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Release Date: 7/21/2014

From Chief of Naval Operations Public Affairs

BEIJING (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Jonathan Greenert departed the People's Republic of China (PRC) Friday after a successful four-day counterpart visit with military leaders, fleet units and leaders of the State Oceanic Administration (SOA).

Adm. Wu Shengli, commander in chief of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), hosted Greenert's visit, which marked the fourth major interaction between Greenert and Wu in the past year and is a clear indication of each country's desire to grow their existing relationship.

Directed by both the President and PRC Premier to improve military to military relations both Greenert and Wu have been focusing on identifying tangible measures that can build a better understanding and trust between each other's navies and safeguard maritime peace and stability in the region.

"I'm here at the invitation of Adm. Wu to continue our agenda for improving cooperation of our navies," said Greenert. "We are moving ahead in a series of steps to increase our confidence in each other."

In meetings between the two leaders during the visit several actions were discussed that, if implemented over the course of the next year or two pending approval, will provide the cooperative opportunities mutually sought out by the U.S. Navy and PLAN.

Creating additional port visits in the U.S. for PLAN ships and additional Chinese port visits for U.S. ships as well as extending more invitations to take part in each other's exercises were two of the actions Greenert and Wu discussed. These initiatives would help advance the relationship portion of the countries' desires to militarily work more closely together.

Ensuring the full understanding and implementation of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) through the ranks was one of the more challenging proposals by Greenert and Wu as it will take time to integrate CUES into the standard operating procedures for both navies; however, achievable and actually already in the works.

But the action proposed by Wu and Greenert that will present the greatest hurdle for each Navy to overcome is conducting personnel exchanges-exchanges that if approved will mitigate any doubt as to whether or not trust exists between the two navies and will signify a huge relationship milestone. Greenert said that although personnel exchanges are on the table, it could take years to implement, but that the previously mentioned actions are a step in the right direction.

Wu said after the initial meeting with Greenert that a new type of naval relationship had positive significance for the "new type of great power relations" that China and the United States are trying to build.

Greenert's visit was not solely spent in meeting rooms with Wu, he also toured several PLAN ships pier side and got underway on a PLAN frigate interacting with PLAN sailors at each juncture.

Greenert even held an all-hands call as he would with his own Sailors but with aircraft carrier Liaoning crewmembers, who were eager to talk with the U.S. service chief about a number of topics ranging from his impressions of their first aircraft carrier, to port visits and chow, to his views on women in service. During the all-hands call, a female PLAN officer told Greenert she was inspired by the recent news of Adm. Michelle Howard's four-star promotion to vice chief of naval operations and that it gave her hope to aspire to great heights in her own organization.

When asked by a Liaoning crewmember during the all hands about how the U.S. and Chinese Navy can cooperate, Greenert highlighted that common interests and potential cooperation can take place in areas such as disaster relief, search and rescue, counter piracy, and counter smuggling operations. Greenert also emphasized that both navies have to be responsible examples for others in the world and that the two navies have to work together to gain a better understanding of each other.

The all-hands call proved to be equally valuable to the Liaoning crew and Greenert in gaining a better understanding of each other as Sailors and as people.

Another valuable interaction that occurred during Greenert's visit was in a meeting with civilian leadership at the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), whose coast guard ships are frequently used as frontline forces patrolling the disputed areas of the East and South China Seas. Greenert said although he and the other 20 member-states of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) are focused on their navies implementing CUES, he stated the Chinese Coast Guard should also adopt CUES in order to reduce the chances of misunderstanding.

The Asia-Pacific rebalance has been a huge priority during Greenert's tenure as CNO. In the Asia-Pacific Greenert has placed a major emphasis on forces, capabilities and pushing for better understanding among nations. To enhance understanding, CUES, which was endorsed at the WPNS in the Chinese port city of Qingdao in April 2014, has been a major step in facilitating communication and synergy among navies and could easily be extended to mariners such as the Chinese Coast Guard to reap the same benefits and avoid miscalculations.

Greenert said, "These visits combined with our discussions on confidence building measures provided me valuable insight to the PLAN as we work to manage our way through a growing relationship."

