NAVY / MA RIN E CORPS / COAST GUARD / MERCHANT MARINE

FEATURE

PARTNERSHIPS
IN PARIS
26
Historical
Perspective:
HMS to USS, and
Back Again
p. 8

Women in Naval
Aviation: 50 Years
of History
p. 16
April 2023 | $5.00
Navy League of the United States
www.navyleague.org

WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG SEAPOWER OCTOBER 2021 C1

GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
 STRENGTH OF
PURPOSE
Entrust your most sensitive missions to Gulfstream. With more than five
decades of high performance, flexible platforms and proven reliability, there is
no other choice for civilian and military operations over land and sea.

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 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Prioritizing Partnerships
B Y D AV I D J . R E I L LY, N AV Y L E A G U E N AT I O N A L P R E S I D E N T

The past few months have been full of some not-quite unanticipated
surprises.
Our military shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast
of South Carolina on February 4th with an Air Force F-22 fighter jet,
using a single sidewinder missile. Subsequently, and as reported by
Seapower, three U.S. Navy ships, a Military Sealift Command ship,
and three Coast Guard cutters partnered in recovery efforts under
the leadership of Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces
Command and U.S. Naval Forces, U.S. Northern Command.
Sensors from the downed balloon were recovered by the U.S. Navy
on February 14. Lt. Cmdr. Madie Hansen of U.S. Fleet Forces Public
Affairs confirmed that the following units were involved in that
recovery process: USS Philippine Sea, USS Carter Hall, USS Oscar
Austin, Assault Craft Unit 4, USNS Pathfinder, HOS Rosebud, Mobile
Dive and Salvage Unit 2, NCIS.
It has come to light that there have been other Chinese surveillance
balloons in our airspace in recent years, often classified as
“unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAP) according to NORAD, the
North American Aerospace Defense Command. The Pentagon has even
created a UAP task force to address the presence of these objects. Other
regions have also been bombarded with what seems to be a global
fleet of Chinese surveillance balloons, including Latin America, South
America, Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Europe.
If nothing else, these UAP events highlight the importance of working
together with our allies the world over. To share information. To share
technology. To share, period.
This issue is devoted to those global partnerships. As President of the
Navy League, I not only support these partnerships, but I consistently
advocate for them. No man is an island, as the saying goes, and that
holds true for our sea services.
National security may feel tenuous in these uncertain times, but I have
faith in the ability and dedication of our men and women who serve.
I also have faith in our relationships with allies the world over, and
trust wholeheartedly in the vital support that can (and will) come in a
moment’s notice. We are more than the sum of our parts. We truly are
stronger, together.
As always, and in unwavering support of our sea services,

WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 1

EDITOR’S NOTE

Of Historic
Significance THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES
Volume 66, Number 2, February/March 2023

BY ANN TROPEA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PUBLISHER
History is important. Documenting images, words, David J. Reilly
and events — snapshots of moments in time — is
CO-PUBLISHER
a window into a world that no longer exists. We can Mike Stevens
celebrate our victories and learn from our failures. It allows us to evaluate. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Analyze. Reflect. Ann Tropea
atropea@navyleague.org
The theme of this issue is global partnerships, not history. However, the
SENIOR EDITOR
historic significance of this publication, and the Navy League, shouldn’t be Richard R. Burgess
overlooked. As the new editor-in-chief with less than two months under rburgess@navyleague.org
her belt at the time of this writing, I am acutely aware of those who came SENIOR ART DIRECTOR
before me. I acknowledge their contributions and commitment to both Victoria Motsay
vmotsay@navyleague.org
the Navy League and Seapower. I also want to do more to give voice to our
shared histories through the stories of the those who serve. MARKETING DIRECTOR
Evan Clarke
In this issue, we interview one of the first female Navy pilots, Joellen Drag eclarke@navyleague.org

Oslund (page 16). She was one of only six women who initially completed COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
naval aviation training and made history in the process. I couldn’t realize James Peterson
jpeterson@navyleague.org
that dream myself (20/20 vision was not in the genetic cards) but now
I have the honor of telling her story and to celebrate the women naval CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Maryellen Baldwin
aviators who came after her. In case you hadn’t heard, the first ever, all-
Marianne Giambrone
women Blue Angels Superbowl flyover (page 20) was pretty awesome. Edward Lundquist
Daniel P. Taylor
We also take a look at global partnerships — past, present, and future — Dr. Lee Willett
in recognition of lessons learned from both peace and wartime alike. The David F. Winkler
U.S. has long acknowledged the necessity of those partnerships, and our WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
country’s history would be very different without the help of our allies Andrew Clevenger

during times of conflict, such as the vital loan of a British aircraft carrier CADET CONTRIBUTORS
during WWII (page 8). It’s also important to look ahead, as the U.S. Navy Cara Funk
Victoria Huber
is currently doing by reaching out to establish solid relationships across
Anastasia Shevkolenko
Africa that we can build on long into the future to secure the safety of our
SEAPOWER
seas (page 30). 2300 Wilson Blvd., Suite 200
Arlington, VA 22201-5424
Finally, I would like to point you to the story of HM3c Herman Schmidt
TEL: 703-528-1775
(page 36). A Sailor, lost to the sea at Pearl Harbor, has now been laid to EMAIL: seapowermail@navyleague.org
rest at Arlington National Cemetery. His death may not have altered the WEBSITE: www.seapowermagazine.org

course of history, but the significance of his service — and his sacrifice — TWITTER: @Seapowermag
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/SeapowerMagazine
can now live on through words on the page and his name etched upon a
gravestone. You see, this is how we remember, so that we never forget.
Ready to lead, ready to follow.

2 S E A P O W E R APRIL 2023 WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG

 VOLUME 66 / NUMBER 3 / APRIL 2023
In This Issue
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS

13 16
DEPARTMENTS
1 President’s Message

2 Editor’s Note

IN THE NEWS: IN THE NEWS: 4 Washington Report

Arctic Operations 50 Years of Women 7 Ship's Library

and the Importance of in Naval Aviation 8 Historical Perspective

Multinational Partnering 20 Sea Services in Action

By Richard R. Burgess
35 Council Digest
By Dr. Lee Willett

23 26
39 Cadet Corner

FEATURE: FEATURE:
Building an Asia- High-End
Pacific Alliance Naval Partners
By Daniel P. Taylor By Dr. Lee Willett

30 32
ON THE COVER
Marines assigned to the 2nd Combat Engineer
Battalion, 2nd Marine Division conduct a convoy
during a snowmobile course as part of Marine
Rotational Forces Europe 23.1 in Setermoen,
FEATURE: FEATURE: Norway, Feb. 2, 2023. MRF-E focuses on regional
engagements throughout Europe by conducting
New Era in Africa Cold Waters Spark various exercises, mountain-warfare training, and
By Daniel P. Taylor Warm Relationship military-to-military engagements which enhance
overall interoperability of the Marine Corps with
By Edward Lundquist allies and partners. Photo credit: U.S. Marine
Corps Cpl. Megan Ozaki.

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Cherry trees bloom around Washington, D.C. Thousands turn out
annually to view the cherry trees blossom in the District of Columbia.

Upcoming Budget Battles

DVIDS | Jim Dresbach

B Y A N D R E W C L E V E N G E R , WA S H I N G T O N C O R R E S P O N D E N T

Fault lines are emerging in the 118th However, exempting defense spending from the return
to fiscal 2022 appropriations levels would mean even
Congress, and the Navy will soon feel the effects as
more draconian spending cuts on other domestic
it tries to navigate what will likely be a contentious
spending, which would make the proposal even less
budget season.
palatable to Democrats.
These fissures emerged in a highly visible way as soon
Budget cuts are incredibly difficult to enact, and
as Republicans took control of the House in January.
Congress still has a bad taste in its mouth from its last
Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.) initially lacked the votes
major effort to rein in spending under the 2011 Budget
for Speaker, as a handful of holdouts held out for
Control Act. So, reverting to 2022 levels is no guarantee
concessions, forcing 15 ballots before McCarthy won
that toplines are about to be slashed.
the gavel.
But it does, however, indicate that there is a small but
Key among the demands was a promise for
growing wing of the Republican party calling for fiscal
consideration of a proposal to return federal spending
frugality, and McCarthy cannot ignore these views if he
levels to what they had been in fiscal 2022. Federal
wants to remain speaker.
budgets tend to grow year over year, so reverting to a
budget from two years ago would spur sizeable cuts. At the same time, one of McCarthy’s first acts as
presumptive Speaker-elect in December was to name
Back in Time Mike Gallagher (R-Wi.), as chairman of the new Select
The Pentagon squawks loudly when forced to operate Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the
under the previous year’s budget, which happens United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
whenever the government is funded under a continuing
resolution.
New Cold War?
Gallagher, a longtime member of the House Armed
Going back two years would translate to the Department
Services Committee who was also named chairman of
of Defense living with about $75 billion less, although
the panel’s Cybersecurity, Information Technology,
it is not a given that the proposed cuts would be applied
and Innovation subcommittee, has advocated for a
equally across departments.

4 S E A P O W E R APRIL 2023 WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG


greater naval presence in the western Pacific.
The China Select Committee sets out to do a better job
of explaining the threats emanating from China to
the American people, Gallagher said on Fox News in
December.
“We are in the early stages of a new Cold War,” said
Gallagher. “It’s not obvious that we’re going to win. We
need to inject a sense of urgency into our effort,” he
added.
Conspicuously included amongst the four areas of focus
Gallagher has in mind for the new China committee?
Improve the military.
Joining Gallagher on the panel are fellow HASC
members Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.),
Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Ro
Khanna (D-Calif.), and Mikie Sherill and Andy Kim
(D-N.J.).
The overlap between the two committees shows that
Gallagher is not alone in believing that the best ways to
counter China will necessarily include the projection of
military power.
This view is certainly shared by Mike Rogers (R-Ala.),
the new chairman of the House Armed Services
Committee. The very first hearing Rogers convened
after becoming chairman was “Chinese Threats to U.S.
National Defense.”
During the February hearing, Rogers said Congress needs
to stop being naive about the threat posed by China.
“We no longer have the luxury of time. We need to act
now to get ahead of this threat,” Rogers said. “We need
to make the right investments in the right capabilities
to ensure our military can effectively deter and if
necessary, defeat the threat.”
Those efforts will be the focus of the House Armed
Services Committee during the 118th Congress, he said.
Airspace Incursions
The recent incursion of a Chinese surveillance balloon
into American airspace, culminating in its downing by
an F-22 Raptor off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4,
will only intensify the calls for a more robust response
to Chinese ambitions.
So, as the new Congress sets about its work, the Navy
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
WASHINGTON REPORT
appears to be caught between competing mandates.
On one hand, it should not count on generous budget
increases to accomplish its ever-growing mission.
Newly emboldened budget hawks will be looking for
ways to trim spending, which will put the tension over
defense vs. non-defense spending firmly at the center
of a thorny debate.
This doesn’t mean that defense spending won’t grow,
but in that kind of budget environment, big plus-ups
can be rare.
On the other hand, the Navy will be pushed to grow
the size of its fleet as soon as possible to deal with the
growing threat from China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Previously, the Navy has deployed a “divest to invest”
strategy, submitting budgets that try to cut costs by
retiring some ships that still have service life left but
do not play a significant role in the service’s plans to
project power in the western Pacific. The money saved
by not having to operate, maintain, and repair these
hulls can be better spent developing and procuring new,
more capable ships, the Navy argues.
Congress has strongly resisted this approach, even
requiring the Navy to keep some ships — such as the
Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship — that the Navy
has openly said it doesn’t want because those ships
can’t survive a high-end conflict with China.
Particularly when it comes to the Navy, some members
doggedly cling to the belief that “quantity has a quality
of its own,” as Virginia’s Wittman (now vice chairman
of the Armed Services Committee), put it last year
during a hearing on the Defense Department’s budget
request.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, now the top Republican on
the Senate Defense Appropriations subcommittee,
echoed these comments a month later, telling Defense
Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, “As you and virtually
everyone I’ve ever talked to in the Navy has told me
quantity has a quality all of its own.”
All of this leaves the Navy with some difficult shoals
to navigate, as it faces the likelihood it will be pushed
to expand its responsibilities and missions in the
Indo-Pacific — and quickly grow the size of its fleet —
without being given a commensurate funding boost to
accomplish these tasks. 
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 5

