Posted on 04/15/2016 9:31:21 PM PDT by pboyington
The US Navy has taken three torpedoes to its bow and is going down.
These are trying times for the US Navy. It seems that every two weeks or so there is some crisis engulfing the once proud, competent and steadfast organization that used to be a bedrock of the nation’s defense.
The performance and conduct of the US Navy lately has seemed like something emanating from a Third World, Banana Republic coastal defense force; heavy on medals and light on brains, skills and tenacious fighting spirit.
Two days ago the USS Donald Cook was taunted and embarrassed by Russian SU-24 fighters who used the guided missile destroyer as mock target practice during danger close gun runs on the vessel.
According to CBS News:
A senior defense official told CBS News that two recent incidents were “more aggressive than anything we’ve seen in some time.”
The first, on April 11, involved two Russian SU24s, when the USS Donald Cook left the Polish port of Gdynia and was about 70 nautical miles from Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea. The official said the Russian jets made 20 passes of the American ship and flew within 1,000 yards at an altitude of just 100 feet.
In the second incident on April 12, two Russian KA27 Helix helicopters flew several circles around the Donald Cook, apparently taking photos, after which two jets again made numerous close passes of the ship in what the official described as “Simulated Attack Profile.”
The U.S. ship tried to contact the plane’s cockpit, but received no response.
The Russian plane, which the U.S. says was unarmed, made at least 12 passes. This continued for about 90 minutes. The event ended without incident.
Twelve passes for 90, count ‘em, NINETY minutes and all the US Navy did was video the incident and put it on You Tube and Facebook so they could get a few “likes.”
Where in the heck was Naval Air the whole time to chase away the Russian aircraft? I find it hard to believe that a US Navy destroyer was wandering around in the Baltic by itself.
US Navy air power seemed to be as absent from this disgraceful incident as it was in the Persian Gulf when the Navy was surrendering to Iranian thugs in dinghies.
And, it gets worse. It seems that the Russians pulled this same act with the USS Donald Cook in 2014 and all we did was sit there and twiddle our thumbs.
The Iranians also know we’re a weak sister. Lieutenant David Nartker, commanding officer of two US Navy Riverine boats, surrendered his men and his craft with superior firepower and navigation systems to a half dozen Iranian thugs in bass boats that they had stolen from Babe Winkelman’s fishing show. Nartker surrendered without firing so much as a flare. After boarding the Navy boats, Nartker and his men were ordered down on their knees while the Iranians trained machine guns and cameras on them.
Nartker doubled and tripled and quadrupled down on his disgraceful conduct by telling a worldwide TV audience that the Iranians hospitality was just fabulous. To add insult to injury, one of his men, felt it was an opportune time to start bawling his head off like he was a guest on Oprah.
As of now, the public has never been told what actually happened in the Persian Gulf. The Pentagon is very adept at hiding things.
Smoke and Mirrors is job one at the Pentagon.
Ash Carter may be able to stow Nartker away in preparation for his eventual assignment as Chief of Naval Operations, but he can’t hide the Navy’s incompetence and cowardice from the enemies of this nation.
We are weak and the bad guys damned well know it.
The word is out on the high seas, on the Arab Street, in the mountains of Afghanistan and in the snowdrifts of the Kremlin; the US military is a feminized weakling. Its senior leaders are the rubber men of Arlington and its commander in chief learned how to street fight on the set of Will and Grace.
The word is out. You can taunt, harass, kick, capture and throw sand in the face of the US Navy and nothing will happen to you because the US Navy doesn’t have the leadership, or the stones to do a damned thing about it.
Superseding the sickening display of fecklessness on the Baltic Sea was the revelation this week that US Navy Lieutenant Commander Edward Lin faces charges of espionage, attempted espionage, patronizing a prostitute, adultery and falsifying federal records.
Lin’s last duty station before being arrested was with Special Projects Patrol Squadron 2 in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, from February 2014 to March 2016. The unit flies the P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft, searching for enemy submarines and performing reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering operations in the Pacific.
This week the Washington Post also learned that Lin has been in the brig for eight months, conveniently hidden from the public by the Pentagon. What’s new? The Pentagon has more dirt under the E-Ring Oriental rug than all the sawdust in America.
Lin, a Taiwanese-born naturalized American, seems to have successfully dodged the CI boys in low quarters and white socks for years, while passing vital national security information to the Chinese.
Speaking of national security scandals, there is the ongoing Fat Leonard Affair, which involves the Chief of Naval Intelligence.