Greenert's next planned interaction with Wu will take place in September at the International Seapower Symposium (ISS) at the U.S. Naval War College. During ISS, leaders from the world's maritime forces will come together to find solutions to areas of common interest and foster cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. The theme for this year's symposium will be "global solutions to common maritime challenges."

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New York Times said:

The United States chief of naval operations, Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, visited China’s aircraft carrier last week, a symbolic step in the campaign the Pentagon is waging with Beijing for greater transparency even as the two navies become greater rivals.

The United States Navy had kept score: In the past year, two senior Chinese military commanders had been invited on board American aircraft carriers, but the Chinese had yet to reciprocate. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel toured the Liaoning, China’s sole carrier, earlier this year, the first foreign official to do so. But no invitation had been issued to an American Navy commander.

Admiral Greenert, who was in China for a four-day visit and is a proponent of talking with the Chinese as much as possible, boarded the Liaoning in the northeast port city of Dalian, accompanied by China’s naval chief, Adm. Wu Shengli. After the brief visit to the carrier, Admiral Greenert, escorted by Admiral Wu, sailed from Dalian on a Chinese frigate to watch naval exercises, said Capt. Danny Hernandez, a spokesman for Admiral Greenert.

For reasons that are not clear, but may be linked to the downturn in relations between Washington and Beijing over China’s assertion of what it considers its territorial rights in nearby seas, Admiral Greenert’s tour of the carrier was not reported in the Chinese news media. (Chinese reporters were dockside and watched Admiral Greenert and Admiral Wu board the carrier.)

While Admiral Greenert was spending time with Admiral Wu in China, the Chinese Navy was participating for the first time in the 22-nation, United States-led exercises off the Hawaiian Islands that started on June 26 and run to Aug. 1.

The Obama administration invited China to join the exercises, known as Rim of the Pacific, or Rimpac, despite opposition by congressional critics who argue that China’s actions against United States allies — Japan in the East China Sea and the Philippines in the South China Sea — should not be rewarded with a role in the world’s biggest multinational navy exercise.

The Obama administration invited China to join the exercises, known as Rim of the Pacific, or Rimpac, despite opposition by congressional critics who argue that China’s actions against United States allies — Japan in the East China Sea and the Philippines in the South China Sea — should not be rewarded with a role in the world’s biggest multinational navy exercise.

So far, the exercises appear to have gone smoothly, in part because months of planning were devoted to avoiding strategic and diplomatic blunders. China sent four ships — a destroyer, a frigate, a state-of-the-art hospital ship called the Peace Ark and a supply vessel.

The Chinese invited American reporters to visit their destroyer, the Haikou, and Jeanette Steele of The San Diego Union-Tribune interviewed Chinese officers and sailors about their careers and hopes.

The merits of engaging the Chinese military by including it in the Rimpac exercises is what the United States Navy wants to publicly emphasize as defense officials wrestle with the hard questions of how to deal with China’s growing capacities as a strategic competitor.

Admiral Greenert, who has met with Admiral Wu three times in the past year and favors engagement with the Chinese military, has also warned about telling the Chinese too much about American plans.

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Enlisted women to serve on attack submarines after 2020
Jul. 23, 2014 - 06:00AM |
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The ballistic-missile submarine Wyoming is one of seven subs with female officers. Starting in 2016, these subs will be the first to include female enlisted crew members.
The ballistic-missile submarine Wyoming is one of seven subs with female officers. Starting in 2016, these subs will be the first to include female enlisted crew members. (MC1 Rex Nelson/Navy)

By David Larter
Staff writer
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We want your thoughts on the Navy’s submarine integration plan. Send them to [email protected] with “Sub integration” in the subject line; include your name, rate/rank and hometown/duty station, and your feedback could appear in a future print edition of Navy Times.
With female officers having served in the boomer force for nearly three years, the Navy is aiming for women to make up a significant portion of the ballistic-missile submarine force by 2020, one of the new waypoints in the silent service’s historic integration.

By 2020, the Navy plans to have women make up 20 percent of the enlisted crew on seven of the 18 Ohio-class submarines, according to the Navy’s latest integration plan. The plan also calls for enlisted women to begin serving on attack submarines after 2020, when the Block IV Virginia-class submarines begin entering the service.

