01/29/06 - The USS Ohio (SSGN 726) stops for a personnel boat transfer off the coast of Puget Sound, Wash., Jan. 29, 2006. Media were transported to the Ohio to see the new capabilities that this submarine now brings to the Joint Warfighter Jan. 29, 2006. Ohio is the first SSGN converted from an SSBN and will provide transformational capabilities to joint war fighters. Ohio and the other three SSGNs still undergoing conversion will be able to launch up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, conduct sustained SpecialForces operations, support up to 102 Special Operations Forces (SOF) personnel for short durations or 66 SOF personnel for sustained operations, and provide 67% operational availability forward deployed in support of combatant commanders' mission requirements. The other three submarines: USS Florida (SSGN 728), USS Michigan (SSGN 727), and USS Georgia (SSGN 729) will be converted to SSGN through 2007. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Journalist (SW/AW) Dave Fliesen) (Released)

ABOARD THE USS OHIO – Crew members of this massive refitted submarine confident they can handle their new mission aboard a guided missile carrier – a mission will let them take the war to the enemy, rather than hang back hundreds or thousands of miles. But first they had to handle a stormy night Puget Sound.

With 28 guests on board, the Ohio dealt with rapidly deteriorating weather Sunday.Winds reaching nearly 60 mph whipped waves eight to 10 feet high and sent them crashing over the hull. That made it impossible to transfer Navy brass and other visitors to a small patrol boat for the trip back to Sequim. As Sunday afternoon turned to a rain-filled night, the crew worked through options for getting the guests ashore.

In a way, the night became a metaphor the Ohio’s new mission after a three-year conversion: The crew will have to be more flexible and quicker to adapt to the world’s political climate than ever before. Commissioned in 1981, the Ohio was long the sword point of the nation’s Cold War nuclear deterrence force. It could hurl 24 Trident missiles carrying multiple nuclear warheads at targets nearly 4,600 miles away.

In its new form, the Ohio is capable of carrying 154 cruise missiles, each with a range about 1,000 miles. It will also transport as many as 102 Special Forces troops who can leave and enter the sub from two missile tubes. The Navy is converting its four oldest Trident submarines into guided missile subs. The first of the four, the Ohio, officially returns to service next week after a $1 billion conversion.

“Big navies are about deterrence. That’s what this is about. But it’s deterrence in a different way,” said Rear Adm. Frank Drennan, commander of the nation’s ballistic and guided missile submarine fleet, including those at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. “As new and different adversaries come on board, it’s good to have vessels like this,” Drennan said.

No longer will the Ohio, lurking in the blue of the ocean depths, be deployed in a way

designed to strike at its Cold War nemesis, the Soviet Union. Instead the Navy will take

advantage of the Ohio’s stealth and size to quickly bring Navy SEALs and short-range

missiles closer to hot spots in the Mideast and elsewhere.

“This is all a part of the move to green water from blue-water operations,” said Capt.

David DiOrio, director for guided missile submarine readiness at Submarine Forces

Headquarters in Norfolk, Va. Crewmen joked that their old job on a ballistic submarine was “four knots to nowhere,” said Roger Crandall, a senior chief petty officer.

“You go out to a little box in the ocean to shoot a missile if you’re needed to. Now we’re

going to go to different places, do different missions.”

In addition, the Ohio can serve as a mobile base for 66 Special Force troops for an extended period, or as many as 102 men for a two-week stint.

The changes inside the first two missile tubes have Special Force members most excited.

The tubes, 30 feet deep and seven feet in diameter, have been rebuilt to make it easier to

get troops and gear in and out.

Smaller fast-attack submarines can only launch one or two men at a time. The Ohio will

be able to launch eight. The tubes also have been rebuilt so the submarine can carry on its deck a mini-sub that takes SEALs to shore or a dry-deck shelter that houses other vehicles.

The ability to carry a large force gives commanders more options and keeps troops

fresher as they head into action, said Cmdr. Claude Lim of Naval Special Warfare Group 3 in Coronado, Calif.

The submarine conversion program does have its detractors. Groups such as Ground Zero

Center for Nonviolent Action have been protesting at Bangor since 1977, when nuclearmissile-carrying submarines first arrived at the Kitsap County sub base.

Bob Aldridge of the Pacific Life Research Center in Santa Clara, Calif., balks at the $4

billion it’s costing to convert the four subs. “We’re spending too much on things like

this while we’re cutting social and medical programs. I think we’re putting our money in

the wrong place, if we want to help society,” Aldridge said.

But U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., who helped obtain the conversion funding, said “this is a tremendous utilization of these assets that still have life to them.

“You still have problems in the Pacific, the emerging growth of China, and (North) Korea. This gives enhanced conventional capability to the Navy that can be used in almost any kind of conflict,” Dicks said.

Crew members are eager to get the conversion behind them. They and their

contractors have been busy refueling the nuclear reactor, converting the missile tubes and

changing work spaces throughout the sub. They even made sure to reinstall cup holders next to their duty stations, some big enough for a Big Gulp.

Months of equipment upgrades, training and testing still lie ahead. The Ohio won’t be

ready to bring its full capabilities to the fleet until next year. Even after Sunday’s show was long over and the Ohio slowly made its way down the Sound on a truly dark and stormy night, the crew was busy.

An experienced chief held a class in the crew’s mess. Sailors checked the condition of

firefighting gear. A sailor new to the Ohio, working toward his dolphin badge declaring him a true submariner, talked with a more seasoned shipmate. As Sunday turned to Monday, others prepared for an inspection later in the day. Crandall, who stopped in for a quick sip of soda, surveyed the scene.

He’s been with the Ohio four years, but has gone to sea for only one tour of duty. The crew, he said, is ready for action. “I volunteered to come here when I learned what the sub was going to do. It’s a different mission. It’s more involved and closer to the action.”

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Korean Defense Leader Visits Navy in Hawaii

By JOC(SW/AW) David Rush, COMSUBPAC Public Affairs

060127-N-0879R-006

Rear Adm. Jeffrey Cassias, Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, greets Yoon Kwang-ung, Republic of Korea’s Minister of National Defense. Yoon met with various military leaders in Hawaii Jan. 26-28, including Adm. William Fallon, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command. Yoon also visited the Arizona Memorial, the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command onboard Hickam Air Force Base, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies and the U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Force headquarters. (Photo by JOC(SW/AW) David Rush)

(PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII) -- Korea's defense minister visited Navy commands here on Friday, Jan. 27, where he met with the Pacific Fleet's submarine force commander and toured a surface ship closely involved with missile defense.

Yoon Kwang-ung, the Republic of Korea's minister of national defense, made the visit to Pearl Harbor as part of a Hawaii trip that included meeting with Adm. William Fallon, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command.

