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Two Russian attack submarines are considered to have failed their secret mission in international waters after being detected by the United States and Canada, a report said on Thursday. "If the United States and Canada really detected the foreign submarines, that means they unmasked them. This represents the failure of their military mission," the Interfax news agency quoted a source close to the matter as saying. "It's unlikely the submarine crew will be congratulated under the circumstances," the source said. "One of the markers of the crew's successful completion of a military mission on board a nuclear-powered submarine is the...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The remains of Navy pilot Michael Scott Speicher returned to his Florida home on Thursday, 18 years after his FA-18 Hornet was shot down on the first night of the 1991 Gulf War. Speicher's remains arrived at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station around 3 p.m. About ten minutes later his coffin was rolled off the plane draped with the U.S. flag. It was to remain at the All Saints Chapel on the base overnight.

Russia, India Continue Carrier Haggling By Neelam Mathews in New Delhi and Douglas Barrie in London When Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visited the shipyard responsible for converting the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov for the Indian navy at the beginning of last month, he suggested there would be “serious consequences” if Moscow failed to deliver. Political hyperbole aside, the fall-out from India’s effort to secure a new aircraft carrier could turn out to be far-reaching. New Delhi is one of Russia’s largest clients when it comes to defense equipment, and the carrier deal is threatening to poison this well at a...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon may want to consider scaling back Lockheed Martin Corp's multinational F-35 fighter program, the costliest-ever U.S. arms-purchase plan, as part of stepped-up budget belt-tightening, an analysis by an influential research group said. The private Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, several of whose one-time experts are now serving in senior Obama administration jobs, cited the F-35 as just one example of programs ripe for review by the Department of Defense during its once-every-four-year, top-to-bottom re-assessment now under way.

UK Ready To Ditch STOVL F-35? Posted by Bill Sweetman at 8/6/2009 7:09 AM CDT London's Daily Telegraph reports this morning that the UK is preparing to switch from the short take-off, vertical landing (STOVL) version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to the F-35C carrier (CV) model, because it costs less and has a greater weapon load and range. According to the paper, its sources say that the decision is not final, and that a choice one way or the other will be announced this fall. It quotes procurement minister Quentin Davies as saying: “We have to take an...

F-18s, F-16s racing to reach Bangalore for trials Prashanth G N, TNN 6 August 2009, 12:53am IST BANGALORE: F-18s and F-16s. The US fighter aircraft are in a neck and neck race to reach Bangalore for commencement of test trials by the IAF. The trials, to begin in the next three weeks, are a matter of pride for Bangalore as it is one among three locations selected, the other two being Leh and Jaisalmer. IAF will purchase 126 new fighter aircraft. Both aircraft had come in as recently as October 2008 for Aero India and were slugging it out even...

It’s time to return some sanity to the way ships are named.  Why?  Because the silliness is upon us once again:111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 83Expressing the sense of Congress that a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Navy, either the aircraft carrier designated as CVN-79 or the aircraft carrier designated as CVN-80, should be named the U.S.S. Barry M. Goldwater.Bill information and status here  The nonsense began with CVN-70  and reached the height of historical blindness with the Truman (honestly, naming a carrier for a president who tried his hardest to kill naval aviation and oversaw the death...

French Aircraft Carrier Sails Without Nukes The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle with air wing on deck. By Hans M. Kristensen France no longer deploys nuclear weapons on its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle under normal circumstances but stores the weapons on land, according to French officials. President Nicolas Sarkozy declared in March 2008 that France “could and should be more transparent with respect to its nuclear arsenal than anyone ever has been.” But while the other nuclear powers declared long ago that their naval weapons were offloaded or scrapped after the Cold War ended, a similar announcement...

WASHINGTON — A pair of nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines has been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the United States over recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies about a more assertive stance by the Russian military. The episode has echoes of the cold war era, when the United States and the Soviet Union regularly parked submarines off each other’s coasts to steal military secrets, track the movements of their underwater fleets — and be poised for war. But the collapse of the Soviet Union all but eliminated the ability of the...

