These ships was never received the upgrades of the VLS ticos. They were deemed to expensive to upgrade. Besides what you are proposing can be done cheaply on computers instead of spending $$$ on standard 2's and the aegis computer that will be destroyed.
US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter tphuang
- Start date
These ships was never received the upgrades of the VLS ticos. They were deemed to expensive to upgrade. Besides what you are proposing can be done cheaply on computers instead of spending $$$ on standard 2's and the aegis computer that will be destroyed.
USMC Commandant calls for more Marines
More Marines may be needed in terror war
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Marine Corps may need to increase in size to sustain deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan without sacrificing needed training or putting undue stress on the corps, the new Marine commandant said Wednesday.
At a breakfast meeting with reporters, Gen. James Conway also warned that it could take years to adequately train and equip the Iraqi security forces - longer, perhaps, "than the timeline that we probably feel ... our country will support."
"This is tough work, it doesn't happen overnight," and patience by the American people will be needed, he said. On the plus side, he said Marines he's talked to in recent days are encouraged by the progress they are seeing among Iraqi forces.
Conway said the current pace of Marine rotations to Iraq - seven months there and seven-to-nine months at home - is limiting other types of training that units can receive and could eventually prompt Marines to leave the service.
"There is stress on the individual Marines that is increasing, and there is stress on the institution to do what we are required to do, pretty much by law, for the nation," said Conway.
The goal, he said, is for units to spend twice the amount of time at home as is spent on deployment - for example seven months deployed and 14 months at home.
At the same time, Conway would not rule out extending the Iraq tours for some Marine units if needed for a short period of time. Several Army units have been extended for several months, but the Marines have done that only rarely and for weeks rather than months.
Conway, who took on the Marines' top job just eight days ago, said there are two ways to deal with the ongoing stress on the Marines: "One is reducing the requirement, the other is potentially growing the force for what we call the long war."
The Bush administration is finalizing the budget for fiscal 2008, which starts next Oct. 1, and the armed services are hoping to receive increased funding to carry on the fighting. Conway said he could not say how much the Marines would be seeking.
There are currently about 180,000 active duty Marines. Just last week, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said about 2,200 more of them were headed to Iraq's volatile western Anbar province in a short-term effort to shore up U.S. combat power there.
The commander, Gen. John Abizaid, also told Congress last week that the Army and Marine Corps are not big enough to sustain a substantial increase in Iraq, although he said adding 20,000 troops for a short period was possible.
Conway said that if a decision is made to increase the number of Marines in Iraq - currently about 23,000 of the 141,000 U.S. troops there - he has enough around the globe to respond. But he warned that there could be long-term repercussions.
"The payback is you can't maintain that surge. And it's probably going to have an adverse impact" on the ability to provide ready troops in the future, he said.
Increasing the size of the Marine Corps, he added, could only be by 1,000-2,000 troops per year over an extended time. And if the size is increased to meet the needs of war, Conway said there would have to be a plan for reducing the numbers when the war is over. He said the current 180,000 level is the right size for peacetime.
The Marines are also drawing up plans to send some reserve combat battalions back to Iraq for return tours as a way of relieving the strain on the active duty forces. If that is done, it would be the first time such Marine units would be returned to the war
More Marines may be needed in terror war
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Marine Corps may need to increase in size to sustain deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan without sacrificing needed training or putting undue stress on the corps, the new Marine commandant said Wednesday.
At a breakfast meeting with reporters, Gen. James Conway also warned that it could take years to adequately train and equip the Iraqi security forces - longer, perhaps, "than the timeline that we probably feel ... our country will support."
"This is tough work, it doesn't happen overnight," and patience by the American people will be needed, he said. On the plus side, he said Marines he's talked to in recent days are encouraged by the progress they are seeing among Iraqi forces.
Conway said the current pace of Marine rotations to Iraq - seven months there and seven-to-nine months at home - is limiting other types of training that units can receive and could eventually prompt Marines to leave the service.
