ARLINGTON, Va. — The commander of the U.S. Navy’s fleet in Europe and African waters said there will be no hard distinction between the respective areas of responsibility of the U.S. 6th Fleet and the newly established U.S. 2nd Fleet.

2nd Fleet was established in August and is scheduled to reach initial operational capability in mid-year. An earlier iteration of the 2nd Fleet, a fixture of the Cold War, was disestablished in September 2011. It operated primarily in the North Atlantic.

“Our idea is not to make a line in the water, because when you make lines, adversaries exploit them,” Vice Adm. Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti, commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, Jan. 16 at the Surface Navy Association symposium. “Our idea is to work together between myself and [2nd Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Andrew L. “Woody”] Lewis to be able to figure out how to flow forces and work together to address whatever challenges come our way.

During the Cold War, 6th Fleet was much larger than its current force and mostly operated in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Over the last five years, it has expanded its operations to include the Baltic Sea and North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean and off West Africa.

Franchetti said that until recently 6th Fleet had a relatively quiet existence, but the resurgence of Russian activity in the region has changed since 2014. Russian naval forces have been increasingly present in the Eastern Mediterranean, often in support of the Syrian forces in that country’s civil war, and in the Baltic and North Atlantic, the latter reminiscent of the submarine activity during the Cold War.

“We are rebuilding muscle by dusting off the books [of the Cold War],” she said.

“The 6h Fleet has been operating at flank speed,” Franchetti said. “Operationally, it’s night and day different in 6th Fleet. The days of lengthy port visits and wine and cheese events have long since disappeared.”

SAN DIEGO — Over 40 crew members of the guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta were the first to pilot the updated Advance Warfare Training (AWT) curriculum inside the Navy’s newest combat systems trainer, Combined Integrated Air and Missile Defense/Anti-Submarine Warfare Trainer (CIAT), onboard Naval Base San Diego (NBSD), Jan. 8-11.

The Center for Surface Combat Systems (CSCS) officially opened the CIAT during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in December and is planned to deliver tactical training to all San Diego-based Baseline 9 warships.

“The overall purpose of CIAT is to capitalize on advances in virtual technology to deliver a warfighting laboratory that is realistic, relevant, and just as complex as the threat environment our deployed ships are sailing into,” said Lt. Cmdr. Reisheid Dixon, CSCS Det. San Diego’s officer in charge.

The CIAT facility currently provides Navy watchstanders a state-of-the art training environment to detect and engage the entire spectrum of naval combatants. With an emphasis on realism, it is engineered in every detail to replicate a naval warship’s actual combat suite. The feedback from Rafael Peralta is overwhelmingly positive.

“We are honored and thrilled to be the first warship through CIAT,” said Cmdr. Aaron DeMeyer, commanding officer. “It’s clear that even this first iteration of the CIAT curriculum is far better than any training we could develop on the ship.”

Moving away from pre-packaged training scenarios, the virtualization of the trainer is completely customizable by CSCS instructors. Evaluators can now employ advanced enemy tactics, reduce visibility, degrade weapons systems, overwhelm the radars with clutter returns, and in the end, force every single watchstander in the combat information center to adapt. The first CIAT students were able to experience these advanced training capabilities.

“This is by far the most realistic level of complexity and integration that our ship’s training team has faced,” said Lt. j.g. Anthony Pronchilo, fire control officer.

Chief Operations Specialist Anna Penrod, anti-air warfare coordinator, has been through the AWT curriculum in the past, but not like this.

“The CIAT has so many features,” she explained. “This was our team’s first opportunity to combat a reactive threat or fight through an electronic attack. I know full well the next time we see this challenged battlespace may be on deployment.”

“There is a steep learning curve for every training event in CIAT,” said Lt. Aaron Van Driessche, CSCS Det. San Diego’s course supervisor for AWT. “Many of our students are seeing complex enemy tactics for the first time but it’s critical that they face these combat challenges now. We need to begin training ships for the worst case scenarios because when a ship leaves the pier, its mission could depend on it.”