The Shift to Distributed Maritime Operations
THE CMV-22B EMPOWERS THE CONCEPT
By Robbin Laird
I n a recent interview I did with Vice
Admiral Whitesell, the U.S. Navy air
boss, he underscored that the shift to
distributed maritime operations was
a work in progress. As he noted: “We
are in an experimentation phase. We
are working force distribution and
integration. We are experimenting
like Nimitz did in the inter-war years.
We are working from seabed to space
with regard to force integration. It is a
work in progress but being successful
operating in an environment where
logistics are contested, where getting
weapons to the fleet in conflict, is not
just a nice to have capability — it’s a
necessary one.”
What he was referring to in terms of
contested logistics was the expanded
role for the CMV-22B from being a
one-for-one legacy replacement for
the carrier-onboard-delivery (COD)
mission for large deck aircraft carriers
to becoming a distributed maritime
fleet operations asset.
The Osprey provides an important
stimulant for the shift in con-ops
whereby the Navy‘s experimentation
with distributed operations intersects
with the U.S. Air Force’s approach
to agile combat employment and
the Marine Corps’ renewed interest
in Expeditionary Advanced Base
Operations
(EABO). In other
words, the
reshaping of joint
and coalition
maritime combat
operations is
underway which
focuses upon
distributed task
forces capable
of delivering
enhanced lethality
CREDIT: Raymond J. Rivard
and survivability.
Captain Sam Bryant, Commander,
Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Wing,
highlighted in an interview I did with
him this past January in North Island
ADVERTORIAL
that the CMV-22B
compared to a legacy
Osprey has much more
capability. The Osprey
is a revolutionary
aircraft which far
exceeds any rotorcraft’s
performance limits on
CREDIT: Raymond J. Rivard
range and speed. But
Bryant noted about
the Navy’s CMV-22B goes even further
when compared with the USMC MV-
22: “We have better range. We have
much better avionics. We have better
communications which allows us to
connect with the strike groups more
securely. We are better suited for
long-range navigation operations, and
the flexibility required to support a
high-end fight in the Pacific.” In other
words, the CMV-22B, unlike its COD
predecessor, the C-2A, can operate as
a fleetwide support asset, not simply a
large deck carrier logistics asset.
The U. S. Navy’s deployed fleet — seen
as the mobile sea bases they are —
faces a significantly different future
as part of a distributed joint force
capable of shaping a congruent strike
capability for enhanced lethality. This
means not only does the fleet need to
operate differently in terms of its own
distributed operations, but also as part
of modular task forces that include
air and ground elements in providing
for the offensive-defensive enterprise
which can hold adversaries at risk
and prevail in conflict. The CMV-22B
is ideally suited to operate across this
highly complex distributed combat
chessboard. And, because the Marines
have deployed the MV-22B for decades,
there is a very robust operational and
sustainment expertise already in the
fleet. This means the CMV-22B can
deliver core carrier logistics needs
while also providing logistics support
across the entire fleet — including the
vital Military Sealift Command that
will play an essential role.
As the fleet looks to enhance its
lethality and survivability in a
distributed maritime environment,
there is no more critical capability
than sustained logistics support in the
contested battlespace. This is how Rear
Admiral Meyer, Commander, Naval
Air Force Atlantic, put it with regard
to how the Navy was reworking carrier
operations in a way that highlighted
this key logistics requirement: “The
fact that our carrier strike groups
can move 700-plus miles in a
24-hour period, the increasing
range and lethality of our
ever-advancing air wing and
the weapons that those aircraft
carry can hold huge areas of the
surface at risk. Over the course
of a three-day period, it would
mean just a staggering volume
of real estate, roughly the entire
Pacific AOR over a 72-hour
period. But it is that logistics
support train that is really a key
part that makes that happen.”
The CMV-22B can do this for the
carrier-enabled distribute maritime
force. We just need more of them.

Naval Air Power, Super Hornets, German U-Boat
Capture, Japanese Naval Offensive
BY RICHARD R. BURGESS, SENIOR EDITOR
SUSTAINING THE CARRIER WAR:
The Deployment of U.S. Naval Air
Power to the Pacific
By Stan Fisher. Annapolis, Maryland:
Naval Institute Press, 2023. 258 pages.
$34.95 | ISBN: 978-1-68247-847-9
There is no shortage of books about the
exploits of U.S. naval aviators and their
crewmen during combat during World
War II, but a major backstory usually remains hidden: the
maintenance technicians that kept the aircraft flying. As the
author, a Navy helicopter pilot, points out in this book, the
naval aviation juggernaut that carried the war to Japan did so
only when it developed a maintenance workforce large enough
to sustain the demand of a high tempo of air operations.
The technicians on board the carriers were supplemented by
networks of shore-based units that maintained and repaired
a pool of replacement aircraft. The Navy’s establishment that
trained the technicians grew and modernized during the war,
growing the number of technicians from 10,000 to almost
250,000.
THE CAPTURE OF U-505: The US Navy’s
Controversial Enigma raid, Atlantic
Ocean 1944
By Mark Lardas. Oxford, United Kingdom:
Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2022. 80 pages.
$22.00 | ISBN 978-1-4728-4936-6
This book covers the audacious World War
II capture, not surrender, of a German
U-boat. The action was conceived by
then Capt. Dan Gallery, commander of an anti-submarine
task group in the Atlantic in 1944. The group, comprised of
the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal and five destroyer escorts,
was operating off West Africa in June 1944 when it chanced
upon U-505. In the ensuing duel, the U-boat was damaged
and forced to surface. It was then boarded by armed crewmen
of the destroyer escort USS Pillsbury and captured before
the German crew could scuttle it. The prize yielded valuable
German codebooks and prisoners. The capture was concealed
from the press and the secret only became public after the
war’s end. The U-boat is now on display at the Chicago
Museum of Science and Industry.
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SHIP’S LIBRARY
THE DARKEST HOUR: Volume 2:
The Japanese Offensive in the Indian
Ocean 1942 – The Attack Against Ceylon
and the Eastern Fleet
By Michal A. Piegzik. Warwick, England:
Helion and Company, 2022. 72 pages.
$29.95 | ISBN 978-1-804510-23-0
This well-illustrated monograph is
written by a Japan-based Polish lawyer
who researched, in exhaustive detail, Japanese and British
records of the April 1942 Japanese naval offensive in the
Indian Ocean. The offensive was designed to neutralize the
Royal Navy’s Eastern Fleet and damage its facilities in Ceylon.
Five Japanese aircraft carriers and their escorts sank a British
carrier, two cruisers, and a destroyer. Another naval force,
designated the Malay Force, ranged in the Bay of Bengal,
sinking 20 Allied merchant ships along the east coast of India.
The detail includes lists of combat sorties of every Japanese
pilot by name. Color plates of the aircraft and color maps add to
the quality of the book.
BECOMING THE RHINO: What It Takes
to Teach the Next Generation to Fly
and Fight in the F/A-18 Super Hornet
By Scott Dworkin. Herndon, Virginia:
Mascot Books, 2023. 285 pages.
$48.49 | ISBN 978-1-64307-459-7
This is a beautiful book for
its photographs alone, but it also contains a wealth of
information; especially for a young adult contemplating
becoming a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy’s Boeing F/A-18E/F
Super Hornet strike fighter, known in the fleet as the “Rhino.”
The author, an aerial photographer, takes the reader from
undergraduate pilot training to Naval Air Station Lemoore,
California, the home of Strike Fighter Squadron 122, one of
the Navy’s two Rhino fleet replacement squadrons. The book
details the day-to-day training in ground school, simulators,
and flight, through strike training, aerial combat maneuvering,
and carrier qualification. 
Seapower does not review works of fiction or self-published books.
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 7
HMS TO USS, AND BACK AGAIN
A BORROWED BRITISH CARRIER BACKSTOPPED U.S. OPERATIONS IN WWII
B Y D AV I D F. W I N K L E R
HMS Victorious underway off Norway, with a Fairey Albacore
torpedo bomber in its final approach, October 1941 (NH 73690).
Historian Paul Kennedy, in his majestic
Victory at Sea, gave special attention to the date June 1,
1943, on which, “[T]o the cheers of dockside observers,
the new American fleet carrier USS Essex steamed
slowly into the great naval base of Pearl Harbor.” At
the time, Kennedy noted, the only American aircraft
carrier still combating the Japanese in the entire ocean
was USS Saratoga. USS Enterprise had arrived at Pearl
Harbor a mere few days earlier to receive a Presidential
Unit Citation, and orders to Navy Yard Puget Sound for a
badly needed overhaul and weapons upgrade.
A Plea for Help
Attrition had taken its toll on the American carrier fleet.
Of the carriers in the U.S. inventory on December 7,
1941 — that the U.S. committed to the Pacific — Coral
Sea claimed USS Lexington, Midway accounted for USS
Yorktown, and operations associated with Guadalcanal
led to the loss of both USS Wasp and Hornet. With the
return of USS Enterprise to the West Coast, just Saratoga
remained in the Southwest Pacific.
Fortunately, Saratoga — operating against a larger
Japanese carrier fleet — was not alone. As the campaign
to drive the Japanese from Guadalcanal wound down,
ally Great Britain responded to a plea for a flattop to
augment Vice Adm. William F. Halsey’s fleet in the
8 S E A P O W E R APRIL 2023
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Southwest Pacific by dispatching HMS Victorious from
Scapa Flow. The carrier had just returned to that Royal
Navy anchorage following action in support of Operation
Torch — the allied invasion of North Africa.
The third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, Victorious
joined the British fleet in 1941 just in time to participate
in the hunt and elimination of German battleship
Bismarck. The new carrier headed south and into the
Mediterranean to fly off Hawker Hurricane fighters to
Malta. Returning north, Victorious spent much of the rest
of the year and the first half of 1942 operating in Arctic
waters, protecting convoys and raiding German positions
in Norway. In the autumn months of 1942, the carrier
participated in another run at Malta to replenish aircraft
stocks and supported aforementioned Operation Torch.
HMS Victorious Renamed and Rearmed
The British flattop arrived at the Norfolk Navy Yard at
the start of 1943 for drydocking and upgrades, including
the installation of U.S.-compatible communications,
aircraft homing, and cipher machine systems. Dubbed
USS Robin thanks to her Yankee-assigned call sign,
Victorious took on new TBF Avenger torpedo bombers
to replace her obsolete Fairey Albacore aircraft and
departed Norfolk on February 3 for the Panama Canal to
join the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

