The Official Newsletter of The National Defense Transportation Association
June 11, 2026
NDTA–USTRANSCOM FALL MEETING
Register Today
October 26-29, 2026
Register today for the 14th annual NDTA–USTRANSCOM Fall Meeting, October 26-29, 2026, at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. Join government, military, and industry partners at this welcoming venue to learn, share ideas, find solutions and explore this year’s theme: “Delivering Hope, Projecting Lethality — Theater to Globe.” The Fall Meeting includes general sessions, meetings, an expo hall, and Transportation Academy. Transportation Academy offers more than 60 classes covering relevant logistics and transportation topics designed to promote professional development, training, and education. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) will be available for registrants attending the full program. Learn more on the registration page. […READ MORE…]
Pictured: COL Craig Hymes, USA (Ret.), Senior Vice President of Operations, NDTA, and Kate Reed
Future Logistics Leader Gains Hands-On Experience at NDTA Surface Force Projection Meeting
An NDTA internship provided Ms. Kate Reed with a unique professional development opportunity through Oakton High School’s “Super Seminar,” a program that exposes Advanced Placement students to real-world experiences in government, industry, and professional associations.
From May 12–27, 2026, Reed worked alongside NDTA staff, gaining firsthand insight into the planning and execution of a major defense transportation event. Her internship focused on supporting the NDTA–CAS Surface Force Projection Meeting (SFPM), held at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va., May 18-21.
Reed participated in all phases of the meeting lifecycle, including event preparation, on-site execution, and post-conference follow-up activities. She also engaged with NDTA staff, committee and Ports Subcommittee leaders, the U.S. Army Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), Military Sealift Command (MSC), the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD), the U.S. Coast Guard, logistics and transportation industry representatives, and academic leaders. […READ MORE…]
Your Source
House Lawmakers Want the Navy to Deploy Drone Boats Faster
(www.defenseone.com) The Navy would have to detail its plans to buy and use seagoing drones under a suite of provisions in the House Armed Services Committee’s draft 2027 defense policy bill. The bill would require service leaders to devise a plan to buy, sustain, and operate small, unmanned surface vessels — ones weighing less than 50 metric tons and no more than 50 feet long.
The plan would have to include a detailed inventory of each acquired USV, the types of missions the Navy would use USVs for, how they would work with crewed vessels, and how they would be integrated with current command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and logistics infrastructure. […READ MORE…]
Your Source
(www.transportation.gov) The U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced it is developing a new public dashboard that measures key family-friendly metrics on transit systems across America. Transit systems can use this dashboard to track their progress in becoming more family friendly. […READ MORE…]
Your Source
Hegseth Commemorates 82nd Anniversary of WWII Allied Invasion at Normandy
By Matthew Olay, Pentagon News
(www.war.gov) Secretary of War Pete Hegseth traveled to the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, for the second consecutive year, where he delivered remarks honoring the approximately 160,000 Allied troops — 73,000 of them Americans — who landed at Normandy on June 6, 1944, to liberate Western Europe from Nazi control. […READ MORE…]
Long-awaited Coast Guard Museum Scheduled to Open in Spring 2027
By Emely Miranda-Aguilar
(www.stripes.com) Visitors to the future National Coast Guard Museum in New London, Conn., will find themselves standing beneath a suspended HH-60J Jayhawk helicopter, offering a glimpse into the work that has defined the Coast Guard for decades. Dedicated to sharing the branch’s 235 years of maritime service, the National Coast Guard Museum Association plans to open the museum to the public in spring 2027. […READ MORE…]
USTRANSCOM CYBERSECURITY PULSE NEWSLETTER
In today’s USTRANSCOM Cybersecurity Pulse:
- Hackers are Already Laying Groundwork to Disrupt the 2026 Midterms, Research says
- ATTENTION: NDTA Fall Meeting October 26-29, 2026
- Threat Actors Spoofing FIFA Websites in Advance of the 2026 World Cup
- Microsoft Investigates Office Apps, Teams File Access Issues
- USTRANSCOM DIB TSPs Community of Interest: Join Today for Access to Non-Publicly Available Threat and Cybersecurity Reports
- Israeli Researchers Link Iran Government to LA Metro Cyberattack
- White House Charts New Course for Federal Agencies and Cybersecurity Logging
- Hackers Abuse Shared CDN Infrastructure to Bypass Domain Reputation Security Controls
- European Authorities Take Down Prolific Cybercrime VPN Service
- Iranian Hackers Deploy MiniFast and MiniJunk V2 via Phishing and SEO Poisoning
- Chinese Hackers Target Telcos with New Linux, Windows Malware
- CISA Announces Revised Town Hall Schedule to Engage with Stakeholders on Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure
- Iran Suspected in Breaching Automatic Tank Gauges at US Gas Stations
- ChatGPT Share Links Abused to Host Fake Outage Pages to Deliver Malware
Welcome New Members
Please join NDTA in welcoming our newest Sustaining Members:
Precision Procurement & Logistics Solutions
Editor’s Picks
The Navy Is Spending Millions on Innovation Hubs for Next-generation Munitions
(www.defenseone.one) Replenishing munitions stockpiles doesn’t end with simply producing more of them. There are persistent challenges with mixing, manufacturing, integrating, and discovering new energetic materials — the chemical compounds that make up explosives, propellants, and munitions. On Thursday, the Navy broke ground on a new facility — the Maryland Energetics Innovation Hub — to help.
