Well, according to the most recent article about the ridiculous "America's Navy: A Global Force for Good" slogan, the answer has become readily apparent:

STOP POLLING THE FLEET.

Between the new uniforms and the new slogan, it's obvious that the Navy is suffering from a severe lack of common sense and good taste. The new uniforms: horrendous. The defense: we polled the Fleet and the majority of the people liked them. The new slogan: an abomination. The defense: look around - the Fleet liked it.

Let me reword this for those sailors who were born after 1988:

OMG - WTF's up w/ the new threads?
LOL...I don't know. And the new slogan!!?!?!
ROFL. AFAIK a bunch of idiots come up with it.
FFS,,,

PLEASE, STOP POLLING THE FLEET.

NAVAL AIR STATION JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Navy’s top enlisted man — after spending his first year traveling tens of thousands of miles and taking the pulse of the fleet — is forging his to-do list for 2010. That includes speeding up the regional rollout of the new Navy Working Uniform, making warfare qualifications mandatory for every sailor and reasserting disciplinary power for chiefs through a new instruction.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS/SW) Rick West has also taken on the Navy secretary’s call to eliminate sexual assault and harassment in the ranks, saying it’s up to the chiefs’ mess to make it happen.

But equally important, West is taking other items off his plate — choosing to postpone plans to rework evaluations for petty officers and junior sailors, and quashing a plan to rework the disciplinary system in the fleet.

“We’ll kind of hold it out and if it comes to it in the future, we’ll dust it off and take a look at it again,” he said of the evals. “But it’s not something I want to be looking at or focusing on in the near future. We’ve got bigger issues to deal with, ones that affect our sailors more.”

West spoke with Navy Times on Nov. 5 while meeting with his leadership mess — fleet and force master chiefs — in Jacksonville.

Blue cammie rollout
The region-by-region rollout of the new Navy Working Uniform will be accelerated, West said, making it available to all in the fleet by March at the latest, instead of October, which was the original plan. A Navy announcement with details is expected soon, he said.

Officials still want everyone in the Navy to own four sets of the cammies by Dec. 31, 2010.

“We’re real happy that we can now do this,” West said. “We first started pushing on this when we heard from a command master chief in the Pacific Northwest that their exchange was ready to go, ahead of their originally scheduled date. If we can do this, why not?”

He said the fleet is in a “good spot” right now with uniforms and wants to concentrate on getting them into all sailors’ hands.

But one thing he’s not in favor of is wearing ball caps with the NWU — even inside the ship or when sailors are at sea.

“I just don’t think it looks good at all, it really doesn’t,” he said. “If sailors want to wear their ball caps, they can still wear them with coveralls onboard the ship — that’s where it belongs now.”

While sailors are barred from wearing command ball caps with the NWU on or off base, commanding officers can allow sailors to wear them while aboard ship.

Warfare qualifications
One of the most pressing items the leadership mess dealt with in Jacksonville was the pending overhaul of warfare qualifications — something West plans to get done sooner rather than later.

One development: Top enlisted leaders want all sailors to get their quals no more than 30 months after reporting to their warfare command.

“I want this to be a requirement for everyone — a part of every sailor’s career — when they walk onboard that ship, you hand them the qual card as part of their training,” he said. “We made up our mind, now the fleets need to get down there and execute.”

Currently, most communities require E-5s and above to qualify within two years, though for the submarine force and communities like divers, explosive ordnance disposal and SEALs, it’s part of their training pipeline and happens within the first year of service.

West said each kind of commander will have to decide his own timeframe — as long as it happens within 30 months.

He said he has heard the arguments that making quals mandatory will lessen the effectiveness of the programs as commands try to push sailors through in time.

“I know there are those out there who say by doing this, we’re watering it down,” he said. “Well, to those chiefs I can say it’s up to them not to allow that to happen at their command. Personally, I have faith in the chiefs’ mess and in the E-6s to get this done for our junior sailors.”

West said he has also heard the sailors out there wanting to return to awarding advancement points for warfare pins. He’s not buying it.

