News of the Force: Thursday, March 9, 2017 - Page 2

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News of the Force: Thursday, March 9, 2017 - Page 2

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U.S. Navy and Marine Corps

    

    The 2017 Defense Appropriations bill passed yesterday by the U.S. House of Representatives includes approval of 14 new F/A-18 Super Hornet jets built by Boeing workers in St. Louis, Mo. St. Louis-area members of Congress praised the action, but it has a long way to go to become reality. The Senate has yet to act on a 2017 defense appropriations bill. The Navy said recently that about two-thirds of its current Super Hornets were in need of repair and not flyable, and it has put 14 new jets on its "unfunded priorities" list. U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner (R), called the additional jets "critical to our national security while also protecting vital jobs in St. Louis and across Missouri."

    About 300 U.S. Marines have arrived in northern Syria with their artillery to support the U.S.-backed local forces fighting there.

    Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gary L. Thomas, deputy commandant for Programs and Resources, U.S. Marine Corps, will provide testimony on the effect of sequestration and continuing resolutions on Marine Corps modernizing and readiness at 9 a.m., EST, tomorrow, to the House Armed Services Sub-committee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, in Room 2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

    The U.S. Marine Corps has adjusted the number of F/A-18 Hornet squadrons on rotating deployments to Japan with the arrival of its new F-35s.

    The U.S. Africa Command's leader told the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the command employs partner-building efforts and small, targeted investments to enhance security on the African continent. U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser described the regional and continental challenges his command faces. "Africa is an enduring interest for the United States. Small, but wise, investments in the capability, legitimacy and accountability of African defense institutions offer disproportionate benefits to America, our allies and, most importantly, enable African solutions to African problems," he said. "Parts of Africa remain a battleground between ideologies, interests and values," Waldhauser said. "Equality, prosperity and peace are often pitted against extremism, oppression and conflict." Trans-regional violent extremist organizations on the continent constitute the most direct security threat to the United States, the general said. To address those threats, he said, Africom’s military strategy articulates a long-term, regionally focused approach for a safe and stable Africa. Specifically, the strategy outlines an Africa in which regional organizations and states are willing and capable partners. Africom’s strategy, he said, builds partners’ abilities to direct, manage and operate capable and sustainable defense institutions. "While we have achieved progress in implementing our strategy, threats and challenges still remain," Waldhauser acknowledged. In East Africa, we support African Union and European Union efforts to neutralize al-Shabab and other violent extremist organizations operating in Somalia," the general said. "And we also support the eventual transfer of security responsibilities from the African Union Mission in Somalia to the Somali national security forces." In 2016, the general said, al-Shabab regained some previously-held Somali territory, and the group continues to attack African Union Mission in Somalia forces. "Additionally, we have also seen elements of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria begin to make inroads into Somalia, which will further test Amisom forces and the central government of Somalia," Waldhauser said. Stability in Libya is "a long-term proposition," he said, adding that Africom supports Libya’s efforts to reestablish legitimate and unified government. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a rising threat, he noted. "This is a significant challenge," he cautioned, "and we must carefully choose where and with whom we work in order to counter ISIS-Libya, not to shift the balance between various factions and risk sparking greater conflict in Libya." In western Africa, the general said, Africom’s mission centers on extremist groups Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa, an ISIS splinter group. "Since 2011, Boko Haram has consistently carried out attacks against civilians and targeted partner regional governments and military forces in the Lake Chad basin region," Waldhauser said. Africom works with forces from Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria in a multinational joint task force, he said. The task force, the general added, "has been successful in enabling multinational cooperation in coordinating multinational operations, and placed significant pressure on Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa." In Central Africa, through the combined efforts of military forces, civilian agencies and nongovernmental organizations, Africom works to build partner capacity to address regional threats such as maritime security, illicit trafficking of goods and persons, the Lord’s Resistance Army and other criminal networks and enterprises, Waldhauser said. Across Africa, the general said, "We support the efforts to enable African partners to respond to humanitarian crises, mass atrocities, disaster contingencies, and to support peace operations." Through the "National Guard’s State Partnership Program, along with their African partners, we’ve improved disaster management competency and readiness to assist civilian-led efforts," the general said. Africom sees "great value" in and fully supports the National Guard’s persistent engagement in the program, Waldhauser said. Africom’s mission is dynamic and complex, and requires innovative solutions, he said. "Even with limited resources and capabilities, Africa Command aggressively works with partners and allies to execute our missions and mitigate risk," Waldhauser said. "Moving forward, we continue to focus our decisive efforts on building African partner capacity, and will continue to work closely with the international and interagency partners to make small, wise investments which pay huge dividends in building stable and effective governments - the foundation for long-term security in Africa."

    Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 10, relieved the commanding officer of Patrol Squadron (VP) 47 on March 8th, citing a loss of confidence in his ability to command. After allegations of misconduct, Cmdr. Ryan Cech was relieved of command by Capt. Robert Patrick. Capt. Kevin Long has temporarily assumed command of the squadron. Cech has been temporarily reassigned to the CPRW 2 staff. The decision to relieve Cech was based on actions that demonstrated poor judgment and lack of professionalism, calling into question Cech's leadership which undermined his credibility to continue to serve effectively in command. Commanding officers have a great deal of responsibility for their units, their sailors and their mission. Standards of performance for commanding officers are extremely high. The "Golden Swordsmen" of Patrol Squadron (VP) 47, based at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, operate the P-3C Orion in support of maritime security and theater operations. The squadron currently supports detachments in the U.S. 7th Fleet's area of operations based at Kadena Air Force Base, on Okinawa, Japan, and U.S. the U.S. 4th Fleet's area of operations based at Comalapa, El Salvador. After deployment, VP-47 will move to Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., and transition to the P-8A Poseidon.

    And before he joined the Marine Corps at age 27, Gunnery Sgt. Todd N. Groves started out as a pig farmer in Fulton, Mo. At one point, he drove trucks packed with groceries from coast to coast. He saw mountains, rivers, and everything in between, never imagining that the small island of Okinawa eventually would be a place he'd call home. "I always tell people home is where you make it," Groves said. "Home is where the heart is." Leaving home is a coming-of-age experience for many service members, but Groves said he was happy and established in his career, trucking around the country. But when the 9/11 attacks occurred, he said, he immediately drove to the Marine Corps recruiting substation in Joplin, Mo. He dropped everything in that moment to serve his country, never imagining that his time in service would bring him back to his farm roots. Groves’ Marine Corps career has taken him all over the world and given him numerous opportunities to serve. His first duty station was Okinawa. From there, he transferred to California. Since then, he has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and he served as a recruiter in Missoula, Montana. Throughout his career, Groves said, he sought a variety of additional opportunities to help his community through organizations such as the Red Cross and Toys for Tots. His desire to serve led him to the opportunity to farm in Okinawa. "I would drive around and I would see farmers out in the countryside," he said, recalling the beginning of his second tour there in September 2014. "I would see numerous people working and I'd think, ‘I’m a strong guy. I bet those guys need help.'" Groves - a maintenance chief with the Small Craft Repair Platoon, Expeditionary Operations Training Group, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, began to search for an opportunity to return to farming. A few months later, Marine Corps Community Services introduced him to Bokusei Kinjo, a local farmer who inherited a farmer’s market from his father 22 years ago. Since the two met on Dec. 4, 2014, they have been working together. Groves said he knows the hard work involved in running a farm. He dedicates all of his free time to tending the pineapple garden, banana trees, and a variety of other plants there. He feeds pigs, goats, and rabbits, and helps Kinjo build makeshift facilities to store food and livestock. "I volunteer on holidays," he said. "If I have a long weekend, I’m usually out there on his farm." Kinjo said he notices Groves’ hard work, adding that Groves willingly performs difficult manual labor whenever called upon. "He is a nice guy," he said. "Any type of job I tell him to do, he knows how to do it. I’m very happy. My family is, too." After spending countless hours working the land, sharing cherished moments and laughing over numerous family dinners, Groves and Kinjo have become more than fellow farmers - they have become a part of each other’s lives. Groves, who now refers to Kinjo as "Oto-san," or father figure, extended his tour of duty there from two years to four because of the relationship they've built. "I would really miss Okinawa if I were to leave now," he said. Groves has volunteered about 1,000 hours, primarily serving alongside Kinjo. Groves was recommended for the Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, but he expressed no interest in receiving recognition for what he sees simply as helping a family member. "I’m not looking forward to leaving," he said. "Bokusei and his family have taken me into their home and made me feel warm and welcome. It’s been rewarding to work with them."

 

U.S. Army

    

    GE Aviation today announced that it has been awarded a $4.1 million contract from the U.S. Army.

    A U.S. Army corporal killed in 1950, during the Korean War, is finally coming home to his family in Butler, Pa.

