Aircraft carriers are perhaps America’s most visible manifestation of global military might, each operating with its own strike group and able to project power into hotspots.

Sailors aboard the USS Zumwalt fired the first rounds recently from the destroyer’s high-velocity cannon, another waypoint on the ship’s segue into naval service.

In this season finale of the Military Matters podcast, hosts Rod Rodriguez and Desmon Farris shed light on the murky world of information warfare.

Kenneth Braithwaite is a 1984 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the Navy and then Navy Reserve for 27 years.

Obituary

William J. Keating, who spent three decades as an Ohio newspaper executive after leaving Congress in the mid-1970s, has died, his family confirmed. He was 93.

The shooting at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi on Thursday that left the gunman dead, a sailor injured and a second person of interest at large is being investigated as “terrorism related,” the FBI said.

“These times are uniquely challenging for the entire world, but it takes an extremely dedicated crew to maintain this old of a ship at sea for this long,” said Blue Ridge commander Capt. Craig Sicola.

The Navy Blue Angels flew over Annapolis in honor of the Naval Academy Class of 2020 in a surprise visit. Each of their three passes paid tribute to the Class of 2020 and the academy’s commissioning tradition.

The USS Kidd underwent disinfection after arriving at Naval Base San Diego, and a group of a sailors remained on board to operate essential services.

The March decision to postpone the boards was meant to prevent sailors from having to travel to Millington, Tenn., to sit on the boards, and to limit the number of sailors who would be working closely to one another, according to the Navy.

The U.S. Navy warned Tuesday it will take “lawful defensive measures” against vessels in the Mideast that come within 100 yards of its warships, offering specific guidelines after a recent close encounter with Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf.

Not to be mistaken for the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, which has been docked in Guam for weeks after a coronavirus outbreak, the destroyer is named after President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor.

Dr. Joe Costabile, a surgeon in the U.S. Naval Reserve Medical Corps, spent a year-long deployment in Kuwait in 2005 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. But the 66-year-old had never experienced anything like the recent five-week stint he spent in the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis.

The USS Roosevelt has been at the center of a widening controversy that led to the firing of the ship's previous captain, the resignation of the Navy secretary, and an expanded investigation into what triggered the ship's coronavirus outbreak.

Capt. Erica Hoffmann was relieved of duty “due to a loss of confidence in her ability to command,” according to news accounts and a Navy statement.

In four years, one ship maintenance center was only able to complete three out of 24 ship repairs on time, despite a new contracting strategy aimed at improving delays, according to a new report.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper will give the pre-recorded keynote address to the Naval Academy’s Class of 2020 on Friday, academy officials announced.

Master Chief Petty Officer Franklin Tiongco was removed last week from his position as the Navy’s national chief recruiter over a “loss of confidence in his judgment,” a spokeswoman said.

The gunman in a deadly attack at a military base in Pensacola, Fla., last December was meticulous in his planning and had been radicalized overseas for at least five years, U.S. officials said Monday.

Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier on Sunday began a fast cruise, an at-sea simulation, while moored at Naval Base Guam, according to a statement.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said it’s safe to reopen the country because half of the counties reporting “haven’t had a single death” and more than 60% of all COVID-19 cases are in just 2% of the reporting counties.

A transgender Navy officer is now permitted to serve openly as her preferred gender, the first such waiver since April 2019 when a Pentagon policy began to restrict transgender individuals in the military.

“Every patient brought aboard created one more available bed in a local hospital,” said Capt. John Rotruck, commanding officer of the Mercy.

Navy Lt. Rodney Posley is just one of the countless military medical personnel who brought medical expertise and equipment aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt to help address the ship's coronavirus outbreak.

The Navy did not say how the sailors could have retested positive after meeting the recovery criteria, nor what these new cases mean for the redeployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which has been in port in Guam since March 27 .

The U.S. State Department was ordered by a federal court of appeals to reconsider its decision of denying a passport to Navy veteran Dana Zzyym.

During their 14-day stay at the waterpark, the recruits will have course work and training during the day run by the recruit division commanders.

Perhaps the most poignant image to emerge from Tuesday’s U.S. Naval Academy commissioning ceremony was that of an Army-Navy football helmet placed with care on an otherwise empty fold-out chair.

GALLERY

The Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones conducted live-fire training in the Pacific Ocean Tuesday as part of an intensive exercise designed to fully integrate units of the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group.

Tricare, the military’s health insurance provider, is covering telephone appointments and has eliminated copayments for telehealth services as of Wednesday. The changes will remain in effect through the national emergency, according to a new rule posted on the Federal Register.

NavalX, the Navy’s “workforce super connector,” is launching the new Mid-Atlantic Tech Bridge — one of a dozen nationwide. The idea is to take problems within the Navy and get people around Hampton Roads to help solve those issues and capitalize on the solutions.

VIDEO

People all over Southeast Michigan stood outside to watch the seven F/A-18 hornets flying through the air to honor health care workers and front-line COVID-19 heroes during the pandemic.

