This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Navy

  • Russian fighter flies dangerously close to US airplane

    ep-3 ariesOn Nov. 5, 2018, a U.S. EP-3 Aries aircraft flying in international airspace over the Black Sea was intercepted by a Russian SU-27.

    Navy Times Link

    Russians, who consider the Black Sea as their personal pond, are returning to Cold War Era confrontations. This time they proved a 50 year old turboprop powered aircraft is no match for a 4th Gen fighter.

    A Russian fighter jet flew dangerously close to a U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane on Monday over the Black Sea, the latest incident showcasing simmering tensions in Eastern Europe between Moscow and Washington.

    A Navy EP-3E Aries II reconnaissance aircraft was flying in international airspace when it was intercepted by a Sukhoi Russian Su-27 “Flanker”fighter in an interaction that lasted about 25 minutes, according to a Navy release and interviews with senior officials.

    The Russian jet conducted “a high speed pass directly in front of the mission aircraft, putting at risk the pilots and crew,” according to the written statement from the 6th Fleet emailed to Navy Times.

    “They buzzed us,” added Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon during a Monday press briefing. “They got a little too close.”

    The Russian pilot then made an additional pass, zipping close to the U.S. plane’s right side before banking away and applying its afterburner, according to a video of the encounter released by the Navy.

    “They engaged the afterburners and the whole aircraft shook,” Pahon said.

    There’s an IR video in the article showcasing the too close pass and banking maneuver. Bad form, Ivan.

  • Rob Martinez – The “Who’s Don Shipley?” UDT Spec Warfare Commando

    Rob Martinez – The “Who’s Don Shipley?” UDT Spec Warfare Commando

    (Hi TAH Community, I’ve been around but this is my first of many posts. – EMP-TAH)

    The folks at Military Phony send us their work on Rob Eutimia Martinez.  She has been telling everyone that she served in the US Navy as Intel, Spec Ops, Spec Warfare, EOD, UDT, and a Navy Diver.  She was also wounded but can’t talk about it and can’t say where.

    Follow this link to hear some of her claims and her stating that she can’t talk about it.

    https://kdvr.com/2015/07/16/wounded-warriors-train-for-dragon-boat-festival-races-this-weekend/

    She was also wounded in an explosion but can’t say which country it occurred in.

    However, there is nothing like Twitter to get the tongue to loosen up. It’s sort of like having a few beers…

    Oddly enough, when people challenged her she did not know who Don Shipley was.

    The US Navy had a different take on Martinez’s career.

    I was starting to feel mediocre for not cramming more training, schools and special assignments into the years I was in the service.

    I guess not everybody can be special… forces, warfare, ops, etc.

     

  • A Presidential Proclamation

     

    USS Virginia BB13

    By Presidential Proclamation, November 2018 is Military Families and Veterans’ Month.

    https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/11/01/trump-extends-veterans-day-celebrations-through-all-of-november/

    President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Wednesday designating November 2018 as National Veterans and Military Families Month.

    “I encourage all communities, all sectors of society, and all Americans to acknowledge and honor the service, sacrifices, and contributions of veterans and military families for what they have done and for what they do every day to support our great Nation,” the president said in a press statement posted to the White House’s website.

    Trump issued the proclamation while also championing his commitment to the veterans community.

    “I was pleased to sign into law the landmark VA MISSION Act of 2018, which revolutionizes the way veterans receive healthcare and other services vital to their lives,” he said in the statement.

    For full coverage of Veterans Day and veterans’ affairs events this month, visit Military Times’ Veterans Month Salute page

    (N.B.: He did this last year, too, but it went unnoticed in the media. This year, it showed up. Maybe they’ve mellowed a little.)

     

     

  • Iceland’s bars ran out of beer trying to serve thirsty US sailors and Marines

    iceland

    Title pretty much sums it up. A large number of US Sailors and Marines went on liberty in Reykjavík, Iceland while taking part in NATO’s Trident Juncture exercise. Been there on P-3 Dets at Naval Air Station Keflavik, and found nearby Reykjavik to be quaint, but stupid expensive.
    Again I digress. Without further ado, the story.

    ReykjavíkThe city of Reykjavík, seen here from Hallgrímskirkja, was invaded by thirsty American sailors and Marines who nearly caused the city to run out of beer. (J.D. Simkins/Staff)

    Founding Father and principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, once quipped, “Beer, if drunk in moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit and promotes health.”

    The military never got that memo.

    A national crisis hit Iceland this week when a force of 7,000 American sailors and Marines who know nothing about the third president’s propensity for alcoholic self-restraint invaded the country’s capital city of Reykjavík, flexed an unquenchable thirst for frosty suds and swiftly drained much of the city’s beer supply.

    Upon arrival, sailors and Marines taking part in NATO’s Trident Juncture exercise wasted no time getting wasted, Iceland Magazine reported, with most making a beeline straight from the ship to the closest bar to locate, close with and destroy beers.

    Bar owners tried to accommodate the onslaught of American patrons, but “they were fighting an overwhelming force,” said local blogger, Eiríkur Jónsson.

    Give me your tired, your thirsty, your huddled masses yearning to drink beer.

    Wave after wave of dehydrated sailors and Marines strolled into town, filling local establishments for four days straight in search of that old, familiar embrace of sweet inebriation.

    One restaurant, Sæta Svínið — good luck pronouncing that — was one of the first to run out of beer. Bar owners tried borrowing from other businesses that were better stocked, but the Americans were too many.

    As other bars quickly began drying up, owners who said they had never experienced such an alcoholic assault put out a beer distress signal.

