US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

bd popeye said:

The full production of E-2D Hawkeye is very important. You can have an 90+ aircraft airwing.. but without the "Eyes of the Fleet" they are rendered nearly useless.

Bravo for the Hawkeye!

Click to expand...

In business, time is money. When it comes to missile defense, time is even more valuable. The sooner an attack is detected the better the chances it can be destroyed. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) took a giant step in shaving that detection time on Feb. 13 when the USS Lake Erie’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system used remote tracking information provided by satellites to intercept a medium range unitary ballistic missile target for the first time.

After receiving information from space tracking and surveillance systems satellites integrated through Lockheed Martin’s Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC), the Lake Erie launched a Raytheon Standard Missile-3 Block IA missile before its SPY-1 radar detected the target. The ship’s Aegis system, also developed by Lockheed Martin, guided the missile using information from the satellites until the target was detected and tracked by the SPY-1 radar.

Click to expand...

DoD checking story for bin Laden raid secrets
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 20, 2013 15:53:41 EST
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon says it is reviewing an Esquire magazine article on a Navy SEAL’s account of his role in the May 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden to determine whether the account disclosed any classified information.

A Pentagon spokesman, Lt. Col. Steve Warren, disclosed the inquiry on Tuesday, saying officials are trying to determine whether the SEAL, whose identity is not revealed in the Esquire article, broke any secrecy rules.

The article was published online Feb. 11.

The account is not the first to portray details of the raid. Former SEAL Matt Bissonette, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen, described the operation in his book, “No Easy Day,” published last September. The Pentagon objected to what it called his unwarranted disclosures but has not announced any legal action against him.

Click to expand...

Paula Broadwell’s promotion to O-5 stalled
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 21, 2013 11:07:59 EST
WASHINGTON — The Army has stalled the promotion of Paula Broadwell, the reservist whose affair with former CIA Director David Petraeus led to his resignation.

Broadwell was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves last August. But Army spokesman George Wright said that was reversed early this month and will be pending for as long as she is under investigation.

Investigators have been looking since November into whether Broadwell had classified information in her home without permission.

Under Army rules, a promotion can be delayed if new information about a person comes to light within six months of the promotion. Investigators have said they believe materials found in her home were gathered while she was researching a biography on Petraeus, a retired general and former commander in Afghanistan.

Click to expand...

Navy: Cuts could delay ARG’s move to Mayport
By Mark D. Faram - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 20, 2013 14:54:11 EST
Impending budget cuts could delay the move of nearly 3,000 sailors in the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group from Norfolk, Va., to Mayport, Fla.

This is the latest news of potential sailor impacts as Navy officials prepare for $4 billion in sequestration cuts and $4.6 billion in cuts if the military continues to be funded at last year’s levels.

The ARG move is still tentatively slated to occur within fiscal 2014, which begins Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30, 2014. The Navy is “committed to our plan,” officials said in a prepared statement.

At the same time, the statement says these home-port changes “could incur delays due to personnel moves, maintenance, and operational schedule changes resulting from sequestration.”

To put it simply: The cuts could spell trouble for the planned moves, and the Navy is trying to figure out how much or how little.

The ARG home-port shift includes the amphibious transport dock New York, which has been scheduled to arrive in Mayport between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31. The amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima and the dock landing ship Fort McHenry are slated to move in somewhere between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2014, officials said.

A firm date for New York’s move has not been announced. There have been no homeport change certificates issued, either — documents that allow sailors stationed aboard the ship to begin planning for a new home port.

Setting the date would also allow sailors to begin negotiating orders to the ship and organizing a family move. This process generally begins nine months before a scheduled home-port change and ends with five months to go. The current window for New York’s move is a little more than seven months away.

Initially, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus called for the Iwo ARG to move by 2015. In June, he moved up the schedule to 2014, with New York arriving before the end of calendar year 2013.

The possible delays don’t surprise — but do anger — Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., who represents the Mayport area in Congress and sits on the House Appropriations Committee’s defense panel.

“As I have said all along, sequestration and a full-year continuing resolution will have drastic impacts on the Navy and all of its bases,” he told Navy Times on Wednesday.

