WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! ARTICLE 4 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rescue Readiness: U.S. Navy about to Retire One of Two Top Rescue Subs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: In light of the recent Russian submarine rescue debacle, the US is reducing its own rescue capabilities. I hope the Pentagon will ensure that we can get to our submariners if something happens to their boat. Excerpt from the NY Times, August 18, 2000. *********************************************************** By Christopher Drew Although the tragedy with Russia's Kursk submarine has placed an urgent spotlight on the need for rescue craft, the United States Navy is planning to retire one of its two best undersea rescue vehicles at the end of August in a cost-cutting move that could make it harder to save stricken American submariners... Rear Adm. Craig R. Quigley, a Pentagon spokesman, confirmed that one of the mini submarines, the Avalon, is to be retired at the end of this month. The decision was made long before the Kursk sank last weekend, and Navy officials said they had no plans to reconsider. The Navy plans to build a new generation of rescue vehicles in the next five years. The officials said they could get help from other Western nations if a crisis taxed their other rescue capabilities. But critics said there could be pressure from Congress to keep the Avalon in use until the new equipment is ready. After the Kursk disaster, Norman Polmar, an independent Navy analyst, said, "I think the decision demands a re-evaluation." The Avalon and its sister craft, the Mystic, have been based in San Diego for nearly 30 years but have never been needed for a rescue operation. The United States has lost only two nuclear-powered submarines, the Thresher and the Scorpion. Both sank in the 1960's in such deep waters that there was no chance of saving anyone. As a result, even many submariners take little comfort in the idea that the vehicles were available. The Avalon and the Mystic theoretically can rescue 24 men at a time at depths of up to 2,000 feet, while in most areas of the oceans, a stricken submarine would plunge tens of thousands of feet, disintegrating along the way. Both craft operate under their own battery power and can maneuver themselves onto the hatches of sunken submarines to rescue the crew. Under the Pentagon's plan, the Mystic will remain in use until 2005, when the next rescue devices are scheduled to be completed. But the rescue craft require periodic overhauls, and critics worry about what might happen if a submarine were to sink when the Mystic is not available. The Navy's backup would be two old diving bells similar to some tested by the Russians this week, though American officials say they could also seek help from Britain and other countries. Some Navy veterans also fear that the next generation of rescue equipment may be less capable in some ways. No one questions that the Avalon and the Mystic are aging and need to be replaced... ============================================================= ARTICLE 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not Ready, SIR!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: The Pentagon proclaims we're "readier than ever!"...our grunts in the field tell us the TRUTH. A frontline report from a deployable light infantry division...another TF Smith in the making? *********************************************************** By a concerned 25Th Infantry Division Grunt Our unit was kicked out of the barracks about 2 weeks ago and all things inside have been declared contaminated with asbestos inside the barracks. This includes all weapons and other MTOE equipment. The leaders were forced to find places for all soldiers to live, but we could not get them hotel rooms while space was made available in the barracks. They were forced to stay in other soldiers' rooms and their buddies' houses without any compensation. Time and again we were told that there wasn't enough money to do anything else. Yet, things went on like there was no change for the "PPs" like helicopter rides and things as such. The biggest thing that happen is that the Brigade assumed Division Ready Force (DRF-1) with two battalions worth of equipment to include weapons unavailable. There is no plan to actually tell the commanding general that we are unprepared to assume the mission or anything like that. Life goes on here as normal with all people just ignoring the fact that we are not prepared to do anything. We are going to the National Training Center (NTC) in Sept and will not live fire because the previous battalion commander and brigade commander did not plan for platoons to meet all readiness requirements--which includes certification for NTC. If we don't complete ranges during load out of the unit, we will become non-deployable until qualifications are re-established on all weapons. The light at the end of the tunnel is that our battalion commander is honest and reported things as they are in our un-prepared state. It seems as though those above him choose to ignore the serious state of this unit. The "PPs" will tell you that we don't really have a mission and we will never go anywhere in less than 30 days so why should we be ready for deployment. Well, I guess they have all forgotten about the Korean War in which no one expected the North Koreans to attack... Recently another unit's Live Fire Exercise was cancelled indefinitely because it was so screwed up. One of the Observer Controllers (OC) said that he wouldn't let the unit live fire even after two weeks of training. Total lack of leadership, planning, training and resources! =============================================================== ARTICLE 6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Combat Readiness - Rounds out of Impact! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: The growing number of training mishaps is clearly an indicator of our declining readiness. We all remember the Ft. Hood incident in which state of the art artillery fired into the private property of Mr. Shoaf. Compiled from multiple sources, here is an update. Besides several key players in the chain, the Army bears some responsibility for the incident. The unit had just returned from Bosnia and was desperately catching up on training proficiency for an upcoming NTC rotation. Maybe someone should have told the Truth: "Sir, we're not yet ready!" **************************************************************************** >From multiple sources The unit that fired the rounds (11x High Explosive/ 1x Illumination) was 3-82FA in the 1st Cavalry Division, a Paladin equipped unit. They had recently returned from Bosnia and were in a train-up cycle prior to deploying for NTC. They were executing a platoon level qualification. A week or two prior to this, they had executed gun crew level certification. Incident findings: One gun was oriented on an azimuth of fire of 6000mils when it was supposed to be on an azimuth of fire of 2000mils. This gun was responsible for firing all 12 rounds into Mr. Shoaf's property over a period of 11/2 hours. This gun was 100-150 meters away from a second gun of the same platoon that was oriented correctly and firing into the impact area. Several secondary checks and safety procedures were violated, not just during this incident, but habitually by this unit. The unit was outright dangerous. It was only a question of time when something serious would happen, involving this firing unit. Indications are that there was a