“It’s not about having something that looks good on your uniform or getting advancement points, it’s about being an effective warfighter,” West said. “When I look at a sailor with a warfare qualification, I know they’ve met the basic knowledge requirements to save their ship, their shipmates and themselves in a time of peril.”

Sexual assault and harassment
West supports the Navy’s recent tough stance on sexual assault in the ranks. But he also said that to have an impact, chiefs must carry the ball to the deck plates.

“We’re going to attack this full force and from all angles — but it starts with the fleet and force master chiefs; they need to be leading the effort and making sure we’re reaching down to the deck plates to those E-1s and E-2s.”

Education and training are a big part of that, he said. “We needed to review the training piece on this, and now we are,” West said. “They are looking at what we have available to us now with an eye on determining if it is still effective to today’s sailor.”

But he’s not waiting around, either, and plans his own social media blitz on the subject.

“I’m going to be talking about this in any venue that I can,” he said. “I’m going to talk about it on Facebook and Twitter on a regular basis — I’m going to talk about it at all-hands calls. We’re not going to tolerate this in our Navy. It’s just something we can’t do.”

Discipline power for chiefs
After nearly two years of experimenting and development, West and his mess also have decided not to create a new “standards and conduct board” that was to have become the first line of Navy discipline.

“It was a highly successful pilot program, and the commands participating loved the process,” West said. “But in the end, we realized that it was better to use what we’d learned to strengthen existing programs instead of putting new ones out there.”

As a result, he said, Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Mark Ferguson has directed that the current instruction governing disciplinary review boards gets a rewrite.

West wants the chiefs’ mess to assume a greater role in the disciplinary review process by having them screen every potential captain’s mast case and have the authority to provide alternative or lighter punishments that will not go on a sailor’s permanent record — just as the standards and conduct boards did in the pilot program.

“We will take the instruction already in place, put some structure to it,” West said. “It’s never been something chiefs didn’t have or that was taken away; it’s just people don’t use it or have gotten away from using it in recent years.”

Career development boards
West routinely asks sailors whether they have had a career development board — meant to guide them as they make decisions — and he is not pleased with what he has heard. “I think it’s slowly catching on, but it’s not fast enough for me,” West said.

He said he often gets e-mails from the fleet complaining that the best sailors aren’t getting approved to re-enlist through the Perform to Serve program. Having a command-level CDB would have helped in those cases.

“But career development boards are much more than just PTS. It’s planning what’s next for that sailor,” West said. “Career development boards have never been more important to our sailors. I still see commands that are not doing this as aggressively as they should.”


Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20...mcpon_111609w/

HONOLULU — The Navy said Monday that it had finished reattaching coral severed when one of its warships ran aground off Oahu in February.

The Navy spent more than $7 million to restore the reef and repair some of the environmental damage inflicted by the grounding of the 9,600-ton guided missile cruiser Port Royal. High surf forced the Navy to suspend those efforts in the summer.

The U.S. Pacific Fleet said environmental experts have concluded that resuming coral reattachment efforts now would do more harm than good.

The service said about 96 percent of reattached coral colonies it surveyed were still alive in August and September. The 4 percent loss is within the expected mortality rate for coral.

“The results of the recent assessments are very encouraging,” Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, the Pacific Fleet’s deputy commander, said in a statement. “This, combined with Mother Nature’s work during the summer months, has convinced the experts and us in the Navy that the best course is to let the environmentally impacted area continue to take care of itself.”

The $1 billion vessel left a gash through the reef covering about 1,600 square yards. The full area of the damage has been estimated between 5,500 to 8,700 square yards.

State officials said the reef’s coral was hundreds of years old and provided shelter and feeding grounds for numerous species.

The Port Royal is currently undergoing sea trials to prepare the ship for return to full operational capability. It spent months in dry dock at Pearl Harbor undergoing about $40 million in repairs, including getting its sonar dome replaced and rudders reinstalled.

The state of Hawaii, meanwhile, plans to sue the Navy in Admiralty Court to recover the money it spent repairing the reef.