Fresh off its victory removing F-22 fighter jets from a Senate defense bill, the White House is girding for another legislative battle over funding for new presidential helicopters to replace its existing, decades-old fleet. Neither President Barack Obama nor Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to buy the VH-71 presidential chopper, which has more than doubled in cost from $6 billion to an estimated $13 billion for a contingent of 23. “If the final bill were to include funds that continue the existing VH-71 program or would prejudge the plan to re-compete the presidential helicopter program, the president’s senior advisers would...

Umm … where am I supposed to land this thing? A ham-fisted pilot from Virginia nearly caused a major disaster at Kennedy Airport when he brought his single-engine plane down for a landing in the path of a Boeing 747, sending controllers scrambling to get other planes out of his way, according to a published report. Hundreds of lives were threatened over the weekend as small-towner John Prendergast la-dee-da-ed his way around the sky trying to figure out where on earth Republic Airport in Long Island was, reports The New York Post. "I don't know what he's doing – he's...

Lockheed Martin has unveiled the first naval variant for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme in a roll-out ceremony at its final assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas. '"It's an honour and a privilege and it is a great day", says Adm Gary Roughhead, chief of naval operations. The US Navy plans to operate 260 F-35C carrier variants among the 2,443 aircraft in the current US programme. "This airplane will top anything that comes it's way," Roughead adds. The first prototype CV model to roll off the production line - CF-1 - follows the debut of a conventional variant for...

F-35C meets US Navy's single-engine derision By Stephen Trimble When Lockheed Martin rolls out the F-35C on July 28, US Navy pilots will be one step closer to operating a single-engine fighter off a carrier deck. The DEW Line contributor Dave Majumdar explores this issue with an active F/A-18 pilot with more than 1,700 flying hours, who asked to remain anonymous. If there is any doubt that the US Navy aviation community will accept a single-engine fighter, such as the F-35C, one pilot has a clear answer: That "decision has been made" already and, after all, "the Navy is not...

The U.S. Navy found cracks in two of its older F-18A/B/C/D series of aircraft. The apparent cause was a missing fastener. But to be on the safe side, all 622 of these F-18s are being inspected. The navy has been watching its F-18 carefully, because as aircraft age, they develop unexpected cracks. And the F-18 fleet has been aging fast. Over the last decade, the U.S. Navy found that their older F-18C Hornet fighters were wearing out faster than planned for. This was sort of expected with the F-18Cs, which entered service during the late 1970s and early 80s. These...

"The JSF jets, for which Australia is likely to pay $16 billion, were comprehensively beaten in highly classified simulated dogfights against Russian Sukhoi fighters, it has been reported. The war games, conducted at Hawaii's Hickam airbase last month, were witnessed by at least four RAAF personnel and a member of Australia's peak military spy agency, the Defence Intelligence Organisation, The West Australian said." "WA Liberal backbencher Dennis Jensen said he had spoken to a third party with knowledge of the final classified test results who had claimed the JSF had been clubbed like baby seals by the simulated Sukhois, The...

Last year, Russian admirals were talking about building half a dozen carriers, and escort ships. That was when oil (Russia's major export) was at over a hundred dollars a barrel. Now there's a global recession, and all raw materials prices are down. Moreover, the admirals have come to realize that their nuclear submarine program is in big trouble. The submarine construction industry, which used to turn out several nuclear subs a year, has been producing less than one a year since the early 1990s, and cannot build new boats fast enough to replace those that have to be retired. The...

Is the Gorshkov Aircraft Carrier India’s best option? Could the decommissioned USS Kitty Hawk become an alternative? Interview with Jason Verdugo on a possible joint carrier programme in the Austral-Asian region 05:58 GMT, July 15, 2009 China’s secret construction of six aircraft-carriers is now out in the open and its aggressive expansion is scaring its neighbours. The only country that can theoretically contain it is the US, but under Obama and waning domestic support in the US for solitary military campaigns, especially against a powerful enemy, support is quickly fading so they cannot be expected to intervene. The Austral-Asian region,...

