USS Mitscher Returns to Naval Station Norfolk from Deployment to 5th and 6th Fleet Areas of Operations
NORFOLK, Virginia – Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mitscher (DDG 57) returned to Naval Station Norfolk June 16, concluding an 11-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operations.
CDR Stephen Mankins
CDR Stephen Mankins is a native of Wichita, Kansas and received his commission at the United States Naval Academy in May of 2008.
CDR Jeffrey M. Shepard
Born in Inglewood, CA on September 21, 1969, CDR Shepard grew up in Denver, CO. He joined the Navy out of Denver on August 3, 1989.
US Navy must improve process for developing autonomous systems, watchdog says
The U.S. Navy needs to reorganize and reimagine the way it invests in autonomous systems if it plans to modernize its approach to warfare effectively, according to a government watchdog. The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Monday released an unclassified version of a March 2025 classified report that dissects the Navy’s robotic and autonomous systems development. The report further provid...[Read More]
Lawmakers aim to ease state-to-state moves for military homeschoolers
Military families who homeschool their children would have an easier time moving from state to state under proposed legislation introduced by lawmakers this week. Under the proposal, families would not have to start over in order to comply with the homeschooling laws of their new state, according to Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., who introduced the bill in the House Tuesday. A similar bill was introdu...[Read More]
George Washington Carrier Strike Group arrives in Guam
APRA HARBOR, Guam – Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), the flagship of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5, along with embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Shoup (DDG 86) and USS Benfold (DDG 65) and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG 62) arrived in Guam for a scheduled port visit June 16.
Navy officer, 67, becomes oldest on record to earn Fleet Marine Force pin
Navy Lt. Cmdr. David Westerberg knows how to grin and bear it. After a successful 38-year career in dentistry in Southern California, Westerberg wasn’t quite ready to put down his scalers. Watching his son graduate as a U.S. Navy officer inspired Westerberg in 2022 — at the age of 64 — to also pursue a commission in the sea service. Now, at the age of 67, the naval officer has become the oldest re...[Read More]
Department of the Navy Names New Senior Advisor for Shipbuilding
WASHINGTON — Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao announced today that retired Vice Adm. Richard
US won’t soften military posture in Middle East despite Iran agreement
The United States will maintain its current military posture in the Middle East despite the electronic signing of a peace agreement between Washington and Tehran, a senior U.S. official said on Monday, indicating that any drawdown remains off the table for now. “The plan is to keep to the current force posture during the succeeding negotiations,” the official said on a call with reporters. “We hop...[Read More]
Navy ‘in a fight for the narrative’: Hung Cao presses service to unify public messaging
Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao on June 8 established the Department of the Navy Communication Strategy, aimed at combat not of the seas, but of information. “We are in a fight for the narrative,” Cao wrote. “Our adversaries compete not only with steel, but with coordinated disinformation designed to undermine our will, divide our alliances, and erode the confidence of the American people. We will ...[Read More]
Last living USS Indianapolis survivor turns 99
Just after midnight on Monday, July 30, 1945, the first Japanese torpedo slammed into the USS Indianapolis’s starboard bow. Then another. Within 12 minutes, the heavy cruiser sank — taking hundreds of its crew with it. Only 316 men of the original 1,195 were alive, making the sinking the greatest loss of life at sea in American military history. Among those 316 sailors was Seaman Second Class Haro...[Read More]
F/A-18 Hornet crashes in Washington state, wildfire subsequently reported
A pilot safely ejected from an F/A-18 Hornet on Saturday after experiencing an aviation mishap 55 miles southeast of Seattle, Washington, according to the U.S. Marine Corps. The jet, assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, was conducting a routine training exercise when it crashed, the service confirmed. “The cause of the mishap is currently under investigation,” the Marine...[Read More]