US military news thread

[bd popeye]

USS John F Kennedy CV-67 still has some fight left

Appears to me that these Kennedy men still have pride in that 38 year old CV...I served on CVA-67 from March 1972 until August 1973.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/02/ntjfk070227/

We still have a little fight left'

Carrier leaves Norfolk for the last time, heads to Boston
By Mark D. Faram - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 28, 2007 12:23:18 EST

Aboard the USS John F. Kennedy —The aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy
didn't look like a ship about to be decommissioned as it left
Norfolk, Va., on Sunday.

And that's just the way the crew wanted it.

Pulling away from the pier and heading out of Hampton Roads into
open water, one "Big John" crew member was happy to have quieted the
rumor mill.

"We heard the waterfront rumors, and many here expected us to limp
in, leaking fluids and looking like a garbage scow," said the
longtime Kennedy crew member, who asked to remain anonymous. "I
guess we showed them because none of that happened — there were
three carriers in port and we looked better than all of them — we
still have a little fight left in us."

Even Capt. Todd Zecchin, the ship's commanding officer, sounded
proud when he spoke to the crew during the evening meal, lauding
them for their good showing. The ship even got underway a few
minutes early.

This was JFK's last visit to Norfolk, the ship's first home port. It
stopped there as part of a farewell tour that will include a March 1
port call Boston. It will be the ship's eighth visit to its
namesake's hometown.

"I've been onboard here for 11 months, and this is the first real
deployment I've ever been on," said Aviation Boatswain's Mate
(Aircraft Handling) Ashley Clemmer of V-3 division. "I'm really
looking forward to a real port visit, I hear Boston is very nice."

Clemmer and her shipmate, Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Aircraft
Handling) Jason Bevan, were working hard cleaning out padeyes in the
ship's hanger bay. The hangar bay will be the focal point for the
thousands of visitors expected to tour the ship during the four days
it'll be tied up in Boston.

"We are expecting thousands of visitors each day, maybe as many as a
million during our visit," he said. "That sure will be something to
see."

All over the hanger bay, new murals have been painted, including
likenesses of the ship as well as famous quotations from its
namesake, President Kennedy.

Back in the jet shop, all the way aft in the hanger bay, more
painting was going on as Aviation Machinist's Mate (AW/SW) Freddie
Rivera was airbrushing new decor on one of the ship's flight deck
tractors.

"It's a tribute to the people and the city of Boston," Rivera said
of his handiwork, which included a leprechaun dressed up as a Boston
Celtics basketball player and a bearded baseball fan at Fenway Park,
all wrapped around the Kennedy's logo. The ship's accomplishments on
its last cruise in 2004, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and
the battle for Fallujah in Iraq, were also included in the artwork.

"We want to show the people of Boston we appreciate them and are
thankful for their support of our ship," Rivera said.

[BLUEJACKET]

U.S. forces pursue Taliban into Pakistan

Report: National Guard unprepared for domestic missions

US Army denies 'gag orders,' but says patients can 'go to Starbucks' to talk to media

Veteran Care to Be Reviewed After Firing of General

Army secretary resigns in scandal's wake

Iraq's answer lies in allied withdrawal

Iran EFP Story a New "Yellowcake" Scandal?

Feds select plan for new nuclear warhead

Afghan Taliban says sending fighters to Iraq: TV

[celtic-dragon]

It appears Lieutenant Watada has been re-charged...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlates...436965,00.html



It can be argued that the military is so anxious to get Watada because the implications if he were judged innocent would be devastating... I'm sure there are some who believe that this decision to continue going after him is a good decision, based on a soldier's creed or something like that. That's certainly a stance to take, however I believe the primary reason for this prosecution is that if he is innocent, then the military is guilty... definitely not a comfortable situation.

I don't have a law degree (yet), so I can't say for sure, but I have never heard of a mistrial being the basis for a double jeopardy argument. The trial was not completed, as the prosecution stated.

[The_Zergling]

I don't have a law degree (yet), so I can't say for sure, but I have never heard of a mistrial being the basis for a double jeopardy argument. The trial was not completed, as the prosecution stated.