Fat Leonard is not a villain on Hawaii Five-O, but the Malaysian defense contractor, Leonard Glenn Francis, who pleaded guilty to orchestrating one of the U.S. Navy’s biggest corruption scandals. Standing 6 feet, 3 inches, and weighing some 350 pounds, the 51-year-old is better known as “Fat Leonard” in Navy circles, and has admitted to bribing countless Navy officials with cash, prostitutes and lavish gifts.
“Fat Leonard” was the CEO of the Glenn Defense Marina Asia group, headquartered in Singapore. He initially fought the charges, but after a wave of defendants admitted their complicity, he later admitted he overcharged the U.S. Navy by more than $20 million for fuel, food and other services at his Asian ports, and also invented tariffs via fake port authorities. Between 2004 and 2013, Francis plied Navy officials with gifts of cash exceeding $500,000, promises of sex from prostitutes amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, all-expense-paid hotel stays, Cuban cigars and various other material gifts, according to his plea agreement.
In return, Francis received classified information such as ship schedules from various naval officers, including Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, who was seen as a rising star in the Navy, according to Raw Story. “Misiewicz and Francis moved Navy vessels like chess pieces, diverting aircraft carriers, destroyers and other ships to Asian ports with lax oversight where Francis could inflate costs,” the criminal complaint alleges, according to AP. Misiewicz maintains his innocence and has pleaded not guilty.
Eight people, including Misiewicz, have been implicated in the corruption scandal so far, including Navy officers, a senior Navy investigator and Francis’ cousin.
Vice Adm. Ted “Twig” Branch, the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information and the Director of Naval Intelligence has been without a security clearance since November of 2013 after his name was mentioned in a far-ranging investigation into the infamous “Fat Leonard” bribery and corruption scandal. The Navy had nominated Rear Admiral Elizabeth Train to take over as head of Navy Intelligence, but the nomination was pulled two weeks ago.
Think about that; the head of Navy Intelligence doesn’t even have a clearance!
More importantly, why would the Navy dither for over two years on the replacement for Branch?
Obviously, this crisis has been overlooked by Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, who is too busy destroying the new Gender Neutral Marine Corps.
Adding to all these problems, the Navy has serious readiness issues. Three days ago, Republican Congressman Randy Forbes chaired a hearing Wednesday where he advocated for growing the size of the Navy’s fleet.
Forbes, the chairman of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, heard testimony from former Navy Secretary John Lehman, on the Navy’s ship shortfalls and the need for a significantly larger fleet. Former Fleet Forces Commander Admiral Robert Natter will testify later.
Forbes released the following statement before the meeting:
When John Lehman stepped down as Secretary of the Navy in 1987 we had 594 ships. When ADM Natter retired from the Navy in 2003 we had 297 ships. Today we have a fleet of 272 ships that is too small to meet the demands being thrust upon it.
Poor leadership, gutless officers, unethical and traitorous officers, lousy morale, enlisted personnel who don’t understand the Code of Conduct, readiness concerns, old equipment, fighting spirit issues; the US Navy has deep, serious problems that if allowed to continue will bring down this once proud and brave service.
The US Navy hasn’t been in a direct fire engagement since 1988. While Naval Air assets played a vital role in the Gulf War, the Iraq War and in Afghanistan, the absence of actual naval combat has begun to take a toll on the Navy.
The US Navy has a peacetime attitude in a wartime world.
Dot, dot, dot
Dash, dash, dash
Dot, dot, dot
Why do senior officers in the military always have a little dumb nickname on all their correspondence?
I think it's a requirement.
That is a scandal in and of itself.
Ray Mabus is turning the US Navy into his version of Star Fleet... A freak show masquerading as an armed service.
Yep, the good guys are either being retired for their politics and commitment, or leaving in disgust.
I suspect that the Poles did not chase these Russians away from our destroyer because they were not asked, not because they could not.
I was thinking strictly in terms of USN based fire power. Naval Operations Base Rota, Spain has a runway but I'm unsure about air assets there. Mainly it was an admin base, hospital, and support base, for ships operating in the MED Sea as well as the USN HQ for Spain.
A call to Poland for assistance would likely have to go through the Pentagon/State Dept boondoggle.
Oh it's much worse than Pearl Harbor. The International Piers are about 2 or so miles upstream past N.O.B. and any flagged ship can go there. There is also two large bridges and tunnels to consider. The Hampton Roads tunnel and Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel all ships much cross. Then there is Portsmouth home of Norfolk Naval Shipyards which can berth three carriers and also Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock company the one sole remaining carrier builder all in a nice tight circle.
