USS Porter, USNS William McLean perform vertical launch system re-arm demonstration

ByBillMesta

USN Military Sealift Command

NORFOLK, Va The crews of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) and Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) dry cargo ammunition ship USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12) performed a MK 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) re-arm, pier-side, at Naval Station Norfolk, Aug.3. The Navy conducted the demonstration to provide proof of concept that a dry cargo ammunition ship can reload the weapons systempier-sideandwhiletheshipisatsea, with a goal of expanding the capability of VLS reloading in expeditionary environments

“The Navy has been considering alternative vessels to move ordnance into a theater without an on-shore infrastructure to support,” according to Jerit Vanauker, of MSC’sTalugaGroup “Oneofthesituations consideredwastheabilitytore-armVLSfor Navy combatant ships in a contested environment, and so we considered the idea to useanMSCdrycargoammunitionship.”

In addition to the crews of Porter and WilliamMcLean,U.S.2ndFleet,NavyExpeditionaryCombatCommand’s(NECC)Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group (NAVELSG), the Carderock Division of the NavalSurfaceWarfareCenter(NSWC)and NSWCPicatinnysupportedtheVLSre-arming.NECC’sexpeditionaryreloadteamfrom NAVELSGareexpertlytrainedinordnance transfer and handling and can operate in remote,complex,andaustereenvironments to ensure naval forces remain forward and mobile “MSC’s role in developing and executing VLS is vital,” Vanauker stated. “We will bring the ordnance, and platform to deliver ordnance, in support of VLS re-arming of ourcombatantships,sotheycangetbackin thefightwithouttravelinglongdistancesto beresupplied.”

During the demonstration, Porter pulled into the naval station and moored ‘skinto-skin’ along-side William McLean, which was moored to the pier. The ships’ crews installed marine bumpers between the vessels to prevent damage to the ships duringtheVLSre-arm.

Once the ships were safely moored, the VLSteamaboardWilliamMcLeanprepared twosimulatedordnancepackagesfordelivery “The VLS handling team prepared and reviewed the necessary procedures, ordnance handling equipment (OHE) and tools to conduct the VLS re-arm,” said Vanauker “All procedures were reviewed, OHE and tools were inspected and a safety briefwasconducted.”

“Onceinspectionwascomplete,thecanisterwasloadedintothetilt-fixtureandvertical strong-back, secured and then attached to the crane hook,” he continued. “The tilt-fixture and vertical strong-back allows the canister to be tilted into a vertical positionwithassistancefromtheship’scrane.”

Using the Mclean’s crane two simulated missiles were lifted from the ship’s flight deck and swung over to Porter’s forward weapons cells Porter’s VLS team received the simulated ordnance and stowed the missilesaboardintheship’sMK41Vertical LaunchSystem

“The crane operator, with assistance from the Signalman swung the simulated ordnance over to Porter placing it over the open module cell hatch, and lowered into alignmentwiththeavailablecell, Vanauker continued.“Inall,performingaVLSre-arm is a very simple evolution which requires patienceandfocus.”

The crane for the VLS re-arm demonstration was operated by Boatswain’s Mate Justin Bradley one of William McLean’s CivilServiceMariners(CIVMARs)

“This was the first VLS re-arm to take place aboard William McLean, according toCapt.JohnStulz,USNSWilliamMcLean’s Master “Our CIVMARs secured the USS Porter alongside, operated the crane and providedsupportondeckforthisevolution. Cargoandordnanceoperationsareapartof dailylifeforMSCships.”

“The crew of the William McLean performed with precision and professionalism during this movement, just like our counterpartsdoeverydayaroundtheglobe,” Stulzadded.

The VLS re-arm demonstration was conductedaspartofU.S.FleetForces’Large ScaleExercise2023(LSE).

“Expeditionary logistics allow the Navy to quickly return to maintaining maritime dominance,” said Rear Adm. Brad Andros Commander, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command.“OperatinginsupportofMilitary Sealift Command during Large Scale Exercise2023providesourexpeditionaryreload teams the opportunity to train to different platforms so that they can continue to sustaincapacityandincreasethepersistent combatpowerofnavalforces.”

LSE 2023 provided a venue to test and refine current and new technologies and platforms to reinforce our current position as a supreme maritime force and provide feedback used to inform future innovation.