The Navy has declined to release a report on its investigation into the incident, citing pending litigation by the state. The Honolulu Advertiser has reported the probe found broken equipment, an inexperienced crew and human error.

The Pacific Fleet in June said Capt. John Carroll, who was the ship’s commander at the time of the grounding, was given nonjudicial punishment for “dereliction of duty and improper hazarding of a vessel.”

Carroll was relieved of his command after the grounding.

The Port Royal is one of the Navy’s most advanced warships. It’s capable of tracking ballistic missiles and of firing interceptors into space to shoot them down.


Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20...l_reef_111609/

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The wreckage of a naval training plane has been found nearly three weeks after it was first reported missing.

Navy spokesman Lt. Brett Dawson says officials won’t be able to determine if the body of 29-year-old Houston native Lt. John Joseph Houston was on the aircraft until diving conditions improve. Officials weren’t able to raise the wreckage from 40 feet of water off the Texas coast due to the conditions.

The T-34C training plane was found Sunday about 1.5 miles off the coast of Matagorda Island.

The plane went missing Oct. 28 during a routine training mission.

The body of 30-year-old pilot Lt. Bret Travis Miller was found Oct. 30, about 11 miles north of Port Aransas.

A call by The Associated Press Monday night to the Navy wasn’t immediately returned.

Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20..._found_111609/

i am looking for a place to buy items that show my pride in being retired navy ( ams, non-chief)
i can't seem to find any place that has a good selection. prior service doesn't even have anything.
i got a sgt grit catalog (i was doing some art work for a marine once) and couldn't believe the amount of items offered. i was jealous.
any ideas, other retired navy folks?

Was not the "BIG" moving period going to be after OCT 1st when the new money for PCS's came in?

How is it they are so behind? How many people are going to be waiting now that they are in the after OCT time? You would think they could keep up from a few months ago when moves were down

God knows when our little dudes who need it will get paid.

For me its over 8 weeks even though I have the return reciept from USPS saying they had it over a week earlier.... I "love" paying interest on a card I just used to move thinking I would be ok...

Its nice how in other parts of the website they say average 4-6 weeks to get a claim done....





https://pptas.ahf.nmci.navy.mil/pptcs/


The approximate processing time for a Personally Procured Move is 8 weeks.
We are currently processing claims received on August 23 thru August 25.
Please allow an additional 5 business days before contacting us for status of claims currently being processed. If audit results in payment due to member, checks are typically received within 14 business days of completion date.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Maritime Administration is hoping to pull a 700-foot oil tanker back to its dock after the ship broke free of its moorings and ended up a half-mile downstream.

Officials say the Monongahela ran aground on a sand bank on the western side of the James River on Friday.

Heavy storms are likely to blame.

The 37,000-ton Navy fleet oiler is part of the James River Reserve Fleet, also known as the “Ghost Fleet.” Several dozen ships in the fleet are moored in the center of the river off Fort Eustis.

Many of the ships in the fleet have environmental hazards on board.

The Monongahela has a capacity of 150,000 barrels of oil but officials say there were no oil spills.

The plan was to use tugboats to pull the vessel out of the sand at the next high tide.


Article: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/1..._freed_111309/

The Navy Working Uniform will be sold in all Navy Exchanges worldwide by March 15, nearly seven months ahead of schedule, with some sailors able buy it as soon as Monday.

The accelerated rollout schedule was announced Thursday in NavAdmin 328/09.

“The sooner we get all our sailors wearing the NWU and on the same page, the better,” said Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (SS/SW) Rick West. “It’s a great uniform and it’s time the rest of the world started to see it as a symbol of our sea service.”

All stores in the Western and Northwest Navy Exchange regions — encompassing the western half of the continental United States — will stock the NWU on shelves in uniform stores starting Monday, instead of the Jan. 15 as previously announced.

Following closely behind will be Hawaii and the national capital region, where exchanges will be stocked by Nov. 30 — ahead of the previous July and April rollout dates.