The CIAT is also equipped with a full debrief room capable of replaying all scenarios. CSCS instructors can break-down, in exact detail, every choice made by a ship’s combat team.

“The debrief room allowed us to articulate the full PBED process — plan, brief, execute and debrief,” said Lt. Wayne Badstuebner, tactical action officer evaluator. “With the ability to relive every scenario in the debrief, the feedback loop was instantaneous, and their team was maturing with every run.”

This multimission and shore-based trainer also executes training at a lower cost compared to training live on shipboard systems.

“CSCS’ CIAT is a game changer,” said Capt. David Fowler, commodore, Destroyer Squadron 23. “It provides the most realistic combat systems training of any system to date. The full potential of CIAT’s capabilities are yet to be experienced.”

NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. — The U.S. Navy commissioned USS Wichita (LCS 13) — the nation’s seventh Freedom-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) — at Naval Station Mayport Jan. 12 before a crowd including active-duty and veteran sailors. This milestone places the ship, built by the Lockheed Martin-led team into active service.

“We are confident that LCS 13 will be what the Navy needs, when the fleet needs it, and we are proud to mark this day with her crew as the Navy welcomes its newest combat ship,” said Joe DePietro, vice president, Small Combatants and Ship Systems, Lockheed Martin. “We remain focused on delivering these ships as quickly as possible with increasing capability and lethality.”

The LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship, designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions. It is enabled with the COMBATSS-21 Combat Management System, built from the Aegis Common Source Library, which drives commonality among the fleet. The Freedom-variant LCS integrates new technology and capability to affordably support current and future mission capability from deep water to the littorals.

“Like a proud parent, I am so excited to share with you how awesome this ship really is,” said LCS 13’s Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Nathan Rowan. “People ask me about littoral combat ship. Is it a new cruiser or destroyer? Actually, it’s neither. It’s an entirely new category of warship. The LCS packs quite a hefty punch for such a small package.”

There are seven ships in various stages of production and test at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, where the Freedom-variant LCS is built. The next Freedom-variant in the class is LCS 15, the future USS Billings, slated for delivery this spring.

“We consider it a privilege to support the men and women who will sail this great ship, protecting the United States and our allies,” said Jan Allman, president and CEO of Fincantieri Marinette Marine. “On behalf of the 2,000 individuals that crafted the LCS 13, we congratulate the U.S. Navy and the outstanding crew of the USS Wichita.”

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy will restart overseas deployments of its littoral combat ships (LCSs) this year after a hiatus of more than a year, the Navy’s surface warfare boss said. Two LCSs will deploy this year from San Diego, followed by two from the East Coast in fiscal 2020.

“It’s happening,” Vice Adm. Richard A. Brown, commander, Naval Surface Forces, and Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, told reporters in a Jan. 11 teleconference, noting that from then on “there will always be LCS forward-deployed.”

Brown said that the Independence-variant LCSs USS Montgomery and USS Gabrielle Giffords will deploy this year. These deployments will mark the second and third for the Independence variant. He declined to narrow down the deployment windows for operations security reasons.

Brown said the first LCS deployments from the East Coast, departing from Naval Station Mayport, Florida, would be undertaken by the Freedom-variant LCS USS Detroit in 2020, followed by sister ship USS Little Rock.

For all of these deployments, the ships will carry the full Surface Warfare mission package, Brown said.

He said the naval component commanders of the regional combatant commands were asking for the LCSs to deploy.

The gap in LCS deployments after the deployments of USS Freedom, USS Fort Worth and USS Coronado was the result of the Navy taking time out to revamp its operational and crew concepts for the LCS. In September 2016, the Navy announced several significant changes to the LCS program based on operational experience.