GALLERY

Tuesday’s group is the first in five rounds of midshipmen who will travel to the Naval Academy to move out of Bancroft Hall and be sworn-in over the next 10 days.

A helicopter search and rescue team from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island airlifted a 27-year-old Seattle woman off Mount Baker after she was injured in a skiing accident Saturday, May 9, near Coleman-Deming Glacier.

Sometimes flying only 18 inches apart, the U.S. Navy's flight demonstration squadron tore through the sky Tuesday to salute Metro Detroit's tough front line workers in the battle against COVID-19.

The USS Philippine Sea, a guided-missile cruiser, spilled the diesel fuel into the York River on Thursday morning, news outlets reported.

Navy pilots will start carrier landing practice on Iwo Jima on Thursday to qualify for the USS Ronald Reagan’s upcoming patrol, Naval Forces Japan announced Tuesday.

The evaluation of the Navy's coronavirus response comes after the service confronted the coronavirus outbreaks aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and the destroyer USS Kidd. Both ships had crew members hospitalized, and the Roosevelt had one sailor die in Guam from complications due to the virus.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday is in self-quarantine after coming into contact with a family member who has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Pentagon.

“The Navy gave me the ability to be calm, think things through, deal with rapidly changing circumstances where we might not have all the information, deal with tremendous amounts of stress," said Elizabeth Bailey.

San Diego's military units remain cautious about the novel coronavirus even as restrictions are easing on some California businesses and as other states push toward a broader reopening.

All 25 nations that were invited to participate with the United States in Rim of the Pacific in 2018 have been formally asked to return to Hawaii in mid-August for a version of the exercise that's truncated and mainly at sea, the Navy said.

The Navy is in “troubled waters” following years of leadership failures that led to scandals, ship collisions, and the health crisis aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the nominee for the Navy’s top civilian job told senators Thursday.

Adm. Robert P. Burke has been nominated to serve as the next commander of the Naples, Italy-based U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa in a series of Navy leadership changes announced by the Pentagon.

A new report suggests that the frigate intended to replace the littoral combat ship may cost 56% more than projected partly because it's bigger.

Last month, the Navy sent an undisclosed number of sailors to sequester at Yokota and other U.S. bases in Japan before boarding USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group vessels for an upcoming patrol.

“We cannot simply take a knee or keep everyone in port until this enemy is defeated. We are America’s away team,” said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday.

ANALYSIS

For years, the U.S. military largely stayed mum about its missions in the South China Sea — but in past weeks, the Defense Department has instead highlighted sea and air operations in the contested area.

In this review episode, Military Matters podcast hosts Rod Rodriguez and Desmon Farris talk some more with one of last week's guests, retired Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. Juan Lewis — also known as the Fired Up Chief — about how his recovery from COVID-19 is coming along.

They buzzed over New York, Newark and Philadelphia. They did the same over Houston, Dallas and New Orleans. The did it over the National Mall in D.C., too. Next up: Miami.

A sleep-deprived month feels eternal for a Navy mom to go without word from a child on a virus-stricken ship, but Bernadette Mack’s phone lit up at 5 a.m. Sunday. No rolling over and trying to recapture sleep.

Capt. Brett Crozier was relieved of command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt on April 2, several days after a letter that he wrote requesting the crew be evacuated from the ship due to an outbreak of the virus was leaked to the media.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt will not wait for all its sailors to clear quarantine before returning to sea after more than a month sidelined on Guam battling a coronavirus outbreak on board, the ship’s commander said in a CBS News report.

Most service members, their families and civilian employees attached to bases in Japan have adjusted to restricted movements — but leaders are concerned about potential impacts to mental health.

Rear Adm. John Meier built the crew and culture of the USS Gerald R. Ford as the aircraft carrier’s first commanding officer. He is now in command of Naval Air Force Atlantic.

The USNS Comfort treated 182 patients while in New York, commanding officers said, about 70% of which were highly acute coronavirus patients.

The push above the Arctic Circle is part of a Navy effort to muscle up in a region where Russia has invested heavily in recent years and where China also has declared itself a power.

Leaving white contrails streaked across a picture-perfect blue sky, powerful military jets with the Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds roared over the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area Saturday in a show of support for those on the front lines in the coronavirus war.

Many of the commercial flights typically used to transport military mail from the U.S. to Europe, Africa and the Middle East were canceled, Navy officials said.

Nearly one-quarter of the Kidd's crew has the virus. Still, lessons learned from the outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier, the USS Roosevelt, has allowed the Kidd to avoid a similar spectacle of crisis.

After more than a month of isolating sailors, sanitizing the ship and testing every crew member, there are 1,102 active cases of coronavirus among USS Roosevelt sailors, three of whom are hospitalized at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam.

The new ship is the next generation of frigates for the Navy, improving on the capabilities of the littoral combat ships and capable of conducting multiple missions.

Coronavirus precautions may have stopped the Naval Academy Class of 2020 from having the fanfare of graduation in a packed stadium, but the midshipmen will still commission on the Yard in uniform in five groups over 10 days.

