Free Republic

We hope the Supreme Court has the sense to assert its authority over military activities that can cause environmental harm far from any battlefield. Some of the justices’ comments this week sounded as though they were feeling far too deferential to the military. The court is considering whether to reverse lower-court decisions that the Navy must restrict its use of sonar in training exercises to protect whales and other marine mammals. Two lower courts have ruled that the Navy could conduct exercises off the California coast provided it employs mitigation measures, such as suspending or reducing sonar emissions when sound-sensitive...

When the three military academies play one another there is nothing quite like it. Dick Vermeil once described Army-Navy this way: "It is the only game where you will see 22 players knock each other down on the opening kickoff." But there's no bitterness, no anger. Occasionally there's trash-talking because kids are still kids, but not much. For years, the players at Army and Navy thought the players at Air Force were cocky. In truth, they were simply better, which is why they dominated the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for 20 years, holding onto it for 17 years during that period. Now...

The May fire aboard the carrier George Washington that injured 37 sailors, caused $70 million in damage and delayed the ship’s forward deployment to Japan was “entirely preventable,” according to the Pacific Fleet commander in a final report made public Friday. Adm. Robert Willard faulted the ship’s leadership for improperly handling the conditions that led to the fire. And he blamed inadequate firefighting training for the long amount of time it took to locate and extinguish the fire. Willard also aimed higher, questioning naval leaders in Hawaii, San Diego and Norfolk about “possible shortcomings” while the ship was undergoing training...

The last remaining survivor of the sinking of WWII battle cruiser HMS Hood in May 1941 has died at the age of 85, his naval association has said.

USNA has beaten USAFA for the 6th consecutive year, 33-27!!!! GO NAVY, BEAT ARMY!

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - The Navy has confirmed the wreckage of a sunken vessel found last year off the Aleutians Islands is that of the USS Grunion, which disappeared during World War II. Underwater video footage and pictures captured by an expedition hired by sons of the commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele, allowed the Navy to confirm the discovery, Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny said Thursday in a news release. McAneny said the Navy was very grateful to the Abele family. "We hope this announcement will help to give closure to the families of the 70 crewmen of Grunion,"...

On September 29, 2006, Ramadi, Iraq was considered the most dangerous city on planet earth for American servicemen. Michael Monsoor was there in the midst of it all. He was a member of the elite branch of the Navy called SEALS, which stands for SEa, Air and Land. On that day, he was on a rooftop over-watch in the most contested part of the city called the Ma’laab district. Positioned near the only exit, with an MK 48 machine gun in hand, he was providing security for two SEAL snipers who lay in prone positions on either side of him....

One of the last Falkland-era ships still being used by the Royal Navy has been withdrawn from service ahead of schedule. HMS Exeter, used to shoot down Argentina Skyhawk jets in the Falkland War in 1982, sailed back to Portsmouth harbour last month, fuelling fears the Navy is suffering from defence budget cuts. Last month a report by the UK National Defence Association said the Armed Forces were all "woefully under-funded" and the defence budget needs to be increased from the current £34 billion to £50 billion over the next three years. Defence funding has hit the lowest level since...

The Navy has decided that a controversial sonar training range it proposed building off North Carolina's coast would be better located off Florida, where its East Coast sub-hunting helicopters are based...The border of the proposed 625-square-mile range would come within a few dozen miles of calving grounds of the endangered North Atlantic right whale.

China's submarine fleet projects Beijing's power Jonathan Manthorpe Vancouver Sun Friday, September 26, 2008 Soon after dawn two weeks ago the captain of the Japanese destroyer Atago was on the bridge of his ship cruising within territorial waters off southwestern Japan when he saw something in the water about a kilometre away. "Isn't that a periscope?" he asked. Crew detected the target with the ship's state-of-the-art sonar. They then "pinged" what they took to be a submarine with their targeting sonar. Under the rules of the sea the submarine should then have surfaced and displayed its national flag or faced...

LONDON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy said on Wednesday it appeared pirates had tried to attack one of its big military oil tankers. A security team aboard the vessel opened fire on two small boats near Somalia after they ignored warnings and pursued the ship, a U.S. Fifth Fleet spokesman said. "From all appearances it does look like it was a pirate attack and the incident is currently under investigation," he said by telephone from Bahrain. He said the Military Sealift Command (MSC) oil tanker, the John Lenthall, which usually carries a range of fuels for the U.S. armed forces,...