"There is stress on the individual Marines that is increasing, and there is stress on the institution to do what we are required to do, pretty much by law, for the nation," said Conway.
The goal, he said, is for units to spend twice the amount of time at home as is spent on deployment - for example seven months deployed and 14 months at home.
At the same time, Conway would not rule out extending the Iraq tours for some Marine units if needed for a short period of time. Several Army units have been extended for several months, but the Marines have done that only rarely and for weeks rather than months.
Conway, who took on the Marines' top job just eight days ago, said there are two ways to deal with the ongoing stress on the Marines: "One is reducing the requirement, the other is potentially growing the force for what we call the long war."
The Bush administration is finalizing the budget for fiscal 2008, which starts next Oct. 1, and the armed services are hoping to receive increased funding to carry on the fighting. Conway said he could not say how much the Marines would be seeking.
There are currently about 180,000 active duty Marines. Just last week, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said about 2,200 more of them were headed to Iraq's volatile western Anbar province in a short-term effort to shore up U.S. combat power there.
The commander, Gen. John Abizaid, also told Congress last week that the Army and Marine Corps are not big enough to sustain a substantial increase in Iraq, although he said adding 20,000 troops for a short period was possible.
Conway said that if a decision is made to increase the number of Marines in Iraq - currently about 23,000 of the 141,000 U.S. troops there - he has enough around the globe to respond. But he warned that there could be long-term repercussions.
"The payback is you can't maintain that surge. And it's probably going to have an adverse impact" on the ability to provide ready troops in the future, he said.
Increasing the size of the Marine Corps, he added, could only be by 1,000-2,000 troops per year over an extended time. And if the size is increased to meet the needs of war, Conway said there would have to be a plan for reducing the numbers when the war is over. He said the current 180,000 level is the right size for peacetime.
The Marines are also drawing up plans to send some reserve combat battalions back to Iraq for return tours as a way of relieving the strain on the active duty forces. If that is done, it would be the first time such Marine units would be returned to the war
USN hospitals ships to remain in service
Last year the USN announced plans to decomission it's two hospital ships, Mercy & Comfort. But because of two very successfull deployments by the Mercy and Hurricane Katrina refief effoirts by the Comfort both ships now will remain in service.
Missions of Mercy keep ship in service
Floating hospital gets pulled off Navy hit list
By Steve Liewer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 26, 2006
The Mercy's hugely popular humanitarian missions to Asia in the past two years may have saved the San Diego-based hospital ship and its East Coast sister vessel, the Comfort, from a trip to the scrap yard.
Hospital ship Mercy
History: Built in 1976 as an oil tanker. Converted to a hospital ship and commissioned as the Mercy a decade later.
Mission: Main goal is to provide a floating hospital for American military personnel in combat. Secondary aim is to support U.S. disaster-relief and humanitarian operations worldwide.
Medical care: 1,000 patient beds and 12 operating rooms.
Crew members: Maximum of 1,275.
The converted oil tankers, both 30 years old, were on the Navy's hit list, said Norman Polmar, author of “Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet.” Navy officials had expected to replace them with transport ships useful for medical and other missions.
Last week, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen said he planned to keep sending the ships on humanitarian journeys once a year. Mullen cited favorable public reaction in countries the Mercy visited during its two most recent journeys.
The Mercy and Comfort “are uniquely suited to disaster-relief and humanitarian missions,” said Cmdr. John Kirby, Mullen's spokesman. “The Navy is very committed to carrying on this type of mission.”
The 2003 invasion of Iraq hurt America's image around the world, especially in predominantly Muslim countries. Several surveys showed the United States got a public relations boost from military-led humanitarian missions, including a Mercy trip after the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami in South Asia.
The Pentagon tried to recapture that magic in April, sending the Mercy on a five-month deployment to the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and East Timor. Teams from Project HOPE, the Aloha Medical Mission and other charities collaborated with the Navy's medical experts.