“There are many very capable women with the talent and desire to succeed in the submarine force. Drawing from this talent enables us to maintain our undersea dominance,” said Lt. J.G. Eric Durie, spokesman for Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in a statement to Navy Times. “For these reasons, we have been working diligently to integrate enlisted women into the submarine force.

“We have a plan for this integration which we will discuss in detail once the congressional notification process has been completed later this year.”

Mabus has been the driving force for opening opportunities for women across the service in his five-year tenure.

More than 50 women now serve as officers on Ohio-class subs in 14 crews; thosesubmarines will be the first to integrate enlisted women beginning in 2016, officials said. They include:

■ The blue and gold crews aboard the ballistic-missile subs Maine, Wyoming and Louisiana.

■ The blue and gold crews aboard the guided-missile subs Ohio, Michigan, Florida and Georgia. .

A task force led by Rear Adm. Ken Perry, head of Submarine Group 2, has been working on the plan to bring enlisted women into the silent service since May 2013. Its plan was delivered to Congress the week of June 14.

The report lays out a long-range blueprint for the next phases of the integration effort, which could be sped up or slowed based on fleet feedback.

“Any changes in the plan moving forward will be to ensure the success of every submarine crew,” said one submarine official familiar with the report, who asked for anonymity while it’s being briefed to lawmakers.

In 2020 and beyond, the plan calls to look at adding women to four Virginia-class crews.

Officials have said the Virginia-class attack subs Virginia and Minnesota are slated to receive female officers in early 2015 and that they hope to have female enlisted in the sub force as soon as 2016.

Greg Jacob, policy director at the Service Women’s Action Network, praised the Navy’s plan to integrate women on boomers and said that the Navy should push hard to fully integrate the attack submarines quickly.

“The Navy has been doing this in a very systematic and progressive way,” Jacob said. “Getting women on the attack boats, though, that’s the way this has to go. Because in all the key command and staff billets, the Navy looks for combatant experience. That’s just the culture.”

Jacob said the Navy missed an opportunity in the early 2000s to design the Virginia-class submarines to accommodate women, including separate berths for women and men.

The service recently signed the largest shipbuilding contract in its history for the Block IV Virginia-class subs. The $18 billion contract is for 10 of the high-tech attack boats that will have both female officers and enlisted serving on board.

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Despite Opposition, US War Funding Likely To Pass
Jul. 20, 2014 - 03:45AM | By MARCUS WEISGERBER | Comments
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US Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, middle, testifies before the House Budget Committee July 17 about the Pentagon's overseas contingency operations budget request.
US Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, middle, testifies before the House Budget Committee July 17 about the Pentagon's overseas contingency operations budget request. (MCS2 Sean Hurt / US DoD)
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WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats showed a rare display of bipartisanship last week when members of both parties criticized the Pentagon’s $58.6 billion war budget request, but experts say Congress will likely approve the measure.

US lawmakers directed the majority of their frustration at a$5 billion White House request for the newly created counterterrorism partnership fund. Of this total, $4 billion is part of the Pentagon’s $58.6 billion overseas contingency operations (OCO) budget request that was sent to Congress in late June. The remaining $1 billion is in the State Department’s OCO request.

At a July 17 House Budget Committee hearing, several lawmakers from both sides of the aisle called the counterterrorism request a “blank check,” saying the White House and Defense Department have provided little detail as to how DoD would spend the money.

“The way that [the request is] written, it doesn’t look like there are many restrictions on it,” said Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

At a July 16 House Armed Services Committee hearing, the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, said, “The legislative proposal for the [counterterrorism fund] the department submitted to the Congress can fairly be described as unconstrained — it is written so that it could be used for almost anything the department does ... up to and including refueling an aircraft carrier while circumventing all the normal reprogramming and transfer rules.”

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said DoD could use the money to pay for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) equipment for special operations forces (SOF).

“These were specifically designed for partner nation efforts,” Work told the House Budget Committee. “We have requested the flexibility to buy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets that would directly support our partners, increase rotary-wing support for SOF and maritime support to SOF partners,” he said.