In a meeting with Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, commander Rear Adm. Jeffrey Cassias, Yoon received a briefing about U.S. submarine operations and interaction with the Republic of Korea Navy's submarine force.

The ROK Navy's submarine force celebrated its 10th anniversary last October in a series of events that included a special visit to Chinhae by USS Columbia (SSN 771).

“Our militaries have very strong ties,” said Cassias. “And that is particularly apparent in how our submarine forces work together.”

Yoon also visited the Pearl Harbor-based guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG-70), the Missile Defense Agency's principle platform for testing sea-based mid-course intercept capabilities. Yoon said he enjoyed his interaction with crewmembers.

“They are so professional,” said Yoon. “They are well trained and educated. I was very impressed.”

Yoon, who was making his first visit to Hawaii as minister of national defense, also toured the USS Arizona Memorial, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, and the Joint Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Command.

Yoon said his visit underscored the importance of the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea.

“To maintain security and peace on the Korean Peninsula, the alliance is very valuable,” he said. “We need to continue to develop the strong alliance between our countries. Together we are two navies, two armies and two air forces.”

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General Dynamics Receives $1.35 Billion Contract Modification for Virginia-class Submarine Procurement
PRNewswire.com, 30 Jan 06

GROTON, Conn., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The U.S. Navy today awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $1.35 billion contract modification that provides funding for the construction of the eighth Virginia-class submarine and advance procurement for the ninth and 10th ships of the class. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) .

The award modifies an August 2003 contract for the construction of six Virginia-class submarines at a rate of one per year from FY 03 through FY 08; the total value of the contract is $8.4 billion. Altogether, Electric Boat and its construction teammate, Northrop Grumman, have received contracts to build 10 ships of the class. The lead ship, USS Virginia (SSN-774), was delivered to the Navy in October 2004.

Today's contract modification has been factored into the company's workload projections since the initial contract was announced in 2003. It is not unplanned work. For that reason, it will not affect the number of layoffs the company will make over the next two years.

The contract modification provides $1.1 billion for construction of SSN- 781, $208 million in advance procurement for SSN-782 and $40 million for SSN- 783.

Fifteen percent of the work will be performed at Electric Boat's Groton shipyard; 15 percent at its Quonset Point, R.I., facility; 30 percent at Northrop Grumman in Newport News, Va.; and 40 percent at various sites throughout the U.S. Work under the overall contract is scheduled for completion in 2014 when SSN-783 is delivered.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, employs approximately 72,200 people worldwide and had 2005 revenue of $21.2 billion. The company is a market leader in mission-critical information systems and technologies; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and business aviation. More information can be found online at http://www.generaldynamics.com/ <http://sev.prnewswire.com/aerospace-defense/20060130/>.

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Pentagon Shifting Focus For 'Long War' On Terror

A Review Calls For More Special Forces, Bombers, And Other Means To Face Unconventional Threats.

By Drew Brown, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER 31JAN 06

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon plans to expand the military's special-operations forces, build more bombers, and strengthen ties with foreign allies and other parts of the U.S. government to destroy terrorist networks abroad and defend against them at home.

The plans are part of a series of changes outlined in the Quadrennial Defense Review that will be delivered to Congress next Monday.

They represent a shift in focus from defeating foreign armies to fighting terrorists and other irregular forces in what military planners now call "the long war."

According to a draft copy, the Pentagon plans to boost the overall number of special operations troops by 15 percent.The review also calls for boosting the number of Navy ships in the Pacific Ocean. It would put six of the Navy's 12 aircraft carriers and 60 percent of its submarines in the Pacific at all times "to support engagement, presence and deterrence." Although the draft plan doesn't mention any countries by name, the buildup is intended to offset the rising power of China and India, and deter potential threats, particularly from North Korea.

The draft also discloses plans to build a new long-range bomber for the Air Force by 2018, and declares that 35 percent of the Air Force's bomber fleet in the future will consist of unmanned aircraft.

Military planners frequently speak of having "global reach" to target enemies, and one goal is developing the ability to find and strike terrorists anywhere in the world within hours. Congress requires the Pentagon to assess U.S. military strategy and report its findings every four years in the Quadrennial Defense Review. The plan maps priorities for weapons, manpower and other funding based on current threats and those in the foreseeable future.

The 2006 defense review is the second the Bush administration has conducted. The first was published in 2002 but was based largely on analysis done before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The 2006 review is the first to incorporate lessons from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

U.S. military forces are unmatched in traditional warfare but less suited to fighting insurgencies, where conventional might is offset by the enemy's ability to blend in locally and bargaining is often more effective than bullets.

Michele Flournoy, a former Clinton administration defense official who is an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a policy-research group in Washington, said the new focus on irregular warfare was the strongest piece of the 2006 defense review. "That's the one area where they really have connected the dots," Flournoy said.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the Pentagon already had increased funding for intelligence, put more emphasis on foreignlanguage training, expanded the role of specialoperations forces, and incorporated the study of unconventional warfare into military curricula. "Clearly there's an emphasis on recognizing that the things that we face today are not conventional threats with large armies, navies and air forces, but more asymmetric or irregular threats, and we've been making those adjustments over the past 41/2 years," he said.

Rumsfeld said the 2006 review "should be seen as the next step in a long line of significant changes, many of which have been accomplished in the last five years, others of which are in process."

The expected increase of special-operations forces is the largest since the Vietnam War, according to experts. Although not included in the draft, the number of Army Special Forces battalions would increase from 15 to 20, said a defense expert familiar with Pentagon planning. That means adding about 2,000 soldiers to the 5,000- man force.

The Navy's SEAL teams will see a modest increase of several hundred. They currently number about 2,000. In addition, the U.S. Special Operations Command, based in Tampa, Fla., will receive a squadron of about 16 unmanned Predator drones, which can be armed and used to strike in remote areas where ground troops can't operate.

The Special Operations Command was established in 1987. When the United States began bombing Afghanistan a month after the 9/11 attacks, Special Forces commandos working alongside Afghanistan's Northern Alliance militia directed air strikes that led to the Taliban government's collapse in less than a month.

Special Forces also directed air strikes on the al-Qaeda stronghold at Tora Bora in November 2001, but Osama bin Laden and many of his fighters escaped.

In 2002, Rumsfeld directed that the Special Operations Command take the lead in hunting terrorists. The command has 52,000 troops assigned to units in the armed forces.

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Raytheon Delivers Submarine Combat System to Royal Australian Navy
PRNewswire.com, 30 Jan 06

TEWKSBURY, Mass., Jan. 30, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company has successfully delivered the Collins-class submarine tactical command and control system to Australia, providing enhanced combat management, tactical and weapons control capabilities to the Royal Australian Navy.

