[navy] Digest (03/09/2002 18:01) (#2002-10)
Veterans News & Information Service
You may Subscribe/Unsubscribe to any of the VNIS email
newsletters at the following address:
http://www.vnis.com/html/newsletters.html
=========================================================
(#2002-10) - Topics This Issue:
1) Today's NavNews (March 8, 2002)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 13:03:42 -0800
Subject: Today's NavNews (March 8, 2002)
NAVAL MEDIA CENTER NavNews by e-mail:
NavNews (NNS) is the official newsletter of the U.S. Navy, containing
stories recently posted to the Navy NewsStand Web site at
http://www.news.navy.mil. It is a product of the Naval Media Center, 2713
Mitscher Rd. SW, Anacostia Annex, D.C., 20373-5819. Reprints should be
credited to the Navy News Service (NNS).
You are encouraged to submit stories via the Navy NewsStand "submit story"
page at http://www.news.navy.mil/submit, or you may still send stories via
mailto:pu...@mediacen.navy.mil.
For further information about NavNews by e-mail or the Navy NewsStand,
contact the NavNews editor, Mr. Jerome Mapp --
mailto:ma...@mediacen.navy.mil, DSN 288-4195, (202) 433-4195; or the deputy
chief of publishing, Lt. Brook DeWalt -- mailto:dew...@mediacen.navy.mil,
DSN 288-4380, (202) 433-4380.
For all other Navy information-related questions, call the Navy News Desk at
(703) 697-5342.
For the latest in Navy News, visit the Navy NewsStand at http://www.news.navy.mil.
-USN- -USN- -USN-
NNS020307-04. USS John F. Kennedy Battle Group Assumes the Watch; Relieves USS Theodore Roosevelt
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1011
NNS020307-03. Navy Scientists Instrumental in Developing New Thermobaric Weapons
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=999
NNS020307-02. History Maker McKee Dies; Navy's First Female Selected for Flag Officer
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1007
NNS020307-01. Daily News Update for March 7, 2002
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=1008
NNS011215-09. This Day in Naval History - March 08
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=388
Eye on the Fleet - U.S. Navy Photo of The Day
-- http://www.news.navy.mil/list_single.asp?id=956
-USN- -USN- -USN-
NNS020307-04. USS John F. Kennedy Battle Group Assumes the Watch; Relieves
USS Theodore Roosevelt
From U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / 5th Fleet Public Affairs
ABOARD USS JOHN F. KENNEDY, At Sea (NNS) -- Ships and squadrons of the USS
John F. Kennedy (CV 67) Carrier Battle Group relieved their counterparts in
the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Carrier Battle Group today.
Rear Adm. Steven Tomaszeski, Kennedy's battle group commander, said, "It's
particularly satisfying for us to report on station and assume the watch. I
know the men and women of the 'TR' battle group are anxious to sail home to
their loved ones. They've performed admirably in combat and we're proud to
take their place in Operation Enduring Freedom."
In company with the Mayport, Fla.-based Kennedy are: Carrier Air Wing (CVW)
7 from Oceana, Va.; Mayport-based ships USS Hue City (CG 66), USS Vicksburg
(CG 69), USS The Sullivans (DDG 68); and the Norfolk, Va.-based fast combat
support ship USS Seattle (AOE 3).
Two attack submarines are also members of the Kennedy battle group: USS
Toledo (SSN 769), home-ported in Groton, Conn., and the Norfolk-based USS
Boise (SSN 764).
For more information on the nation's war against terrorism, go to
http://www.defendamerica.mil.
-USN- -USN- -USN-
NNS020307-03. Navy Scientists Instrumental in Developing New Thermobaric
Weapons
By Chief Journalist David Nagle, Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs
INDIAN HEAD, Md. (NNS) -- The March 2 air strikes on al Qaeda and Taliban
forces in Afghanistan marked the first use ever of thermobaric weapons, a
new bomb developed by explosives engineers at Naval Surface Warfare Center
(NSWC) Indian Head Division.
Thermobaric explosives create sustained temperatures and overpressures in a
confined structure, such as caves, tunnels or hardened structures. They are
fuel-rich explosives that use oxygen from the target to create a longer burn
time than conventional explosives, making it more effective in caves and
tunnels, while, in a sense, sucking the air from the confined space.
Thermobaric weapons are designed for use on laser-guided missiles, to
detonate either at the opening of or inside a cave or tunnel.
The Navy began developing thermobaric explosives in the late 1980's and
resumed research and development in the mid 1990's, responding to the need
for internal blast explosives to defeat hard and deeply buried structures as
evidenced during Operation Desert Storm.
NSWC Indian Head scientists developed the PBXIH-135 thermobaric explosive,
which not only offers effective blast and thermal effects, but also is
extremely insensitive to factors that may cause accidental detonation during
transit or storage.
In response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States,
the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) organized a 60-day joint project
with NSWC Indian Head, the Air Force and Department of Energy to identify,
test and integrate a solution to deliver a new capability for tunnel defeat.
NSWC Indian Head was responsible for the payload and booster design, as well
as loading of the new bombs.
After static and flight tests at full-scale tunnel facilities at the
Department of Energy's Nevada test site, the program culminated in December
with a successful flight test of a laser-guided weapon, containing Indian
Head's PBXIH-135 thermobaric explosive, launched from an F-15E Strike Eagle.