TOKYO — Groups opposed to Thursday’s arrival of the USS George Washington to Yokosuka Naval Base say demonstrations will grow in size and number in upcoming days. "We want to express our opposition to America," Masahiko Goto, a lawyer and leader of a Yokosuka citizen’s group, said Tuesday. "We want a withdrawal of the deployment." On the day of the ship’s arrival to its new forward-deployed base, a rally will be held at 6 a.m. at Kannonzaki Park near Uraga station, where protesters can watch the carrier as it approaches, organizers said. Protesters also will embark on boats to follow...

Another Agosta submarine ready By Our Reporter KARACHI, Sept 22: SM Hamza, the second indigenously built Agosta 90B submarine, will be commissioned in the Pakistan Navy on Sept 26, giving a qualitative boost to its capability to defend the country’s maritime boundaries. This was stated by Commodore Hassan Naser Shah, general manager of the submarine construction project, and Commodore Shah Masood at a background briefing at the PN Dockyard on Monday. The commissioning of SM Hamza was termed a historical moment because it has a special feature of air independent propulsion system which increases the diving autonomy of conventional submarines....

Was the Stephenville UFO a National Security Threat? american chronicle Franklin D. Fields, Jr. Esq. Stephenville, Texas attracted worldwide attention earlier this year (Jan, 08) after residents sighted an unidentified flying object (UFO) that some say was a mile long. By news accounts, there were more than 30 residents to specifically report the sighting. It was front-page headlines in a large number of news forums. Many of the witnesses were interviewed on national television programs such as CNN´s Larry King Live. All of the witnesses were credible and none were shown to be perpetrating a hoax. They might have been...

As part of our special investigation "Mission Creep: US Military Presence Worldwide," we asked a host of military thinkers to contribute their two cents on topics relating to global Pentagon strategy. (You can access the archive here.) The following dispatch comes from Katherine T. McCaffrey, an assistant professor of anthropology at Montclair State University in New Jersey and author of "Military Power and Popular Protest: The US Navy in Vieques, Puerto Rico".

By Kate Wiltrout The Virginian-Pilot September 18, 2008 By Kate Wiltrout The Virginian-Pilot Carl Brashear was a man with unwavering determination to serve as a Navy diver - and to return to the water even after losing a leg. Thursday in San Diego, the Navy's top officials gathered to honor Brashear at the christening and launch of a supply ship bearing his name. Also in the crowd was Senior Chief Petty Officer John Allen, a diver from Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base. Several years ago, he spent just a few minutes with Brashear, but it made a big impression. Brashear...

Rep. Jack Murtha’s (D-Johnstown) opponent in this year’s congressional race -- Lt. Col. William Russell, a decorated Iraq war veteran who was in the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001 -- has just released an ad titled “In Cold Blood.” So far, it is one of the most powerful campaign spots to hit the airwaves in the down- ballot races this cycle in the Keystone State.

Since the Democrat campaign is throwing around the words honorable and dishonorable when discussing Senator McCain I thought it appropriate to enlighten those who may not have had the opportunity to read the citations from some of Senator McCain's medals. THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY Washington D.C. 20350 The president of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the SILVER STAR MEDAL to COMMANDER JOHN S. MCCAIN III UNITED STATES NAVY CITATION: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity while interned as Prisoner of War in North Vietnam from 27 October to 8 December 1967. His captors, completely ignoring international agreements, subjected...

Another navy sub forced to dry-dock because of crew shortages Mark Dodd and Matthew Franklin | September 11, 2008 THE Royal Australian Navy is set to move the fourth of its six Collins-class submarines into dry dock because of crew shortages, undermining Kevin Rudd's plans for a massive upgrade in naval resources to counter a military build-up inAsia. Defence analysts warned yesterday that severe skills shortages meant the navy could not crew its existing vessels, let alone new assets proposed by the Prime Minister in a major speech to the Returned and Services League on Tuesday night. Mr Rudd told...

A recent Washington Post profile of John McCain’s years at the Naval Academy portrayed him as an unruly, fun-loving, under-achieving Midshipman struggling with his obligation to live up to his family’s brilliant military legacy. It was “a four-year course of insubordination and rebellion,” McCain later wrote. McCain graduated 894th out of 899 in 1958, five spots above the “Anchorman,” the lowest-ranking midshipman. In this respect he did uphold one family tradition; his similarly rebellious father Jack, who would rise to the rank of Admiral and was the Pacific Command CINC while his son was being held prisoner in Hanoi, had...

