October 23, 2020

For Those Who Serve

Special Remembrance for a Departed Friend:

Fair winds and following seas to Adm. Carlisle Trost, 23rd Chief of Naval Operations, remembered for love of family, integrity. He died in Annapolis on at the age of 90.

Navy League Jones Act Report Released

This week the Navy League released its report China's Use of Maritime for Global Power Demands a Strong Commitment to American Maritime detailing the need to commit to the Jones Act in 2020 and beyond as the legislation has reached its 100 year anniversary. The report has already been cited in a Newsweek article exploring how the United States and China are locked in a power struggle over Asia, where both countries have expanded their influence in recent years.

We published an op-ed in Defense One by Navy League Executive Director Mike Stevens (MCPON13 Ret.) on the occasion of the release titled “Preserve the Jones Act” arguing the law is necessary “given the amount of support other maritime nations give to an industry rightly established as vital to their nation’s economic security and defense.”

A few thoughts from our team: Make a plan and vote!

While the Navy League is a strictly nonpartisan organization, we do not shy away from encouraging our members to exercise their most sacred right as Americans: the right to vote! This election is quite unique as it is occurring amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is important that you not only intend to vote but that you have an actual plan for doing so. If you would like to request an absentee ballot, please be aware that the deadline for requesting a mail-in ballot is rapidly approaching in most states so go online to your local or state election website and request that ballot today if you have not already done so. If you would like to vote early in-person, many states are already providing such opportunities so find out where your local early polling site is if you choose to go that route. And last, of course, is voting on Election Day. If you choose to take the time-honored approach of voting on the first Tuesday in November, try to get there early and beat the lines. Think over the three options listed above, make a plan that is best for you, and get out there and vote!

Don’t forget to share your stories with us! Your stories are important and they matter to your representatives. Please connect with us here at the Navy League so that we can relay your stories to the representatives that can affect real change in support of our Sea Services. Tell your story here!

Navy League Advocacy Updates

Navy League Legislation Affairs Committee Members can view our updated Legislative Affairs Committee Page with all kinds of resources to support your grassroots advocacy!

Ask Congress to Help Build Our Fleet

Congressman Joe Courtney, Chair of the House Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee that oversees the Navy called undersea fleet "dangerously small." While the Chief of Naval Operations, Mike Gilday, has stated that if Congress could give him another ship today, any ship, he would choose a second Virginia-class submarine. This makes sense as the SSNs are crucial to implementing the National Defense Strategy. Unfortunately only the House has so far put a second ship in next year's budget. According to Ms. Eaglen of the AEI, “This leaves many worried that shipyards in Connecticut and Virginia will have to lay off workers next year, potentially delaying work on the Navy’s other new boomer submarine—the Columbia."

Ask Congress to Reinforce America's Tanker Fleet

While American forces were able to utilize foreign flagged tankers in the past, the strategic environment has fundamentally changed. China not have had objections in the past,but they may act to prevent foreign flagged shipsfrom contracting with the US when our engagements are in the South China Sea. For this reason, and many more, Congress and the White House must work together to establish and fund a fleet of Tanker Security Program ships capable of meeting the needs of a forward postured American naval and Marine presence. Similar to our other U.S. flagged vessels, this program would provide a stipend to tankers in exchange for their commitment to answer the call when America's national security interests demand it.

Sea Service Updates

The Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith (WA-08), predicts that a fight is brewing over within the Democratic Party on defense spending that will likely boil over in the next Congress. While Republicans are eager to claim a Democratic Congress and President would make the types of deep defense spending cuts many liberal representatives have called for, Smith sees a different outcome. He believes that if the American people were to give Democrats such broad power it would be the result of a vast coalition which extends far beyond the far-left of the party. Smith feels that such a coalition would not be open to drastic defense cuts, and a President Biden would not be in favor of such budget disruption. Earlier this year the House, led by a Democratic majority, passed a defense spending bill which included many critical spending priorities such as fully funding a second Virginia-class attack submarine as well as authorizing the Tanker Security Program. In the event of a transition of power from one party to the other the Navy League’s priority will be educating the new congress about the importance of seapower, and the sea services, in the 21st Century.

