Tag: navy

Racism is part of our daily life – and no surprise when it shows up in our military

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Mike Blake/Reuters

The U.S. Navy’s top admiral on Tuesday condemned two new racist incidents involving hate symbols on warships, which sources said included a noose that was left on a Black sailor’s bed…

While he did not give details of the incidents, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday cautioned in a message to the fleet on Tuesday that racial divisions in the ranks cut at the military’s ability to protect the country.

“If we must first question the intentions of our shipmate standing the watch with us, now, and especially, when taking fire, we will fail when the Nation needs us most in combat,” Gilday said…

Reuters was first to report last month that nearly a third of Black U.S. military servicemembers reported experiencing racial discrimination, harassment or both during a 12-month period, according to results of a long-withheld Defense Department survey.

It took appointment of the first-ever Black Secretary of Defense to drag the stink of racism in our military out into daylight…this time. No news to anyone who can remember when segregation in the US military was “official”.

Amphibious robot with undulating propulsion

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Click to website with video demo

The US Office of Naval Research…is funding an amphibious optionally autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) or remotely operated vehicle (ROV) prototype for use in littoral, surf and tide-zones, high-vegetation, debris-filled, or icy environments. The prototype was showcased and demonstrated at the Naval Future Force Science and Technology Exposition in Washington, DC, in July…

Pliant Energy Systems’ agile swimmer robot uses multi-stable non-linear systems to produce repetitive undulating motion for propulsion. Instead of propellers, the planar hyperbolic geometry and flexible electroactive-polymer undulating fins are able to propel the system underwater, on sandy beaches, over sea- or land-based vegetation, slippery or wet rocks, and over or under ice floes and ice shelves. It is powered by a lithium-ion battery.

Can’t wait to see what this critter might do untethered.

US and Japan mutually agree to lie about Fukushima fallout

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Trying to wash away radioactive contamination on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan

A stunning new report indicates the U.S. Navy knew that sailors from the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan took major radiation hits from the Fukushima atomic power plant after its meltdowns and explosions nearly three years ago.

If true, the revelations cast new light on the $1 billion lawsuit filed by the sailors against Tokyo Electric Power. Many of the sailors are already suffering devastating health impacts, but are being stonewalled by Tepco and the Navy.

The Reagan had joined several other U.S. ships in Operation Tomodachi (“Friendship”) to aid victims of the March 11, 2011 quake and tsunami. Photographic evidence and first-person testimony confirms that on March 12, 2011 the ship was within two miles of Fukushima Dai’ichi as the reactors there began to melt and explode.

In the midst of a snow storm, deck hands were enveloped in a warm cloud that came with a metallic taste. Sailors testify that the Reagan’s 5,500-member crew was told over the ship’s intercom to avoid drinking or bathing in desalinized water drawn from a radioactive sea. The huge carrier quickly ceased its humanitarian efforts and sailed 100 miles out to sea, where newly published internal Navy communications confirm it was still taking serious doses of radioactive fallout.

Scores of sailors from the Reagan and other ships stationed nearby now report a wide range of ailments reminiscent of those documented downwind from atomic bomb tests in the Pacific and Nevada, and at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. A similar metallic taste was described by pilots who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and by central Pennsylvanians downwind of Three Mile Island. Some parts of the atolls downwind from the South Pacific bomb tests remain uninhabitable six decades later.

Among the 81 plaintiffs in the federal class action are a sailor who was pregnant during the mission, and her “Baby A.G.,” born that October with multiple genetic mutations.

Officially, Tepco and the Navy say the dose levels were safe.

But a stunning new report by an American scholar based in Tokyo confirms that Naval officers communicated about what they knew to be the serious irradiation of the Reagan. Written by Kyle Cunningham and published in Japan Focus, “Mobilizing Nuclear Bias” describes the interplay between the U.S. and Japanese governments as Fukushima devolved into disaster.

Cunningham writes that transcribed conversations obtained through the Freedom of Information Act feature naval officials who acknowledge that even while 100 miles away from Fukushima, the Reagan’s readings “compared to just normal background [are] about 30 times what you would detect just on a normal air sample out to sea.”

On the nuclear-powered carrier “all of our continuous monitors alarmed at the same level, at this value. And then we took portable air samples on the flight deck and got the same value,” the transcript says.

RTFA. Lots to read. If you’re as cynical as I there will be no surprises. That doesn’t reduce the anger that swells in my heart, contempt for the tame military and civilian bureaucrats who ignore the criminal damage done to those who depended on them for safe guidance.

Their shame must lead to official and public condemnation – and sincere efforts to remedy the harm.

Thanks, Mike

Former investigators break silence about TWA Flight 800 crash

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twa

Investigators from the first probe of doomed TWA Flight 800 called Wednesday for a new examination of the tragedy, resurrecting old claims that a missile downed the plane.

