Posts Tagged ‘ news ’

Two rear admirals are getting a third star, and two numbered fleets are getting a new boss. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday announced that President Obama nominated Rear Adm. Mark Fox for assignment as commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Central Command, and Commander, 5th Fleet, in Bahrain; and Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk for assignment as commander, 7th Fleet, Yokosuka, Japan. Fox currently serves as commander, Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, in Fallon, Nev. The career aviator has flown the A-7E Corsair II and F/A-18 Hornet in more than 100 combat and contingency missions. He has logged more than 4,800 flight hours and 1,347 arrested landings on 15 different carriers. He also scored the first Navy MiG kill of Operation Desert Storm on Jan. 17, 1991, and led the opening “shock and awe” strike of Operation Iraqi Freedom on March 21, 2003. Fox’s replacement has not been named. Van Buskirk is deputy and chief of staff, U.S. Pacific Fleet. The career submariner has served on attack and ballistic missile subs. He oversaw the initial development of the Navy’s Human Capital Strategy, was the senior naval officer on the Multi-National Force-Iraq staff and served as commander of Carrier Strike Group 9 in direct support of combat operations for operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. Rear Adm. Timothy Giardina has been assigned as the new deputy and chief of staff, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Also on Thursday, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead announced six other flag moves: • Rear Adm. Michael Browne will be assigned as director, Personal Readiness and Community Support Branch, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. He currently serves as deputy chief engineer, Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C. • Capt. Clinton Faison III will get his first star and be assigned as commander, Navy Medicine West/commander, Naval Medical Center, San Diego. He currently serves as deputy chief, Medical Operations, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Washington. • Rear Adm. Donald Gaddis will be assigned as program executive officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs, Washington. He currently serves as commander, Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division/assistant commander for research and engineering, Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. • Rear Adm. Michael Mittelman will get a second star and be assigned as fleet surgeon, U.S. Pacific Fleet/command surgeon, U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. He currently serves as command surgeon, Joint Forces Command/medical advisor to Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, Norfolk, Va. • Rear Adm. William Roberts will be assigned as fleet surgeon, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk. He currently serves as director, Medical Resources, Plans, and Policy Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington. • Rear Adm. Alton Stocks will be assigned as commander, Navy Medicine East/commander, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Va. He currently serves as fleet surgeon, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Norfolk. These assignments follow 16 other flag moves announced by the Navy in the past two weeks. OTHER RECENT FLAG MOVES • Pottenger gets 3rd star, assignment • 3-star’s next assignment announced • Roughead announces seven flag moves • Flag assignments announced by CNO

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New 5th, 7th Fleet commanders named

BAGHDAD — A police official says U.S. troops opened fire late Wednesday on a car in western Baghdad, killing an Iraqi journalist and her husband. The official says the incident took place in the Tobchi neighborhood. He says U.S. troops opened fire on the car of Aseel al-Obeidi and her husband but gave no further details. He spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. Morgue officials confirmed the deaths. The U.S. military did not confirm the incident but said it was investigating killings Wednesday of two Iraqis that occurred as troops were conducting security operations in western Baghdad. Al-Obeidi worked for Dijla television, which recently closed because of financial problems.

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NORFOLK, Va. — The Navy is opening its second 24-hour child care center for military members in Hampton Roads. The Child and Youth 24/7 Center is scheduled to open at 10 a.m. Friday at Naval Station Norfolk. Another center will open within the next few months at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story. A year after the first center opened in 2003, the Navy says focus groups reported fewer complaints about child care and said the program made their jobs easier. The existing center is located next to the Naval Support Activity Norfolk Child Development Center.

