THE FRIDAY FOTO (May 5, 2023)

SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Samantha Jetzer)  Please click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Hula students perform on the Nohili Dunes at the Pacific Missile Range Facility during a cultural site visit the island of Kauai, Hawaii on April 1, 2023.

The U.S. Navy facility is the world’s largest instrumented, multi-domain missile range capable of supporting surface, subsurface, air and space operations simultaneously.What that means is U.S. Missile Defense Agency, in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, can test things there like the Aegis Weapon System and  demonstrate the capability of a ballistic missile defense (BMD)-configured Aegis ship to detect, track, engage, and intercept a medium range ballistic missile target in the terminal phase of flight.

Barking Sands started out as an Army Air Force Base during World War II. Early in 1942, the single existing runway was paved and lengthened to 6,000 feet with a width of 200 feet. Soon a second, equally sized runway was added. They were built to accommodate heavy bombers like the B–17 Flying Fortress and B–24 Liberator, as well as C–47 and C–54 cargo planes.

Traditionally, Hawaiians congregated at these dunes to fish and gather sustenance.

For the record, the Hula haumāna (hula students) with Hālau Ka Lei Mokihana o Leinā‘ala dance group were performing a hula to the mele (song) called “Ike I ke One Kani AʻO Nohili (The Barking Sands of Nohili)” at the wahi pana (legendary place) of Nohili Dunes.

THE FRIDAY FOTO (February 17, 2023)

PREPARING FOR THE WORST.

    (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David Rowe)

U.S Navy sailors combat a simulated casualty emergency aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in the South China Sea on February 2, 2023.

Nimitz is in the U.S. 7th fleet area conducting routine operations. 7th Fleet is the Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

As we’ve said in the past at 4GWAR Blog, the U.S. Navy takes fires very seriously. At the Navy’s only boot camp, Naval Service Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois, recruits are trained in firefighting as one of five basic competencies, which also include: Damage control, watch standing, seamanship and small-arms handling/marksmanship.

The importance of firefighting aboard ship was driven home in July 2020 when the amphibious assault ship, USS Bonhomme Richard, caught fire beside the pier at Naval Base San Diego, California and burned for four days. No one died but the 22-year-old Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) was a total loss.

THE FRIDAY FOTO (January 6, 2023)

DELIVERY AT SEA.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class David Negron) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

We wonder if Amazon ever delivers this way. Sailors aboard the Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur receive supplies on pallets from the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Guadalupe during  a seaborne resupply on December 28, 2022 in the Philippine Sea.

Replenishment at sea is a method of transferring fuel, ammunition, food and other supplies from one ship to another while under way. It’s a tricky, inherently dangerous procedure. Both ships have to maintain the same speed as they send and receive fuel hoses and other lines and cables to pump fuel and swing cargo over the water separating the two ships. Click here to see a video explaining the procedure and what the risks are.

A shot line is fired from the receiving vessel to the supply vessel. That line is used to pull across a messenger line. The messenger is used to pull across other lines and equipment.

Civilian-manned ships of the Military Sealift Command like the Guadalupe are not commissioned ships; their status is “in service,” rather than “in commission.” They are, nonetheless, Navy ships in active national service, according to the Navy, and the prefix “USNS” (United States Naval Ship) was adopted to identify them.

USS Decatur is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. Part of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, Decatur is currently underway with the U.S. 7th Fleet conducting routine operations. The 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed, numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with 35 maritime nations in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

FRIDAY FOTO (December 2, 2022)

TASK FORCE RED CLOUD.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Jackson Kirkiewicz) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 6 (CLB-6), a unit of Combat Logistics Regiment 2 in the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, drive a Finnish G-Class landing craft while operating the Amy, an unmanned surface vehicle on the Baltic Sea, off the coast of Finland November 25, 2022.

CLB-6 trains organizes and deploys to provide logistical combat support to Regimental Combat Teams (RCT) in the field with supplies beyond their organic capabilities, so there’s no interruption to operations.

