NEWS OF THE FORCE: Monday, August 27, 2012 - Page 1

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Member of Kansas Civil Air Patrol unit, accused of sex abuse, commits suicide

    

    David G. Grover, 28, died on Aug. 22 at his home in Salina, Kansas. Grover was born on Nov. 23, 1983, in Salina, and was a member of the Salina squadron of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP).

    Police who attempted to make contact with Grover to serve an arrest warrant last Wednesday morning instead found him dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The arrest warrant accused Grover of sexual exploitation of a child, said Lt. Scott Siemsen, criminal investigations commander with the Salina Police Department. Siemsen did not provide further information about the allegations on which the charge was based.

    Police made contact with a family member, who opened the door to Grover's home, and his body was found inside, Siemsen said. Siemsen said officers at the house to serve the warrant did not hear a gunshot and believe Grover was dead before their arrival.

    Grover was a student teacher at Central High School in Salina, and was also a assistant trainer for the Salina South Football Team.

    NOTF contacted CAP Col. Rick Franz, the Kansas Wing commander, this morning. In a telephone interview, the colonel said that the accusations of sexual abuse against Grover had nothing to do with any CAP cadets, as far as he knows. When asked about Grover's CAP rank and the name of his unit, Col. Franz said, "National headquarters is putting out a press release, so it's probably better if you ask them."

    Telephone messages left early this morning with the Salina Police and the CAP's public affairs office were not returned as of press time. Also, there is still on press release shown on the CAP's web sites.

 

No tsunami debris found at remote islands, NOAA says

    

    Researchers who returned from a 24-day expedition to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands said that the pristine coral reef systems there appear to be healthy, thriving and safe from debris dragged to sea by the tsunami that hit Japan last year.

 

Virginia military force to expand storm response

    The Virginia Defense Force is looking to expand its role the next time a big storm hits the state. About 30 members of the state's all-volunteer military organization met in Lynchburg on Saturday.

    The Virginia Defense Force (VDF) is the official state defense force of Virginia, one of the three components of Virginia's state military along with the Virginia Army National Guard and the Virginia Air National Guard; with a current roster of over 900 soldiers.

 

Anti-Obama movie hits No. 1 at the box office

    

    Online ticket-sellers Fandango and MovieTickets.com showed advance buying for 2016: Obama’s America were accounting for 35% to 28% respectively before this weekend.

    The picture is based on conservative author and commentator Dinesh D’Souza’s New York Times best-selling 2010 book The Roots Of Obama’s Rage and co-directed by D’Souza and John Sullivan and produced by Academy Award winner Gerald R. Molen (co-producer of Schindler’s List). The movie opened on July 13 in a preview on a single screen in Texas, grossing almost $32,000 during its opening weekend, then expanded into 61 theaters including in New York and Los Angeles. This month, the film widened to 169 theaters nationwide and expanded again this weekend.

    "Yes, I also didn't believe it when I first saw the film taking off in pre-sales on Tuesday," an exhibition insider said. "Because there’s not a lot of new product that’s taking off."

    In fact this was one of Summer 2012′s weakest movie weekends with holdovers like Universal’s The Bourne Legacy and Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight Rises expected to rank right behind like The Expendables 2 and well ahead of the new films. But none may even break $10 million. Hollywood distribution experts expect 2016: Obama’s America to fare similarly to that Kirk Cameron faith-based movie, Fireproof. It was #1 in Fandango’s advance sales and did remarkably well during its opening Friday – but then ended up somewhere around #4 at the box office for the weekend.

    Last weekend, 2016: Obama’s America grossed a strong $1.2 million in 169 venues, for a cumulative gross as of Thursday of $2.8 million. It’s the #2 biggest indie documenatry of the year behind only The Weinstein Company’s Bully ($3.2 million) and already the #12 political documentary of all time. It will rise a lot higher in the rankings after this weekend.
    2016: Obama’s America detractors decry it as a slick infomercial heavy with conspiracy theories. But D’Souza says he made the film to motivate moviegoers to question what an Obama second term would look like, and credits liberal documentary maker Michael Moore for the structure of the film: "When he released Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004 ahead of the election, it sparked intense debate. I learned some lessons from Michael Moore, and hopefully he might learn some lessons from me about handling facts."

 

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    Cousin Jim's Thought for the Day: I like rumors - I find out so much about myself that I didn't know.

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Russian air force to join anti-terror drills in the U.S.

    

    The Russian units will be led by Maj. Gen. Sergei Dronov, the commander of Russia's Eastern Military District's 3rd Air Force and the Air Defense Command, and NORAD's units will be led by Joseph Bonnet, III, NORAD's training and exercise director.