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New Hampton Roads child care center to open

PARIS — European governments have the right to ask Washington for explanations on the Air Force tanker tender following Northrop Grumman’s decision not to bid, the French Defense Ministry said Thursday. “For the Defense Ministry, it is difficult to understand how an aircraft that was declared in 2008 to respond perfectly to American needs no longer meets these needs after a modification of the tender,” Gen. Christian Baptiste, deputy spokesman for the Defense Ministry, told journalists. In its bid for the $35 billion Air Force contract to build aerial refueling planes, Northrop teamed up with EADS to offer a tanker plane based on the Airbus A330. Airbus is a subsidiary of EADS, the European defense and aerospace group, and it is headquartered in Blagnac, France. Chicago-based Boeing has offered a converted version of its 767 airliner. “European leaders have had the occasion to raise the problem [with the Northrop-EADS bid] several times with the American authorities, and faced with this situation, the European countries can legitimately ask for an explanation,” Baptiste said. In other reaction to Northrop’s withdrawal from the tanker contest, EADS Chairman Louis Gallois refused to rule out going ahead with another partner on the bid, even though it was highly unlikely. Asked on French radio station RTL if his company’s exit from the competition was definitive, Gallois said the decision had been made by its U.S partner, Northrop, which knows the U.S. market very well. “If we want to stay in, we would have to find another American partner, because there is some extremely sensitive equipment in that plane which we can’t supply,” he said. “We need an American partner, but can you find another partner in 60 days and set up the bid? That seems highly improbable.” Gallois said the tender terms were “biased,” as they gave a decisive advantage to Boeing’s smaller aircraft. In the absence of a competition, the American taxpayer would pay more for the tanker fleet, he said. Asked if the protest by European governments was in vain, he said, “Let’s see. We can’t prejudice the future. Maybe the Americans will extend the competition; you never know.” The French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported Wednesday on its Web site that French President Nicolas Sarkozy planned to raise the tanker issue with President Obama when they meet in Washington at the end of the month. Gallois said he understood that was Sarkozy’s intention, although he had not had direct contact with the French president. Northrop announced Monday its decision to pull out of the tanker competition, in view of what it said were terms in the request for proposals that favor the Boeing 767. Related reading • Gates: Northrop decision won’t delay tanker

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The 11th semi-annual Fleet Diversity Council will be held April 7 in San Diego. The event is part of the Navy’s diversity initiatives. It is open for all interested military government personnel, with a strong emphasis on San Diego-area naval bases, but command-funded travel from other areas is authorized and encouraged, according to NavAdmin 089/10. Command equal opportunity officers and equal opportunity advisers are strongly encouraged to attend. The day will include two identical sessions. The first runs from 8 to 11 a.m. at the 32nd Street Naval Station base theater, Building 71. The second will run from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Lowry Theater at Naval Air Station North Island. The council’s purpose is to educate sailors, officers and civilians on the value of diversity and the Navy's multiple diversity initiatives. Keynote speaker at both sessions will be Samuel Betances , who will highlight diversity and its role in the Navy. If you or someone in your command plans to attend, contact Master Chief Damage Controlman James Hervey at 619-532-4797/DSN 522 or james.hervey@navy.mil; or Senior Chief Gas Turbine System Technician Ferdinand Biscocho at 619-545-8634/DSN 735, or ferdinand.biscocho@navy.mil, by April 2. Dress will be uniform of the day or civilian equivalent.

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Fleet Diversity Council to meet April 7

Bronze campaign stars recognizing the 2007-08 surge of U.S. troops into Iraq, as well as current stabilization efforts, have been authorized for wear on the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Pentagon announced Thursday. The surge campaign phase has been established as running from Jan. 1, 2007, to Dec. 31, 2008; the second campaign star, for the phase identified as “Iraqi Sovereignty,” began Jan. 1, 2009, and will continue through a date to be determined. Although all who have served in “direct support” in the Iraq war on or after March 13, 2003, are authorized to wear the medal, the stars recognize designated campaigns during the war. Four previous phases had been identified, and service members who have qualified for the Iraq Campaign Medal can display a bronze campaign star on their medal for each designated campaign phase in which they took part. The other four phases, announced previously, are: ? • Liberation of Iraq — March 19, 2003, to May 1, 2003. • Transition of Iraq — May 2, 2003, to June 28, 2004. • Iraqi Governance — June 29, 2004, to Dec. 15, 2005.? • The “National Resolution” phase — Dec. 16, 2005, to Jan. 9, 2007. Troops should contact their respective military departments for specific implementation guidance, the Pentagon said.