CLB-6 also supplies headquarters elements for Task Force Red Cloud,  which is deployed to Finland in support of exercises like Freezing Winds 2022, which ran from November 22 to December 2.  The exercise, in the Gulf of Finland and the constricted maritime terrain of the Finnish archipelago involved a total of 23 combat vessels, service and support vessels, transport vessels, as well as coastal and land troops, totaling about 5,000 personnel. The annual maritime defense exercise provided a unique opportunity to rehearse demanding combat tasks in the harsh November weather conditions of the Baltic Sea, according to Finland’s Chief of Staff of the Navy Command, Commodore Jukka Anteroinen.

The United States and NATO have stepped up military, air and naval exercises in the Baltic region with Sweden and Finland — which have both applied to join NATO — since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, leading to much destruction and loss of life.

FRIDAY FOTO (November 11, 2022)

INTO THE STORM.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nolan Pennington) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Sailors assigned to the newest U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, prepare for flight operations while transiting through a storm on October 18, 2022.

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) joined six NATO allies for exercise Silent Wolverine in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean on November 8, 2022. Exercise participants include Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, as well as the United States.

“Silent Wolverine demonstrates our commitment to deepening interoperability with our allies and partners, while testing the advanced, cutting-edge warfighting capabilities of the Ford-class aircraft carrier in a highly relevant operational environment,” says Admiral Stuart Munsch, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa. Munsch also heads Allied Joint Force Command Naples.

The Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the first of the eponymous Ford-class, is an advanced carrier incorporating 23 new technologies demonstrating significant advances in propulsion, power generation, ordnance handling, and aircraft launch systems. The Ford-class aircraft carrier generates an increased aircraft launch and recovery capability with a 20 percent smaller crew than the 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. The Silent Wolverine deployment will test Ford’s operational readiness and future ability to support the requirements of combatant commands, like European Command (EUCOM) and Africa Command (AFRICOM).

The Ford strike group includes the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS McFaul (DDG 74), and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116). The Ford strike group is conducting its first deployment to the U.S. European Command area of responsibility.

The U.S. Navy increased its presence in European waters late last year when Russia began massing troops on Ukraine’s border, even before the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

FRIDAY FOTO (October 14, 2022)

GOING DEEP IN THE MOUNTAINS.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Alex Perlman (click on the photo to enlarge image)

Sailors assigned to various Naval Special Warfare (NSW) commands operate a battery-operated Diver Propulsion Device (DPD) during high-altitude dive training in northern California on September 5, 2022. The DPDs allow combat divers to travel faster and considerably farther under water, emerging less fatigued than when moving under their own power.

There are deepwater lakes in the mountains of California, Colorado and New Mexico, and other places on earth, like South America’s Lake Titicaca. But at such high altitudes,  thousands of feet above sea level, decompression requirements for divers can change. The dive plan to maintain proper decompression limits must be adjusted for safety based on the dive’s altitude.

The pressure a diver normally faces is a combination of the weight of the water and atmosphere. At high altitude, the weight of the ­water is the same as at sea level, but the ­atmospheric pressure is less and that can pose problems for divers returning to the surface — especially for technical divers who are going deep in the water. As divers reach the surface, they have to ascend more slowly and take a longer safety stop.

Naval Special Warfare Command is a component of U.S. Special Operations Command and includes Navy SEALS (Special Warfare Operators) and Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen (Special Warfare Boat Operators).

For another view of diver propulsion devices click here.

SHAKO: Happy Birthday U.S. Navy!

Still Cruising for 247 Years.

Sailors heave mooring line on the fo’c’sle (forecastle) aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Bainbridge on September 9, 2022, upon returning to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia from a nine-month deployment with the U.S. 5th and U.S. 6th Fleets. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Elexia Morelos)

On this day (October 13) in 1775, the Continental Congress voted for two vessels each to be fitted out and armed with 10 carriage guns, a proportional number of swivel guns, and a crew of 80. Lawmakers directed the pair of ships be sent out on a cruise of three months to intercept transports carrying munitions and stores to the British army in America.

So, like the U.S. Army, which the Continental Congress created on June 14, 1775 — months before the Declaration of Independence — the U.S. Navy is older than the country it serves.

The Defense Department website has an online quiz, testing your knowledge of America’s second-oldest military service. Check out your salty savvy here.