 

Royal Australian Air Force cadet faces child porn charges

    

    The Adelaide District Court, in Australia, has heard the case against an air force cadet charged with child sex crimes is likely to be resolved by negotiation.

    Matthew James Gridley, 22, of Mawson Lakes, is charged with producing, possessing and disseminating child pornography, as well as procuring a child to commit an indecent act and making a communication for a prurient purpose. The offences allegedly were committed between January and September, last year.

    The court previously heard some of the pornography included inappropriate anime cartoons.

    Gridley faced the court for an arraignment hearing, but the case was adjourned to allow negotiations between prosecution and defense counsel about whether they can agree on a factual basis for the offenses. The court heard that the matter may be resolved by the time another hearing is held in two weeks.

 

Need a 'temporary' job? Al-Qaida is advertising for suicide bombers

    The terrorist organization al-Qaida is running a "job ad" on an Internet forum seeking applicants for short-term employment - as suicide bombers.

    The ad on the Shumukh al-Islam forum, which is accessible only to al-Qaida members, appears under the heading "Area of activity: The planet Earth." Applicants must be Muslim, mentally mature, dedicated, able to listen, and utterly committed to completing their mission, according to the ad.

    While real names are not required, candidates are asked to send details of their nickname or handle, their age, marital status, languages spoken, and a list of passports in their possession, the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth has reported. The ad also specifies the targets of the suicide attacks that applicants will be expected to carry out, including "People who fight Islam and Muslims" and enemy "financial, military and media targets." And, it states: "Only one person will be in charge. He will gather all of the intelligence, he will prepare the operation - and he will complete the attack." However, "a military panel" will oversee the bomber’s training and select the target. The job description promises only a "very slight chance of being caught."

    The Yedioth article claimed the ad has elicited several positive responses.

    The Times of Israel observed that the ad indicates al-Qaida is "apparently low on bombers."

 

Florida Army Reserve unit deploying to Afghanistan

    

    A group of soldiers is headed from Bay County, Fla., to Afghanistan to help transport American troops home.

    The U.S. Army Reserve's 576th Transportation Detachment was honored yesterday at a farewell ceremony as family, friends and local dignitaries extended best wishes to the 21 reservists.

    The mission of the 576th is to manage transportation logistics and ensure that equipment and supplies flow efficiently through the combat zone. "Without these soldiers behind the scenes making these things happen, the guys that actually pull the triggers out in Afghanistan can't do their jobs," said Capt. Ronald Myers. "It takes a special soldier to do this because reserve soldiers don't do this 24/7 - they only do this when they're called upon."

    "They're very knowledgeable about their jobs and they appreciate all that the community does for them," said Sergeant 1st Class Michael Ayala. "They're here to support the freedoms that the community has today."

    The unit's first stop is Fort Bliss, Texas, for additional training and then the soldiers will deploy to Afghanistan.

 

Afghan soldier kills 2 NATO troops

    

    The NATO forces say an another Afghan soldier has turned his weapon on international troops, killing 2.

 

Gangster gunman grabbed

    

    Latray Whitley was arrested on Thursday evening by the U.S. Marshals' Lone Star Fugitive Task Force in San Antonio, Texas, without incident. An arrest warrant was issued by the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD)'s Homicide Division, where it is alleged that Whitley committed first degree murder.

 

U.S. Coast Guard news

    

    Another barge grounding near Greenville, Miss., has closed the Mississippi River to shipping. Army Corps of Engineers spokesman Robert Anderson says a barge ran past buoys marking the shipping channel on Saturday evening. Coast Guard Petty Officer Ryan Tippets says it was re-floated, but vessel traffic is not expected to resume before later today. He says the Corps was dredging yesterday at Greenville. Tippets says that as yesterday afternoon, 18 vessels were waiting to head north and 21 waited to head south. The river carries water from more than 40 percent of the United States. Widespread drought has starved it of rainwater, and the Corps has had to hustle to keep the channel clear. It already had planned to close the river for 12 hours today for dredging near Baton Rouge, La.

    This weekend, the U.S. Coast Guard and several marine patrol units teamed up for what they call "Operation Make Way." By law, small vessels must give ships and barges room to safely pass, but that doesn't always happen during fishing season.

    The U.S. Coast Guard rescued two divers off Block Island, R.I., yesterday after they were spotted drifting by a research vessel crew, according to the Coast Guard. The crew of the NOAAS Thomas Jefferson spotted the divers about four miles from shore.

    Coast Guard officials in the United States and Canada joined forces yesterday to rescue a group of 11 kayakers who reported being in distress while paddling on Lake Ontario.

    A U.S. Coast Guard boat crew from Station Tybee Island, Ga., medically evacuated a 56-year-old man from a boat in Ossabaw Sound yesterday after he started experiencing chest pains.