    Revision Military was selected by the U.S. Army to produce the Advanced Combat Helmet Generation II, a follow-up to the current model.

    The U.S. Army is recruiting the largest increase in its Recruiting Command's history. Gen. Jeffrey Snow, commander of the United States Army Recruiting Command, said the status quo is just too low.

    Nearly 105 years after competing in the inaugural Olympic Modern
Pentathlon and more than half a century after leading U.S. troops through
World Wars I and II, one of the Army's greatest military leaders - Gen. George Smith Patton, Jr., continues to inspire soldiers.

    The U.S. Army is scouting locations in Germany for potentially basing more soldiers in Europe.

    When retired U.S. Army Col. Mark Vande Hei blasts off into space later this year for a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station, he'll be proud to play a part in helping advance the human race. But what he really can't wait for, he said, is the stellar view from 200 miles above Earth, where the space station orbits the planet every 90 minutes. In 2010, a cupola was installed on the station. It's a multi-windowed observatory module that offers 360-degree views of the blue planet. Inside, astronauts use various levers and controls to perform tasks like using the station's robotic arm to pull in routine supply loads launched into space. They can also take time to reflect on the Earth's beauty. "I'm actually looking forward to seeing what it's like to see the planet from a different perspective," said Vande Hei, 50, who retired last year from the Army where he served as a Ranger-tabbed combat engineer.

    The U.S. Army Reserve Command has kicked off its new readiness improvement program.

    Two U.S. Army Reserve Chinook helicopters will partner with two Kansas Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopters and two U.S. Forest Service aircraft to fight wildfires near Topeka.

    Forty soldiers from the New York Army National Guard's 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which is headquartered in Syracuse, have deployed to the Republic of Korea.

    Army National Guard units will see more training days - up to 60 days a year in some cases - and more combat training center rotations, the National Guard Bureau says.

    More than 200 members of the North Dakota Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, will be deployed to Washington, D.C., to defend the National Capitol Region's skies.

    And the 42nd annual Military Culinary Arts Competitive Training Event kicked off at U.S. Army Garrison Ft. Lee, Va., on March 3rd with its most prestigious and challenging category: Armed Forces Chef of the Year. In the only competition held entirely at the Joint Culinary Training Center, chefs work feverishly to get out a top-notch four-course, four-serving meal to the waiting judges. "Part of why the event is so prestigious is because of the title," said Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 J.D. Ward, chief of the advanced culinary training division at the JCTC. "The individual who wins holds the title for 12 months as the chef of the year. In addition, it’s easily the most challenging event." Chief Ward is in his second year as the show chair for the event, but he is well versed in the training and competitive nature of top military chef category, having competed himself earlier in his career. "It’s a very challenging event," he said. "There’s a lot of pressure on the chefs to create the meal in that short amount of time. Additionally, this event sets the pace for the Team of the Year event. Once they see the medal they get here, it starts to encourage those teams who are in the running for Culinary Team of the Year." Part of the challenge is the unknown. Competitors receive a mystery basket - based on American Culinary Federation rules - and get time to prepare the menu before their four-hour cooking time starts. This year’s basket included rainbow trout, veal hotel rack, oxtail, smoked turkey neck, canned anchovies, dark chocolate, ancho chili, Reblochon cheese, sunflower seeds, gooseberry, watermelon, kasha, lobster mushrooms, ramps, golden beets and rhubarb. Army Staff Sgt. Gabriel Earle, part of the team from Fort Stewart, Ga., is in his fourth year of competing at this event and said he trained hard for Armed Forces Chef of the Year. "Every year gets a little bit better, and while it doesn't get easier, your brain clicks a bit more when you see things," he said. "You learn what to expect and pick up something new every year to bring into the next competition." After preparing the dishes and sending them off to the judges, the competitors receive critiques of their work from American Culinary Federation chefs, many of whom judge this competition every year. Earle said he was pleased with his overall critique and that he can't wait to learn who earned the top title. "Even though it was the worst of the critique of my dishes, the one I’m most proud of is my dessert," he said. "The only thing in the judges’ critique was about my plating. In the past, the pastry critique has been horrible," he continued. "The judges would tell me that half of what I did I should have never done to a dessert. I practiced a lot this year, and I’m getting a lot better at desserts. I was proud to get the critique." Earle - who is a shift leader at a dining facility at his home station - said he uses his preparation and the skills he learns during the competition to show soldiers the opportunities in the culinary arts field. That’s the main reason he continues to attend the training event, he added. "I like to teach soldiers and show them more of what they can do besides being in a dining facility," he said. "I like to do more than be in a dining facility. I like seeing all the familiar faces - all the others I’ve competed with over the years."This year, four chefs earned a silver medal in the event, marking the second straight year that no chefs earned gold. Earle said he’s proud of his score and that he thinks it represents what was truly earned. "I think in the past, the ACF may not have judged the military chefs as harshly, because they felt like they couldn’t keep up with ACF standards since we don’t work in a restaurant or out in the industry," he said. "In the past few years, they've started grading us against our peers. Even in civilian ACF competitions, there are not a lot of gold medals awarded during a mystery basket challenge."