They treated nearly 61,000 patients, including more than 1,000 who underwent surgery. They also administered at least 10,500 vaccinations, pulled about 6,000 teeth and gave away thousands of pairs of eyeglasses. Some members of the crew worked with local residents to pave roads and repair hospitals, schools and orphanages. Until the Mercy's post-tsunami tour and a voyage by the Comfort to the battered Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, the hospital ships had focused on wartime missions.
After the Mercy's latest trip, a bipartisan group in Washington, D.C., surveyed residents in Indonesia and Bangladesh. The polls by Terror Free Tomorrow showed that 85 percent of Indonesians and 95 percent of Bangladeshis approved of the Mercy crew's work. Most respondents also said U.S. post-disaster aid made them view the United States more favorably.
Mullen said the Mercy's 2006 mission cost the Navy $17.5 million – an investment he deemed worthwhile.
“I am sure that, as a country, we more than broke even,” he said.
The Mercy draws its personnel heavily from the San Diego Naval Medical Center, also known as Balboa naval hospital, which is struggling to expand services to injured service members while its staff is depleted by wartime deployments.
An article a year ago in Proceedings, the Naval Institute's monthly magazine, called for decommissioning the Mercy and Comfort as part of a major overhaul of Navy medicine.
“They are poorly used and are a huge drain on already scarce resources,” wrote Cmdr. Joseph Rappold, the Balboa hospital's director of surgical intensive care and author of the article.
Polmar said keeping the Mercy and Comfort afloat is fine as long as the cash-strapped Navy isn't stuck with the whole tab. Because medical relief isn't typically a military job, he says the U.S. departments of State and Homeland Security ought to chip in.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon McCrillis, a Navy cook, joined the Mercy's crew three days before it left San Diego last spring. At some stops, McCrillis said, awe-struck locals crowded around and asked for autographs.
Despite the rewarding experience, McCrillis, 23, said he hopes the Navy will staff the hospital ships with a full-time sea crew, instead of pulling shore-based volunteers. He missed the birth of his daughter while he was deployed.
“To be deployed, you have to swallow your pride and realize you're doing something for the greater good,” McCrillis said.
There are over 700 pictures of the Mercy's latest mission on the below link;
Last year the USN announced plans to decomission it's two hospital ships, Mercy & Comfort. But because of two very successfull deployments by the Mercy and Hurricane Katrina refief effoirts by the Comfort both ships now will remain in service.
Missions of Mercy keep ship in service
Floating hospital gets pulled off Navy hit list
By Steve Liewer
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 26, 2006
The Mercy's hugely popular humanitarian missions to Asia in the past two years may have saved the San Diego-based hospital ship and its East Coast sister vessel, the Comfort, from a trip to the scrap yard.
Hospital ship Mercy
History: Built in 1976 as an oil tanker. Converted to a hospital ship and commissioned as the Mercy a decade later.
Mission: Main goal is to provide a floating hospital for American military personnel in combat. Secondary aim is to support U.S. disaster-relief and humanitarian operations worldwide.
Medical care: 1,000 patient beds and 12 operating rooms.
Crew members: Maximum of 1,275.
The converted oil tankers, both 30 years old, were on the Navy's hit list, said Norman Polmar, author of “Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet.” Navy officials had expected to replace them with transport ships useful for medical and other missions.
Last week, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen said he planned to keep sending the ships on humanitarian journeys once a year. Mullen cited favorable public reaction in countries the Mercy visited during its two most recent journeys.
The Mercy and Comfort “are uniquely suited to disaster-relief and humanitarian missions,” said Cmdr. John Kirby, Mullen's spokesman. “The Navy is very committed to carrying on this type of mission.”
The 2003 invasion of Iraq hurt America's image around the world, especially in predominantly Muslim countries. Several surveys showed the United States got a public relations boost from military-led humanitarian missions, including a Mercy trip after the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami in South Asia.