    A Novato, Calif., woman fleeing from police jumped off the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge around 2 a.m., PDT, yesterday, swimming in the freezing waters of the bay for almost two hours before she was captured and hospitalized, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) said. Kathryn Tynes, 30, was tracked down around 4 a.m., in shallow, muddy water a couple miles south of where she jumped off the bridge, rescued by a U.S. Coast Guard swimmer and sent to the Stanford Medical Center for treatment, CHP Sgt. Marcus Bartholomew said in a statement. The saga began when officers in a Marin CHP patrol unit saw a Ford Focus weaving on southbound Highway 101, near the Central San Rafael exit, at 1:59 a.m., according to Bartholomew. Officers attempted a traffic stop on the car, and Tynes initially yielded at a red light at Bellam Boulevard, but then zoomed off eastbound on Interstate 580 toward the bridge. The CHP took off after Tynes at top speed, and just before reaching the bridge's incline section, she pulled over, jumped out of the car, sprinted to the south side of the bridge and jumped, Bartholomew said. The distance from the bridge to the water from where Tynes leapt was about 20 feet, the CHP officer said. Though the officers tried to talk to Tynes as she swam under the bridge, she swam away toward the San Quentin State Prison, Bartholomew said. The Coast Guard, a Tiburon police boat, a commercial tugboat, San Rafael police, Marin County Sheriff's deputies, San Quentin Prison guard staff and additional CHP units were called in to help hunt for Tynes. A Coast Guard helicopter found Tynes around 3:46 a.m., in the water between the Marin Country Day School, in Corte Madera, and Paradise Cay, Bartholomew said. A Coast Guard swimmer lowered from the helicopter got her out of the water. Tynes was placed under arrest on suspicion of resisting peace officers, evading peace officers, driving with a suspended or revoked license and violation of probation, Bartholomew said. She was flown to the Stanford Medical Center by the Coast Guard helicopter, the CHP officer said.

    The Coast Guard in New Orleans, La., is urging the maritime community to monitor Tropical Storm Isaac's progress and take early action to protect themselves and their property.

    The U.S. Coast Guard says a cruise ship carrying 120 people has been freed after running aground and becoming stranded in the Detroit River, near Wyandotte, Mich.

    And a Provincetown, Mass., ferry captained by a skipper in training and packed nearly to capacity ran aground in Boston Harbor yesterday, leaving nearly 150 people stranded in a scene one passenger described as "pandemonium." The Provincetown III, with 145 passengers aboard, four crew members and a dog, ran aground on Nixes Mate, a small island, at about 8:50 a.m., according to the Coast Guard. The Bay State Cruise Co., owner and operator of the ferry, took full responsibility for the incident in a statement, calling it "operator error, clean and simple. The fault is ours completely, and we bear the responsibility fully," cruise company spokes-man Michael Glasfeld said in the statement. He said that although the catamaran with 149 aboard was navigating thick fog, there was "no excuse" for the mistake. Glasfeld said the captain in training "was fired." No injuries were reported, but passengers said it was no gentle ride. "We were cruising along, and all of a sudden the boat came to a halting stop, it was crazy," said Joshua Bottoni. "It was like, pandemonium." "All of sudden there was a horrible screeching noise," said Heather Hynes, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y. She said the sudden stop sent things flying, and she over-heard one passenger say he was thrown into a wall while he was in the bathroom. "Everyone just panicked at first," she said. After the "grinding stop," the passengers were taken across a shaky path of three or four police and Coast Guard boats to the Provincetown II, Bottoni said. Hynes said they didn't arrive back in Boston until 11:15 a.m., more than an hour after the trip was supposed to have ended in Provincetown. She said she was in town visiting a friend and planned to go to Provincetown for the day, but had to scrap her plans. "We didn't want to sit on a boat for another hour," she said. A statement on the cruise company's web site said the "fast ferry" line, the service offered by the Provincetown III, were canceled for the weekend, and refunds or alternate travel arrangements would be made. The ferry was re-floated and towed to a dock at last night’s high tide, the Coast Guard said.

 

'Scores of bodies' found in town near Damascus

By Lisa Levine, News of the Force Tel Aviv

    

    Syrian opposition activists yesterday accused the country’s government forces of committing a massacre after more than 300 bodies were reported to have been found in the town of Daraya, just southwest of the capital city of Damascus.

    U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was shocked by reports of a massacre in a town close to Syria's capital and condemned it as "an appalling and brutal crime" that should be independently investigated immediately, his spokesman said today. Syrian opposition activists accused President Bashar al-Assad's army yesterday of massacring hundreds of people in the town of Daraya, which government forces recaptured from the rebels.

