WASHINGTON SURVEYOR THE
June 28, 2016
From USS George Washington Public Affairs
underway
wrap-up
PHOTOS FROM AROUND THE SHIP By MC3 Kashif Basharat
magic carpet lands on
ussgw
By MCSN Clemente Lynch
GEORGE’S C O RNER
Alternatives to drunk driving
don’t risk your career, use your resources
qualifications & training ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 16, 2016) – An F/A-18C Hornet, assigned to the Gladiators of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106, prepares to land on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kris R. Lindstrom
operations
ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 22, 2016) - The dry cargo and ammunition ship USNS William McLean (T-AKE 12) steams alongside the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) to conduct an ordnance offload. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jessica Gomez
#sailors
ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 21, 2016) – Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) participate in a cake cutting during a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month observance on the ship’s aft mess decks. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Devin Bowser
Story by MC3 Kashif Basharat
MAGIC CARPET LANDS ABOARD USSGW
A
technology innovation that makes landing fixed-wing aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier was tested by the Strike Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX-23) aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) June 23-28. The Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies, or Magic Carpet, is advanced technology designed to streamline the aircraft carrier landing process, which provides improved safety, efficiency and success rates in recovering fixed-wing aircraft on board aircraft carriers. “We are testing the initial fleet release version,” said Lt. Christopher Montague, a project officer for Magic Carpet attached to VX-23. “It makes the job (of landing on a carrier) a lot easier. We have taken a number of leaps in what we can do with flight control technology to be more accurate and use fewer passes to successfully trap an aircraft.” On typical carrier landings, pilots must align glide slope, angle of attack and line up, often making up to hundreds of individual adjustments in order to safely land. Magic Carpet seeks to simplify this process by reducing the pilot’s work load.
“With the technology, we decoupled the glide slope, angle of attack and line up into three separate pieces,” said Capt. David Kindley, the F/A-18 & EA-18G program manager. “Before, if a pilot made one small change to any of these it would affect all the other things. With Magic Carpet, if the pilot wants to adjust glide slope, he just pushes the stick without changing the power or anything else.” VX-23 tested the initial version of the software April 20-23, 2015, aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). “On CVN 77, we were just trying to test the feasibility of the software,” said Kevin Teig, the lead flight test engineer. “We were also looking for deficiencies and ways to improve. One of the refinements we made for this test iteration was to fine tune the gains and sensitivity of the flight control and see how the system handles.” Now, VX-23 pilots are testing a new feature, an improved heads up display (HUD) on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G GROWLER®. “The previous models were designed to land on a stationary airfield,” said Montague. “Since carriers are frequently on the move, we designed it to better adapt
and compensate for the movement. It takes all the technology we have in the Super Hornet and tailors it in one specific area.” Ultimately, one of the goals of the Magic Carpet software is to reduce training time for future pilots. “The culture these days is that there are a lot of young kids who have grown up with video games and are used to quick hand-eye coordination,” said Teig. “If we give them intuitive software and enhanced HUD symbology, such as with Magic Carpet, learning to fly the ball and make corrections with this control method will be very similar. It will make training a lot faster and easier for the new and upcoming pilots.” “Magic Carpet is an evolutionary improvement in aircraft carrier landings,” said Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander, Naval Air Forces. “This technology innovation will ease pilot workload, improve overall recovery time and reduce tanker requirements. These significant changes will make naval aviation even more effective and efficient and improve the offensive capability of the carrier strike group.” The final fleet release version of the technology is expected to come out in 2019.
ALTERNATIVESTO
DRUNKDRIVING DON’T RISK YOUR CAREER, USE YOUR RESOURCES
By MCSN Clemente Lynch
GEORGE’S
CORNER
NAVY NEWS
Monterey, Calif. (NNS) -- Last year, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) set a world record by flying a swarm of 50 autonomous drones all controlled by a single operator. Now, NPS and the Department of the Navy Office of Strategy and Innovation have challenged some of the best developers, hackers and designers in Silicon Valley to hack the control system. The Navy’s “#HacktheSky” hackathon and future of autonomy workshop being held June 24-26 at the innovation hub Galvanize in San Francisco, California, is bringing together an array of hackers, cyber experts, Silicon Valley tech representatives, and data scientists to find vulnerabilities in the drones’ code. Ultimately, the purpose of the hackathon is to improve software, innovate upon technology created at NPS for unmanned
Navy Challenges Top Coders to #HacktheSky By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Victoria Ochoa
systems, and foster stronger relationships between government, industry and bay area technical leaders. “Right now, the commercial drone sector is six generations ahead of what the Department of the Navy is currently testing, because our cumbersome processes and requirements were designed for an era of manned aircraft and big expensive acquisitions,” said Dr. Maura Sullivan, Chief of Strategy and Innovation for the U.S. Navy. “We are still attempting to apply the rules for physical systems to a digital world, but the event today is one of the ways we are looking to break down that paradigm.” “A leading software company like Facebook pushes revenue critical production code every day,” added Navy Cmdr. Zachary Staples, Director of NPS’ Center for Cyber Warfare. “But the Navy is developing software within an acquisition system that delivers code no faster than annually. We are at strategic risk of being outcompeted by adversaries that adopt code development speed as on organizing
principle.” With technology advancing every day, becoming more sophisticated, user friendly and available to the masses, an outdated system is not conducive to a rapidly evolving strategic landscape. “One of the meta purposes of #HacktheSky, aside from drone specifics, is that we will have working prototypes of advanced capability developed in a single weekend to demonstrate for our leadership,” said Staples. “We don’t want to tell leadership speed is possible, we want to SHOW them. I am hopeful we can walk out at the end of this event, whether you’re military or civilian, believing the Navy can innovate at world-class speed.” There are limitations to what can be accomplished in a weekend, but experience shows that innovation can be nurtured by getting the right people together in one room. “Spend the next two days moving beyond the apparent soundness of conventional wisdom, and working together to build toward the future that is already here,” said Sullivan.