When Ralph McClintock boarded the USS Pueblo in January 1968, he was planning for a three-week mission. Instead, the 24-year-old communications technician became a prisoner of war, a pawn in the Cold War sideshow that began with North Korea's capture of the Navy spy ship and imprisonment of its 82 crew members. Forty years later, as McClintock and the other survivors of the Pueblo prepare for a reunion, he's proud of his service and the bonds he made with his crew mates during 11 months in captivity. But the pride is tinged with bitterness. "We were treated as heroes when...

The general also confirmed that a decision to build new aircraft carriers for the Russian Navy had been adopted. Russia's Navy commander, Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky, said in July that the Navy command had decided to form in the future 5-6 aircraft carrier task forces to be deployed with the Northern and Pacific fleets.

40 Years After Capture, USS Pueblo Crew Reunites JERICHO, Vt. — Ralph McClintock expected only a three-week mission when he boarded the USS Pueblo in January 1968. Instead, he and his shipmates became pawns in a Cold War sideshow when North Korea captured the Navy spy ship and imprisoned its 82 crew members. Some still suffer the physical effects of torture or malnutrition they suffered in 11 months of captivity. McClintock is proud of his service as a 24-year-old communications technician and the bonds he made with his crew mates, but that pride is tinged with bitterness. "We were treated...

SIERRA VISTA — Fon B. Huffman, the last survivor from the international Panay Incident of 1937, died Thursday, his family announced. Huffman, born in 1913, celebrated his 95th birthday on Aug. 19. He died peacefully in his sleep at noon in Hacienda Rehabilitation and Care Center. His daughter, Nancy Ferguson, was by his side. Advertisement Fon Huffman is pictured on Dec. 26, 2007, at his daughter Nancy’s home in Sierra Vista where he lived out his last days. File photo/Mark Levy•Herald/Review The Iowa farm boy who joined the Navy at age 16 was a 24-year-old sailor aboard the USS Panay...

<p>Someday you may be invited to fly in the backseat of one of your country's most powerful fighter jets. Many of you already have -- John Elway, John Stockton, Tiger Woods to name a few. If you get this opportunity, let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity....</p>

NORMALLY you’ll find HMS Liverpool and Clyde enjoying temperate climes. But who says such things are set in stone? Not the planners at Fleet HQ, who decided to dispatch the Clyde and Liverpool to a land of a snow and ice. The patrol vessel and destroyer, plus their trusty tanker RFA Black Rover, headed to South Georgia to take charge of a disaster relief/emergency exercise. Equally important, however, was a chance to test the speed with which units based in the Falklands, more than 850 miles away, could respond to the need to defend South Georgia against a hostile invader,...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 29, 2008 – In a perfect world, military personnel on deployment always would be assigned to jobs within their specialties. But it’s not a perfect world, and some sailors assigned to provincial reconstruction teams are serving in general service positions, meaning prior military training is not required. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Shawn Simmons, a ship’s serviceman from Sherman, Texas, stationed onboard the USS Kauffman in Norfolk, Va., installs a new cable on a satellite dish at Camp Wright, Afghanistan, Aug. 26, 2008. Courtesy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. With the robust...

Sweden's own version of the Loch Ness monster, the Storsjoe or Great Lake monster, has been caught on film by surveillance videos, an association that installed the cameras said Friday. The legend of the Swedish beast has swirled for nearly four centuries, with some 200 sightings reported in the lake in central Sweden. "On Thursday at 12:21 pm, we filmed the movements of a live being. And it was not a pike, nor a perch, we're sure of that," Gunnar Nilsson, the head of a shopkeepers' association in Svenstavik, told AFP. The association, together with the Jaemtland province and local...

After passing a U.S. Navy review, Lockheed Martin Corp. is closing in on delivering a new warship that will be a milestone in the defense contractor's expanding foray into shipbuilding. The USS Freedom, the first of a new class of near-shore combat vessels called the Littoral Combat Ship, was recently inspected by Navy officials and put through trials on Lake Michigan. The ship is being built at the Marinette shipyard in Wisconsin and is based on a commercial high-speed hull design from Italian shipbuilding giant Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani SpA. The successful inspection is one of the few bright spots...

