News of the Force: Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - Page 2

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News of the Force: Wednesday, May 24, 2017 - Page 2

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U.S. Navy and Marine Corps

 

    The Marine Corps Systems Command's Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad team has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory to create a boot insert prototype to help improve Marines' health and performance. The Mobility and Biomechanics Insert for Load Evaluation, or MoBILE, technology is handmade by the bioengineering staff members at Lincoln Labs with the Marine in mind. MoBILE helps to detect changes in mobility and agility, which will help MCSC make informed decisions on material composition and format of athletic and protective gear. "Partnering with MIT has allowed us to create a groundbreaking research tool that will help inform future acquisition decisions and performance of Marines in the field," said Navy Cmdr. James Balcius, a Naval aerospace operational physiologist with the Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad team. The team has partnered with MIT since 2012 and coordinates the integration and modernization of everything that is worn, carried, used or consumed by a Marine Corps rifle squad. It conducts systems engineering, and human factors and integration assessments on equipment from the perspective of the individual Marine. MIT Lincoln Labs is one of 10 federally funded research and development centers sponsored by the Defense Department. These centers assist the U.S. Government with scientific research and analysis, systems development and systems acquisition to provide novel, cost-effective solutions to complex government problems. MoBILE has flat, scale-like load sensors that are placed within the boot insole to measure the user's weight during activities such as standing, walking and running. The insert sensors are positioned in the heel, toe and arch, and they are capable of capturing data at up to 600 samples per second. When the sensors bend with the foot, the electronics register the bend as a change and send the information back to a master microcontroller for processing. MoBILE will help users gauge how they are carrying the weight of their equipment and if their normal gait changes during activity, Balcius said. The sensor data provides information on stride, ground reaction forces, foot-to-ground contact time, terrain features, foot contact angle, ankle flexion and the amount of energy used during an activity. Ultimately, the sensors will provide operational data that will help Marines gather information on training and rehabilitation effectiveness, combat readiness impact, and route and mission planning optimization. "MoBILE has been compared to a force-sensitive treadmill which is a gold-standard laboratory measurement," said Joe Lacirignola, a technical staff member in the Bioengineering Systems and Technologies Group at the MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. "Because MoBILE has a high sampling rate, the accuracy does not degrade with faster walking or running speeds. In the future, this accurate data could help provide early detection of injuries, ultimately leading to healthier Marines." Balcius said MoBILE will be tested this summer in a controlled environment on multiple terrains during road marches and other prolonged training events over a variety of distances. "This tool is basically a biomechanics lab in a boot, which allows us to gather data at a scale we have not had until now," said Mark Richter, the director of the MERS. "The resulting data will be useful to inform decisions that will impact the readiness and performance of our Marines."

    It's going to be another tough year for making chief petty officer in the drilling reserve, according to the official board quotas released by the Navy.

    U.S. Navy airborne radio communications experts needed the ability for low-flying aircraft to receive and network data amid radio interference caused by ocean wave action. They found their solution from Rockwell Collins, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

    U.S. Navy aviation surveillance experts are ordering three MQ-4C Triton long-range and long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for global maritime surveillance, surface warfare, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW).

    Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) experts at the Lockheed Martin Corp. will provide system upgrades to U.S. Navy AN/SQQ-89A(V)15 shipboard undersea warfare systems for surface warships under the terms of a $33.7 million contract modification.

    Sonar designers at the L-3 Chesapeake Sciences Corp., in Millersville, Md., are building the U.S. Navy's next-generation towed-array sonar for submarines and unmanned surface vessels (USVs) to detect, track, and classify quiet, modern submarine threats in open oceans and littoral waters.

    U.S. Navy undersea warfare experts are asking the Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems segment in Braintree, Mass., to build as many as 50 submarine active sonar projectors under the terms of a $9.9 million contract.