The Pentagon tried to recapture that magic in April, sending the Mercy on a five-month deployment to the Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and East Timor. Teams from Project HOPE, the Aloha Medical Mission and other charities collaborated with the Navy's medical experts.
They treated nearly 61,000 patients, including more than 1,000 who underwent surgery. They also administered at least 10,500 vaccinations, pulled about 6,000 teeth and gave away thousands of pairs of eyeglasses. Some members of the crew worked with local residents to pave roads and repair hospitals, schools and orphanages. Until the Mercy's post-tsunami tour and a voyage by the Comfort to the battered Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, the hospital ships had focused on wartime missions.
After the Mercy's latest trip, a bipartisan group in Washington, D.C., surveyed residents in Indonesia and Bangladesh. The polls by Terror Free Tomorrow showed that 85 percent of Indonesians and 95 percent of Bangladeshis approved of the Mercy crew's work. Most respondents also said U.S. post-disaster aid made them view the United States more favorably.
Mullen said the Mercy's 2006 mission cost the Navy $17.5 million – an investment he deemed worthwhile.
“I am sure that, as a country, we more than broke even,” he said.
The Mercy draws its personnel heavily from the San Diego Naval Medical Center, also known as Balboa naval hospital, which is struggling to expand services to injured service members while its staff is depleted by wartime deployments.
An article a year ago in Proceedings, the Naval Institute's monthly magazine, called for decommissioning the Mercy and Comfort as part of a major overhaul of Navy medicine.
“They are poorly used and are a huge drain on already scarce resources,” wrote Cmdr. Joseph Rappold, the Balboa hospital's director of surgical intensive care and author of the article.
Polmar said keeping the Mercy and Comfort afloat is fine as long as the cash-strapped Navy isn't stuck with the whole tab. Because medical relief isn't typically a military job, he says the U.S. departments of State and Homeland Security ought to chip in.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon McCrillis, a Navy cook, joined the Mercy's crew three days before it left San Diego last spring. At some stops, McCrillis said, awe-struck locals crowded around and asked for autographs.
Despite the rewarding experience, McCrillis, 23, said he hopes the Navy will staff the hospital ships with a full-time sea crew, instead of pulling shore-based volunteers. He missed the birth of his daughter while he was deployed.
“To be deployed, you have to swallow your pride and realize you're doing something for the greater good,” McCrillis said.
There are over 700 pictures of the Mercy's latest mission on the below link;
USN enlisted submariner to pleads guilty to espionage
By TIM MCGLONE, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 28, 2006
NORFOLK - A Navy submariner accused of espionage and desertion has agreed to plead guilty next Monday before a military judge, forgoing a trial.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann was scheduled for a court-martial next week but will instead plead guilty in a Norfolk Naval Station court to some of the six charges against him, Weinmann's civilian attorney said Monday.
"Pre trial negotiations have been going on and have been met with some success," said the attorney, Phillip Stackhouse of Jacksonville, N.C.
"A pre trial agreement has been signed."
Stackhouse declined to say which charges his client plans to plead guilty to. Stackhouse said the plea agreement between Weinmann and the Navy includes a maximum possible sentence but, again, declined to provide specifics.
Navy Mid-Atlantic Region spokeswoman Beth Baker would not comment on the development.
Weinmann, 21, of Salem, Ore., has been in the Norfolk Naval Station brig since his arrest in March. He is charged with espionage, desertion, failing to properly secure classified information, copying classified information, communication of classified information to a foreign agent, and stealing and destroying a laptop computer.
The Navy at one point had considered the death penalty against Weinmann but rejected it for undisclosed reasons. The maximum punishment for espionage under military code is life in prison.
Weinmann, a fire control technician who had been stationed aboard the Connecticut-based submarine Albuquerque, was arrested March 26 at a Dallas airport as he was re-entering the country from Mexico.
Navy officials have said in court that Weinmann was carrying $4,000 in cash, three CD-ROMs and other computer equipment. He left his post in July 2005 - while his sub was stationed in Bahrain - and is accused of taking a Navy laptop with him.
