Proactively “From the Sea”; an agent of change leveraging the littoral best practices for a paradigm breaking six-sigma best business case to synergize a consistent design in the global commons, rightsizing the core values supporting our mission statement via the 5-vector model through cultural diversity.
Although the cruiser program “represents the very heart of the future surface Navy,” Sullivan repeatedly mentioned items that would not be discussed at the conference, including details of the super-secret Analysis of Alternatives for the ship, or discussions of the cruiser’s hull form, radar or missiles.
Then why spend all the money for the conference? I think this sums it up for me.
“The longer the Navy delays the CG(X), it looks to others like they’re waiting for the next administration to take office,” Ron O’Rourke, chief naval analyst for the Congressional Research Service, said during a panel discussion following Sullivan’s address.
“There’s a road out there to the CG(X), but at present it is a decidedly unclear one,” O’Rourke said, speaking at the conference in his personal capacity.
The delay in the analysis, O’Rourke opined, isn’t due to some kind of paralysis.
“The Navy, I think, has its reasons for holding back, even if it won’t share those reasons with others.”
O’Rourke decried the Navy’s ambiguous positions on its shipbuilding programs.
“This is my 25th year of tracking Navy programs,” he told the audience of several hundred engineers. “I can’t remember a time when the issue of surface combatant procurement appeared as unsettled as it does now.”
Trying to figure out what the Navy is thinking, O’Rourke said, is “Kremlinology.”
Leadership.
The Cluebat of History™ is a tough teacher. All the "Transformational" chickens are roosting. Revolutionary always has a higher risk than evolutionary - now you are seeing what happens when you wind up on the short end of risk.
Oh what a glory of glories - finally Che has done something good in his life. LMAO.
The rescuers came wearing Che Guevara T-shirts and logos declaring them delegates of some obscure organization.
They didn't look much like an international humanitarian brigade. And they weren't.
They were the Colombian intelligence agents who pulled off ''Operation Checkmate,'' one of the greatest military capers in Colombia's history -- a mission that would finally liberate the world's most famous hostage from the hands of leftist rebels in the jungle.
Without firing a single shot.
What an incredible military operation. Truly demonstrates the first class nature of the Colombian military and intel services. Read it all,
Betancourt said the hostages thought they were being picked up by some kind of international humanitarian organization to be taken to the FARC high command.
''Our hearts broke. More captivity. Another transfer,'' Betancourt said in a dramatic press conference minutes after embracing her mother. ``Every time we heard helicopters my pulse would race. Run, hide, gather your things. But this helicopter was white. It was exciting.
''It was surreal,'' Betancourt said, describing the bizarre white helicopter and the strangely dressed men who came for her. ``They had logos that certified they were a delegation of who-knows-what.''
She and the others were handcuffed as they boarded the chopper, which she described as ''humiliating.'' Once aboard, something happened so fast Betancourt missed it.
But then she saw ''César'' -- the ''cruel despot'' who guarded her -- subdued on the floor of the helicopter. The pilots turned and said the words she and the others had waited so long for: ``We are from the army. You are free.''
Any time you get a chance to kick Commies in the nuts is a good day.
Colombia said its military rescued former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. military contractors and 11 other hostages from leftist rebels on Wednesday.
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos says no one was hurt in the operation in eastern Colombia.
He said army commandos captured rebels manning a security ring around the hostages and got them to persuade their comrades to turn over the captives, without any loss of life.
Santos says the other 11 hostages freed were Colombian soldiers and police.
Betancourt, the Americans Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, and the other hostages were taken to a military base.
In Paris, Betancourt's son Lorenzo Delloye-Betancourt called her release after six years of captivity, "if true, the most beautiful news of my life."
There was no answer at the homes of American families of the three U.S. hostages.
On of the great untold stories of the last decade - the transformation of the Colombian government into a vibrant functioning democracy, the long march to purging the drug corruption out of its national system, and the professional development of its military.
I guess you have to follow the lead dog of your sled.
First there is Sen. Obama (D-IL) speech on patriotism (sic) where he made the goofy comment to the effect, "I won't question anyone's patriotism, so don't you dare question mine." What a weird attempt of auto-inoculation. There are a lot of things out there to throw at Sen. McCain (R-AZ), I know I have thrown them in the past, but not being patriotic isn't one of them.
