Archive for October, 2009
Aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing 14 perform a diamond formation fly-by over the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) during a Tiger Cruise air power demonstration in the Pacific Ocean Oct. 18, 2009. For the Tiger Cruise, friends and family members of U.S. Sailors assigned to the ship embarked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to sail to San Diego, Calif., for the ship’s homecoming ceremony. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Torrey W. Lee, U.S. Navy/Released)
Typical carrier fly-over shot, but note the bulbous bow visible in the clear water:
USS Reagan's (CVN 76) Bulbous Bow
Phony War Hero Gets 18 Months Jail Time
A Marine Corps sergeant was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months confinement and fined $25,000 for pretending to be an injured war hero to get free seats at rock concerts and professional sporting events.
Sgt. David W. Budwah also will be reduced in rank to private and dishonorably discharged after any appeals. He must forfeit all pay and benefits during his confinement and is subject to up to 3 1/2 years of additional prison time if he re-offends within two years.
He never deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan and did not help with the 2004 tsunami relief effort as he had earlier claimed. He hadn’t earned eight of the medals and ribbons he wore on his uniform. He did serve as a radio operator in Okinawa from 2000 until 2006.
Budwah acknowledged he lied when he told young boys at an American Legion camp in western Maryland in July 2008 that he was wounded in Afghanistan when he dove on a homemade grenade to shield a buddy from the blast.
What a piece of [work].
One of the events he bluffed his way into was a Washington Redskins game. Part of his sentence should include another Redskins game this year. (Bada Boom)
He also ripped off Soldiers’ Angels.
Prison is probably the safest place for him right now.
Battleship USS Wisconsin moored downtown Norfolk during Fleet Week Hampton Roads 2009. Wisconsin serves as a museum at the National Maritime Center - Nauticus. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Santos Huante
Bayonne Naval Supply Depot, New Jersey
Bayonne Naval Supply Depot, New Jersey Photographed on 15 April 1953 with ships in reserve. The two large ships at right on the near side of the peninsula are Alaska (CB-1) and Guam (CB-2). The next two ships astern are North Carolina (BB-55) and Washington (BB-56). Further astern are (from outboard to inboard) Fargo (CL-106), Albemarle (AV-5) and Wakefield (AP-21). The carriers Enterprise (CV-6) and Franklin (CV-13) are at the far left. Also present are the escort carriers Card (CVE-11), Croatan (CVE-25), Mission Bay (CVE-59), and Guadalcanal (CVE-60) along with the cruisers Providence (CL-82), Little Rock (CL-92), Spokane (CLAA-120) and Fresno (CLAA-121). One of the two CLAAs is tied up outboard of the Alaskas. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
That’s quite a reserve fleet. In fact, toss in a few destroyers and you’ve got yourself a surface navy all right there. Just waiting for the cutting torch.
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jordan Christie prepares to fire a shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapon at a compound in the Helmand province of Afghanistan Oct. 15, 2009, during a fire fight. Christie, who is assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, is attached to Regimental Combat Team 3, whose mission is to conduct counterinsurgency operations in partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces in southern Afghanistan. (DoD photo by Cpl. Artur Shvartsberg, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
Not-So-Secure Border Initiative
The $3.7 billion spent so far has bought a patchwork of sub-par technology that often can’t tell a terrorist from a tumbleweed.
Cameras and radars mounted on tall poles can be so shaken by the wind and blinded by the rain that they don’t see clearly. The radars report intruders where there are none. The cameras have trouble seeing and then transmitting images back to human monitors.
When it was begun in 2006, the Secure Border Initiative – called SBInet – was supposed to be completed early this year. But by the time that due date rolled around, the estimated date of completion had slid out to 2016.
This whole issue has always been a joke. I’ve certainly never been convinced than anyone calling the shots is at all serious about actually securing the border.
The new Block 1 SBInet needs a 70% identification rate to be deemed acceptable. That means that three in ten illegal crossers can get through unseen and it’s good enough.
That’s not the definition of “good enough” that I’m familiar with.
It’s clear that no one currently in power is going to do anything meaningful about this. That means different people need to be in power.
I’ve just been notified that Murdoc’s application for next April’s Boston Marathon has been approved.
Folks, that is lifetime dream that has just been given the green light.
Fifty years ago this month, the United States stepped briskly into the ICBM era, and it has never stepped out. Three long-range, liquid-fueled Atlas D missiles armed with nuclear warheads went on full combat alert at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Oct. 31, 1959.
A lot of great footage in this video:
UPDATE: Plus: United Launch Alliance’s 600th Atlas Mission
U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Mike Means maintains security while U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers move through fields in order to establish a patrol base in the Garmsir district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Oct. 9, 2009. Means is assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Pete Thibodeau
Here are a couple of additional items on the ongoing soap opera surrounding Turkey:
Israel-Turkey Rift Derails Defense Trade
The growing Israel-Turkey rift that culminated in Ankara canceling Israeli participation in a multinational exercise threatens to derail already declining defense cooperation between the two countries, said officials from both countries.
Israel plans to withhold export licenses for the sale of defense articles and services to Turkey, and demote the country’s standing from preferred to one that carries a presumption of denial, Ministry of Defense sources said.
On the flip side:
For Turkey and Israel, Common Interests Trump Tensions
The improbable relationship between Turkey and Israel has long stood as a unique model of pragmatic, strategic thinking in a region rife with instability, tension, and identity-based alliances. In recent months, however, growing strains between the Jewish state and its Muslim neighbor have come to light, leading some to believe their decades-old ties could reach the breaking point. And yet, if one looks more closely at the relationship, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that a break between the two countries is highly unlikely.
I hope so.
What do you guys think about this?
