Free Republic

Junior female sailors are not the only women to get new uniforms. Female officers and senior enlisted sailors will wear updated styles, such as new combination covers. By the fall of 2016, both enlisted men and women will receive new service dress blues, what the Navy calls “crackerjacks.” ... The “Dixie cup” style dates back to 1886 when it was first incorporated into Navy uniform regulations, according to the Navy’s historical site. “It can be squared, rolled, crushed, fitted with ‘gull wings’ or simply worn as it comes from small stores. It can be used as a flotation device or...

The USS Conestoga left the Navy yard at Mare Island, Calif., on Good Friday, 1921, bound for Pearl Harbor, with a complement of 56 sailors. It cleared the Golden Gate at 3:25 p.m. and steamed into the Gulf of the Farallones in heavy seas. Conestoga was a rugged oceangoing tug that had once hauled coal barges for a Pennsylvania railroad. But 17 years after its launch in Baltimore, it had undergone hard use and had a reputation as a “wet boat,” one that shipped water easily. At 4 p.m. that day, as the San Francisco light ship recorded big waves...

Navy Petty Officer Lentoyi White, 26, feared she’d be dismissed from the service after twice failing the Navy’s body composition assessment (BCA), which measures body fat percentage. But in January, the Navy loosened its body fat restrictions for both men and women, giving White and thousands of other sailors another chance to stay in the Navy. “I am very grateful for a second chance with this new policy,” said White, a single mother with a 5-year-old daughter. White has gone from 212 pounds to 188 and is optimistic she’ll pass this spring under the new standards. Under the Navy’s previous...

Published on Jan 25, 2016 Obama Laughs As He Recalls Being Told Of US Sailors Held By Iran (January 22, 2016)

"An act of God" was responsible for U.S. Navy sailors entering Iranian waters, leading to their arrest at gunpoint, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday told Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members who detained the Americans. "Your job was excellent, interesting and timely and, in fact, we must consider this incident as an act of God, who brought Americans into our waters so they would be arrested through your timely action and in that manner with their hands held above their heads," Khamenei told the group in a face-to-face meeting, according to a report on the supreme leader's...

Document: U.S. CENTCOM Statement on Events Surrounding Iranian Detainment of 10 U.S. Navy Sailors January 18, 2016 1:57 PM The following preliminary timeline of the events surrounding the Iranian detainment of 10 U.S. Navy Sailors from January 12-13, 2016, is based upon multiple operational reports received by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) in the first 24-48 hours after the incident. A Navy command investigation initiated on Jan. 14, will provide a more complete accounting of events.On Jan. 12, two NAVCENT Riverine Command Boat (RCB) crews were tasked with the mission of relocating two RCBs from Kuwait to Bahrain, with...

White House Spokesperson Josh Earnest News Briefing Video

Dramatic video shows ten American sailors on their knees as they surrendered to Iranian troops in the Persian Gulf while a U.S. 'commander' is filmed apologizing to the revolutionary guard Footage of sailors on the floor, with hands behind their heads surrounded by Iranian guards has been released It was aired on the Islamic republic's state television after the Navy personnel were freed following a standoff When the sailors were taken off of the boats in the Persian Gulf, they were questioned by the IRGC Later the captives were pictured looking relaxed while sitting on a big carpet sharing plates...

ice President Joe Biden told CBS New the U.S. did not apologize to Iran after the country released ten Navy sailors it had abducted on Tuesday night. “When you have a problem with the boat, (do) you apologize the boat had a problem? No,” he explained. “And there was no looking for any apology. This was just standard nautical practice.” The vice president explained that the “the Iranians picked up both boats — as we have picked up Iranian boats that needed to be rescued.” Iranian officials then “realized they were there in distress and said they would release them,...

The White House said on Wednesday that it is pleased that Iran released 10 American sailors it had detained, but continues to have concerns about Tehran's sponsorship of terrorism and threats to Israel, Reuters reports. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told Reuters he was not aware of any discussions between Washington and Tehran about an American apology for the incident and noted one "certainly" had not been given. Earnest explained that President Barack Obama had not mentioned the incident during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night so as not to elevate the issue and jeopardize the sailors'...

Iran state television released images of the 10 U.S. sailors that the Iranian military held in custody overnight Tuesday. ABC News first reported the photos, which appeared after the sailors were released by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Wednesday morning.

Iran has released two United States Navy patrol boats and 10 crew members who were described as "trespassing" in Iranian waters near a major naval base, state news media reported on Wednesday. The Pentagon and the State Department said that one of the boats had experienced mechanical problems en route to Bahrain from Kuwait on a routine mission on Tuesday, and the Iranians appeared to have accepted that explanation.

Washington (CNN)Ten American sailors are in Iranian custody after two small U.S. naval craft apparently briefly entered Iranian territorial waters, a U.S. senior defense official said Tuesday. The official, however, expects the situation to be resolved quickly. A senior administration official said there is nothing to indicate this was anything hostile on the part of any entity in Iran, adding that the U.S. has received high-level assurances that the sailors will be released promptly. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told CNN's Jake Tapper that President Barack Obama will be in touch with members of Congress about the incident. "Certainly,...

VJ Day Kiss - 70 years ago 70 years ago ... August 14, 1945 was the dawn, ending those dark days from 1939 - 1945 which were marked by a horrific world war. World War II left no continent untouched and a devastating body count. With causalities approaching 70 million, it may have been the worst war in recorded human history, such seen in this interactive video: The Fallen of World War II on Vimeo But as the Psalmist wrote: "... weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5 (KJV) Finally the night of...

In honor of Memorial Day and the fallen. This is a moving tribute by the West Point Glee Club with pictures collected by John Langslov. Solos by Ronan Tynan and Sgt. McKenzie. If this does not bring a tear to your eye, you have no heart.

The firefighting robot, known as SAFFiR for Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot, is a bipedal automated machine designed to fight fires in the place of humans, according to a U.S. Navy blog post. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Virginia Tech are working together on SAFFiR. The robot is designed to do tasks like humans, such as opening doors and using fire hoses, and has sensors, including infrared stereovision and a rotating laser for light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to move through heavy smoke.

Some of the Navy's first female submariners were secretly videotaped while undressing and showering on board the USS Wyoming, a ballistic missile submarine, service officials confirmed Wednesday.

The United State Navy announced via official press release that Master-At-Arms 2nd Class Mark Mayo will be posthumously award the Navy and Marine Corp Medal at his burial this Friday. Petty Officer Mayo died in the line of duty protecting his ship, the U.S.S. Mahan, on March 24th, 2014, after a civilian intruder boarded the Mahan, disarmed the Petty Officer of the Watch, and engaged in a shootout with Petty Officer Mayo and other responding sailors.

The sailor who was slain during a shootout aboard a guided-missile destroyer at a Virginia base saved another sailor's life by jumping between her and a civilian gunman who was trying to board the ship, Navy officials said Wednesday. (snip) He parked his tractor-trailer cab near Pier 1, was able to walk onto the pier and began heading up a ramp toward the USS Mahan when he was confronted by Navy security, said Mario Palomino, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service special agent in charge of the Norfolk field office. The man then got into an altercation with a female petty...

The crew of the USS Dewey have honored the dying wish of a Pearl Harbor survivor by allowing him on board the latest version of the destroyer he served on in the Second World War. Electrician’s Mate Second Bud Cloud was due to begin hospice care, when his friend Jennie Haskamp reached out to the Dewey's crew and asked if he could see the ship in San Diego. But when they arrived at the dock, the sailors carried the 90-year-old veteran on board and attentively listened as he shared his memories from the war.