    A Syrian fighter plane flew over the Damascus neighborhood today where a military helicopter earlier came down under fire, but it was not clear if the warplane fired at any targets, witnesses said. Military aircraft have appeared only rarely in the skies over the capital since the revolt against President al-Assad erupted 17 months ago. The fighter plane flew over the neighborhood of Jobar, where rebels said they had downed a military helicopter earlier in the day.

    Syrian army shelling and helicopter attacks on suburbs of the capital city of Damascus killed at least 62 people today, opposition activists said. Eleven of the dead were killed in the district of Jobar. Five of the Jobar victims were captured on Dayer Jdayeh Street and summarily executed by security forces, and the others died when their homes were hit, opposition activists said.

    A Turkish TV cameraman who went missing while reporting from Syria appeared today in an interview with a pro-government Syrian television channel and said he had been seized by Syrian soldiers in the northern city of Aleppo. In the video from the al-Ikhbariya news channel, which was broadcast by Turkish media today, Cuneyt Unal seems to be in good health although he looks exhausted and nervous, with dark marks under both eyes, apparently bruising.

    French President Hollande today called on the Syrian opposition to form provisional government, and said France would recognize it.

    The German postal service is set to issue a stamp reminding Germans that 2,000 years ago Jesus underwent circumcision as an eight-day-old baby, a ritual religious practice that a German court has controversially banned in part of the country. The stamp, marking the 200th anniversary of the German Bible Society on Sept. 11, shows a page from the New Testament that includes a description of Jesus being circumcised. The Bible Society says the stamp's design was finalized well before the heated debate over circumcision began.

    Iran indicated today it might allow diplomats visiting Tehran for this week's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit to go to the Parchin military base, which U.N. nuclear experts say may have been used for nuclear-related explosives tests. When asked about the possibility, Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh said: "Such a visit is not customary in such meetings, however, at the discretion of authorities, Iran would be ready for such a visit," the Iranian government-linked news agency, the Young Journalists Club, reported.

    Israeli experts believe Russia and the U.S. are in a major tug-of-war over Iran, with Moscow fearing that a regime change there would tighten the American Middle East noose around Russia.

    Official Palestinian Authority incitement continues with naming of a youth sporting event after three terrorists who killed a Jewish father and rabbi.

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) today rebuked the Palestinian Authority (PA) for failing to prosecute members of the security forces over years of alleged beatings and abuse of protesters, journalists and detainees. The New York-based group called on the United States and the European Union, the major donors to the PA, to reevaluate their security aid, given what it called this "record of impunity."

    The Gaza Strip will no longer be "liveable" by 2020 unless urgent action is taken to improve water supply, power, health and schooling, the United Nations' most comprehensive report on the Palestinian enclave said today. "Action needs to be taken now if Gaza is to be a liveable place in 2020 and it is already difficult now," U.N. humanitarian coordinator Maxwell Gaylard told journalists when the report was released today. Gaza is in five years into an Israeli blockade supported by Egypt, and living under one-party rule.

    A leading Bahraini opposition activist said she had been refused entry to Egypt at Cairo airport yesterday, accusing Arab governments of continuing repressive security cooperation despite political change in the region. Maryam al-Khawaja, the Denmark-based international spokesperson for the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said she had hoped to enter Egypt for a few hours to see friends on a stop-over while flying to South Africa. She said officials at Cairo airport first stamped her passport, but then canceled her visa after realizing she was a Bahraini activist.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dropped plans to revise his investment portfolio, apparently concerned Israelis might think he was trying to avoid any personal financial loss should he opt to go to war with Iran. To prevent conflicts of interest, investments by the prime minister and other Israeli cabinet members are in blind trusts. Netanyahu's office said today he did not want to give "the wrong impression" and had withdrawn a request to the State Comptroller's Office to allow him to make investment changes. 

    And an Israeli muppet on the cover of a new, emergency pamphlet being distributed nationwide puts a happy face on some grim warnings in a country preparing for possible war with Iran. Israelis, the military-issued booklet says, would have only between 30 seconds and three minutes to find cover and hunker down between the time air raid sirens sound and rockets slam into their area. The 15-page pamphlet has started to appear in mailboxes across the country, and instructs Israelis how to prepare a safe room or shelter for emergency situations.

 

Flurry of misconduct cases hit border agency

    

    August has been a difficult month for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) when it comes to misconduct or corruption within its ranks.

    Six agency employees – almost all Border Patrol agents – have been convicted of or indicted on corruption-related charges and other crimes this month. Two more trials of Customs and Border Protection employees, both of whom are accused of helping traffickers smuggle drugs into the country, are scheduled to begin next month. Overall, more than 140 Customs and Border Protection employees have been indicted or convicted of corruption-related charges since October 2004. Officials have said those numbers are just a fraction of the agency's 58,000 employees.