Raytheon will lead the installation and integration onboard the HMAS Waller, the first Collins-class diesel submarine to be equipped with the advanced tactical command and control system. Raytheon's AN/BYG-1 is the first international version of the company's proven submarine combat management system, designated the baseline combat system for the U.S. Navy's submarine fleet.

Raytheon's AN/BYG-1, developed to replace Australia's existing combat management system, not only enables interoperability with the U.S. Navy but also brings enhanced capabilities to the Collins-class submarine fleet, including target motion analysis improvements and the ability to support MK48 Advanced Capability (ADCAP) torpedoes.

Integration will bring together the combat system with components and sensors already onboard the Collins-class submarine, ensuring full end-to-end capability. Delivery to Australia follows the completion of a simulated exercise during which U.S. and Royal Australian Navy operators successfully detected, classified and located targets and launched several hundred MK48 ADCAP torpedoes, Harpoon missiles, and various countermeasures.

"Our success as the mission systems integrator for the Collins-class submarine can be attributed to the synergy of the international industry- government team, the strength of our relationships, and our ability to work seamlessly across the globe with a common goal -- mission success for the customer," said Dan Smith, president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.

"Raytheon was able to deliver a robust solution to the Royal Australian Navy, one that will enhance the capabilities of its submarine fleet, leverage the advancements of U.S. Navy technologies, and strengthen its role in the protection of Australia's strategic interests."

Development efforts were performed as a cooperative partnership between Raytheon, Raytheon Australia, the U.S. Navy, the Royal Australian Navy and various industry partners, both in Australia and the United States. Under the Foreign Military Sales contract awarded in July 2003, the Raytheon-led team will develop and deliver five BYG-1 combat control systems for Collins-class submarines and land based test facilities.

Based in Tewksbury, Mass., Integrated Defense Systems is Raytheon's leader in Joint Battlespace Integration. With a strong international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. armed forces, Integrated Defense Systems provides integrated air and missile defense and naval and maritime warfighting solutions.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2004 sales of $20.2 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.

Note to editors: Raytheon's AN/BYG-1 was formerly known as CCS MK2.

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QDR Speeds Navy Programs

By Jason Ma, InsideDefense , MILITARY.COM 30 JAN 06

A draft of the Quadrennial Defense Review recommends accelerating the Littoral Combat Ship program and endorses other initiatives -- such as a new riverine force -- that Navy officials have been discussing in recent months. Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics are leading separate teams to produce two different LCS designs, both of which are under construction now. While the Navy originally contemplated building two of each design for the first flight of ships, the service now plans to build a total of 13 for the first flight, according to the Pentagon operational test and evaluation directorate's fiscal year 2005 report.

The draft QDR, which was obtained by InsideDefense.com, recommends a “larger” Navy with 11 carrier strike groups that recapitalizes the fleet, improves affordability and provides stability for the shipbuilding industry. For example, the Navy should start building two attack submarines annually no later than FY-12 at a price of $2 billion each, it states. While the draft QDR does not specify a target number of ships, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Mullen has his own plan, which advocates a 313-ship fleet, up from 281 ships today.

The Navy also should buy the “first eight” Maritime Prepositioning Force Future ships, according to the draft QDR. One MPF(F) squadron would be comprised of 14 ships: two LHA Replacement large-deck amphibious ships, one LHD large-deck amphibious ship, three TAKE cargo ships, three Large Medium-Speed Roll-On/Roll-Off (LMSR) cargo ships, three Mobile Landing Platform ships and two legacy “dense-pack” MPF ships taken from existing squadrons. But the draft QDR does not name what the “first eight” MPF(F) ships would be. For now, the Marine Corps plans to have three maritime prepositioning squadrons: one will be the MPF(F) and two will be the existing

squadrons, James Strock, seabasing integration division director at Marine Corps Combat

Development Command, said earlier this month at the Surface Navy Association's annual

conference.

The draft QDR recommends a Navy riverine force for patrolling, interdiction and

tactical troop transport along inland waterways. The Navy expects to stand up three riverine squads, consisting of 12 boats each. The recently stood-up Navy Expeditionary Combat Command is responsible for fielding a riverine force and getting it ready for a deployment to Iraq by early 2007.

Additionally, the draft QDR says the Navy should establish a foreign area officer program and buy command and control “fly-away” communications capabilities to support disaster relief missions, presumably an acknowledgment of the role naval forces played in responding to the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in December 2004 and last summer's Hurricane Katrina.

The Navy will increase the number of SEALs for U.S. Special Operations Command

as well as increase the number of psychological operations and civil affairs specialists, the draft QDR states. The Marine Corps is also contributing Marines to SOCOM for the first time in its history; that change was announced last year. Special operations forces will use “Afloat Forward Staging Bases to provide more flexible and sustainable locations from which to operate globally,” the draft QDR adds.

Navy presence in the Pacific would grow under the QDR, which calls for at least six

carriers in the theater and 60 percent of the sub force there too. The future Navy also will have capabilities for “conventional global strikes against time-sensitive targets,” the document adds. Sister publication Inside the Pentagon recently reported that the Navy plans to put conventional warheads on ballistic missiles launched from SSBN submarines, which will continue to carry nuclear ballistic missiles as well.

The draft QDR notes that the Marine Corps has realigned its force structure to produce a 12 percent increase in infantry and related intelligence support, an additional rotary-wing

squadron, a one-fourth increase in light armored units, a 38 percent increase in reconnaissance capacity, one-half more Joint Fire Liaison Teams, and a 30 percent increase in Reserve intelligence force structure.

The document also says the Marine Corps will “stabilize” its end strength at 175,000

active-duty Marines and 39,000 reservists by FY-11. In the Fiscal Year 2005 Defense

Authorization Act, Congress authorized a 3,000 end-strength increase from 175,000 Marines to 178,000. Service officials have said they plan to use the additional 3,000 to bring infantry units up to full strength and more, especially for units that will see combat.

Gen. Robert Magnus, the Marine Corps assistant commandant, suggested last fall that

end strength might even go beyond 178,000, noting that the service's contribution to SOCOM would be a factor.

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Draft QDR Calls For Accelerated LCS

Procurement, Increased Build Rate For Subs
By Geoff Fein , DEFENSE DAILY 31 JAN 06

According to a draft version of the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), the Navy should speed up procurement of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and begin building two attack submarines per year no later than 2012, and lower the average cost of $2 billion per hull.

But whether or not the Navy can achieve the shipbuilding goals outlined in the draft QDR remains to be seen.

The final QDR will be released Feb. 6. Earlier this month a draft version of the Navy's ship construction plan detailed the service's shipbuilding budget for FY '07 to FY '16. While the plan shows the Navy funding construction of two Virginia-class submarines per year beginning in 2012, the average cost of the submarines over the 10 year time frame is $2.57 billion. Neither the draft ship construction plan, nor the draft QDR, discusses how the Navy will be able to lower the cost of attack submarines to $2 billion per hull.