Read more here: Campaign stars approved for latest OIF phases

CHARLESTOWN, Ind. — A Fort Knox soldier has been assigned a desk job while the Army investigates an allegation he showed the photograph of a topless woman to a high school student during a recruiting visit. Donna King said her son, Nicholas Gardiner, 18, was shown the photo Monday morning at Charlestown High School. “I don't want him stoned,” King said of punishing the soldier. “I just want him to get counseling” so he knows what he did was inappropriate. King said Nicholas called her Monday afternoon to tell her about the photo because “he was upset the soldier had shown disrespect to the (Army) uniform.” Her former husband was a military policeman, and for 10 years she and Nicholas went with him to military posts around the world, King said. She said they have great admiration for the Army. Nicholas is a senior at Jeffersonville High School and in the morning goes to Charlestown High for automotive technology classes, King said. They live in Clarksville. Brian Lepley, a civilian spokesman for the Army Accessions Command at Fort Knox, Ky., said the soldier accused of showing the photo has been reassigned to work in an office at the post while the incident is investigated. Lepley declined to identify the soldier. He said he was not a full-time recruiter but was an “exhibitor” who drives a “tricked up” Humvee to show potential recruits. He has had training as a recruiter, Lepley said. “We've got 7,500 recruiters around the country,” Lepley said. “It seems to be an isolated incident.” The Army “is a values based organization” and the incident, if true, conflicts with those values, Lepley said. Charlestown High School Principal Keith Hedges said he wasn't aware of the recruiting visit, which had been approved by a teacher at the school. Hedges said his understanding, based on what King told him, is that Nicholas and other students saw an Army Humvee in the parking lot as they left their automotive technology classes Monday morning. A soldier demonstrating the Humvee was showing students photos of other Army equipment on his iPhone when a topless young woman's photo popped up, Hedges said. He said only one student, who he would not identify, has acknowledged seeing the photo. King said her son told her that when the photo appeared on the solder's iPhone, the soldier said “here's a bonus.” Hedges said he plans to modify military recruiting at the school next year. Rather than allowing recruiters from different services to visit the school at different times during the year, he plans to have one recruiting day in the fall and one in the spring for all the military services. He said he will require the recruiters to contact his office before they visit.

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CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Marine Corps is trying to determine why a fighter jet suffered engine failures, crashing into the ocean off South Carolina and forcing the pilots to bail out. Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort say neither the pilot nor the weapons officer on the F/A-18D Hornet suffered serious injuries when they ejected late Wednesday afternoon about 35 miles offshore. The Marines' names were not released. They were picked up by a Coast Guard helicopter about an hour after the plane went down and were checked by a doctor as a precaution. A Marines spokesman says a Coast Guard cutter was patrolling the crash site late Wednesday to help locate and recover pieces of the plane. The plane was on a training mission when the two engines on the $29 million jet failed.

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2 Marine pilots rescued; SC crash probed

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two Marine Corps jet pilots were rescued off the South Carolina coast after their aircraft went down. A statement from the Coast Guard on Wednesday said Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort notified the Coast Guard at about 5:17 p.m. that two pilots aboard a Marine F/A-18D Hornet attached to Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 224 went down approximately 35 miles off the coast of St. Helena Sound. Authorities said two parachutes were spotted, indicating that the pilots had ejected. A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter rescue crew from Charleston located the missing pilots and rescued them about an hour after the crash. It wasn’t known if the Marine pilots were injured, and Coast Guard officials weren’t immediately available for additional comment Wednesday night.

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SEATTLE — The Coast Guard plans to reactivate the icebreaker Polar Star by 2013. But first the vessel will be retrofitted at Todd Pacific Shipyard in Seattle. The Polar Star is one of the nation’s two Polar Class icebreakers. The Polar Star is able to ram through 21 feet of ice. It has primarily been used to break open a route to U.S. research stations in Antarctica. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen was in Seattle on Wednesday to announce the Polar Star’s reactivation.

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Icebreaker Polar Star to be reactivated by 2013