    One of Iceland’s local breweries, Ölgerð Egils Skallagrímssonar, answered the call and immediately began working overtime to distribute emergency beer shipments that could furnish the parched Americans with sustenance.

    Ölgerð Egils Skallagrímssonar — the king in the North.

    When the ships finally departed Reykjavík, the city with a population of about 120,000 in a country with just under 340,000 was finally able to breathe.

    Iceland had survived the assault, the Americans had drank their fill and there have yet to be any reports of overindulgent debauchery — a true success story.

    Not too shabby- the Brits from HMS Queen Elizabeth showed their collective ass on liberty in Jacksonville a while ago, and didn’t come near to drinking the place dry.

    TAH Post Link

    Not sure that’s a good thing…

    Anyway, the entire article may be viewed here at The Navy Times

  • The Navy sends a carrier back to Russia’s arctic haunts

    fa 18 vapesAn F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman Friday in the chilly Norwegian Sea. The carrier is the first of its ilk to enter the Arctic Circle in nearly 30 years. (U.S. Navy photo)

    Sending a message.

    Navy carrier aviation is back in the Arctic Circle for the first time in nearly 30 years, the latest sign that the Pentagon is looking to flex its muscles during an era of great power competition.

    The Harry S. Truman entered the Norwegian Sea on Friday, the first flattop to do so since September 1991, according to a U.S. 6th Fleet press release.

    The carrier and select escorts from its strike group are preparing to participate in a massive NATO exercise straddling late October and early November, but they arrived Friday in fast-thawing northern waters in the wake of warnings from the Navy’s top officer about rising Russian activities there.

    The Truman’s path on Friday was across what strategists call the “GIUK Gap,” waters around Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom considered vital if American warship must rush to Europe to aid allies.

    It’s also a key route for Russian submarines slipping into the North Atlantic.

    The Truman strike group will conduct air, surface and underwater exercises in the rough seas, freezing temperatures and relentless winds before joining 30 NATO allies for the massive Trident Juncture maneuvers.

    The exercise will take place in Norway and off the NATO ally’s shore, plus the Baltic Sea. It’s slated to involve 14,000 American troops alongside 36,000 personnel from friendly nations. More than 50 aircraft, 65 ships and 10,000 vehicles also will take part in the maneuvers, planners say.

    What was old is new again. Winters in Keflavik and Bodo are no joke, and survival in the event of a ditch is unlikely at best. World class ASW, though, and the boys and girls flying up there have new aircraft and new tricks that I would dearly loved to have had back when I wore a flight suit. This exercise also debunks the left’s trope about Trump being in Vlad’s hip pocket- an aircraft carrier and escorts just over the horizon sends an unmistakable message.

    The entire article may be viewed at The Navy Times

    aircraft carrier4.5 Acres of Sovereign US Territory

  • Fat Leonard Strikes Again

    Troy AmundsonThen-Cmdr. Troy Amundson, right, speaks with members of the Philippine navy before a closing ceremony for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training aboard the guided-missile destroyer Halsey in 2010. (Navy)

    Ex-Navy commander pleads guilty in ‘Fat Leonard’ bribery case

    A former U.S. Navy commander has pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy in the latest fallout from a corruption case that spanned a decade and involved dozens of Navy officials.
    By: The Associated Press

    SAN DIEGO — A former Navy commander has been sentenced to more than two years in prison after pleading guilty to accepting lavish dinners, drinks and the services of prostitutes in exchange for providing ship schedules to a Malaysian defense contractor at the center of one of the military’s worst corruption scandals.

    A federal judge in San Diego on Friday also ordered Troy Amundson, 51, of Ramsey, Minnesota, to pay a $10,000 fine.

    His lawyers argued that Amundson was not aware the ship schedules were classified, though their client acknowledged that from 2012 to 2013, he took the bribes from Leonard Glenn Francis, nicknamed “Fat Leonard.”

    Authorities say Francis’ company used the information to beat competitors and inflate bills sent to the Navy for services in Asian ports.

    Twenty-one people have pleaded guilty so far.

    Not aware? Every boot at Great Mistakes knows a ship’s movement is classified. It’s drilled in day one, and enthusiastically emphasized throughout boot training. This excuse is ludicrous, and the lawyers should have been laughed out of the courtroom.

    The article may be found here at The Navy Times

  • Navy Carrier Sailors to Get More Rest Under New Policy

    carrier tugSailors aboard the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush watch as a tugboat approaches the fantail to assist in a return to homeport earlier this year. (Navy)

    Sailors assigned to aircraft carriers will now get mandated amounts of rest time each day thanks to a policy change by Naval Air Forces.

    Recent reforms to the NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual mean that non-aviation personnel will be guaranteed eight hours of uninterrupted sleep daily.

    They also will no longer be regularly scheduled for more than 18 hours of continuous duty, according to the command.

    If a mission or job requires such a long stint, sailors will be afforded at least 15 hours of off time before resuming their duties.

    While sleep regulations already exist for the aviation crews, the new policy reflects fears about fatigue dogging the surface force. Concerns about the lack of rest for those sailors were highlighted by official probes in the wake of the deadly collisions last year involving the guided-missile destroyers Fitzgerald and John S. McCain.

    Military investigators noted that crew fatigue hikes the risk of accidents.

    Thank you Captain Obvious. Naval Aircrew have had similar crew rest requirements for exactly that reason, for a very long time. It’s long overdue for embarked ship’s company as well. The entire article may be viewed at The Navy Times

  • Happy Birthday Navy!

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