Obama is open to that charge (though I won't make it) because of who he hangs out with from Pastor Wright to Weatherman terrorist Ayers to the gaggle far-left supporters.
He does this while his house General smears McCain's military service. Now Sen. Webb (D-VA) has bumbled into the issue.
"I think what we really need to work on over the next four, five months, and it goes back to the speech that Sen. Obama gave [Monday] and this little fight that I've been watching and that is, we need to make sure that we take politics out of service," Webb said. "People don't serve their country for political issues."
He continued: "And John McCain's my long-time friend, if that is one area that I would ask him to calm down on, it`s that, don't be standing up and uttering your political views and implying that all the people in the military support them because they don't, any more than when the Democrats have political issues during the Vietnam War. Let's get the politics out of the military, take care of our military people, or have our political arguments in other areas."
Huh? When has McCain not been calm on this? Calm is an understatement; almost mute is more like it. McCain doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. And since when has he been seen "...standing up and uttering your political views and implying that all the people in the military support them because they don't, any more than when the Democrats have political issues during the Vietnam War."
What? My 8th Grade English teacher couldn't even diagram that sentence, and we are supposed to understand what the Webb is shooting for? I think what Webb is saying is, well, I don't know.
You don't need to understand really. What is going on is quite clear. The Democrats are trying to tear down McCain's strongest wall - his service in the military. Service, BTW, few if any living can match. This will, in the end, backfire on them - and what is frustrating them, Webb's statements to the contrary, is that McCain isn't rising to the bait. Most of the response is from the new media.
A quick review of the Active Duty military around show me that regardless of what they may think of McCain - almost everyone agrees that Wesley and his ilk are totally off the mark, and well out of bounds. That is probably reflected in the general public as well. As for Webb, his comments are mostly incoherent, disjointed from reality, and mostly smell like damage control. Especially coming from him, this is just too rich.
Let's get the politics out of the military...
Smearing the military with politics is how Webb got elected - and how he bully-boys everyone - that is his bread and butter. That is, however, perfectly in line with what Obama's "patriotism" speech was all about. Use a weapon all you want, and then blame your opponent for using the same one - even if the opponent hasn't used it.
I don't think I can call Webb the "h" word - but someone else can in comments for me if they want. I won't delete them.
This parallel universe attack McCain's military record is a cheap tactic, and doomed to failure.UPDATE: What happens when you start hanging out with Sailors? Well, ahem, Maggie will let you read about it.
For much of its term, the Supreme Court muted last year's noisy dissents, warmed to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s vision of narrow, incremental decisions and continued a slow but hardly steady move to the right. ... But as justices finished their work last week, two overarching truths about the court remained unchanged: It is sharply divided ideologically on some of the most fundamental constitutional questions, and the coming presidential election will determine its future path.
A victory by the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, would probably mean preserving the uneasy but roughly balanced status quo, since the justices who are considered most likely to retire are liberal. A win for his Republican counterpart, John McCain, could mean a fundamental shift to a consistently conservative majority ready to take on past court rulings on abortion rights, affirmative action and other issues important to the right.
I think more Americans want judicial minimalism - which is what a "right" thinking judge will get you. Obama? How do you say Justice Clinton in Spanish? Point McCain.
....and this time she won't be limping to war on her one good boiler....
The first LHA-R, LHA-6, will be called USS AMERICA - bringing a strong name to a strong ship.
Now, don't get all itchy thinking AMERICA should only be on a CVN. LHA-6 is not your father's Amphib.