Finally, sailors in Europe, Japan and Guam will see the uniforms in their exchanges March 15, instead of Oct. 15 as previously planned.

The message confirmed that the date all sailors must have the uniforms in their seabags will remain Dec. 31, 2010.


Article: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/1...llout_111209w/

Discuss and view certain current issues from an EOA point of view.

I need any information regarding a fire that occurred onboard. I am not sure when it occurred maybe june july of 1984. The USS Glover was pulling out of Beiruit and was pulled back to Skaramanga Greece. If anyone has any details or the date please let me know.

What has happened to our services, their leadership, and the honor proclaimed?

Nowak has pleaded guilty to criminal behavior, now its time for the Navy to use UCMJ to dihonerably discharge her from service....or has the NAVY NO BACKBONE? Instead they will more than likely let her retire at her cushy 06 severance. The leadership is ashamed to bring another hearing forward that will further emphasize their lack of moral character.

She is a criminal who has brought dishonor to the officer corps, she lacks all the attrubutes held so high by the service. What is wrong with this picture, if she were enlisted she would have been in Leavenworth already and dishonably discharged there after. :mad:

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/1...hiefs_110809w/
Question for those who read the article regarding the Master Chief from the 3rd Marine Air Wing. Is he responsible for his Sailors not being selected for advancement? And did the Command do enough to make things right for the command as a whole?

Could someone please tell me this. I have been asking and asking up and down my chain of command now since January why can't the DC area wear the Naval Working Uniform. I have never gotten a response that truly explains it. The Army, Airforce, Marines, and the Coast Guard all wear their working uniform equivelent in the DC Area. Now i have been told, "Well we aren't the Army." No kidding, this i am being told by someone who has been in the navy all of about 2 years. I have been in the Navy for over 13 years now seen uniform changes before. Ship regulations change with a new CO, which i totally understand and i have always followed and i have never questioned anything really in the navy until now. You can go down to Norfolk, out to San Diego, down to Jax and see people in this uniform. You can also go to any of the medical clinics here in DC and see people in the NWU. But normal working uniform of the day for the everyday sailor, "OH NO!" Why??? I know the regulation states, can be worn if your going to undoily soil your uniform. Well what does that mean? I can empty a trash can and unduley soil my uniform. So i can wear it right??? Nah, i can do a COMREL project in dc and wear it right??? Nope not gonna happen. So when can someone where this uniform in DC. I purchased it back in January so that i could teach my sailors going out to the fleet how to wear it. Then i was told get it out of the office becuas ei hate looking at it. So i did. But i still fight it. It floors me how people here in DC are so finiky about a uniform. The CNO and MCPON parade around the fleet in the uniform. But we can't wear it in DC. That boggles my mind. I have asked the reporters at Navy times to look into this, not heard anything back. I just want to wear the uniform. Moral at my command is low, why cause we have 3000 civilians and only about 300 military. Junior folks don't believe they are in the Navy. Thats not a leadership problem that is a DC problem. If you want a sailor to feel like a sailor not an office B%^*H let them wear the BDU uniform. it is comfortable and who wouldn't like to walk out to a Duty section or command muster and see 300 Brand new properly worn NWUs standing in formation. MCPON if you read this, i invite you to ask Sailors at the Pentagon and other DC area commands what they think. Don't ask the Chiefs Mess ask the sailors. If we can come up with the new slogan, "America’s Navy: A Global Force For Good" why not let us dress the part. The public won't know who we are for a little while but with word of mouth i am sure upstanding sailors will let them know, and be proud of the uniform. The Navy is one of the greatest organizations i have ever been apart of. I truly want to dress the part. Lift the ban on the NWU in the Naval District Washington Area. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Should NAVSEA be somewhere in this equation?

Hey everyone, this is Nick with Navy Diver Olympics. I just wanted to let everyone know we will be out in Coronado again Friday November 20th at McP’s this time. We are running with “The Toughest 10 minutes in Coronado.” for the theme. Registration starts at 6pm and the event begins around 8. Danny’s was great but there is a little more room in the parking lot of McP’s.