“We saw that with the recent cancellation of the USS Truman [deployment] to the Middle East, and I expect that home-port changes will be impacted as well.”

The move is in part to make better use of Mayport, which has lost a number of ships and is set to lose more.

The station hasn’t received any new ships since the destroyer Farragut arrived in 2006.

As of last August, 19 ships and 5,017 sailors called the base home. In the 1980s, the base boasted two aircraft carriers, 28 combatants and nearly 30,000 sailors.

The base will lose two more frigates next month when the Klakring and Underwood retire.

The base was slated to be upgraded to a nuclear home port, with the expectation of welcoming an aircraft carrier in 2019, but the required construction and the resultant move was delayed indefinitely due to budget constraints that were announced in February 2012.

The Navy said at the time it would “remain committed” to eventually relocating a carrier to the Northern Florida base.

While the base is also expected to be the East Coast hub for the new littoral combat ship, the first of those ships isn’t expected to arrive until 2016 at the earliest.

Click to expand...

4,300 airmen up for separation rollback
By Markeshia Ricks - Staff writer Airforce times
Posted : Thursday Feb 21, 2013 9:13:22 EST
Up to 4,300 enlisted airmen could be told to leave early as part of a date of separation rollback announced Feb. 14.

The number of airmen affected is 1,300 more than it usually is because of the late passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2013, said Col. Emi Izawa, military force policy division chief for the Air Force.

CALCULATE YOUR PAYOUT

If you are one of the 4,300 being considered for involuntary separation under the date of separation rollback, this is how to calculate the payout you will receive, if you are selected: Multiply your monthly basic pay by 12, then multiply that by .05. Multiply that total by the number of years or fraction of years of active service when separated.

An example: A staff sergeant with six years and three months of service May 31 earns $2,707.50 per month of basic pay.

The formula: 2,707.50 x 12 = $32,490, then $32,490 x .05 = $1,624.50, then $1,624.50 x 6.25 = $10,153.13 in separation pay.

HOW ROLLBACKS SAVE MONEY

The Air Force pays half-separation pay to airmen who leave early under date of separation rollbacks. Here’s how the service saves money by offering the payouts, using a staff sergeant with six years and three months of service as an example:

Rollback payout: $10,153.13

Basic pay for six months: $16,233•

Basic pay for one year: $32,490•

•Does not include other allowances, such as basic housing.

The program is designed to speed up the date of separation for select airmen in grades E-8 and below who have fewer than 14 years or more than 20 years of total active federal military service as of May 31, 2013. Those selected to leave who have at least six years of active service will walk away with half-separation pay — about $10,000 for staff sergeants with six years, provided they commit to three years in the ready reserve.

The airmen who are on the list include second-term and career airmen who:

• Declined training, retraining or professional military education;

• Refused training, retraining or PME required for retainability;

• Are serving a suspended punishment;

• Were denied re-enlistment;

• Were disqualified for cause while awaiting retraining; or

• Are awaiting discharge, separation or retirement for cause.

Other airmen on the list include those serving on a control roster or who received a reduction in grade for an Article 15, Izawa said.

Not every airman on the list will be kicked out; commanders have some discretion to determine who stays and who goes, Izawa said.

“Everyone on the roster is eligible to be considered [for separation],” she said. “Under some codes, the commander has no option to retain the airman. For example, if an airman declines retainability for training, or the airman is offered training and declines it, the commander has no discretion. Another code where the commander has no discretion is if the airman is awaiting discharge for cause.”

Of the 4,300 airmen identified for involuntary separation, commanders have the final say over the fate of 2,600. For example, if an airman is on a control roster for performance observation, the commander can decide to retain him, Izawa said.

NOTIFICATIONS START NOW
Commanders at each base received the list of affected airmen and will likely start making contact with them in the coming days. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James Cody is urging enlisted front-line supervisors to eschew the email culture that his predecessor warned against and deliver the news to airmen in person.

“We understand the DOS rollback is not going to be easy for the affected airmen and their families,” Cody said in a statement provided to Air Force Times. “Where physically possible, both [Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh] and I expect there to be a face-to-face conversation between every Airman and his or her supervisor to discuss individual entitlements and assistance with referral agencies.”