En route to Pearl Harbor, the marriage consummated

between the renamed British carrier and the American
TBFs proved less than ideal. In contrast to the American
usage of plank decking and unarmored hangar with
elevators placed along the ship’s exterior — with the
objective of packing in a large number of aircraft for
Pacific operations — the British design for combat
in North Atlantic waters, which dictated a steel flight
deck, an armored hangar, and interior elevators, proved
confining for the big torpedo bombers. Also, British
trap cables were less than fully compatible with the

Avengers’ tailhooks. Several accidents occurred during
the transit, with two fatalities. Though adjustments to
the arresting gear were made at Pearl Harbor, persistent
troubles would eventually be addressed through an
innovative solution.
In addition to flight deck work, Victorious received
a makeover of sorts as the U.S. Navy sea-blue paint
covered the disruptive camouflage pattern that the
carrier sported in the Atlantic.
American-British Partnership
Departing Pearl Harbor on May 8 in company with
battleship North Carolina and two destroyers, Victorious
reached New Caledonia capital Nouméa nine days
later to join Saratoga and Carrier Division ONE under
the command of Rear Adm. DeWitt Ramsey. The two
carriers, part of Task Force 14, departed the next day
in response to an erroneous report that the Japanese
Fleet had departed from their anchorage at Truk. The
initial underway time proved beneficial for both parties
as the Brits learned how to operate within an American
task force, and the Americans became familiar with
British fighter direction capabilities that were found to
be advantageous. In addition, pilots from both navies
took advantage of cross-deck opportunities. This led
to a decision to address the Avenger aircraft-handling
problem by reassigning the British 832 torpedo bombing
squadron to the more carnivorous Saratoga in exchange
for Fighter Squadron THREE (VF-3).
Throughout June and July 1943, the Anglo-American
tandem covered General Douglas MacArthur’s flank
from the four available Japanese carriers in the region
as the theater commander’s American and Australian
troops fought their way along the northern coast of New
Guinea. The presence of Victorious, along with American
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
HMS Victorious in port at Pearl Harbor shortly after her 4 March 1943 arrival. Soon
after, the British disruptive camouflage would be overpainted with sea blue, the U.S.
Navy Measure 11 specification.
shore-based airpower, gave pause to any Japanese
desires to take advantage of their numeric carrier
superiority. If Saratoga had remained alone, perhaps the
story would have been different.
A Victorious Return Home
With Essex, the first of a growing number of Essex- and
Independence-class carriers arriving at Pearl Harbor,
the carrier imbalance was about to take a dramatic shift.
Consequently, at the end of July, Victorious received
orders to return home via the Panama Canal. Once again
calling at Norfolk, the British warship had her U.S. Navy
communications equipment removed and, upon arriving
in Liverpool, began a lengthy maintenance availability.
Victorious returned to the Pacific in February 1945
with the newly created British Pacific Fleet, which
operated with the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet as Task
Force 57. In contrast to crippling damage caused by
kamikazes crashing through the wooden decking
of American carriers, the steel deck of Victorious
withstood the impact of two kamikazes on May 9, 1945.
Recovering from topside damage, Victorious indeed
proved victorious in that flight operations resumed in
a few hours. The Americans had already taken note.
Launched on March 20,1945, the battle carrier Midway
incorporated a steel deck into her design. 
Dr. Winkler compiles naval history news items for Tuesday Tidings, a weekly e-letter published by
the National Maritime Historical Society. Visit www.seahistory.org

WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 9


Commissioning the
USS John F. Kennedy
BY MARYELLEN BALDWIN
The Navy League is known for many
things, from this magazine to the annual Sea-Air-
Space exposition in the Washington, D.C. area.
Throughout the nation and the world, Navy League
councils provide a voice for America’s sea services.
Behind the scenes, there are also a set of programs
and efforts in place to positively affect the lives of
sailors, marines, coast guardsman, and merchant
mariners while they are aboard the ship.
One of the most important efforts is ship
enhancements.
Navy League-provided ship enhancements add some
1 0 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023
HAMPTON ROADS COUNCIL
NOW MORE THAN EVER OUR CITIZENRY
NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR
THESE SHIPS OF WAR AND DIPLOMACY.
character and context to a warship, which exerts its
presence through port visits and other peaceful pursuits.
The ship enhancements are all made possible through
private donations and endowments, with no taxpayer
monies. This said, the story of how the Navy League
makes these enhancements a reality illustrates how the
public can make a difference for service personnel on
duty far from home.
Improving Life at Sea
As taxpayers, we pay for incredible warships to be built
to last for years to come. The Navy League, on the other
hand, helps to improve the quality of life aboard those
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
 IN THE NEWS

ships. Building out the library, chapel

(or both), or providing state-of-the-
art exercise equipment, upgrades
to the chief’s and crew mess, coffee
shop, ceremonial quarterdeck, and
tribute/ceremonial room are a few of
the areas that impact the crew.
The process of adding ship
enhancements to a warship like the
upcoming USS John F. Kennedy (CVN
79) begins years ahead of time and
is part of the larger process of ship
commissioning, which is sponsored
and organized by local Navy League
councils.
Here in Hampton Roads, our council
has commissioned 28 ships to date
that have included seven aircraft
carriers. Working on the 29th
commissioning in support of the
iconic USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79)
is another milestone opportunity.

HAMPTON ROADS COUNCIL

To further honor the command, we’ve
established an endowed scholarship to
benefit family members of the Naval
aviation community. As with past
aircraft carriers we’ve commissioned,
we’ve teamed with the Wings Over
America Scholarship Foundation to administer an
annual scholarship.
Raising funds is always a challenge. But those
contributions will impact the crew who serve aboard for
the next fifty years.
Faith in Our Sea Services
There is another important story to tell: the importance
of the sea services to our national defense and our
shipbuilding industry.
It is a story of honor, courage, and commitment to
our service members, their families, and the industry
in the public conversation, so that the United States can
sustain itself as the preeminent maritime power.
The ship commissioning for USS John F Kennedy (CVN
79) is scheduled for 2024. We ask all individuals and
businesses to become part of Navy history and join us in
the commissioning of what will be the second Ford class
USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79).
Navy League of the United States, Hampton Roads
welcomes your input, and you can learn more at our
commissioning website: jfkcvn79commissioning.org. 
Maryellen Baldwin is the President/CEO of the Hampton Roads Council of Navy League of the
United States. You can reach her at: meb@nl-hr.org

that surrounds our military needs. For more than a

century, the Navy League has kept the faith in our sea
services and the nation it serves. Even when America
was not interested in listening, the Navy League has
endeavored to keep its message of sea power’s influence

WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 11

There are certain jobs
no one else can do.
That’s what we do.

See us at
Sea-Air-Space
2023
Booth #1521
 Arctic Operations:
The Importance of Multinational Partnering
THE ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY IS BUILDING CAPABILITY AND PRESENCE TO ENHANCE ARCTIC
OPERATIONS. MULTINATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE INTEGRAL TO GROWING SUCH CAPACITY.
BY DR. LEE WILLETT, LONDON
U.S. NAVY | Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Abban
Each year, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) host
various exercises and regional presence activities in the
Arctic under Operation Nanook.
Nanook is a national-level joint and combined event,
and activities take place across different areas of
Canada’s Nunavut region. The purpose of Nanook is
building knowledge of the region and building relations
with national and international partners. In both
contexts, the goal is to enhance understanding of the
Arctic environment and build defence and security
capacity in the region.
The Arctic environment is challenging. Exercises
like Nanook help improve skills for operating there,
including capacity to respond effectively to safety and
security challenges.
Operation Nanook 2022 commenced on August 2nd. The
maritime component ran until the end of September,
divided across Operations Nanook-Tuugaalik and
Nanook-Nunakput.
Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) participation included
two Harry DeWolf-class Arctic and Offshore Patrol
Ship (AOPS) vessels, HMCS Harry DeWolf and HMCS
Margaret Brooke, and the Kingston-class maritime
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
SECTION HEADER
The Coast Guard cutter Bear transits out of Torngat
National Park, Canada, during Operation Nanook, Aug.
9, 2022. Operation Nanook is an annual exercise that
allows the U.S. and partner nations to ensure security
and enhance interoperability in Arctic waters.
coastal defence vessel HMCS Goose Bay. RCN and
multinational naval participants deployed in Pond Inlet,
Arctic Bay, and Qikiqtarjuaq, which are connected by the
Davis Strait in Baffin Bay.
Operating across such an extended region reflect the
challenges for the RCN in operating more widely across
Canada’s Arctic areas of interest. The vast, remote, and
cold environment also presents its own challenges in
conducting complex military activities like intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks as well
as more routine activities like communications. The
absence of infrastructure ashore means ships operating
in the region must be self-sustaining for the period of
their deployment. Climate change, ice melt, and greater
access at sea is bringing increased commercial, human,
and military presence, which in turn is bringing security
challenges and requirements to support national and
wider interests there.
Naval and coast guard vessels deploying to the
region support a range of tasks including security of
national waters, borders, and resources; presence and
surveillance; environmental monitoring and protection;
search-and-rescue (SAR) operations and other forms of
emergency response; and strategic deterrence.
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 13
IN THE NEWS
Collective Response
In a world of increasing competition to access resources
at sea to either protect or build “blue economies,”
returning state-based competition, and now high-end
conflict in the Russo-Ukraine war, strategic deterrence
through conventional military presence is ever-more
critical in contested regions like the Arctic. “We have to
be present there, or somebody else will,” Commodore
Jason Armstrong, the RCN’s Director General Naval Force
Development, told the London-based SAE Media Group
Maritime Reconnaissance and
Surveillance Technology conference
in February.
Collective defence and deterrence THE VAST, REMOTE, AND
in such circumstances always
offers strategic advantage. Of the
COLD ENVIRONMENT
five Arctic littoral states, four — PRESENTS CHALLENGES.
Canada, Denmark, Norway, and
the United States — are NATO
allies (the fifth littoral state is
Russia). Multinational participation in Nanook included
ships from the Royal Danish Navy and U.S. Coast Guard,
alongside the French Navy.
“Op Nanook [is] an annual event conducting national
force generation, and regional engagement with
regional and international partners,” said Cdre.
Armstrong. “It is our signature exercise in the North.
It delivers Arctic training, develops partnerships,
develops command and control (C2), improves
community relations, and improves the readiness of all
participants.”
The multinational participation in Nanook is significant,
at both operational and strategic levels.
“No-one survives in the Arctic alone,” said Armstrong.
“Canada is working closely with government law
enforcement and regulatory agencies, regional
communities, and international partners to promote
Arctic safety and security.”
In terms of international engagement, Armstrong
pointed to the RCN’s work with regional bodies and
commands including the Danish Joint Arctic Command
— located in Nuuk, southwest Greenland — and the
combined United States/Canadian North American
Aerospace Defence (NORAD) Command, which is critical
1 4 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023
in providing ISR capability and wider air coverage across
the Arctic region.
For the Nanook annual exercise, Armstrong said the
RCN has conducted significant work over the years with
allies including the RDN, UK Royal Navy, and U.S. Navy.
The RCN would like to do more with Nanook, but within
the bounds of what the region can sustain. “We want
to make that a big exercise for close collaboration and
sharing of data. The challenge, though, is that because it
is such a fragile environment, you don’t want to put too
many ships up there,” he explained.
In a vast region where infrastructure
ashore is so sparse, maritime exercises
like Nanook are important in generating
regional presence and engagement.
“How we integrate with other
government departments internally in
Canada, the Inuit [in the Arctic region],
and our international allies is very
complex because we don’t have the
[shore-based] infrastructure set up. It’s
not like we’re conducting a NATO exercise off the
coast of Portugal, Spain, or the U.S. There is literally
nothing up there,” Armstrong explained. “You have to
show up with your own gear.”
Canada is looking to enhance the infrastructure
ashore. The RCN is recapitalising its maritime C2 hubs,
including in the Arctic. In addition, a naval facility is
to be established at Nanisivik to provide a supply node.
This, “will further enhance our reach and persistence in
the region,” said Armstrong.
A regular, future customer at this new fuel and
stores facility will be the AOPS vessels. Using such
infrastructure will in turn enhance AOPS operational
capability.
AOPS capability
The arrival of the Harry DeWolf-class AOPS vessels has
reinforced RCN regional presence and other outputs, in
Nanook, and more widely.
Lead AOPS Harry DeWolf was commissioned in 2021
and participated in Nanook in 2021 and 2022. In 2021,
the ship joined the operation for activities in the Davis
Strait before conducting a Northwest Passage transit as
the first stage in a circumnavigation of North America.
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG

