MSC's Lewis and Clark Arrives in Vanuatu for Continuing Support of KOA MOANA 15-3

By Grady T. Fontana, Military Sealift Command Far East

LUGANVILLE, Republic of Vanuatu (NNS) -- The U.S. Ambassador to Vanuatu Walter E. North attended Exercise KOA MOANA 15-3 Vanuatu opening ceremony at the Vanuatu Police Force here, Nov. 4.

"The waters of the South Pacific are home to some of the riches areas of marine biodiversity and fishery resources, but their vast expanse makes them difficult to patrol and police," said Ambassador North, who is also U.S. ambassador to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. "Protecting these waterways for sustainable use and legal use by all parties is not only in the interest of Vanuatu, it's in the interest of the United States."

Military Sealift Command's dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1) anchored off the coast of Vanuatu and offloaded Marines and equipment yesterday as part of her continuing support of the exercise.

In Vanuatu, the Marines will continue with their military-to-law enforcement engagements, while members of the Navy and Coast Guard will concurrently participate in Oceania Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI) operations, just as they did in Fiji and Kiribati, along with their host nation partners.

"As a signal of our enduring commitment to the Pacific, this exercise, with about 120 U.S. Marines, joining their colleagues from the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard, and in partnership with the Vanuatu authorities, will conduct operation to help combat transnational crime within Vanuatu's exclusive economic zone," said the ambassador. "The combined teams will look for potential violations and board vessels for further inspection."

The first portion of the exercise was in the Tahiti in September, followed by legs in Fiji and Kiribati in October where Marines conducted theater security cooperation (TSC) activities with those host nation partners.

After Vanuatu, Lewis and Clark, which is also part of Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadron TWO (MPSRON-2), will carry her personnel and cargo to Timor Leste for more TSC events, then return to her home port in Diego Garcia early December.

"The KOA MOANA exercise is looking at security force relations to expose our Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard elements, in this very interesting environment, to see how we might improve our capacity to work together [with host nations] in natural disasters, to combat transnational crime and other illegal activities like unregulated and unreported fishing by bolstering law enforcement programs through on-shore training and potential boarding of commercial vessels nearby, said North."

During the OMSI operations in Kiribati, the combined Tarawa Maritime Police unit and U.S. Coast Guard enforcement officers boarded nine fishing vessels. Of those nine, the Tarawa Maritime Police unit identified five boats with violations.

Those violations ranged from boats not having proper documentation or licenses to fish in the Kiribati exclusive economic zone, to vessels not having seabird or turtle mitigation measures on board.

OMSI is a secretary of defense program aimed to diminish transnational illegal activity on the high seas and enhance regional security and interoperability with partner nations.

Exercise KM 15-3 is a four-month international exercise with participants from the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and host nation participants from various countries in the Pacific Island Nations of Oceania.

COMPSRON 2, currently embarked in USNS Lewis and Clark and operating in the Southern Eastern Pacific, maintains tactical control of the 10 ships that are forward deployed to Diego Garcia and carrying afloat prepositioned U.S. military cargo for the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Air Force. The squadron's mission is to enable the force from the sea by providing swift and effective transportation of vital equipment and supplies for designated operations.

MSC operates approximately 115 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, conduct specialized missions, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military cargo and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces and coalition partners.

Key West Visits Subic Bay during Western Pacific Deployment

By Lt. j.g. David Oh, USS Key West Public Affairs

SUBIC BAY, Philippines (NNS) -- The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Key West (SSN 722) arrived in Subic Bay for a visit as part of its deployment to the Western Pacific, Nov. 4.

"I'm incredibly proud of the crew and what we've accomplished over the past couple of months," said Cmdr. John Thompson, Key West's commanding officer. "Their hard work to prepare for deployment was validated through a very successful execution. Now we have a new mission at hand - to represent the United States while enjoying the sights and experiences that the Philippines has to offer."

Master Chief Electronics Technician Eric Baker, chief of the boat aboard Key West, expressed similar sentiments.

"This has been a very busy year for Key West and these men have worked very hard," said Baker. "They are ready for this well-deserved port visit after a successful deployment and are eager to explore and take in the culture and sights of Subic Bay."

After more than a month at sea, the crew of Key West was very much looking forward to its first stop in Subic Bay.