The announcement of the DOS rollback program for fiscal 2013 came one week after the service’s decision to use voluntary force management programs to thin the ranks by 3,340 of mostly enlisted airmen to help the service shrink to the congressionally mandated end strength of 329,460 by Sept. 30.

Airmen in 125 career fields can apply for waivers to their enlisted contracts, active-duty commitments and time-in-grade requirement, allowing master sergeants and senior master sergeants to waive up to 18 months on the commitments they made upon promotion. Airmen eligible for these programs may have as little as one year in the service or 29 years, depending on their Air Force Specialty Code. Those approved for separation under these programs must retire by Sept. 1, or separate by Sept. 29. Airmen who already have submitted retirement papers are not eligible.

Those selected for the date of separation rollback cannot apply for the voluntary separation programs, Izawa said.

ROLLBACK BENEFITS
As has been the case in previous years, airmen with at least 180 days of active-duty service who are separated under the rollback program will receive transition assistance benefits, which include six months of extended medical care for the member and their families and an ID card for access to the base commissary and exchange for two years, according to the Air Force Personnel Center.

Enlisted airmen separated with more than six years of service, but fewer than 20 years, also will receive the half-separation pay that has been offered in previous DOS rollbacks.

Those who decline the accompanying agreement to serve a minimum of three years in the Individual Ready Reserve will not collect the separation pay.

Airmen separated under the rollback program won’t be required to return unearned portions of bonuses, special pays or other monetary incentives. Those who meet the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill eligibility requirements and are honorably discharged will not have their benefits affected by involuntary separation.

But members who transferred education benefits to their dependents who do not complete related service commitments might be required to repay them.

As for accrued leave time, commanders are being encouraged to allow airmen to take as much as possible, Izawa said. Airmen may sell back up to 60 days of leave time throughout their careers.

Airmen planning to retire because of rollback separations should submit their requests no later than March 29. Airmen eligible for retirement, who do not apply, will be flagged for separation. Those airmen who separate under the rollback program or retiring must leave by May 31 and June 1, respectively.

With the military personnel data system being shut down between March 1 and March 23, airmen are urged to contact their military personnel section for help processing their retirement papers while the system is down, said Air Force Personnel spokesman Mike Dickerson.

“Each MPS has detailed instructions on how to accomplish necessary personnel actions such as retirements while MILPDS is down,” he said.

Airmen also are encouraged to use the resources at their base Airman and Family Readiness center.

“Our Airman & Family Readiness centers will be the primary focal point for more in-depth transition counseling,” Cody said. “We owe our airmen support throughout the process and transition.”

Click to expand...

Army lays out state-by-state cuts in report
Tom Vanden Brook - USA Today
Posted : Tuesday Feb 19, 2013 18:21:57 EST
The Army estimates automatic budget cuts scheduled to take effect March 1 will have a $15 billion economic impact and affect more than 300,000 jobs nationwide, according to documents obtained by USA Today.

Hardest hit states include Texas, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Among the least affected: Delaware, Wyoming, Montana and Rhode Island.

READ THE REPORT

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The military faces $500 billion in budget cuts over 10 years from sequestration — automatic budget cuts. The Army anticipates that it will need to slash $18 billion in spending by the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30.

“It reaffirms what we have continued to say about the serious implications that sequestration will have on our national defense and broader economic well-being,” said Mike Amato, a spokesman for the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.

The cuts will affect every Army installation, according to the documents. States with large bases and military contractors are taking the biggest hits.

Texas, for instance, would face a $2.4 billion economic loss from the Army’s budget cuts. Nearly 30,000 Army civilian employees will be furloughed if the cuts go into effect. They will lose $180 million in pay.

States losing more than $100 million:

• Texas is home to Fort Hood and Fort Bliss, two of the Army’s largest posts, and one of the Defense Department’s largest hospitals. That state faces a $2.4 billion economic loss and more than 34,700 jobs affected either by furloughs or layoffs. Fort Hood faces $291 million in cuts, while the Red River Army Depot faces almost $600 million in reductions. Texas has almost 105,000 active-duty soldiers, almost 34,000 National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, and 61,400 full-time Army civilians.