Second-in-class vessel Margaret Brooke participated in
the operation in 2022, prior to commissioning.
“With the recent introduction of the Harry DeWolf class,
the RCN’s presence in and knowledge of the Arctic is
growing with each passing season,” said Armstrong.
While melting ice, more open water, and increased
access to the region is a negative aspect of climate
change, the AOPS capabilities are increasing RCN
capacity to police such waters.
“The AOPS capability is something that the RCN and
the CAF did not have previously. It [enhances] our reach
and our persistence in the region,” said Armstrong.
Built to commercial Polar Class 5 standards, AOPS has
ice-breaking capability that can tackle first-year ice.
This means the ships can push further into the North,
he explained. “They’re able to be up there longer, go
further than we had originally envisioned,” he added.
The ships also bring current and emerging capability
that will add operational impact.
The RCN is looking to enhance AOPS flight deck
capacity, for example, to enable the ships to embark
the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Sikorsky CH-148
Cyclone maritime anti-submarine warfare helicopter.
Cyclone provides the organic rotary-wing capability
for the RCN’s Halifax-class frigates. “[Cyclone] is a
major force multiplier not only for Halifax-class ships
but for our AOPSs operating in the region, and will
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WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
IN THE NEWS
provide enhanced capability for surveillance under the
sea and above, and in support of disaster relief,” said
Armstrong.
The AOPS vessels can also contribute to multi-domain
Arctic ISR, Armstrong explained. Future Arctic ISR
capability is multi-layered, including: fixed seabed
sensors, including at choke points; autonomous
underwater vehicles, deployed from surface ships or
submarines, patrolling key waters like choke points or
the Northwest Passage; and containerised UVs onboard
the AOPS vessels, providing various air, surface, and
sub-surface capabilities.
In terms of emerging capability, the AOPS vessels’
design flexibility will enable the RCN to add uncrewed
vehicle (UV) capability to support different requirements
in different domains.
For example, the CAF is looking to enhance Canada’s
broad over-the-horizon surveillance capacity.
Shipborne uncrewed aerial systems provide a prominent
capability option here. The RCN is looking procure a new
system and have it in place by 2024, said Armstrong. 
Dr. Lee Willett is an independent writer and analyst specialising in naval and maritime matters,
with a 25-year professional background. He has spent time at sea, on submarines and aircraft
carriers, among others.
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 15
IN THE NEWS

Women in Naval Aviation – 50 Years of History

A CONVERSATION WITH JOELLEN DRAG OSLUND
BY RICHARD R. BURGESS, SENIOR EDITOR

The U.S. Naval Flight Demonstration

Squadron — the Blue Angels — begins each airshow
season at Naval Air Facility El Centro, California. This
year’s season opener on March 11 featured the debut of
the Blue Angels’ first woman jet pilot, Lt. Amanda Lee,
selected last year. Her first air show would occur 50
years, almost to the day, that the first six women naval
aviators began flight training.
“Initially, it dawned on me that 2023 was the 50-
year anniversary of when women began [naval] flight
training,” said retired Capt. Joellen Drag Oslund, one
of the initial six, speaking with Seapower in February.
“I thought this would be great to get together a bunch
of the early women aviators and we’ll go and celebrate
Amanda Lee. That’s how it started out and it has since
morphed into sort of a navy-wide, 50-year celebration.
We’re just there to celebrate Amanda Lee’s selection
as a Blue Angel air pilot and to celebrate, really, all the
woman pilots that have come after us.”

The First Six

The acceptance of women as naval aviators began in

JOELLEN DRAG OSLUND

the early 1970s with policy “Z-Gram 116” from Chief
of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo Zumwalt. Eight women
were accepted as student naval aviators — four were
already officers or in officer training, and four were
from the civilian community.
Six of the eight successfully completed the training:
Barbara Allen Rainey, Judith Neuffer Bruner, Jane Skiles
O’Dea, Drag Oslund, Ana Marie Scott, and Rosemary
Bryant Conatser Mariner.
Rainey, a daughter of a Navy commander and selected
when serving as a communications officer, was the first
of the group to complete the syllabus and be winged as a
naval aviator. She flew C-1 Trader and CT-39 Sabreliner
transports with Fleet Tactical Support Squadron 30, and
then with a T-34 training squadron.
Bruner was an officer working in computer
programming when she was selected. She was the
first of the six to fly solo in a Navy aircraft. She flew
WP-3A Orion hurricane hunter aircraft with Weather
Reconnaissance Squadron Four and later RP-3A Orion
aircraft with Oceanographic Research Squadron Eight.
She subsequently worked for NASA and the Hubble
Telescope program.
O’Dea, daughter of a naval aviator, was in officer
training when she was selected. She was assigned to
fly C-130F transports with Fleet Logistics Support
Squadron 24 from Rota, Spain. She was the first U.S.
military aviator to be a mother. She carrier-qualified
and achieved the rank of captain.
Oslund, also daughter of a Navy commander, was the
first selected from the civilian community. She was
qualified as the U.S. military’s first female helicopter

1 6 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG


pilot. She flew H-46 Sea Knights with Helicopter
Combat Support Squadron Three (HC-3) from Naval Air
Station North Island, California, and later as an H-46
station rescue pilot at Naval Air Station Point Mugu,
California. She also became a helicopter pilot in the
Naval Air Reserve and achieved the rank of captain.
Scott was a licensed private pilot when she applied for
the program. She also became a helicopter pilot and flew
VH-3A VIP helicopters with HC-6, based at Norfolk,
Virginia. She became the only one of the six to become a
civilian commercial pilot, flying for Federal Express.
Mariner also was a licensed private pilot when
selected and even was rated as a multi-engine pilot.
She became the first woman to fly a Navy tactical jet
despite rules that prohibited her from doing so. She
eventually qualified to land on an aircraft carrier and
was to first woman to command an aviation squadron,
Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 34, an aggressor
squadron that trained the fleet. She achieved the rank
of captain and completed a career with more than
3,500 flight hours.
Oslund said that the first women did not all begin as
a single class or start training at the same time. Some
were slowed by the normal delays that plague aviation
training, or the need to improve physical training.
“A couple people had trouble with some of the PT
requirements, the swimming requirements, things like
that,” Oslund said. “After Officer Candidate School,
we kind of got disbursed a bit and all ended up on very
different schedules.”
Uncertain Start to Pilot Program
The first six were pioneers in a very uncertain
movement.
“With just the six of us when we started out, we had
no idea whether the program would continue or not
regardless of how we performed,” Oslund said. “Even
after [we] got our wings, the Navy did not select another
group of women for 18 months. They wanted to see how
we were doing out in the fleet. And for several years after
that, they only matriculated six to eight women pilots
for at least three or four years after that. So, the numbers
grew very slowly and, of course, as more people came
in, people were getting out so the total numbers in the
military, in the Navy, were very small.”
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
IN THE NEWS
WE REALLY DID CHANGE THINGS
AND WOMEN PILOTS ARE HERE TO STAY.
– Joellen Drag Oslund
Oslund was surprised that as a woman pilot she was not
permitted to deploy or even land on a warship. After
being denied multiple requests to fly the same ship
logistics missions as her fellow male pilots, she decided
to become a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit to overturn the
combat exclusion then in effect for women aviators.
“That’s why I ended up putting my name on a lawsuit
to fight the law,” she said. “I discovered pretty quickly
when I came to the squadron that I wasn’t going to be
able to do much because of the very, very narrow way
that they were interpreting the law at the time. It took
about two years to get up to the District Court in D.C.
“At some point in the discovery process, the Navy
denied that it had ever refused permission for us to
land on ships which was a shock because, of course,
we hadn’t been allowed to carrier qualify,” she said.
“I wasn’t allowed to go out to ships. I wasn’t allowed
to deploy which was the reason I put my name in
the lawsuit. So, it was really interesting that in the
middle of the discovery process, the Navy suddenly
says, well, we never said they couldn’t land on ships.
I was like, really? You’ve been telling us that for four
years. That was kind of a shock and horrifying and very
discouraging for us.”
Combat Restrictions Lifted
The lawsuit was ultimately successful in 1978, and the
combat exclusion finally was lifted in 1993.
After Oslund’s first helicopter assignment with HC-
3, she found her next assignment at Point Mugu a
surprising change. “At Point Mugu, all bets were off,”
she said. “Anyone in the test and evaluation experience
would come to you and say, you know, we’d like to try
this, and it was strictly up to the aircraft commander
as to whether it was going to kill you or not. And the
missions were just exciting. We did everything from
search-and-rescue and target recovery. That’s where I
got to deploy aboard ship for six days. Lots and lots of
interesting experiences there. You just never knew what
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 17
IN THE NEWS