Some lawmakers are encouraging the Navy to move submarine construction to the left by several years and the service has considered going to a build rate of two submarines per year possibly as early as FY '08. In part some analysts believe, because in FY '12, along with building two submarines, the Navy intends to begin construction of a second CVN-21 aircraft carrier, one DD(X) combat ship, six LCS and several Maritime Pre-Position Force (Future) (MPF(F)) ships, for a total cost of $19.12 billion.

Defense analysts have questioned whether the Navy can afford its FY '12 constructionplan.

Current Navy plans call for LCS to hit a build rate of six per year beginning in FY '09

and running to FY '12, according to the service's ship construction plan. That rate will fluctuate between five and six between FY '13 and FY '16. The draft QDR did not provide information on how many additional LCS should be built. The draft QDR also notes that the Navy will procure the first eight ships of the MPF(F) squadron.

The MPF(F) will consist of one squadron of 14 ships and will be the foundation of the Navy's sea basing concept.

The draft QDR also calls for converting a small number of Trident submarine-launched ballistic missiles for use in conventional prompt global strike.

Along with the call to increase ship construction, the draft QDR wants the Navy to further develop Maritime Domain Awareness by improving integration with inter-agency and international partners, and accelerating investment in systems such as the Automatic

Identification Systems and the Multinational Information Sharing System.

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USN Fleet Plan Faces Outyear Challenge
BY Christopher P. Cavas, Defense News, 30 Jan 06

Question: When does 313 equal 260?

Answer: When future planning meets reality in U.S. Navy shipbuilding.

A constant feature of Navy plans for future shipbuilding is that the hopeful “outyear” numbers shown in planning documents nearly always shrink when those years come due. Over the past decade, the shrinkage has been about 20 percent.

Since 1995, the Navy forecast plans to build 84 ships, but for a variety of reasons, only 68 were ordered - a drop of about one-fifth. Calculated yearly, the Navy hoped to build seven ships a year, but averaged 5.7. The trend held through the Clinton and Bush administrations and from the post-Cold War era into the Global War on Terror, and shows the danger of relying too much on future numbers in defense planning.

“There’s always an unlimited amount of optimism and wishful thinking when these types of plans are built,” said one veteran congressional naval analyst.

The issue will come around once again Feb. 6, when Adm. Mike Mullen, U.S. Navy chief of naval operations (CNO), reveals his new 313-ship fleet plan, a major effort to define and quantify the Navy’s ship force structure over the next 30 years. Mullen has made the plan a cornerstone of his effort to limit the year-to-year changes that have characterized Navy shipbuilding plans for many years and brought howls from shipbuilders who say they can’t stay in business if the plans keep changing.

“The practice around town has been - for far too long - to pay other bills by robbing the shipbuilding accounts. We’re not going to do that anymore,” Mullen said Jan. 10 during a Washington speech. “We’re going to fence the funds we put in there. We’re going to get a handle on requirements. And we’re going to stabilize the whole process.”

The new plan is a blueprint for shipbuilding all the way out to 2036. It details the numbers of aircraft carriers, submarines, cruisers, destroyers and other ships the Navy thinks it will need over those years.

But if the trend of prior years holds true, Mullen’s 313 ships will shrink to 260, the bottom rung of previous CNO Adm. Vern Clark’s 260-to-325 ship range.

The plan has little margin for error. Even by his own admission, Mullen’s vision depends on everything working in the Navy’s favor - year in and year out.

But, say analysts, the only thing certain about the plan is that it will change.

“A variety of factors” could alter the plan, said Byron Callan, a defense industry analyst with the Prudential Equity Group. “Changes in requirements. Cost growth in individual programs. Broader pressures exerted on the Navy budget.”

That would certainly echo the historical trends. Like many military acquisition programs, the Navy’s shipbuilding plans routinely look better in the outyears - those years beyond the current budget year.

Navy officials routinely have testified in annual congressional budget hearings about how this year the need to buy more ships can’t be sufficiently addressed, but the problem will be taken care of in the future, when any number of optimal conditions will apply.

Hope Springs Eternal

That’s not to say the Navy doesn’t sometimes ask for enough ships, but the number they planned to ask for - or is granted by Congress - nearly always shrinks when it’s time to place the order.

Still, “hope springs eternal,” said the congressional analyst.

From the start, the plan faces a number of challenges. The service will need at least a 50 percent jump in the money it gets every year to buy ships - and maybe up to twice as much, according to some analysts. Mullen has directed all his major procurement programs to go through serious cost-cutting exercises, and he strenuously is urging industry to do the same.

“They have to achieve a cost-cutting set of reductions off their own estimates, which are highly rosy,” the analyst said. “The chances of success here are virtually impossible, because I don’t think their cost estimates are realistic to start with. They’re trying to do something which is virtually unprecedented in the modern acquisition era.”

Institutional Optimism

The problem is institutional, another analyst said.

“The services are always more optimistic in the out years than any outside analyst,” said Bob Work, a retired Marine colonel who works as a naval analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

“It’s actually programmed into the way that we build forces, in which the uncertainty of budgets over time is always handled initially by the most optimistic assumptions at every level - pricing remains stable, requirements stay the same, there are no outside perturbations, no other needs such as missile defense or health care bills.

“I’ve watched this for years and years,” Work said. “The entire system is predicated on optimism.”

The Navy’s plan, said Ron O’Rourke, a naval analyst with the Congressional Research Service, “depends on a lot of things working out the way the Navy hopes, with few bad surprises.”

One example of this rosy outlook is the plan for the DD(X) destroyer and its CG(X) cruiser follow-on program, O’Rourke said. The Navy wants to buy seven DD(X) destroyers between 2007 and 2013, along with 19 CG(X) cruisers starting in 2011. That won’t be enough to maintain the plan’s stated objective of 88 major surface warships - a mix of DD(X), CG(X) and DDG guided missile destroyer platforms. Instead, O’Rourke noted the plan only tallies 85 ships.

“That looks pretty good,” he said Jan. 11, “but it all depends on getting to two per year.”

If price increases or other problems mean acquisition of the ships is deferred, the numbers drop even further, O’Rourke pointed out. “Based on past experience, that scenario appears very possible,” he said.

The plan needs an average of 2.5 major surface ships per year to reach its goal, O’Rourke said. Offering a variety of scenarios where the planned procurement numbers drop or are shifted, he noted that “every year you do something less than 2.5 you’ll have to have some year down the road where you’ll have to do more.”