PAC SAG Reunites in South China Sea By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jay C. Pugh, Navy Public Affairs Support Element
SOUTH CHINA SEA (NNS) -- Participating units of a U.S. 3rd Fleet Pacific Surface Action Group (PAC SAG) reunited while on routine patrol in the South China Sea, June 27 after conducting nearly three months of theater security operations in the Indo-Asia Pacific. Guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance (DDG 111), USS Momsen (DDG 92), and USS Decatur (DDG 73), with embarked Destroyer Squadron (CDS) 31 staff, deployed to the Western Pacific and South China Sea since departing the waters of Southern California in April. “This Surface Action Group continues to operate effectively throughout the Pacific and across the spectrum of missions they have been assigned,” said Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet. “Their deployment is an important part of the ‘3rd Fleet Forward’ concept and we are proud of their performance thus far.” For the past three months, Momsen and Decatur conducted several bilateral exercises with the Republic of Korea, France and Japan which highlighted numerous evolutions to include antisubmarine warfare, maneuvering drills, gunnery exercises and visit, board, search and seizure subject matter expert exchanges. They also had the opportunity to engage with U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps air assets in small force events.
#USSGW
“For years the Navy has maintained a steadfast presence in the Pacific Fleet and this SAG is proving to be a valuable asset for stability and relations with our partner nations,” said Capt. Charles Johnson, commander, Destroyer Squadron 31. “Through these exercises and security
operations we have already begun to enhance our relationships and strategic coordination with our Pacific partners; interoperability.” Spruance participated in the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI) in the South China Sea. OMSI is a Secretary of Defense program leveraging Department of Defense assets transiting the region to increase the Coast Guard’s maritime domain awareness, ultimately supporting its maritime law enforcement operations in Oceania. “OMSI demonstrates the ability to partner with
not only military agencies, but local agencies,” said Cmdr. Manuel Hernandez, commanding officer, USS Spruance. “The ability to leverage the unique capacity and capabilities of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard and their experience in law enforcement, [U.S. Defense Attache Office], Foreign Fisheries Agency, and our partner nations in the area in support of the security and stability, and therefore the prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region is incredible.” The PAC SAG deployment also emphasized cultural exchanges in the Pacific with 10 community service projects held during five separate port calls. “Community service is important because it provides an opportunity for our Sailors to give back to the communities that host us as we accomplish our mission,” said Lt. Cmdr. Glenn Flemming, CDS-31 chaplain. “Community service also provides a venue for us to come alongside our partners to jointly and positively impact the people of our host nations. Our Sailors engaging people around the world in positive efforts will leave a lasting and impact long after we have gone back to sea.” The U.S. Navy maintains a presence in the Indo Asia-Pacific region to help preserve peace and security and to further partnerships with friends and allies. The forward presence contributes to freedom of navigation and lawful use of the sea, as well as furthers operational training and enables an exchange of culture, skills, and tactical knowledge.
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underway
movie
schedule
June 28th 2016
Channel 4 0800 Man of Steel 1000 Carrie 1200 The Internship 1400 The Heat 1600 Movie Request Call 4988 1800 The Incredibles
Channel 6 0800 The Rundown 1000 People Like Us 1200 Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter
1400 Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection 1600 Movie Request Call 4988 1800 Total Recall (2012)
Channel 5 0800 Trouble with the Curve 1000 Run Silent, Run Deep 1200 The Bounty 1400 Captain Horatio Hornblower 1600 For a Movie Request Call 4988 1800 PT 109 Channel 7 0800 Free Birds 1000 The Book Thief 1200 The Best Man Holiday 1400 Frozen 1600 Movie Request Call 4988 1800 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
staff Commanding Officer CAPT Timothy Kuehhas
Executive Officer CAPT Kenneth Strong
Command Master Chief CMDCM James Tocorzic
Public Affairs Officer LCDR Reann Mommsen
Deputy Public Affairs Officer
CVN
GAMES
LTJG Jack Georges
Senior Editors MCC Adrian Melendez MC2 Alex L. Smedegard
Editor MC2 Kris R. Lindstrom
Content
MC2 Jennifer Case MC2 Loni Lopez MC3 Jessica Gomez MC3 Kashif Basharat MC3 Devin Bowser MC3 Alora Blosch MC3 Jaime Marcial MC3 Wyatt Anthony MCSN Clemente Lynch MCSN Michael Wiese MCSA Krystofer Belknap
The Washington Surveyor is an authorized publication for Sailors serving aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73). Contents herein are not the visions of, or endorsed by the U.S. government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy or the Commanding Officer of USS George Washington. All news releases, photos or information for publication in The Washington Surveyor must be submitted to the Public Affairs Officer (7726).