• Arizona, home to Fort Huachuca and Yuma Proving Ground, faces a $262 million economic loss and more than 5,000 jobs affected. The state has more than 4,300 active-duty soldiers, 8,000 National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, and more than 13,600 full-time Army civilians.

• California, where the Army’s National Training Center and Fort Irwin are located, faces a $615 economic loss and almost 11,500 jobs affected. The state is home to 14,500 full-time soldiers, 30,500 National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, and 19,600 full-time Army civilians.

• Colorado, home to Fort Carson and the 4th Infantry Division, faces a $149 million economic loss and more than 4,800 jobs affected. Colorado has more than 26,000 active-duty soldiers, almost 7,000 National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, and 8,000 full-time Army civilians.

• Kansas, where Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley are located, faces a $414 million economic loss and almost 8,000 jobs affected. Kansas has almost 24,000 active-duty soldiers, 9,500 National Guard and Reserve soldiers, and 12,200 full-time Army civilians.

• Oklahoma, home to Fort Sill, faces a $256 million economic loss and almost 7,000 jobs affected. Fort Sill alone faces a $110 million reduction. The state has 9,800 full-time Army personnel, 8,200 National Guard and Army Reserve troops, and 10,400 full-time Army civilians.

• Washington, where Joint Base Lewis-McChord is based, faces a $461 million economic loss and more than 11,000 jobs affected. The installation alone could see a $341 million reduction. The state has more than 37,500 active-duty soldiers, almost 13,000 National Guard and Army Reserve troops, and almost 19,000 full-time Army civilians.

• New York, home to Fort Drum and 26,696 soldiers, 18,426 Guard and Reserve soldiers and 13,657 civilians stands to lose $351,000,000 and 9,163 jobs are affected.

• Pennsylvania, home of the Army War College has 4,772 soldiers, 23,943 Guard and Reserve and 15,378 civilians could lose $1,149,000,000 and 10,414 jobs are affected.

• Virginia, which has The Pentagon, Fort Myer, Fort Lee, Fort Eustis and Fort Belvoir and others has 30,690 soldiers, 14,263 Guard and Reserve and 70,540 civilians could lose $1,005,000,000 and 25,360 jobs are affected.

• North Carolina home to Fort Bragg has 51,175 soldiers, 15,082 Guard and Reserve and 22,793 civilians would lose $421,000,000 and 12,159 jobs are affected.

• South Carolina, home to Fort Stewart and Fort Jackson, has 6,188 soldiers, 12,687 Guard and Reserve and 8,206 civilians could lose $156,000,000 and 5,527 jobs are affected

• Georgia, home of Fort Benning, Fort Gordon and Fort Stewart has 50,222 soldiers, 19,841 Guard and Reserve and 31,241 civilians will lose $931,000,000 and 17,163 jobs are affected.

• Alabama which contains Fort Rucker, Redstone Arsenal and the Army Materiel Command has 6,558 soldiers, 16,357 Guard and Reserve and 53,723 civilians will lose $1,873,000,000 and 25,177 jobs are affected.

• Mississippi has 1,765 soldiers, 12,294 Guard and Reserve and 7,036 civilians is home to Camp Shelby stands to lose $360,000,000 and 4,608 jobs are affected.

• Louisiana, home of Fort Polk has 10,147 soldiers, 11,438 Guard and Reserve and 10,832 civilians will lose $113,000,000 and 4,608 jobs are affected.

• Missouri which has Fort Leonard Wood has 8,953 soldiers, 12,754 Guard and Reserve and 13,112 civilians will lose $233,000,000 and 6,441 jobs are affected.

• Indiana has 2,094 soldiers, 14,540 Guard and Reserve and 10,197 civilians and will lose $402,000,000 and 8,597 jobs are affected.

• Wisconsin has 1,644 soldiers, 12,340 Guard and Reserve and 4,082 civilians will lose $331,000,000 and 2,738 jobs are affected.