Electronics Technician 3rd Class Zachary Cenit looked forward to reconnect with his family.

"I haven't seen my relatives in four years," said Cenit. "I can't wait to see them and eat and celebrate together."

Other Sailors, such as Electronics Technician 1st Class Joel Ignalla were just eager to return home.

"I was raised in San Pedro Laguna until I was 14," said Ignalla. "For me, the Philippines represent my childhood."

"I've heard a lot of great things about Subic Bay," said Sonar Technician 1st Class Robert Hatton. "I'm excited for the diving, especially the wrecks regarding our shared history between the United States and the Philippines."

A second-flight 688 submarine, Key West is outfitted with four MK 67 torpedo tubes and 12 Tomahawk cruise missile vertical launch tubes. The 360-foot, 6,900-ton vessel remains one of the stealthiest, most formidable submarines in the world. Key West is able to conduct anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Securing the future by Bending the Cost Curve

Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs / Published November 03, 2015

WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Bending the Cost Curve, one of the 13 Make Every Dollar Count cost initiatives launched by the Air Force, includes a growing and evolving set of more than 20 acquisition reform activities. These activities are focused on finding ways the Air Force can be more effective at how it spends money to get better capabilities to the warfighter faster.

“BTCC is coming up with ideas with industry, then going out and trying those ideas to see if we can actually drive down cost, increase capability and get it delivered faster,” said Dr. Camron Gorguinpour, the director of the Air Force Transformational Innovation Office, Air Force Office of Acquisitions. “Everything we do with BTCC is in collaboration with industry. (They are) a big part of the solution, so working closely with them helps us come up with better ideas of things that we should be doing.”

One program, Open Systems Acquisition, has reached a level of success. The concept is to move Air Force weapons systems toward a more open architecture, allowing traditional and non-traditional industry partners more flexibility for future improvements.

“Basically, OSA is a plug and play type of model. You have a system that anyone can understand and plug into if they develop a product that complies within certain requirements,” Gorguinpour said. “That way one company can create a system, but down the road, when you need a new capability, another company can create the new part and it can be changed out without a huge contracting action.

“This new open architecture environment will allow us to rapidly change out capabilities, to compete to a very broad segment of industry and be able to build on certain designs rather than having just one fixed product.”

As part of this program, the Air Force Research Laboratory created its own acquisition vehicle tailored to the new OSA model. With this new system, it will take only three weeks from the time companies demonstrate their capabilities to the time the winner is funded and doing work.

“This is getting us closer to the point of where you can acquire at the pace of global innovation,” Gorguinpour said. “There is definitely a lot more work to be done to smooth out the process for everyone to use, but we are getting it closer to being a reality.”

Thinking outside of the box and in the spirit of innovation, the Air Force launched the largest cash prizes ever conducted by one of the military services called Air Force Prize -- worth $2 million to the entity that can produce a lightweight, mid-sized turbine engine.

“Turbine engines are important, especially if it can be installed into a smaller vehicle, the engine can double the fuel efficiency and improve the lifecycle cost,” Gorguinpour said. “The opportunity to win the cash prize started in May and companies will have two years to provide a product.”

Also included in BTCC is the Cost Capability Analysis program that would create better transparency by providing more awareness of Air Force requirements to industry to reduce the costs and development times for Air Force systems.

“When buying something as simple as a computer, you can see where a small increase of speed or memory is going to dramatically increase the cost,” Gorguinpour said. “So you need to find the optimal setting for your requirement. Because of BTCC, the Air Force is working with industry early in the acquisition process to refine what the requirements should be.”

The Air Force is looking to provide more tools to help navigate the complex acquisition process with AQ Prime, a beta website powered by a learning computer with the knowledge of the federal acquisition regulation. This website will serve as a resource for businesses not used to working with the military, as well as the public, an easy way to understand the complex government regulation.

“Even if we do the best job at streamlining bureaucracy, the fact is that it is going to be complicated because the work we do is incredibly complex,” Gorguinpour said. “We not only need to streamline the process, but also give people the right tools to navigate this better.”

BTCC activities will continue to improve the internal Air Force acquisition process, enhance interactions with industry throughout the acquisition lifecycle, and expand competition among traditional and non-traditional industry partners.