The charges allege that Weinmann passed classified information to a foreign government representative in Vienna, Austria, and Mexico City. The Navy has not disclosed what information was passed, nor has the foreign government officially been named.
News agencies, including CNN, have named Russia as the foreign government, but Time magazine, citing anonymous military sources, reported in August that the Navy had not confirmed Russia as having received anything from Weinmann.
Efforts to reach Weinmann's family in Oregon were unsuccessful Monday
By TIM MCGLONE, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 28, 2006
NORFOLK - A Navy submariner accused of espionage and desertion has agreed to plead guilty next Monday before a military judge, forgoing a trial.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann was scheduled for a court-martial next week but will instead plead guilty in a Norfolk Naval Station court to some of the six charges against him, Weinmann's civilian attorney said Monday.
"Pre trial negotiations have been going on and have been met with some success," said the attorney, Phillip Stackhouse of Jacksonville, N.C.
"A pre trial agreement has been signed."
Stackhouse declined to say which charges his client plans to plead guilty to. Stackhouse said the plea agreement between Weinmann and the Navy includes a maximum possible sentence but, again, declined to provide specifics.
Navy Mid-Atlantic Region spokeswoman Beth Baker would not comment on the development.
Weinmann, 21, of Salem, Ore., has been in the Norfolk Naval Station brig since his arrest in March. He is charged with espionage, desertion, failing to properly secure classified information, copying classified information, communication of classified information to a foreign agent, and stealing and destroying a laptop computer.
The Navy at one point had considered the death penalty against Weinmann but rejected it for undisclosed reasons. The maximum punishment for espionage under military code is life in prison.
Weinmann, a fire control technician who had been stationed aboard the Connecticut-based submarine Albuquerque, was arrested March 26 at a Dallas airport as he was re-entering the country from Mexico.
Navy officials have said in court that Weinmann was carrying $4,000 in cash, three CD-ROMs and other computer equipment. He left his post in July 2005 - while his sub was stationed in Bahrain - and is accused of taking a Navy laptop with him.
The charges allege that Weinmann passed classified information to a foreign government representative in Vienna, Austria, and Mexico City. The Navy has not disclosed what information was passed, nor has the foreign government officially been named.
News agencies, including CNN, have named Russia as the foreign government, but Time magazine, citing anonymous military sources, reported in August that the Navy had not confirmed Russia as having received anything from Weinmann.
Efforts to reach Weinmann's family in Oregon were unsuccessful Monday
USAF adding 3000 airmen to Andersen AFB, Guam
The USAF will increase their presence on Guam by 3000 next year...
Air Force Base to expand in Guam
3,000 airmen and families set to relocate
ASSOCIATED PRESS
8:55 p.m. November 27, 2006
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam – The Air Force plans to add as many as 3,000 airmen and their families to this Pacific Ocean base beginning next year.
The extra personnel are part of an expansion that will increase U.S. reconnaissance, deployment and training capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, said Maj. Richelle Dowdell, a spokeswoman at Andersen Air Force Base.
Although the move has long been in planning, it comes amid heightened tensions with North Korea since the nation tested a nuclear weapon Oct. 9.
The Air Force has begun in recent years to continuously rotate a fleet of long-range bombers to Guam, well within range of any target on the Korean peninsula.
Airmen likely will relocate from areas including South Korea, Japan and the United States.
The expansion, which includes plans for unmanned Global Hawk surveillance planes and tanker operations, will take place in phases through 2015, Dowdell said
The USAF will increase their presence on Guam by 3000 next year...
Air Force Base to expand in Guam
3,000 airmen and families set to relocate
ASSOCIATED PRESS
8:55 p.m. November 27, 2006
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam – The Air Force plans to add as many as 3,000 airmen and their families to this Pacific Ocean base beginning next year.
The extra personnel are part of an expansion that will increase U.S. reconnaissance, deployment and training capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, said Maj. Richelle Dowdell, a spokeswoman at Andersen Air Force Base.