• Michigan has 1,790 soldiers, 10,771 Guard and Reserve and 9,156 civilians will lose $331,000,000 and 7,807 jobs are affected.

• Connecticut has 602 soldiers, 5,716 Guard and Reserve and 760 civilians and will lose $108,000,000 and 747 jobs are affected.

• New Jersey home to Fort Dix has 8,352 soldiers, 9,884 Guard and Reserve and 9,734 civilians will lose $207,000,000 and 6,892 jobs are affected.

• Kentucky home to Fort Campbell and Fort Knox has 38,515 soldiers, 10,325 Guard and Reserve and 21,663 civilians will lose $606,000,000 and 15,016 jobs are affected.

Click to expand...

Amid jeers, some cheers for UAV/cyber medal
By Jeff Schogol and Andrew Tilghman - Staff writers Airforce Times
Posted : Wednesday Feb 20, 2013 9:55:17 EST
A new medal for unmanned aircraft operators and cyber warriors has sparked a fierce backlash from people who believe those who are not physically in combat should not get a higher award than troops who risk their lives.

The Distinguished Warfare Medal will rank just below the Distinguished Flying Cross. It will have precedence over — and be worn on a uniform above — the Bronze Star with “V” device, a medal awarded to troops for specific heroic acts performed under fire in combat.

The order of precedence came as a surprise to Doug Sterner, a military medals expert and the curator of the Military Times Hall of Valor, the largest database of military medal recipients.

“It’s got me puzzled,” Sterner said. “I understand the need to recognize the guys at the console who are doing some pretty important things. But to see it ranking above the Bronze Star [with] V?” The decision to have the medal rank higher than the Bronze Star has caused an outpouring of negative reaction.

“Sit in a lazy boy and wiggle a joystick ... and you wonder why I left the Air Force,” a reader posted on the Air Force Times website. “This is a slap in the face to any true combat airman that fought in ground combat operations and earned their medals.”

The head of the Veterans of Foreign Wars issued a Feb. 14 statement saying the decision to have the Distinguished Warfare Medal rank higher than the Bronze Star “could quickly deteriorate into a morale issue.”

“The VFW fully concurs that those far from the fight are having an immediate impact on the battlefield in real-time, but medals that can only be earned in direct combat must mean more than medals awarded in the rear,” said John E. Hamilton, VFW national commander.

Hamilton urged the Pentagon to “reconsider the new medal’s placement in the military order of precedence.”

Others suggested the medal is not really necessary.

“Why does it have to be a new medal?” said Nick McDowell, a member of the Orders and Medals Society of America.

High-tech troops could be recognized with current medals or, if necessary, the Pentagon could add a new ribbon device attached to an existing medal, McDowell said.

“The problem is that we’re adding another nonvalor personal decoration into a system that is already crowded with nonvalor personal decorations,” McDowell said. “The ultimate consequence is that it will diminish the prestige of the valor decorations. Nobody wants that, but that is basically what happens.”

One unmanned aircraft pilot said he empathizes with those who think the medal should not be higher than the Bronze Star.

“I can totally accept that argument that those who risk their lives on the front lines deserve higher recognition for what they do,” said the pilot, who did not want to be identified out of fear of retaliation.

Still, there are concerns in the unmanned aircraft community that operators are being watched as they drive to and from work, so they are not entirely safe.

On the whole, the medal should give unmanned aircraft operators much-needed recognition, the pilot said.

“The majority of what [unmanned aircraft] operators rely on for promotions or any sort of advancement in the Air Force usually comes from other communities,” he said. “So whatever somebody did in an F-15 or whatever somebody did in a C-5 or a C-17 or a KC-135 usually determines the majority of whether or not they get promoted.”

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. James Poss said he doesn’t think it’s fair to argue that the Bronze Star should be a higher award because you have to be “in danger” to get it.

“I have two Bronze Stars myself and I didn’t run much of a personal risk for either,” said Poss, former assistant deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. “I got one for commanding an RC-135 squadron from the safety of England during the Kosovo air war and another for being the chief of intelligence at a very secure base in Saudi Arabia for early OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom].”