This maritime support includes leasing vessels “that permit alternative launch points for SOF forces responding to contingencies beyond the range of existing staging sites,” a Pentagon budget document states.

The budget document also says the counterterrorism accounts could be used to “enhance selected DoD capabilities, which can provide essential support to partner force operations.”

The money could also be used for “purchase of secure intelligence dissemination systems for partner-nations and other ISR-related initiatives,” the document states.

In addition to the contentious counterterrorism request, lawmakers also have questioned the size of the OCO request. Discontentment is growing over DoD’s OCO spending in both political parties and chambers of Congress.

“On the Republican side, it’s the super fiscal conservatives who see this as a way of cheating on the Budget Control Act [spending caps],” Harrison said. “The Democrats, they say: ‘Hey, this is not fair that defense gets an out and the non-defense discretionary doesn’t.’ ”

Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va. argues that the Pentagon needs to shift money from the OCO accounts to the base budget.

“I still believe decisions are made in a better fashion with a single discussion point and a single budgeting point,” Wittman said at a Defense Writers Group breakfast on July 15.

Lawmakers want DoD to provide more details so they can determine how much of the OCO budget is for operating costs in Afghanistan and how much is for enduring missions.

“The operations that are ongoing right now are all ones that we know, that should be back in the base budget so we can have a continuity of strategy and of proper resourcing so you don’t have these two dialogues that go on,” Wittman said.

Budget analysts have said they estimate more than $30 billion in the OCO budget goes toward costs other than Afghanistan. The budget document says about $11 billion of the OCO request would go toward “the full spectrum of military operations requirements for US personnel operating in Afghanistan.” Another $18.1 billion would go toward “in-theater support outside of Afghanistan.”

Nearly 50 congressional staffers met this month to discuss the Pentagon’s OCO request and what money within that budget should be migrated into the base budget.

“We are making sure that our members get the information about what’s going on and they understand proportionally too where defense falls in line with total efforts to address the deficit,” Wittman said.

“We have to get OCO back into the base budget because supplemental appropriations in the future are going to be ... a thing of the past,” he said.

But Harrison and others say lawmakers are likely to approve the OCO request.

“At the end of the day, I think DoD is going to get most of what they want in the OCO request,” Harrison said.

It would be a tedious, time-consuming task for lawmakers to break war-related and non-war related items out of the budget.

“I don’t think Congress has the insight necessary to cut with a scalpel,” Harrison said. “In the end, I think they’ll err on the side of caution and maybe make a few trims here and there.”

The 2016 OCO request is when things will get interesting, since very few troops will be in Afghanistan.

“Then how do you justify a $50-plus billion OCO request; or even a $30 billion [one],” Harrison said. ■

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We want your thoughts on the Navy’s submarine integration plan.

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Enola Gay: Last Member Of Crew That Dropped Atomic Bomb On Hiroshima Has Died

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US Army qualifies AH-64E Apaches for deck landings
By: BETH STEVENSONLONDON Source: Flightglobal.com 13:04 30 Jul 2014
The US Army has achieved deck-landing qualification status for its Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters, following trials on board the US Navy amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu.

The E-variant of the rotorcraft – assigned to the service's 1st Armed Reconnaissance Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment – qualified during the navy's Rim of the Pacific exercise off the coast of Hawaii on 19 July. The aircraft are normally based at Fort Carson, Colorado.


Attaining the qualification will allow the army to land AH-64Es on USN ships to refuel and rearm, as well as opening up the range of operations the rotorcraft can conduct.

“In the event of conflict, we would be able to deploy our aircraft via a ship to land and be able to operate in a maritime environment,” the service says.

Eight Apaches have been training in Hawaii, but additional evaluations – including exercises further out into the Pacific – are required before they return to Fort Carson in mid-August, the army says.

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USAF debates future fighter requirement
By: STEPHEN TRIMBLEWASHINGTON DC Source: Flightglobal.com 5 hours ago
The next generation of weapons technology that replaces the Lockheed Martin F-22 and F-35 may not be a single-seater or even a fighter, but the end result should have a larger magazine, according to the retiring head of the US Air Force’s Air Combat Command (ACC).

