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unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
January 25, 2013
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno on a recent visit to South Korea.
Odierno: Army Faces $17B Readiness Cuts; CH-47 MYP At Risk
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Published: January 24, 2013
CRYSTAL CITY: If Republicans and Democrats can't come to terms, the combination of sequestration, a year-long Continuing Resolution, and reduced Overseas Contingency Operation (OCO) funding will slam Army readiness accounts by $17-$19 billion, Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said this morning.
All told, he said, the legislative impasse puts at risk everything from military training to family support, from the civil service workforce to weapons programs like the multi-year procurement of the CH-47F Chinook helicopter.
"If we do not have a legislative solution that provides our leaders with the time and the flexibility to shape our force for the future, we will create a hollow force," Odierno said at an Association of the US Army breakfast. "We'll very quickly go to extremely low levels of readiness in the next six months throughout the Army."
~snip~
Like the other services, the Army is already beginning to cut costs in anticipation of a sequester and a year-long CR, including an immediate freeze on civilian hires.
--
How come Air Force types are getting 60 new stars? --> http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2013/01/air-force-general-officer-announcements-012413w/
Odierno: Army Faces $17B Readiness Cuts; CH-47 MYP At Risk
http://defense.aol.com/2013/01/24/army-readiness-may-be-slashed-17b-ch-47-myp-at-risk-says-odie/?icid=trending1Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno on a recent visit to South Korea.
Odierno: Army Faces $17B Readiness Cuts; CH-47 MYP At Risk
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Published: January 24, 2013
CRYSTAL CITY: If Republicans and Democrats can't come to terms, the combination of sequestration, a year-long Continuing Resolution, and reduced Overseas Contingency Operation (OCO) funding will slam Army readiness accounts by $17-$19 billion, Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said this morning.
All told, he said, the legislative impasse puts at risk everything from military training to family support, from the civil service workforce to weapons programs like the multi-year procurement of the CH-47F Chinook helicopter.
"If we do not have a legislative solution that provides our leaders with the time and the flexibility to shape our force for the future, we will create a hollow force," Odierno said at an Association of the US Army breakfast. "We'll very quickly go to extremely low levels of readiness in the next six months throughout the Army."
~snip~
Like the other services, the Army is already beginning to cut costs in anticipation of a sequester and a year-long CR, including an immediate freeze on civilian hires.
--
How come Air Force types are getting 60 new stars? --> http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2013/01/air-force-general-officer-announcements-012413w/
January 25, 2013
Few Army employees would escape furloughs
Posted by Eric Yoder on January 24, 2013 at 11:26 am
The Army is allowing only limited exceptions to its hiring freeze now underway, while few current employees would escape unpaid furloughs if sequestration hits.
The military services recently announced an immediate hiring freeze and outlined the potential for furloughs and other steps that might be needed if they must absorb automatic cuts of up to around 10 percent in many of their programs starting in early March. The Army is one of the government’s largest employers of federal workers, with about 280,000 civilian employees.
In a memo dated Tuesday, the Army manpower office said that no new “tentative or firm job offers of civilian employment will be extended after the date of this memorandum. Firm job offers extended prior to the date of this memorandum will be honored provided that the individual’s entry-on-duty date was established for a date certain.”
Also, internal recruitment actions limited to current Army employees “may continue with an area of consideration no wider than the local commuting area associated with the position in question.”
Few Army employees would escape furloughs
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/01/24/few-army-employees-would-escape-furloughs/?wprss=rss_politicsFew Army employees would escape furloughs
Posted by Eric Yoder on January 24, 2013 at 11:26 am
The Army is allowing only limited exceptions to its hiring freeze now underway, while few current employees would escape unpaid furloughs if sequestration hits.
The military services recently announced an immediate hiring freeze and outlined the potential for furloughs and other steps that might be needed if they must absorb automatic cuts of up to around 10 percent in many of their programs starting in early March. The Army is one of the government’s largest employers of federal workers, with about 280,000 civilian employees.