The Distinguished Warfare Medal recognizes the magnitude of the achievement, not the personal risk taken by the recipient, Poss said in an email.

“I think the [un-manned aircraft] and [ground station] crews that hunted al-Qaida in Iraq leader [Abu Musab] Zarqawi did a lot more for national security than I did for either Bronze Star,” he said.

Unmanned aircraft operators also save lives, such as during the battle of Robert’s Ridge in Afghanistan in 2002, Poss said. U.S. forces were pinned down after their CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed, he said.

“Predator ops took out an enemy bunker very close to our troops, warned them about enemy reinforcements and literally stayed up with them all night, painting the area around them with their laser to let them know their Air Force was with them,” he said.

The total number of lives that unmanned aircraft have saved is “unquantifiable,” said a senior Air Force official.

“Every time the airplane is up, it’s directly supporting a ground element,” said the official, who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

“We know we’ve at least saved one airman or one soldier’s life — we know that for a fact, at least one — and if we’ve saved one, then the whole thing is worth it,” he said.

The new medal will be awarded for specific acts, such as the successful targeting of a particular individual at a critical time.

“Our military reserves its highest decorations obviously for those who display gallantry and valor in actions when their lives are on the line and we will continue to do so,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said at a Feb. 13 news conference. “But we should also have the ability to honor the extraordinary actions that make a true difference in combat operations.

“The contribution they make does contribute to the success of combat operations, particularly when they remove the enemy from the field of battle, even if those actions are physically removed from the fight.”

The service secretaries will make the final determination for awarding the Distinguished Warfare Medal, which is meant to recognize service members whose accomplishments are “truly extraordinary,” but who are not eligible for the Bronze Star, which only service members who receive imminent danger pay or hazardous duty pay can receive, said Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen, a Defense Department spokesman.

Click to expand...

Thousands of soldiers to leave Europe
Staff report
Posted : Friday Mar 1, 2013 10:09:26 EST Army Times
Ten thousand soldiers now stationed in Europe will be returned to the United States under new re-alignment plans announced by the Defense Department.

The realignment of the Europe-based 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team will begin later this year, including the transfer of some forces from Germany to Italy.

The moves are part of an ongoing strategy to reduce U.S. Army Europe from a force of 40,000 soldiers and one corps headquarters and four brigade combat teams to 30,000 soldiers and two brigade combat teams.

Key actions announced Friday by the Pentagon include the relocations of the 173rd ABCT’s headquarters, and the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, from Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy to the newly refurbished Del Din facility, also in Vicenza.

Two Germany-based units, the 173rd Special Troops Battalion and the 173rd Support Battalion will move from Bamberg, to the Del Din facility

The 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment in Schweinfurt, Germany, and the 4th Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment in Bamberg will move to Grafenwoehr.

The later moves will facilitate the closure of U.S. installations in Bamberg and Schweinfurt.

The 1st Battalion, 503d Infantry Regiment of the 173rd ABCT will remain at Caserma Ederle.

In addition to the previously announced inactivation of V Corps Headquarters and the 170th and 172nd Infantry Brigades, here is the outcome for 2,500 enabling forces:

In 2012:

• 170th Infantry Brigade, Smith Barracks, Baumholder, Germany: inactivated

• 167th Medical Detachment (Optometry), Grafenwoehr, Germany: inactivated

In 2013:

• 535th Engineer Company, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, Germany: inactivates

• 12th Chemical Company, Conn Barracks, Schweinfurt, Germany: inactivates

• V Corps Headquarters, Clay Kaserne, Wiesbaden, Germany: inactivates

• 172nd Infantry Brigade, Grafenwoehr, Germany: inactivates

• Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 391st Combat Service Support Battalion, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, Germany: inactivates

• B Detachment, 106th Finance Company, Katterbach Kaserne, Ansbach, Germany: inactivates

• 42nd Engineer Company, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, Germany: returns to the United States.

• 99th Movement Control Team, Aviano Air Base, Italy: returns to the United States.

