Vehicle was dependent upon tech-
nology to give us composite or plas-
tic armor, or something that would
be light and yet serve the same pur-
pose as steel,” he said. “Well, it just
hasn’t happened. And the experts will
tell you, that’s still five years out.”
The Marine Corps is looking at a
“bridge” to the JLTV, including
upgrading High Mobility Multi-
purpose Wheeled Vehicles, or
Humvees, to include V-shaped
hulls and other better protections
against blasts, Conway said, adding
that some manufacturers think
they could do that for about one-
tenth the cost of a new vehicle.
Harris Touts Support
Of Africa Partnership
Amid warnings from senior leaders
that the military should be prepared for tighter budgets during
the coming decade, the Navy’s top
commander for Africa is making
the case for continued U.S. investment in “soft power” engagement
with emerging nations.
Though “not a Navy mission,
per se,” the Africa Partnership
Station, and similar efforts in the
Pacific and Latin America, are
important to building maritime
security, Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris
Jr. told reporters during a Jan. 12
roundtable at the Pentagon.
And “if you can improve maritime security and safety … I
believe that prosperity [ashore]
can be the outcome,” Harris said.
Begun in 2007, the Africa
Partnership sponsors deployments
by U.S. and allied naval forces to
provide training to the navies of
emerging nations along the east
and west coasts of Africa. About 20
countries have participated to date
and the total of partnership deployments to Africa should reach 15
later this year, Harris said.
The focus is on training and
equipping the Africans, whose
navies typically consist only of
coastal patrol craft, to deal with
problems including piracy, human
trafficking and illegal fishing, Harris
said. Participants learn such skills
as boarding a ship at sea and how to
conduct search-and-rescue opera-
tions. Participation is voluntary.
Navy, Agriculture Team
For Biofuel Venture
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has
announced a joint venture of the
Department of the Navy with the
Department of Agriculture to encourage the development of renewable
energy in conjunction with federal,
state, local and tribal entities, as well
as private organizations.
Mabus, who made the announcement in remarks Jan. 13 at the
National Surface Navy Association
(SNA) Symposium in Arlington, Va.,
said, “We’re going to share the technical data, program management,
financial expertise, coordinate a
mutually reinforcing strategy and
collaborate on projects to develop
renewable energy — biofuels.
“It’s a pretty exciting opportunity for the Navy,” he said. “It’s going
to lead to long-term benefits to
building a sustainable, cost-effective energy infrastructure.”
U.S. NAVY
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus
delivers remarks at the National Sur-
face Navy Association Symposium
in Arlington, Va., Jan. 13 during
which he announced a joint venture
to encourage the development of
renewable energy for the Depart-
ment of the Navy.
Weaning the Navy from fossil
fuels has been one of Mabus’ highest priorities since taking office last
year. He stated five milestones
toward reducing fossil fuel use:
demonstrate a “green” strike group
in 2012; deploy a “green” strike
group by 2016; reduce fuel usage in
the 50,000-strong noncombat vehicle fleet by half by 2015; have half
of shore bases at net zero consumption of fossil fuels by 2020; and
have half of the Department of the
Navy energy consumption come
from alternative sources by 2020.
Allen Urges
Icebreaker Talks
Adm. Thad Allen, Coast Guard commandant, continued his call for dialogue on the service’s icebreaker fleet.
“There has to be a policy discussion in this country. We are going
to have to make a decision and get
off the fence about the future of our
icebreakers,” Allen told reporters
Jan. 13 at the SNA Symposium.
“We are on the cusp of needing to
make a decision on icebreakers and
that can’t happen soon enough,”
Allen said during his earlier speech
at SNA.
