Posts tagged ‘USS Theodore Roosevelt’
ARCTIC NATION: Exercise Northern Edge, Monitoring Russian Activities in the High North.
DEFENSE
Exercise Northern Edge
An F-15EX fighter jet from the 53d Wing takes off from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska in support of joint training exercise Northern Edge 2021. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt Savanah Bray)
Approximately 15,000 U.S. service members recently concluded a joint training exercise hosted by U.S. Pacific Air Forces between May 3-14, 2021.
The exercise took place on and above the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, the Gulf of Alaska, and temporary maritime activities area. NE21 is one in a series of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command exercises designed to sharpen Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps joint force skills.
Various units practiced tactics, techniques, and procedures; to improve command, control and communication relationships; and to develop cooperative plans and programs.
Northern Edge provided high-end, realistic war fighter training to develop and improve joint interoperability. It also enhanced the combat readiness of participating forces.
The 53rd Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, in Florida, conducted operational tests of the F-15EX fighter jet, which features upgraded computing, sensors and weapons. Northern Edge will be the “first look at large force integration” for the new jet, including with fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighters, the Air Force said.
More than 25 units, almost 200 aircraft and five naval ships — including the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt — participated in Northern Edge 2019.
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transits the Gulf of Alaska, May 7, 2021, during Exercise Northern Edge 2021 (NE21). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brandon Richardson)
Navy, Air Force and Marine aircraft executed flight missions during NE21 demonstrating seamless, joint combat capabilities. The Roosevelt conducted more than 300 aircraft launches and traps {arrested landings), and embarked squadrons completed more than 830 flight hours during NE21. The Marine Wing Support Detachment, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 164 (Reinforced), established a forward arming and refueling point at Cold Bay — identified as an advanced naval base — to provide around 85,000 pounds of fuel to multiple joint aircraft.
The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) ashore from the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) served as the lead element at Cold Bay. The Makin Island ARG executed various air and amphibious operations from amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8), and amphibious transport docks USS San Diego (LPD 22) and USS Somerset (LPD 25) while maneuvering over the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex.
Soldiers wrap up a joint forcible entry operation during Northern Edge at Fort Greely, Alaska, on May 11, 2021. The exercise is designed to improve joint combat readiness. (U.S. Army photo by Benjamin Wilson)
Army units participating in Northern Edge included the 25th Infantry Division’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) and 3rd Expeditionary Air and Space Task Force from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska.
The 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Alaska, conduct a Joint Forcible Entry Operation into Allen Army Airfield during exercise Northern Edge 21. Soldiers from the 17th Field Artillery Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state also joined the drills.
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Bear Watching
The Air Force general heading U.S. European Command says more Navy destroyers and Air Force strike fighters are what he needs to monitor — and deter — Russia’s aggressive behavior from the Arctic to the Black Sea, your 4GWAR editor wrote for Seapower magazine.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook approaches the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tide-class replenishment tanker Tidesurge for refueling at sea, Octobeer 18, 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Damon Grosvenor)
“I see a concerted effort on behalf of Russia’s maritime forces in the Baltic, in the Barents and Black seas,” General Tod Walters told a Congressional committee April 15 during a hearing on national security challenges and U.S. military activities in Europe.
Improving overall strategic indications and warnings (I&W), as well as command and control (C2), “starts with two destroyers to improve our ability to see undersea and it also culminates with F-35s, Wolters said , referring to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter.
There are four destroyers already based in Rota, Spain, which Wolters described as “the workhorses of deterrence,” projecting U.S. presence into the Mediterranean and Black seas and then back out again and up to the Arctic. Two more, also to be based in Rota, are required because of a consistent increase in Russian undersea activity in the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap. The historic maritime chokepoint in the 20th century is an access lane to the Atlantic Ocean for Arctic-based Russian subs. “The destroyers’ participation in undersea warfare, C2 and I&W is absolutely, positively critical,” Wolters said.
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Marines’ Arctic Mitten Search
The U.S. Marine Corps is looking for new extreme cold weather gear for combat units training to fight in subzero Arctic conditions.
Starting in late February, according to Military,com, Marine Corps Systems Command began looking at the commercial cold weather gear market for new trigger finger mittens, base-layer long underwear and a hat that sounds like a modern version of the beloved GI pile cap, according to three request-for-information solicitations.
A Marine with Marine Rotational Force Europe 21.1 (MRF-E), Marine Forces Europe and Africa, communicates with Leathernecks down range during Exercise Arctic Littoral Strike in Blåtind, Norway, March 30, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Patrick King)
The Marines want ideas on a new USMC Trigger Finger Mitten System that will replace the current Extreme Cold Weather Mitten Shell & Liner, according to a March 3 solicitation. Trigger finger mittens offer the warmth of a mitten while featuring a separate trigger finger so combat troops can still fire their weapons.
“The trigger finger design shall enable the wearer to move their first finger independently from the rest of the hand, but if needed move their first finger into the larger finger compartment to warm up as needed,” according to the solicitation, Military.com noted.
So far, all three cold weather items are slated to come in the color known as “coyote brown.”
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Nuclear submatine USS Toledo (SSN-769) in the Arctic Ocean 2020. (U.S. Navy Photo by MC1 Michael B. Zingaro)
ARCTIC NATION is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military and environmental developments in the Far North. The 2013 U.S. “National Strategy for the Arctic Region” described the United States as “an Arctic Nation with broad and fundamental interests” in the region. “Those interests include national security protecting the environment, responsibly managing resources, considering the needs of indigenous communities, support for scientific research, and strengthening international cooperation
FRIDAY FOTO (June 12, 2020)
Back at Work Again.
