Free Republic

NORFOLK--Fourteen years after al Qaida suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole, shipmates, friends and families of the fallen sailors will come together to remember. A private ceremony is planned Sunday at Naval Station Norfolk. It was October, 12, 2000, when the guided missile destroyer was refueling at the Port of Aden, Yemen, when terrorists blew a 40 x 40-foot hole in the ship's hull, killing 17 crew members. Former Cole sailor Anthony VanCampen served as ship's bugler then. He plans to play "Taps" at this weekend's memorial service. "The biggest thing for me is that somebody has to tell the...

The missing pilot is Lieutenant Nathan Poloski, 26, of Lake Arrowhead, Calif., a 2009 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, the Navy said in a statement. Poloski went missing Friday after two F/A-18 Hornet jets collided west of Wake Island, about 2,300 miles (3,700 km) west of Hawaii. The Navy conducted a 36-hour search over 3,000 square miles for the pilot and his aircraft but called off the search on Saturday, saying Poloski was thought to be dead. "Nathan was an outstanding person, naval officer and aviator," said Commander Michael Langbehn.

Faced with rampant reports of sexual harassment and mistrust of the chain of command on the USS Germantown, Navy leaders turned to Cmdr. Jason Leach for help. Sailors applauded when Rear Adm. Hugh Wetherald, commander of the Amphibious Force Seventh Fleet, gave Leach command of the Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship in May 2013, after the departure of the previous captain, Cmdr. Carol McKenzie, who could be so harsh that her behavior bordered on verbal abuse, according to a half-dozen sailors who served with both skippers. It turns out, he was the wrong man for the job, according to the...

A former US navy sailor who led a spy ring for the Soviet Union has died in a prison medical centre at the age of 77. Retired Navy Warrant Officer John Walker Jr was sentenced to life in prison in 1985 for passing codes and other sensitive data to the USSR. He had recruited his son, his brother and friend to continue spying after he retired. All were convicted.

Learning that U.S. Navy commissioning coins were made in China is more than Middle Paxton Twp. resident Gene Stilp can tolerate. The citizen activist doesn't like seeing the "Made in China" label on any product, knowing it signals the continued erosion of America's manufacturing base. But having the United States military buying Chinese-made commemorative coins is an insult to those who wear its uniforms, he said. On Monday, Stilp asked U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., to push for a federal law barring any branch of the military from buying collectible coins minted outside the nation's borders. The Democratic state House...

Okay. I'm not sure how I missed the updates/reports other than the fact that they appear not to have been posted here at FR. Principal source link is the PDF report to Congress in regards to a prior post here:("Final Report to the Congressional Defense Committees in Response to the Joint Explanatory Statement Accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014, page 90, “Radiation Exposure” "). (link will open/download the PDF) An update on the USS Ronald Reagan crew lawsuit re their mysterious illnesses in the wake of Operation Tomodachi is here: ("USS Reagan Sailors’ Lawsuit Found ‘Lacking’ Nuclear Expert...

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan – The USS Bonhomme Richard will likely miss its next underway deployment after a botched $3 million resurfacing of the amphibious assault ship’s flight deck. The ship had undergone the resurfacing less than a month ago. “A recent application of non-skid coating on the flight deck of the USS Bonhomme Richard was not up to Navy safety standards and is being reapplied,” Cmdr. William Marks, spokesman for 7th Fleet, said in an email to Stars and Stripes. “This will cause an increase in port time and decrease in underway days for Bonhomme Richard.” An “accidental gouging”...

Put the Bibles back! A Navy spokesman confirms that Bibles will be returned to base lodges, and they’ve also launched an investigation to determine why God’s Word was removed from guest rooms in the first place. Navy Exchange, which runs the base lodges, sent a directive out in June ordering the Bibles removed, after the Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a complaint. The atheist group alleged the books were a violation of the U.S. Constitution and amounted “to a government endorsement of that religious text.” Navy spokesman Ryan Perry said the decision was made without their knowledge. “In June 2014,...

A few days ago, tens of thousands of civilians were stranded on a mountain dying of thirst and starvation. Today, supported by their carrier air wing, American naval aviators from the U.S.S. George H. W. Bush are putting ordnance on target. This action should have been taken months ago. Far too many have already perished at the hands of ISIS. Yet now, via American food, water, and bombs, civilians in Iraq’s north have found new hope. Finally, we are confronting the threat that ISIS poses to the world. Unfortunately, the task is falling squarely on America. Our closest ally, Britain,...

On this date in 1958, the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, became the first naval vessel to reach the North Pole, having traveled under the icepack from the Barrow Sea across the North Pole and eventually surfacing north of Greenland. SSN-571 would be decommissioned in 1980, declared a National Historic Landmark in 1982, and is now a museum ship in Groton, Connecticut.

