Volume 69, Number 7
Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland
February 16, 2012
New GPS-based Commissioners, CO meet landing system "will be a force multiplier" By Scott Richards Operations Officer Naval Air Traffic Management Systems Program Office
During a dedication ceremony here Jan. 12, senior leaders unveiled the latest model of a technology that promises to revolutionize how the Navy safely lands its aircraft. "We have real, testable hardware now," said Capt. Darrell Lack, program manager for Naval Air Traffic Management Systems Program Office, also known as PMA213, which has oversight of the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System. "We are going to retire aging, radar-based, precision-landing systems and evolve into a GPS-based, precision-approach landing world." JPALS is the next-generation GPS-based precision approach and landing capability, providing increased operational availability and interoperability. It will provide secure performance at sea, on
fixed bases and in tactical environments. PMA-213 officials received JPALS' Engineering Development Model 2, or EDM-2, in October and plan to install GPS-based landing systems on all CVN, LHD and LHA ship classes, as part of Increment 1A.The system offers critical enabling technology for the CVN-78 and DDG-1000 ship classes, F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Navy Unmanned Combat Air Systems, while allowing retirement of costly, radar-based systems. JPALS-compliant aircraft will be compatible with the Civil Aviation GPS-based infrastructure when fielded. EDM-2 is the initial production representative unit of the AN/USN-3(V), consisting of four hulking, shipboard-suitable shelves of JPALS equipment and multiple GPS and UHF data-link antennas. A team, consisting of JPALS manufacturer Raytheon and government employees, will inte-
US Navy photo by Chris Basham
The St. Mary’s County Board of County Commissioners met with Commanding Officer Capt. Ted Mills and community and business leaders at the Frank Knox Building on Feb. 14. The group discussed upcoming Joint Land Use studies involving 10 counties in Maryland and Virginia, which will investigate encroachment mitigation and prevention issues surrounding, among other things, NAS Patuxent River’s flight paths over and around the Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore areas; talks also touched on Base Realignment and Closure efforts, expected for 2015. Capt. Jaime Engdahl, UCAS Program Manager, briefed the BOCC on the arrival and planned testing program for the new X-47B unmanned vehicle. From left, Capt. Ted Mills, St. Mary’s County Commissioners President Francis “Jack” Russell, and St. Mary’s County Commissioners Todd Morgan and Cindy Jones discuss the newly arrived X-47B unmanned vehicle.
See GPS, Page 3
Reservist gives insight into Fire Scout deployment News Briefs by Jamie Cosgrove Program Executive Office Unmanned Aviation & Strike Weapons Public Affairs
After a challenging nine months fielding a new unmanned system in Afghanistan, a Navy reservist recently visited Patuxent River to share his deployment experience before returning to civilian life. Cmdr. Brian Stephens left his home in Cherry Point, N.C., in April as a reservist bound for Afghanistan to support the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter's first expeditionary deployment. Before returning to his position as the fleet support team lead at Fleet Readiness Center East in North Carolina, Stephens is meeting with the Fire Scout team here in February to provide lessons learned from his experience as officerin-charge. As OIC of a 28-person detachment, Stephens oversaw day-to-day maintenance and operations for the unmanned vehicle. Stephens said the team was prepared for anything. "Every time something came up that we didn't anticipate, we wanted to make sure to capture those lessons, and make sure we didn't repeat them." During the deployment, the detachment of three Fire Scout aircraft collect-
African-American Diversity Concerts
Free, live performances by the U.S. Navy Band will be held at the United States Navy Memorial in honor of Black History Month. The first performance, on Feb. 17, will feature the Brass Quartet with guest soloist Musician 1st Class Cory Parker in a concert that tells the story of the integration of African-Americans in the U.S. Navy. The second performance, on Feb. 27, will feature the U.S. Navy Band’s premier jazz ensemble, the Commodores and include a narrative lecture component by MUCS Michael Bayes.
Comedy Show U.S. Navy photo
Cmdr. Brian Stephens left his home in Cherry Point, N.C., in April as a reservist bound for Afghanistan to support the Fire Scout unmanned helicopter's first expeditionary deployment. He recently visited Patuxent River to share his deployment experience before returning to civilian life. ed hundreds of hours of full-motion video for Regional Command North, providing critical situational awareness, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance data. Afghanistan's dry, dusty environment posed unique operational challenges for Stephens and the Fire Scout team. "The site we were working from was pretty remote," Stephens said. "Communication was difficult, and moving
material back and forth, from here to our site in Afghanistan, was challenging, too." Stephens said he was impressed with the team's work to modify and deliver the system to such a harsh environment. He was also pleased with his fleet support team's efforts to provide engineering and logistic support.
See Insight, Page 9
Come to Bay District Volunteer Fire Department, 46900 S. Shangri-La Drive in Lexington Park, on Feb. 18, for the annual comedy show benefiting U.S. Military Bethesda Fisher House & Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. Doors open at 7 p.m.; show begins at 8 p.m. Complimentary appetizers and desserts; beverages, beer and wine available. Admission is $25 in advance on www.prosc.ticketleap.com/comedynight , $10 for E-6 & below with I.D and current IA spouses through Feb. 17; $30 for all at the door.This is an adults-only show for ages 18 and older. Tickets available at MWR ITT, or reserved forWILL CALL: make checks payable to PROSC & mail to PROSC, PO Box 196, Patuxent River, MD 20670. For information visit www.paxosc.org, paxspouses@hotmail.com or call 301-997-0052.
See News Briefs, Page 12