Free Republic

The carrier, along with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, reaches the region as tensions are rising with Iran. Deployed San Diego-based ships in the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and Makin Island groups are now in the Middle East, the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Central Command has announced. The sailors, Marines and airmen aboard the ships arrive after Iranian officials recent threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane for the world's oil supply, and warned a departing U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS John C. Stennis, not to return to the Persian Gulf.

The United States Navy is taking a big leap forward in "greening" its 50,000-strong, gas-guzzling fleet of vehicles, committing to a 50 percent cut in oil use by 2015, the Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus declared in a speech at the Naval Energy Forum. That's not all. Mabus said the Navy will attempt to get 50 percent of its total energy from alternative sources by 2020, including its ships, aircraft, tanks, vehicles and bases. Currently, that figure is at 17 percent. The reason: The Navy's imported oil addiction is socking the service with billions of dollars in losses. The...

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy christened the amphibious assault ship Makin Island (LHD 8) in a ceremony Aug. 19 at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Pascagoula, Miss. Silke Hagee, wife of Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Michael W. Hagee, served as the ship’s sponsor. This is the first christening to be held at the Pascagoula facility since the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Makin Island, like other ships under construction in the Gulf Coast last year, was significantly impacted by Katrina, which ravaged the area. Through the efforts of the Post-Katrina Clean-up Team, removing debris and identifying...