MOBILE, Alabama -- It's judgment day for the littoral combat ship. The July 31 deadline has passed for a task force of U.S. Navy officials to collect information for a new or improved small surface combatant. In a released statement the Navy said it will begin reviewing the preliminary findings that will decide the future of the littoral combat ship, or whether to replace it. "Because the task force alternatives will be considered as part of (the fiscal year 2016 budget) deliberations, the Navy will not comment publicly on the report's findings until budget decisions within the defense department are...

The parents who were stranded at sea with their two young daughters and had to be rescued by a U.S. Navy warship say they plan to sue their satellite phone carrier and hope any monetary winnings will allow them to help repay the government's cost of their rescue. “To see people show up to help you like that is pretty amazing,” Eric Kaufman told ABC News, referring to the team from California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing that parachuted out of a plane into the frigid waters off the coast of Mexico to save his family. Kaufman and his...

The ceremony included a bit of comedy, but there was no denying the significance: For the first time in its history, the Navy promoted a woman on Tuesday to become a four-star admiral. Surrounded by friends, family and peers, Adm. Michelle J. Howard was promoted to her new rank at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. She’ll take over as the vice chief of naval operations, the No. 2 officer in the service. She is not only the first woman to hold the job, but the first African-American.

Lockheed: Marine Joint Strike Fighter on Final Approach to Initial Operational Capability By: Dave Majumdar Published: June 10, 2014 6:25 PM Updated: June 10, 2014 6:26 PM A Marine F-35B joint strike fighter lifts off from the runway during the first short take-off and vertical landing mission at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. on Oct. 25 2013. US Marine Corps Photo A Marine F-35B joint strike fighter lifts off from the runway during the first short take-off and vertical landing mission at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. on Oct. 25 2013. US Marine Corps Photo Lockheed Martin has begun testing...

As head of a Chesapeake defense contracting firm, Roderic Smith thought he had to "pay to play." He thought bribery was all part of the government contracting game. "The pattern and amounts of payments were very formulaic and routine," his lawyers said in a court filing. The scheme "was a scheduled system to provide continuous access to compete and win contracts." Smith would learn that this was not routine, but when he tried to get out, he was extorted by a co-defendant to stay in. It went on for more than eight years before federal authorities stopped it. Smith, 50,...

Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. - Romans 13:7 (NASB) GALLATIN, Tenn. (BP)--March 25, 2003, Chief Petty Officer Jordan Joseph Garrett, United States Navy (Retired), received honors long overdue for actions that "reflected great credit" upon himself, the United States Navy and the United States of America. When the USS Houston was attacked by Japanese ships on March 1, 1942, Garrett refused to leave the vessel until the third "abandon ship" alert was issued. With two broken feet, shrapnel in his...

Divers from the U.S. Navy will visit the World War II graveyard of the "Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast” — the sunken USS Houston — later this month in a bid to determine what remains of the ship, which went down with more than 700 sailors off the coast of Indonesia. The wreck of the Northampton-class heavy cruiser, which was sunk by the Japanese during the World War II battle of Sunda Strait on Feb. 28, 1942, will be surveyed by Navy divers working with their counterparts from Indonesia. The ship lies about 125 feet deep, near Java, Indonesia,...

Two locally made documentaries will run in conjunction with this week's premiere of Ken Burns' film The War. Our Nation's Highest Honor (9 p.m. Monday, Channel 8) is a half-hour report on those in the Houston area who have received the Medal of Honor. Interviews with descendants are included. The special, unavailable for preview, was produced by longtime KUHT documentary maker Jim Fisher. Fisher is also producer of Cruiser Houston: Of Pride and Purpose (9 p.m. Tuesday, Channel 8), an excellent hourlong report on the USS Houston and its crew. Remarkable footage and superb sound editing hallmark this special, which...

This is a "headsup" for selected reviews/presentations about WWII and the Cold War that will appear on BookTV (C-Span2) this weekend of Jan. 13/14, 2007. Links to the segments of specific reviews (and their broadcast times) will be posted below. The "Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston..." might be pretty good. The author also produced "Last Stand of The Tin-Can Sailors" about Taffy 3 (Battle of Samar). The links below are for other WWII and Cold War topics that might be interesting.

Iraq Crisis: US Moves Aircraft Carrier To Persian Gulf As Obama Weighs Military Options By Howard Koplowitz@howardkoplowitz on June 13 2014 12:02 PM The USS George H.W. Bush is being positioned in the Persian Gulf as President Obama considers airstrikes in Iraq. US Navy The U.S. aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush is being moved to the Persian Gulf in case President Barack Obama authorizes airstrikes in Iraq, CNN reported Friday. Iraq is in turmoil after an al Qaeda offshoot, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, made advances this week in the north and north-central portions of the country, including...