Thousands of Japanese gathered in Okinawa last week to demand that a U.S. Marine base be moved out of the region. Ginowan mayor Yoichi Iha told an estimated crowd of 21,000: "Okinawa's future is for us, the Okinawan people to decide. We cannot let America decide for us."Thousands of Japanese gathered in Okinawa last week to demand that a U.S. Marine base... more
A crew member aboard a U.S. Navy ship accidentally fired a machine gun into the Polish port city of Gdynia on Wednesday while cleaning the weapon, Navy officials said Friday.
You never know who is on the level, trust your true feelings...tell family and friends who you are out with...You never know who is on the level, trust your true feelings...tell family and friends... more
This week in San Diego, CA the US Navy held the initial planning conference for Trident Warrior ‘10. The Trident Warrior series is the premier annual FORCEnet Sea Trial Event sponsored by Naval Network Warfare Command (NETWARCOM). FORCEnet’s experimental results are incorporated into a definitive technical report used to develop Military Utility Assessment (MUA) recommendations.This week in San Diego, CA the US Navy held the initial planning conference for... more
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will order the Navy to hail and request permission to inspect North Korean ships at sea suspected of carrying arms or nuclear technology, but will not board them by force, senior administration officials said Monday.
The new effort to intercept North Korean ships, and track them to their next port, where Washington will press for the inspections they refused at sea, is part of what the officials described as “vigorous enforcement” of the United Nations Security Council resolution approved Friday.
The planned American action stops just short of the forced inspections that North Korea has said that it would regard as an act of war. Still, the administration’s plans, if fully executed, would amount to the most confrontational approach taken by the United States in dealing with North Korea in years, and carries a risk of escalating tensions at a time when North Korea has been carrying out missile and nuclear tests.
In discussing President Obama’s strategy on Monday, administration officials said that the United States would report any ship that refused inspection to the Security Council. While the Navy and American intelligence agencies continued to track the ship, the administration would mount a vigorous diplomatic effort to insist that the inspections be carried out by any country that allowed the vessel into port.
The officials said that they believed that China, once a close cold war ally, would also enforce the new sanctions, which also require countries to refuse to refuel or resupply ships suspected of carrying out arms and nuclear technology.
“China will implement the resolution earnestly,” said Qin Gang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said.
One official in Washington said the administration was told by their Chinese counterparts that China “would not have signed on to this resolution unless they intended to enforce it.”
end of excerpt
Source: The New York TimesWASHINGTON — The Obama administration will order the Navy to hail and request... more
The USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a retired U.S. Navy warship, embarked on a sedentary new career Wednesday on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.
The decommissioned warship was scuttled in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary between 10:20 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. ET to become the world's second-largest artificial coral reef.
The 17,250-ton ship sank in less than two minutes, said Andy Newman, spokesman for the Florida Keys Tourism Council. It is resting about 140 feet below the surface, but much of its bulk is only 40 to 70 feet below the surface.
The goal of the $8.6 million project is to divert fishing and diving pressure away from natural reefs, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The commission "estimates that the vessel's life span of at least 100 years will contribute stable, long-term habitat for scores of marine fish species, and provide exceptional diving and fishing opportunities for Florida residents and visitors."
so, is florida just trying to appease conservationists by telling us the main reason they did this is to support marine life? i think they're just trying to support their tourism industry pockets. the florida fish and wildlife conservation commission need money, too. but, thats just me.The USNS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a retired U.S. Navy warship, embarked on a... more
NAIROBI, Kenya – A U.S. Navy spokesman says a German-owned ship has been hijacked in the pirate-infested waters between Somalia and Yemen.
U.S. Navy 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen says pirates seized the cargo ship early Saturday in the Gulf of Aden about 150 nautical miles (280 kilometers) southeast of the coastal Yemeni city of Muqalla.
The ship, the Motor Vessel Patriot, is Maltese flagged.
Christensen could not give the number or nationalities of the crew nor say what the ship's cargo is.
Pirates have hijacked more than 100 ships off the Somali coast over the last year, including one in a dramatic standoff between pirates and the U.S. Navy earlier this month. The Gulf of Aden is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.NAIROBI, Kenya – A U.S. Navy spokesman says a German-owned ship has been hijacked in... more
The US has deployed two warships with anti-missile capabilities in the waters off Japan as tensions mount over North Korea's plans to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile capable of striking Alaska.
By Peter Foster in BeijingThe US has deployed two warships with anti-missile capabilities in the waters off... more
America's elite navy fighter pilots as depicted in stunning, shimmering and shirtless glory by Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer in 1980s film "Top Gun," learned all their tricks by Royal Navy flying instructors. That's according to new book "Phoenix Squadron" by historian Rowland White.
His research has uncovered that there were many British pilots involved in the Top Gun-style programme at Miramar airbase in California - the same academy that inspired the classic film.