Meanwhile, the Military.com website has an item on the hilarious mistake some individuals, organizations and even government agencies have made wishing the Navy a happy birthday this year.  “Some have elected to use pictures of warships that don’t belong to the American fleets. They’re Russian,” the article notes. It seems lots of well wishers haven’t been too careful picking the photos of naval vessels to congratulate the U.S. Navy.

And, as the song goes … here’s wishing you a happy voyage home!

*** *** ***

SHAKO is an occasional 4GWAR Blog posting on military history, traditions and culture. For the uninitiated, a shako (Pronounced SHOCK-O) is the tall, billed headgear worn by many armies from the Napoleonic era to about the time of the American Civil War. It remains a part of the dress, or parade uniform of several military organizations like the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.

West Point cadets in dress parade uniform. (U.S. Military Academy)

FRIDAY FOTO (September 30, 2022)

NIGHT MOVES.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class David Rowe)

Sailors rig the flight deck barricade during a general quarters drill aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on September 15, 2022.

The barricade is an emergency recovery system used only for emergency landings when a normal tailhook arrestment cannot be made.  They are designed to stop an aircraft by absorbing its forward momentum in an emergency landing or an aborted takeoff.

Barricades are rarely used but flight deck crews train how to set up the barricade webbing in a matter of minutes. The barricade is normally in a stowed condition and rigged only when required. To rig a barricade, it is stretched across the flight deck between stanchions, which are raised from the flight deck.

Click here to see a very short video on flight deck barricades work.

The Nimitz is currently docked in San Diego due to jet fuel contamination of the ship’s drinking water.

FRIDAY FOTO (September 23, 2022)

ON A (ROTARY) WING AND A PRAYER.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Jonathan L. Gonzalez)

A Bell UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter (left) and a Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 773, conduct flight operations near the Christ the Redeemer statue at Corcovado Mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during exercise UNITAS LXIII, on September 12, 2022.

We haven’t focused much on U.S. Southern Command in a while here at 4GWAR, so this photo presents an opportunity to spotlight the work of this regional combatant command based at Doral, Florida near Miami. SOUTHCOM is responsible for defending U.S. security and interests of Latin America south of Mexico, including the waters adjacent to Central and South America and the Caribbean Sea.

Conducted every year since 1960, UNITAS (Latin for “unity’), is the world’s longest-running annual multinational maritime exercise. 4GWAR has been writing about UNITAS since 2015.

HMLA 773, headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, is part of the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Forces Reserve in support of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force UNITAS LXIII.

This year Brazil celebrated its bicentennial, a historical milestone commemorating 200 years of the country’s independence.

FRIDAY FOTO, July 8, 2022

UNDERWATER FLAG DELIVERY?

(U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Christopher Perez)

As a general rule here at 4GWAR blog, we don’t run photos of activities when we’re not sure of what’s going on.

But this photo is so striking we just couldn’t pass it up. We also encourage visitors to click on the photo to view a larger and more spectacular image.

The caption accompanying this photo simply says it shows members of Naval Special Warfare Group Eight displaying the national ensign as they perform dive operations while underway on the Virginia Class fast-attack submarine USS New Mexico on June 19, 2022 somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.

A little bit of enlightenment comes from an Independence Day posting on the Commander, Submarine Forces Facebook page, accompanied by the photo above:

#NavalSpecialWarfare is wishing you a happy #4thofJuly celebrating America’s liberty. As our Nation’s naval commandos, we’re always ready to defend freedom and democracy around the world—on, under and over the sea and into the littorals. Happy Birthday, #America!

Attack submarines are designed to seek and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships; project power ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Special Operation Forces; carry out Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions; support battle group operations; and engage in mine warfare, according to Military.com. The Virginia Class fast-attack submarines were conceived as a less expensive alternative to the Seawolf-class attack submarines, designed during the Cold War era, and are replacing older Los Angeles-class submarines, 29 of which have already been decommissioned.

Naval Special Warfare Command organizes, trains, equips, deploys, sustains, and provides command and control of forces — like, but not limited to, Navy SEAL teams — that conduct full spectrum undersea special operations and activities worldwide in support of geographic Combatant Commands, like U.S. Africa Command or U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Naval Special Warfare Group Eight is headquartered at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Virginia Beach, Virginia with a detachment in Coronado, California and another at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.