in Narragansett Bay to run its MCM system
through several geometric patterns, Wilde said.

He said his
company is looking to take advantage of artificial and machine learning to
optimize the performance of its systems.

He also said
the MCM mission concept could be expanded to other missions, including by use
of a B-size sonobuoy launcher with other payloads.

The AQS-20C sonar is now in
production. Raytheon currently is developing the Engineering Development Models
of the Barracuda and recently completed the Navy’s Preliminary Design Review.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Bell Textron Inc. announced that the Federal
Aviation Administration has issued an instrument flight rules supplemental type
certificate for the Bell 407GXi helicopter. The certification is a requirement for
the U.S. Navy Advanced Helicopter Training System competition, enabling the
Bell 407GXi to replace the Bell TH-57 Sea Ranger as the Navy’s training
helicopter.

Should the Bell 407GXi be selected for the Navy’s helicopter trainer
program, the company plans to conduct final assembly of the aircraft in Ozark,
Alabama.

“The team did a great job ensuring the Bell 407GXi achieved the FAA’s
IFR certification necessary to meet all of the Navy’s requirements,” said Mitch
Snyder, president and CEO of Bell Textron. “Bell is an instrumental part of the
Navy’s training program and has been for more than 50 years, and we look forward
to continuing the tradition for the next generation of naval aviators.” 

A Bell to Bell transition offers low risk to the Navy by streamlining
instructor pilot and maintainer transition training as well as using common
support equipment and infrastructure. The 407 airframe has proven capabilities
as the platform for the MQ-8C Fire Scout for the Navy.

Bell supports more than 1,600 Bell 407s globally. These aircraft have
nearly 6 million flight hours across the fleet and are actively performing
flight training as well as military and para-public missions helicopter
mission-set.

The
407GXi’s Garmin G1000H NXi Flight Deck enhances situational awareness and
reduces pilot workload by delivering easy-to-read information at a glance. The
Bell 407GXi’s new IFR capability will allow all-weather operations while
continuing to provide multimission capability safely, reliably and effectively.