Indeed, the prosecution is correct in that they are legally permitted to pursue another trial.

[BLUEJACKET]

Army Secretary Forced to Resign;
Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey was forced to resign Friday over the scandal of substandard conditions at a wing of Walter Reed Hospital. Note that all the time Donald Rumsfeld was in office, and despite horrible errors, no one ever had to resign, least of all-- until the Dems won Congress-- Rumsfeld himself. Over the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, Rumsfeld had said that to throw someone overboard in propitiation was not the way we did things in America (i.e. no one would be punished). Robert Gates is to be applauded for restoring the idea of accountability to Washington.
But everyone should pay attention especially to this para. in the WaPo report:
' The committee also released an internal Army memorandum reportedly written in September in which the Walter Reed garrison commander, Col. Peter Garibaldi, warned Weightman that "patient care services are at risk of mission failure" because of staff shortages brought on by privatization of the support work force at the hospital. '
The privatization of patient care services is responsible for a lot of the problem here. ..
And so is the privatization of services for US troops in Iraq punishing them. Indeed, the privatization of guard duties through the hiring of firms like Blackwater caused all that trouble at Falluja in the first place. KRB never delivered services to US troops with the speed and efficiency they deserved. The Bush-Cheney regime rewarded civilian firms with billions while they paid US GIs a pittance to risk their lives for their country. And then when they were wounded they were sent someplace with black mold on the walls. A full investigation into the full meaning of 'privatization' at the Pentagon for our troops would unconver epochal scandals. http://www.juancole.com/

US Army Veterans Scandal Widens
http://www.torontodailynews.com/inde...-army-veterans
Iraq's Superbombs: Home Made?
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/0...are_iraqs.html

US signals dramatic shift in Iraq policy
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...7/niraq127.xml

What If We Leave?
http://amconmag.com/2007/2007_02_26/cover.html

'Surge' needs up to 7,000 more troops
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/i...01-surge_x.htm

A Trial for Thousands Denied Trial
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mh...070312&s=klein

Afghan, U.S. reports on firefight differ
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070304/...fghan_violence

U.S. Airstrikes Hit Qaeda Post in Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/wo...html?th&emc=th

US Navy: Aircraft Carrier for Afghanistan, Not Iran- or maybe for both!
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/36249.html

Secret unit hunts terrorists overseas
http://www.examiner.com/a-594773~Sec..._overseas.html

U.S. Congress' Iraq struggle evokes Vietnam years
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03303364.htm

[bd popeye]

Here's another article about the DoD and VA hospital scandal.

http://content.hamptonroads.com/stor...577&ran=188472

As a USN vet I'm appalled by these stories. It is simply reprehensible that any country would treat it's veterans that way.

That being said I feel I must express my opinon this subject. Presently I use the VA hospital in Iowa City IA. I have probally 10-12 appointments a year because of various medical conditions. This is what I posted in one of my yahoo groups about my treatment at the VA and previously by the USN.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UNITED...Y/message/3129

Re: Retiree Medical payments

I've mentenioned this before but it needs repeating.

I used TRI-Care when I lived in San Diego. The service was fine. I
can't remember how much I had to pay. It was about $500 a year for a
family of four.

Here in Iowa I use the VA.(I'm divorced) Right now I have co-pays for
my medications only. That amounts to $520 yearly. That's all. No
ups..no extras..

I like the VA much better than using TRI-Care with the USN. Why? It's
much easier to make an appointment. The health care providers(staff)
are more professional, caring, polite and respectful than those at the
Navy Hospital in San Diego

I can honestly say that at the Naval Hospital in san Diego I never saw any poor treatment or unsanitary condidtions. the same can be said about the VA hospital in Iowa. I cannot speak about any other faclities.