The original 3:2:1 crew concept — three crews, two ships, one deployed — was changed to a Blue/Gold concept similar to that used by the ballistic-missile submarine force, with two crews dedicated to each LCS. The mission package detachments are merging with the LCS crews. The ships are being organized in four-ship divisions specializing in a single warfare specialty, with three deployable ships and the fourth a dedicated training ship that will remain in local waters to train and certify the crews.

The first four LCSs will be dedicated to research, development, test and evaluation and, like the training ships, they will be single-crewed, but could be deployed as fleet assets if needed on a limited basis.

The Navy also decided to base the LCSs according to class, with the Independence variant based in San Diego and the Freedom variant in Mayport. The decision to base the Freedom variant on the East Coast was a matter of pier support. The Freedom class, due to its size, is a better fit for the port loading requirements of Mayport.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Navy has awarded Alion Science and Technology, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award SeaPort Next Generation contract vehicle, the company said in a Jan. 10 release.

This contract has a five-year base period of performance, with an additional five-year ordering period option. Under this vehicle, Alion will compete for individual task orders for engineering and program management support services.

Engineering services consist of supporting the research and development of new and existing naval platforms and systems. Innovative warfighting capabilities are introduced through the design and complex integration of hardware and software into ships, submarines and aircraft during new construction, maintenance and modernization availabilities. These efforts include the analysis and evaluation of foreign as well as nondevelopmental systems, equipment and technologies.

Program management services consist of the application of acquisition, business, financial, technical and quality-control expertise within large and small Navy programs. These services enable Navy leaders to manage the design, development, production, training, deployment, sustainment and disposal of equipment, systems and platforms.

“Alion has been a trusted partner of the Navy for many years and as a company we are humbled and thrilled to be able to continue this work so vital to our country.” said Vince Stammetti, Alion senior vice president. “In concert with our Navy customers, our singular mission is to ensure that fleet assets are on station and our Sailors, Marines and Airmen are equipped to do the nation’s bidding — simple as that.”

WASHINGTON — The Navy needs to capture the best talents resident in its Sailors to meet the needs of a future fight, the service’s senior enlisted adviser said.

The Navy needs to “find ways to best capture that talent and set it up for success in the fleet,” said Master Chief Petty of the Navy (MCPON) Russell L. Smith, speaking Jan. 10 along with Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps Ronald Green at an event sponsored by the U.S. Naval Institute at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Smith pointed out that the Navy needs recruits who are comfortable with high technology.

“The Navy is a STEM service,” he said, referring to science, technology, engineering and math as the skills Sailors need to man the ships, aircraft, weapons, networks and other electronic systems used in the modern Navy. “We have to be qualified, astute technicians.”

Smith said “bringing that [STEM] talent forward is one of our biggest lines of effort.”

He also emphasized that sea-going skills such as damage control and firefighting remain just as important now as ever, noting that Sailors must “first meet the mission, then save their shipmates.”

Smith noted that the Navy is in stiff competition with other military services and the other high-tech sectors of the U.S. economy for tech-savvy young adults. However, Smith said that the Navy’s retention of Sailors is the highest it has ever been, upward of 70 percent, better even than after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Green said the Marine Corps, which recruits 30,000 people each year, continues to achieve its quotas, attributing that to the ethos of the Marine Corps that attracts people looking to be something special.

Green said that while the Marine Corps is adopting new technology, the focus is “maximizing lethality and not compromising the standard.”

He said that the Corps’ focus is on the lethality and readiness of the individual Marine.

“The robot is not kicking in the door, the Marine is,” Green said.

Smith said that child care for Sailors’ families is becoming a conundrum for the Navy. Green seconded that, noting that 49 to 50 percent of today’s Marines are married, a situation much different from decades ago.

FAIRFAX, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) Atlantic has awarded its Navy Secure Voice Systems contract to General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT), the company announced in a Jan. 9 release.

The single-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract holds a ceiling of $91.2 million. It includes a five-year base period with one four-year option as well as one six-month option period. GDIT will submit proposals for individual task orders to provide next-generation solutions for the Navy’s voice systems.