Before anyone says loose lips to me ALL our enemies already know all this. A city map on line shows all they need. The NOB piers are well within sight of I-64 meaning you can see the carriers as you enter Norfolk.
We do or rather we used to have a second carrier homeport in Mayport, Florida that I think could hold two.
There's also pictures of shipyard tents and shacks sitting on flight decks of carriers berthed at N.O.B. This isn't just an Obama issue neither. It goes all the way back to Poppy starting policies and calling for cuts that never slowed down. Congress shares more responsibility though than anyone because they have the full say as to money allotted for what programs, how much, how many ships, how many active duty troops in all services and reservist etc. DEM majority or GOP majority didn't change one decimal point on anything.
One last thing many more critical Naval assets are in Norfolk. The U.S.N. Amphib Base and Oceana N.A.S. are there as well. At least the sub fleet is somewhat more scattered.
Yeah we had some issues. Sometime in maybe Oct 79 we lost 3MMR and an entire switchboard due to a feed water line rupture over the electrical switchboard. We still stayed out & finished our mission which was carrier quals for another air wing then went in for our scheduled year long overhaul.
Things were so bad we thought then that Navy offered critical ratings $15K and next rank to re-up. Fast forward to late 1982. I was back home and our local economy collapsed. Not even MickeyD hired. I tried to go back in and talked to a recruiter. I was a Machinist Mate. Recruiter couldn't offer me anything to come back in because they were meeting their billets. Two years later I joined the Army NG for a year and even kept my rank.
Did any ship you were on get to this point? This was pre-deployment USS America during the summer of 1993 conditions
The America needs constant attention. Commissioned in 1965, it is showing its age. A month before leaving Norfolk, a senior enlisted crew member complained to his congressman: The ship was operating on only two of its six electric generators, without radar and unable to pump fuel. This would be its third six-month cruise in three years, and without the standard 18 months at home for repairs, salt water and full steaming had taken their toll.
When she came home to NORVA from that deployment 7 months I think she had a bad Boiler Room explosion severe enough she went towed Cold Iron up to Portsmouth for a fast band-aid repair and another deployment which was her last.
Jimmy Carter's mess never got this bad. Two of Six generators meant primitive electrical services with Fire Pumps, lights, elevators maybe and likely only two of it's 10 Air Conditioning Units operational. It's simple. No A/C? No Avionics, No Operations or limited, due to electronics being very screwy if temps weren't maintained. I was in AC&R shop so I would know that. We usually had one or two chillers we were working on but we kept the critical spaces operational and that was with 9 when I was in. I signed for #10 being accepted in 1980.
Don't get me wrong Carter was a poor excuse for POTUS but he did inherit a royal screwed up mess as well. The Ford/Sec of Def Rummy tenure did it's damage also. Remember when if you wanted out all you had to do was walk off 31 days and report anywhere but back to your ship for an Admin DC? Carter did end that and his SECNAV eventually began to address discipline and morale issues. Small stuff yeah I know but Bosun Whistles, the Crackerjack dress blues, and retention began to be addressed.
The mess today is the cumulative damage of Poppy, Clinton, W, Obama, and all siting Secretaries of Defense under them. But most of all on Congress both parties. POTUS may be CIC but Congress has power to regulate, allot funding, and approve or fire secretaries as well as impeach POTUS. We are down to about 271 active ships. Carriers now sit idle with sometimes none deployed anywhere. We never got even close to that point.
Stennis and Truman might be deployed right now. Deployments means something from about 3-7 months long cruises such as South America, Persian Gulf, Med Sea, operations area. These are extended times away from homeport and not in and out for a few weeks carrier quals.
I was just a kid, but I can remember an older cousin, a jet engine mechanic who was at a Naval Air Station at that time, telling my dad that the day the word to begin restoring discipline came down the Station Commander purchased a dozen sledge hammers from a hardware store and sent out an order for malefactors to be identified and set to the task of using said sledgehammers to break up the concrete foundations left behind where a number of buildings had once stood. In my cousin's telling the difference in attitude and behavior was palpable within weeks.
I remember sometime in 1979 they started issuing Liberty Passes again. It had your name on it so you couldn’t borrow one LOL. The work center supervisor {senior enlisted in the shop} held them and handed them out at the end of the work day. Without it or a pier pass to take out trash etc you could not leave the ship. That was a great incentive especially when in port time was scarce such as sea work ups before deployment. Somebody figured out if you wanted men to act like sailors then treat them as such. Thus the prior long standing traditions were restored including a crackerjack uniform so you weren’t mistaken for an airline pilot LOL.
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