Meanwhile the White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to give approval to Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s bold Battle Force 2045 plan rolled out October 6 at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Congress also has yet to be briefed, and the USNI reports lawmakers have not received the 30-year outlook or the Future Naval Force Study.

NORFOLK, Va. (Oct. 12, 2020) USS Stout (DDG 55) returns to the ship’s home port at Naval Station Norfolk. The return marked the end of a record nine-month deployment to U.S. 2nd, 5th, and 6th Fleet areas of operation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jason

Pastrick / Released)

Sea Service News

The State of the Sea Services

Ep. 79: CNO Adm. Michael Gilday – Defense One News / Oct 14 In an exclusive interview, the Navy's top officer talked about the fleet's future ships, aircraft, and networks.

Mishap milestone: Navy and Marine Corps had zero fatal aviation mishaps in FY 2020 – Navy Times/Oct 22 While officials lauded the accomplishment in a press release this week, it came as service flying hours were down 10 percent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of the Navy suffered four fatal aviation mishaps in fiscal years 2016 and 2018, respectively, and three each in fiscal years 2017 and 2019, according to Safety Center data.

Marine Corps, Navy Ready to Hone Naval Integration in 2021 Joint Force Exercise – USNI News / Oct 22 After successfully carrying out an integrated exercise in the Indo-Pacific region, the Navy and Marine Corps are ready to take their new level of naval integration to the joint force in an exercise next year.

Watch a Navy drone resupply a ballistic missile submarine at sea – Navy Times / Oct 22 Past and future collided when a drone resupplied one of the Navy’s oldest ballistic missile on Monday.

Marine Corps stands up old landing support battalions for new fight – Marine Times / Oct 22 In preparation for distributed operations and the Corps' future fight against China it is bringing back its landing support battalions, first created to aid with the island hopping campaign of World War II.

Coast Guard Sets Record for Illegal Fishing Vessel Interdictions – Seapower Magazine/Oct 21 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coast Guard law enforcement crews interdicted a record- setting number of lanchas throughout the Gulf of Mexico for fiscal year 2020, the Coast Guard 8th District said in an Oct. 20 release.

Check out how rusty and battered USS Stout looks after spending a record 215 days at sea – The Drive / Oct 16 It's amazing what the crew of the class destroyer USS Stout (DDG-55) has pulled off. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic that swept the world, impacting their fellow sailors on other ships in unprecedented ways, Stout sailed on... And on... And on.

*Special Coronavirus Coverage*

USFK: 7 service members from US test positive for COVID-19 – Military Times / Oct 22 Seven more service members affiliated with U.S. Forces Korea have tested positive for COVID-19. Of those service members, four had taken government-chartered flights to Osan Air Base between Oct. 5 and Oct. 19, while another three headed into Incheon International Airport on a commercial flight on Oct. 18 and Oct. 19, according to the command.

Flying Patriot Express? Expect Random COVID-19 Testing Soon – Military.com / Oct 22 Passengers flying on military-contracted commercial flights will soon be randomly tested for the novel coronavirus.

Jones Act

Navy League Seapower Speaker Series – Navy League / Oct 20 Navy League Honolulu Seapower Speaker Series October 20, 2020 ADM Paul Zukunft discusses the Jones Act and its importance to national security.

Great Power Competition

China threatens retaliation over US-Taiwan arms sale – Al Jazeera / Oct 22 China has threatened to “make legitimate and necessary responses” after the United States approved the potential sale of $1.8bn worth of advanced weapons systems to Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own.

SecDef Details Plan to Boost Alliances to Counter China and Russia – Military.com / Oct 21 America can't risk alienating allies in the new era of great power competition, which will require strengthening military partnerships in a global defensive chain aimed at maintaining an "asymmetric advantage" over China and Russia, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Tuesday.

Marines Hop Islands, Set Up Long-Range Fires as Force Preps for Clash with China – Military.com / Oct 22 Marines in Japan got a look at what the Corps' future missions could look like during a recent island-hopping naval exercise in the East China Sea.

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