US Navy to replace EP-3s with unmanned aircraft.

Navy P-8 Sub-Killer Plane Makes First Flight. (visit the link to view a quick video)

The first production version of Boeing‘s first P-8A Poseidon took off and completed its first successful flight.

The plane flew June 21 from Renton Field, where it is assembled, to Boeing Field in Seattle, where mission systems will be installed. It is the first of six low-rate initial production aircraft for the Navy, part of a $1.6 billion contract awarded in January.

The Navy plans to buy 117 of the 737-based aircraft. The P-8 is designed to hunt and kill submarines as well as surface ships. On top of that, it is designed to replace the prop-driven P-3 and serve as one of the Navy‘s primary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

“This is the first P-8 that will go directly to the fleet in Jacksonville, Fla., so the aircraft’s first flight is an important milestone for the Boeing team and our Navy customer,” said Chuck Dabundo, Boeing vice president and P-8 program manager.

This plane should be delivered to the Navy next year. The Indian Navy plans to buy eight P-8I long-range aircraft for $2.1 billion.

For more news and information on the swiftly changing defense industry, please sign up for the AOL Defense newsletter along the right side of the page or simply click here. Or catch us on Twitter @AOLDefense

Patrol Squadron 40 puts forward-deployed logistics to work.

OKINAWA, Japan – Patrol Squadron (VP) 40 logistics specialists are using existing Navy logistics systems to improve the squadron’s forward-deployed reconnaissance capabilities and readiness.

OKINAWA, Japan (July 5, 2011) - An P-3 Orion assigned to Patrol Squadron (VP) 40 lands on the airstrip at Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan. VP-40 is forward deployed to Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa, Japan, operating in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brian A. Stone)

Advanced reconnaissance aircraft provide unique challenges to logistics specialists attempting to keep the squadron’s P-3C Orions ready for flight.

On aircraft containing thousands of parts, a missing piece could ground the P-3C. Purchasing, shipping, and warehousing these parts at their forward-deployed location was challenging, but according to Logistics Specialist 1st Class Yu He, this is a challenge they overcame.

“I find myself multi-tasking even on a slow day,” said He, a leading petty officer in VP-40’s supply department. “On a ship, if you need a part, usually the ship can keep steaming ahead. With forward-deployed squadrons, if we need a part we probably needed it yesterday. Mission readiness could be affected if we don’t get it promptly. To adapt we find innovative ways to work with the Navy’s supply system. In most cases, we can attain parts within twenty-four hours.”

VP-40 logistics specialists mention pride as a factor in their success.

“Working in supply is awesome,” said Logistics Specialist Seaman Marriel Labasug. “I love being able to help keep our birds running smoothly. This squadron couldn’t run without our help and I’m proud of what we do. ”

Chief Logistics Specialist John Navarro mentioned the importance of computer software programs and networked supply systems as a major factor in their logistics readiness. Due to advanced software programs, logistics specialists can view the parts inventory of nearby squadrons and air bases. Supply departments can trade and move parts between locations seamlessly, improving overall efficiency and allowing independent commands to support one another.

“Getting parts can be difficult, especially in the time allotted,” said Navarro. “Still, with the tools we’ve got, we get the job done. I like the challenge of logistics. My logistics specialists have a great attitude, too, and years of experience in their rating. It helps tremendously to have such reliable personnel.”

VP-40 is forward-deployed in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan at the Kadena Air Base in support of Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet. The squadron is tasked with a full spectrum of missions in the 7th Fleet area of responsibility.

DVIDS – News – Contest decides BayFest emcees.

KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii – Three service members proved they were the hosts with the most, winning the Emcee Maniac contest held by Marine Corps Community Service Hawaii at Kahuna’s Enlisted Club June 30.

