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The San Diego-based USS Carlson Vinson joined the forward-deployed USS Ronald Reagan along with carriers from the United Kingdom and Japan in a show of allied forces in the Philippine Sea at the beginning of October. The exercise included the HSM Queen Elizabeth and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier JS Ise!

On September 16, after 25 years as a forward-deployed ship in Yokosuka, Japan, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) arrived at its new homeport Naval Base San Diego! Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CNSP), directed Curtis Wilbur to return to San Diego for a scheduled maintenance session

The USS Carl Vinson headed out from San Diego along with its strike group for the Indo Pacific region, carrying an air wing of F-35C Lightning II fighter jets! This is the very first time the Navy has deployed stealth planes on its carriers! After completing a 17-month long upgrade to support F-35s, the 41-year-old Nimitz-class aircraft carrier became the most advanced jet on the planet!

It has been four years since two deadly ship collisions took place, and the U.S. Navy has been looking for ways to address issues that investigators stated contributed to the deaths of 17 sailors. The San Diego Navy revamps office training in the wake of ship collisions to prevent similar incidents from repeating themselves in the future.

The USS Midway Museum recently received a 50-year-old light-attack jet on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum. On June 2nd, a crane carefully lifted the restored Navy A-7 Corsair onto the museum's flight deck. The aircraft restoration team has put in over 2,000 hours of work into this project at the Naval Air Station North Island.

Last week, three Navy ships returned to San Diego after a seven-month deployment around the world. The three ships include the amphibious assault ship, USS Makin Island (LHD 8), and two amphibious transport dock ships, USS Somerset and USS San Diego. They carried 5,000 locally based Sailors and Marines who were eager to return home to their families.

With the way the world is today with the pandemic and still at large, the Navy has taken measures to help support local efforts of vaccinating American in underserved communities. From the Pacific Northwest to the eastern seaboard, Navy Medicine Readiness Training Command (NMRTC) Bremerton has sent numerous staff members across the continent to aid the Department of Defense Community Vaccination Center support.

It's an exciting time for us. We're a little over a month away from commissioning the USNS Miguel Keith (ESB 5). Once commissioned, it will be redesignated as the USS Miguel Keith and assigned to the 7th Fleet. All events supporting the commissioning are not paid for by the U.S. Government but privately funded by your donations and managed by the San Diego Council of the Navy League.

This past week, San Diegans were astounded by the arrival of the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), flying a huge American flag. It was a stirring sight for all who presented its arrival. Multiple ships were sailing in formation, all flying the American flag (which also is the U.S. Navy's National Ensign). The grand entrance of the destroyer took place in San Diego Bay on February 24th of 2021.

This year, Navy League San Diego will be holding the first virtual Navy League monthly meeting on March 12th, at 12:00 pm. Due to the pandemic, our monthly meeting will be done via zoom. This blog will go over everything you need to know about the first Navy League virtual meeting taking place.

USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and its escorts left San Diego on December 7th, ahead of a second 2020 deployment. As part of the Navy’s COVID-19 mitigation procedure, the strike group had been in quarantine since mid-November. It was reported last month that, after the TR CSG’s two-week quarantine ended, the strike group would get underway for a sustainment exercise followed by an eventual deployment.

Nimitz strike group concludes the Malabar 2020 with Australia, India, and Japan. Maritime forces from Australia, India, Japan, and the United States completed Phase II of the multilateral naval exercise Malabar 2020 on November 20.