    The flurry of activity follows recent congressional attention on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and misconduct issues, including a House Oversight subcommittee hearing earlier this month on oversight of the department. In prepared testimony, the department’s acting inspector general, Charles K. Edwards, said that complaints against Customs and Border Protection employees have increased 95 percent since fiscal year 2004, and jumped by 25 percent between 2010 and 2011, when 730 investigations were launched. Drug trafficking organizations "are becoming involved increasingly in systematic corruption of DHS employees to further alien and drug smuggling, including the smuggling of aliens from designated special interest countries likely to export terrorism," he said. "The obvious targets of corruption are frontline Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers; less obvious are those employees who can provide access to sensitive law enforcement and intelligence information, allowing the cartels to track investigative activity or vet their members against law enforcement databases."

    But even the inspector general's office has come under suspicion as a federal grand jury has probed the watchdog agency and a Texas branch office based on allegations that agents were instructed to fabricate investigative activity in reports ahead of an internal inspection last fall.

    The latest criminal convictions of Customs and Border Protection employees range from drug trafficking and bribery offenses to lying about firearms purchases. The most high-profile case involves the retired president of the Border Patrol's national union, who was indicted on charges of wire fraud.

    In the latest conviction, Border Patrol Agent Ricardo Montalvo pleaded guilty on Friday in the U.S. District Court in El Paso, Texas, to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was arrested in April on 20 counts of conspiracy, firearms and smuggling charges, but all other charges were dropped. Joseph Sib Abraham, Jr., Montalvo's attorney, said his client was interested in guns but was not involved in smuggling weapons. Sentencing is scheduled for November.

    Abel Canales, a former Border Patrol agent stationed in Arizona, pleaded guilty Aug. 20 to one count of bribery. A federal grand jury indicted Canales last October, three years after he took an $8,000 bribe to allow a U-Haul he thought was loaded with drugs to pass through a traffic checkpoint on Interstate 19, south of Tucson, Ariz. In a plea agreement filed last week, Canales admitted to accepting a bribe. Canales’ attorney, Sean Chapman, said that Canales succumbed to the temptation of easy money and will now pay the price – the plea agreement calls for a sentence of eight to 14 months. A federal judge is scheduled to sentence him on Oct. 29. "In Arizona and Texas, there is a huge amount of vice, corruption and money," Chapman said. "Abel Canales is a young man who made a mistake. The temptation is ever present in Tucson and areas south."

    Also on Aug. 20, a federal grand jury in Brownsville, Texas, convicted Customs and Border Protection Officer Manuel Eduardo Pena, 38, of making a false statement and lying to a federal agent after he falsely claimed he bought firearms for himself that were actually intended for another person, a so-called "straw purchase." A 12-year veteran, Pena was arrested May 24 and is scheduled to be sentenced in November.

    Earlier this month, Raul and Fidel Villarreal, two brothers who had been Border Patrol agents before they abruptly quit their posts in June 2006, were convicted by a federal jury in San Diego, Calif., of human smuggling, bribery and money-laundering. The brothers’ sentencing hearing is scheduled for November.

    Terence "T.J." Bonner, the former president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents 17,000 Border Patrol agents, was indicted on Aug. 16 in San Diego, by a federal grand jury on wire fraud charges. According to the indictment, Bonner allegedly used union funds to buy dozens of computer hard drives to store a large cache of pornography and fraudulently received reimbursement for personal travel, including trips to Chicago to visit his mistress and family members and to attend sporting events. A search warrant affidavit unsealed last week estimates that Bonner defrauded the union of more than $200,000. In interviews, Bonner has adamantly denied the charges, and last week entered a plea of not guilty. He is free on bond.

 

JROTC added as high school elective

    

    U.S. Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) courses have been added to the list of electives in Arizona's Yuma Union High School District this year. Five platoons of cadets, a total of about 127 students, are currently enrolled in the program there.

 

Ann Romney gets Secret Service protection detail

By Jim Corvey, News of the Force St. Louis

    

    The wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney now has U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to her at all times. The move comes as her husband is set to formally receive the GOP presidential nomination later this week.

    Mitt Romney has had Secret Service protection since January. It's standard practice for the wives of presidential candidates to receive such protection as Election Day approaches.

    Agents accompanied Ann Romney to a supermarket near the Romneys' New Hampshire vacation home yesterday morning.

 

Bronze Star with Valor for Robins AFB airman

    

    Col. Joseph Scherrer, commander of the 689th Combat Communications Wing, at Robins AFB, Ga., last week awarded Master Sgt. Gene Jameson the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device for his heroic actions that saved an estimated 50 lives during a fire in August 2011 while deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

    "It's a huge honor, but I did what anyone would have done," said Jameson, a wing member, after receiving the medal on Aug. 23.