F/A-18 Super Hornets fly in formation over the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt during operations in the Philippine Sea on June 9, 2020.
The TR, as the Nimitz-class, nuclear powered carrier is known, was the first U.S. Navy warship to endure an outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 while at sea.
After several Sailors tested positive for the virus, the ship pulled into Guam on March 27 and was sidelined there for more than two months. Most of the nearly 5,000 crew members were transferred off the ship — either to hospitals for treatment, or isolation in barracks and hotels on the island.
Before the ordeal was over, more than 1,100 Sailors were sickened and one died. A political firestorm sprang up when the skipper’s letter to Navy leaders seeking a quicker response to the crisis was leaked to the press. That led to the captain being relieved of command and the resignation of the acting Navy Secretary who fired him.
The TR returned to sea May 21 with a partial crew for a shakedown cruise to re-certify the carrier’s air wing and flight deck operations. After returning to pick up the rest of the crew, who now tested negative for COVID-19, the TR departed Guam on June 4 to resume its mission in the Asia-Pacific region.
FRIDAY FOTO (January 10, 2020)
Optical Delusion.
(U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Alexander Williams)
This photo may look like a contractor repairing rooftop parking on a downtown San Diego office building — but looks can be deceiving.
Actually, in this photo, Seaman Chelsea Pedarre, U.S. Navy, is driving a deck scrubber on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) berthed at Naval Base San Diego on December 19, 2019.
The photo below shows the aircraft carrier moored pier side at Naval Station North Island in 2016. Big, ain’t it?
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jimmi Lee Bruner)
Here’s a link to a brief video of the carrier’s return to San Diego in 2018. It gives a sense of the ship’s enormous size and the thousands of people it carries.
FRIDAY FOTO (March 16-18, 2018)
Wearin’ of the Green.
(U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Michael Hogan)
O.K., we’re a little bit late to mark St. Patrick’s Day, but we thought we’d share this image in homage to the tradition of wearing green on March 17.
However, these aircraft carrier sailors wear green every day at work. The color signifies they are carrier air wing maintenance personnel and here they are replacing the windshield of an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN- 71). The photo was taken in the Persian Gulf a few days before Paddy’s Day (March 14, 2018).
The Seahawk is assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 6. The Roosevelt (call sign: Rough Rider) is supporting maritime security operations in the Middle East.
FRIDAY FOTO (October 13, 2017)
Ready to Rock.
(U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Spencer Roberts)
Amid clouds arising from the steam-powered catapult and waiting flight deck crew, an F/A-18E Super Hornet prepares to take off from the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Pacific Ocean on October 10, 2017. Named for the 26th president, who was also an assistant secretary of the Navy, the aircraft carrier is on a deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet (Middle East) and 7th Fleet (Asia Pacific) areas of operation.
Oh, and by the way, Happy 242nd Birthday U.S. Navy! 4GWAR will have a photo essay on the Navy, Sunday (October 15).
FRIDAY FOTO (May 5, 2017)
Projecting Power.
(U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Austin Clayton)
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) travels in the Pacific Ocean during a training event off the coast of Southern California on April 30, 2017.
One of the main functions is to project U.S. power into remote areas of the world, a mission flattops have been performing since the 1940s.
Parked on the flight deck are the Roosevelt’s main offensive weapon, the F/A-18C Hornet jet fighter. You can also see the shadow of the helicopter used to take this photo.
FRIDAY FOTO (November 26, 2016)
Moonstruck.
Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Abe McNatt
The brightest moon in almost 69 years sets behind the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in Coronado, California, November 14, 2016.
Did you see that unbelievably big moon? Where? Tell us in the comment box below.
FRIDAY FOTO (August 28, 2015)
Equality Day.
Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jennifer Case
Wednesday (August 26) was Women’s Equality Day, commemorating the 95th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution — which gave women the right to vote in the United States. In other words, living up to that document’s opening words: “We the people of the United States …”
Women comprise at least 14 percent of the U.S. military. Recently the first two women soldiers completed the challenging Army Ranger course, earning the respected “Ranger” tab. Now the Defense Department is wrestling with how to implement a 2013 decision that could lift the ban on women serving in combat units like armor (tanks), artillery, infantry and special operations.
So here at 4GWAR we thought this would be a good time to show the tough and dangerous jobs women in the services already do.
After looking a dozens of photos of women in the services doing work that puts them in harm’s way — helicopter and fighter pilots, medics and forward area nurses, truck drivers, aircraft carrier deck crewmen, mechanics and helicopter door gunners — we found this photo. We think it’s the best, and most dramatic illustration of women doing hard jobs, dangerous jobs and scary jobs.
It shows Navy Electronics Technician 2nd Class Amanda Craig greasing the ball bearings of the primary marshaling radar for aircraft on the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). The technician is performing routine maintenance work high above Teddy’s flight deck. Notice how small the people look.
It’s also worth noting that the intrepid photographer who shot this picture from a perch almost as high up as Craig is also a woman: Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Jennifer Case.
The Roosevelt is deployed in the Arabian Sea, supporting Operation Inherent Resolve strike operations in Iraq and Syria.
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