[BLUEJACKET]

9 US Soldiers Killed North of Baghdad
Afghan Kids Die as US Drops One-Ton Bombs
US Military Defends Destroying Media Photographs
CIA Says They Have Fresh Leads on bin Laden
Washington's Mixed Signals on Iran
State Department Promotion Sends Iran War Signal
Former Intel Chief: US Pressuring Pak to Get Support for Iran Attack
All the above articles are on http://antiwar.com/

Soldiers Testify to Lawmakers Over Poor Care at Walter Reed
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/06/wa...nt&oref=slogin

Walter Reed uproar refuels Iraq debate
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070306/...co/walter_reed

[bd popeye]

Pres. Bush announces that Hospital ship Comfort to deploy to Latin America.

The USN was planning to retire both it's hospital ships this year. But the 2004-05 & 06 deployments of the hospital ship Mercy were very sucessful. Looks like the ships will remain in service for some time.

http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=28154

President Announces Comfort Deployment to Latin America
Story Number: NNS070306-17
Release Date: 3/6/2007 6:43:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael D. Wimbish, U.S. Southern Command Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- President Bush announced March 5 the deployment of the hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) to Latin America for a series of humanitarian relief missions.

Bush said he is sending Comfort to 13 South and Central American countries beginning in June, adding that the deployment is going to be busy.

“Altogether, the Comfort's doctors and nurses and health care professionals expect to treat 85,000 patients and conduct up to 15,000 surgeries,” Bush said. “At the same time, military medical teams will be operating inland to help bring treatment and care to other communities. These teams do everything from vaccinating people against disease to building new medical clinics.”

The Comfort announcement came during a speech in Washington, discussing the partnership between the United States and the region prior to the president’s upcoming trip to five nations there later this week. Bush spoke about current and proposed joint efforts to face political, economic and educational challenges -- including U.S. military humanitarian efforts.

U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) and U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command are planning and coordinating the mid-summer deployment with the partner nations Comfort will visit. The deployment is Comfort’s first-ever trip to the region.

“These are people who need help. These are people who might not otherwise get the basic health care they need to realize a better tomorrow,” Bush said.

During the deployment, Bush said Comfort will also partner with the Department of Health and Human Services on a new initiative to provide oral care to the region's poor. Dentists and hygienists will fill cavities and treat infections and provide treatment for the young children.

Comfort is one of two Navy hospital ships with 1,000 hospital beds and 12 operating rooms. The ship’s last major deployment was to the Gulf Coast region in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

In all, Comfort will make port calls in Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

[bd popeye]

Ex-USN Salior Charged in Terror plot

This article speaks for itself...

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/...127817,00.html

Former Sailor Arrested on Terror Charge
Associated Press | March 08, 2007
WASHINGTON - A former Navy Sailor was arrested Wednesday for allegedly releasing classified information that ended up in the hands of a suspected terrorism financier.

Hassan Abujihaad, 31, of Phoenix, is accused in a case that began in Connecticut and followed a suspected terrorist network across the country and into Europe and the Middle East.

He was arrested in Phoenix on charges of supporting terrorism with an intent to kill U.S. citizens and transmitting classified information to unauthorized people.

Abujihaad, who is also known as Paul R. Hall, is charged in the same case as Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist arrested in 2004 and accused of running Web sites to raise money for terrorism. Ahmad is scheduled to be extradited to the U.S. to face trial.

During a search of Ahmad's computers, investigators discovered files containing classified information about the positions of U.S. Navy ships and discussing their susceptibility to attack.

Abujihaad, a former enlisted man, exchanged e-mails with Ahmad while on active duty on the USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, in 2000 and 2001, according to an affidavit released Wednesday. He allegedly purchased videos promoting violent jihad, or holy war.

In those e-mails, Abujihaad discussed naval military briefings and praised those who attacked the USS Cole in 2000, according to the affidavit by FBI Agent David Dillon.

The documents retrieved from Ahmad show drawings of Navy battle groups and discuss upcoming missions. They also say the battle group could be attacked using small weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades. The ships were never attacked.

Abujihaad had a secret security clearance that would have allowed him access to that material, according to the affidavit.

The investigation was run out of Connecticut because Ahmad allegedly used an Internet service provider there to host one of his fundraising Web sites.