Entrance is free and is open to anyone past or present that has served under the Department of the Navy. We will be sending invites to several San Diego area commands in the next couple of days. There were also a couple fleet guys last year that competed and did well. Solid guys.

We have free t-shirts, hats, cups and DVD of last year’s event for sign ups. The primary sponsors this year will be SOG Knives and ESS Eye Wear. Top 12 will get prizes. Top 3 split $1,000 just like last year. I will even throw in an extra $100 for anyone who can break one of last year’s records. The guys that did come out set the benchmarks pretty high though. The records are easily verified on the DVD.

Scoring will be based on a composite of 5 events this year in the following order: pull-ups, push-ups, 4 count lunges, 8 count body builders and 1 navy diver trivia question. The questions are also posted on the site to study from. Not sure who brought “The Official” bar but that was really cool. If anyone knows the whereabouts of the bar or one similar that would be greatly appreciated. Contact us or Jessica at McP's

There will also be a fund raiser For Lt. Dan Cnossen. Dan competed in last year's event and is a current record holder in our competition. We will have a poster signing and fundraiser for Dan. This will be a raffle for prizes. The cash collected will be sent to Dan and his family.

You can pre-register online. The address is www.navydiverolympics.com. If you are in the area feel free to come out and watch or compete. Any questions or comments can be posted here.

Tugs towed the amphibious assault ship formerly known as the Saipan out of its mothball berth in Philadelphia on Wednesday, beginning the ship’s final trip to sea — one that will end at the scrap yard.

The Saipan is scheduled to arrive mid-November in Brownsville, Texas, where workers at International Shipbreaking Ltd. will begin cutting the 28,000-ton ship apart.

The Saipan was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry in 2007 — which technically means it’s the “ex-Saipan” — after almost 30 years in service. It’s the first of the Tarawa-class big-deck gators to be scrapped. The Tarawa was decommissioned and the Belleau Wood was sunk as a target; two others, the Peleliu and Nassau, are still in service.

The Saipan will be the largest ship that International Shipbreaking has ever scrapped, said Jason Classcock, the company’s environmental and safety project manager. As they tear apart the ship, workers will remove asbestos and other harmful materials, and also will return some items to the Navy, he said, including the ship’s screws.

The Navy paid 2 cents for the ship-breaker to tow the Saipan away and scrap it, “which represents the net cost to the government,” said Monica McCoy, a spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command. International Shipbreaking is then entitled to whatever it makes from re-selling the scrap.


Article: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/1...pping_102809w/

The Blue Angels’ C-130T Hercules, affectionately known as Fat Albert, has performed its fiery jet-assisted takeoff at countless air shows since 1975, but the tradition will end Nov. 14 in Pensacola, Fla., when the team closes its 2009 season.

A Navy aircraft, Fat Albert has been manned by an all-Marine crew since it joined the legendary flight demonstration team in 1970. Its primary mission is to carry the Angels’ 40-plus maintenance and support personnel, as well as the gear, spare parts and communications equipment necessary to pull off successful air shows. That will not change.

But Fat Albert’s jet-assisted takeoff — or JATO — has been a popular part of the Angels’ act for the past 34 years, wowing crowds at the outset of most shows with flames and smoke shooting out from beneath its wings as the lumbering aircraft lifts off the runway and lets out a deafening roar.

Its final JATO performance at Naval Air Station Pensacola, which all past Fat Albert aircrew members were invited to attend, will mark the end of an era.

“Everyone in the Fat Albert shop is really sad,” said Maj. Drew Hess, the Blue Angels’ senior C-130 pilot. “It is a significant chapter [in the team’s history] that unfortunately is being closed.”

To execute a JATO, Fat Albert uses eight solid-fuel rocket bottles, which supply enough momentum for the aircraft to leave the runway after traveling just 1,500 feet. Climbing at a 45-degree angle, it can reach 1,000 feet in just 15 seconds.

