Clipmarks | Rustee's 'military' clips

U.S. Navy Faces an Old Foe - Pirates

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 01:20:29 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

Armed attacks on cargo ships, oil tankers and cruise ships are estimated to cost more than $1 billion a year, said Peter Chalk, a senior security analyst at Rand Corp.

Piracy in Nigeria is leading to a drop in oil shipments because shipping companies are reluctant to risk ships, cargos and crew, he said, adding, “That has implications for U.S. strategic energy supplies.”

Clip Source: www.militarytimes.com

The U.S. and international military forces are taking more aggressive action off the African coast as bolder and more violent pirates imperil oil shipments and other trade.

A U.N. Security Council resolution, pushed by the U.S. and passed June 2, allows the U.S. and its coalition allies to intervene by “all necessary means” for the next six months to stop piracy off the Somali coast. Coalition ships have since scared off pirates in at least two attacks, said the London-based International Maritime Bureau.

African coastlines have surpassed Asian shipping lanes as the most dangerous in the world. Hijackings and hostage takings are increasing off the coasts of Somalia in the east and Nigeria in the west.

Pirates near Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, Nigeria and Tanzania took 172 hostages in the first half of the year.

Ships alter course by hundreds of miles and expend as much as a day’s supply of fuel to avoid Somali pirates

Tags: military, navy, africa

Perfect Justice Dealt to a Liar

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 01:12:51 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: www.militarytimes.com

LOS ANGELES — A suburban water official who lied about being a Marine and receiving the Medal of Honor was sentenced Monday to more than 400 hours of community service at a Veterans Affairs hospital.

Xavier Alvarez, 50, was arrested following his comments at a Claremont water board meeting last July. The Pomona man also told a former Marine in private that he won the medal for rescuing an ambassador in Iran, according to court documents.

Alvarez, who could have been sentenced to one year in federal prison, was placed on three years of probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. He must also perform community service once a week for one year at the Loma Linda VA Hospital.

Tags: military

U.S. Confidence in Various Institutions

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:50:59 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, come on down! You've made history.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

At the bottom of the heap, displacing HMOs as our worst institution, one finds the second branch of government, our Congress, at 12%. The Gallup folks noted it is "the worst rating Gallup has measured for any institution in the 35-year history of this question." Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, come on down! You've made history.

Hard to miss as well is that just below the military's high-confidence interval comes, of all things, the cops.

What the U.S. military and the police have in common is successful self-reform of their institutions.

Many institutions are caught between a divided politics pulling hard at opposite ends of the rope. The public's sourness is just a symptom of this tension. Peace of mind – assuming people truly want that – won't come until voters decide whether the future direction of their country should be set mainly by the institutions of the private sector or by institutions of the public sector.

Tags: economy, government, polls, opinion

Happy 233rd Army!

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:29:46 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: The picture shows Fort Riley Soldiers representing the Army from the Revolutionary War to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress authorized the enlistment of 10 companies of riflemen in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The next day, George Washington was appointed commander in chief of this “grand American army.”

And thus the U.S. Army was born.

Clip Source: www.army.mil

Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, the United States Army was established to defend our Nation. From the Revolutionary War to the Global War on Terror, our Soldiers remain Army Strong with a deep commitment to our core values and beliefs.

Their willingness to sacrifice to build a better future for others and to preserve our way of life is without a doubt, the Strength of our Nation.

Tags: military, army

Margaret Corbin - Soldier for Liberty

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:06:44 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

Life was difficult because of her injury, and in 1779 she received aid from the government...the first woman in the United States to receive pension from Congress.
After Congress’s decision, Margaret was included on military rolls until the end of the war. After being discharged, Margaret remained near West Point, known to officials and acquaintances as “Captain Molly”.

In 1926, the Daughters of the American Revolution had Margaret’s remains reburied in the West Point military cemetery, becoming the only Revolutionary War soldier to be buried there.

Clip Source: usinfo.state.gov

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Margaret Corbin was born in West Pennsylvania on November 12, 1751 in what is now Franklin County.

In 1756, when she was five years old, Margaret’s parents were attacked by Native Americans. Her mother was kidnapped and her father was killed.

On November 16, 1776 she and her husband, John Corbin, both from Philadelphia, along with some 600 American soldiers, were defending Fort Washington in northern Manhattan from 4,000 attacking Hessian troops under British command. John and Margaret crewed one of two cannons the defenders possessed.

