Navy

The 2023 Armed Forces Women’s Rugby Championship burst into action at the Cape Fear Rugby Club Field Friday night, with Coast Guard, Air Force and Marine Corps registering wins on opening night.

Coast Guard sunk Navy 20-14 in the opening match. Petty Officer 3rd Class Ra’Shaun Coker of Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii jumped out the gates scoring consecutive tries. Coast Guard continued to dominate the match until the final minutes, when Navy attempted to mount a comeback scoring twice before the final whistle.

In the second match, Air Force ended Army’s 12-match undefeated streak winning 24-5. Air Force dominated the match from the start leaving Army scrambling for answers. Army was able to jump on the board in the final minute, but not enough to ground Air Force’s attack.

In the final match of the evening, Marine Corps released the pack scoring at will to win 39-0 over Navy. Marines scored seven tries throughout the match and refused Navy’s advances.

Marine Corps is in first place on point differential, followed by Air Force and Coast Guard.

Competition continues Saturday. All teams will compete in the round robin pool to determine the 2023 Champion. Follow the action at www.armedforcessports.com for complete coverage.

NAPLES, Italy – Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Europe Africa Central (EURAFCENT) announced the winners of the 2022 Hard Hat Awards June 2. Nikolaos Kokonas from Public Works Department (PWD) Souda Bay, Greece won in the Construction Engineer category and Leo Tancreti from PWD Rota, Spain won in the Construction Engineering Technician category.

The Hard Hat of the Year program recognizes construction field office technical staff, including Construction Engineers, Construction Managers, and Construction Engineering Technicians, who make day-to-day construction management decisions and exercise technical authority on construction projects.

“Nikolaos and Leo deliver innovative and pragmatic solutions to complex problems,” Capt. Joe Harder III, NAVFAC EURAFCENT commanding officer, said. “Both of these gentlemen have excelled and protected the best interests of the Navy and supported commands in one of the most challenging areas of responsibility within NAVFAC.”

Kokonas, a construction engineer in the Facilities Engineering and Acquisition Division (FEAD) Project Management and Engineering (PM&E) Branch at PWD Souda Bay, manages 16 projects valued at over $21 million and was an early adopter of utilizing the electronic management systems (eCMS) and has been active in providing feedback to improve the product.

“It feels great to realize that my efforts have been acknowledged, and I am grateful for my colleague’s support and assistance in performing my duties,” Kokonas said.

Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Public Works Officer (PWO), Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Reige, said, Kokonas’ attention to detail and efforts in analyzing contractor baseline schedules, monthly updates, and time impact analyses is second to none.

“Nikos was nominated due to his high-level performance managing one of the largest construction portfolios for a single construction manager in the region,” said Reige. “His winning is a reflection of the commitment to the mission and high level of performance of all the employees at PWD Souda Bay, and is constantly recognized from supported commands and visitors from the FEC [Facility Engineering Command].”

Tancreti, a construction engineer technician in the FEAD PM&E Branch at PWD Rota, manages 11 projects valued at $17 million. He successfully provided quality assurance on completing five job-order contract actions, four indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity roofing projects, and the closeout and turnover of the Minnow Ground Terminal Project in support of the Space Force.

“I’m very excited about winning and being recognized. However, it wouldn’t have been possible without my colleagues and supervisors,” Tancreti said. “Leadership recognizes the work we all put in as a group. The supervisors here are very well-aware of each construction manager and engineering technician, and I am humbled that they nominated me.”

Naval Station Rota, Spain PWO, Cmdr. Joseph Dunaway said he has a team of outstanding professionals, and Tancreti’s award is an example of this.

“He was nominated due to the high-quality work he performs across his portfolio of high-profile projects,” Dunaway said. “Leo sets the standard in diligence and attention-to-detail, as well as keeping the contractors accountable at all times.”

Harder said Leo and Nikos embody the spirit driven by a shared objective of outstanding support to the fleet and warfighters.

“We have a bias towards forming high-performing teams,” Harder said. “Taking the time to recognize their hard work will pay dividends in the future.”

U.S. Army Col. James Wiese assumed command of Joint Task Force-Bravo during a change of command ceremony June 22, 2023, at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras.

Civilian and military leaders from the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, U.S. Southern Command, and Honduras joined hundreds of Soldiers, Airmen and Marines who gathered to watch Wiese receive command from U.S. Army Col. Phillip Brown, JTF-Bravo’s outgoing commander.

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Alvin Holsey, military deputy commander of U.S. Southern Command, presided over the ceremony, during which he underscored the strategic significance of JTF-Bravo to the region and acknowledged the vast amount of work done by the unit over the past year.

“For 40 years, Joint Task Force-Bravo has been supporting U.S. Southern Command’s strategy by building partnerships, critical partnerships I might add, in Central and South America,” said Holsey. “Phil ensured that the motto of JTF-Bravo, ‘Progress Through Unity,’ is instilled in everything he’s done. He has worked tirelessly to build partnerships.”