    Flames were threatening some 90 buildings on base after an insurgent rocket attack. As Jameson was directing heavy equipment to build a firebreak to limit damage, he and a colleague noticed two crates of munitions in the line of the surging flames. The 18-year airman and his colleague sprang to action, dragging the 250-pound crates down a narrow path between two burning buildings, while firefighters doused the two men with water, until the munitions reached a safe location and were no longer in danger of detonating.

 

Wounded Marines at Camp Pendleton spend two years in 'administrative limbo'

    

    Marines in the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif., spend an average of two years, or 730 days, waiting to transition back to active duty or to discharge, and this lengthy process impedes recovery, according to the Defense Department's inspector general.

    The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have set a goal of 295 days to process troops through the Integrated Disability Evaluation System. At Camp Pendleton, it took medical evaluation boards more than two-thirds of that time - 197 days - just to complete their assessments.

    Russell Beland, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for military manpower and personnel, in comments appended to the IG report, flatly declared the goal to move troops through IDES in 295 days “unrealistic,” but said the Navy will work to get as close to it as possible. Beland said the Navy now manages all IDES case file transfers electronically and is developing technology to make it easier to share discharge information with VA. He said the branch also has streamlined medical narrative summaries, which should speed the medical review process.

    Administrative and medical staff at the Camp Pendleton Wounded Warrior Battalion told the IG that the more time Marines and corpsmen spent in transition, "The more likely a warrior would abuse alcohol, or take risks that would ultimately get them into trouble."

    The traumatic brain injury clinic staff at the Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital said wounded Marines reported feeling "useless" as they spent time dealing with seemingly unending administrative processes. As time stretched out, "the less productive and more frustrated the warriors became," staff said.

    Two warrior battalion volunteers with experience working with Vietnam veterans, homeless veterans, and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, told the IG that the recovery and transition processes "almost enticed the warriors to stay sick."

    An unidentified commander of the Camp Pendleton Wounded Warrior Battalion told the IG that "there were too many databases and information technology systems to track and manage warriors' recovery and transition and many of the programs did not interface with each other." The battalion uses two computer programs to manage troops in their care: the Recovery Coordination Program-Support Solution, or RCP-SS, a secure, Web-based access tool to administer all aspects of the recovery program with multiple online forms, and the Marine Corps Wounded, Ill and Injured Tracking System, or MCWIITS, which helps oversee non-medical transition processes. But battalion staff told the IG that these two programs have a poor interface that requires care coordinators to manually enter information from one into the other. "This made keeping the information accurate and up-to-date in every computer system a challenge," the IG reported.

    VA federal recovery coordinators, who work with the battalion, use a more user-friendly Web-based program, staff told the IG, recommending the Marine Corps use it, too.

    Lt Gen. John Wissler, deputy commandant for programs and resources, said in his comments to the IG that the Marine Corps will work with agencies at the Defense Department and the Navy levels to ensure interfaces allow bidirectional information transfers.

    The Wounded Warrior Battalion also serves troops stationed at the Marine Corps' Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif. Staff at that base reported problems with computer interface with the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, which provides treatment for their wounded Marines. Medical personnel at the base and hospital both use the Composite Health Care System, part of the Armed Forces Longitudinal Technology Application - or AHLTA - electronic health record, but a Twentynine Palms nurse case manager said medical appointment information had to be retyped or cut and pasted into the San Diego system. Sometimes the Twentynine Palms system "is referred to as ‘the black hole’ in regards to processing referrals," the nurse said.

    The IG said incompatibility between systems must be resolved. "Warriors will continue to be at risk of delayed recovery and transition as long as military treatment facilities experience difficulty with the electronic interface sharing of CHCS data," the report said.

 

Polish C-130 deliveries completed

    U.S. Ambassador to Poland Lee Feinstein last week presented the fifth and final C-130E to the Polish air force in a ceremony at Powidz Air Base, in central Poland.

    "Today is a powerful example of the strong and vibrant relationship between Poland and the United States," said Feinstein in his remarks on Aug. 22. "Poland has gained a tactical airlift capability and has increased its inter-operability with the United States and NATO," he added.

    The United States contributed $120 million to refurbish and upgrade the ex-U.S. Air Force airframes to current standards, in addition to the $34.5 million fronted by Poland, said Feinstein. "Our partnership in the C-130 program is a fine example of how our day-to-day security cooperation continues to grow," he noted. "In a few weeks, we'll take another important step" deploying Air Force F-16s and C-130s to Lask Air Base, forming the "first continuous presence" of U.S. forces in Poland, he said.

    U.S. Air Force pilots delivered the first Polish C-130 in March 2009.