In a memo dated Tuesday, the Army manpower office said that no new “tentative or firm job offers of civilian employment will be extended after the date of this memorandum. Firm job offers extended prior to the date of this memorandum will be honored provided that the individual’s entry-on-duty date was established for a date certain.”
Also, internal recruitment actions limited to current Army employees “may continue with an area of consideration no wider than the local commuting area associated with the position in question.”
January 25, 2013
Navy orders cuts to begin now; thousands to be fired
By Bill Bartel
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 25, 2013
Navy flag officers and top executives were told Thursday to begin cutting expenses - laying off thousands of temporary civilian workers, reducing base operations and preparing to cancel maintenance work on more than two dozen ships and hundreds of aircraft.
Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, directed the reductions in a memorandum sent to senior Navy officials. The cuts are driven by uncertainty over how much a divided Congress and the White House might approve for the Pentagon's 2013 budget.
"We are making the following reductions, starting now, to ensure we can fund ongoing deployments and other mission-critical activities," the memo said.
The reductions do not specifically mention Navy operations in Hampton Roads, but they are expected to affect numerous private and military facilities in the region - as well as ships and aircraft. Southeast Virginia is home to multiple bases, including the Navy's largest, Norfolk Naval Station, and Norfolk Naval Shipyard, a government-owned facility in Portsmouth where thousands of civilians work on Navy vessels.
--
And today the Air Force announced that sixty (yup, 60) Air Force types are getting new stars --> http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2013/01/air-force-general-officer-announcements-012413w/
Navy orders cuts to begin now; thousands to be fired
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/navy-orders-cuts-begin-now-thousands-be-firedNavy orders cuts to begin now; thousands to be fired
By Bill Bartel
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 25, 2013
Navy flag officers and top executives were told Thursday to begin cutting expenses - laying off thousands of temporary civilian workers, reducing base operations and preparing to cancel maintenance work on more than two dozen ships and hundreds of aircraft.
Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations, directed the reductions in a memorandum sent to senior Navy officials. The cuts are driven by uncertainty over how much a divided Congress and the White House might approve for the Pentagon's 2013 budget.
"We are making the following reductions, starting now, to ensure we can fund ongoing deployments and other mission-critical activities," the memo said.
The reductions do not specifically mention Navy operations in Hampton Roads, but they are expected to affect numerous private and military facilities in the region - as well as ships and aircraft. Southeast Virginia is home to multiple bases, including the Navy's largest, Norfolk Naval Station, and Norfolk Naval Shipyard, a government-owned facility in Portsmouth where thousands of civilians work on Navy vessels.
--
And today the Air Force announced that sixty (yup, 60) Air Force types are getting new stars --> http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2013/01/air-force-general-officer-announcements-012413w/
January 25, 2013
USS Freedom (Reuters/U.S. Navy/Lockheed-Martin)
Pentagon admits: Navy's newest warship can't survive combat
Published: 17 January, 2013, 01:49
The Navy is sending one if its newest combat ships overseas, even though the Pentagon knows the ship's guns don’t properly function and is unsure whether the ship can even survive combat.
The USS Freedom, one of the newest class of Littoral Combat Ships, has long been unable to pass inspections. The ship, which was commissioned in 2008, was designed to fight massive enemy fleets and is said to be one of the fastest ships in the Navy. The USS Freedom cost the US government $670.4 million – but the expensive vessel has failed many of its inspections.
In May 2012, the Navy inspection report disclosed that the ship had failed 14 of 28 inspection tests, including an assessment of its fire-fighting systems, communications, electrical systems and forward propulsion. But even eight months later, the ship continues to have its problems.
J. Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, revealed his concerns in an annual study released by Congress on Tuesday. Gilmore believes the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is still “not expected to be survivable” in combat. He first expressed his concerns in 2011 when he predicted the ship would not survive “in a hostile combat environment.”
Pentagon admits: Navy's newest warship can't survive combat
http://rt.com/usa/news/combat-ship-navy-freedom-163/USS Freedom (Reuters/U.S. Navy/Lockheed-Martin)
Pentagon admits: Navy's newest warship can't survive combat
Published: 17 January, 2013, 01:49
The Navy is sending one if its newest combat ships overseas, even though the Pentagon knows the ship's guns don’t properly function and is unsure whether the ship can even survive combat.