Since World War II, the U.S. military has used air power as a decisive force multiplier to prevail in peacetime and in combat. In fact, "American ground forces have not come under attack from enemy air forces since the Korean War."[1] Usually, the military with the best and most fighter aircraft achieves air superiority (control of the airspace over the operational zone). Accordingly, Air Force leaders consider their air superiority mission their second highest priority, behind only nuclear deterrence.[2] The U.S. military has consistently gone one step further by establishing air supremacy, in which "the opposing air force is incapable...

This is the moment a a US Navy pilot gave a shocked resident a very close look at his F18. The fighter/bomber streaked past an apartment block on the banks of the Detroit River at the weekend. It was part of a tactical demonstration fly-past to open a speedboat race in the North American city. Officials waived rules to allow the Navy flyers to swoop under 100ft along the waterway. The jets had flown in from the Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia to put on a spectacular show for thousands of spectators. The Chrysler Jeep Superstores APBA Gold Cup...

Tomahawk may get ship-killer role By Enric Volante ARIZONA DAILY STAR A U.S. Navy missile that cruises hundreds of miles over land to blow up buildings is being redesigned in Tucson to chase down moving targets. Raytheon Missile Systems wants to turn its land-attack Tomahawk missile into a ship killer that can do something never done before: Hit a cruising warship from a thousand miles away. On Friday, the Defense Department announced a $12.8 million contract for Raytheon to engineer and test a new warhead system for the Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile. Ninety percent of the work would be...

7/8/2009 AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq — After serving in Iraq for approximately three months, a detachment of Marines from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169 will soon join the remainder of their squadron serving in Afghanistan. “This is an amazing opportunity for every Marine within the squadron, because there aren’t a whole lot who get to serve in two operational theaters within one deployment,” said Maj. Gerry Kearney, detachment officer-in-charge for HMLA-169. More than half of the squadron is already in Afghanistan and the remaining Marines will be joining their counterparts. “We have been operating with about a third...

ABOARD USS RONALD REAGAN AT SEA, July 6, 2009 – The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group relieved the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group today in command of Task Force 50 and launched its first sorties in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 22 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, July 6, 2009. Ronald Reagan relieved USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in command of Task Force 50 and launched its first sorties into Afghanistan to support Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Apprentice Oliver Cole  (Click...

The breaking of the sound barrier is not just an audible phenomenon. As a new picture from the U.S. military shows, Mach 1 can be quite visual. This widely circulated new photo shows a Air Force F-22 Raptor aircraft participating in an exercise in the Gulf of Alaska June 22, 2009 as it executes a supersonic flyby over the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis. The visual phenomenon, which sometimes but not always accompanies the breaking of the sound barrier, has also been seen with nuclear blasts and just after space shuttles launches, too. A vapor...

In the spring of 1941, the Navy was looking to replace its F4F "Wildcat" (also manufactured by Grumman) in light of new developments in the field of aeronautics, and the worsening military situation both in Asia and in Europe. On June 30, 1941 the Navy ordered the prototypes XF6F-1 and XF6F-2. They were to have the Wright R-2600-16 engine, producing 1,700 horsepower, on the -1 and a Wright 2800-16 fitted with a turbo-supercharger on the -2. Immediately after the first flight of the XF6F1 on June 26, 1942, the craft was mysteriously redesignated the "XF6F-3" and the engine was changed...

Rob Finch/The Oregonian/2002U.S. Marine Corps Col. Kenneth L. Reusser (center) is joined by Marine Staff Sgt. Marvin Harper (left) and Air Force Staff Sgt. Kim Nickerson on the Freedom Train, a string of cars honoring Oregon veterans, firefighters and disaster-relief workers who flew to New York City after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. CLACKAMAS -- They came by ones and twos Friday, quietly slipping into the pews at New Hope Community Church. They smiled at the words honoring a man whose faith made him an inspiration and whose exploits in three wars made him a hero. And when the...

