Provocative question: Time to shrink the Navy Chaplain Corps?

June 14, 2010

With a budget squeeze looming, CNO Admiral Roughead says it’s time to ask provocative questions…Well, here’s one:  Is it time to shrink the Navy Chaplain Corps? My answer?  Yes.  Here’s why: Too many stars for too few souls: The Chaplain Corps is top-heavy.  Throughout the course of World War II, the Navy Chief of Chaplains […]

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San Francisco to host Japan MSDF and Russian Navy ships

June 11, 2010

In a few weeks, thanks to the Russian Navy and Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, San Francisco will get to re-live it’s naval heyday. The unprecedented set of visits means San Francisco will be host to the largest naval concentration in years…It’s probably going to be bigger than annual U.S. Fleet Week! I do hope that […]

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Milblogs and anti-government rhetoric:

June 8, 2010

Anybody wonder if this kook frequented the milblogosphere?  And if he did, which blogs he consumed?  I do.  And I’ve got a pretty darn good guess, too. Russell Hesch of West Branch, who identified himself as a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, was arrested along with his son, a Colorado resident. The two […]

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LCS-1: Not accounting for extended shipyard tours?

June 8, 2010

In theory, the LCS platform is meant to be used hard–handed off to new crews quickly, and then sent on deployment after deployment–but, in practice, well, um…not so much: The Freedom has been at San Diego since finishing up her maiden deployment April 23. A number of minor problems cropped up during her cruise, including, […]

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Osprey Downdraft: MV-22 Wounds 10 at NYC Fleet Week

May 31, 2010

I’ll post more on the unfortunate MV-22 NY Fleet Week accident (downdraft from an incoming Osprey blew down tree limbs that, in turn, wounded spectators–the videos here are great) in a bit, but I just wanted to remind people that the strong MV-22 downdraft is an important limitation–and, as such, it leads to operational issues […]

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JSF…check your UNREP lifeline

May 28, 2010

This is old and I haven’t been tracking the issue, but just how prepared is the Navy’s logistical pipeline to deal with the JSF?   This snippet–taken from an old piece on the long-dead T-AOE(X) project–worries me: “The new buy cialis carrier will have no engine overhaul facility for the Joint Strike cialis 20mg Fighter, Clarey […]

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Blogger Intervention: Milblogs and anti-government rhetoric

May 22, 2010

This weekend, as the nation mourns the loss of two dedicated law enforcement officers–shot at the hands of anti-government extremists (one suspect served in the  Army Reserves), I want to take a minute to address certain milblogs and anti-government rhetoric. We milbloggers have a responsibility to be good stewards of civic behavior.  Anti-government rhetoric, “wink-wink” […]

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In Press: Giving Aegis vessels E-2D wings

May 21, 2010

I got to talk with Navy Times scribe Andrew Tilghman the other day about the prospects of extending the reach of the Aegis system by using sensor nodes that are less expensive than, well, other exposed and forward-deployed Aegis ships. After a delightful conversation, Andrew generated a story for the old-school May 25 press issue […]

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2010 San Francisco Fleet Week to mix business with pleasure:

May 18, 2010

Retired Marine Corps General J. Michael Myatt is organizing San Francisco’s 2010 Fleet Week, and he’s going to follow my April 2009 suggestion of making the celebration an operational event. Here’s what the General sees coming for the 2010 Fleet Week: “We also want to take advantage of the military capabilities for disaster relief for […]

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In press: Military Times Scoop Deck interview

May 18, 2010

So Navy Times scribe Phil Ewing sat down with me the other day to discuss blogging, the ex-USS Iowa, naval history and blogging. The result was a Scoop Deck interview, entitled “Hanging’ with Dr. Hooper“. If you want to know why I do this, go pay Scoop Deck a visit. In the interview, we discussed […]

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