Desert e-bike Race ‘the Perfect’ Place to Test Military-Vehicle AI
(www.defenseone.com) Pilot Racing, a team in the upcoming Baja 1000 dirt-bike race, will bring a special advantage: AI that prescribes when a rider should pit, long before the need becomes obvious. The thousand-mile trek through California and Mexico is “the perfect” environment to test GDIT’s logistics-and-maintenance AI before it heads off to rough and disconnected battlefields, a company representative said.
Chokepoint Busters: Marines Seek Toolkit to Help Aviators Clear Way for Amphibs
(www.militarytimes.com) The Marine Corps is searching for airpower methods that can be used to blast a path for amphibious groups to steam through chokepoints at sea.
The service is beginning to retire aging platforms, such as the AV-8B, AH-1Z and the F/A-18. FASt aims to replace them with next-generation systems like long-range missiles, MQ-58 Valkyrie combat drones, electronic warfare, and other non-kinetic effects, according to the 2026 Marine Aviation Plan.
Airbus Debuts U145 Autonomous Helicopter Drone with No Cockpit for Military Missions
(interestingengineering.com) Airbus Helicopters has revealed a new autonomous aircraft based on its popular H145 platform, pushing the company deeper into the growing market for large uncrewed rotorcraft. The aircraft, named the U145, debuted as a full-scale mock-up ahead of the ILA Berlin Air Show and signals Airbus’ latest effort to blend proven helicopter performance with advanced autonomous flight systems.
Pentagon Stages First ‘Top Drone’ School for Operators to Hone Skills
(www.defensenews.com) The Pentagon last month held its first “Top Drone” school for drone pilots to demonstrate their skills in a threat-representative environment.
The event took place as part of the Defense Department’s Technology Readiness Experimentation, or T-REX, a semiannual showcase and evaluation staged at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. The event aims to validate prototypes built to fill urgent capability gaps across the military services and combatant commands.
ARC Delivers Second Tunnel Boring Machine for Hudson Tunnel Project
American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier (ARC) successfully completed the delivery of a second Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for the Hudson Tunnel Project (HTP), marking another major milestone in one of the nation’s most critical passenger rail initiatives. ARC previously delivered the first HTP TBM in January 2026 aboard the M/V Endurance.
CSX Unveils Commemorative Locomotives Marking America’s 250th Anniversary
(www.csx.com) CSX Corp. unveiled two commemorative locomotives celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States, highlighting the railroad’s enduring role in building the nation’s economy. Unit 250 celebrates America’s anniversary year with a bold Stars and Stripes theme, while Unit 2026 features the American bald eagle and the phrase “United We Stand,” emphasizing national strength and unity.
Port of San Diego Launches New Online Ship Schedule
(www.portofsandiego.org) The Port of San Diego recently launched a new online ship schedule, PortControl, allowing the public to view which ships are coming and going from the Port’s cargo and cruise terminals.
The Port operates two marine cargo terminals and two cruise terminals year-round with vessels coming and going regularly. The dynamic dashboards in PortControl allow the public to view when a cargo vessel is expected to arrive and depart, and shows which vessels are currently in port. Similarly, the public can also view the upcoming cruise ship schedule and see what ships will be arriving from a specific cruise line.
UP’s Big Boy Goes on Historic Coast-to-Coast Tour
Union Pacific’s famed Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, will journey to the East Coast this summer for the first time as part of a historic coast-to-coast tour to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. The tour includes a Fourth of July celebration in Philadelphia, major display events in eight cities and more than 50 whistle-stops in 10 states, including stops for the first time in Indiana, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.
The Source is a free educational publication for NDTA members, conference attendees, and associates.