The winners have earned the prize of meeting and introducing the BayFest Hawaii 2011 bands for each night’s performances. Two emcee winners are base service members: Lance Cpl. Isaac Munoz, a calibration technician with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24 and Seaman Brandon Parran, a logistics specialist with Patrol Squadron 9. The third winner is Airman 1st Class Jonathan Leak, a knowledge operations manager from 324th Intelligence Squadron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

Contestants were put through the wringer of challenges, with judges and the Kahnua’s crowd weighing in on their performances. After registering for the contest, Munoz said he relied on his natural speaking talent.

“The contest was at the back of my mind besides doing my other duties, so I didn’t have too much preparation,” Munoz said. “The other guys were awesome and came guns loaded.”

When filling out his application, Munoz made sure he wrote “winning” in the comments section as a message to judges. They liked his sense of humor and his enunciation, especially with Hawaiian words.

He’ll be introducing Friday night’s acts, the Marine Forces Pacific Band and long-time Hawaiian musicians Cecilio and Kapono. Although he’s never seen the Hawaiian musicians in person, Munoz said he’s eager to hear them live in concert. He was also surprised to hear the MarForPac Band perform pop music in addition to the ceremonial songs for which they’re known.

“I definitely want to hear them play ‘Beat It,’” he said. “And it’d be interesting to see how they play the song ‘Poker Face.’”

For Saturday’s show, Leak was the winning contestant to introduce Hoobastank and Puddle of Mudd. He said he’s promising BayFest attendees a good time during the whole concert.

“I’m really looking forward to interacting with the crowd in between the acts,” Leak said. “I’m ready to keep the crowd hyped for the next act and keeping their energy up.”

Leak, who has toured in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, as a singer, said he’s always wanted to be a show emcee. To prove he had stage presence and could think on his feet, Leak also had to act out a surprise scenario at the contest.

“My scenario was that Puddle of Mudd was not able to show up on schedule. So I had to fill up the time,” he said. “I could sing, act out a movie or dance. Me being a singer, I thought this was perfect, so I sang and kept the crowd rolling.”

His rendition of J Holiday’s “Don’t Wanna Lose” not only filled time, but kept the judges and crowd thrilled in their seats.

For many emcee hopefuls, it was their first time competing to host an event as large as BayFest. Parran, a Baltimore resident, said his only previous speaking performances were narrating student films for his friends at the Maryland Institute College of Arts. For him, the contest tested more than just his skills working a large crowd.

“There was one section that was improvisation,” he said. “They gave me the subject of clouds, and I had to just run with it.”

His aim for entertaining country music lovers on Sunday is to make them forget about the heat and crowds. He hopes that when he introduces Joe Nichols and the other country talent show acts appearing, the audience forgets their cares.

“It’s the last day and usually the day people remember the most,” Parran said. “So I’m hoping people remember me the most for keeping them entertained.”

BayFest Hawaii 2011 begins July 15 at 3 p.m., with concerts and events happening through July 17. The three-day event is open to the public with admission.

Exercise Northern Edge 2011 blasts into the last frontier.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, began participating in the U.S. Pacific Command’s Northern Edge 2011 exercise June 13.

The exercise runs through June 24 and will focus on strategic capabilities that enable the joint-military world to be adept in detection and tracking in air, land and sea spaces.

About 6,000 active duty, guard and reserve members from the Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy will sharpen their skills through exercise scenarios and improve communication relationships and develop plans and programs that can be exchanged and used between the services.

“A joint-training exercise such as Northern Edge gives us the unique opportunity to provide our country’s soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines a capabilities-based exercise to ensure they are combat ready for worldwide deployment,” said Col. Lynn Scheel, 354th Fighter Wing vice commander. “Northern Edge also allows us to hone our current combat tactics and weapon capabilities, as well as the testing of future applications.”

Although the exercise is headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, exercising throughout Alaska’s vast Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex allows forces to train in an expansive area.

“The JPARC presents excellent training opportunities here in the Pacific region,” Colonel Scheel said. “The strength of the JPARC is its expansive co-located air and land ranges, as well as significant potential for co-located air and sea ranges. Alaska is a true national asset, and we are grateful to the people of Alaska for their continued support as we use our training ranges to conduct these critical joint-training operations.”