Doing more often simply isn’t affordable, O’Rourke said, pointing to the shortfall in nuclear attack submarine procurement that the Navy still hasn’t figured out how to address. The new plan calls for a 48-ship submarine fleet, but the 30-year budget plan won’t maintain that goal even if it starts to buy at least two submarines per year beginning in 2007. The budget calls for one per year until two subs appear in the 2012 budget.

“The problem with submarines reflects the decisions we made over the past 17 years on sub procurement,” where an average of less than one sub per year has been purchased, O’Rourke said, “The math is now catching up with us. We have no choice except to start procuring boats at two per year just to avoid dropping below 40.”

Shipbuilding plans also change as individual programs don’t work out the way they’re planned. The DD(X) destroyer, for example, was forecast to comprise 32 ships when it was first conceived in the mid-1990s as the DD-21 land attack destroyer. In the decade since the program has been under development and recast as DD(X), the number has gone to 16 ships, 24, a range of between eight and 12, and now, 7.

The earlier SSN-21 Seawolf submarine program also changed dramatically in direct response to cost increases. At least 30 Seawolfs were forecast in the late 1980s, but the first Bush administration cut the class, which only produced two ships to the original design and one modified special-missions hull. A lower-cost version of Seawolf, the SSN 774 Virginia-class, followed, but the Clinton administration held off until 1998 in ordering the new submarines, primarily due to efforts to balance the federal budget.

A situation similar to the Seawolf could still affect the DD(X) program. Congress is expected to approve the Navy’s request in 2007 for two ships, but if costs significantly exceed the $3.3 billion the Navy says each ship will cost, the issue could become more volatile when the third ship is ordered in 2009. This could lead to the situations O’Rourke is warning about if an alternative, lower-cost surface ship design not be ready to go.

The future fleet plan also depends heavily on 55 Littoral Combat Ships to boost its numbers. But the LCS concept is still in development, and a shift in design priorities could occur once the first four ships are delivered and the Navy gains experience with the concept.

The need for speed, for example, could be seen as an extravagance at the expense of other qualities such as payload and endurance, and a halt in production to develop alternative designs would be another factor in keeping fleet numbers down.

Shift Could Favor Navy

A shift in strategic focus could, however, alter the overall budget situation in the Navy’s favor, where the service has not been essential to defense requirements to fight the war on terror or the conflict in Iraq.

“Now people are maybe getting more concerned about a future confrontation with China, where the Navy would have to be regarded as the lead service,” said the congressional analyst. “So there may be a change in the winds for the Navy. But it runs headlong into the federal fiscal situation and the war in Iraq. And it’s not clear the change will be as much as the Navy would like with this new fleet plan.”

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222 Get Layoff Notices At Electric Boat
Overall, Company To Eliminate 2,400 Positions This Year
By Anthony Cronin, New London Day, 31 Jan 06

Groton -- Electric Boat delivered layoff notices Monday to 222 workers as part of its plan to eliminate up to 2,400 jobs this year in the face of dwindling submarine maintenance and design work.

EB said 169 union workers in its Marine Draftsmen's Association were affected, along with 17 union workers from the Metal Trades Council and 36 salaried workers, primarily in the design ranks.

The MDA represents administrative, technical and design workers while the MTC represents the construction-related trades.

John Casey, EB's president, said the layoffs were “painful for everyone involved,” but that this year's downsizing of EB's work force of about 11,500 was necessary for the future survival of the sub manufacturer.

“We have to align the size of our work force with the level of our workload,” he said.

Judd Everhart, a spokesman for Gov. M. Jodi Rell, said the governor expressed concern for the affected workers and their families.

“These unfortunate layoffs demonstrate the need to further diversify the economy of southeastern Connecticut,” he said.

Rell recently created a special commission to explore ways for southeastern Connecticut to diversify its $10.5 billion economy.

Everhart also said the state Department of Labor will do “everything it can” to help with benefits and job leads.

In early December, EB announced it would reduce its work force by between 1,900 and 2,400 workers this year - about 20 percent - because of a lack of future design work as well as a decline in future submarine maintenance and repair work.

The Navy has told the private shipyard that it plans to award future sub repair and maintenance work to its four government-owned yards.

EB has said that between 300 and 400 MDA workers could have their jobs eliminated this year as part of the downsizing, and that as many as 500 to 600 MTC union workers could lose their jobs by the end of this year. Among the salaried ranks, EB has estimated that between 500 and 600 positions could be affected.

An EB worker who would only identify himself as “Steve,” said he has concerns about the way the shipyard is handling the layoffs. He said a colleague of his received notice Monday of the company's intent to lay him off by the end of March.

“I think you have to deal with the reality of this the same way you do anything else in your personal life,” the worker said. “You either accept it and adapt or you go into denial. During the downsizing in the early '90s, a lot of guys refused to go to work for $8 or $9 per hour.

“They (management) should have just laid them off,” he said, referring to those who got notices. “The way they are doing it, they run the risk of morale problems, ‘unintentional intentional' accidents, etc. I can't believe that security is allowing it to happen like this.”

•••EB and Northrop Grumman Newport News in Virginia currently build the equivalent of one Virginia-class submarine a year as part of a teaming arrangement.

EB officials, along with the state's congressional delegation, are advocating the construction of two Virginia-class submarines a year.

Navy officials want to begin building two subs a year in fiscal year 2012, while the state's congressional delegation is pushing for seed money in 2007 and full production of the nuclear attack subs by fiscal year 2009.

EB employs about 8,500 in Groton and an additional 2,000 workers at its Quonset Point, R.I., shipyard. Rhode Island's congressional delegation has joined forces with Connecticut's to push for additional congressional funding for the Virginia-class subs.

EB officials said the laid-off workers' jobs will end March 31.

In the interim, the shipyard will offer assistance to those workers, and peer counseling will be available from the MDA union. A career transition center is being established in New London to assist affected EB workers through the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board.

John Worobey Jr., MDA president, said his workers were prepared for Monday's announcement.

“People knew it was coming,” he said. “This could be traumatic for some people.”

He said his workers recognize the decline in overall submarine construction occurring in the country right now, although he said he strongly advocates increased funding to ramp up production.

While EB is now building the equivalent of half a submarine a year, it delivered 32 submarines to the Navy during the 1980s and 18 submarines during the 1990s.

So far this decade, the Groton submarine builder has delivered two submarines to the Navy: the USS Jimmy Carter, the third of the three-sub Seawolf class, and the USS Virginia, the first of the new Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines.

Casey said the layoff notices are “affecting people whose dedication has helped us achieve our recent successes in the Virginia program, on the USS Jimmy Carter and on the SSGN conversions.”

The Jimmy Carter was the most technologically advanced in the three-ship Seawolf class. The SSGN program involves the conversion of four former Trident ballistic-missile subs into specialized guided missile subs that also can perform a variety of special forces-type missions.