During an assault by the Hessians, John was killed, leaving his cannon unmanned. Margaret had been with her husband on the battlefield the entire time, and, after witnessing his death, she immediately took his place at the cannon. She fired away until her arm, chest, and jaw were hit by enemy fire. The British ultimately won the Battle of Fort Washington, resulting in the surrender of Margaret and her comrades.

Tags: history, american revolution, military

Kentucky Vietnam Memorial Sundial

Sun, 04 May 2008 21:13:46 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: Near the center are 154 names of those who died in one month during the worst slaughter of 1968. At 11:11 AM, each Nov. 11th, the shadow touches a marker for the WW-I armistice.

Clip Source: www.kyvietnammemorial.net

The design concept is in the form of a large sundial. The stainless steel gnomon casts its shadow upon a granite plaza. There are 1,100 names of Kentuckians on the memorial, including 23 missing in action. Each name is engraved into the plaza, and placed so that the tip of the shadow touches his name on the anniversary of his death, thus giving each fallen veteran a personal Memorial Day.

The location of each name is fixed mathematically by the date of casualty, the geographic location of the memorial, the height of the gnomon and the physics of solar movement. The stones were then designed and cut to avoid dividing any individual name. The resulting radial-concentric joint pattern suggests a "web", symbolic of the entangling nature of this war.

Clip Source: www.kyvietnammemorial.net

Tags: history, military

Navajo Nation Considers Own Medal of Honor

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:19:44 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: www.militarytimes.com

The leader of the Navajo Nation Council wants to recognize all honorably discharged Navajo veterans with a special medal adorned with bow and arrows and geometric shapes that represent tribal ceremonies performed on warriors returning from battle.

The Dine Nation Medal of Honor would be similar to the Congressional Medal of Honor but with a different meaning, Council Speaker Lawrence Morgan said.

But some Navajo veterans say the medal would be a waste of money and would belittle the U.S.’s highest award for valor in action.

“We got veterans with a lot of needs. What good is another medal going to do us, a medal we can’t wear on our uniforms, a medal that is not honored by the U.S. government?” said Leon Curley, a former Marine who heads a veterans group at the tribe’s Church Rock Chapter.

Leila Help-Tulley, a staff assistant in Morgan’s office, said no input was sought from veterans before the medal was designed.

Tags: military

Russian Bombers Intercepted Off Alaska's Coast

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:33:11 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: www.militarytimes.com

More and more American and Canadian fighter jets are scrambling and intercepting Russian bombers flying off the Alaskan coast, exacerbating tensions between the former Cold War foes.

There have been 16 such intercepts since July, Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Howie Chandler told the Anchorage Daily News on March 27. That compares with just one in 2005, and none in the previous 10 years, Chandler said.

The most recent incident occurred March 25, when two F-15s from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, scrambled to intercept two Russian Tu-95 Bear heavy bombers.

The bomber patrols also raise the possibility that a routine encounter between Russian bombers and American fighters could escalate beyond the intentions of either side

But the flip side is that the bomber patrols encourage the U.S. military to be more vigilant

Tags: military, russia, air force

Medal of Honor Awarded to Navy SEAL

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:18:23 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: The best of the best, in more ways than war.

Clip Source: www.militarytimes.com

SAN DIEGO — A California-based SEAL who threw his body on a grenade to save his comrades in Iraq will posthumously receive the Medal of Honor, a Defense Department official has confirmed.

Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor, of Garden Grove, Calif., was holed up on the roof of a Ramadi house with three other SEALs on Sept. 29, 2006, when an insurgent grenade landed nearby.

Monsoor, a 25-year old with SEAL Team 3, grabbed the grenade and clutched it to his chest. The blast killed him, but his actions, officials said at the time, saved the men on the rooftop.

Monsoor, a platoon machine gunner, had received the Silver Star, the third-highest award for combat valor, for his actions pulling a wounded SEAL to safety during a May 9, 2006, firefight in Ramadi.

Watch

A YouTube memorial to Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael A. Monsoor

Tags: military, navy, iraq

Silver Star Awarded to Female Medic

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:12:15 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: www.militarytimes.com

CAMP SALERNO, Afghanistan — A 19-year-old medic from Texas will become the first woman in Afghanistan and only the second woman since World War II to receive the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest medal for valor.

Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said.

After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.

Brown, of Lake Jackson, Texas, is scheduled to receive the Silver Star later this month.

Tags: military, army, afghanistan

Posthumous Medal of Honor Awarded

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:52:03 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: No matter the true reason for being unrecognized, it's shameful it took this long to make an effort to correct it.

Clip Source: www.militarytimes.com

President Bush apologized Monday that the country waited decades to honor Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble for his military valor in Korea, giving him the Medal of Honor more than 25 years after he died.