 

Report: Afghan civilians beheaded

    The Afghan government said today that Taliban insurgents have beheaded 17 Afghan civilians.

 

Guidance on nuclear targeting tightly controlled

    

    U.S. Government guidance on the targeting of nuclear weapons is perhaps the most tightly held of all national security secrets, and "fewer than twenty" copies of the president's instructions on the subject are extant within the entire Department of Defense.

    Following a November 2011 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) asked, "How many military and civilian personnel in the executive branch have full or partial access to nuclear employment and targeting guidance?" In newly published responses to questions for the record, Undersecretary of Defense James N. Miller said the answer was "a very small group of personnel in the executive branch. Even within the Department of Defense (DOD), access to this sensitive material is tightly controlled," Dr. Miller added. "Within the Department of Defense, fewer than twenty copies of the president's guidance are distributed in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, and the U.S. Strategic Command."

    The nuclear weapons guidance issued by the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to implement the president's instructions is somewhat more broadly disseminated. "Fewer than 200 copies of the most recent amplifying guidance issued by the Secretary of Defense were produced, and distribution was limited primarily to Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the U.S. Strategic Command, and other combatant commanders. The Chairman's guidance is distributed more widely within the DOD (fewer than 200 copies), as the document assigns responsibilities to several defense agencies and the intelligence community. The commander of the U.S. Strategic Command must issue guidance to his planners and forces in the field, so distribution is somewhat wider because of that need."

    What about congressional access? "How many personnel in the legislative branch have full or partial access to each level of guidance?" Rep. Turner asked. Dr. Miller declined to answer that question directly. "There is a long history of debate about providing the legislative branch access to this material," he said. "As a result, instances of providing access to a member of Congress and senior staff personnel have been quite limited and under restrictive terms." In fact, the history of debate over congressional access to nuclear targeting information was never conclusively resolved, as far as is publicly known. In 2000, then-Sen. Robert Kerrey criticized the Department of Defense repeatedly for refusing to provide the information. "As elected representatives of the people, and with a constitutional role in determining national security policy, Congress should have an understanding of the principles underpinning our nuclear policy. Both the guidance provided by the president and the details of the SIOP [the nuclear weapons targeting plan] are necessary for us to make informed national security decisions," Sen. Kerrey said on the Senate floor on June 30, 2000. Sen. Kerrey wrote to then-Secretary of Defense William Cohen seeking an explanation of the department's policy on congressional access to nuclear targeting information, but no reply was ever received.
    In the newly released questions for the record, which address a multiplicity of nuclear policy issues, Rep. Turner also asked, "How many military personnel have full or partial access to STRATCOM's OPLAN 8010?" referring to the U.S. Strategic Command's nuclear war plan. "Full access to all portions of OPLAN 8010 is limited to our most senior leadership," replied Gen. C. Robert Kehler, STRATCOM's commander.

    For background on OPLAN 8010, see Obama and the Nuclear War Plan by Hans M. Kristensen, of the Federation of American Scientists, dated February 2010.

 

Missouri airport to hold plane show

    

    On the morning of Saturday, Sept. 8, a special occurrence will take place at the Malden Regional Airport, in Malden, Mo., and it's open to everyone. An all you can eat breakfast that includes sausage, pancakes, and drinks will be served for $5 per person.

    In addition to the breakfast, several airplanes, including those that have been flown in by pilots attending the meal, as well as antique tractors and cars, will be on display. The Missouri Army National Guard will have an obstacle course set up for visitors to enjoy.

    Operators for the Emergency Management Agency will have on hand a display of ham radios. These local volunteers will exhibit communication methods and techniques of amateur radio and emergency transmissions.

    Malden High School's JROTC students as well as the local Air Evac Lifeteam will be on hand with their own displays. Plane rides from Cardinal Aviation will also be for sale throughout the morning.

    The function will be held from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., rain or shine, and is a scholarship fundraiser for the Bootheel Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) and the Four Mile Lodge of the Missouri Masonic Lodge.

    Tommy Shepard, a group commander for the Civil Air Patrol and manager of Cardinal Aviation, is hoping this event will bring attention to the Malden Regional Airport. "This airport is a valuable asset to Malden," explained Shepard. "I want people to know there is an airport out here."

 

Video: Obama's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood

    http://www.westernjournalism.com/obamas-ties-to-the-muslim-brotherhood/ .

 

Iraqi minister steps down after row with prime minister

    Iraq's communications minister resigned today, blaming meddling by the Shiite prime minister, whose spokesman said he was the first minister to quit since the government was formed in December 2010. Mohammed Allawi, a member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc in a fragile, fractious, power-sharing government, said he stepped down because of repeated clashes with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office over what he called "interference."