Ahmad was arrested in 2004 but the case against Abujihaad apparently received a boost in December following the arrest of Derrick Shareef, 22, of Genoa, Ill., near Chicago, who was accused of planning to use hand grenades to attack holiday shoppers at a mall.

According to the affidavit, Shareef and Abujihaad lived together in 2004 when Ahmad was arrested. After reading news reports of the case, Abujihaad became upset and said, "I think this is about me," Shareef told investigators.

Authorities then taped a phone conversation between Abujihaad and an informant in which Abujihaad appeared nervous. Though Abujihaad didn't say outright that he was involved in the leak of classified information, the affidavit provided enough evidence for an arrest warrant.

Abujihaad received an honorable discharge from the Navy in 2002, according to the affidavit

[BLUEJACKET]

"Our Army, the nation's Army, is in bad shape, and the surge will only make it worse for the Army and the country," Korb told reporters. "We're about to undo 30 years of building the best all-volunteer Army we've had."
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16846930.htm

BAGHDAD, March 8 (Reuters) - The new U.S. commander in Iraq said on Thursday military force would not end violence unless talks were held with some militant groups and warned of more "sensational attacks" during the current crackdown in Baghdad.
General David Petraeus, at his first news conference since he took command last month, also said he saw no immediate need for more U.S. troops, but reinforcements already requested would likely stay "well beyond the summer".
"There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq, to the insurgency of Iraq," Petraeus said.
"Military action is necessary to help improve security ... but it is not sufficient."
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR834302.htm

Buildup in Iraq Needed Into ’08, U.S. General Says

Democrats want Iraq pullout by fall 2008 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070308/...jNauPtvm6MwfIE

[bd popeye]

There is no doubt that the US Army is under a tremendous strain. The US Army is far to small for the missions it has been tasked with. The continued re-deployment & short turnarounds to combat zones is a bad stragety.

The USN has come up with some rules to make sure sailors get enough time in their home ports. Only time will tell if it works.

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2007/0...elltime070307/

New deployment rules to protect time at home

Sailors' days at sea to be matched 1 for 1, officials say
By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Mar 8, 2007 7:43:57 EST

Ship crews and other Navy units will now fall under a one-for-one
operating schedule designed to ensure a day at home for every full
day spent at sea, Navy officials said Wednesday.

While admitting there will always be exceptions in time of war,
officials said under the new "Personnel Tempo of Operations
Program," the Navy has adopted "dwell time" metrics and procedures
to measure — and enforce — those time periods.

"If a ship deploys on a routine deployment, goes for six months and
comes home, per the `dwell' numbers, they should be back in their
parent [area of responsibility] for six months before they can
deploy again to any of the other geographic commands," said Capt.
Mike Durkin, director of Global Force Management with Fleet Forces
Command in Norfolk. "Dwell is the number that counts for how long
you are supposed to be [in your home operating area] following a
deployment."

It's been 21 years since the last formal change to the Navy's
personnel tempo of operations program, officials said, and it comes
right from the top. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen
announced the new policy in a Feb. 27 message. Mullen said that
while the Navy still needs to lean forward, the plan is designed "so
our sailors and their families are not subjected to a routinely
excessive tempo of operations."

The new plan, according to CNO's message, attempts to "provide the
most predictability we can in our deployment and operating
schedules."

For example, Durkin said a carrier strike group that leaves Norfolk
and deploys for six months to the Middle East would not deploy again
for six months.

"Unless there's an urgent need," he added. "In that case we have to
go up to CNO to get his approval to do that. They will not be
routinely scheduled to deploy within that dwell period."

Previously, the ship that most recently had returned from deployment
was often viewed as the most ready and thus most likely to be sent
back out. Under the dwell time framework, that ship is protected
from a quick-turnaround deployment.

[BLUEJACKET]

But when not deployed, they still must have at-sea periods for training and pilot quals- and those aren't very short, at least on CV/Ns!