Keeble is the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the nation’s highest military award. But it came almost six decades after he saved the lives of fellow soldiers. Keeble died in 1982.

Fellow soldiers, family members and others have been pushing Congress and the White House for years to award Keeble the medal. They said the man known as “Chief,” a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux tribe, deserves the medal for his actions in Korea in 1951, when he saved the lives of other soldiers by taking out more than a dozen of their enemies on a steep hill, even though he himself was wounded.

Soldiers watched in awe as Woody single-handedly took out one machine gun nest, and then another

When Woody was through, all 16 enemy soldiers were dead, the hill was taken, and the Allies won the day.

Tags: military, army, medal of honor

Soldier Wins $1 Million - Volunteers for 3rd Tour

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:15:40 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: www.abcnews.go.com

After completing two tours in Iraq, Sgt. Wayne Leyde won $1 million from a scratch-and-win lotto ticket on Tuesday.

Now that he's won, Leyde, a 26-year-old member of the Washington National Guard, says he's still going to volunteer to go back to Iraq for a third tour and won't spend any of the money in the meantime.

"It was a commitment I made about three months ago. I'm going to stick to it," Leyde said about his decision.

"For right now, I'm going to hold off [spending] and let reality sink back to earth. This is a true blessing. I'm going to turn it around and see if I can bless other people with this," Leyde said.

Tags: military, national guard, lottery, iraq

Satellite Shootdown Necessary?

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:41:52 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

The decision to intercept the U.S. 193 satellite will be debated in the months to come by arms control advocates, opponents and proponents of missile defense, and space experts in the U.S. and abroad. Critics will portray the operation as a staged event that was undertaken just to test missile defense or ASAT technologies under the guise of a humanitarian exercise. They will likely accuse the United States of starting a space arms race and will portray the two ASAT tests as moral equivalents.

Clip Source: www.heritage.org

Earlier this week, over the Pacific Ocean, somewhere off the coast of Hawaii during questionable weather, the Aegis-class Cruiser USS Lake Erie successfully shot down the damaged U.S. 193 military spy satellite with an SM-3 missile.

Skeptics are wrong to suggest that the operation was in response to China's successful--but unannounced--anti-satellite (ASAT) test on January 11, 2007, in which Beijing destroyed one of its own aging weather satellites in low-Earth orbit.

China launched its operation in secret and followed it with two weeks of steadfast denial. The operation littered outer space with an inordinate amount of debris that may orbit Earth for centuries, endangering peaceful space operations. Make no mistake: China's ASAT operation was a clandestine test of the Second Artillery Corps's evolving asymmetric military capability against space assets of potential opponents.

By contrast, the U.S. strategy is defensive.

Tags: military, space, politics

Wacko Church Still Protesting Marines

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:28:25 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: www.marinecorpstimes.com

The commander of Camp Lejeune, N.C., ordered her leathernecks to stay away from an anti-military and anti-gay group that has promised to demonstrate at the base following the death of a pregnant Marine.

The Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church, which frequently pickets the funerals of military members, said it will demonstrate at the base at noon Saturday.

“God hates the U.S. Marines,” the group said in a statement.

“The wonderful, spit-and-polish Marine [Lauterbach] is over eight months pregnant and says another wonderful Marine raped her, and … now she turns up dead,” the statement reads. “Based on our extensive experience with Marines for over a decade, we can testify that these are typical Marines.”

The fundamentalist church has received national attention in recent years for picketing military funerals, claiming that God is punishing the U.S. for allowing homosexuality.

Tags: marines, military

Validity of Charges on Haditha Marine Questioned

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:37:59 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: "Our position is that if this had not been Haditha and everything around it, he never would have been charged." - Attorney for defendant, Joseph Casas

Clip Source: nctimes.com

A military hearing officer said Saturday he has serious doubts over the validity of criminal charges filed against a Marine lieutenant

The hearing officer, Col. Robert Stahlman, said that if 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson was guilty of dereliction of duty for not ordering an investigation into the slayings, numerous other members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment command staff should have been similarly charged.

Testimony during the hearing showed that Grayson had ordered the destruction of 70 photographs taken by a member of the intelligence team he led at Haditha. The order, however, was in keeping with a military policy that photographs deemed not to have any intelligence value be destroyed.

The man in charge of intelligence gathering for the 3rd Battalion at Haditha, Maj. Jeffrey Dinsmore, testified Saturday that he considered the photos "extraneous" and that Grayson and his team were responsible for developing intelligence leads and not probing civilian killings.

Tags: haditha, iraq, marines