The fuel bottles, which weigh about 150 pounds when full, were designed to thrust C-130s skyward in austere conditions where traditional runways are unavailable, said 1st Lt. Craig Thomas, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon. But the Corps hasn’t used JATO in combat since the Vietnam War, he said, and it’s unlikely to do so again, as newer KC-130Js have engines built to exert the same thrust as C-130Ts outfitted with rocket bottles.

The Blue Angels visit about 35 cities during a nine-month schedule, performing two shows per city, but a dwindling supply of rocket bottles — and a budget that doesn’t allow for replacements — has forced the team to limit its JATO demonstrations to about 20 a year. This year it will perform 13, Hess said.

In 1975, Fat Albert opened air shows with just a single JATO, but over the years more maneuvers, including multiple flybys, were added to its repertoire. So even though this crowd favorite is going away, Hess said the team will have plenty in store for air show goers next season, although he declined to divulge any specifics.

“We are working on some replacements for JATO, but nothing has been finalized yet,” Hess said. “I’m extremely confident that, just like any other Marine Corps unit, we can come up with a suitable alternative that people will enjoy.”

Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20..._jato_102909w/


Chief Mass Communication Specialist Steve Johnson/Navy
Fat Albert, the Blue Angel’s C-130, performs a jet-assisted takeoff
Aug. 8 at the California International Airshow in Salinas, Calif.
Fat Albert will make its last JATO on Nov. 14 in Pensacola, Fla.,
as the military runs low on the Vietnam-era rocket bottles used
to propel the aircraft skyward within about 1,500 feet of runway.

Two naval aviators are missing after a T-34 Mentor training aircraft disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday afternoon, a Navy official said.

The Coast Guard is leading a search and rescue effort along the Texas coast. The plane was last reported near Port Aransas, about 75 miles north of Corpus Christi, said. Lt. j.g. Brett Dawson, a spokesman for Chief of Naval Air Training, based at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.

The single-engine turboprop plane was on a routine training mission when it lost touch with air traffic controllers about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dawson said.

A spokesman for the Coast Guard could not immediately be reached for comment.

T-34s are used by all student aviators during their initial phase of instruction. The two-seater planes typically carry a student aviator and an instructor.

All aviators wear a parachute and a vest with survival gear, which includes a radio, a flotation device, flares and mirrors, Dawson said.

The T-34 does not have an ejection seat. In emergencies, aviators can manually release the canopy and jump out of the cockpit, Dawson said.

Naval Air Training experienced a spike in mishaps in 2007 and 2008. Five training planes crashed during the nine-month period between September 2007 and May 2008, Navy records show. Nobody was injured in the five mishaps. All five of those aircraft were T-45 trainers, which are used to train students to fly jets.

Two of those crashes were caused by birds. Corpus Christ and the Texas gulf coast, where the Navy conducts many student training flights, sits along a heavily populated migration route for birds flying from the northern U.S. and Canada down to Mexico.

As a result of the bird strikes in 2007 and 2008, officials with Naval Air Training Command installed a land-based radar system designed to tell pilots about any birds in the landing strip area.


Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/20...ators_102909w/

Ok Im wondering how many Sailors agree with me that uniform regs should be modified to some extent on the Tattoo Policy. Throughout history tatoos have been a tradition in the Navy and it seams as years go by That the policy is getting more and more stringent. In my opinion, my tattoos do not affect my performance in my job or on the field during PT yes I agree distasteful tattoos are a problem, but the Navy is regulating size? Last time I checked this is my body and I can get from the top of my thighs to my neck to the the end of my sleeve line tattooed with whatever I want as long as it is in good taste and cannot be seen while in uniform. But honestly who are we to argue tradition. Google Navy tattoos , you will see as far back as the Navy goes tattooes are their and they go below the sleeve line on legs whole chests backs. Blah blah blah. I guess the point im trying to make is who is the Navy to tell me what I can and canjnot do when it comes to my body as long as it does not affect my job or professional apperance?