was going to come up every day. It was fascinating.” airlines,” she said. “I applied to a couple airlines, but
the reception wasn’t that favorable and I kind of gave
With two tours completed, Oslund was facing another
up after a while. I was still flying with HC-3. I was
assignment as a station rescue pilot, this time in the
finished flying by the time I had my children. And after
Philippines.
I had my two children, I just didn’t see how it was all
“That’s just not the stuff that careers are made of, and going to work out.”
I just couldn’t see any point to going all the way to the
Oslund stayed in the reserve and, while a stay-at-home
Philippines just to fly more search-and-rescue because
mom, completed her part-time active-duty training
that wasn’t going to do anything for me,” she said. “I
gigs. Her husband, Dwayne, also was a Navy helicopter
was never going to make lieutenant commander or even
pilot. “Dwayne was able to take care of the children
commander flying search-and-rescue. So, I decided
while I was on active duty so that was really nice,” she
to go in the reserves and had no idea, really, if I were
said. “It gave him a taste of full-time parenthood.”
going to be able to get a flying billet or not. I went back
to San Diego and was lucky enough to get into [reserve Honoring the Pioneers
squadron] HC-9 and flew [ HH-3A helicopters five more
The first six women naval aviators were inducted into
years] with them.”
the Women in Aviation International (WAI) Hall of Fame
She considered becoming an airline pilot, but helicopter in 2017.
pilots usually do not accrue enough flight time for
“The first time I saw a room with perhaps 250
consideration.
women aviators in it was at the Women in Aviation
“Helicopter time just wasn’t that valuable for the International Conference,” Oslund said. “It actually

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1 8 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG


brought tears to my eyes. I did not think that I would
ever see a room that would have that many women
military aviators in it all at one time.”
“We really did change things and women pilots are here
to stay.”
“Do you know that we were never photographed
together, all six of us? Never. It wasn’t until we were
inducted into the WAI Hall of Fame that the remaining
five of us got together. [Rainey was killed in a crash of
a T-34 in 1982 and was represented by her husband.]
So, really, there is no picture of all six of us together
anywhere.”
Only two of the six of the first women naval aviators
are still alive. Mariner passed away in 2019. O’Dea and
Bruner both died in 2022, O’Dea after a long illness and
Bruner suddenly in December. Bruner had planned to be
at the 50-year celebration in El Centro. Instead, Oslund
would deliver her eulogy.
“[Bruner] was planning to go to Antarctica and she
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
IN THE NEWS
was going to come to El Centro and be with us for that
celebration that we’re having there, and we just lost
her very suddenly,” Oslund said. “I’m still not over it,
really.”
Women naval aviators are now found in all kinds of
flying assignments, and many have combat experience.
Vice Adm. Sara Joyner became the first commanding
officer of a strike fighter squadron and later a carrier
air wing. Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, a now-retired aviator,
became the first woman to command a carrier strike
group and a numbered fleet. Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt
became the first woman to command an aircraft carrier,
USS Abraham Lincoln.
“Fortunately, there’s getting to be fewer firsts to be
had so that’s a good thing,” Oslund said. “That’s a very
good thing. Hopefully, we’ll reach a day when it’s not
unusual. We don’t have to note whether it’s a man or a
woman who’s taking the job. That would be the best of
all worlds.” 
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 19
U.S.NAVY | Petty Officer 2nd Class Aron Montano
SEA SERVICES IN ACTION
 SEA SERVICES IN ACTION

The Navy’s all-woman flyover team flies over State Farm Stadium during
Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz., Feb. 12, 2023. The flyover celebrated
50 years of women flying in the Navy.
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Building an Asia-Pacific Alliance
AS TENSIONS GROW IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION, THE NAVY EMPHASIZES
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT WITH LOCAL NAVIES
B Y D A N I E L P. T AY L O R
As wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
began winding down in the mid to late 2000s, the United
States quickly shifted focus to the Asia-Pacific region.
Military leadership refocused spending and
development on assets that were designed to meet the
challenges of that area, such as unmanned systems,
amphibious capabilities, and ships suited for littoral
warfare. With western Asia largely in the rearview
mirror, the U.S. military could devote attention to the
growing military power to the east.
The Navy wasn’t solely focused on equipment; in
the years since, they have also spent significant time
coordinating exercises and other activities with allied
navies in the region. While these exercises have been
going on for decades in some cases, there is certainly a
renewed emphasis on this kind of relationship-building
in a region the U.S. Navy is now hyper-focused on.
While lacking the naval capability of the United States
— at least when it comes to the ability to project power
across the world’s oceans — China has telegraphed
pushback at U.S. Navy attempts to dominate areas like
the South China Sea. China’s defense spending has been
on the rise, and last year the People’s Liberation Army
Navy (PLAN) launched its third aircraft carrier. That is
still a far cry from the United States, which boasts 11
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
U.S Navy Mass Communication Specialist 3rd
Class Joseph Calabrese from Buffalo, N.Y., photo-
graphs an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the “Blue
Diamonds” of Strike Fighter Squadron 146 aboard
the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.
U.S. NAVY | Petty Officer 2nd Class Samuel Osborn
ARE WE REALLY ABLE TO GO OUT IN A
FLOTILLA OF EIGHT SHIPS WITH SIX AMERICAN
AND TWO AUSTRALIAN VESSELS, AND CAN THEY
SHARE DATA ON INCOMING MISSILE THREATS?
I DON’T THINK SO.
- Michael O’Hanlon, Brookings Institution
aircraft carriers — or the many large-deck amphibious
ships capable of carrying helicopters and F-35B fighters
— but it indicates that PLAN wants respect as a naval
power in the coming decades.
Alliances Key as Tensions Build
China has accused the U.S. Navy of “navigation
bullying” in the South China Sea, arguing that the
United States has engaged in provocative and risky
actions in disputed waters that could result in a
confrontation. The U.S. Navy claims it is merely
protecting the rule of law in the region — and alliances
with Southeast Asian nations is a key part of defending
that claim to skeptics.
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 23
 FEATURE

The annual Cooperation Afloat

Readiness and Training (CARAT),
which took place last May in the
Gulf of Thailand, is a good example
of what is involved in these types of
exercises. During the event, ships from
both the Royal Thai and U.S. navies
practiced sailing together in “complex”
maneuvers and attempted to track and
pursue targets beyond visual range.
Additionally, both navies practiced
U.S. NAVY | MC1 Brandon Parker

helicopter cross-deck landings and

search and rescue operations.

Data Sharing and

Naval Special Warfare operators and Sri Lanka navy sailors conduct a small boat interdiction exercise during
Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT)/Marine Exercise (MAREX) Sri Lanka 2023 in Tricomalee.
CARAT/MAREX Sri Lanka is a bilateral exercise between Sri Lanka and the United States designed to promote
regional security cooperation, practice humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and strengthen maritime
understanding, partnerships, and interoperability.
The U.S. Navy sees those alliances as key to
maintaining, and even increasing, influence in the
region. Lt. Brian Cunningham, a spokesperson for
the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said that the Navy focuses on
establishing relationships with nations in the Indo-
Pacific region to, “uphold the international rules based
order, ensure freedom of navigation and overflight by
all states, in accordance with international law, and to
deter any attempt to effect change with force.”
More specifically, the U.S. Navy and allied nations in
the region, “plan, train, and operate together to build
critical advantages over our competitors,” he added.
Cunningham pointed to events like the Rim of the
Pacific exercise, a large international maritime exercise
that involved 26 nations and more than 26,000
personnel during its last iteration. RIMPAC offers,
“unique opportunities to foster and sustain cooperative
relationships essential to ensuring the freedom and
safety of the world’s oceans,” he said.
He added that the Navy believes bilateral and
multilateral exercises like this give navies the
opportunity to work together and improve integration,
which both strengthen combined capabilities and
improve the maritime relationship.
Integration Limitations
Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow and
the director of foreign policy research
at the Brookings Institution, said the
U.S. Navy needs to be careful that such
maritime partnerships do not end up
being little more than just, “happy
talk.” While building relationships with
other countries is important, it may not be doing much
for improving actual combat performance due to the
limited data sharing and integration that can happen
between foreign navies, he argued.
“With things like integrating battle command and
control, there are some systems being explored and
developed, but as a country and as a DoD [Department
of Defense], we’re not very good at even joint warfare
when it comes to sharing data,” O’Hanlon said.
“Are we really able to go out in a flotilla of eight ships
with six American and two Australian vessels, and can
they share data on incoming missile threats? I don’t
think so. But that might be acceptable as long as the
U.S. Navy and allies take a realistic approach to these
alliances,” he said.
There are capabilities under development that could
enable cooperating navies to build a common picture of
sea, undersea, air, and missile threats, and it’s possible
that the Navy could find a way to apportion responses
quickly and effectively as a team. But that is a long way
off, and currently these partnerships may not be a huge
help in the event of a confrontation with China.

2 4 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG

 FEATURE

“Most of these nations have modest-sized militaries,”

O’Hanlon said, suggesting instead that the Navy have
more modest expectations about these partnerships
and conceive of missions that could be divided up more
discretely between allies.
“What I’m trying to do is identify a flaw or an
underappreciated weakness in what is, generally
speaking, the right strategy,” he clarified. “The
right strategy is to hope that we can fight together
and to make China think we can fight together and
to collaborate in other ways. In a way, that makes it
attractive for partners to cooperate with us.” 

U.S. NAVY | Cpl. Austin Gillam

U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Austin Jensen, from Battalion Landing Team
2/4, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, demonstrates a buddy drag on Hospital Corpsman
2nd Class Mashfrik Hossain during a Tactical Combat Casualty Care class with Sri
Lanka navy sailors and marines during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training/
Marine Exercise Sri Lanka 2023.