    "Back. Front. Back. Back. Front." A muddy trickle of sweat trailed down Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Lacy P'Pool's face, her voice gently directing a hand-clapping game with the little boy. "Front. Back. Back. Front." The strikingly dissimilar duo rhythmically patted each other's hands in sync during the Seabees' pause from laboring under the oppressive East African sun. The Djiboutian child's smile mirrored that of his camouflage-clad friend who - minutes prior - was vigorously maneuvering mounds of the Arta region's red, silty soil. P'Pool is a member of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1, deployed to Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa in Djibouti. She and other Navy engineers, also known as Seabees, are fabricating a medical clinic to serve the populace. Situated between a quaint school and makeshift dwellings housing a cluster of families, the clinic is slated to provide maternity and newborn care. But the Seabees are doing more than building a structure. They're building bonds. "When we first got to the site, the kids were throwing rocks at us. They didn't want us here," P'Pool said. "But that doesn't happen now, they're much more trusting and I think they even like seeing us here." In the weeks following the project's revival on May 2nd, the rapport between military members and local civilians has seen a dramatic shift for the better. The change, P'Pool said, didn't occur overnight. It took weeks. Daily, the Seabees arrived to the job site and toiled for hours under cautious review of those around. Eventually, the trust of the local public developed alongside the construction site itself, personifying the growing bonds between the U.S. military members and the local people. All task force members of support the U.S. Africa Command's mission of countering transnational threats. A method of accomplishing this is by engaging with partners to deter, disrupt and deny violent extremist organizations in the region. By informally forging partnerships with the local population through friendly behavior, the Seabees are directly helping to deter the extremists' recruitment practices. "What we're doing here could be looked at as anti-terrorism measures in two ways," said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Patrice Young. "First, we are creating a structure that will help keep people healthy. A physically healthy community is going to be more capable in defending itself against acts of terror than one that is physically unable due to illness or disease. Second, our presence and the way we conduct ourselves serves as proof of what we, as the U.S. military, stand for: we do not have to use weapons to be a force for good." While both the facility and friendship continue to be nurtured, the regional public seems to be embracing the budding partnerships. "At first, the kids were a little confused," said Amin, a teacher at the school near the site. "But now they know what is going on, and they see how important it is to have the Americans here." Amin said he hopes his students grow to remember the positive activities of the U.S. military. The Seabees share that sentiment. "There's a part of me that thinks, ‘Maybe if they're ever approached by al-Shabab and have to make a decision to do right or wrong, they'll think about us here,'" P'Pool said. "Maybe they'll remember that we built this clinic for them. Or, they might just think about our friendship and make the choice to not participate in a violent extremist organization."

    Navy Reserve Rear Adm. (lower half) Daniel B. Hendrickson has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Hendrickson is currently serving as director, Theater Engagement, J7, U.S. Southern Command, Doral, Fla.; Navy Reserve Rear Adm. (lower half) Keith M. Jones has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Jones is currently serving as commander, Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group, Williamsburg, Va.; Navy Reserve Rear Adm. (lower half) Daniel J. MacDonnell has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. MacDonnell is currently serving as commander, Naval Information Force Reserve, Fort Worth, Texas; Navy Reserve Rear Adm. (lower half) Thomas W. Marotta has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Marotta is currently serving as reserve deputy commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. Fifth Fleet, Manama, Bahrain; Navy Reserve Rear Adm. (lower half) Matthew A. Zirkle has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Zirkle is currently serving as deputy chief of staff (Submarines), NATO Maritime Command, Northwood, United Kingdom; Navy Reserve Capt. Eugene A. Burcher has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Burcher is currently serving as deputy, Navy Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer, Navy Installations Command Headquarters, Washington, D.C.; Navy Reserve Capt. James M. Butler has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Butler is currently serving as community lead, Naval Information Force Reserve Headquarters, N9, Fort Worth, Texas; Navy Reserve Capt. Rodney P. Dewalt has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Dewalt is currently serving as reserve commanding officer, Navy Installations Command Headquarters, Washington, D.C.; Navy Reserve Capt. Joey B. Dodgen has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Dodgen is currently serving as deputy commander, Navy Region Southeast Reserve Component Command, Jacksonville, Fla.; Navy Reserve Capt. Jacquelyn McClelland has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). McClelland is currently serving as reserve logistics officer, Naval Supply Systems Command, Global Logistics Support Headquarters, San Diego, Calif.; Navy Reserve Capt. Andrew J. Mueller has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Mueller is currently serving as reserve chief of staff, deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans, and strategy, N3N5, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C.; and Navy Reserve Capt. Richard A. Rodriguez has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Rodriguez is currently serving as chief of staff, Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa, Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.

    The Department of the Navy's FY-2018 budget request emphasizes readiness, but reduces spending on ships and aircraft. And after years of investing heavily in the V-22 Osprey and the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, the Marine Corps is ready to put down some real spending on combat vehicles.

    U.S. Marines with the 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, as well as the Norwegian Army, British Commandos, and Dutch Marines have participated in exercise "Burmese Chase," and Camp Lejeune, N.C.

    U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, and Amb. Peter Bodde, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, have met with the Libyan prime minister in Tripoli.

    Oshkosh's defense business has received a delivery order valued at more than $33 million from the U.S. Marine Corps for the procurement of 54 new P-19R aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicles.

    And Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Wojcik, of Naval Hospital Bremerton, Wash., provided samples of his barbecued ribs during the 69th Annual Armed Forces Festival’s Culinary Arts Competition, on May 6th. Wojcik, from Grants Pass, Oregon, was awarded first place for his ribs recipe.