One hundred and twelve aircraft and 13 ships will be utilized for NE exercise purposes at both Eielson AFB in the north and JBER in the south. Here, some of the units involved include the 67th Aircraft Maintenance Unit from Kadena Air Base, Japan; U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron One from Whidbey Island, Wash.; and the U.S. Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 452 from Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y.

“We’re here to get a better understanding of how to work with other services,” said U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Griggsby Cowart, KC-130T navigator with the VMGR-452. “Since we’re in a support role, I think the main impact we can have would be to keep our airplanes flying, so we can provide the refueling portion of our mission.”

The squadron brought with them two C-130T refueling aircraft and 30 personnel to help maintain that support role.

“I think the planning part of this is the biggest deal for us — being able to get in, use other equipment, share the same lingo and plan alongside other platforms and services,” continued the gunnery sergeant, who hails from Atlanta. “And, how to integrate our assets with theirs is the most important thing.”

Safety is a top priority for the joint exercise.

“Conducting a large scale exercise such as Northern Edge 2011 is not without risk, but we work extremely hard to identify and mitigate potential risks to all participants,” the colonel said. “Although this is an important exercise for our armed forces, nothing we do in this exercise warrants putting our personnel at unnecessary risk of injury or death. Emphasis on safety, strict adherence to training rules and the professional conduct of our participants significantly lowers this risk.”

Northern Edge is a 10-day exercise held every two years.

Mad Foxes Are Back in Jacksonville | firstcoastnews.com.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Mad Foxes have returned to the First Coast.

The Patrol Squadron Five (VP-5) is back at NAS Jax after a six-month deployment.

They flew missions in El Salvador, Djibouti and Italy, and the unit sent detachments to Greece, Spain, Sicily and France as well.

Squadron members participated in operations like Enduring Freedom, Caper Focus, Odyssey Dawn in Libya and Unified Protector, flying more than 3,956 flight hours.

One of the squadron’s biggest achievements was its deployment of an AGM-65F Maverick, the first time a Maverick shot was successfully used against a hostile target in the history of Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft (MPRA).

During seven drug busts, the squadron kept about $850 million worth of drugs from reaching the U. S.

Tonight the group is just happy to be home, and its members get to stay home for about a year before their next deployment.

First Coast News

The Times Record > News > Navy bids adieu to Mid-coast at formal BNAS closing.

‘It was love at first sight’

By Seth Koenig, Times Record Staff

BRUNSWICK — The Navy and the town of Brunswick, two cultures woven into a single community for nearly seven decades, exchanged goodbyes Tuesday in a heartfelt disestablishment ceremony for Brunswick Naval Air Station. 

When sailors ceremonially lowered the American flag the final time at the base just after 3 p.m., it marked the end for the air station, first established in 1943 as a training site for British pilots.

After a hiatus following the conclusion of World War II, the base served as one of the U.S. Navy’s key North Atlantic observation posts from 1951 until a federal Base Realignment and Closure commission voted in 2005 to terminate the property’s use as an active military installation. That decision launched a six-year closure process that culminated Tuesday.

For many who cherished the base — which for years introduced sailors from all over the country to Brunswick, repeatedly described Tuesday as a host community unrivaled in terms of warmth and local support — the official disestablishment proved bittersweet.

Retired Rear Adm. Harry Rich, a Harpswell resident who offered the keynote speech Tuesday, helped fight Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission efforts to close Brunswick Naval Air Station in 1995 and again in 2005. The first time, Rich and others successfully kept the base off the closure list.

“It’s ironic that I’m speaking here today,” Rich told the crowd of more than 1,000 who gathered for the outdoor ceremony. “I spent four years of my life trying to prevent this day from happening.”

Rich described how neighbors would fix his cars and deliver groceries for his wife and kids when he was deployed overseas, and how those same neighbors refused payment for the help when he got back.