EB officials said the 222 layoffs would not be affected by the expected approval of $1.4 billion in ongoing funding for the Virginia program later this month. That work, according to EB officials, had been anticipated and was taken into account when determining the need for significant reductions in the overall EB workforce this year.

•••John Beauregard, who heads the work force board in Franklin, said the EB downsizing would affect southeastern Connecticut's economy.

“Obviously, the challenge for us as a community is to see if we can develop and uncover those job leads that will allow us to retain these very skilled people in this region,” he said. “We really should leave no stone unturned to get these workers matched up with the next job.”

Southeastern Connecticut's economy has seen a steady decline in its wage base as the lower-paying jobs replace the higher-paying positions. EB has long been regarded as a well-paying company because of its need for highly skilled manufacturing, design and engineering workers.

From 1992 through 2002 the 11,000 manufacturing jobs that were lost in this region had an annual average wage of about $67,000. The average annual wage of the 20,000 new service-sector jobs that were created during that same time frame paid about $33,000 annually. The average annual wage in eastern Connecticut is among the lowest in the state, reflecting in part the growth of part-time employment.

In addition, median household income in the region tends to be lower than the statewide average. New London County's median household income this past year was $55,272, compared with a statewide average of nearly $60,000.

Tony Sheridan, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, said the loss of highly skilled workers is always tough on a regional economy.

“It's going to take a significant amount of effort on everyone's part to ensure the transition is as comfortable as possible,” he said. “They're losing their job through no fault of their own.”

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2,400 Electric Boat workers may face ax in '06
By Ray Hackett, Norwich Bulletin, 31 Jan 06

GROTON -- After 222 workers received layoff notices Monday, Electric Boat officials offered no speculation on the size or timing of the next round of layoffs -- though a union official predicted June.

As many as 2,400 workers could lose their jobs at the Groton shipyard this year, as could up to 4,000 more during the next two years -- cutting the workforce of 11,500 people in half.

"This action is absolutely necessary for the future of this company," EB President John Casey said in a press release late Monday. "We have to align the size of our workforce with the level of our workload. These (222 layoffs) are part of a previously announced plan to significantly reduce our work force by the end of 2007."

EB spokesman Robert Hamilton said: "I can assure you (the layoffs) won't happen before it has to. Right now, we're taking it day by day and any talk of when the next round would be coming is purely speculation."

Marine Draftsmen's Association President John Worobey and Metal Trades Council President Ken DelaCruz said the next round of notifications would likely come in June, with those layoffs taking effect by the end of the third quarter.

"We've got to counter, to work with our elected officials to get more contracts here," DelaCruz said. "We need more work, especially on the waterfront."

Although the first round of layoffs hit Worobey's union hardest, the Navy's decision late last year to send future maintenance and overhaul work to naval shipyards pose a large threat to DelaCruz's membership in the yard.

It was the maintenance and overhaul work that kept many EB workers busy, even as the nation reduced new construction to one submarine a year.

DelaCruz is concerned that EB has no new Navy design contracts because it takes three to four years to design and develop a new class of submarines before actual construction begins.

Steve Massad of New London works in finance in the overhaul and repair projects. Although not affected by this week's layoffs, he admitted workers are concerned.

"Solemn," he said when asked about the company's mood Monday. "We've had meetings with the upper echelon and it appears we're relatively safe. We've got enough work to get us through '06 and beyond. But it is solemn here today."

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Pink Slips Handed To 222 At EB

(THE HARTFORD COURANT 31JAN06)…John M. Moran

Electric Boat, the Groton-based submarine maker, launched its latest wave of job cuts Monday by handing layoff notices to 222 union and salaried workers.

The notices went to 169 members of the Marine Draftsmen's Association and 17 members of the Metal Trades Council, both labor unions, as well as to 36 salaried workers.

Layoffs are effective March 31, although some who received notices Monday may keep a job by exercising seniority rights to bump others.

Electric Boat has said it plans to cut 1,900 to 2,400 jobs by the end of this year, and perhaps hundreds more in 2007 - all because of a declining workload. A company spokesman said there is no timetable for announcing additional job cuts.

"These reductions are part of a previously announced plan to significantly reduce our workforce by the end of 2007... and they're painful for everyone involved," Electric Boat President John Casey said in a statement Monday.

"But this action is absolutely necessary for the future of this company - we have to align the size of our workforce with the level of our workload," he said.

The layoffs are scheduled even though Electric Boat late Monday confirmed that it has been awarded a $1.4 billion contract for the construction of an eighth Virginia-class submarine and advance work on two more.

Under a partnership arrangement, Electric Boat splits new submarine construction with the Newport News Shipyard and alternates on final assembly. The award of the new submarine contract had been expected and was factored into earlier layoff forecasts.

But maintenance contracts on the way for the USS Toledo and USS Miami could preserve some jobs, at least for as long as work on those submarines lasts. Once those jobs are finished, however, no additional maintenance work may be available for Electric Boat, a division of General Dynamics Corp.

Electric Boat employs about 11,500 people in Groton and New London, and at Quonset Point, R.I. Layoffs could ultimately cut employment at the company in half.

Company officials have said the job cuts are needed because the Navy is moving maintenance and repair work to its own shipyards and because of a lack of design work on a next-generation class of submarines.

This latest round of 222 layoffs includes about 150 that were anticipated last November, when the Navy decided to shift a maintenance contract for the USS Philadelphia to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

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Contracts

(DEFENSELINK 30JAN06)

Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Conn., is being awarded a $1,108,787,793 modification to previously awarded multiyear contract (N00024-03-C-2101) providing full funding for fiscal year 2006 Virginia Class Submarine (SSN 781).

Additionally, the modification provides Advance Procurement funding in the amount of $167,713,000 for fiscal 2007 submarine (SSN 782) and Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) funding in the amount of $40,076,600 for each of the fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2008 submarines (SSN 782 & 783).

Electric Boat Corp. will continue to subcontract with Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va. The majority of work under this award will be performed in Newport News, Va. (30 percent), Quonset Point, R.I. (15 percent), Groton, Conn. (15 percent), with other efforts performed at various sites throughout the United States (40 percent). Work is expected to be completed by April 2014. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $317,113,310 fixed-price-incentive modification under previously awarded contract (N00024-02-C-2300) to exercise an option for design and construction of the ninth ship in the Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ship (T-AKE) Class.

