March 29, 2024

DoD Photos Take a Look Back at 2021

DoD
www.defense.gov photos

Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River Morning Coffee logoeconomic community. The opinions expressed here do not reflect opinions of the Leader’s owners or staff.

The Department of Defense regularly chronicles US military members who train and conduct operations around the globe 24/7, 365 days a year to ensure the nation’s security. DoD offers a glimpse into their lives and their work through the work of military photographers in 2021.

Naval operations in 2021 saw the Navy balancing presence in multiple theaters, as the US withdrew from the war in Afghanistan and continued emphasizing the Indo-Pacific region. USNI News takes a look at the top naval stories of last year.

Breaking Defense thinks there are some underrated Navy topics readers might have missed in 2021. Sealift, unmanned maintenance, and some interesting comments by the top Marine are on the publication’s list.

Longtime US Navy official Tom Rudowsky will be the new deputy program executive officer for tactical aircraft programs at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), reports ExecutiveGov. Mr. Rudowsky will take over the vacant leadership role from Acting Deputy Commander Jerry Short this month.

Adrienne Somerville has been named the new director of NAVAIR’s Fleet Readiness Center Aviation Support Equipment, reports The Southern Maryland Chronicle. Ms. Somerville has more than 25 years of NAVAIR experience with a background in contracting, workforce development, and FRC acquisition support.

The Navy’s MQ-4C Triton unmanned aircraft system arrived at Naval Station Mayport in Florida in early December following its initial deployment in the Pacific theater, reports Naval News. The first test flight of the Triton in its upgraded hardware and software configuration took place in July at NAS Pax River.

The Navy says it has kept a commitment it made last summer to complete the advanced weapons elevator on the USS Gerald R. Ford, and it has removed a major obstacle to the carrier’s expected first deployment in 2022, reports The Drive.

Both Russia and China are developing next-generation fifth-generation fighters as they struggle to challenge American dominance of the international system, reports The National Interest. For Russia it’s the Su-57, for China it’s the J-20. But the two countries are taking somewhat differing approaches to developing these new next generation jets. Which one is superior?

Sales of US military equipment to foreign governments fell 21% to $138 billion in the latest fiscal year, reports MarketScreener. Sales in the prior fiscal year had totaled $175 billion.

The Royal Navy’s support arm is looking at using drones to deliver mail drops and other supplies to ships in the middle of the ocean, reports Naval News. The US Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command is experimenting with unmanned aircraft moving relatively lightweight supplies between ships, but over distances which could be greater than 200 miles.

 

 

A US Navy aircraft carrier strike group will stay in the Mediterranean Sea region rather than move on to the Middle East, reports Military.com, amid worries about the buildup of thousands of Russian troops near the Ukraine border.

The number of people with military backgrounds who committed criminal acts motivated by extremist views has jumped during the past 10 years, reports Defense One. This is according to new research at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland.

Pentagon officials detailed new rules prohibiting service members from actively engaging in extremist activities, reports PBS News Hour. The new guidelines come nearly a year after some current and former service members participated in the riot at the US Capitol, triggering a broad department review.

Honolulu, HI, attorney Michael Green says he’s teaming up with mainland lawyers to take on the Navy over its fuel contaminating the drinking water system serving 93,000 residents on Oahu, reports KHON2.

The US Air Force is undertaking a new program — Five and Thrive — aimed at helping military families in the areas where they are hurting most: child care, education, health care, housing, and spouse employment, reports Federal News Network. Sharene Brown, wife of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown developed the plan with a group of service spouses.

The US military wants to directly plug commercial imagery satellites into its forthcoming orbital networks, reports C4ISRNet, which would enable soldiers in the field to access that data faster.

China lashed out at Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk after it complained that its space station was forced to take evasive action to avoid collision with satellites launched by Musk’s Starlink program, reports CNBC.

NASA launched the most expensive science probe ever built late last month, reports CBS News, the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope that will attempt to capture starlight from the first galaxies to be born during the Big Bang.

US Southern Command wants to expand its military space engagement in the Americas to help partner nations in ways China and Russia don’t, reports Air Force Magazine, in part by combating crime from drug trafficking to deforestation and illegal fishing.

The last Afghan refugees who were housed at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia have left, The Hill reported shortly before the holidays. The Pentagon is still providing temporary housing facilities for a remaining 25,000 Afghans at Camp Atterbury, IN; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ; Holloman Air Force Base, NM; Fort Bliss, TX; Fort Pickett, VA; and Fort McCoy, WI.

Richard “Dick” Marcinko, retired Navy SEAL and the first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six, has died, reports Navy Times. He was 81.

In case you missed these during the holidays:

Contracts for December 16-23.

Contracts for December 27-30.

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