He told tales of local people for whom streets at the air station are named — Adm. Aubrey Fitch, who retired to Maine after a career so decorated the Navy named a Bath Iron Works-built ship after him, and Paul Burbank, a Harpswell native who went on to become a Navy flight instructor in Pensacola, Fla. — and how the base changed the direction of his life.

Rich said his older brothers joined the Army during World War II, and he planned to follow suit until he tagged along with his father on an electric company job 50 miles south of his hometown of Union. He said their Central Maine Power Co. truck rumbled to a stop along the road near where Fat Boy Drive-In is located today, and he watched in awe as Navy Corsair fighter planes swooped down to land at the adjacent base airfield.

“It was love at first sight,” he recalled, and he joined the Navy instead, launching a 35-year career in which he participated in the Berlin Airlift and helped recover the Gemini 9 spacecraft and its astronauts after they returned to Earth and splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.

Also delivering remarks Tuesday were Gov. Paul LePage; Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, assistant secretary of the Navy, Energy, Installations and Environment; Arthur Mayo, chairman of the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority board of directors; and Capt. William Fitzgerald, the final commanding officer of Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Eleven of the base’s former commanding officers returned for Tuesday’s ceremony.

Capt. William Fitzgerald is the 36th and final commander of Brunswick Naval Air Station. (Troy R. Bennett / The Times Record)

Command Master Chief Daniel Nicholson salutes the flag as it is lowered at Brunswick Naval Air Station for the final time on Tuesday. Today, the former Navy base is known as Brunswick Landing. (Troy R. Bennett / The Times Record)

Sailors bow their heads in prayer during the invocation at disestablishment ceremonies at the Brunswick Naval Air Station Tuesday. (Troy R. Bennett / The Times Record)

World War II Navy veteran Arnold Wilkie, who was on hand when Brunswick Naval Air Station opened in 1943, receives a standing ovation during disestablishment ceremonies at Brunswick Naval Air Station on Tuesday. (Troy R. Bennett / The Times Record)

 

A place in history

Fitzgerald recalled a history of the site dating back to before the Navy’s arrival, when the location was the first municipal airfield in Maine and, according to one man who spoke to him at a local event, hosted a visit by famed aviator Amelia Earhart.

During the 1960s, he said, pilots used the Brunswick runways to reach new heights. Literally, as Marine Corps Lt. Col. W.C. McGraw and Navy Lt. Cmdr. D.W. Nordberg each set aircraft climb records, with the latter pushing the mark up to 15,000 meters in an F-4 Phantom.

“NAS Brunswick has also bled over the years and mourned the loss of aircraft and aircrew deaths from combat missions, from operational missions and from training accidents, some of which occurred right here in Maine — over Poland Springs and the Gulf of Maine,” Fitzgerald said, “and all along, the community grieved with us. Our Memorial Gardens in the former NAS Brunswick Chapel offers hallowed grounds for reflection of those P-3 airmen who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Tuesday’s disestablishment ceremony was the last in a long line of Navy closure milestones that have passed with pomp and circumstance since 2009. The departures of the last three patrol squadrons stationed in Brunswick, the disestablishment of the tenant Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 5, and the closure of the base airfield were among the events to make up the Navy’s long farewell to Brunswick.

Once a base of more than 4,000 military personnel, only 10 active duty sailors were still stationed at Brunswick Naval Air Station on Tuesday, and the only Navy plane on hand was a signature P-3 Orion flown in specially for the ceremony by Patrol Squadron 26.

The Mt. Ararat and Brunswick high school bands filled the musical void left by the drawdown of instrument-playing sailors, while young Sea Cadets from the Bath-based Jason Dunham Division stepped in to handle color guard duties.

“We could either mourn the loss of this great naval air station, lament the BRAC ’05 decision to shut Brunswick down and question the rationale of those who made the decision,” Fitzgerald told those in attendance, “or, in keeping with my Irish heritage, we could make this like an Irish wake and celebrate the life of NAS Brunswick over the years.”

The future of the property

Speakers on Tuesday described visions of the 3,200-acre base property as it opens to civilian reuse — as a home for private technology and manufacturing firms, post secondary educational opportunities and protected natural spaces — to put a positive spin on the occasion.

