The Naval Brief: Vaccine repeal effects; Tracking spare parts; Combating sexual assault; and more…

Welcome to The Naval Brief, a weekly look at the news and ideas shaping the sea services’ future.

Vaxxed vs Unvaxxed. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said if Congress repeals the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, the service would have separate groups of sailors who can deploy and those who can’t, Defense One reports. He worried about having unvaccinated sailors aboard the confined spaces of a submarine, or being left aboard ships during foreign port calls because of other countries’ vaccination requirements.

Enough spare parts. The Marine Corps is monitoring not just its inventory of weapon systems it sends to support Ukraine, but the parts needed to maintain them, to ensure the service does not run too low and risk its own readiness, Defense One reports. The service is also making sure it has enough ordnance for training and in case of a war. 

Military sexual assault. The Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act takes remaining convening authority duties away from commanders—for 13 crimes, including sexual assault and murder—and gives them to an independent prosecutor. That change is a “huge success” that is “sort of a culmination” of more than a decade of work by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. and others to change the way the military handles sexual assault cases, Defense One’s Jennifer Hlad reports in a three-part series. Read the first part of that series on military sexual assault, The Threat Within, here. 

Sign up to get The Naval Brief every Thursday from Caitlin M. Kenney, Defense One’s military services reporter. On this day in 1941, the U.S. declared war on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

From Defense One

Woke-ism 'Not a Factor' in the Marine Corps, Commandant Says // Jennifer Hlad

"I don't see it. I don't hear it. They're not talking about it," Gen. David Berger said at the Reagan National Defense Forum.

Expect AR/VR on the Battlefield, Air Force CIO Says // Lauren C. Williams

Augmented- and virtual-reality gear will become more than just a training tool, Knausenberger says.

The Future-Seeking, Team-Building 5th Fleet Is Busier Than Ever // Vice Adm. Brad Cooper and Bilal Y. Saab

The commander of the U.S. Navy's Persian Gulf forces explains how they epitomize the Pentagon's new strategic approach to the Middle East.

The Defense Department Finally Has a Permanent Watchdog // Courtney Bublé

"I shall continue to be true to the principle of nonpartisanship that is a hallmark of the IG system," Robert Storch said during his confirmation hearing.