The T-AKE Class dry cargo/ammunition ship will provide a two product (ammunition and combat stores – including dry stores, frozen and chilled products, spare parts and consumables) shuttle ship replacement for the aging Combat Store (T-AFS) and Ammunition (T-AE) shuttle ships. T-AKE will provide logistics lift to station ships and other ships operating with naval forces from supply sources, such as friendly ports, and at sea from merchant vessels. Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by May 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, LP, Greenville, Texas, is being awarded a $104,158,224 ceiling-priced modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award contract (N00019-05-D-0008) to exercise an option for the P-3C Sustainment, Modification and Installation Program (SMIP). Work will be performed in Greenville, Texas (50 percent); Waco, Texas (25 percent); and Birmingham, Ala. (25 percent), and is expected to be completed in December 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Newport News Corporation, Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $34,734,341 fixed-price incentive delivery order under previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00024-04-D-4409) for the Depot Maintenance Period of USS Toledo (SSN 769). Northrop Grumman Newport News will perform advanced planning, design, documentation, engineering, procurement, fabrication and preliminary shipyard work to prepare and make ready for the alterations, repairs, maintenance, and routine work onboard USS Toledo. Work will be performed in Newport News, Va., and is expected to be completed by October 2007. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $21,503,180 cost-plus-fixed-fee order against a previously issued Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-03-G-0004) for supplies and engineering services to support follow-on test and evaluation of the F/A-18E/F aircraft. Work will be performed at that Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md., and is expected to be completed in October 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

ECOR Solutions*, Richmond, Va.; Tesoro Corp.*, Virginia Beach, Va.; Universe Technology*, Frederick, Md.; and Cape Environmental*, Exton, Pa., are each being awarded $5,000,000 to exercise the third option period under an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity environmental multiple award contract for remedial action services for environmentally impacted sites and environmental compliance services at various locations. The current estimated total contract amount after exercise of this option will be $20,000,000.

The potential total contract amount for each contractor is not to exceed $25,000,000 (base period and four option years). Work will be performed at Department of Navy and Marine Corps installations and other Government agencies under the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Atlantic’s area of responsibility including, but not limited to, the states of Virginia, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland., the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., and other locations as required by the Government. The expected date of completion is January 2007.

Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The basic contract was competitively procured via the NAVFAC e-solicitation website with 14 proposals received and award made on January 30, 2003. These four contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the existing contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (N62470-02-D-3010, N62470-03-D-9993/9994/9995).

Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Portsmouth, R.I., is being awarded a $19,141,148 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-6116) in support of the Littoral Warfare Weapon (LWW) system demonstration. This contract modification provides for a 23-month research and development effort including a series of at-sea LWW tests and demonstrations.

The purpose of the LWW demonstration is to develop and evaluate an LWW system that can successfully prosecute the entire spectrum of the challenging littoral target set, including Maritime Patrol Aircraft , Helicopters, High Speed Patrol Craft and other small boat threats. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, R.I. Contract funds will not expire at the end of this fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Systems Research Applications Corporation, Fairfax, Va., is being awarded a $16,791,869 one-year requirements contract with fixed price task orders for technical support services to maintain Military Sealift Command (MSC) information technology afloat operations.

This contract provides technology services for more than 125 MSC ships worldwide, including the operation of an afloat network and back-up network operations center; afloat operations support; the support of a mobile sealift operations center; IT training; command, control, communications and computer systems; and alteration and upgrade support of IT systems.

The contract contains three one-year options, as well as up to eight performance-based, three-month award-term periods, which if exercised; the cumulative value would be $108,496,686. Work will be performed worldwide at Military Sealift Fleet Support Command, Norfolk, Va.; aboard more than 125 MSC ships; and at other U.S. government facilities or operational locations, and is expected to be completed February 2012 (with options).

Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with 13 proposals solicited and four offers received. Military Sealift Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00033-06-D-6504).

Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems Division, San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $5,400,000 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-05-C-5110) for 37,253 hours of design agent engineering in support of the MK2 Ship Self Defense System (SSDS). SSDS MK 2 provides improved ship self defense capabilities against Anti-Ship Cruise Missile (ASCM) attack for select ships by integrating existing and programmed Anti-Air Warfare (AAW) stand-alone defensive systems and providing an automated quick response and multi-target engagement capability emphasizing performance in the littoral environment.

SSDS also has embedded combat direction system capabilities that allow automated detection, control and engagement against identified threats. Battle Group interoperability is provided by interfaces with the Cooperative Engagement Capability and tactical data information links.

Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif., and is expected to be completed by September 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C. is the contracting activity.

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Kings Bay condenses, improves security

Base housing, golf course will be open to the public, freeing patrols for a shorter perimeter.

By GORDON JACKSON, The Times-Union

ST. MARYS -- Security at the home of the Atlantic fleet of Trident submarines is about to get more effective without adding more staff.

Beginning Wednesday, the area where security forces patrol Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base will be reduced by about one-third by opening base housing and Trident Lakes, the base golf course, to the public. This will allow security forces to focus attention on more sensitive areas, such as the weapons facility and waterfront, where Trident submarines are ported.

At present, security forces patrol about 26 miles of fence line surrounding the base. Patrols will have to monitor only about 18 miles of fence line once the new policy goes into effect, Navy officials said.

"This will make less property to patrol," said Ed Buczek, a base spokesman. "It will also make it easier for family and friends to visit sailors living in base housing, at will."

There are more than 600 housing units on base, Buczek said.

Visitors to base housing and the golf course will be allowed access through the Jackson Gate, located on Georgia Spur 40, just north of Crooked River Elementary School. Visitors will not be required to have passes or stop at a security checkpoint when they visit base housing or the golf course, as a result of the new policy.

The area open to the public will still have routine patrols by base security, as well as by deputies with the Camden County Sheriff's Office, Buczek said.

Security forces from the base and the sheriff's office will conduct random checks at the Jackson Gate, however. The sheriff's office will also have joint jurisdiction in the base housing area, giving them the ability to conduct traffic stops and perform other law enforcement duties, Buczek said.

Lt. William Terrell, a spokesman with the Camden County Sheriff's Office, said his department will not have to hire additional deputies to patrol the area because it's relatively small in size and has little crime.

"We don't feel like it will be a tremendous burden," Terrell said.

The move could also improve response times to calls on base by deputies because they won't have to stop at a base gate for clearance by security guards, Terrell said.

The move will also make it easier to visit residents in base housing, who have had problems getting family members and friends on base when security is enhanced because of higher levels of security.

"No more hassles having family or friends show up to visit," said Capt. Mike McKinnon, commanding officer at Kings Bay. "Schedules will not be interrupted or delayed if we lock the base down for force protection or emergency accident response reasons."

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Honolulu's Namesake Submarine To Retire

By Gregg K. Kakesako, HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN 29 JAN 06

The Navy will hold a farewell ceremony April 15 for the Los Angeles-class attack

submarine USS Honolulu before it leaves on its last six-month Pacific deployment, ending a 20- year tour at Pearl Harbor. The Honolulu will be inactivated at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard following its last deployment.