The Navy transferred 715 acres associated with the base airfield to the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority (MRRA) two months before the official disestablishment, and worked out lease agreements to allow private businesses to begin renovating and moving into vacated Navy buildings early.

Fitzgerald said that more than 30 percent of the base has already been made available to redevelopers, giving MRRA a head start at replacing the 5,000 jobs estimated to be lost as a result of the Navy’s departure.

Speakers on Tuesday described that military-civilian collaboration as groundbreaking in the world of U.S. military base closures, where historically civilian groups have been made to wait at the gates until shuttered bases are completely disestablished.

The accelerated transition process employed in Brunswick, Mayo said Tuesday, has been viewed as a blueprint for how to close military bases nationwide. As of today, the 3,200-acre property will be called Brunswick Landing, while a 74-acre satellite property in Topsham will be known as Topsham Commerce Park.

The early transfers and leases have resulted in the attraction of six companies already hiring employees to work in former base properties. Airplane manufacturer Kestrel Aircraft Co., information technology firm Resilient Communications Corp., Fixed Base Operator FlightLevel Aviation, New England Tent and Awning, and precision machining firm Maine Tool & Machine call Brunswick Landing home, and several others are in negotiations to join them.

Mayo noted that MRRA, the group charged with overseeing the civilian redevelopment of the base, has commitments from companies promising a combined $150 million in private investment and 650 new jobs during the next few years.

In his remarks, Gov. LePage expressed hope that the original motto used by the Navy for the base when it was opened in 1943 will prove prophetic.

“We will renew our Navy’s motto, ‘Built for Business,’” LePage told attendees Tuesday. “A battle cry that was established here nearly 70 years ago will be transformed from a military motto to civilian slogan.”

---

Commanding officers throughout the history of Brunswick Naval Air Station

1. Cmdr. J.C. Alderman 1943-44
2. Cmdr. E.M. Ellis 1944-45
3. Capt. Joe Taylor 1945-46
4. Cmdr. W.L. Dawson 1946
5. Lt. Cmdr. H.G. Pollard 1946-47
6. Cmdr. F.L. Palmer 1951-52*
7. Capt. E.G. Price 1952-55
8. Cmdr. G.H. Duffy 1955
9. Capt. J.T. Yavorsky 1955-58
10. Cmdr. D.W. Bowman 1958
11. Capt. F.R. More 1958-59
12. Capt. M.T. Thatcher 1959-61
13. Capt. H.L. Tallman 1961
14. Capt. W.L. Pack 1961-63
15. Capt. E.J. Knoche 1963-65
16. Capt. D.R. Rains 1965-67
17. Capt. C.L. Wyman 1967-69
18. Capt. J.D. Collins 1969-71
19. Capt. R.D. Snyder 1971-74
20. Capt. R.L. Latta 1974-76
21. Capt. G.D. Barker 1976-78
22. Capt. B.T. Hacker 1978-80
23. Capt. N.E. Koehler III 1980-81
24. Capt. W.L. Rice 1981-83
25. Capt. H.L. Midvedt 1983-85
26. Capt. F.W. Gullett 1985-87
27. Capt. F.B. Darsey 1987-89
28. Capt. R.J. Figueras 1989-90
29. Capt. H.M. Wilson 1990-92
30. Capt. H.L. Rachor 1992-94
31. Capt. D.J. Nelson 1994-96
32. Capt. E.F. Carter 1996-99
33. Capt. K.F. Koon 1999-2002
34. Capt. R.S. Winneg 2002-05
35. Capt. G.G. Womack 2005-08
36. Capt. W.A. Fitzgerald 2008-11

* Base was reactivated after a five-year closure between the end of World War II and the early years of the Cold War.

skoenig@timesrecord.com

The Times Record > Opinion > Editorials > Thanks for the memories!.

The long good-bye is almost completed.

Pakistan to ask US for two more Orion planes.