US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

AP said:

8 soldiers charged in private’s death

By Chris Hawley - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 21, 2011 13:06:01 EST

NEW YORK — Eight U.S. soldiers have been charged in the death of a fellow GI who apparently shot himself in Afghanistan after being subjected to what a community activist said were assaults and racial taunts from his comrades.

Pvt. Danny Chen, a 19-year-old from New York City’s Chinatown neighborhood, was found dead in a guard tower in Kandahar province Oct. 3 with what the Army said was an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

In a statement, the Army said Wednesday that eight soldiers in his company have been charged with crimes ranging from dereliction of duty to manslaughter.

The Army gave no details on exactly what role the other soldiers are alleged to have played in Chen’s death. But a community activist raised the possibility that their bullying drove him to suicide.

Chen’s fellow soldiers had dragged him across the floor, threw stones at the back of his head, forced him to hold liquid in his mouth while upside down as part of an apparent hazing, and called him “Jackie Chen” in a mocking accent, according to Elizabeth OuYang, president of the New York chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans.

The details of his alleged hazing came from Facebook and email messages, discussions with cousins and a few pages of Chen’s journal released by the Army, OuYang said at a Chinatown news conference.

“Whether suicide or homicide, those responsible for mistreating Danny are responsible for his death,” she said.

At the news conference, Chen’s relatives said they were encouraged by the charges.

“We realize that Danny will never return, but it gives us some hope,” said Yen Tao Chen, his father, speaking through a translator.

Community activists said the Army still has not fully explained the circumstances of Chen’s death. They are meeting with Pentagon officials Jan. 4.

“We need to know the whole truth,” Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., said. She added: “Racial discrimination and intolerance have no place in today’s military.”

The Army previously announced it was investigating Chen’s death.

Chen was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

In a statement, the Army identified the soldiers charged as 1st Lt. Daniel J. Schwartz, Staff Sgt. Blaine G. Dugas, Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Van Bockel, Sgt. Adam M. Holcomb, Sgt. Jeffrey T. Hurst, Spc. Thomas P. Curtis, Spc. Ryan J. Offutt and Sgt. Travis F. Carden. Their hometowns were not immediately released.

VanBockel, Holcomb, Hurst, Curtis and Offutt were charged with the most serious offenses, including involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide, and assault and battery. Schwartz, the only officer among the accused, was charged with dereliction of duty

Click to expand...

AP said:

5 plead not guilty in defective helo parts case

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 21, 2011 8:35:54 EST

EUGENE, Ore. — A southern Oregon family has pleaded not guilty to charges that it filled its U.S. military defense contracts with defective knockoffs rather than government-specified parts for Army helicopters and trucks — including a critical helicopter part.

The Eugene Register-Guard reports that a federal judge entered the plea on behalf of Harold Ray Bettencourt Jr., his ex-wife and three of the couple's adult children on Tuesday.

The family faces charges that include conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Two other longtime employees of Bettencourt's Coos Bay company, Kustom Products Inc., also were arraigned Tuesday in the case. All seven remain free.

According to a federal grand jury indictment, Bettencourt's firm collected more than $7.5 million in government payments after selling "nonconforming, defective and counterfeit products" to the Department of Defense on at least 392 occasions.

Click to expand...

Air Force seeks outside advice on Dover flap

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Dec 20, 2011 20:09:53 EST

WASHINGTON — Air Force Secretary Michael Donley is expanding his review of the disciplinary actions taken as a result of the mishandling of body parts at the Dover, Del., military mortuary, and he did not send a completed assessment to Pentagon leaders last week as initially expected.

In a statement Tuesday, the Air Force said Donley is asking a retired general and two experts to review the punishments. And he also plans to wait for the Office of Special Counsel to complete its separate investigation of the matter so he can include that in his review.

The additional steps could delay the final report for weeks. Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. John Dorrian said there is no specific date for its completion.

Asked about the delay, Pentagon press secretary George Little said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes Donley is “proceeding prudently and deliberately.” He said Panetta expects to review the final report as soon as possible.

In a series of gruesome revelations in November, the Air Force said small body parts of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan were lost on two occasions. It also revealed that some cremated partial remains of at least 274 American troops were dumped in a Virginia landfill until a policy change halted the practice three years ago.

The Air Force, which runs the mortuary, disciplined three supervisors but did not fire anyone. But as outrage over the matter reverberated through Congress and the public, Panetta asked Donley to assess whether stronger punishments were warranted.

The Office of Special Counsel was highly critical of the Air Force’s handling of the matter, and its review is ongoing. Part of that review involves allegations by three whistle-blowers who called attention to the problems that the Air Force retaliated against them in several ways, including an attempt to fire one of them.

The Air Force has said it found no evidence that those faulted at Dover deliberately mishandled any remains. They attributed the mistakes largely to a breakdown in procedures and a failure to fix problems that had been building over time.

Donley sent an interim report to Panetta on Dec. 15 that summarized the discipline taken and its legal basis.

The Air Force statement said the interim report was the first step in a three-step process, and was intended to ‘gather the facts.”

Donley is asking a retired general from one of the other military services and two experts on federal civilian personnel law to do independent assessments of the discipline to date.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told a congressional committee last month that Col. Robert Edmondson, who commanded the Dover mortuary at the time of the incidents in 2009, had been given a letter of reprimand. He also was denied a job commanding a unit at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and will not get any future commands.

Two civilian supervisors at Dover — Trevor Dean and Quinton Keel — took a cut in pay and were moved to non-supervisory jobs at Dover. They still work there.

Click to expand...

On December 14th French Navy Horizon-class Air Defense Destroyer "Forbin" (D620) and US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer "USS Ramage" (DDG 61) met in the Mediterranean sea (off Lebanon) to conduct several training maneuvers including:

Anti-ship exercises, UNREP training (underway replenishment at sea), communication through signal lamps and helicopter cross deck.

The Forbin "Panther" helicopter conducted several Touch And Go on USS Ramage allowing the French Navy crew to learn about US Navy's procedure and the US crew to get familiar with handling this type of helicopter.

Click to expand...

It is a direct translation from a French Navy official press release... where they call USS Ramage a "Frigate" mind you

Click to expand...

TerraN_EmpirE said:

I would give them a little slack as these days frigates, corvettes and distroyers are becoming more and more interchangeable in classification thanks too Ships like the Meko Class. of course frigate and Corvettes have always been close.

Click to expand...

Schumacher said:

They've finally decided to cut this one.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Lights Out For The Airborne Laser
By Amy Butler

After nearly 16 years of development and more than $5 billion spent, culminating in a series of ballistic missile target engagements, the Pentagon has finally decided to mothball the Boeing-led 747-400F project known as the Airborne Laser.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is now looking toward a new generation of lasers that could operate on unmanned vehicles at very high altitudes owing to advancements in laser technology, power generation and beam control work made possible in part by the foundation laid in the ABL years.

The program was established by the U.S. Air Force in the 1990s with an aim of employing a multi-megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL) to burn through the propulsion systems of boosting ballistic missile targets, sending the rockets and their potentially lethal payloads raining back down upon the area from which they were launched...................................................................

Click to expand...