Various news media reports on the draft of the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review,

which will be released Feb. 6 along with the president's fiscal 2007 budget, say the Navy

should put half of its 12 aircraft carriers and 60 percent of its nuclear submarines in the Pacific.

Ronald O'Rourke, the chief naval analyst for the nonpartisan Congressional Research

Service, told Bloomberg News that the Navy in recent years has kept five of its 12 carriers in the Pacific with the remainder in the Atlantic and as many as 27 of its 54 submarines in the Pacific. The news service says the draft report recommends adding at least one aircraft carrier and five nuclear submarines over the next decade.

The increase is driven by the Pentagon's concern over China's increased military might,

according to the news service. Both Guam and Pearl Harbor have been considered prime Pacific locations for a nuclear carrier.

Currently, the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan are berthed in San Diego, while the USS Carl Vinson, USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Stennis are homeported in the state of Washington. The USS Kitty Hawk, one of the Navy's two remaining non-nuclear carriers, is based in Yokosuka in Japan, but will be retired in 2008 and will be replaced by the USS George Washington, now berthed on the Atlantic coast.

The other Atlantic-based carriers homeported at Norfolk, Va., include USS Dwight Eisenhower, USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Harry Truman and USS Enterprise.

The Navy's other remaining non-nuclear carrier, USS John Kennedy, is based in

Mayport, Fla.

The Navy decided in late 2004 to scrap plans to overhaul the ship, saving $350 million. Retiring the Kennedy would free up $300 million per year for new ship construction, the Navy said.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declined to say whether the Navy will be transferring ships to the Pacific because of the Chinese threat.

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School Honors Former Admiral, Friend

Story by Journalist 1st Class Frank E. Neely Jr.

SAN DIEGO-- The Navy Submarine League (NSL) hosted a ceremony in which a plaque and book was dedicated in honor of retired Rear Adm. Walter Nicholas “Buck” Dietzen Jr. at the La Jolla High School Library Jan. 26.

Friends, colleagues and shipmates honored Dietzen’s work as a volunteer substitute teacher and tutor. Dietzen passed away in his home Oct. 22, 2005, at the age of 82.

Dietzen began his Naval career after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1945 and commanded three submarines. He retired from active duty in 1975 and began teaching at the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) program.

He never lost his passion for teaching. In 1995, he began to substitute and tutor at La Jolla High School and other schools throughout the San Diego Unified School District.

Retired Vice Adm. John H. Nicholson, who knew Dietzen personally, presented the plaque on behalf of Submarine Squadron Eleven of Naval Submarine Base San Diego. Retired Capt. Richard J. Schleicher, who co-instructed at BOOST with Dietzen, presented the book “United States Submarines” on behalf of the NSL. The NSL promotes awareness of the importance of submarines to U.S. national security.

Dietzen’s daughter, Sharon Strasbaugh said, her father was a humble man who loved to teach and interact with kids.

In fact, almost everyone present noted that Dietzen only liked to talk about the kids he taught as a substitute.

“I tried to get him to tell me some things about the Navy,” said Dana Shelburne, La Jolla High School Principal. “You’d figure with him being a former admiral, he’d have plenty of sea stories, but he only liked to talk about the kids.”

“The magic he had was he could take the toughest kids and have them listening to him within a matter of 10 minutes,” said David Mika, La Jolla High School history teacher.

Dietzen donated the salary he earned as a substitute teacher back to the school library and math department, the subjects he primarily taught.

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Sonar Site Called Bad For Sea Life

By Catherine Clabby, RALEIGH NEWS AND OBSERVER (NC) 31 JAN 06

Some North Carolina environmental and fishing groups accuse the U.S. Navy of downplaying the environmental dangers of a proposed sonar training range 47 miles off the coast.

They say the Navy has omitted vital information from their proposal, including an

accurate depiction of the range of the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale and an up-to-date estimate of important fish habitats. Their critiques are among more than 300 submissions made during a public comment period about the proposed range that ended Monday.

Critics compare the proposal for the sonar range to the Navy's initial environmental review for a practice landing field it wants to build in Eastern North Carolina. A federal judge has stopped that airstrip until the Navy does more thorough environmental reviews.

"It's inexcusable what was omitted from the public record," said Michelle Nowlin, senior

attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.

The Navy says it welcomes any credible findings it missed. The federally mandated comment period -- which was originally slated to end in December but was extended to Monday -- is designed to attract information that had escaped notice, said Jim Brantley, a spokesman for the Navy's Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Va. "We've said right along, if there is better science out there, please, help us find it," Brantley said. "We want to do the right thing." Waters off North Carolina are the Navy's preferred site for its 661-square-mile range, which it would use to train sailors and pilots in tracking submarines. Part of the range could be open in 2008, with completion in about 10 years.

But first, the Navy must review comments on the range and respond to them in a final

environmental report it expects to deliver this fall.

It will have much to review. The Southern Environmental Law Center, for one, used global positioning tracking records to show that North Atlantic right whales travel closer to the proposed range than the Navy acknowledges. The Navy has said the animals hug the shore in migrations up and down North Carolina and would not be close enough to be bothered by Navy sonar.

Scientists suspect that sonar, pulses of sound that are bounced off submerged objects to

"see" under water, has an effect on whales. They aren't sure what sonar does to whales, but the technology was linked to a stranding of whales in the Bahamas. Government scientists are investigating whether a mass stranding on the Outer Banks last year resulted from sonar used by the Navy.

Environmentalists, with a court order, obtained a draft assessment of autopsies performed on those animals by a National Marine Fisheries Service scientist. It indicated sonar might have played a role. The scientist omitted any reference to sonar in a later report. In its comments to the Navy, the Southern Environmental Law Center questions why the Navy doesn't mention that stranding in its draft environmental review, which was released months later.

It's not just whales that environmentalists are worried about. The environmental law group also found federal records showing that species the Navy says are not in the vicinity, including seals and endangered manatees, actually travel in North Carolina waters.

In addition, the group questions why the Navy doesn't note that cable needed for the

range would be installed in land the state has designated as a sea turtle sanctuary.

Another group, Environmental Defense, says the Navy used outdated public maps

prepared in 1997 to estimate the amount of coral on the ocean floor in and near the proposed range. Maps prepared in 2001 show more abundant coral, which can be a key habitat for commercial fish species, staff biologist Michelle Duval found.

Comments submitted by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries also fault Navy estimates of coral. And the state agency criticizes the Navy for submitting too little data to defend its statements that sonar will not cause long-term behavioral disruptions to fish, something the Navy has conceded it handled badly but will rectify.

The Navy will respond to all questions submitted during the public comment period in

its final report, Brantley said.

But some people say the Navy should have been talking with people in North Carolina long before it created its draft environmental study, to make sure it had the best data available. "The Navy's lack of communication with federal and state resource agencies in North Carolina, as well as t