LHA 6, the first ship of the LHA(R) program, would be able to operate and support a detachment of 20+ F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. LHA 6 featurs several aviation capabilities enhanced beyond previous amphibious assault ships. These include an enlarged hangar deck, realignment and expansion of the aviation maintenance facilities, a significant increase in available stowage for parts and support equipment, and increased aviation fuel capacity. LHA 6 would be multi-functional and versatile, modifying existing Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) spaces to allow for flexible mission dependent reconfiguration. LHA 6 would also have increased cargo magazine capacity, better survivability, and greater service life margins. LHA 6 would use the same gas turbine propulsion plant, zonal electrical distribution and electric auxiliary systems being designed and built for LHD 8, the final of the Wasp class amphibious assault ships. ... The LHA(R) A/V (Aviation Variant) does not have the larger hull of the former LHA(R). The Plug Plus Variant was 77 ft longer & 10 ft wider than the LHD. With the LHA(R) A/V the Well Deck is gone, the Lower Vehicle Deck is gone, and there are no LCACs. LHA(R) Aviation Variant is a new design same footprint size as the existing LHD class ships. It has an expanded Hangar with 2 High Hat areas. The Cargo/Ammo Magazines are contained within an "Armored Box" similar to CVN design for ships survivability purposes. There is AWSE Work Center & stowage space, OHE stowage, and Upper Vehicle stowage (this was out but came back).
The LHA replacement modifies the LHD design to maximize support for the V-22, the CH-53, and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, with adequate service margins for growth. The biggest change brought about in the Global War on Terror is LHA(R). The aviation specific variant of the LHA(R) has no well deck, a monumental decision that denotes a cultural change. The Marines were seen as bringing the ACE (Aviation Coordination Element) increasingly back to sea.
Ok, no well deck, but we can live with that.
Why do I like the class so much? Simple - Vince Lombardi shipbuilding. It is evolutionary not revolutionary. It will make a shadow pier-side, low risk, helps the Marines break things and kill people - and not just make pretty PPT slides, though it does that quite well.
And yes, I could call it a small CV or CVS - it is the right size.
General Characteristics: LHA-6
Displacement:-Approximately 44,971 long tons full load Length:-------844 feet (257.3 meters) Beam:---------106 feet (32.3 meters) Draft:--------23 feet Propulsion:---Two marine gas turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total brake horsepower, two 5,000 horsepower auxiliary propulsion motors Speed:--------20+ knots Crew:---------1,059 (65 officers) Load:---------1,687 troops (plus 184 surge) Armament:-----Two RAM launchers; two NATO Sea Sparrow launchers (with Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM)); two 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts; seven twin .50 cal. machine guns Aircraft:-----A mix of: F-35B Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) STOVL aircraft; MV-22 Osprey VTOL tiltrotors; CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters; UH-1Y Huey helicopters; AH-1Z Super Cobra helicopters; MH-60S Seahawk helicopters
Just to compare, remember the USS CORAL SEA (CV-43)?
General characteristics: Midway-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:-45,000 tons Length:-------968 ft (295 m) Beam: --------113 ft (34 m) waterline Draft:--------35 ft (11 m) Propulsion:---Geared steam turbines 212,000 shp Speed:--------33 knots (61 km/h) Crew:---------4,104 officers and men Armament:-----Original armament: ----------------84 × Bofors 40 mm guns, ----------------68 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon ----------------18 × 5"/54 caliber Mark 16 guns --------------Refit armament: ----------------16 Sea Sparrow ----------------2 close-in weapons systems Armor:--------Belt: 7.6 inch Deck:---------3.5 inch Aircraft carried: Up to 130 (World War II) 45-55 (1980s)
As a side-note, perhaps because the politicians have hijacked the naming of CVN and SSN to the great detriment of our Navy's traditions - maybe the AMERICA Class can be a way we can bring back some of our great names. I have a start for them - let's name the Six Frigates and see what is available.
UNITED STATES: the first one was both a USS and a CSS, victory killed the second, USAF killed the third, Clinton killed the second - let's try again. Available.
CHESAPEAKE: How many Senators would support this? VA, MD, DE, even PA? Available. Sold.
We could also think about ESSEX (sic), HORNET, CORAL SEA (again) ... and on ... and one .... anything but a USS BILL CLINTON ... oh, wait, that will be CVN-79.
One way or another, a few light Carriers with conventional power will be a good thing. Don't tell the egg-heads, but shhhhhhh - there are advantages.
You can see her on GlennBeck as well. And here is what Jack Kelly has to say,
The sign posts also indicate who Mr. McCain should choose for his running mate. No Republican can better make the case for drilling than Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and no governor has fought harder against corruption, especially in her own party.
So go to ANWR, Mr. McCain. Embrace Sarah Palin there. You'll have to eat some crow. But crow doesn't taste so bad when it's served on the White House china.