Can post Link Only

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ The Navy has changed course and decided to push for construction of a third DDG-1000 destroyer that would be built at Bath Iron Works, Sen. Susan Collins said Monday. The Maine Republican said Navy Secretary Donald Winter informed her of the decision that comes one month after the Navy said it was scrapping the Zumwalt destroyer program once the first two are built. The Navy said at the time that it was opting instead to build more of the current-generation DDG-51, or Arleigh Burke, destroyers. Collins quoted Winter as saying that in addition to seeking...

A new Cold War between Russia and the West grew steadily closer today after the Kremlin gave a warning about “direct confrontation” between American and Russian warships in the Black Sea. Dmitri Peskov, a spokesman for Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, declared that Russia was taking “measures of precaution” against American and Nato naval ships. “Let’s hope we do not see any direct confrontation in that,” he said. Any attempt by countries in the West to isolate Russia would “definitely harm the economic interests of those states”, he said.

US and Russian warships took up positions in the Black Sea today in a risky war of nerves on opposing sides of the Georgia conflict. With the Russians effectively controlling Georgia's main naval base of Poti, Moscow also dispatched the Moskva missile cruiser and two smaller craft on "peacekeeping" duties at the port of Sukhumi on the coast of Abkhazia, the breakaway region that the Kremlin recognised as independent yesterday.

TBILISI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Two U.S. warships will deliver humanitarian supplies on Wednesday to the Georgian Black Sea port of Poti where Russian troops have been mounting patrols, the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi said on Tuesday.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The U.S. Naval Academy is building on efforts to increase student diversity with the help of a new commercial and a graphic novel. ... Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, the academy's superintendent, wants to make the academy's student body as diverse as the Navy's enlisted force, in which minorities make up about 47 percent.

A New York man was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison after a jury convicted him of stealing submarine parts from the Navy and selling them for scrap.Frank E. Spaulding, 37, also known as Khalif Immanuel Bey, confessed to stealing submarine acoustic domes in December 2006 after the parts had been removed from the Hampton, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.Spaulding sold the parts, worth $21,000, to a local scrap yard for about $2,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Two U.S. Navy ships, including a guided missile destroyer USS McFaul, and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter are getting underway to transport humanitarian assistance supplies to Georgia, U.S. European Command (EUCOM) said on August 21. It said USS McFaul (DDG 74) departed from Souda Bay, Crete, on Wednesday and the cutter Dallas (WHEC 716) will depart later this week. McFaul and Dallas are scheduled to transit into the Black Sea and arrive in Georgia within a week, according to the U.S. European Command. The announcement comes after it was reported that Turkey gave its go-ahead to sail through its straits...

An Iraqi Sailor looks on from the pier as USS Firebolt transits the Khawr Abd Allah River towards the port of Umm Qasr, Iraq. As part of Iraq Navy Day celebrations, Firebolt made a port visit to Umm Qasr, Iraq, Aug. 13, marking the first visit by a U.S. ship to Iraq in more than 15 months. Photo by Lt. Nathan Christensen. UMM QASR — As part of Iraq Navy Day celebrations, USS Firebolt made a port visit to Umm Qasr, Iraq, Aug. 13, marking the first visit by a U.S. ship to Iraq in more than 15 months. “Our...

SAN DIEGO — The officer in charge of a Navy flight squadron that provides the president and the defense secretary the airborne ability to command and control the nation's nuclear submarines, bombers and missile silos has been relieved of duty, FOX News has confirmed.

<p>SAN DIEGO - The commander of a Navy air reconnaissance squadron that provides the president and the defense secretary the airborne ability to command the nation's nuclear weapons has been relieved of duty, the Navy said Tuesday.</p> <p>Cmdr. Shawn Bentley was relieved of duty Monday by the Navy for loss of confidence in his ability to command, only three months after taking the job.</p>

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2008 – The Iraqi navy teams with coalition forces in conducting important maritime security missions, a senior U.S. military officer posted in Iraq said today. “The Iraqi navy and coalition naval forces partner in critically important maritime missions which includes maintaining security and stability in Iraq’s territorial waters, monitoring maritime traffic, protecting commercial shipping into and out of Iraq’s ports and protecting Iraq’s coastline and infrastructure from any potential threats,” U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll told reporters during a Baghdad briefing. An important element of joint coalition and Iraqi maritime security operations is protecting Iraq’s...