This was, he claims partly because it freed up American service-men for the Vietnam war, and because... well the Brits were the best in the business!
So many questions answered .... but one still bugs me; was beach volleyball a mandatory part of the training programme?America's elite navy fighter pilots as depicted in stunning, shimmering and shirtless... more
A U.S. surveillance ship violated Chinese and international laws during patrols more than 100 miles off the Chinese coast over the weekend, China's state-run media reported Tuesday.
The response follows the Pentagon's contention Monday that Chinese ships harassed the U.S. vessel on Sunday in the latest of several instances of "increasingly aggressive conduct" in the past week.A U.S. surveillance ship violated Chinese and international laws during patrols more... more
A cruise ship carrying over 1,000 British passengers was forced to take evasive action against two small boats, that are thought to have been manned by pirates, off the coast of Somalia.
The 43,000-ton ship "zig-zagged violently" to avoid rocket launcher attacks as the two smaller craft closed in. The captain requested passengers to assemble in safe areas on the ship and a number of newspapers report distress flares were fired. In the end, the incident was a false alarm and a US navy ship escorted the liner to safety.
Pirates attacked more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden last year, more than double the number of the previous year, according to the International Maritime Bureau.A cruise ship carrying over 1,000 British passengers was forced to take evasive action... more
President Elect Barack Obama has confirmed he hopes to end the controversial "Don't Ask - Don't Tel" policy which effectively bans Lesbians and Gay Men from disclosing their sexuality whilst serving in the Armed Forces. Although he has remained committed to repealing the ban for many years his team has confirmed that as yet "no decisions had been made about the strategy or timing" however openly gay congressman Barney Frank has made clear that the ban is likely to be lifted once U.S troops finally pull out of Iraq, now scheduled for sometime in early 2010.
Obama's team has reaffirmed it's commitment to removing the policy in place since 1993 which states prohibits anyone who "demonstrates a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts" from serving in the US Armed Forces."President Elect Barack Obama has confirmed he hopes to end the controversial "Don't... more
The U.S. Supreme Court says the Navy can use active sonar despite evidence that it and other noise pollution can deafen, and even kill denizens of the sea
The noise in the Pacific off the southern California coast has become 10 times louder over the past five decades because of the rumbling of commercial shipping vessels, the clicking of oceanographic research equipment, and the din of Navy operations and sonar systems—all of which are threatening whales that use the same frequency range to communicate.
In an effort to save the whales, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sued to stop the Navy from conducting operations in the area that employ that particularly damaging form of sonar. But the U.S. Supreme Court last week in a 5–4 ruling dismissed the suit, giving the Navy the all-clear to continue blasting sound waves despite the environmental impact.
But active sonar also rouses normally reclusive, squid-eating beaked whales from the deep. Sometimes, it causes them to ascend to the ocean surface so rapidly that they succumb to "the bends"—the development of deadly nitrogen bubbles in their blood; later their corpses wash up on beaches. Since 1989 the NRDC has documented 13 mass-stranding events of whales and porpoises that they said were linked to military sonar use. Among them: an event in January 2005 that led to the stranding deaths of 34 whales of three species along North Carolina's Outer Banks.
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More information in the article that is both interesting and sad. Too much noise.The U.S. Supreme Court says the Navy can use active sonar despite evidence that it and... more
The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted sanctions placed on the Navy over its underwater sonar testing, a setback for environmental groups that claimed the warfare technology was harming whales and other marine mammals.
An endangered blue whale surfaces off the coast of Southern California in July.
At issue in the 5-4 ruling was whether the Navy's need to conduct exercises to protect the country from enemy submarines outweighed concerns raised by environmental groups.
The case focused on whether the president had the power to issue executive waivers allowing such tests and whether federal judges can issue preliminary injunctions blocking them. The high court ultimately sided with claims of national security over environmental concerns.The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted sanctions placed on the Navy over its underwater... more
The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision today ruled that the Navy does not have to consider the effect of sonar on whales when training with sonar off the coast of California. "The Court does not question the importance of plaintiffs' ecological, scientific and recreational interests, but it concludes that the balance of equities and consideration of the overall public interest tip strongly in favor of the Navy," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. "The determination of where the public interest lies in this case does not strike the Court as a close question."
Environmentalists, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, which sued to stop the sonar exercises, and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) charged that the high-intensity mid-frequency active (MFA) sonar blankets vast areas of the ocean with noise pollution, causing whales, including endangered beak whales, to beach and/or die. The Navy does not dispute the potential danger to the mammals, acknowledging in its own environmental assessments that the sonar may permanently damage as many as 500 whales and temporarily deafen at least 8,000 whales.The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision today ruled that the Navy does not have to... more
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar in training exercises off the California coast, a defeat for environmental groups who say the sonar can harm whales.