Bringing to light at least five years of internal discussions about a so-called “sixth-generation fighter”, Gen Mike Hostage’s remarks on 30 July at an event hosted by the Air Force Association (AFA) illustrates the rapidly evolving nature of the air dominance mission.

“It isn’t necessarily another single-seat fighter,” says Hostage, according to an audio recording posted online by the AFA. “I’ve been telling the teams that work for me, ‘Don’t start into this process thinking single-engine [or] twin-engine. Don’t be thinking in terms of a platform'."

Hostage’s comments echo similar sentiments in a 2009 ACC request for information. The document sought industry feedback on sixth-generation air dominance technologies, including ground-based and non-kinetic solutions to airborne threats.

In his role as ACC commander, Hostage was charged with shaping the requirements for whatever follows the F-35 in the air force’s acquisition process, and he has preserved the open-ended approach outlined in the 2009 document.

“If it’s a single button on a keyboard that makes all our adversaries fall to the ground, I’m okay with that,” Hostage says.

However, while Hostage is publicly emphasising a diverse range of technologies, industry officials have been promoting platform-based concepts. Three major combat aircraft design houses – Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman – have released concept designs for a sixth-generation fighter featuring supersonic, tailless characteristics.

Since 2009, the air force has released a variety of reports on future air dominance technologies – including a concept for a tailless supersonic air vehicle. Air dominance weapons have also been studied, although the status of a next-generation air-to-air missile is shrouded in secrecy.

For Hostage, a key limitation of relying on a single platform appears to be the limited magazine of onboard weapons. He laments that although the F-22 can penetrate highly defended airspace, its internal weapons bay is limited to eight missiles.

“I can only whack eight bad guys in the process,” Hostage says. “I’d like to go there and whack a whole bunch of them.”

It may seem early to start thinking about a sixth-generation weapon system, as the two fifth-generation fighters are still relatively young. The F-22 entered service in 2006, and the F-35A is not scheduled to achieve initial operational capability until fiscal year 2016.

Hostage, however, thinks the air force is already behind schedule for fielding a replacement aircraft in time.

“Given that tortuous acquisition process, we’re already behind the timeline to get something on the ramp in order to properly phase out an aging fleet. I’m living with an ancient fleet at the moment,” Hostage says.

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German officer to serve as U.S. Army Europe's chief of staff
Jul. 31, 2014 - 02:38PM |

Gen. Markus Laubenthal is the first German officer to be assigned to U.S. Army Europe. He is the command's new chief of staff.

By Jim Tice
Staff report Army times
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A German Army brigadier general who recently served with NATO forces in Afghanistan is assuming duties as the chief of staff of U. S. Army Europe, the first time a non-American officer has held that position.

Brig. Gen. Markus Laubenthal, most recently the commander of Germany’s 12th Panzer Brigade in Amberg, and chief of staff of Regional Command North, International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan, will be stationed at USAREUR headquarters, Wiesbaden, Germany. He could report to duty as early as Monday.

Laubenthal also has served as military assistant to the deputy commander of operations and assistant chief of staff of operations for NATO forces in Kosovo.

As the major staff assistant to USAREUR commander Lt. Gen. Donald Campbell, Laubenthal will synchronize the command’s staff activities much as American predecessors have in the past.

“This is a bold and major step forward in USAREUR’s commitment to operating in a multinational environment with our German allies,” said Campbell.

“U. S. and German senior military leaders have been serving together in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan for years. Sustaining the shared capability from this experience will benefit both the U. S. and German armies,” said Campbell who has headed the Army’s largest and oldest overseas command since 2012.

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CENTCOM: No base planned for Uzbekistan
Jul. 31, 2014 - 02:46PM |

By Jeff Schogol
Staff Writer
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U.S. Central Command is disputing reports in Russian and Uzbek media that the U.S. government is negotiating to open a military base in Afghanistan.

Citing an Uzbek newspaper, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti has reported that U.S. Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, head of CENTCOM, visited Uzbekistan to ask for permission to send military equipment and aircraft to the city of Termez, which is near Afghanistan.

But a spokesman for Austin said nothing of the kind occurred when Austin visited Uzbekistan on Tuesday and Wednesday during a routine trip to the region.