Fast Boat Threat Faces Hail of Hellfires Posted by Graham Warwick at 6/26/2009 2:48 PM CDT Faced with the threat from swarms of small boats. the US Navy is looking to equip the sensor turrets of its shipborne helicopters with the ability to designate multiple targets for simultaneous attack by laser-guided missiles like Hellfire. Photo: US Navy A new Office of Naval Research project, called Multi-Target Track and Terminate (MT3), aims to demonstrate a prototype multi-target laser designator on an MH-60 - including at least six simultaneous launches against maritime targets in realistic conditions - within 60 months of contract...

One of the last two Flying Boats from World War II -- a 747-sized airplane that can only land on water -- will be floating on Lake Elsinore this summer, ready to dump tons of water on Southern California wildfires. The 'Mighty Martins' One of the last two Flying Boats from World War II -- a 747-sized airplane that can only land on water -- will be floating on Lake Elsinore this summer, ready to dump tons of water on Southern California wildfires, it was reported today. A Martin Mars JRM-3 flying boat -- with a wingspan greater than a...

6/23/2009 - ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin made a surprise visit to Sailors and personnel onboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) on Monday during the military joint-training exercise Northern Edge 2009. The invitation came as a surprise for the governor, who jumped at the opportunity to visit U.S. service members and learn more about U.S. Navy operations. "This is such an honor to be here," Palin said. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for my husband Todd and I to see an aircraft carrier in action, and see what its...

The House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Sub-committee has delivered a blow to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) business plan. The committee has also saved the Navy from itself by pushing for a multi-year Super Hornet buy. The House proposes that 28 and not 30 F-35s be acquired for the 2010 budget. The Marines and Air Force will each lose one. That is only 9 now for the USAF if the House has their way. Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the panel stated, “Overall, 28 aircraft is still twice the number of aircraft approved last year”....

I think I need a barf bag. My head is spinning after watching this footage of the Blue Angels, the Navy’s ridiculously precise stunt pilot team. No, I’m not talking about another home movie of the fliers, shot from an air show. This raw video is taken from inside a Blue Angel cockpit, as the jets scream through the air. Personally, it’s as close as I ever want to get from stepping inside one of those planes. Closer, actually.Video

Every war veteran has a story to tell. But few could rival John Moffat's extraordinary tale. Now 89, Mr Moffat had a ringside seat to the sinking of the Bismarck, one of the most dramatic sea battles of the Second World War. But it was relatively recently that the pilot, who gave up flying only last year, found out just how pivotal his role was. It was the torpedo he fired that crippled the rudder of the German battleship, leaving it at the mercy of Royal Navy ships which then sank it in the Atlantic off the west coast of...

China revives production of JH-7 strike aircraft Monday, June 08, 2009 By Kaleem Omar China is now spending upwards of $ 60 billion a year to modernise its military, with the eventual aim of giving it power-projection capability far beyond its borders. In typical fashion, however, Beijing is not rushing pell mell into this endeavour, but is proceeding with due deliberation one step at a time, so as not to alarm its neighbours. Unlike the United States, China is also not given to throwing its weight about in its dealings with other countries and tends to err, if anything, on...

RAF chief predicts controversial takeover of Royal Naval air power The head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, has sparked a major turf war within the armed forces after questioning the future of the Royal Navy's jet aircraft. By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent Published: 8:30AM BST 07 Jun 2009 The Chief of the Air Staff told The Sunday Telegraph that rationalisation in the armed forces would lead to the RAF running all combat jet operations. The move would effectively neuter the Royal Navy's maritime air force, the Fleet Air Arm, leaving the service with just a small...