 

U.S. troops face punishment over Koran burnings, urination video

    The U.S. military is expected to announce disciplinary action today in response to two incidents that provoked outrage in Afghanistan early this year, one over a video depicting Marines urinating on corpses and another involving burning copies of the Koran, U.S. officials said.

    The Army was expected to announce that six soldiers would receive administrative punishments over an incident in which copies of the Koran and other religious material were removed from a prison library and sent to an incinerator to be destroyed, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

 

Car carrying Japan's ambassador to China attacked

    A man attacked the car carrying the Japanese ambassador in Beijing today and ripped off the Japanese flag flying on the vehicle, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported, amid escalating tensions that led to the biggest anti-Japan protests in years. Kyodo, quoting Japanese embassy officials in Beijing, gave no further details of the attack, but said the ambassador, Uichiro Niwa, was unhurt. The report said the embassy had "filed a strong protest with the Chinese Foreign Ministry."

 

'Occupy Hong Kong' activists stay put

    Members of the "Occupy Hong Kong" movement refused to leave the open-air plaza beneath the HSBC bank's Asian headquarters today when a court deadline passed, and the bank said it would now get the court's permission to remove them.

    HSBC won a legal bid in a Hong Kong court earlier this month to evict the protesters, who have camped there for more than 10 months, giving them until today to leave the plaza and end one of the longest-running Occupy demonstrations.

 

Kenyan cleric shot dead, sparking riots in Mombassa

    Hundreds of protesters smashed cars and vandalized at least four churches in the Kenyan city of Mombasa today after unknown gunmen shot dead a Muslim cleric accused by the United States of helping Islamist militants in neighboring Somalia. Aboud Rogo Mohammed, who the United States accused of advocating the radicalization and recruitment of non-Somali Africans by the al Shabaab militant group, was shot dead today and buried shortly afterwards. Rogo was facing charges of planning acts of terror and importing illegal weapons.

 

Sudan-South Sudan talks postponed to next week

    African Union-brokered talks between Sudan and South Sudan to resolve lingering issues from their partition a year ago have been postponed until next week because of the funeral for Ethiopia's former prime minister, an official said today. Sudan and South Sudan split a year ago under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of war, but have yet to work out a variety of issues, such as the exact position of the border.

    Meanwhile, rebels killed at least 24 soldiers when they ambushed a South Sudanese army convoy, a military spokesman said today, in the latest outbreak of violence in restive Jonglei state. The country seceded from Sudan a year ago under and is awash with weapons after a decades-long civil war with Khartoum that killed an estimated two million people. The government, run mostly by former guerrilla fighters, has struggled to assert control over its vast and restive territories since declaring independence.

 

Italian miners barricade themselves underground - with explosives

    Up to 100 Sardinian miners armed with hundreds of kilograms of explosives have barricaded themselves nearly 400 meters underground in Italy's only coal mine to put pressure on the Rome government to protect its survival. The miners from a 460-strong work force seized 350 kilos of company explosives and locked themselves inside the Carbosulcis mine, west of Cagliari, overnight today, one of them said, ahead of a government meeting this week to discuss the pit's future.

 

Major quake in El Salvador

    

    A 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off El Salvador late yesterday, triggering a brief tsunami warning along a stretch of the central American coast but causing no major damage or casualties, early reports indicated. The quake hit about 74 miles offshore at a depth of just over 12 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It earlier gave the magnitude as 7.4. A small tsunami hit the El Salvador port of Acajutla following the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

 

Fire shuts down Iraqi crude oil pipeline to Turkey

    A fire on a pipeline carrying about a quarter of Iraq's oil exports forced the closure of the link today and halted loading at Turkey's Ceyhan export terminal, security and shipping sources said today. The cause of the fire on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in Turkey's Sirnak Province, near the Iraqi border, was not immediately known, but authorities suspected sabotage, security sources said. The fire was extinguished and workers tried to cool the pipeline, a 600-mile-long double link.

 

Ex-Illinois state trooper fails in bid to regain driving privileges

By Jim Corvey, News of the Force St. Louis

    

    A former Illinois State Police trooper whose 2007 high-speed crash killed two sisters has lost his latest bid to get his driving privileges back.

    An Illinois Secretary of State hearing officer denied Matt Mitchell's request to have his driver's license reinstated. He now has a little more than a month to appeal to a court. Mitchell's license was revoked after he pleaded guilty to reckless homicide charges. He was driving more than 120 mph and using his cell phone on Interstate 64, in southwestern Illinois, when his cruiser crossed the median, killing Jessica and Kelli Uhl, of Collinsville, and injuring a couple from Fayetteville.

    Mitchell now lives in Killeen, Texas. He says he's a single parent and needs to be able to drive.

 

 

                  

 

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