“Gen. Austin has no knowledge of any plans for a possible U.S. base in Uzbekistan,” said Army Maj. Brian Fickel. “He did not discuss any such options with the Uzbeks during his trip.”

During his trip, Austin met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov and other Uzbek officials, but Austin did not discuss operations in Afghanistan, Fickel said.

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Welsh defends F-35, calls it 'the answer, the only answer, to ensure' air superiority
Jul. 30, 2014 - 06:00AM |

An F-35A from Edwards AFB, California, flies on Feb. 7. (Lockheed Martin)

By Aaron Mehta
Staff writer Air Force Times
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WASHINGTON — Despite ongoing restrictions on the fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, the Air Force’s top general warned against being “alarmist” when discussing the fifth-generation jet’s engine.

“Pratt & Whitney has been making pretty darn good engines for single-engine airplanes for a long time for the United States Air Force,” Gen. Mark Welsh, service chief of staff, told reporters during a media briefing. “What we found in the program so far, with these almost 9,000 sorties so far, is this engine works pretty well, too. That day it didn’t, and we need to figure out why.”

“It would be a little alarmist to assume we have a problem with the F-35 engine,” Welsh said. “The F-35 is the answer, the only answer, to ensure future air campaigns are not a fair fight.”

“That day” that Welsh used refers to June 23, when a fire broke out on an F-35A model at Eglin Air Force Base. The fleet has since been inspected, grounded, missed a pair of major airshows in the United Kingdom, and been allowed to fly again under heavy restrictions. It’s yet to be determined when the fleet will be given an all-clear.

Asked whether he wishes he had an alternative to the Pratt-designed F135 engine, Welsh said: “I’d like to have 1,763 F-35s with an engine that works real well every single day. That’s the goal.”

Like Welsh, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James characterized the fire as an unfortunate, but isolated, incident.

“It’s not unusual in a development program to have something like this happen,” James said. “I think we are all very optimistic we will be working through it. I do not see this in any way as a show stopper.”

Welsh and James were speaking as part of the roll-out for their new strategic document, called “America’s Air Force: A Call to the Future.” That document provides a roadmap for how the service can react more quickly to constantly changing threats and technology, a topic James touched on in her opening comments.

“Instead of focusing on a specific threat we’re trying to focus and recognize this quick pace of change and we have to recognize ourselves the imperative that we be able to change as well,” James said. “Strategic agility is what we’re shooting for.”

James also acknowledged that change doesn’t come easily in the Pentagon.

“This whole concept is going to take time to instill into a big institution like the Air Force because I don’t know that we’re known for being enormously agile at the moment,” she said. “But you have to start somewhere.”

As they have done for the last year, Welsh and James highlighted the service’s three largest recapitalization projects: the F-35, KC-46A Pegasus tanker, and long-range strike bomber. The need to keep those three on track led to the decision to try and retire the A-10 “warthog” close-air support plane, a move that has met ferocious resistance on the Hill.

The secretary acknowledged that pushback and indicated that her service needs to do a better job showing “consistency” to members of Congress. Not coincidentally, the need for better communication with members of Congress is part of the new strategic plan.

She also indicated the service would again create multiple budget options, as it did with the FY 2015 budget. The multiple budgets will cover a range of what-ifs, including the possibilities that the FY 2016 budget is and isn’t sequestered.

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Army statement on the Operational Camouflage Uniform
July 31, 2014

By Senior Army Spokesperson

ARLINGTON, Va. (July 31, 2014) -- The Army has selected a pattern as its base combat uniform camouflage pattern. The Army has confirmed through testing that the pattern would offer exceptional concealment, which directly enhances force protection and survivability for Soldiers.

The Army is naming the pattern the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) to emphasize that the pattern's use extends beyond Afghanistan to all Combatant Commands. The Army's adoption of OCP will be fiscally responsible by transitioning over time and simply replacing current uniforms and equipment as they wear out.

The Army anticipates the Army Combat Uniform with the OCP will be available for purchase by Soldiers at Military Clothing Sales Stores (MCSS) in the summer of 2015.

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Army announces rollout date for new camo
Jul. 31, 2014 - 06:17PM |
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By Joe Gould
Staff report
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Combat uniforms featuring the service’s newest camo pattern will be available for sale starting in the summer of 2015, the Army announced Thursday.