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2009 – The Navy’s top officer yesterday marked the 67th anniversary of World War II’s Battle of Midway at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Navy Memorial here. The Battle of Midway, fought June 4-7, 1942, pitted U.S and Japanese naval and air forces in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Midway is part of the Hawaiian island chain; the battle was fought about 1,300 miles northwest of Oahu. The United States lost the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and a destroyer at Midway, but the Japanese navy incurred more extensive losses, including the destruction of four aircraft carriers and...

F-35 chief endorses competition for engines and radars By Stephen Trimble New F-35 programme chief Brig Gen David Heinz strongly defended the case for funding two separate engines and raised the possibility of qualifying Raytheon or Thales as an alterative radar supplier. Speaking to reporters on 2 June, Heinz spoke out in favour of continuing production of the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 alternate engine despite its added costs. "I believe that part of the debate that has to occur -- and is occurring - is, is there an operational risk that we are accepting by having just a single engine manufacturer?"...

The last years of Marine Corps veteran Ian Colin MacPherson's life were spent fending off one puzzling ailment after another. Rashes. Headaches. Vertigo. Nausea. And finally, the abnormally aggressive prostate cancer that killed the Riverview man at age 46 in 2004. > She discovered news of the water contamination on the Internet three years after his death.

"Only under the administration of a former 'community organizer,' a product of the corrupt Chicago political machine, who never served a day of his life in uniform, could a 20-year retired Marine Corps Officer be prohibited from visiting the Arlington National Cemetery resting place of his father, a 30-year retired Marine Corps Officer with distinguished combat service, on the most hallowed of days for our fallen and deceased military servicemen and women -- Memorial Day."

AN Australian Navy warship and RAAF spy planes will join the fight against Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa. The Gulf-based Anzac Class frigate HMAS Warramunga and P3-C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, now working on Operation Slipper, will be re-tasked and available for anti-piracy duties in and near the Gulf of Aden. They will join the US-led multi-national Combined Task Force 151 for short-term counter-piracy missions against the criminals who launched more than 100 attacks on merchant ships during 2008, The Daily Telegraph reports. The pirates also collected more than $150 million in ransom from desperate ship owners. The...

South Korean and US troops have gone on higher alert after North Korea announced it is scrapping the armistice in force on the peninsula. Seoul's defence ministry said the "Combined Forces Command upgraded Watch Conditions by a notch to Stage Two". US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says North Korea will face consequences for its "provocative and belligerent" actions towards its neighbours. The UN Security Council is discussing a response to North Korea's nuclear test. "Surveillance over the North will be stepped up, with more aircraft and personnel mobilised," Seoul's defence ministry spokesman Won Tae-Jae told AFP news agency. Meanwhile,...

Recap: -North Korea tests nuke -Obama gives speech saying he's outraged, then goes golfing -North Korea fires two missiles -Obama's UN Ambassador, Susan Rice (the same woman that the 911 Commission says turned down Sudan's offer to hand over Osama Bin Laden) goes on Today Show and says UN is going to meet, threatens more UN sanctions on the already fully isolated country -UN meets, doesn't pass new sanctions, does send "stern letter" -North Korea responds by test firing another anti-ship missile -Obama Press Secretary is pressed by ABC News Jake Tapper to explain what Obama's next attempt will...

Former President Bush Visits Namesake Aircraft Carrier Story Number: NNS090527-04 Release Date: 5/27/2009 10:50:00 AM From USS George H.W. Bush Public Affairs USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH, At Sea (NNS) -- The USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) namesake -- former President George H.W. Bush -- and the ship's sponsor visited the Navy's newest aircraft carrier May 26-27 to observe flight operations during the ship's underway period in the Atlantic Ocean. "It is the greatest honor of my life to be the [ship's] sponsor, so thank you for letting me have that opportunity," said Doro Bush Koch, the former president's daughter...