A half-dozen people involved in the original inquiry into the July 17, 1996, blast that killed 230 people on a Paris-bound flight out of JFK Airport claimed new evidence supports the oft-suggested missile theory…

The investigators – in a conference call promoting an upcoming documentary, “Flight 800” – charged the original probe ignored testimony from nearly 700 eyewitnesses and included evidence tampering…

New evidence suggests there were more than 100 traces of explosives found in the plane’s wreckage, and internal CIA documents suggest a cover-up, they charge…

And they referenced FAA radar evidence that reportedly pointed to a missile hit – although they declined to speculate if it was a terrorist attack or friendly fire…

Tom Stalcup, joined Wednesday by former NTSB investigator Hank Hughes and former TWA investigator Bob Young, said they had no doubt that a missile was responsible for the plane’s demise…

Skeptics and conspiracy theorists have long argued that TWA 800 was shot down by the U.S. Navy or hit with a terrorist rocket.

It’s easy to understand why these folks didn’t want to be whistleblowers while still collecting paychecks from the NTSB. Folks who expose corruption and lies – corporate or government makes no difference – get next to no protection regardless of the laws on the books.

Charity refuses donations from former Navy SEAL’s book profits

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The former Navy SEAL who wrote No Easy Day under the pen name Mark Owen has promised to donate a majority of his profits to charities, but one of the non-profit groups he touted – the Navy SEAL Foundation – has ruled out accepting his donations.

“The Navy SEAL Foundation is committed to providing immediate and ongoing support and assistance to the Naval Special Warfare community and their families.

“With this principled mission in mind, the Foundation will not be accepting any donations that are generated from the book or any related activities,” the group said in a statement on its website…

The book has shot to the top of bestseller lists amid an avalanche of publicity, but Owen’s decision to publish his first-hand account has angered many fellow SEALs, including the commander of the elite units, who say he has betrayed the ethos of the special operators to be “quiet professionals”.

The Pentagon has accused the author of revealing classified information and violating non-disclosure agreements he signed while in uniform, which it says require him to submit any manuscript to the defence officials before publication.

NDA’s are something often regarded lightly by my fellow geeks. And perhaps in the world of tech that is so.

I say with equal consideration that is not the case in the life of those military women and men charged with defending their nation.

Any regular visitor here knows well of my feelings about the misuse of military power by our country and others, over time, over history — and today. I joke a bit about being a citizen of Earth more than I am of any political entity. But, I have always respected the charge of non-disclosure sacred to the lives of those brave or foolhardy enough – or sufficiently dedicated – to commit to a military life. I extend that to those I have known and lived alongside in military service – even in wars I have opposed.

US navy shoots up a “threatening” fishing boat off UAE coast

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USNS Rappahannock

An Indian fisherman was killed and three people were wounded when a US navy ship fired at their boat off Dubai in the southern Gulf, a United Arab Emirates official said.

“The firing has led to the death of one Indian national and serious injury of three Indian nationals,” Tarek al-Hedan…told the official WAM news agency…

Lieutenant Greg Raelson, a spokesman for the US navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, said that sailors aboard the USNS Rappahannock opened fire on the boat after it ignored warnings…”US ships have an inherent right to self defence against potential threats…

The Rappahannock – with a crew of 81 civilians and three military officers – was headed into the UAE port of Jebel Ali when the small motor boat came within 8km of it, the navy said.

Dozens of police and other Emirati officials crowded around the boat after it docked following the incident at a small Dubai port used by fishermen and sailors. The boat was removed from the port shortly afterward.

Rescue workers were seen carrying one person in a body bag off the white-hulled boat and placing it in an ambulance as fishermen looked on…

Gangsters always think someone’s out to get them. Shoot first and ask questions later is an honored dicho in American history. Even when it leads to dead civilians.

Take a look at this map and decide for yourself which nations look like the aggressors in the region. The various icons denote US military bases – and those belonging to their most loyal flunkies.

British nukes were protected by bike locks — WTF?

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Newsnight has discovered that until the early days of the Blair government the RAF’s nuclear bombs were armed by turning a bicycle lock key. There was no other security on the Bomb itself.

While American and Russian weapons were protected by tamper-proof combination locks which could only be released if the correct code was transmitted, Britain relied on a simpler technology.

Simple being the operative word. Simpleminded.

Permissive Action Links — PALs were introduced in the 1960s in America to prevent a mad General or pilot launching a nuclear war off their own bat – the Dr Strangelove scenario…The correct code had to be transmitted by the US Chiefs of Staff and dialled into the Bomb before it could be armed otherwise it would not detonate…

Papers at the National Archive show that as early as 1966 an attempt was made to impose PAL security on British nuclear weapons…The Royal Navy argued that officers of the Royal Navy as the Senior Service could be trusted…

Neither the Navy nor the RAF installed PAL protection on their nuclear weapons…

To arm the weapons you just open a panel held by two captive screws – like a battery cover on a radio – using a thumbnail or a coin.