[bd popeye]

But when not deployed, they still must have at-sea periods for training and pilot quals- and those aren't very short, at least on CV/Ns!

You better believe it...This is probaly just posturing for a public that may be concerned about deployments. The USN is just showing it is "doing something". Actually since 9/11 the USN CV force has had only two surge deployments that I know of..Truman in 2004 for Summer Pulse. And Reagan This year to take CVN-74 place in WESPAC while CVN-74 is instead sent to the Gulf region.

For other ships there have been several surge deployments. I think the USS Boxer(LHD-4) has deployed to the Gulf region 4 or 5 times since 9/11/2001.

[BLUEJACKET]

Yes, they are jumping on the bandwagon to look good. But what about the Marines-aren't they part of the Navy?

U.S. Sailors Would Bear Brunt of Potential Conflict, Experts Say

USNS Sacagawea Joins the Fleet -ships are starting to get Native American names, as I off-handedly suggested!
For those who don't know: Sacagawea was a Shoshone woman in the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific.

This page is a gateway to information concerning approximately 80 western Native American tribes, visited and photographed by Edward Sheriff Curtis from 1890 to 1930, taken from "The North American Indian", Curtis' massive lifework.
http://www.curtis-collection.com/tri...ta/custer.html

The New Counterinsurgency; Airpower to the Rear; That Satellite Is Toast ....

Air Force Scraps Stealth Missile Fleet

[FuManChu]

Elite Iranian general defects with Hezbollah’s arms secrets

An Iranian general who went missing on a visit to Turkey last month appears to have defected to America, taking with him a treasure trove of his country’s most closely guarded secrets.

Ali Resa Asgari, 63, a general in the elite Revolutionary Guards and former Deputy Defence Minister, vanished on February 7 after arriving in Istanbul on a flight from Syria. He had reservations at the Ceylan Intercontinental Hotel but never checked in. Iran has notified Interpol and raised fears that General Asgari might have been kidnapped. Yesterday, however, several sources confirmed reports in America that General Asgari had fled to the West, becoming the first senior Iran official to defect since the revolution 27 years ago.

Danny Yatom, the former head of Mossad and a member of the Knesset, said that the general could provide Western intelligence with a unique insight into Iran’s foreign operations in Lebanon and beyond. “From the very start I thought this was a defection,” Mr Yatom told The Times. “All the signals showed that it was well planned and executed. He left Iran with his family, so that no one would be able to put pressure on them. I assume the defection was to the US.”

Mr Yatom described the missing general as very important and said that he would be able to shed light on one of the murkiest chapters in recent Middle East history. From the early 1980s Iran funded, trained and armed members of the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, which began as a small Shia Muslim militia but is today the most powerful paramilitary force in the Levant.

The Iranians are accused of using Hezbollah to launch suicide bomb attacks against American, French and Israeli targets, to kidnap Westerners and to build a state within a state in southern Lebanon. They are also suspected of carrying out operations in Europe and even Argentina.

“He is a significant figure,” said one Western source, who follows Iran closely. “It has so far been very difficult to get reliable information on how Iran ran its operations in Lebanon. This could be a big break.”

Last summer Israel fought a bloody, 33-day war with Hezbollah after the group seized two Israeli soldiers, whose fate is unknown. At the time, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, boasted: “Israel doesn’t know our capabilities on every level. The Zionist enemy has not succeeded in infiltrating our group.” General Asgari could lift that veil of secrecy.

“It means for the first time, Hezbollah’s adversaries may have accurate estimates of stockpiles, weapons types, even perhaps placement and tactics,” said Nicholas Noe, the author of a forthcoming book on Hezbollah. “This is crucial because the limits and placement of Hezbollah’s weaponry has been a major problem.”

After Lebanon, General Asgari returned to Iran as a high-ranking official dealing with the arms trade and weapons industry, including the development of the Shaab-3 ballistic missile. He stepped down as Deputy Defence Minister in 2005. Iranian officials have played down General Asgari’s importance, saying he has been “out of the loop for four or five years. But his defection could cause a serious blow to Iran.