LSE 2023 includes six Navy and Marine CorpscomponentcommandsandsevenU.S. numberedFleets,includingU.S.FleetCyber Command/U.S.10thFleet,operatingseamlesslyacross22timezones

Staff

| MCC Amanda Kitchner 757-262-2852 | amanda.s.kitchner.mil@us.navy.mil MilitaryEditor | MC1 Maddelin Hamm 757-322-2853 | maddelin.v.hamm.mil@us.navy.mil AssistantEditor | MC2 Jordan Grimes 757-322-2853 | news@flagshipnews.com GraphicDesigner | TeresaWalter teresa.walter@virginiamedia.com Contributing Staff Ninoshka Basantes, Kaitlyn Hewett, Elizabeth Reisen 757-322-2853 | news@flagshipnews.com

MNVMilitary Manager | Ski Miller ski.miller@virginiamedia.com

ByAndréSobocinski

U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

When Rear Adm. Matthew Case took thehelmastheDirectoroftheNavyMedical Service Corps in May 2022, he was following a tradition that extended back toSeptember 29,1954,whenCapt.Willard Charles Calkins became the first leader of the corps Like Case, it was a position for which Calkins was primed

In 1954 Willard Calkins was a 35-year Navyveteranwhohadservedasanenlisted anwarrantofficerhospitalcorpsmanatsea, shore and various Marine Corps activities before obtaining a commission as a Hospital Corps Officer in 1942 In World War II, Calkins served in the Northern Solomons campaign, earning a commendation ribbon for his efforts as the logistics advisor to the Force Medical Officer of the South Pacific Area.

When the Medical Service Corps was established in 1947, Calkins was the tenth most senior medical administrator among the 251 plankowners. He later served as the DeputyComptrolleratBureauofMedicine and Surgery (BUMED) before taking over command of the Naval School of Hospital Administration, in Bethesda Md Calkins was only the fourth MSC Officer to serve asaCommandingOfficerandthesecondto attaintherankofCaptain

The fact that Capt. Calkins—or for that matter any MSC officer—became head of theMedicalServiceCorpswasanythingbut preordained. Unlike the U.S. Army, which had appointed pharmacist Col. Othmar Goriup as its first Chief in 1947 the Navy Medical Service Corps was founded withoutanyprovisionforaChiefordepartment head. And the act of creating this post was oneofthemostlyhotlydebatedissuesinthe firstyearsofthecorps

The Medical Service Corps of 1947 was organized into four sections split between two administrative divisions at BUMED. The Optometry, Pharmacy and Allied Sciencessectionsfellunderanoptometrist pharmacist,andalliedscientist,respectively each of whom reported to a physician serving as Chief of the BUMED Professional Division. The Administration and Supply section came under the Head of the Medical Service Branch who in turn reported to another physician acting as the Chief of BUMED’sPersonnelDivision.

NotonlywastheNavy’smostdiversestaff corps the most organizationally disjointed, all matters and decisions relating to the MedicalServiceCorpsultimatelyfellunder officers without the same vested interest in thefutureofthecorps.

The issue came to a head at the beginning of 1948 when several Medical Service Corps officers began voicing their concern that their corps lacked “espirit de corps”andmuchneeded “director guidance.” Calkins was among the most vocal proponents for a centralized “Corps Chief Office” headed by aMedicalServiceCorps officer In a memorandum dated April 27, 1948, Calkins wrote that the “only object I know to the appointment of a medical officer in this capacity is that it would be regarded throughout the service as a tacit expression of Bureau [of Medicine] opinion that there is no Medical Service Corps officer competent enough.” These thoughts were shared by many of the Medical Service Corps plankowners

On May 5, 1948, hope for reorganizing the Medical Service Corps was temporarily dashed when the BUMED Policy Board recommended against establishing a MSC Corps Chief. Instead, all MSC personnel matters were to be centralized under a Medical Corps officer serving as Chief of the Personnel Division.TheheadoftheMedicalServiceCorps Branchwouldremain,inessence,a“consultant”onMSCmatters

In the 1950s as more Medical Service Corpsofficerswererisinginrankandinfluence BUMED leadership reversed course andacceptedthevalueofacentralizedoffice headed by senior MSC. On August 23, 1954, CongressestablishedtheChiefoftheMedical Service Corps position and granted the Secretary of the Navy the right to appoint thefirstpersontoholdposition Capt.WillardCalkinsservedexactlyfour years as the first MSC Corps Chief before retiring in 1958 Along with Capts Leo Elsasser and Emmett Van Landingham, he was one of only three MSC plankowners to serveatCorpsChief

Postscript: In 1982, the position of Chief of the Medical Service Corps was redesignated a directorship and billet elevated to flag rank. Eight years later on October 1, 1990 Congress authorized the Reserve Deputy Director of theMedicalServiceCorps

Sources:

„ Calkins,Willard MemorandumtoCAPT Gilmore,27April1948(BUMED-23-WCC)

BUMED Correspondence Files, Record Group 52 National Archives II, College Park,MD „ Calkins Willard,OfficialBiography,Naval HistoryandHeritageCommand.