The USS Freedom, one of the newest class of Littoral Combat Ships, has long been unable to pass inspections. The ship, which was commissioned in 2008, was designed to fight massive enemy fleets and is said to be one of the fastest ships in the Navy. The USS Freedom cost the US government $670.4 million – but the expensive vessel has failed many of its inspections.
In May 2012, the Navy inspection report disclosed that the ship had failed 14 of 28 inspection tests, including an assessment of its fire-fighting systems, communications, electrical systems and forward propulsion. But even eight months later, the ship continues to have its problems.
J. Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, revealed his concerns in an annual study released by Congress on Tuesday. Gilmore believes the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is still “not expected to be survivable” in combat. He first expressed his concerns in 2011 when he predicted the ship would not survive “in a hostile combat environment.”
January 25, 2013
F-35 fallout blamed for collapse of another military procurement program
By David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen January 24, 2013
OTTAWA — The fallout from the Conservative government’s F-35 purchase is being blamed for yet another military equipment project going off the rails.
Public Works and Government Services Canada rejected all the bids from companies for a project to outfit soldiers with a futuristic system of sensors that would better allow them to communicate and find their way on the battlefield.
The $316-million Integrated Soldier System Project, or ISSP, was set to announce in December the winning firm that had been selected for the first phase of the program. But with all bids rejected, the project will now be restarted.
Some company representatives involved in the procurement say it could have been easily salvaged, but bad blood between the Defence Department and Public Works over the F-35 fighter jet debacle prevented that from happening.
Canada: F-35 fallout blamed for collapse of another military procurement program
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/fallout+blamed+collapse+another+military+procurement+program/7867386/story.htmlF-35 fallout blamed for collapse of another military procurement program
By David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen January 24, 2013
OTTAWA — The fallout from the Conservative government’s F-35 purchase is being blamed for yet another military equipment project going off the rails.
Public Works and Government Services Canada rejected all the bids from companies for a project to outfit soldiers with a futuristic system of sensors that would better allow them to communicate and find their way on the battlefield.
The $316-million Integrated Soldier System Project, or ISSP, was set to announce in December the winning firm that had been selected for the first phase of the program. But with all bids rejected, the project will now be restarted.
Some company representatives involved in the procurement say it could have been easily salvaged, but bad blood between the Defence Department and Public Works over the F-35 fighter jet debacle prevented that from happening.
January 24, 2013
Air Force blames wrong airport landing on fatigue, human error
By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 23, 2013
Updated: January 23, 2013 - 6:37 AM
TAMPA -- The crew of a military cargo jet landed at the wrong airport in Tampa in July, in part, because of fatigue, complacency and a lack of flight discipline, an Air Force investigation has found.
It wasn't until the cargo jet was halfway down the runway at Peter O. Knight Airport, a small flight center on Davis Islands, that the crew realized it had missed the intended landing site, 4.6 miles to the southwest at MacDill Air Force Base, according to an 11-page "Hazardous Air Traffic Report."
The report, obtained by the Tribune under the federal Freedom of Information Act, does not address why the C-17A Globemaster III was flying from Italy to MacDill, nor does it identify who was calling the shots.
But in an e-mail to the Tribune on Tuesday, the head of U.S. Central Command at MacDill, Marine Gen. James Mattis, acknowledged he was on the plane.
Air Force blames wrong airport landing on fatigue, human error
http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2013/jan/23/5/air-force-explains-errant-c-17as-visit-ar-614036/Air Force blames wrong airport landing on fatigue, human error
By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 23, 2013
Updated: January 23, 2013 - 6:37 AM
TAMPA -- The crew of a military cargo jet landed at the wrong airport in Tampa in July, in part, because of fatigue, complacency and a lack of flight discipline, an Air Force investigation has found.
It wasn't until the cargo jet was halfway down the runway at Peter O. Knight Airport, a small flight center on Davis Islands, that the crew realized it had missed the intended landing site, 4.6 miles to the southwest at MacDill Air Force Base, according to an 11-page "Hazardous Air Traffic Report."