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 The lead ships from three strike groups – the UK Royal Navy (RN) carrier
HMS Queen Elizabeth (left), the USN’s USS Ronald Reagan (right), and the
USN amphibious ship USS Iwo Jima – are pictured conducting integrated
training in the Gulf of Aden in July 2021.
High-End Naval Partners
FRENCH, UK, AND U.S. NAVIES BUILD COLLABORATIVE
CAPABILITY AT INAUGURAL PARIS NAVAL CONFERENCE
BY DR. LEE WILLETT, LONDON
The French, UK, and U.S. navies have
always been amongst the more capable, operating at the
higher end of the naval task spectrum. As confrontation
– and conflict – have returned at sea, these three navies
are focused on increasing their partnering to improve
cooperation on a global scale.
In November 2022, five aircraft carriers from NATO
countries were operating at sea simultaneously across
the Euro-Atlantic theatre.
The U.S. Navy’s (USN)newest aircraft carrier USS Gerald
R. Ford, accompanied by its carrier strike group (CSG),
was conducting its inaugural operational deployment,
including participating in NATO’s Silent Wolverine
integration exercise off Portugal. In the Mediterranean,
the USN’s USS George H. W. Bush CSG was continuing
its latest rotational deployment to the U.S. Sixth Fleet
area of responsibility.
Operating too in the Mediterranean were the French
Navy’s FS Charles de Gaulle CSG, and the Italian Navy
(ITN) aircraft carrier ITS Cavour. Sailing in the North
Atlantic, the UK Royal Navy (RN) HMS Queen Elizabeth
2 6 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023
U.S. NAVY
CSG was supporting national and NATO taskings,
including operations off Norway.
Strategic Context
While the timing of such multi-carrier presence was
significant, set against the backdrop of war in Ukraine,
it was not a new activity. Nor was it one that occurs only
in the Euro-Atlantic theatre.
For example, the integrated “quad carrier” operations
that took place in the Philippine Sea in October 2021
included the Queen Elizabeth CSG, the USS Ronald
Reagan and USS Carl Vinson CSGs, and the Japan
Maritime Self-Defense Force Hyuga-class assault ship
JS Ise. Earlier that year, the FS Charles de Gaulle led
a task group that comprised its own CSG and the USS
Dwight D. Eisenhower CSG.
The chiefs of the French, UK, and U.S. navies have
referred to their integrated aircraft carrier capability as
a “global carrier force.”
The integration of high-end naval capability is evident
in other areas. The late Professor Eric Grove, an eminent
naval historian, defined a first-class, high-end navy
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
 FEATURE

as a force bringing carrier, ASW, and

amphibious capability. The NATO-
led, Norway-hosted “Cold Response”
amphibious exercise off Norway in
early 2022 was a good demonstration
and included task groups from Britan,
Italy, Netherlands, and France.
These regular collections of high-end
capability are significant at a time of
escalating global tension.

A Close Relationship
The navies demonstrated the close
nature of their relationship at the
inaugural Paris Naval Conference,

U.S. NAVY
hosted by the French Navy at IFRI
(the French institute for international
relations) on January 18th. A French Navy Rafale fighter aircraft is readied for launch from the USN aircraft carrier USS George H.
W. Bush, during combined operations in the Mediterranean Sea in November 2022. The French Navy, RN,
“The three navies have numerous and USN have extensive experience of integrating carriers together, integrating aircraft onto each other’s
carriers, and integrating surface ships into each other’s carrier strike groups.
common points, at the forefront of
which is oceanic deterrence,” Adm.
Pierre Vandier, the French Navy’s Chief
of Naval Staff, said in his opening Keys Areas of Partnership
remarks. “They are global navies that are deployed
Adm. Vandier noted three key areas of partnership and
on the four vast oceans, and all three have high-level
cooperation.
equipment. [...] They are confronted with the same
military challenges.” First is interoperability. “[This] is our capability to
think alike, and to act in a world where we understand
“[This] makes their navies have great proximity —
developments in the same way,” said Vandier. It means
technical, tactical, and strategic proximity,” Vandier
their collective forces can train and operate together
continued. “This proximity has an aggregating effect.
under, on, or above the water, in whatever ocean
It sets a certain number of standards, ways of doing
necessary and in a consistent manner, he explained.
things. Therefore, it pulls all three of us up and it pulls
up all our allies and partners.” Allies seek to further enhance interoperability through
Adm. Sir Ben Key, the RN’s First Sea Lord and Chief of interchangeability. This already includes the smooth,
Naval Staff, mirrored these views. straightforward swapping of surface ships in and out of
each other’s task groups. This interchangeability was
Navies need to operate and engage together on a daily
demonstrated by a 2021 exercise in the Pacific, when
basis in order to integrate seamlessly at sea and deter
USMC F-35s from Queen Elizabeth were able to “lily
risks. “We are international by design, operating
pad” onto amphibious assault ship USS America, refuel
worldwide, fielding the strongest deterrent capabilities
and rearm, and continue to their targets.
we can offer, from aircraft carriers to ballistic missile
submarines, and always seeking to be at the cutting Second, “We must review our relationship with
edge of technology,” said Key. In this context, he added, risk,” said Vandier. In today’s operational context
the three naval chiefs share a, “commitment to making of confrontation, “we must acknowledge that the
sure that interoperability and interchangeability are unexpected will happen, and make our crews, ships, and
global capabilities that we have”. procedures resilient in the face of adversity, capable of

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 FEATURE
U.S. NAVY
The US Navy’s (USN’s) newest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, its carrier strike
group (CSG), and other NATO ships including a French Navy frigate, participate in the
NATO exercise ‘Silent Wolverine’ in the Atlantic Ocean in November 2022. At the same
time, four other NATO aircraft carriers were deployed across the Euro-Atlantic theatre.
continuing the fight,” he said.
Finally, Adm. Vandier noted that the three navies need
to fully understand technology. “We must master the
totality of the performance of new systems. Pilots
say you must be able to use every corner of the flight
envelope. To know tactics, you must know weapons.”
“We share technology with each other fairly well, [in-
cluding] game-changing technologies,” Adm. Michael
Gilday, the USN’s Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), add-
ed. Moreover, even though the three navies may focus
on and invest in different technology areas, “we turn
those into strengths and minimize any vulnerability, as
we work together as a team and go beyond just operat-
ing as separate navies,” Gilday said.
Referring to the five-carrier deployment, Adm. Gilday
remarked that it sent a, “formidable message [...] to
anybody watching, and there were many who were.”
However, the CNO stressed, such integrated presence
doesn’t just happen. “We are comfortable not only
working alongside each other, but more increasingly
you see our ships in each other’s strike groups and
formations, you see our authorities being leveraged by
each other,” he said. “That path is on firm ground and
heading in the right direction.”
Striking the Right Balance
The conference discussions covered questions the three
navies may need to consider, as instability increases
2 8 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023
WE ARE IN A WORLD IN WHICH INTER-STATE
FRICTIONS AND NON-STATE THREATS
ARE MORE LIKELY TO PLAY OUT AT SEA.
- Nick Childs, International Institute for Strategic Studies
across both the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific theatres.
“We are in a world in which inter-state frictions and
non-state threats are more likely to play out at sea,”
said Nick Childs, senior research fellow for naval forces
and maritime security from the International Institute
for Strategic Studies (IISS). “There is a perception that
there is more manoeuvre room to test the boundaries at
sea, and potentially adversaries are finding new ways to
challenge.” Part of the Western naval response, Childs
explained, would be to increase presence at sea, develop
new concepts of operations, and harness new technology.
Childs noted that the Indo-Pacific theatre is seen as the
“pacing maritime arena,” and presents strategic- and
operational-level challenges for the partner navies.
While the USN is a Pacific power, the Indo-Pacific’s
emergence in the maritime arena, “is an issue for navies
with global ambition like the French Navy and the
RN,” said Childs. A shift towards offensive operational
postures in the Indo-Pacific would create challenges
for navies operating there, in terms of the breadth of
presence and depth of capability that is required.
“It should colour decisions in terms of the balance of
investments and the urgency of requirements in areas
such as uncrewed systems, directed energy weapons,
offensive lethality, and the surface/sub-surface balance
of forces,” Childs continued, “but it will also have
implications in terms of how to continue integrating
with other allies and partners who do not have the same
priorities or levels of ambition.”
The USN, French Navy and RN may need to work with
regional partners in the Indo-Pacific to develop niche
technologies and role specialisation to generate greater
coverage, Childs concluded. 
Dr. Lee Willett is an independent writer and analyst specialising in naval and maritime matters,
with a 25-year professional background. He has spent time at sea, on submarines and aircraft
carriers, among others.
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Capt. Chad Graham, commanding officer of the Lewis B. Puller-class
expeditionary sea base USS Hershel “Woody” Williams, is welcomed onto
an Armed Forces of the Republic of Congo installation, Sept. 12, 2022.
A NEW ERA IN AFRICA
AS CHINA AND RUSSIA SEEK MORE INFLUENCE IN AFRICA,
THE U.S. NAVY SAYS THEY WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD
PARTNERSHIPS ON THE CONTINENT
B Y D A N I E L P. T AY L O R
Since the end of the Cold War, the
U.S. Navy has enjoyed dominance of the global seas
that continues to this day. But there are signs that two
chief adversaries, China and Russia, are making a bid to
compete with the United States in one part of the world
— Africa.
Continent of Riches
Africa is continent rich in just about every resource,
and Western governments have long sought influence
there since the British Empire started taking control
of African countries in the 1800s. While colonial rule is
long gone, interest in Africa has not waned. And now,
non-Western powers are starting to get involved.
Russia in particular has focused on deepening ties in
southern, central, and northern Africa. The West’s often
brutal colonization of the continent over the last two
centuries has given non-Western governments like
Russia an opening to brand themselves as an anti-
colonial power interested in partnering with rather than
3 0 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023
U.S. NAVY
dominating African nations. Recent reports from Voice
of America and others indicate that top Russian official
Sergey Lavrov has made or plans to make visits to many
African countries spread across the continent, from
Tunisia to South Africa.
China has also been engaged in activities that position
Africa as a priority. The United States has an estimated
750 foreign military bases in around 80 nations, but
China has just one — Djibouti. There, the People’s
Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) chose a prime staging
ground on the Horn of Africa to be the site of its first
foreign military base, illustrating the continent’s
importance. U.S. officials have also claimed that China is
seeking a permanent naval base in Equatorial Guinea.
A “Major Geopolitical Force”
The U.S. Navy says they believe in relationship-building
as key to maintaining its influence in Africa. Cmdr.
Richlyn Ivey, U.S. Sixth Fleet spokesperson, describes
the continent of Africa as a “major geopolitical force
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
 FEATURE

with most of the world’s oceans touching

its vast coastline,” and that the Navy
wants to establish relationships across
Africa to provide opportunities to, “assess
capabilities and identify gaps.”
She adds that ongoing activities include a
series of three exercises taking place this
year, with operation Obangame Express
23 happening in February in Western
Africa, followed by Cutlass Express 23 in
March, which is set in the Indian Ocean.
Phoenix Express will take place in the
Mediterranean later this year.
In addition to these exercises, U.S. Navy
Forces Africa (NAVAF) conducts a series of

U.S. NAVY
rotational Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine
deployments around the continent. And
NAVAF plans to host the first iteration U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Thomas Ishee, right, commander of U.S. 6th Fleet, and Nigerian navy Chief of Staff
Vice Adm. Awwal Gambo, salute the Nigerian national anthem during the Obangame Express 2023 open-
of the African Maritime Forces Summit ing ceremony aboard the Nigerian navy landing ship tank NNS Kada in Lagos, Nigeria, Jan. 27, 2023.
in March, where heads of navies, coast
guards, and infantries across Africa will China is seeking influence on a broader scale, he said.
meet with maritime leaders from Asia, Europe, North
“China gets a lot of its energy from Africa, they
America, and South America.
probably need a lot of food from Africa, and they
Asked about the growing influence of China and Russia do fishing around Africa,” he said. “They do see
in the region, Ivey said that the U.S. Navy is not trying opportunities for competing directly with the United
to, “force a choice between us and a competitor [but] States with countries like Djibouti and access to the
focus on our partner’s security goals.” Persian Gulf, which is important for energy. I think
The U.S. Navy intends to continue developing China sees Africa as a place where it can compete
relationships with African countries as a, “critical piece head-on with the West.”Also, China believes that their
to enhancing maritime security,” Ivey added. socioeconomic system can be a viable alternative.
“Africa presents them with opportunities to help
Growing Competition
demonstrate that,” O’Hanlon said. “It’s not like China
Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow and the director of should have the advantage there, but if we play our own
foreign policy research at the Brookings Institution, game badly enough, then China has opportunities.”
said the U.S. Navy can expect growing competition in
There’s no individual location in Africa that could serve
Africa with both Russia and China, but for different
as a potential flashpoint like there is with Taiwan in
reasons. Russia has a more opportunistic mentality on
Southeast Asia, O’Hanlon said. There is strategic and
the continent, whereas China is focused on growing its
economic value in just about every corner of Africa.
status as a global power, he argued.
Despite the tense geopolitical climate, competition on
“Russia, they’re opportunists, and they like to have a
the continent doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative
few staging points,” O’Hanlon said. “They like the idea
development — although that remains to be seen in the
of extending their swath of influence from the Caucasus
coming years, O’Hanlon said.
to the Middle East to Africa. They see economic
opportunity. They will work with governments that “I hope the competition is friendly and to the benefit of
other people wouldn’t.” those African countries,” he said. 

WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 31

 BELGIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY
Belgium and the Netherlands began construction of their joint mine countermeasure
ship project with a steel-cutting ceremony in France in November 2021.

Cold Waters Spark

acquiring new frigates, led by the Netherlands, while
the replacement mine countermeasures (rMCM) vessel
program is being led by Belgium.

Warm Relationship Mine Concerns in Key Zones

Naval mines are a serious concern. Both nations have very
BELGIUM AND NETHERLANDS TEAM UP large port complexes that are key logistics hubs for all of

TO DEPLOY NEW SHIP WITH A
MINE-COUNTERMEASURES TOOLBOX
B Y E D WA R D L U N D Q U I S T
When it comes to international
naval partnerships, few relationships
are as close as Belgium and the Netherlands.
They operate similar ships and aircraft, and share
operations, training, education, and procurement.
Now, the two nations have embarked on a joint
program to develop and build twelve new mine
countermeasures (MCM) capabilities (six ships each
for their respective navies) which exemplifies the
close collaboration. The two countries are also jointly
Europe, so mines are a particularly worrisome threat.
“We have a small, exclusive economic zone. But the
importance of the sea lines of communication through
Belgium’s waters and our EEZ, and with our neighbors
in the Netherlands, is of much of much importance to
our blue economy,” said Belgian Navy Cmdr. Renaud
Hock, project leader for the rMCM program. “That’s
why Belgium and the Netherlands have been experts in
dealing with mine threats and mine countermeasures
for many years, and we intend to continue to do so.”
Beyond the approaches to their major ports, both
Belgium and the Netherlands have interests overseas.
There are Dutch possessions in the Caribbean, and
Belgium has obligations in Africa. “We want to have
a new type of ship — bigger, stronger, that can sail
further — up to 3,500 nautical miles without refueling.

3 2 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG


The ships must have the sufficient facilities to sustain
deployment up to 200 days, with up to 30 days without
resupply.” Hock said. “And we need to be able to
operate in choke points like the Suez Canal and Straits
of Hormuz because those choke points, for example, are
so important to us, and the world.”
Both nations currently have Tripartite-class MCM
ships that they built together with France. Not only
are they growing old — the first was commissioned
in 1983 — but they no longer satisfy all the current
MCM requirements of the two navies. Transit speeds,
endurance and operational time on station, and
covertness are lacking; the ships have limited self-
defense capability, and there are no staff facilities. And,
those ships must operate inside the minefield, thus
risking the crew.
Since the threat has advanced, so must the response to
the threat.
Pillars of rMCM Project
The rMCM project has three pillars: the platform,
the toolbox, and the simulator to train the crews and
support the new CONOPS (concepts of operations).
“We want to keep the platform where the crew is,
outside of the minefield, and so to work at standoff
ranges, and even over the horizon,” Hock said.
Unlike many mine warfare ships that are made from
wood or composites, the rMCM ships will be steel,
with installed degaussing system to reduce the
electromagnetic signature, shock-resistance, force
protection, cyber security, and enhanced self-defense
capabilities. The ships are equipped with a hull-
mounted sonar; not to hunt mines, but to avoid them.
According to Hock, the rMCM is not just a ship, but
a “capacity,” able to manage all the tasks of naval
mine warfare (except for mining, which is currently
not a mission assigned to the rMCM), and that can be
adjusted or augmented with containerized equipment.
While MCM will be their primary tasks, there will
be secondary missions these ships will be capable of
performing, such as humanitarian assistance/disaster
relief, and maritime security.
The rMCM concept is designed around a variety of
drones and offboard systems called the “toolbox.”
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG
FEATURE
SINCE THE THREAT HAS ADVANCED,
SO MUST THE RESPONSE TO THE THREAT.
The overall toolbox has around 10 modules containing
a total of about 100 “tools,” including an array of
unmanned and autonomous systems and a sophisticated
launch and recovery system (LARS). The modules and
tools can be tailored based on the expected operations.
The ship has two 7-meter ridged hull inflatable
boats, and a redundant port and starboard launch and
recovery system (LARS) used to launch and recover the
unmanned surface vessels (USVs). Hock refers to the
USVs as the “central drones,” because they deploy the
rest of the drones (apart from the aerial drones).
The key systems in the toolbox are the two INSPECTOR
125 “carrier USV,” capable of launching and
recovering the A18 AUV, the T18 towed sonar, and
the SEASCAN identification and K-STER neutralization
robots, as well as towing a minesweeping system.
The INSPECTOR 125 is also equipped with a mine and
obstacle avoidance sonar (MOAS).
While some of the toolbox systems could be operated
from “vessels of opportunity,” the Belgian and Dutch
navies do not plan to use their systems that way. “The
rMCM ships are dedicated MCM platforms, and the
systems of systems in the toolbox is designed with these
ships in mind,” said Hock. “The sweeping, hunting,
intelligence gathering, and deployment of divers will
be accomplished using the systems of systems that are
centered specifically on the ship.”
The platform is 269 feet long with a beam of 55 feet, a
shallow draft, and displaces 2,800 tons, with plenty of
internal volume and deck space aft for containers. “The
hull is relatively wide and flat, and that’s why there’s a
lot of room on board,” Hock said.
Naval Group Leads Consortium
The program is led by Belgium Naval & Robotics (BNR),
a consortium combining Naval Group and Exail. Exail,
itself, is a recent combination of ECA Group and iXBlue,
and is the toolbox integrator for the program. The ships
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 33
FEATURE
are being built by in France by Naval Group. The first
ship is being constructed in Concarneau. The second
ship is being built in Lorient, close to Concarneau, and
the third ship constructed in Concarneau with parts of
the hull assembled in Poland. From the fourth ship on,
the rMCM hulls will be fabricated at a French-owned
yard located in Romania, with the integration completed
in France. Apart from the Skeldar V-200 unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) from UMS Skeldar, a Swiss-
Swedish joint venture, the drones are built by Exail.
There is a flight deck and hangar for pair of Skeldar
V-200s — the same aircraft being used aboard the
German Navy’s K130 corvettes — although the flight
deck is also capable of operating small manned
helicopters.
In addition to ISR (intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance) and communications relay, Hock
said the UAVs will be also used to conduct detection
and classification with a LIDAR payload that can
detect mines to depths of five meters. “The idea is
to do a quick survey of the zone with the LIDAR. We
can also use the electro/optical camera to conduct
reconnaissance to detect floating mines and other
objects in the water. The UAV provides the initial
rapid detection, and then we would deploy the USV for
further detection and classification, identification and
neutralization,” Hock said.
The various drones will be able to communicate and
exchange data, thanks in large part to the over-the-
horizon data relay capability offered by the Skeldar
V-200 UAV, and be controlled by other ships.
Interoperability Is the Goal
Hock said the vision is that eventually there will
be commonality and interoperability among all the
European MCM platforms.
The drones and sensors will be more regularly updated.
“Toolbox 2.0” is already being designed. We want to
do that at the EU level, so that European navies can
deploy the same drones together,” said Hock. “We
want industry to cooperate so we can all have the same
toolbox.”
Hock said the rMCM program is the first time such a
3 4 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023
large collection of capabilities has been assembled, and
the navies do not yet have experience working with
them. “While the technology in some cases represents
advancements of existing systems and technologies, the
‘system of systems’ is new,” he said.
Belgian Navy Cmdr. Nicolas Doyen, prospective
commanding officer of BNS Oostende (M940) — the
first ship of class — said he and his team are working at
the Project Office in Brussels reviewing documentation
for all of the systems, and is in constant contact with
the shipyard and his representatives there. His crew
will begin training later in the year and be present
for much of the testing and trials in preparation for
commissioning.
“It’s a huge project,” said Doyen. “The crew has been
appointed, but we won’t all be together until later in
the summer. So far there have been no delays in the
fabrication of the ships.”
The simulator facility is currently under construction
at the Belgian Navy’s Oostende training center.
“The simulator includes a tactical simulator with
multi-functional consoles for the operators and a
virtual reality simulator to train technical personal
and maintainers, or to train the crew in launch and
recovery,” Doyen said. “The idea is to have both tactical
simulator and a virtual reality simulator linked by a
common scenario to train all the crew together.”
The first ship for the Belgian Navy was launched in
March of this year. It will be followed by the first ship
for the Netherlands in September, and subsequent ships
will be launched at six-month increments, alternating
between Belgium and the Netherlands.
Last year France declared its intention to join the
program, which will increase interoperability between
their respective navies. France, which will be using their
own version of the “toolbox”, has not yet announced
how many ships they plan to buy.
“I think that when this ship proves itself to be
successful that other navies will be interested, as well,”
said Doyen. “The more navies that operate ships like
ours and have similar systems then the better the
interoperability.” 
WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG

Minnesota Council Gets
Cadets Swimming
B Y U . S . N AV Y L E A G U E , M I N N E S O T A C O U N C I L
The MCJROTC cadets from Como Park, Minnesota
will now receive basic swim lessons as part of their
curriculum. The plan came together this school year
after Ms. Alison Petri, from the swimming education and
advocacy nonprofit Abbey’s Hope Foundation, contacted
the Minnesota Council upon learning that many of the
JROTC cadets could not swim.
As a water safety expert and the wife of a Marine, she
wanted to help. Marine Instructor Sergeant Major
Kirkland and lifeguard David Albornoz from the Como
Pool Aquatics Facility volunteered their time to help
cadets get the skills they need in the water.
Abbey’s Hope was founded to honor the passing of six-
year-old Abbey Taylor in a swimming pool incident. The
foundation works tirelessly with youth to create a world
with safer pools, by providing swimming education and
advocating for comprehensive safety standards for all.
You can read more about the foundation and the work
they do at their website: www.abbeyshope.org 
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COUNCIL DIGEST
MINNESOTA COUNCIL
Twin Cities Squadron Sea
Cadets hosts Dining Out
BY SEA CADETS, TWIN CITIES SQUADRON
Naval Sea Cadet Twin Cities Squadron recently hosted
a dining out event Squadron Commanding Officer Ens.
Shawn Wilson in January. During the event, two cadets
were recognized with the Theodore Roosevelt Youth
Medal by the Minnesota Council of the United States
Navy League.
Sea Cadet Chief Petty Officer 3 Maguire Weiland and
League Cadet Airman Apprentice Langston Pena were
presented with the medals by Minnesota Council
President, Cmdr. (Ret.) Joe Fraser.
The Daughters of the American Revolution presented
the Outstanding Cadet Medal to Petty Officer Avery
Mortenson, and the Sons of the American Revolution
presented the Good Citizenship Medal to Petty Officer
Maximus Schantzen.
Following the awards, the oldest and youngest sailors
performed the traditional cake cutting. Congratula-
tions to all the cadets who received awards! 
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 35
COUNCIL DIGEST

NAVY LEAGUE HEADQUARTERS STAFF

Honoring Our Fallen
BY ANN TROPEA, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Herman Schmidt, Gunner’s Mate Third Class, was a

Sailor aboard the USS Oklahoma. A native of Sheridan,
Wyoming, he was far from home on December 7, 1941,
when the battleship capsized after the attack on Pearl
Harbor. GM3c Schmidt and over four-hundred other
Sailors and Marines were lost that day.
Many of the bodies were unable to be identified until
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) exhumed
the unknown remains in 2015 and conducted forensic
testing using DNA and dental records. On January 3,
2023, DPAA issued a press release stating that the
remains of Gunner’s Mate Third Class Herman Schmidt
had been identified on January 13, 2021.
Over 80 years later, GM3c Schmidt was buried at
Arlington National Cemetery on a sunny day in late
February. The Navy League was honored to stand in
NAVY LEAGUE HEADQUARTERS STAFF

attendance, both in recognition of his sacrifice, and

in recognition of all of those who have been lost while
serving and never brought home.
To learn more about the vital Defense Deparment
mission to account for POWs and MIA service members,
visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil. 

3 6 SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 WWW.SEAPOWERMAGAZINE.ORG


JOE AND MARIANNE GIAMBRONE
Navy League Councils
Meet in Rome
B Y M A R I A N N E G I A M B R O N E , P R E S I D E N T , M I D - AT L A N T I C R E G I O N
Joe and Marianne Giambrone — National Treasurer
for the Navy League and President of the Mid-Atlantic
region, respectively — recently met up with Rome
Council President Laila Thea Volpe and other council
members while on a trip to Italy.
At an event to honor U.S. military veterans, Cpt. Dan
Prochaska, CO of the USS Mount Whitney LLC20,
welcomed Joe and Marianne at the beautiful Villa
Zaccardi Hotel on November 10, 2022. The USS Mount
Whitney is homeported in Gaeta, Italy.
Captain Prochazka spoke about the ship and recognized
the crew’s accomplishments, and their ability to work
together despite different ethnicities and religious
beliefs. Joe presented a Navy League President’s coin to
Laila on behalf of National President Dave Reilly, and a
Navy League pen set as a gift from Joe and Marianne.
The Rome Council also sponsored a visit to the Sicily-
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COUNCIL DIGEST
JOE AND MARIANNE GIAMBRONE
JOE AND MARIANNE GIAMBRONE
Rome-American Cemetery and Memorial located in
Nettuno, Italy. The cemetery is one of two permanent,
American WWI military cemeteries in Italy that
commemorates American service members fallen from
Sicily and Italy campaigns from the liberation of Rome.
The group left Termini Station in Rome for the one-
hour train ride to Nettuno. Lori Hickey, a member of the
American Club of Rome, arranged the trip. Guide Luca
Tamberlani and Superintendent Melanie Resto led the
group for a walk through the cemetery which contains
7,860 headstones, and to the memorial which contains a
chapel and map room. The Brothers in Arms sculpture,
which depicts an American soldier and an American
soldier arm in arm, stands between these two rooms in
an open colonnade. At sunset, as Taps played, Joe had
the honor of lowering one of the flags. Joe and Marianne
helped fold the flag, and Joe laid it on the altar in the
cemetery’s chapel.
The Rome Council was chartered in May 1992. Laila
Thea Volpe has been the Council President since
that time. The Council has won many awards and
recognitions from Navy League Headquarters. This year,
they hope to find sponsors for the project to adopt the
USS Mount Whitney. 
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 37
 REMEMBER
THE ARIZONA
AN ICONIC NAME FOR A GAME-CHANGING BOAT.

The ARIZONA will be the first VPM (Virginia Payload

Module) version of the Virginia Class of attack
submarines. Adding 240% more firepower to an
already lethal ship, each tube is capable of carrying
7 cruise missiles or a variety of equipment tailored
to the specific needs of the mission.

USS Arizona (BB-39)

Ship sponsor Nikki Stratton during the

www.gdeb.com keel-laying ceremony, December 7, 2022

Sea Cadets at Sea
TALL SHIP SAILING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
This training helped me
understand the importance of
teamwork and I couldn’t have
asked for better shipmates! This
is definitely one training you
should attend if you love the
ocean and want a challenge.
Sea Cadet Seaman Victoria Huber, NSCC
Centurion Battalion, Winter Park, FL
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My experience was educational
and fun. With the crew and
my shipmates, this week was
unforgettable. The food was
great, too! This is a training
that I’ll always remember.
League Cadet Petty Officer Second-Class Anastasia
Shevkolenko, NLCC
Langley Division, Canoga Park, CA
CADET CORNER
U.S. NAVAL SEA CADET CORPS, PUBLIC AFFAIRS
My sailing experience was very
rewarding. I was able to sail a
137-foot schooner in the middle
of the Pacific Ocean for several
days. The crew taught me a
lot, and I’m so thankful for my
shipmates and crew for making
this a memorable training.
Sea Cadet Seaman Apprentice Cara Funk, NSCC
Col Lewis L Millett Division, Riverside, CA
SEAPOWER APRIL 2023 39
 NAVY LEAGUE STATEMENT OF POLICY MEMBERSHIP REPORT
OF THE UNITED STATES  We of the Navy League of the United States stand for 2023 TOP RECRUITERS NEW MEMBERS
a strong America — a nation morally, economically, and
FOUNDED 1902 Jane Ferreira Honolulu 33
internally strong.
2300 WILSON BLVD., SUITE 200 Linda L. Ashbey Lakehurst 23
 We believe that the security of our nation and of the
ARLINGTON, VA 22201-5424 Lucian J. Caldara New York 6
people of the world demands a well-balanced, integrated,
NATIONAL PRESIDENT mobile American defense team, of which a strong Navy, Jessica L. Hitchen New York 4
David J. Reilly Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine are
indispensable parts.
NATIONAL PRESIDENT-ELECT 2023 TOP COUNCIL RECRUITING NEW MEMBERS
Christopher Townsend  We support all Armed Services to the end that each may
Honolulu 35
make its appropriate contribution to the national security.
NATIONAL SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Imperial Valley 30
Larry Salter  We know that in a free nation an informed public is
Malibu 25
indispensable to national security and, therefore, we will
NATIONAL CORPORATE SECRETARY
strive to keep the nation alert to dangers which threaten — Lakehurst 24
Pamela K. Ammerman
both from without and within. San Diego 23
ASSISTANT NATIONAL CORPORATE SECRETARY  We favor appropriations for each of the Armed Services, New York 17
James Lasher and Patrick Pang adequate for national security, economically administered.
Corona Riverside 15
NATIONAL TREASURER  We oppose any usurpation of the Congress’s constitution- Hampton Roads 11
Joseph Giambrone al authority over the Armed Services.
Bremerton-Olympic Peninsula 10
NATIONAL JUDGE ADVOCATE  We urge that our country maintain world leadership in
Northern Virginia 10
Mark Harden scientific research and development.

NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS  We support industrial preparedness, planning, production.

Doug Fulton
 We support efforts of our government to achieve world-
Eva Garcia
wide peace through international cooperation.
Robin Graf
Sinclair Harris  We advocate a foreign policy which will avoid wars —
if possible; if not, win them!
Jonathan Kaskin
Mark McDonald
Thomas Pruter
John Richardson
Frank Russo

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 CORPORATE MEMBERS SECTION HEADER

THE NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES THANKS ITS CORPORATE MEMBERS FOR THEIR GENEROUS SUPPORT.

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IN MY OWN WORDS

Commander Jarkko
Sirkkanen, Finnish Navy
COMMANDING OFFICER,
NAVAL RECONNAISSANCE BATTALION

I command the Naval Reconnaissance Battalion, which

is an element of Finland’s Coastal Brigade. My battalion
consists of two units — the Dive School, where we train
Navy divers, and the Naval Reconnaissance Company.
While we are a warfighting command, a mission we
take very seriously, we also play a role in training
recruits and reservists to be successful in their military
assignments. The Finnish Navy does not rely on
recruiting, but rather utilizes conscripts who become
trained and are then placed into a reserve status, where
they continue to conduct periodic training or operations,
and are available to call up for active service if needed.
In Finland only the young men are drafted. Our women
are all volunteers.
Our newly trained personnel are highly skilled and very
capable.
The Naval Reconnaissance Battalion has about 300
personnel, including conscripts. We are not big, but
we are very effective. In a contingency we have the OUR NEWLY TRAINED PERSONNEL ARE HIGHLY
system to call up our reservists who are already trained
to increase the strength of our battalion. We train with SKILLED AND VERY CAPABLE.
our reservists often, and the defence force will activate
quite a few of them to serve with active units for major
exercises. Archipelago. Our battalion’s primary missions are
We work very closely with Sweden, and train together surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance.
frequently, especially the Nyland Brigade, the Finnish These islands are our home. We know them very
Defence Force’s Swedish-speaking brigade. The U.S. well, and we know how to exploit their numbers and
Marines from the 22nd MEU train with the Nyland topography to our advantage. We are the eyes and ears
Brigade and Coastal Brigade as well, and our ships of the archipelago.
conduct exercises with the USS Kearsarge ARG. We also The islands — including those that are remote — are
participate in multi-national and numerous bilateral challenging to sustain our forces. We need the boats
exercises, including hosting major events such as to get our people on and off the islands, covertly, and
Freezing Winds. I think we will see more of this kind of to support them logistically. We also have appropriate
bilateral and multi-national training on a recurring basis. vehicles for our needs, and the right equipment for the
Our new NATO allies and partners know the importance season, including skis for winter.
of operating in extreme littoral environments, such Reaction times are very short in the Baltic, so we have to
as the 80,000 islands that make up the Finnish be prepared and trained. That’s what matters. 

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