Inside are the arming switch and a series of dials which you can turn with an Allen key to select high yield or low yield, air burst or groundburst and other parameters.

The Bomb is actually armed by inserting a bicycle lock key into the arming switch and turning it through 90 degrees. There is no code which needs to be entered or dual key system to prevent a rogue individual from arming the Bomb.

I honestly think the sort of class society outlook demonstrated by phrases like “the Senior Service could be trusted” infected the whole of British society. Maybe it still does. Tory electioneering seems to have learned a bit from Clinton and Bush – how to tell more believable lies. But, when I read Conservative position statements about gutting the NHS or education – it feels as if nothing has changed.

I left the last English company I worked for because – as I stated in my letter of resignation – they had learned nothing of the level of quality control brought to the world marketplace by the Japanese and Germans. Tightening fittings by hand and relying on how it felt – versus proper measuring instruments – was still the norm in the early 80’s.

Bicycle locks were OK for bicycles. Not nuclear weapons.

Thanks, Honeyman

U.S. Commandos take 2 hostages away from Somali pirates

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American commandos raced into Somalia early Wednesday and rescued two aid workers, an American woman and a Danish man, after a shootout with Somali pirates who had been holding them captive for months.

The American forces — drawn from the same Navy commando unit that killed Osama bin Laden — swooped in and killed nine pirates before spiriting away the hostages, who were not harmed…

It appeared that President Obama was fully aware of the raid as he was about to give his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, which would have been early Wednesday in Somalia…

In a statement on Wednesday, the president said he authorized the operation on Monday, and he mentioned the American hostage, Jessica Buchanan, by name. “Thanks to the extraordinary courage and capabilities of our Special Operations forces, yesterday Jessica Buchanan was rescued and she is on her way home. As commander in chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts…”

American officials said Wednesday that the assault team for the hostage-rescue mission drew from the Navy commando unit commonly referred to as Seal Team Six, the Navy’s top-tier counterterrorism organization, which carried out the deadly raid on Bin Laden inside Pakistan. But officials stressed that the rescue mission included personnel from the other armed services as well, and that the commandos themselves were not necessarily the same people who conducted the Bin Laden raid.

Somalia is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world, plagued by pirate gangs and countless militant groups, a lawless nation that has languished for 21 years without a functioning government. Several Westerners have recently been kidnapped, typically for ransom, and it seems that as Somalia’s pirates have a harder time hijacking ships on the high seas because of the beefed up naval efforts, they are increasingly turning to snatching foreigners on land…

Somalia is also considered a no-go zone for conventional American military operations, but it has been the site of several special operations raids, usually to kill wanted terrorism suspects. American forces stage the raids from a constellation of bases ringing Somalia, in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya.

According to local leaders in Galkayo, dark helicopters began circling over the area late Tuesday night. Sometime around 3 a.m., the American commandos landed near a small village called Hiimo Gaabo, south of Galkayo and a firefight erupted.

The commandos freed the hostages, and the helicopters took off. By dawn, after morning prayers, the bodies of the nine pirates killed in the raid were brought back to Hiimo Gaabo…

Bravo! Pirates, gangsters, the lawless need to be treated as outside the law. Bring ’em in for trial if you can. But, around Somalia, hardly anyone cares to waste the time on trials except as miniature agitprop shows illuminating what passes for democracy in the region.

Need battlefield supplies delivered by robot helicopter? There’s an app for that – or will be, soon

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K-Max prototype

We may be closer to the day when United States Marines will, within a matter of minutes, use a handheld app to summon robotic helicopters to deliver battlefield supplies. On Tuesday, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced its five-year, US$98 million Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) program, with the specific aim of developing “sensors and control technologies for robotic vertical take-off and landing aircraft.”

ONR’s chief of naval research, Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, describes AACUS as a “leap-ahead technology” which eliminates the need for a skilled operator while maintaining “the central and critical role of the human operator as the supervisor.” If it comes to fruition, AACUS would constitute an evolutionary step beyond the unmanned, remote control variant of the K-MAX helicopter, which flew its first unmanned combat missions in December.

Though sometimes described as semi-autonomous, the unmanned K-MAX requires a skilled operator within light-of-sight to be able to delivery its payload (so it’s not autonomous at all). AACUS, by contrast, would be a robot in the truest sense, taking off, planning, and navigating a flight path “with little to no input from an operator.”

“It’s going to be designed to work with people who have no flight experience,” said AACUS program officer Dr. Mary Cummings. “An operator will pick up his iPad or Android and make an emergency supply request. He’ll request that the helicopter come to him and land as close to him as possible.”

As I noted at the Gizmag site, an equally important use would be battlefield extraction of troops cut-off from any possibility of retreat on foot.