The report, obtained by the Tribune under the federal Freedom of Information Act, does not address why the C-17A Globemaster III was flying from Italy to MacDill, nor does it identify who was calling the shots.
But in an e-mail to the Tribune on Tuesday, the head of U.S. Central Command at MacDill, Marine Gen. James Mattis, acknowledged he was on the plane.
January 24, 2013
Minesweeper to stay on reef two more weeks
Published By United Press International
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A U.S. Navy minesweeper will probably remain stuck on a Philippine reef for two more weeks because it is too damaged to move on its own, a Navy official says.
The USS Guardian became grounded on Tubbataha Reef a week ago, Stars and Stripes reported Thursday.
The 224-foot vessel has several breaches in the hull and "will have to be lifted off onto another ship or barge to leave the area," Rear Adm. Tom Carney said during a news conference with Philippine military representatives.
The ship is too badly damaged to be towed, he said.
on edit to add: Pics of USS Guardian --> http://blogs.defensenews.com/intercepts/2013/01/latest-pics-minesweeper-guardian-still-stuck-on-the-reef/
USS Guardian: Minesweeper to stay on reef two more weeks
http://www.upiasia.com/Top-News/2013/01/24/Minesweeper-to-stay-on-reef-two-more-weeks/UPI-29671359037228/Minesweeper to stay on reef two more weeks
Published By United Press International
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A U.S. Navy minesweeper will probably remain stuck on a Philippine reef for two more weeks because it is too damaged to move on its own, a Navy official says.
The USS Guardian became grounded on Tubbataha Reef a week ago, Stars and Stripes reported Thursday.
The 224-foot vessel has several breaches in the hull and "will have to be lifted off onto another ship or barge to leave the area," Rear Adm. Tom Carney said during a news conference with Philippine military representatives.
The ship is too badly damaged to be towed, he said.
on edit to add: Pics of USS Guardian --> http://blogs.defensenews.com/intercepts/2013/01/latest-pics-minesweeper-guardian-still-stuck-on-the-reef/
January 24, 2013
The Navy's Anzio guided missile cruiser is shown on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1998, while cruising in the Mediteranean sea.
Navy can't scrap ships, but can't fix them either
By Dianna Cahn
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 22, 2013
NORFOLK
The Navy is stuck with a number of poorly performing ships it wasn't permitted to scrap but can't afford to fix because Congress hasn't resolved its budget stalemate.
Four Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers were on the Navy's decommissioning list for 2013 because repairing and upgrading them would cost billions of dollars. But Congress objected to the cuts and instead authorized money to maintain three of them.
~snip~
Congress failed to agree on a 2013 budget and instead placed government spending under a continuing resolution - a Band-Aid measure that keeps the government running at 2012 budget levels, with no new appropriations.
That leaves the Navy responsible for keeping three cruisers operational, including the Norfolk-based Anzio, without setting aside money to maintain or repair them, much less do necessary upgrades. As a result, the Anzio and two other cruisers - the Vicksburg, based in Mayport, Fla., and the Cowpens, in Yokosuka, Japan - are operating at diminished levels and with minimal staffing, able to do some local tasks, but not considered suitable for deploying overseas.
Navy can't scrap ships, but can't fix them either
http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/navy-cant-scrap-ships-cant-fix-them-eitherThe Navy's Anzio guided missile cruiser is shown on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1998, while cruising in the Mediteranean sea.
Navy can't scrap ships, but can't fix them either
By Dianna Cahn
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 22, 2013
NORFOLK
The Navy is stuck with a number of poorly performing ships it wasn't permitted to scrap but can't afford to fix because Congress hasn't resolved its budget stalemate.
Four Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers were on the Navy's decommissioning list for 2013 because repairing and upgrading them would cost billions of dollars. But Congress objected to the cuts and instead authorized money to maintain three of them.
~snip~
Congress failed to agree on a 2013 budget and instead placed government spending under a continuing resolution - a Band-Aid measure that keeps the government running at 2012 budget levels, with no new appropriations.