 

Today in history

    On this date in 1276, formally ruled by the emperor only, Augsburg became an Imperial Free City. In 1776, the economics book, The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith, was first published. In 1798, Dr. George Balfour became the first naval surgeon in the U.S. Navy. In 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court released African prisoners from the Amistad mutiny back to their homes in Sierra Leone. In 1847, an Army-Navy force began the siege of Veracruz, Mexico; approximately 12,000 U.S. troops landed on the beaches, along with their horses, mules, artillery, and supplies. Veracruz surrendered on March 29th, and the forces made their way to Mexico City. In 1862, the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimac) clashed for five hours to a draw at Hampton Roads, Va., during the Civil War. In 1864, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant was appointed commander of the Union Army. In 1916, Gen. Francisco "Pancho" Villa led 1,500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, N.M. In 1919, the first flight from a battleship platform was made by Lt. Cmdr. Edward O. McDonnell in a Sopwith Camel from turret No. 2 of USS Texas (BB 35) while anchored at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In 1943, the Jews of Solonika, Greece, were transported to Nazi concentration camps. In 1944, USS Lapon (SS 260), while pursuing a Japanese convoy in the South China Sea, sank two freighters and survived a counterattack by a Japanese gunboat. In 1945, 334 U.S. Army Air Force B-29 Superfortresses attacked Tokyo with 120,000 incendiary bombs. In 1952, USS Samuel N. Moore (DD 747) and HMS Morecambe Bay silenced enemy shore batteries firing at USS Merganser (AMS-26) near Songjin, Korea. In 1954, WNBT-TV (now WNBC-TV), in New York City, broadcast the first local color television commercials. In 1959, the first model of the Barbie doll appeared at the American Toy Fair in New York City, costing just $3. In 1961, the first animal returned safely from space (sent up by the USSR), a dog named Chernushka (Blackie) aboard Sputnik 9. In 1962, U.S. military advisors first joined South Vietnamese troops in combat. In 1974, the last Japanese soldier, operating as a guerilla in the Philippines, surrendered 29 years after World War II ended - he didn't know the war was over. In 1976, the first female cadets were accepted at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. In 1991, USS Cowpens (CG 63) was commissioned in Charleston, S.C.; the 17th of her 27-ship Ticonderoga-class of guided-missile cruisers, Cowpens is homeported at Naval Base San Diego, Calif. And in 2005, Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were issued subpoenas to testify about steroid use in baseball.

 

The parting shots

    Actor Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds) is 37-years-old today.

    Killer​ real-estate scion Robert Durst has stiffed private investigators on a $130,000 bill after hiring them to probe his March 2015 arrest for murder.

    Many American women stayed home from work, joined rallies or wore red yesterday to demonstrate how vital they are to the U.S.

    She just won't go away: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged a crowd of female leaders yesterday to keep up the "resistance" in her second set of public remarks given on International Women's Day.

    For 70 years, the LSAT has been a rite of passage to legal education, a test designed to gauge students' ability to learn the law. But the Harvard Law School is moving to open its doors to a larger, more diverse pool of applicants, and said yesterday that it would accept the graduate record examination, known as the GRE, for the admission of students entering its fall 2018 class.

    The Australian police say a 42-year-old man allegedly posed as Justin Bieber online to solicit explicit images from children.

    Computer screens in China showed some of President Trump's trademarks approved by China's Trademark Office, as seen on their website in Beijing yesterday.

    The FBI is investigating the source of documents published by WikiLeaks that purport to be from the CIA.

    And the Animal Rescue League of Boston, Mass., has charged the director of Greyhound Friends, Inc., with animal cruelty.

 

 

Pumping iron.....

 

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