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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The Sentinal | January 2, 2024

Hundreds of military veterans and currently active service members signed “an open letter to the American people” detailing lawlessness among military leadership over the past few years and vowing to hold those responsible accountable under the law.

The letter informed the public that the signatories had “exhausted all internal efforts to rectify recent criminal activity” in the military as top brass “trampled constitutional rights, denied informed consent, permitted unwilling medical experimentation, and suppressed the free exercise of religion” while requiring COVID vaccines for service members.

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Military Times | December 30, 2023

The U.S. and Australian navies will see their submarine-specific partnerships grow in multiple ways throughout 2024.

The Navy plans to conduct its first-ever submarine maintenance work in Australia this summer using the sub tender Emory S. Land, with 30 Australian sailors embarked to learn how to repair the Virginia class of submarine.

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The Sentinal | December 20, 2023

Defense officials revealed that the military significantly missed recruitment goals in the most recent fiscal year, a phenomenon which continues amid broader societal upheaval and perceived ideological compromise among top brass.

Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Ashish Vazirani revealed that the military services fell short of recruitment objectives by 41,000 individuals in fiscal year 2023. The Marine Corps and Space Force were the only two branches to reach their recruiting goals.

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The MilitaryTimes | December 20, 2023

The Navy is introducing three new separate ratings in 2024 for information technology, or IT, personnel serving on submarines to specialize in communications, network security and electronic warfare.

Sailors currently in the information systems technician rating aboard submarines will convert into these new ratings to facilitate “mastery” in one specific area of expertise, according to the Navy.

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