 

North American defense leaders agree on need for cooperation

     

    Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hosted the third North American Defense Ministerial meeting yesterday in Washington, D.C., with Canadian Defense Minster Harjit Sajjan, Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos, and Adm. Vidal Soberón, the secretary of the Mexican navy.

    The NADM is the defense component of North American regional cooperation efforts, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana W. White said in a statement released today. White also noted that Mattis also hosted bilateral meetings with the two nations' defense leaders.

    "The secretaries and minister concurred on the importance of the North American community and continued cooperation and friendship as an example to the international community, to address the common and borderless challenges facing our region, and to advance the security of our people," White said. They also recognized that North America, as a community, has global responsibilities and that complex challenges are best addressed by cooperative responses, she added.

    The NADM provides a potential framework for cooperation and coordination among North America's defense institutions to build a common understanding of threats and approaches to address these threats and to identify and implement initiatives to promote trilateral defense cooperation, White said.

    The North American defense leaders decided to strengthen U.S., Canadian and Mexican defense cooperation, advance the capability of the North American community to address mutually identified hemispheric defense challenges cooperatively, expand trilateral support and cooperation for multilateral regional defense institutions, and exchange lessons learned and best practices for peacekeeping activities, White said.

 

Today in history

    On this date in 1607, the first English colony, Jamestown, was founded in America. In 1626, Peter Minuet bought Manhattan Island, in New York, from the Indians in return for trinkets worth $24. In 1818, troops under the command of Gen. Andrew Jackson captured Pensacola, Fla. In 1830, "Mary Had a Little Lamb" was published. In 1844, Samuel Morse sent the first successful telegraph message. In 1846, Gen. Zachary Taylor's troops captured Monterrey, Mexico. In 1854, in Boston, Mass., escaped slave Anthony Burns was arrested by deputy U.S. Marshals; and Lincoln University, the first black college in the U.S., was formed in Pennsylvania. In 1856, the Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas. In 1861, Union Gen. Benjamin Butler declared slaves to be "the contraband of war"; and federal troops occupied Alexandria, Va. In 1862, the Beardslee field telegraph was used for the first time. In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge, in New York City, opened. In 1915, Thomas Edison displayed his "Telescribe," a machine able to record tele-phone conversations. In 1916, U.S. Army pilot William Thaw shot down a German Fokker fighter plane. In 1940, German tanks reached Atrecht, in France; and Adolf Hitler affirmed Gen. von Rundstedt's "stopbevel." In 1941, the German super battleship Bismarck sank the Royal Navy cruiser HMS Hood in the North Atlantic - out of 1,419 British sailors, only three survived. In 1943, the Kreigsmarine halted U-boat attacks in the Atlantic; and U-441 shot down an RAF Sunderland seaplane over the Gulf of Biskaje. In 1951, racial segregation in Washington, D.C., restaurants was made illegal. In 1957, anti-American riots broke out on Taiwan. In 1958, Cuban President Batista's troops opened an offensive against Fidel Castro's rebels. In 1959, the first house in the U.S. with a built-in atomic bomb shelter was exhibited in Pleasant Hills, Pa. In 1963, CIA pilot Ken Collins ejected safely from the first crash of a Lockheed A-12. In 1964, "Hello, Dolly!," the Broadway musical, won a total of nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a federal law allowing the U.S. Post Office to intercept communist propaganda was unconstitutional.  In 1974, the last episode of the hugely successful "Dean Martin Show" aired on NBC. In 1976, Concorde service between London and Washington, D.C. began - the Concorde was the first supersonic passenger airliner. In 1977, Soviet President Podgorny resigned. In 1980, the New York Islanders won their first ever NHL Stanley Cup in team history; and Iran rejected a World Court order demanding the release of its U.S. hostages. In 1983, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government could deny tax breaks to schools practicing racial discrimination. In 1986, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher became the first British leader to visit Israel. And in 2001, Sherpa Temba Tsheri, then 15, became the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.

 

The parting shots

    Wow, man! Actor Tommy Chong is 79-years-old today. Singer Bob Dylan is 76; Rapper G-Eazy is 28; Singer Patti LaBelle is 73; Priscilla Presley is 72; and today is the birthday of Britain's Queen Victoria (1819-1901).

    In total viewers, Mark Harmon and NCIS ruled. The CBS series is TV's No. 1 drama for the eighth consecutive season. And the NCIS season finale led the total-viewer race with 13.39 million viewers.

    And the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host broke down footage that showed - yet again - the first lady refusing to hold the hand of the President. And Kimmel has called for a "special prosecutor" to look into why the lady apparently doesn't like the president.

 

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