The Army is calling its new camo the Operational Camouflage Pattern, though it’s been referred to in previous tests as Scorpion W2. It is similar in appearance to Crye Precision’s MultiCam, but was developed by Army Natick Labs in Massachusetts.

Scorpion W2 uses a color palette of muted greens, light beige and dark brown.

The Army plans to transition to this new camo over time, phasing out the unpopular gray-green Universal Combat Pattern of the ACU. The Army, in a statement, said a phase-out of the older uniform was “fiscally responsible.”

The name “Operational Camouflage Pattern” is intended to emphasize that the pattern’s use extends beyond Afghanistan to all combatant commands. It will also be worn in garrison. However, leaders have said it would be just one part of a “family” of camo patterns that will also include a dark jungle-woodland variant and a lighter pattern for desert environs.

“The Army has confirmed through testing that [OCP] would offer exceptional concealment, which directly enhances force protection and survivability for soldiers,” according to the statement.

The brief statement ends months of official silence, though it was leaked in May that the Army would be selecting Scorpion W2.

In another potential cost-saving measure, the Army plans to retain wearable items in the Universal Camouflage Pattern and dye them coyote brown.

The Army is seeking to over-dye existing Modular Lightweight Load carrying Equipment (MOLLE) and Improved Outer Tactical Vests (IOTV) that are the digital Universal Camouflage Pattern to create a darker color that more closely matches coyote brown.

On June 20, the Army's program manager for soldier equipment posted a solicitation for industry partners who can over-dye nylon, cotton, rayon fabrics of various constructions.

To perform the dye work, the Army is seeking portable technologies that can be used outside of the manufacturing environment, suggesting the Army wants to save the cost of sending its equipment to manufacturers.

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DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Two 317th Airlift Group C-130J Super Hercules successfully employed air-to-air tactics against an F-16 Fighting Falcon during a training exercise July 23, 2014, en route to Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas.

This exercise demonstrated the C-130J capabilities that will be used during Red Flag-Alaska, where more than 100 aircraft will participate in multiple exercises.

"We replicated a realistic air threat C-130J aircrews can expect to face at Red Flag-Alaska," said Lt. Col. Brian Storck, 457th Fighter Squadron F-16 pilot and aggressor to the C-130Js. "This operation showed the C-130J can survive against an advanced air threat."

The crew of each C-130J consisted of two to three pilots and a loadmaster. The loadmasters sat high in the flight decks of their aircraft, looking through a bubbled window in the ceiling. They communicated to the pilots who reacted and maneuvered to ensure the safety of their aircraft. The goal was to delay the fighter pilot's ability to locate the C-130Js.

"This training was educational and helped me realize there's more to being a loadmaster than what we normally do," said Airman 1st Class Jacob Betts, 40th Airlift Squadron loadmaster. "It was remarkable to engage in defensive tactics we normally don't operate in."

On board the C-130Js, the sound of the radio chatter in the headset was constant, as the loadmaster relayed instructions that resulted in "roller coaster-esque" movements, revealing how fast the J-model can react when in the face of danger.

"The average person doesn't expect a 130,000-pound cargo plane to be able to maneuver as nimbly as the J-model does," said Maj. Aaron Webb, 39th AS assistant director of operations for tactics. "It may seem like we were reacting slowly, but our counter tactics against an area of engagement are pretty effective."

The attainment of these goals would not have been possible without teamwork amongst the pilots and the loadmasters.

"The aircrews learned how to work as a team and to defend their aircraft should an aggressor impose an attack," Webb said. "In the state of current events, it's absolutely imperative to train our aircrews to be prepared for any threat, both on the ground and in the air."

This was the first time the 317th AG engaged in this type of air training in cohesion with the 457th FS. More opportunities for these exercises are expected to continue; until then, the aircrew members who participated will pass on what they learned from this experience to other aircrews.

"The 317th Airlift Group is very unique in that we're small enough to rapidly adjust to real-time mission pressures, but we're large enough to where we make a difference," Webb said. "The culture here is to be the best you can possibly be and that is what we strive to do."

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