In 2014:

• Headquarters, 18th Engineer Brigade, Conn Barracks, Schweinfurt, Germany: inactivates

• 243 Engineer Detachment, Conn Barracks, Schweinfurt, Germany: inactivates

• 54th Engineer Battalion, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, Germany: inactivates

• 370th Engineer Company, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, Germany: inactivates

• 7th Signal Brigade, Ledward Barracks, Schweinfurt, Germany: inactivates

• 72nd Signal Battalion, Ledward Barracks, Schweinfurt, Germany: inactivates

• Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 95th Military Police Battalion, Sembach Kaserne, Kaiserslautern: inactivates

• 630th Military Police Company, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, Germany: inactivates

• 464th Military Police Platoon, Camp Ederle, Italy: inactivates

• 511th Military Police Platoon, Livorno, Italy: inactivates

• 541st Engineer Company, Warner Barracks, Bamberg, Germany: returns to the United States.


In 2015:

• 230th Military Police Company, Sembach Barracks, Kaiserslautern, Germany: inactivates

• 3rd Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment (Airfield Operations Battalion), Storck Barracks, Illesheim, Germany: returns to the United States.

In 2016:

• 69th Signal Battalion, Grafenwoehr, Germany: inactivates

• 525th Military Police Detachment (Military Working Dogs), Baumholder, Germany: returns to the United States.

• 1st Battalion, 214th General Support Aviation Regiment structure is reduced at Clay Kaserne, Wiesbaden, by 190 soldier spaces and at Landstuhl Heliport by 50 soldier spaces.

Click to expand...

Sequester would end flyovers at sports events
By Gary Mihoces - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Feb 28, 2013 9:41:13 EST
We’ve oohed and aahed at the vroom of military jets flying over sporting events. That will be silenced if the federal budget cuts of sequestration are fully implemented.

A B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber flew over the Rose Bowl last month and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in July. Flyovers are part of the pre-race ritual at many NASCAR races. Precision squadrons such as the Air Force Thunderbirds and the Navy Blue Angels have been fixtures at air shows. They fly in their six-jet delta formation over sporting events, too.

But with $85 billion in federal budget cuts set to take effect Friday if no solution is found in Congress (the cuts would total $1.2 trillion over 10 years), such flyovers will be grounded, and there could be cuts to service academy athletics departments.

A low cloud ceiling prevented the Thunderbirds from making their scheduled flyover Sunday at the Daytona 500. Next on their schedule is a flyover March 10 for a NASCAR event at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“The Thunderbirds are expected to stand down effective April 1. (Las Vegas) is pretty much going to be, I think, the last flyover you’ll see for a while from us,” Wendy Varhegyi, chief of the engagement division for Air Force public affairs, told USA TodaySports on Wednesday.

She said the curtailment would be at least through the end of the fiscal year (Sept. 30), “And then at that point, we’ll reevaluate. … Sequestration is a 10-year problem, so we just don’t know.”

According to Varhegyi, the Air Force conducts about 1,000 flyovers a year at sports venues and other events. They are made in conjunction with pre-allotted training hours for pilots.

“It’s no additional cost to the government for support of any public events,” she said. “Typically, if you see a unit fly over a football game, that is 90 seconds out of a several hour training sortie that they’re flying.”

Under sequestration, such training hours would be curtailed.

“We just have a reduced number of those training hours, and so everything is being dedicated to just preparing for that overseas deployment and for flying that’s actually happening overseas,” Varhegyi said.

The Air Force views the flyovers as a way to engage the public.

“Even for just 90 seconds, it is awareness,” Varhegyi said. “It’s just a great way that we can have connection with the American people and have that awareness to large groups of people, not to mention how patriotic everybody is.”

The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., typically has flyovers at home football games. The Blue Angels were scheduled to perform in May during Navy’s graduation week. But the Navy says such displays will be halted under the sequestration cuts.

“Now if it’s resolved, I would hope that we would be back to the flyovers,” said Chet Gladchuk, Navy’s athletics director. “But right now, I don’t think anything is guaranteed, unfortunately.”

Gladchuk is concerned with more than flyovers.

“The Navy obviously is making some very significant cutbacks on a lot of different fronts,” he said. “You read about the furloughs and the budgetary cutbacks. … There are just so many uncertainties, and no one knows.”

