February - 2022

Feb 28, 2022
2 min

China bristles as USS Ralph Johnson sails through the Taiwan Strait

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine immediately raised the question of whether China might take advantage of the situation by moving against Taiwan. Over the weekend, the U.S. Navy sent a signal that it still has an eye on Taiwan even as America moves to bolster NATO forces in Eastern Europe. On Saturday, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a move the 7th Fleet said was business as usual. “The ship is transiting throug

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U.S., Russian navies jockey for position as Ukraine invasion unfolds

AUSN Staff

Feb 24, 2022
2 min

U.S., Russian navies jockey for position as Ukraine invasion unfolds

Russian forces on Thursday launched their long-anticipated attack against Ukraine, and while President Biden has said no U.S. troops would fight in Ukraine, America is mixing it up with Russia in and around the Mediterranean Sea. Russia has positioned three guided-missile cruisers in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, in an apparent effort to check U.S. and European vessels. According to USNI, the USS Harry S. Truman has been in the region since December, in addition to an

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Analysis: Breaking down CNO Gilday’s call for a 500-ship Navy

AUSN Staff

Feb 21, 2022
3 min

Analysis: Breaking down CNO Gilday’s call for a 500-ship Navy

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday said last week he wants the Navy to be at least 500 ships strong, a comment that immediately raised expectations of a more aggressive plan by the Navy to expand beyond the roughly 296 ships currently in service. Gilday told reporters in San Diego that based on the Trump administration’s Battle Force 2045 plan that called for 400 manned ships, as well as other assessments done by the Navy over the last several months, he believes t

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Report: Ensign, four chiefs charged for leaking F-35 crash video

AUSN Staff

Feb 18, 2022
1 min

Report: Ensign, four chiefs charged for leaking F-35 crash video

A Navy officer and four senior enlisted leaders are facing non-judicial punishment in connection to the leak of shipboard video footage showing the harrowing Jan. 24 crash of an F-35C Lightning II jet on the deck of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson while the ship was deployed to the South China Sea. The video shows the jet hitting the deck, catching fire and then sliding the length of the carrier before falling into the sea. A Navy ensign, a senior chief and three chiefs have

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WASHINGTON EXAMINER: The Navy has a religion problem

AUSN Staff

Feb 16, 2022
3 min

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: The Navy has a religion problem

The purpose of our military is to protect our way of life and support our interests and allies overseas. But what would happen if we stripped our all-volunteer force of some of the traits that make them Americans? Would our military be as effective if we told the men and women who want to fight for our values they must first abandon those values? This isn’t a hypothetical question. The last few weeks have shown us that the Pentagon — and, in particular, the U.S. Navy — is cas

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Pentagon spent nearly 6 million hours on extremism, diversity, equity, inclusion under Biden

AUSN Staff

Feb 16, 2022
2 min

Pentagon spent nearly 6 million hours on extremism, diversity, equity, inclusion under Biden

The Biden administration has used nearly 5.4 million man hours developing and deploying a program to eliminate political extremism in the ranks of the U.S. Armed Forces, and spent more than half a million man hours training service members on the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion. In total, 5.89 million man hours were spent on those topics under the Biden administration, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told senators in a January letter released thi

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Navy engineer pleads guilty to selling submarine secrets, faces 12-17 years in prison

AUSN Staff

Feb 15, 2022
2 min

Navy engineer pleads guilty to selling submarine secrets, faces 12-17 years in prison

A Navy nuclear engineer pleaded guilty this week to charges that he tried to smuggle submarine secrets in a peanut butter sandwich and sell them to a foreign government. Jonathan Toebee, 43, was arrested in West Virginia last fall along with his wife Diana, who is also accused in participating in the scheme. In a West Virginia court, Toebbe pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to communicate restricted data, according to the Associated Press. As part of that plea deal, Toe

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AUSN backs bill to ensure veterans’ health care choice

AUSN Staff

Feb 14, 2022
2 min