Navy secretary

Portland power struggle: Maine senators send SECNAV a what-about-us note

By Kevin Lilley on April 23, 2013 Navy, Navy secretary, Ships

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus named seven ships earlier this month, putting out a news release that was remarkable for, if anything, being unremarkable. All seven ships — two littoral combat ships, three joint high speed vessels, one oceanographic research vessel and one amphib — were named within existing naming protocol for their respective classes. No controversial honoring of former Marines-turned-legislators, no convention-breaking decisions, no “Sense of the Senate” suggestions — just six cities and NASA pioneer Sally Ride. But Maine’s senators aren’t happy with how the April 12 release reads. Specifically, Republican Susan Collins and independent Angus King have sent…

Mabus throws out first pitch at Nats game

By Jacqueline Klimas on April 15, 2013 Baseball, Navy, Navy secretary, Sports

On Friday, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus took a break from his desk job to take part in the greatest American pastime: baseball. Mabus threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the April 12 game between the Nationals and the Braves in Washington, D.C. The game was the Nationals’ annual Navy appreciation game. All five services will have a game played in their honor during the 2013 season. The Coast Guard’s will happen Aug. 5. The Braves won the Friday night game 6-4 in 10 innings. Prior to taking the mound, Mabus administered the oath of enlistment to 11 sailors at the…

SECNAV named top 50 CEO

By Jacqueline Klimas on March 28, 2013 Navy secretary

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus was named one of the top 50 CEOs of 2013, a Navy release said. The list was released earlier in March by Glassdoor, a website featuring anonymous reviews of companies, bosses and interviews. Mabus was ranked #43, just behind Victoria’s Secret CEO Sharen Turney. The list is based entirely on employee feedback over the past year. Almost 300 anonymous reviewers gave Mabus an 81 percent approval rate, the release said. Some of the reviews included: Pros: Good pay and benefits, travel opportunities, security clearance and housing allowance Cons: Long hours, time away from family, moving often…

iSECNAV to use tablets in Pentagon dining room

By Jacqueline Klimas on July 11, 2012 Navy, Navy secretary, Pentagon

Don’t call the Navy low-tech. Even their dining rooms are on the cutting edge. The five-star restaurant in the Pentagon that plays host to top Navy officials and high profile guests will use iPads to place orders and print checks, NextGov reported. The Navy issued a solicitation June 25 for a new executive dining facility software system. The system will function like those used in restaurants across the country to track food orders in real time and send those orders to the kitchen. However, most restaurants have low-end touchscreens, not Apple tablets. Bob Brewin, author of NextGov’s “What’s Brewin'” blog…

LGBT leaders push for next ship to be named Harvey Milk

By Jacqueline Klimas on April 24, 2012 Don't ask, don't tell, Navy, Navy secretary

An upcoming addition to the Navy’s fleet may be the USS Harvey Milk if Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., and other San Diego gay rights leaders have their way about it. The GLBT Historic Task Force of San Diego County and Filner sent letters to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week asking for Harvey Milk to be considered as a name for a submarine, carrier or other appropriate vessel, according to a PR Newswire press release. Milk, a late civil rights icon, was a Navy veteran who served aboard the submarine rescue ship Kittiwake as a…

A flight deck, transformed

By Gidget Fuentes on November 11, 2011 Basketball, Carrier Classic, Carriers, Navy, Navy secretary, Veterans Day

Organizers of the Quicken Loans Carrier Classic game and ESPN were thrilled Thursday that a Pacific storm might hold off any rain until well beyond the basketball game’s tip-off at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time Friday on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in San Diego. A rainy forecast had threatened to force the season opener between Michigan State and the University of North Carolina to the hangar deck below. But by midday Thursday, throngs of journalists converged on the flight deck on a comfortably balmy day for pregame activities that included a press conference with team officials…

Crowston comes out

By Bill McMichael on September 21, 2011 Anti-gay slurs, Commanding officers, don't tell, leadership, Navy, Navy secretary, Officers, Photos

[HTML1]Proposing call signs like “Fagmeister” and “Gay Boy” — and the winner, “Romo’s bitch” — one can only assume that at least a few of Lt. Steve Crowston’s fellow officers in Strike Fighter Squadron 136 felt pretty sure the unit’s administrative/legal officer and avid Dallas Cowboys fan was a homosexual. But Crowston, who filed multiple inspector general complaints over what he regarded as anti-gay hazing in the unit, had steadfastly refused to acknowledge his sexual preference, saying it was irrelevant and that his concern was over inappropriate workplace hazing. Tuesday evening, on the 6 p.m. newscast of Norfolk’s WAVY-TV, with…

Mabus makes good on winning pitch

By Bill McMichael on September 14, 2011 Baseball, Littoral Combat Ship, Navy secretary, Photos, Ships

The Navy’s top official visited the National League Central Division’s top team Tuesday as Navy Secretary Ray Mabus threw out a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game at Miller Park, part of a day-long celebration of Littoral Combat Ship 5 being given the name Milwaukee. The original announcement was made March 18. The Navy didn’t supply a pic of Mabus rifling a fastball off the Miller Park mound. But it did snap the secretary chatting on the field with former not-so-great-but-he-admits-it baseball player Bob Uecker, the longtime and beloved Brewers radio broadcaster who graced the movie “Major League” with…

Ray Mabus, swashbuckler sympathizer?

By Joshua Stewart on May 10, 2011 Navy, Navy secretary

To be clear, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus did nothing improper. But sometimes, his job requires him to make certain compromises, including tributes to pirates. “Now, I’m secretary of the Navy, and in the real world, the Navy takes out pirates, so I’m doubly grateful that you invited me to speak. And this is probably the only time you’ll hear me say it: Go Pirates, Arrrr!” No, Mabus wasn’t siding with criminals from East Africa who have caused problems in the Indian Ocean. He was the commencement speaker at East Carolina University, and he was paying tribute to the school’s…

UAVs and fantasy flights

By Joshua Stewart on April 12, 2011 Naval aviation, Navy, Navy secretary, Sea Air Space

Unmanned aerial vehicles aren’t brand-spanking new to naval aviation; UAVs the Navy uses include the rotary-wing Fire Scout and the RQ-2A Pioneer. But the next big thing in unmanned flight at sea will be an aircraft that can take off from and land on a carrier. Several companies are in the process of making that happen. The big names in flight are displaying wares that they hope become the backbone of the Navy’s collection of UAVs at the Sea Air Space Expo at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. Look at the pictures above.…

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