"They had no right to win. Yet they did, and in doing so they changed the course of a war ...even against the greatest of odds, there is something in the human spirit -- a magic blend of skill, faith and valor -- that can lift men from certain defeat to incredible victory." Dedication Stone Inscription by Walter LordNational WWII Memorial, Washington, DCBattle of MidwayJune 4-7, 1942 National Geographic produced a DVD, "Battle for Midway," which includes actual combat footage of the historic WWII naval battle and Dr. Robert Ballard's search and discovery of the aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown,...

Naval Air Station Fallon Executive Officer Cmdr. Luther Hook, 44, and three of his daughters are the confirmed victims of a plane crash that took place Friday evening near the Fallon Municipal Airport. Hook perished in the twin-engine Cessna crash along with daughters Kaitlyn Elizabeth, 15, Rachel Katherine, 12, and Mackenzie Elena, 9. The four were in route to Fallon from Fresno, Calif. Kelly Spicer, a representative from the airport, said Hook flew to Fresno every Friday afternoon to pick up his daughters from a previous marriage for weekend visitation. He returned his daughters to Fresno each Sunday afternoon in...

I spent many years as TV reporter (and am a 2000 hr pilot) but this weekends work by some ditsy News Babes for News 12 Long Island reaches new lows. Two stories on the Jones Beach air show contaimed these reporters' mistakes: #1: "This WW-II Navy fighter, the F-4 Corsair had folding wings so it could park on small airport parking places such as those shown here at Republic Airport." #2: "The Air Force Thunderbirds, here shown in video from last years air show......" (as 4 high wing piston straight wing monoplanes fly over. They look like Cessna 172s or...

090519-N-7656T-124 ATLANTIC OCEAN (May 19, 2009) An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 passes by the landing signal officer on the way to making the first arrested landing aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). George H.W. Bush is the tenth and final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier and is underway off the coast of Virginia conducting flight deck certification. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael Tackitt/Released) 090519-N-6125G-116 ATLANTIC OCEAN (May 19, 2009) An F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 makes the first...

Australia is conducting the biggest expansion of its navy since the Second World War and will spend an extra £35 billion on the armed forces over the next 20 years. The latest defence White Paper recommends buying 100 advanced F-35 jet fighters and 12 powerful submarines equipped with cruise missiles, a capability which no other country in the region is believed to possess. The "potential instability" caused by the emergence of China and India as major world powers was cited as the most pressing reason for this military build-up. In particular, Australian defence planners are believed to be concerned about...

The Coast Guard says a Navy helicopter with five people aboard has crashed into the ocean 13 miles south of San Diego near the Coronado Islands. More Navy Copter Down (from AP) Prayers up.prisoner6

A color documentary short that portrays the decisive battle of Midway. The naval/air confrontation between the carrier forces of Japan and the U.S. is considered to be the turning point of World War II in the Pacific. Directed by John Ford Video on siteThe Battle of Midway was a major naval battle, widely regarded as the most important of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. It took place between 4-7 June, 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States Navy decisively defeated an Imperial...

Turkey retires first squadron of F-4 Phantoms By Tolga Ozbek Turkey has disbanded its first squadron of McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom strike aircraft, under a transition plan leading to its future operation of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Turkish air force's 172nd Sqn, based in Malatya Erhac, had flown the F-4E for more than 32 years. It is planned to reform in 2014 following first deliveries of the JSF. Ankara expects to receive its first two F-35s that year, although these will first be used at a training centre in the USA. The air force's first conventional take-off...

CORONADO — Vice President Joe Biden spent the day with Navy personnel yesterday, thanking them for their service and announcing plans to expand homeowners assistance to military families with $555 million from the economic stimulus package. Speaking aboard the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, docked at Coronado Naval Base, Biden said military families and civilian Defense Department employees who recently sold their homes at a loss are in particular need of financial assistance. “In the middle of a credit and housing crisis, we recognize that military families cannot generally choose, to put it mildly, when they move,” he said. ... “That's...