NSWC Indian Head, along with DTRA and the Air Force, are engaged in a
three-year advanced Concept Technical Demonstration of another thermobaric
weapon. Indian Head is developing the new payload, which will have superior
performance to that of PBXIH-135.
For more information on the Naval Sea Systems Command, go to
http://www.navsea.navy.mil.
-USN- -USN- -USN-
NNS020307-02. History Maker McKee Dies; Navy's First Female Selected for
Flag Officer
By Chief of Naval Personnel Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Rear Adm. Fran McKee, the first female line officer in
the Navy to be promoted to flag rank, died March 3 after suffering a stroke.
She was 75.
A native of Florence, Ala., she was commissioned an ensign on Dec. 4, 1950,
and progressed through the ranks to rear admiral (lower half) on June 1,
1976, as director of Naval Education Development. She earned a second star
as director of Human Resource Management in November 1978, before retiring
on June 1, 1981, after 30 years of service.
"It was quite an accomplishment for her to make admiral back then," said
long-time friend and retired Navy Capt. Barbara Nyce. "It wasn't as accepted
then as it is today. She was a very poised and confident person. She touched
a lot of people and had a wonderful zest for life."
Those who served with her agree.
"Adm. McKee will always live in the hearts of those who knew her, were
inspired by her, profited from her leadership and enjoyed the pleasure of
her company," said retired Navy Capt. Carolyn Prevatte. "For many of us who
came after, Fran McKee was a heroine, trailblazer, woman of dignity and
integrity, a role model, and a great individual of warmth and humor to whom
we owe a great debt."
McKee served in a variety of stateside assignments including: instructor at
Naval Schools Command; mobilization and classification officer at Naval Air
Reserve Training Command; officer-in-charge, Naval Women Officers School;
head, Special Inquiries and Publications at Bureau of Naval Personnel
(BUPERS); and commanding officer of a Naval Security Group Activity.
Outstanding proficiency in these assignments resulted in the Legion of Merit
with Gold Star and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Graduating with a degree in chemistry from the University of Alabama in
1950, McKee went on to graduate from Naval Line Officers School, Naval
Postgraduate School, Naval War College, and received a master's degree from
George Washington University, Washington, D.C., in International Affairs in
1970.
"She was a wonderful woman, so warm, smart and human," added retired Rear
Adm. Louise C. Wilmot. "We have the fondest memories of her, including her
initiation into the Alabama Hall of Fame."
Funeral services for McKee will be held April 8, at 12:30 p.m. (local) in
the chapel of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Annandale, Va., followed by a
burial service with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery at
3:00 p.m. Immediately following the ceremony, a reception will be held in
the Women's Memorial at Arlington.
For information on women in the Navy, go to http://www.navy.mil and select
"Women in the Navy" from the site index.
-USN- -USN- -USN-
NNS020307-01. Daily News Update for March 7, 2002
By the Navy News Service
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The following stories are airing on TV Direct-to-Sailor
(TV-DTS), a satellite television service available aboard 157 ships of the
fleet:
Two-minute newscast- - A Navy SEAL, Boatswain's Mate 1st Class Neil Roberts,
is among the eight U.S. service members killed March 4 during fighting in
Eastern Afghanistan. - Sailors aboard USS Peleliu (LHA 5), USS Comstock (LSD
45), USS Dubuque (LPD 8), and Marines from the 1st Light Armored
Reconnaissance Battalion, Bravo Company, returned home to Naval Station San
Diego March 4.
One-minute newscast- - The Navy has chosen four new billets as eligible for
special-duty assignment pay.
Navy News Service Headlines- - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will
conduct a live Town Hall broadcast from the Pentagon today, March 7. -
Working closely with the Coast Guard and Navy warships, Naval Reserve Patrol
Squadron 65 spent six weeks in Latin America fighting the war on drugs.
Daily News Update features three newscasts each day -- one two-minute cast,
a one-minute cast and a one-minute Navy News Service Headlines cast.
Daily News Update can be seen broadcast throughout the day and evening on
the Direct-to-Sailor satellite network. Check your local DTS program
schedule for airtime.
-USN- -USN- -USN-
NNS011215-09. This Day in Naval History - March 08
By the Navy News Service
1854 - Commodore Matthew Perry opens treaty negotiations with Japan. 1862 -
Ironclad ram CSS Virginia destroys USS Cumberland and USS Congress. 1945 -
Phyllis Daley, assigned to the Navy Nurse Corps, becomes the first
African-American ensign. 1958 - Battleship USS Wisconsin (BB 64) is
decommissioned, leaving the Navy without an active battleship for the first
time since 1895. 1965 - The 7th Fleet lands the first major Marine Corps
units in South Vietnam at Danang.
For more information about naval history, visit the Naval Historical Center
Web site at http://www.history.navy.mil.
-USN-
------------------------------
=============================================
Get your free personal E-Mail address at
http://mail.users.vnis.com/
VNIS Communication Services
http://vnis-internet.com/cognigen/
VNIS Web Hosting Services
http://vnis-internet.com/
---------------------------------------------------------
You may Subscribe/Unsubscribe to any of the VNIS email
newsletters at the following address:
http://www.vnis.com/html/newsletters.html
=========================================================