The world’s largest international naval exercise will go ahead in waters off Hawaii this summer, but participating forces will stay at sea during the drills due to concerns about the coronavirus.

The guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill steamed near the disputed Spratly Islands on Wednesday, marking the second time the U.S. has sent a warship on a freedom-of-navigation operation in the South China Sea this week, according to the Navy.

Bob, a black Lab, retired from the Navy last week after about six years of service as a military working dog. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal at Friday’s ceremony.

Acting Navy Secretary James McPherson directed Adm. Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations, to conduct a new follow-up command investigation after receiving Gilday’s recommendations from the initial inquiry into the outbreak and the Navy’s response.

The USNS Comfort, sent to relieve stressed New York City hospitals as coronavirus cases surged, is set to leave this week and return to its homeport in Virginia, the U.S. Navy said.

The Navy began moving sailors back aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, sidelined on Guam after nearly a fourth of its 4,000-member crew tested positive for coronavirus.

A Navy team on Monday blew up two World War II-era ordnance found in shallow water just off a popular Oahu beach.

Capt. Nate Schneider was relieved from the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training after the Navy completed an investigation into allegations of his behavior.

Sailors looking to tack on their petty officer crows this cycle won’t be taking an advancement test, following a decision by the Navy to scrap the exams as a coronavirus prevention measure.

GALLERY

“What we are doing is paying tribute to our frontline health care workers confronting [the coronavirus], and it’s really a signal to all Americans to remain vigilant during the outbreak,” said President Donald Trump.

The initial testing of all 4,800 crew members aboard the USS Roosevelt has been complete as of Monday, according to the Navy.

Some sailors and Marines on the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan amid the coronavirus scare are using yarn as a coping mechanism — whipping up hats, socks, baby blankets and more as they carry out their mission.

The Pentagon has cleared the release of three Navy videos — one from 2004 and the other two from 2015 — taken from F/A-18 aircraft that show what used to be called UFOs, but which now have been reclassified “unidentified aerial phenomena.”

An undisclosed number of sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan strike group tested positive for coronavirus after a Task Force 70-ordered sequestration period, a Navy spokesman said Tuesday.

"I’m just going in with an open mind, positive attitude and ready to play wherever they choose to put me,” the versatile Malcolm Perry said after being drafted by the Miami Dolphins on Saturdsy.

The coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Kidd has increased to 47 sailors, as the illness continues to spread among the crew since the first sailor was evacuated from the ship four days ago.

The goal of the investigation, officials said, is to understand the behavior of the virus better and to apply those lessons to other Navy ships and military units.

Malcolm Perry was selected by the Miami Dolphins, making him the 17th Naval Academy graduate to be selected in the NFL Draft and the third Navy product picked since 2105.

For her regular job, Jenna Wenzel works as an oncology nurse at the UNC Rex Cancer Center, prepping patients for chemotherapy. In her off hours, she works as a U.S. Navy reservist in Raleigh. Her clinic, connected to Camp Lejeune, has now sent reservists to both the sprawling field hospital converted from Javits Center convention hall in New York and to the USNS Comfort.

Among the newly added rates qualifying for incentive pay are: aviation ordnanceman, culinary specialist, cryptologic technician, engineman, gunner’s mate, machinery repairman and steelworker.

The Navy initiated an investigation into the coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theordore Roosevelt and the conduct of Capt. Brett Crozier after the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier arrived in Guam on March 27.

Capt. John Rotruck, commanding officer of the USNS Mercy, has moved almost all of the hospital personnel off the ship to stop any further advance of the coronavirus and create more social distancing among his crew.

At least 18 sailors aboard the USS Kidd have tested positive for the coronavirus, Pentagon officials said Friday in announcing the Navy’s second outbreak aboard a deployed warship.

The campus — prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — will be used to isolate and treat patients with COVID-19, the disease that stems from the coronavirus.

The Navy said about 60% of the USS Roosevelt sailors who have tested positive for coronavirus showed no symptoms. As of Thursday, 840 sailors aboard the ship have tested positive.

The selective reenlistment bonus update allows all sailors to reenlist a full year before the end of their active-service obligation to receive the bonus instead of waiting to be within 270 days of the end of their hitch. Sailors can receive up to a $100,000 reenlistment bonus.

The military’s biggest covid-19 crisis could yield an epidemiological gold mine as researchers worldwide race to answer questions about the virus.

The Yokosuka Naval Base and Naval Air Facility Atsugi restrictions apply to service members and Defense Department civilian employees, their families, and contractors.

USS Theodore Roosevelt sailors on Guam went to their balconies and cheered the Marines supporting them while they are in 14-day medical isolation.

“The president made a clear statement," said Gen. John Hyten. "Now, we as the military have to apply that clear direction from the commander in chief into lawful orders that we execute.”

The mission — named Operation America Strong — was conceived by senior military officers in the Pentagon and is meant to be a nonpartisan show of resolve.

The Navy has been the hardest hit of the military services by the coronavirus with 997 cases now. In total, 1,298 sailors have been infected by the virus.