Although the move has long been in planning, it comes amid heightened tensions with North Korea since the nation tested a nuclear weapon Oct. 9.
The Air Force has begun in recent years to continuously rotate a fleet of long-range bombers to Guam, well within range of any target on the Korean peninsula.
Airmen likely will relocate from areas including South Korea, Japan and the United States.
The expansion, which includes plans for unmanned Global Hawk surveillance planes and tanker operations, will take place in phases through 2015, Dowdell said
USS San Antonio (LPD-17) rescues 4 fishermen
Navy rescues crew of sinking fishing vessel
By LOUIS HANSEN, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 3, 2006
The amphibious ship San Antonio rescued four watermen from a commercial vessel sinking in rough seas Friday afternoon off the coast of North Carolina.
The four men were battered but unharmed after their failed attempt to save the 100-foot Miss Melissa, said Cmdr. Brad Lee, skipper of the San Antonio. The Navy did not release the names of the rescued men.
The San Antonio, commissioned in January, is on a week long training mission to test the performance and compatibility of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor planes, Lee said
The amphibious ship, based at Norfolk Naval Station, is a 684-foot troop carrier with a crew of 360 sailors.
"We've had a lot of firsts," Lee said.
The rescue, he said, was the first in difficult conditions.
The Navy received a distress call from the Miss Melissa about 2:30 p.m. Friday. The ship reported taking on heavy water in rough seas about 50 miles east of Oregon Inlet, Lee said.
The San Antonio was conducting its exercises nearby, Lee said. A V-22 Osprey flew from the deck of the warship to the ailing vessel and confirmed its location.
The San Antonio steamed toward the watermen. Lee ordered a rescue team into a rigid-hull inflatable boat to approach the vessel.
Petty Officer 1st Class Rickey Brown drove the small rescue boat through 12-foot swells and 45 mph gusts to the Miss Melissa. The six-year veteran had practiced rescue missions many times but never in such difficult conditions, he said.
From the rescue boat, Lt. j.g. Charles Spivey spoke with the watermen and persuaded them to leave their ship. The men had been fishing for a few days and had 7,000 pounds of tuna, mackerel and swordfish aboard, Spivey said.
The watermen had spent several hours pumping water from their battered ship before the Navy arrived. They were initially reluctant to leave.
"They were pumping a lot of water out," Spivey said. "Whatever it was, they couldn't fix it."
The inflatable made four passes around the ship, each time collecting another waterman in the rough seas.
"We wanted to get them one by one " to ensure a safe rescue, Brown said.
The sailors fed, clothed and gave medical care to the watermen, who spent the night aboard the ship. Another small boat transferred the men to a Coast Guard ship Saturday morning, Lee said
Here is a picture of the RHIB with the rescued crewmen on board
Navy rescues crew of sinking fishing vessel
By LOUIS HANSEN, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 3, 2006
The amphibious ship San Antonio rescued four watermen from a commercial vessel sinking in rough seas Friday afternoon off the coast of North Carolina.
The four men were battered but unharmed after their failed attempt to save the 100-foot Miss Melissa, said Cmdr. Brad Lee, skipper of the San Antonio. The Navy did not release the names of the rescued men.
The San Antonio, commissioned in January, is on a week long training mission to test the performance and compatibility of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor planes, Lee said
The amphibious ship, based at Norfolk Naval Station, is a 684-foot troop carrier with a crew of 360 sailors.
"We've had a lot of firsts," Lee said.
The rescue, he said, was the first in difficult conditions.
The Navy received a distress call from the Miss Melissa about 2:30 p.m. Friday. The ship reported taking on heavy water in rough seas about 50 miles east of Oregon Inlet, Lee said.
The San Antonio was conducting its exercises nearby, Lee said. A V-22 Osprey flew from the deck of the warship to the ailing vessel and confirmed its location.