“GDIT continues to expand our platform of next-generation services and solutions for the Navy,” said Rich Farinacci, vice president and general manager for GDIT’s Naval and Training Solutions Sector. “Our secure voice systems portfolio will provide robust engineering support to the Navy worldwide. Together, we will fortify this support and enable the Navy to remain focused on their important mission.”

GDIT has supported SPAWAR Atlantic under this program since 2001. Through this contract, GDIT will provide systems engineering and life-cycle sustainment support for the Navy’s secure voice systems, which includes VINSON/ANDVT Crypto Modernization, Automated Digital Network System, Defense Red Switch Network, Tactical Shore Gateway, and other secure voice systems and equipment. Work will be performed worldwide and is expected to be completed by November 2023. If all options are exercised, work could continue until June 2028.

WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer has named a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in honor of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, who represented Alaska from 1968 to 2009, the secretary’s public affairs officer said in a Jan. 5 release.

“Sen. Stevens was a staunch supporter of a strong Navy and Marine Corps team who served our nation with distinction as a pilot during World War II, and later as a Senator of Alaska,” Spencer said. “I am pleased that his legacy of service and dedication to national security will live on in the future USS Ted Stevens.”

Stevens served as a pilot in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1946 and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross before being discharged in 1946. Stevens was elected as a state representative in Alaska in 1964, re-elected in 1966, and in 1968 he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. In 1970, Stevens was elected to the seat in a special election and was subsequently re-elected five times. He left office in 2009 as the then-longest serving Republican U.S. Senator in history.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. The future USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128) will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously, and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems designed to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities.

The ship will be constructed at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam length of 59 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.

TAMPA, Fla. — U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman Capt. Bill Urban released the following statement Jan. 6 on the death of Jamal al-Badawi.

“U.S. Central Command has confirmed that Jamal al-Badawi was killed in a precision strike in Marib governate [Yemen] on Jan. 1.

“Jamal al-Badawi was a legacy al Qaeda operative in Yemen involved in the USS Cole bombing. U.S. forces confirmed the results of the strike following a deliberate assessment process.

“Jamal al-Badawi was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2003, charged with 50 counts of various terrorism offenses, including murder of U.S. nationals and murder of U.S. military personnel; was wanted by the U.S. for his role in the Oct. 12, 2000, terrorist attack against USS Cole; and was also charged with attempting with co-conspirators to attack a U.S. Navy vessel in January 2000.”

USS Cole was attacked during a brief refueling stop in the harbor of Aden, Yemen. The suicide terrorist attack killed 17 members of the ship’s crew, wounded 39 others and seriously damaged the ship. After 14 months of upgrades and repairs, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer returned to the fleet, departing Pascagoula, Mississippi, April 19, 2002.

FAIRFAX, Va. — General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) has been awarded the Navy Cyber Mission Engineering Support contract by the U.S. Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWARSYSCEN) Atlantic, the company announced in a Jan. 7 release.

The multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract holds a shared ceiling of $898 million. It includes a five-year base ordering period, with one two-year option ordering period, and one six-month option-to-extend-services option ordering period GDIT will compete for individual task orders to provide state-of-the-art solutions for the Navy and Marine Corps’ warfighting needs.

“This contract offers a new platform to showcase GDIT’s next-generation cyber and electronic warfare solutions to reinforce the Navy’s important mission,” said Senior Vice President Leigh Palmer, head of GDIT’s Defense Division. “As electronic warfare continues to evolve, maintaining relevancy and technological superiority is critical. GDIT will support the Navy by utilizing our decades of engineering and technical experience to build mission-focused electronic warfare capabilities across the Navy’s warfighter domains.”

Through this contract, GDIT will support SPAWARSYSCEN Atlantic by providing complex engineering and technical services in support of national security mission capabilities. This will include research, development, test, evaluation, production and fielding for command; control; communications; computers; combat systems; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; information operations; identity operations; enterprise information services; and space capabilities.