Military Times | January 19, 2024

The first cadre of Royal Australian Navy officers to go through the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power pipeline hit another milestone last week when they graduated from the Navy’s Nuclear Power Training Unit, or NPTU.

Australian navy officers Lt. Cmdr. James Heydon, Lt. Cmdr. Adam Klyne and Lt. William Hall began the training unit education after graduating from the Navy’s Nuclear Power School in July.

The Jan. 12 graduation is the latest step in Australia’s plans to eventually operate its own conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarine fleet under the auspices of the trilateral AUKUS agreement, which involves the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

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USNI News | January 18, 2024

Lawmakers are warning the Biden administration not to disrupt the procurement plans for the Virginia-class attack boat program, arguing doing so will hobble the AUKUS partnership.

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Navy Times | January 17, 2024

Four days before he was relieved as commanding officer of the submarine Georgia’s blue crew, Capt. Geoffry Patterson was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol on January 8 by sheriff’s deputies in the county where the submarine is based, according to civilian records.

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TASK & PURPOSE | January 15, 2024

Navy Capt. Geoffry Patterson, who originally joined the service as an enlisted sailor, was fired as the commanding officer of the USS Georgia’s Blue Crew, due to “a loss of confidence in his ability to command.”

“On Jan. 12, 2024, commander, Submarine Group Ten, Rear Adm. Thomas “T.R.” Buchanan, relieved Capt. Geoffry Patterson as commanding officer of USS Georgia (SSGN 729) Blue Crew due to loss of confidence in his ability to command. As a matter of policy, the Navy does not comment on ongoing investigations and does not speculate on any administrative and/or disciplinary actions.”

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DOD News | January 9, 2024

Commander Stephen Bowen, a 1986 graduate of the Naval Academy, was chosen in 2000 to be the first submarine officer ever selected as a NASA astronaut. Between 2008 and 2011, he was part of three delivery missions to the International Space Station. It was on those missions that he learned the technology and environment of a space station were quite like that of a submarine.

“When they called me, I was a pre-commissioning unit executive officer for Virginia [class submarines], and it was so exciting to be a part of a crew establishing the initial operating capabilities of a submarine,” he explained. “For a moment, I almost thought, ‘I’ll say no,’ because we were looking forward to moving back up to Connecticut. But I’m very, very happy I said yes.” 

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STARS AND STRIPES | January 10, 2024

The Navy’s wastewater treatment plant near Pearl Harbor dumped almost 2 million gallons of partially treated sewage into the ocean Monday due to an electrical failure, according to the service.

Heavy rain knocked out a transformer that provides power to an ultraviolet system used to treat wastewater in the plant on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, the Navy said in a news release Tuesday.

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The Sentinal | January 10, 2024

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was secretly hospitalized for several days due to complications from a surgery one week beforehand, reportedly leaving the White House out of the loop on the status of the senior national security official while Austin was in intensive care.

“I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed,” Austin stated after news broke of his choice to not promptly inform the White House of his hospital stay. “I commit to doing better. But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure.”

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