„ CDR O’Brien, MSC, Retires After 43 Years Service. National Naval Medical Center News, September 14, 1953

Erie,J.R.“TheNavyMedicalServiceCorps: WhenceandWhither?”U.S.NavyMedicine, Volume60,August1972 „ Gray,David.ManySpecialties,OneCorps. The Pictorial History of the U.S. Navy MedicalServiceCorps.SecondEdition 2017

„ RecordofProceedingsofBUMEDPolicy Board Convened at Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Washington, D.C., 5 May 1948

BUMED Correspondence Files, Record Group 52 National Archives II, College Park,MD

„ Sobocinski, A.B. “What’s in a Name?: ‘Chiefs’ and ‘Directors’ of Navy Medicine.” Defense Visual Information Delivery Services (DVIDS). Retrieved from: https:// www.dvidshub.net/news/412990/whatsname-chiefs-and-directors-navy-medicine

NavalMedical Readiness Logistics Command conducts Trident Arch Nordic 2023

ByNavalMedicalReadiness

LogisticsCommand

WILLIAMSBURG, Va.—Naval Medical ReadinessLogisticsCommand(NMRLC) has been successfully executing Trident Arch operations onboardNaval Weapons Station Yorktown-CheathamAnnexand forward deployment sites overits 40-year history.Operation Trident Arch Nordic 2023 integrated military and commercial resources to execute the deliveryofaCold Weather Package,and Civil Engineering SupportEquipment(CESE)MaterialReadiness Assessment (MRA)ofthe 144-Bed Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) located in Osmarka,NorwayfromMay 18 toJune9,2023. TridentArchisa NMRLC operation that rotatesoraddscapabilitiestoExpeditionary Medical Systems (EXMEDS) to and from pre-positioned storage sites ashoreand afloatforaddedcapabilities,CareofSupplies in Storage (COSIS) and service life extension.NavyMedicinehasfacedanincreased demandforagileandreadymedicalforcesto respondtoCombatantCommanderrequirements.AspartofTridentArchNordic2023, 43 containers containing the ColdWeather Push Block Capability were shipped to the pre-positioning site.This Push Block adds cold weather capabilities to the existing 144-BedEMFforuseintheEUCOMAOR.

OperationTridentArchNordic2023was led by ExpeditionaryMedical Facility Activation Team (EMFAT)Officer in Charge, Lt.Cassidhe Griffiths,and executed by subjectmatterexpertsMatthewGertenand CM1 Curtis Cox, with assistance from five Seabees from NavalMobile Construction Battalion1(NMCB ONE),Detail Nordic, CTU68.2.1;EO2GageBochette,CM2Brock Brower, EO2 Tyler Campbell, CM2 BonifacioGarciacantoran, and EOCA Stephen Cosby NMRLC DesignDirector,Cmdr.Jeremy Schwartz, HM1 Jesse Bolstad, and HM1 Scott Robinette also worked on site to develop plans for futureconfiguration improvements,assistedinreceivingcontainers, andreconfigured anew Central SterilizationRoom.

PhaseIofOperationTridentArchNordic 2023 involved the onload and delivery of the EXMEDSCold Weather assets,led by TransportationOfficersFredRobinsonand RobertMcMullin,fromWilliamsburg,VAto Norway aboardthe commercial cargo ship named MAJ RICHARDWINTERS.Upon arrival of the 43 containerstothe Osmarka site, NorwegianDefense Logistics Organization (NDLO)personneloffloaded them tobeplacedinthewarehouseforfutureuse

“The forwarddeployment of the Cold Weather Push Block adds unique capabilities to thehospital,allowing it to operate in sub-zeroenvironments,”saidLt.Griffiths.

Phase II encompassed MRA for forward deployed CESE. This materielinspection program assessment is conductedevery 12 months to evaluate the maintenance program, readiness,and materielcondition of CESE EMF warreserveassets.NDLO assisted this effort with logistical support such as providing tools and equipment, andtheNMCBONEDetailNordicSeabees providedbasicmaintenance to 201 units of CESEsuch as inspection, checking fluids, replacing batteries, cyclingequipment, and annotating discrepancies to ensureproper operationandreadinesslevels The work executed by theseSeabeesnot onlycontributed to the long-term goals of sustainment, maintenance,and cycling of these critical assets,but also presented an opportunity for the NMCB ONE Detail Nordic personnel to gain hands-on experience “One great by-product from NMRLC’s TridentArchoperation is aCESEMaterial ReadinessAssessmenttrainingevolutionfor NMCBONESeabeesdeployedintheAOR,” saidMattGerten,NMRLC’sSeniorCivilian