The San Antonio steamed toward the watermen. Lee ordered a rescue team into a rigid-hull inflatable boat to approach the vessel.
Petty Officer 1st Class Rickey Brown drove the small rescue boat through 12-foot swells and 45 mph gusts to the Miss Melissa. The six-year veteran had practiced rescue missions many times but never in such difficult conditions, he said.
From the rescue boat, Lt. j.g. Charles Spivey spoke with the watermen and persuaded them to leave their ship. The men had been fishing for a few days and had 7,000 pounds of tuna, mackerel and swordfish aboard, Spivey said.
The watermen had spent several hours pumping water from their battered ship before the Navy arrived. They were initially reluctant to leave.
"They were pumping a lot of water out," Spivey said. "Whatever it was, they couldn't fix it."
The inflatable made four passes around the ship, each time collecting another waterman in the rough seas.
"We wanted to get them one by one " to ensure a safe rescue, Brown said.
The sailors fed, clothed and gave medical care to the watermen, who spent the night aboard the ship. Another small boat transferred the men to a Coast Guard ship Saturday morning, Lee said
Here is a picture of the RHIB with the rescued crewmen on board
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US Marine sentenced to 40 years for rape in the Philippines
Something stinks here. Why were three other Marines set free? A deal between the US and RP? reason>>.To keep the training the USMC provides alive and to keep open the usage of Philippine ports for the USN during peace or conflict. Just my opinion...
U.S. Marine sentenced to 40 years' jail in landmark rape case in Philippines
By Teresa Cerojano
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:04 a.m. December 4, 2006
MANILA, Philippines – A U.S. Marine was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison Monday in a landmark rape case that was hailed as a victory for women's rights and Philippine independence from its former colonial power.
In a decision televised live nationwide, three other Marines were acquitted of complicity after a long emotional trial that resurrected controversies linked to the U.S. military presence in the Philippines.
The case has tested a joint military pact that paved the way for U.S. counterterrorism training credited with helping local forces make gains against Muslim extremists in the country's south. Leftist groups have staged regular protests outside the U.S. Embassy, claiming the American servicemen were getting special treatment that undercut the country's sovereignty.
A scuffle briefly broke out between U.S. Embassy security personnel and local police over who would take custody of Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith after his conviction as his three fellow Marines walked free. All four men have been in U.S. Embassy custody, in line with the Visiting Forces Agreement, but Philippine police took Smith away in handcuffs to be fingerprinted, photographed and given a medical check.
A Philippine police official said it appeared there had been a misunderstanding over whether Smith would remain in U.S. custody during an appeal. The judge ruled that he would be temporarily jailed in Makati, Manila's financial distict.
Zozimo Paredes, head of the Philippines' VFA Commission, said the agreement is clear that after all appeals are exhausted, Smith would be detained in the Philippines.
“The court maintained an even keel despite the tremendous pressures upon the bench. We have shown the world that due process is a hallmark of Philippine democracy,” said Ignacio Bunye, spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“The outcome of this case will not in any way affect Philippine-U.S. relations for it is not about diplomatic relations but about universal justice and the rule of law,” he added.
A 23-year-old Philippine woman accused Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith of sexually assaulting her while she was drunk on Nov. 1, 2005, with Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier, Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood and Lance Cpl. Dominic Duplantis allegedly cheering him on.
Smith, 21, from St. Louis, testified that the sex was consensual.
The court's ruling makes him the first American soldier to be convicted of wrongdoing since the Philippine Senate ordered U.S. bases shut down in the early 1990s and joint training was established under a treaty, the Visiting Forces Agreement, in 1998.
“I'm sad that three were acquitted, but I'm also happy because one was convicted,” the woman told ABS-CBN television in a telephone interview.
Smith was ordered to pay the woman $2,000 in damages.
The U.S. Embassy said they would be returned to their unit in Okinawa, Japan, where their commander will take action on the U.S. military's investigation into the case.
