Navy

  • The Navy has its first female four-star admiral, Michelle Janine Howard. She was promoted on Tuesday to the service's highest rank. She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1982 and in 1999 became the first African-American woman to command a Navy ship. She was a key figure is the real-life rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from Somalia pirate. The story later became a block-buster movie.

    July 03, 2014
  • A new approach to defense acquisition reform may come from a television show. Nick Guertin, director of transformation in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation, and his colleague Howard Reichel, presented a paper called "Open Systems Architecture License Rights: A New Era for the Public-Private Marketplace" at the 11th annual Acquisition Research Symposium. Their views are their own. Nick tells Francis Rose on In Depth about the unique challenge intellectual property poses for defense contracting.

    July 02, 2014
  • A Virginia government contractor is sentenced for conspiracy to bribe public officials.

    June 27, 2014
  • U.S. Marines from the USS Gunston Hall will conduct previously scheduled sustainment training in Kuwait in the coming days. The Marine Corps has conducted sustainment training in Kuwait on a regular basis for two decades. The region is of specific concern because of the terror group ISIL's march toward Baghdad. The Gunston Hall is part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group. It departed Norfolk, Va. in February and is operating in the 5th fleet area of responsibility on a routine deployment to support maritime security operations. The deployment of U.S. Navy assets are regularly scheduled and are in accordance with our longstanding commitments to the security and stability of the region.

    June 23, 2014
  • As the Navy retakes control over its own IT networks, it is eager to introduce features that improve the experience for end users. At the same time, the Navy is warning vendors that it's not going to buy just bells and whistles. Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu reports. Read Jared's related article.

    June 13, 2014
  • By September, the Navy anticipates it will have retaken full ownership of its main IT network after having outsourced it a decade earlier. The service says it wants to find ways to bring innovation into NMCI, but vendors will have to meet some checkpoints along the way.

    June 13, 2014
  • IBM wins first contract in Navy's new "tiered" approach to data center consolidation. The service plans to award several more contracts between now and the end of fiscal 2014.

    June 12, 2014
  • The Navy has just awarded the first of what it says will be several contracts aimed toward resetting its data center consolidation efforts. As Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu reports, the service wasn't happy with the progress it was making up until now, and the new plan will lean heavily on commercial hosting providers. Read Jared's related story.

    June 11, 2014
  • The Naval History and Heritage Command is rolling up its sleeves to rediscover the Navy's hidden treasures. The small staff is in the middle of an effort to catalog, photograph and rehouse its popular weapons collection that dates back to the 17th century. Julie Kowalsky, curator with the Naval History and Heritage Command, spoke with Jason Miller on the Federal Drive about the collection.

    June 09, 2014
  • Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Gen. Joe Dunford is the new Marine Corps commandant nominee, and Rear Adm. Walter Carter Jr. has been nominated to lead the U.S. Naval Academy.

    June 06, 2014
  • Capt. Gregory McWherter, a former commanding officer of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels, was found guilty of failing to stop repeated examples of sexual harassment and condoning widespread lewd practices within the squadron.

    June 06, 2014
  • Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel addressed Naval Academy graduates last week during their commencement ceremonies and he gave them three pieces of advice. One, "connect with people on a personal level", two, "try to understand perspectives that are different from yours" and three, "be humble". He also cautioned them about pressure saying, "Once you take up your duty stations and the responsibility of leadership, you will find yourselves under tremendous pressures you've never experienced."

    May 23, 2014
  • U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Layug pleaded guilty in an alleged bribery scheme involving Singapore-based defense contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia.

    May 22, 2014
  • The Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Navy, and sailors at the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex and Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) successfully conducted the first flight test involving components of the Aegis Ashore system. During the test, a simulated ballistic missile target was acquired, tracked, and engaged by the Aegis Weapon System. The primary purpose of the test was to confirm the functionality of Aegis Ashore by launching a land-based SM-3.

    May 22, 2014