The court, in its first decision of the term, voted to allow the Navy to conduct realistic training exercises to respond to potential threats by enemy submarines.
Environmental groups had persuaded lower federal courts in California to impose restrictions on sonar use in submarine-hunting exercises to protect whales and other marine mammals. Environmentalists link sonar to beached whales, internal bleeding around marine mammals' brains and ears, and other damage.
The Bush administration argued that there is little evidence of harm to marine life in more than 40 years of exercises off the California coast.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, which was joined by Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Six justices agreed with the outcome, although Justice John Paul Stevens did not join the majority opinion. Justice Stephen Breyer would have allowed some restrictions to remain, while Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter said the prospect of harm to the whales was sufficient to justify limits on sonar use.WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted restrictions on the Navy's use of... more
The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling that national security trumps environmental rules, lifted restrictions on the Navy's use of sonar during training exercises off the coast of Southern California.
The environmental interests ``are plainly outweighed by the Navy's need to conduct realistic training exercises to ensure that it is able to neutralize the threat posed by enemy submarines,'' Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
The case tested the power of the White House and the military to skirt federal environmental regulations in the name of national security. The Bush administration argued that courts should be deferential when the president concludes that a military exercise is essential for the country's safety.
Two justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter, dissented, while two others, Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stevens, agreed with Roberts in part.
The ruling applies to the last of 14 training exercises designed to prepare naval strike groups for deployment in the western Pacific and Middle East.
Environmental groups led by the Natural Resources Defense Council sought to limit the Navy's use of mid-frequency active sonar, also known as MFA sonar, which ships use to detect submarines. The environmentalists said MFA sonar has killed and injured beaked whales and other marine mammals.
Harmful Actions
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper limited the Navy's use of MFA sonar, pointing to the National Environmental Policy Act's requirement that government agencies prepare an environmental impact statement before taking harmful actions.
Cooper said President George W. Bush's Council on Environmental Quality had improperly cited ``emergency circumstances'' as a basis for exempting the Navy from that requirement.
Trade groups representing the forest-products, pesticide, agricultural and home-building industries supported the Bush administration in the case.
Cooper's order required the Navy to take a number of steps, including shutting down MFA sonar when marine mammals are spotted within 2,200 yards and reducing sonar power by 75 percent in the presence of a water condition known as ``surface ducting.''
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Cooper's order, though it also issued a stay that temporarily relaxed the restrictions.
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At what point does a healthy ecosystem become part of national security, or should we just be concerned with short-term national security? And does our security trump the security of whales because they don't have a voice?The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling that national security trumps environmental rules,... more
Juliet Soukup is a 21-year-old Navy Wife, her husband Michael left for Iraq in March. He was deployed a month after they were married in February and, with no family near by, Juliet has been here alone since then. She finds ways to fill her time, mostly spending her days with the other wives. Most of the women in this story are no more than twenty and many are pregnant or already have children. They are the ones who are left behind when the person they love goes to war, to take care of the children, the house, the bills, and live alone as if they were single parents for months at a time. Michael came home two weeks ago, he and Juliet are currently trying for a baby.
This is their story...Juliet Soukup is a 21-year-old Navy Wife, her husband Michael left for Iraq in March.... more
he crew of a South Korean ship hijacked by pirates last month off the coast of Somalia has been freed.
A spokesman for the South Korean foreign ministry refused to say whether a ransom had been paid.
The captives included eight South Koreans and 14 Burmese nationals, all said to be unharmed.
The government in Seoul is considering sending naval vessels to the area, following recent decisions by Nato and the EU to send ships.
The South Korean cargo vessel was hijacked on 10 September and is one of more than a dozen vessels seized off the coast of Somalia, one of the world's busiest waterways.
The freed sailors are being transferred to a US Navy ship in the Gulf of Aden, and are expected to arrive home on 26 October, the South Korean spokesman said.
linkhe crew of a South Korean ship hijacked by pirates last month off the coast of Somalia... more
A US Navy destroyer has made visual contact with a Ukrainian ship which was seized by pirates last week and is now moored off the Somali coast.
There is no indication that the USS Howard intends to approach the ship, which is carrying 72 battle tanks destined for Kenya's government.
The pirates' ransom demand for the ship and its 21 crew has fallen from $35m to $20m (£10.9m), their spokesman said.
A man on the ship also told the BBC that one of the crew members had died.
The man, who the pirates said was the captain of the MV Faina, was speaking via a satellite phone handed to him by one of the pirates.
He said the dead sailor was Russian and had died as the result of an illness. The report could not be confirmed by independent sources.
He also said the other crew members were fine and that he could see three ships about a mile away, including one carrying an US flag.A US Navy destroyer has made visual contact with a Ukrainian ship which was seized by... more