The Russian Navy has confirmed that a section of its Black Sea Fleet is en route to the Georgian coastline. The task force includes a missile cruiser. Military officials insist the operation is to help refugees and is not part of an operation to blockade Georgia. According to a source in the Russia’s defense ministry, three assault ships were earlier sent to the same destination. ‘This is not a sea-blockade, as a blockade would mean a state of war with Georgia, while we are not in a state of war’, the source said. Georgia’s National Security Council Secretary, Aleksandr Lomaya,...

Operation Brimstone ended only one week ago. This was the joint US/UK/French naval war games in the Atlantic Ocean preparing for a naval blockade of Iran and the likely resulting war in the Persian Gulf area. The massive war games included a US Navy supercarrier battle group, an US Navy expeditionary carrier battle group, a Royal Navy carrier battle group, a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine plus a large number of US Navy cruisers, destroyers and frigates playing the "enemy force". The lead American ship in these war games, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN71) and its Carrier Strike Group Two (CCSG-2)...

PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, Florida (AP) -- Ed Ellis steps across the National Naval Aviation Museum into the aircraft that was Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Chester Nimitz's flying headquarters during World War II. "If this plane could talk," said the 67-year-old retired Navy captain, longing to hear the conversations that happened aboard the vintage PB2Y Coronado. "Nearly every Navy admiral in the Pacific was in here." The Coronado -- the first U.S. plane to land in Tokyo after the war -- is the latest restoration project undertaken by the museum's mostly volunteer staff of hundreds of military retirees. Located at...

A Japanese foreign affairs official said Thursday the ministry was reassured by the U.S. Navy's "serious stance" after the two top officers on the USS George Washington were removed from duty in response to a May fire aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. "The government of Japan believes that stringent measures taken to relieve the two (officers) showed a serious stance from the U.S. side in regards to the fire," said Hiroshi Suzuki, assistant press secretary at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Suzuki said ministry officials believe the removal of commanding officer Capt. David C. Dykhoff and executive officer Capt. David...

HEMET, Calif. (KABC) -- He gave his life serving this country in the war zone of Afghanistan. But a local bank has refused to cash the government check to pay for his burial. Now his family is fighting back. Navy Corpsman Marc Retmier was the 500th Californian to die in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He had dreams of coming home to Hemet to become a doctor. Click in the Eyewitness News Story Window above to watch the accompanying video to this story. But now his family says a controversy involving a bank and his bereavement check is adding...

SAN DIEGO, July 31 (UPI) -- A $70 million fire on the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington left its top two officers stripped of their duties, officials said Wednesday. Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the Navy's Pacific Fleet, directed the skipper, Capt. David C. Cykhoff, and his executive officer, Capt. David M. Dober, be relieved of their command, Navy Times reported. Dykhoff was fired for "loss of confidence in his ability to command and his failure to meet mission requirements and readiness standards," Navy officials said in a statement. Dober was ousted for "substandard performance." Two months ago,...

NAVAL STATION NORTH ISLAND, Calif. (NNS) -- Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Robert F. Willard, issued a final endorsement to the investigation of a fire that occurred aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73) on May 22. As directed by Adm. Willard, Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific, Vice Adm. Thomas J. Kilcline, Jr., relieved the Commanding Officer of USS George Washington (CVN 73), Capt. David C. Dykhoff, today due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command and his failure to meet mission requirements and readiness standards. As directed, Kilcline also relieved the George Washington Executive Officer, Capt. David...

<p>SAN DIEGO -- (AP) - Navy officials say smoking appears to be the cause of a fire that caused $70 million in damage to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington.</p> <p>The announcement Wednesday by the Navy came as Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, relieved the carrier's commanding officer and the executive officer of duty.</p>

SAN DIEGO – The skipper of the San Diego-based Pearl Harbor has been relieved of command after the amphibious landing-dock ship ran aground last week in the Persian Gulf, Navy officials said Monday. Cmdr. Xavier Valverde has been reassigned to the staff of the Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain while the July 21 incident is investigated. The Pearl Harbor apparently hit a shoal while conducting a well-deck drill off the coast of Kuwait, a Navy spokeswoman said. The ship backed off the sand bar without sustaining damage. Valverde, a 26-year Navy veteran, took command of the Pearl Harbor in...