IG: Mid-Atlantic bases need more security staff


By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Oct 25, 2009 21:15:57 EDT

Installations at Navy Region Mid-Atlantic are facing a “severe” shortage of security personnel to guard bases, according to a report by the Naval Inspector General.
That’s leading to a lot of wrangling over bases’ use of the Auxiliary Security Forces, which are made up of sailors from operational commands tapped to assist with base security at times of heightened security concerns.
Ostensibly designed to help out in emergencies, installations have begun requiring full-time activation of the auxiliary forces to help fill manning shortfalls for day-to-day security operations, the IG said.
Shore commanders say they’re already suffering manning shortages for other reasons, such as reduced unit sizes and wartime deployments, and having to turn over full-time sailors for security duty is making matters worse.
“This ‘tax’ burdens nondeployable tenant commands and affects their operational readiness,” the IG said. “Tenant commands typically are not manned to support shore security, as this is not their core mission.”
At one base in Hampton Roads, Va., sailors from tenant commands assigned to temporary duty with the Auxiliary Security Force made up about 43 percent of the security department, the IG said.
Security manning was one of several manning issues the IG examined during a spring visit to bases in the Hampton Roads area. The site visit report, completed in April, was obtained by Navy Times under the Freedom of Information Act.
Navy Installations Command officials told the IG that the command is doing the best it can with the money and resources it has.
The command has sought to hire private contractors to help with security, but in fiscal year 2009, the funding was “reduced to 65 percent of the requirement,” the IG said.
Security departments told the IG they have been hit hard by overseas deployments, as masters-at-arms are in high demand, according to the report. And policies prohibit pregnant women, who are often removed from ships and assigned to shore installations, from doing jobs requiring guns, the IG said.
Installations Command officials say they have a new method of estimating manning requirements for individual installations. But tenant commands are not likely to see their requirements end completely.
“There will always be a requirement for tenant commands to supplement the security force to permit the full manning of requirements in increased force protection conditions,” the command told Navy Times in a written statement.
The IG recommended that the chief of naval operations renew efforts to give Installations Command enough people to meet its security requirements. In turn, the command should “eliminate the use of the [auxiliary forces] for routine security operations,” the IG said.
“Requiring operational tenant commands to cover installation security ... transfers the cost and masks the impacts of security manning constraints. [Installations Command] is responsible to provide resources to support shore installation security. Transferring those costs and impacts to tenant commands and the war-fighters will not correct manning shortfalls,” according to the IG report.
In a separate investigation last year, the Naval Audit Service found problems with the anti-terrorism efforts at many bases. Auditors visited 22 of the 66 Navy installations in the continental U.S. and found only one had fully complied with post-Sept. 11 Navy directives to develop an anti-terrorism plan.

Anyone know if a retired USAF (E-7) could live in Great Lakes housing, or similar? What would prices be like?

A New York congressman wants the Navy to name its next destroyer after a chaplain from his district who was awarded the Medal of Honor after being killed in action in Vietnam.

Rep. Michael McMahon, a Democrat, sent a letter Thursday to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus asking that the Navy’s next destroyer be named for Lt. Vincent Capodanno, who was serving with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines in 1967 when his unit came under attack by the North Vietnamese. Under heavy fire, the “grunt padre” gave last rites to wounded and dying Marines and was killed trying to help a wounded corpsman.

The Navy already named one warship for Capodanno — a Knox-class frigate that served from 1973 to 1993, then was sold to Turkey in 2002. McMahon said that ship’s service adds another reason for the Navy to use Capodanno’s name again.

“Due to the decorated history of both the USS Capodanno, which saved approximately 22 lives in her first deployment and was the only Navy vessel to be blessed by the pope, and her namesake, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for refusing to stop comforting the wounded and dying in spite of several injuries during an attack by the North Vietnamese, it is only appropriate to name a new vessel after this brave man,” McMahon said in a written statement.

The Navy plans at least four more destroyers for which it has no names: The third Zumwalt-class ship, DDG 1002, and three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, DDGs 113 to 115. There are other planned ships that aren’t yet named, but traditionally only destroyers are named for naval heroes.


Hall of Valor: http://militarytimes.com/citations-m...cipientid=3070