Navy

The Navy said Friday it is accelerating the move of the first amphibious ready group ship to Mayport, Fla., with the USS New York now slated to arrive by the end of 2013.

The USS Iowa Jima and USS Fort McHenry will follow in 2014, with all three ships moving away from their current home in Norfolk, Va. The ships were initially set to move to Mayport by the end of 2015.

The move is the latest in a series of political battles between Norfolk and Mayport — and by extension the Virginia and Florida congressional delegations — over the home of Navy ships.

Rumsfeld was President Reagan's emissary against the treaty back in 1982 when international momentum was for it.

Panetta is on a three-country Asian trip to promote American military ties in the region.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told U.S. Naval Academy graduates that sustaining and enhancing America's strength across the Pacific maritime region will be one of the "key projects" of their generation during his commencement speech Tuesday.

The first lady said it was "an honor and a privilege" to sponsor the newest of the Navy's nuclear-powered subs.

The military commander for the Middle East theater and President Obama don't see eye to eye when it comes to Iranian policy, the Daily Beast reports, with the White House scrapping CentCom chief James Mattis's proposal to send a third carrier group to the Persian Gulf.

The request was meant to deter Iran from ramping up tensions at a time when it was threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for international sanctions spearheaded by the United States. Mattis has said the three top concerns in his 20-country zone of responsibility are “Iran, Iran and Iran,” but the Obama administration wants to free up resources to refocus on Asia and the Pacific.

A Wisconsin lawmaker whose district includes the shipyard where one of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) variants is produced is taking issue with charges in Congress that the Navy has shown a “lack of transparency” over problems with the LCS.

Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) sent a letter to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) on Thursday asking him to strip an amendment from the defense authorization bill that would require a “comprehensive briefing” to Congress on the LCS program.

The LCS program has come under renewed scrutiny over problems with the USS Freedom, the first Lockheed Martin variant of the ship, which was produced in Marinette Marine shipyard, in Ribble’s district.

House lawmakers are using their draft version of the fiscal 2013 defense bill to force the Navy to open up about the recent difficulties on its newest warship. 

Defense lawmakers in the House have blocked a move by the Navy to retire several warships from the fleet before they are due, according to their version of the fiscal 2013 defense bill. 

Tehran announced a number of areas in the Persian Gulf would be off limits to U.S. warships in the region, and would treat any incursion into those waters as threat to Iran.