Marine Corps to Ban ‘Infantryman’

Preserves ‘rifleman’ and ‘mortarman,’ other job titles to become gender neutral

The Marine Corps is eliminating the job title “basic infantryman” along with 18 others and replacing them with terms that are gender neutral.

Others titles, including “rifleman” and “mortarman,” will remain the same, due to their historical and cultural significance for Marines.

Dem says Russian subs ‘dangerously close’ to U.S.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is deploying nuclear-armed submarines “dangerously close” to the United States and European allies, a Senate Democrat said following a trip to the Arctic Circle.

“No one is suggesting that Putin is contemplating a nuclear launch against a NATO country, but it’s not clear how tethered to reality Putin is,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy told reporters Monday. “And it should make us nervous that many of his submarines are starting to get dangerously close to the U.S. and our allies.”

Russia’s Arctic Militarization ‘Disturbing,’ US Lawmakers Say

“When you look at what the Russians are doing in the Arctic, it is actually quite impressive –impressive, but disturbing,” Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Ala., told military leaders at a recent Senate Armed Services Committee Navy budget hearing.“The Russians are looking at adding four new combat brigades in the Arctic as our U.S. Army is thinking at pulling them out of there,” he said. “I think that would give Vladimir Putin a lot of joy. They are building 13 new airfields and conducting long-range air patrols off the coast of Alaska.”

Sullivan said the U.S. military is ill-advised to consider removing one or two Army Brigade Combat teams from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Fort Wainwright in Alaska.

US Navy christens huge $3 billion destroyer ship USS Zumwalt that appears as a fishing boat on enemy radar

Named after the late Admiral Elmo “Bud” Zumwalt, the warship sports advanced technology and a stealthy shape designed to minimise its visibility on enemy radar and reduce the size of its crew.

Among the 15,000-tonne destroyer’s cutting-edge features are a composite deckhouse with hidden radar and sensors and an angular shape that officials say will allow it to be confused for a small fishing boat on radars. It also has a wave-piercing hull designed to reduce the ship’s wake.

US Navy’s Acting No. 2 Official Forced Out

Acting US Navy Undersecretary Robert Martinage, the department’s No. 2, has resigned under pressure, sources confirmed for Defense News.

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Martinage, whose permanent position had been deputy Navy undersecretary for plans, policy, oversight and integration, had been performing the duties of the undersecretary since Robert Work resigned last May to take a position with the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.

The Navy in a statement said Navy Secretary Ray Mabus asked for Martinage to resign “following a loss of confidence in Martinage’s abilities to effective perform his duties.”

Philippines deploys marines to disputed shoal in strategic sea

MANILA–The Philippines has deployed a fresh batch of marines and supplies to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea, where a Chinese warship and surveillance vessels appeared last month and triggered a new standoff in the strategic waters, the Philippine defense secretary said Wednesday.

The new contingent of Filipino marines replaced troops at the Second Thomas Shoal, where the arrival last month of Chinese ships sparked diplomatic protests from the Philippines.