leadership failure of the highest order, from the battalion commander on down. During the incident, the battalion commander and executive officer, who were supposed to be the senior Observer/Controllers, were at the operations center receiving a briefing. The battery commander, first sergeant and platoon leader were all on the firing point that night during the incident but none of them visited the gun, checked on it, or verified that it was firing in the right direction which is a cardinal sin in the artillery branch. The fire direction officer (FDO) did not compute safety limits for the howitzer and did not have a secondary check of the firing data he sent down to the gun. The battery commander, platoon leader and FDO all knew that this howitzer was operating degraded (no digital communications) but none of them knew the procedures to follow for degraded ops. The howitzer section chief knew he was firing off his back deck (opposite to where his vehicle had been traveling) and called that fact into the FDO who told him to fire the missions anyway. In a common sense scenario, the battery commander, platoon leader and FDO should have been relieved. They all should have known better, and should have taken greater safety precautions based on the units level of training. Instead, as far as SFTT was informed, only the section chief was relieved. Several others, including brigade commander, battalion commander and battery commander supposedly received general officer letters of reprimand. The battery commander's case was probably helped by the fact that his father is a general officer, supposedly the highest-ranking artilleryman in the Army. Mr. Shoaf was paid, but he has filed a lawsuit in excess of seven figures. It doesn't seem that the Army was trying to hide anything and but it is clear that the unit in question was NOT ready for combat. ============================================================ ARTICLE 7 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Navy - a Saga of two Squadrons sharing one Plane and a lack of Spare Parts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed.: Hmm...what did the SecDef and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs report about readiness? *********************************************************** By a Navy flier who is leaving service After my squadron got back from the cruise after the last one I did, it traded all 4 of its planes with a squadron in Japan. The guys in Atsugi needed to be upgraded to the latest version of the plane, so instead of getting new ones, they got our "slightly used" (only 3 deployments on 'em) airplanes. We then promptly turned in the old Japan birds to be scrapped or put in the bone yard. For six months, two E-2C squadrons in Pt. Mugu shared one, that's one (1) airplane between the two of them. With the lack of maintenance funding and spare parts, the combined pull of two squadrons, who should have had a total of eight flying aircraft between the two of them, couldn't get the parts to make that one airplane fly for almost the entire time they shared it. Another tidbit along those lines: The E-2C Hawkeye and C-2R Greyhound both use a propeller assembly manufactured by Hamilton Standard, who has been making propellers for the US military since before WWII. Both aircraft use the same prop, which is unique for its fiberglass composition, size, weight, etc. Hamilton Std stopped making those several years ago, and the supply of spares has been steadily shrinking. There is a new prop design for an 8-bladed j-hook prop that will do wonders for the plane, especially in weight, ease of maintenance, safety, fuel efficiency, and vibration (big problem in the E-2). But that prop is behind schedule and probably won't hit the fleet for several more years. The kicker in this little story is who is at the top of the priority list for receiving remanufactured props. Now you'd think it would be the USN Hawkeye squadrons who defend the fleet, participate in counter drug missions for months on end, and are called on to provide 24 hour radar coverage to our naval and air forces in hazardous areas of the world...But its not. The top priority for that dwindling supply of propellers are America's foreign customers who fly the E-2, which includes Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, and France. Now I wonder where our priorities really are. =========================================================== ARTICLE 8 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Air Force Mentoring - cultivate Experience ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ed: Good mentors are taking care of their people. They are preparing them for the mission and combat. *************************************************************************** By Thomas L. Carney, ex-USAF Recently I had dinner with an Air Force colonel whom I used to work when he was a major 20 years ago. I had not seen him in 17 years, even though we had kept in touch by phone calls, letters or email. This gentleman was and still is a true leader. He understood that true loyalty is a two way street. His whole focus was two fold: accomplishing the mission and taking care of his people. We talked about the times we were together, and things that have happened since then, what has happened to people that we know and worked with back then, normal stuff. Then he told me about something he had never told me about: when he a young wet-behind-the-ears lieutenant, his commander had assigned him to a good NCO and told him flat out, "Learn from and listen to him." He told me about how this E-6 had shown him the ropes, how to get things done right, how to take care of tough situations and other things that ROTC and college didn't teach him. At the end of it telling me about this man he said with a heavy tinge of regret, "It sure doesn't happen like that anymore." I read your article you wrote of August 14 and it sure slammed home for me. I was a young, hot headed, go for broke enlisted man who ran without thinking. He had my boss and also the NCOIC of the work center rein me in and teach me the ropes just like his commander did for him many years ago. Mentoring is for everyone. OCS, Basic Training, ROTC and the academies can only teach what's on paper. Unfortunately many so-called "professors" and instructors have never or rarely been in the field. I cannot describe the value of what these men who had a lot more experience did for me but I know that it made me a better airman and a better man. One thing I would like to see at least for the enlisteds in the Air Force is that all instructors need to have at least 50% of their career consist of being in the field. When I was at Keesler AFB, MS most of my instructors had less than 25% and some 0% of their careers in the field. Air Force Communications Command established their own school over Air Training Command's objections to get people ready for the field because ATC was just "teaching the test," not teaching maintenance of communications equipment. I am sure situations like this exist in the other services. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! ****************************************************************************** ******************* A vote for Bush or Gore is a vote to continue Clinton policies! A vote for Buchanan is a vote to continue America! Therefore a vote for Gore or Bush is a wasted vote for America! Don't waste your vote! Vote for Patrick Buchanan! Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey... 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