The woman testified that the assault occurred in a moving van at the former U.S. naval base at Subic Bay, after she had spent an evening drinking with Smith. The Marines had just finished a counterterrorism exercise. The defendants' Philippine driver and two other Marines were dropped from the case earlier.
Something stinks here. Why were three other Marines set free? A deal between the US and RP? reason>>.To keep the training the USMC provides alive and to keep open the usage of Philippine ports for the USN during peace or conflict. Just my opinion...
U.S. Marine sentenced to 40 years' jail in landmark rape case in Philippines
By Teresa Cerojano
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:04 a.m. December 4, 2006
MANILA, Philippines – A U.S. Marine was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison Monday in a landmark rape case that was hailed as a victory for women's rights and Philippine independence from its former colonial power.
In a decision televised live nationwide, three other Marines were acquitted of complicity after a long emotional trial that resurrected controversies linked to the U.S. military presence in the Philippines.
The case has tested a joint military pact that paved the way for U.S. counterterrorism training credited with helping local forces make gains against Muslim extremists in the country's south. Leftist groups have staged regular protests outside the U.S. Embassy, claiming the American servicemen were getting special treatment that undercut the country's sovereignty.
A scuffle briefly broke out between U.S. Embassy security personnel and local police over who would take custody of Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith after his conviction as his three fellow Marines walked free. All four men have been in U.S. Embassy custody, in line with the Visiting Forces Agreement, but Philippine police took Smith away in handcuffs to be fingerprinted, photographed and given a medical check.
A Philippine police official said it appeared there had been a misunderstanding over whether Smith would remain in U.S. custody during an appeal. The judge ruled that he would be temporarily jailed in Makati, Manila's financial distict.
Zozimo Paredes, head of the Philippines' VFA Commission, said the agreement is clear that after all appeals are exhausted, Smith would be detained in the Philippines.
“The court maintained an even keel despite the tremendous pressures upon the bench. We have shown the world that due process is a hallmark of Philippine democracy,” said Ignacio Bunye, spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“The outcome of this case will not in any way affect Philippine-U.S. relations for it is not about diplomatic relations but about universal justice and the rule of law,” he added.
A 23-year-old Philippine woman accused Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith of sexually assaulting her while she was drunk on Nov. 1, 2005, with Staff Sgt. Chad Carpentier, Lance Cpl. Keith Silkwood and Lance Cpl. Dominic Duplantis allegedly cheering him on.
Smith, 21, from St. Louis, testified that the sex was consensual.
The court's ruling makes him the first American soldier to be convicted of wrongdoing since the Philippine Senate ordered U.S. bases shut down in the early 1990s and joint training was established under a treaty, the Visiting Forces Agreement, in 1998.
“I'm sad that three were acquitted, but I'm also happy because one was convicted,” the woman told ABS-CBN television in a telephone interview.
Smith was ordered to pay the woman $2,000 in damages.
The U.S. Embassy said they would be returned to their unit in Okinawa, Japan, where their commander will take action on the U.S. military's investigation into the case.
The woman testified that the assault occurred in a moving van at the former U.S. naval base at Subic Bay, after she had spent an evening drinking with Smith. The Marines had just finished a counterterrorism exercise. The defendants' Philippine driver and two other Marines were dropped from the case earlier.
I take it the convicted is the only one who had sex with her. The DNA evidence only points to him so they couldn't get the other jarheads. I wouldn't be suprised if some compromise was reached by State as plans for 7th fleet redeployment have the Phillipenes as a lynchpin for a surge into South China Sea.
You said it!..I was born at night..but not last night...
The RP government has long had a problem with terroist and a Comunist and Muslim insurgency. They need US $$$$$$$ to boster their military and to line the pockets of corrupt officals.....Period.
The RP is claiming this is some sort of land mark case. that's simply not true. several US servicemen were convicted in Phillipine courts of various crimes when I was stationed there from '75 'til '77..
In fact a seaman from the USS Hancock was convicted of murder and sodomy in 1976. I was there. I remember clearly.
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