Gladchuk says his academy’s 33 varsity sports are protected because they are operated under the Naval Academy Athletic Association. He said more than 95 percent of its budget is made up of ticket sales, TV rights fees, corporate sponsorships and donations. “We only have a very small percentage of our operating budget that comes from government,” he said.

But some of that government money goes to coaches who also serve as physical education instructors, which could make them subject to furloughs. “If that happens, they’ll have to take a day off, and we’ll have assistant coaches that will fill in,” Gladchuk said. “We’ll kind of time it so the coaches will be back for the contests.”

Gladchuk also said that even though Navy sports has its own funding, it will be a “bit more parochial” in sports scheduling. “I don’t think you’ll be finding the teams traveling all over the country like we have in the past, some of the Olympic sport teams,” he said.

A spokesman for the Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., said athletics director Boo Corrigan was not available to comment on potential effects of sequestration. But the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs said it is also bracing for furloughs for its 53 coaches and several athletics administrators.

“We’re kind of waiting until we know exactly what’s (the impact),” said Troy Garnhart, associate athletics director for communications. “Is it going to really be 22 days, a day a week, the rest of the fiscal year, etc.?”

Garnhart said the Air Force Academy Athletic Association, similar to the entity at Navy, accounts for about half of Air Force’s $38 million annual budget for athletics.

He said the cutbacks from sequestration also could affect how Air Force teams travel.

“We, a lot of times, travel on Military Airlift (military aircraft). Some of our smaller teams travel on Military Airlift, and certainly we think that’s going to be affected, which means then an expense of going commercial airline,” Garnhart said.

Air Force’s jet flyovers at home football games also would be gone under the full effects of sequestration. But Air Force still has its live falcon mascot to perform demonstration flights at football games.

“We still do that, and I think we would probably still do that,” Garnhart said. “I don’t know that he’ll travel to some games because we take him to away games. But, yeah, he’s still here.”

Click to expand...

Navy still wants Mayport as East Coast LCS hub
By Sam Fellman - Staff writer Navy times
Posted : Thursday Feb 28, 2013 13:40:00 EST
Fleet Forces Command said Thursday it wants as many as 14 littoral combat ships to call Mayport, Fla., home by 2020 — confirming a basing plan that’s been in place for nearly three years.

The move signals the Navy’s support for Naval Station Mayport, whose piers are getting increasingly empty as the Navy retires its frigates.

Naval Station Norfolk, Va., is the secondary basing option, FFC said in its environmental assessment draft released Thursday, a 276-page document that details the projected environmental impacts of both basing plans.

“Although no decision has yet been made, the Navy’s preferred alternative is to homeport the initial East coast littoral combat ships at Naval Station Mayport,” FFC said in a news release announcing the environment assessment.

The move would bring 21 LCS crews to either Mayport or Norfolk, Va., with approximately 3,600 sailors and family members transferring to the selected base. Either move, the assessment found, bears “no significant, adverse, direct or indirect, cumulative effects on the environment.”

The Navy’s plan to make Mayport the East Coast LCS base was first announced in 2010 by then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, who said the ships would start arriving in 2016.

The service has not decided whether the homeport selection will be made by ship type, as the LCS hulls are divided into two separate variants: the monohulled Freedom, designed by Lockheed Martin, and the trimaran-style Independence, built by Austal USA.

“In accordance with strategic laydown plans, it is estimated that no more than eight LCSs would be in port at any one time,” according to the report. “Therefore, either eight Austal variants, eight Lockheed Martin variants, or a combination of eight Austal and Lockheed Martin variants would be berthed at any one time.”

Naval Station Mayport has been shrinking in recent years. It lost its sole flattop, the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy, when it was decommissioned in 2007, and the number of frigates stationed there has dwindled.

Shipyard workers and lawmakers in the area have repeatedly pressed the Navy to shift more ships — including a carrier — to Mayport. An amphibious ready group is scheduled to move there in fiscal 2014, but that could be delayed by coming budget cuts.

Members of the public have until March 29 to comment on the Navy’s plans.

Click to expand...