That leaves the Navy responsible for keeping three cruisers operational, including the Norfolk-based Anzio, without setting aside money to maintain or repair them, much less do necessary upgrades. As a result, the Anzio and two other cruisers - the Vicksburg, based in Mayport, Fla., and the Cowpens, in Yokosuka, Japan - are operating at diminished levels and with minimal staffing, able to do some local tasks, but not considered suitable for deploying overseas.
January 24, 2013
Air Force general calls sex assaults a 'cancer'
By By Richard Lardner on January 23, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) - Likening sexual assault in the Air Force's ranks to a cancer, the service's top officer resolved Wednesday to tackle the problem by screening personnel more carefully and putting an end to bad behaviors like binge drinking that can lead to misconduct.
But Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, underscored the challenge by telling a House oversight committee that the service recorded a disturbing number of reports of sexual assault last year even as it worked to curb misconduct in the wake of a sex scandal at its training headquarters in Texas. Dozens of young female recruits and airmen at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio were victimized by their instructors who sexually harassed, improperly touched or raped them.
Most difficult, Welsh said, is transforming a culture in which victims are often reluctant to report what happened because of guilt, shame or fear they won't be believed.
"Why, on what was undoubtedly the worst day of a victim's life, did they not turn to us for help?" Welsh said during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. "We are missing something fundamental in the human-to-human interaction that will allow them to feel safe enough to come to us and report."
Air Force general calls sex assaults a 'cancer'
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-01-23/air-force-calls-number-of-sex-assaults-appallingAir Force general calls sex assaults a 'cancer'
By By Richard Lardner on January 23, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) - Likening sexual assault in the Air Force's ranks to a cancer, the service's top officer resolved Wednesday to tackle the problem by screening personnel more carefully and putting an end to bad behaviors like binge drinking that can lead to misconduct.
But Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, underscored the challenge by telling a House oversight committee that the service recorded a disturbing number of reports of sexual assault last year even as it worked to curb misconduct in the wake of a sex scandal at its training headquarters in Texas. Dozens of young female recruits and airmen at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio were victimized by their instructors who sexually harassed, improperly touched or raped them.
Most difficult, Welsh said, is transforming a culture in which victims are often reluctant to report what happened because of guilt, shame or fear they won't be believed.
"Why, on what was undoubtedly the worst day of a victim's life, did they not turn to us for help?" Welsh said during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee. "We are missing something fundamental in the human-to-human interaction that will allow them to feel safe enough to come to us and report."
January 24, 2013
Report: New vets show signs of Gulf War illness
By Kelly Kennedy USA Today Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:19 AM
WASHINGTON -- Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be suffering from the 20-year-old set of symptoms known as Gulf War illness, according to a new report released Wednesday by the federal Institute of Medicine.
“Preliminary data suggest that (chronic multisymptom illness) is occurring in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well,” the report says.
This may be the first time that the symptoms suffered by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have been linked to veterans of the current wars, which started in 2001 and 2003, said Paul Rieckhoff, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
It also means the Department of Veterans Affairs’ definition of who qualifies for Gulf War veterans’ benefits should include those who served in Afghanistan, said Paul Sullivan, a 1991 Gulf War veteran and founder of Veterans for Common Sense.
Report: New vets show signs of Gulf War illness
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/20130124report-new-vets-show-signs-gulf-war-illness.htmlReport: New vets show signs of Gulf War illness
By Kelly Kennedy USA Today Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:19 AM
WASHINGTON -- Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be suffering from the 20-year-old set of symptoms known as Gulf War illness, according to a new report released Wednesday by the federal Institute of Medicine.
“Preliminary data suggest that (chronic multisymptom illness) is occurring in veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well,” the report says.
This may be the first time that the symptoms suffered by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War have been linked to veterans of the current wars, which started in 2001 and 2003, said Paul Rieckhoff, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
It also means the Department of Veterans Affairs’ definition of who qualifies for Gulf War veterans’ benefits should include those who served in Afghanistan, said Paul Sullivan, a 1991 Gulf War veteran and founder of Veterans for Common Sense.
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