Holsey also presented Brown with the Defense Superior Service Medal prior to the start of the ceremony for the task force’s accomplishments during Brown’s time in command. Brown departs JTF-Bravo to join the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) as the chief of staff.

Wiese, who comes to JTF-Bravo after serving as the JSOC J-3 (Operations) deputy director, said that he’s proud to get the opportunity to join the legacy here at Soto Cano.

“I look forward to working with you as we take care of the mission, we take care of each other, and we take care of ourselves,” he added.

Speaking to Wiese’s background and experience, Holsey said, “I have no doubt he’s honed his skills and he’s ready to take the helm from Phillip and run with it. You could ask for no better leader who understands the importance of this enduring mission.”

By assuming command of JTF-Bravo, Wiese continues a rich history of the U.S. military’s longest standing joint task force, which dates back to 1983.

JTF-Bravo works to build partnerships with Honduras and other Central American countries to foster security, stability and prosperity for the Americas by conducting a variety of missions.

As a parting comment, the outgoing commander had some final comments.

“I am humbled to have served as your commander over the last year, heart and soul,” said Brown. “While we’ve done incredible missions over the year, it is the people I treasure. Your lives, your families, your story, your commitment to the greatest Nation in the world, are all humbling reminders that no matter the strife at home and abroad, we have brave women and men that seek to serve a greater purpose, and for us in JTF-B, it’s all around us every day.”

DJIBOUTI – The commander for Combined Maritime Forces’ counter-piracy task force visited Japanese self-defense force units during a two-day trip to Djibouti, June 14-15.

Republic of Korea Navy Rear Adm. Ko Seung-bum, commander of Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, visited Japanese destroyer JS Makinami (DD 112) while the ship was moored in the African nation, which sits on the Horn of Africa along the Gulf of Aden.

“I express my warmest thanks to Japan for their continued support in our counter-piracy operations,” said Ko. “It is clear that the close working relationship Korea and Japan have in the Far East makes us stronger in deterring piracy in the Middle East.”

Ko met the commander of Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s 7th Escort Division as well as Makinami’s commanding officer. He also held discussions with leaders from Japan’s Deployment Air Force for Counter-Piracy Enforcement and Deployment Support Group for Counter-Piracy Enforcement units.

“We will continue to demonstrate cooperation, leadership and a cohesive approach to counter-piracy activities throughout the Combined Maritime Forces area of operations,” said Ko.

He previously met Japanese counterparts aboard Makinami in February when the ship was moored in Bahrain. Makinami is forward-deployed to the Middle East supporting regional counter-piracy patrols under CTF 151.

Established in 2009, CTF 151 is one of five task forces under Combined Maritime Forces, which includes 38 nations. CTF 151 conducts maritime security operations to deter, disrupt and suppress piracy and armed robbery at sea, outside the Horn of Africa.

CTF 151 is headquartered in Bahrain with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. Fifth Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces.

Andersen Air Force Base, Guam – U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Lucas Tate, unit training manager assigned to the 36th Contingency Response Squadron, was recognized as the 36th Wing’s Team Andersen Linebacker of the Week, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, June 14, 2023.

The Team Andersen Linebacker of the Week recognizes outstanding enlisted, officer, civilian and total force personnel who have had an impact on achieving Team Andersen’s mission, vision and priorities.

As a unit training manager, Tate monitors and schedules all training requirements for the squadrons 62 members. He coordinates with the contingency response functional manager at Pacific Air Forces’ Headquarters to schedule roughly 100 prerequisite classes a year required by all inbound members. Additionally, Tate tracks and briefs the commander on status of training for all members in upgrade training.

“As a training manager, I like talking to all of our new inbounds to get them excited about Guam and our mission,” said Tate.

Tate steered a project of loading 37 different career field education and training plans for nine different work centers into MyTraining. His efforts enabled the squadron to track and maintain their training records. He works to schedule en route temporary duty requirements for contingency response training for inbound members. He has often worked hard to find solutions when classes are full to ensure members receive qualifications and meet Air Force Instruction requirements when they arrive.

Tate is responsible for scheduling contingency response positional requirement and milestone qualification courses. He has collaborated with the U.S. Navy logistics management specialist to organize a Joint Mission Planners course and Joint Humanitarian Operations course. Both of these classes are requirements to become a contingency response team chief.

“As long as I can inspire at least one person to do what you’re supposed to do, I feel like I’m contributing to the future,” said Tate.

The term Linebacker is rooted deep within Team Andersen’s history. Operation Linebacker II took place on Dec. 18, 1972, and was the largest number of heavy bomber strikes launched by the U.S. Air Force since the end of World War II. During the operation, B-52s from Andersen flew round-the-clock bombing missions over North Vietnam to destroy major targets in Hanoi and Haiphong in an effort to bring the Democratic Republic of Vietnam back to negotiations.

The recipient will have the opportunity to sign a “Linebacker” football jersey that will be displayed in the Wing Headquarters building.

Way to go, Tate!