A Day in the Navy

January 21, 2013

(LINKS ARE TO ASSOCIATED PHOTOS, ARTICLES AND WEBSITES)

Approximately 75 students and staff from Naval Station Newport volunteer to take turns

carrying a flaming torch during the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Torch Run

from Portsmouth, R.I. to Newport, R.I.

Sailors from Naval Base Kitsap volunteer at Clear Creek Trail nature park in Silverdale,

Wash., as part of making Martin Luther King, Jr. Day a "day on, not a day off." They

participated in renovation projects throughout the park, including planting trees, clearing

debris, leveling pathways, and organizing storage.

A senior chief delivers remarks during a ceremony celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.

Day aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81).

The U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard, part of the president's escort, marches in the

inauguration parade for the 57th Presidential Inauguration. More than 2,100 service

members from each of the five branches march in the parade, with approximately 5,000

supporting inaugural festivities.

Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Sigonella gives fuel and

logistical support to 5th and 6th Fleet operations, including AFRICOM-coordinated

efforts to transport, treat, and support former hostages brought from Algeria.

USNS Spearhead (JSHV 1), the first of 10 joint high-speed vessels to be delivered to

Military Sealift Command (MSC), conducts a three-week high-speed certification in the

Tampa and St. Petersburg, Fla., areas after departing Austal shipyard facilities in Mobile,

Ala., last week.

MSC-chartered tanker MT Maersk Peary sails in the southern Indian Ocean en route to

McMurdo Station, Antarctica, as part of MSC’s efforts in support of Operation Deep

Freeze. MSC-chartered container ship MV Ocean Giant is underway in the Eastern

Pacific, loaded with nearly seven million pounds of supplies such as frozen and dry food

stores and building supplies.

Twelve Sailors, including reservists from Commander, Naval Forces Africa, work with

officers from 15 nations to plan Exercise Saharan Express 2013 at the Royal Moroccan

Navy Headquarters in Casablanca, Morocco. The exercise is an example of the Navy's

cooperative effort with West African nations who seek to stop illicit trafficking and

improve Maritime Domain Awareness.

An Aviation Ordnanceman detaches cargo nets from ammunition crates on the flight deck

of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S Truman (CVN 75) during an ammunition onload with

the MSC dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12). Harry S

Truman is underway conducting a composite training unit exercise in preparation for its

upcoming deployment.

Regular maintenance is required for the sophisticated Ship’s Protection System (SPS) .50

caliber machine guns aboard USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81). SPS is a remote-

control, infrared tracking system designed to protect the ship from approaching threats.

Master-at-Arms 1st Class Marshall Button, from Simi Valley, Calif., instructs a group of

Sailors on security operations in the training complex of the aircraft carrier USS John C.

Stennis (CVN 74) for School of Ship. School of Ship is a one- to two-week course that

trains new arrivals to the crew in the many functions of the different departments of the

ship. There are roughly 100 new arrivals to the ship every month, each one required to

take the course.

Fourteen Sailors from Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center participate in land

navigation training at Fort Dix, N.J. The course encompasses detailed map reading,

conventional compasses, plus the DAGR (a handheld GPS) system. Student exercises are

conducted both on foot and in tactical vehicles.

One hundred seventy-one Individual Augmentee (IA) Sailors from Expeditionary

Combat Readiness Center complete the 19-day Navy IA Combat Training School, at Fort

Jackson, S.C., prior to deploying to both U.S. Central Command and U.S. Africa

Command areas of responsibility.

Sailors assigned to Maritime Civil Affairs and Security Training Command’s Maritime

Civil Affairs Team 204 meet with members of the Lilliane Foundation to discuss project

collaboration to build and sustain relationships with the U.S. Embassy country teams,

East African partner leadership and other Non-governmental Organizations in the area of

Manda Bay, Kenya, in support of Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.

Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southeast personnel lift a steel truss member into

place for the P-8A and Triton (Unmanned Aircraft System) Maintenance Training

Facility construction project. The $15.1 million contract will provide a total of 67,200

square feet of training area for the two new operational platforms at NAS Jacksonville,

and the project is scheduled to be completed in December 2013.

Seabees of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 erect a Tension Fabric

Structure at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, as part of Task Force Anchor. NMCB 133

is currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of engineering operations for coalition

forces, the Afghan National Army and the local population.