Current Events in the Americas

Since the question of US Navy carrier air wing composition comes up again and again, and it has been suggested numerous times that some kind of guide would be helpful to scenario writers, and we're all about aiming to please, here's my contribution to the effort. Posted here as an FAQ so its easy for all of you prospective scenario writers (c'mon, you gotta be out there somewhere): Its an excellent resource, so I would look here first: Go Navy USN CARRIER AIR WINGS circa 2001 US Navy Aircraft Carriers and Assigned Carrier Air Wings – US Atlantic Fleet Enterprise (CVN 65) CVW-8 Tailcode AJ Type Serial VF-41 Black Aces F-14A AJ1XX VF-14 Top…

From AOL Defense [excerpt]

From Navy Times ‘We still have a little fight left’ Carrier leaves Norfolk for the last time, heads to Boston By Mark D. Faram - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Feb 27, 2007 12:18:24 EST Aboard the USS John F. Kennedy —The aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy didn’t look like a ship about to be decommissioned as it left Norfolk, Va., on Sunday. And that’s just the way the crew wanted it. Pulling away from the pier and heading out of Hampton Roads into open water, one “Big John” crew member was happy to have quieted the rumor mill. “We heard the waterfront rumors, and many here expected us to limp in, leaking fluids and looking like a garbage scow,” sai…

In the wake of the Ft. Hood tragedy, I keep hearing about the need for diversity in the military. As a resident of San Diego, I've heard "diversity" used to justify everything from campus riots to illegal immigration, and I'm rapidly growing tired of the term. It's been close to 40 years since my Recruit Training experience, but it seems to me that diversity was one of the things the training attempted to eliminate, or at least minimize. Wasn't one of the points of shaving our heads, sticking us in uniforms, and generally treating us all like dogs to force us to forget our differences and bond as a unit? Isn't that what we want in a fighting unit? Or has political…

From DefenseTech [excerpt]

RADM Horton Relieved Other punishments (Both links Information Dissemination).

Lexington Institute on "The Dumbest Weapons Decision of the Decade" Posted 19-Sep-2006 09:36 Defense Industry Daily With all of the recent C-17 related purchases by NATO, Canada, et. al., a reader drew our attention to a recent piece by military analyst Loren Thompson at the Lexington Institute think-tank in Washington, DC. Pulling no punches, it's titled "The Dumbest Weapons Decision of the Decade." People from other countries often underestimate the role of think tanks in Washington, because there are no comparable players in their own countries. That's a big mistake. American academia's growing irrelevance means that the policy agendas and talking points of …

From DefenseNews Posted 05/15/07 17:37 U.S. Army General Picked to be ‘War Czar’ By WILLIAM H. MCMICHAEL An active-duty three-star Army general will become coordinator of the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush said Tuesday. Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, the director of operations for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, will be “the full-time manager for the implementation and execution of our strategies for Iraq and Afghanistan,” Bush said in a statement released by the White House. As such, Lute will serve as a direct link between commanders in the field, ambassadors Ryan Crocker and William Wood and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and wil…

Lots of great pics of modern aircraft and a few warbirds too, at this Ares link.

From DefenseNews Posted 08/29/07 16:17 Lockheed Martin Delivers 100th F-22 to U.S. Air Force STAFF REPORT Lockheed Martin delivered the 100th F-22 Raptor to the U.S. Air Force on August 29 in a ceremony at the company’s factory in Marietta, Ga. The aircraft — Air Force serial number 05-0100 — will be assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, according to a Lockheed media release. During the ceremony, Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne signed the DD-250 form accepting the aircraft on behalf of the U.S. government. The 90th Fighter Squadron is expected to receive its full complement of 20 F-22s by fall 2008, according to the r…

From Jane's [excerpt]

1st Osprey squadron to deploy By Trista Talton - Staff writer Posted : Thursday Apr 12, 2007 11:13:40 EDT JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Commandant Gen. James Conway is expected to announce Friday the first deployment of an MV-22 Osprey squadron, according to a Pentagon release. Until then, officials are remaining mum on where Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263, based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., will deploy. The squadron is expected to deploy late summer or early fall this year. In early March, the squadron wrapped up several weeks of integration training with Camp Lejeune-based Marines. Part of the training was to get the Osprey more exposure to…

From Navy News, obtained at Military.com August 27, 2008 Navy News|by Mass Comm. Spc. 3rd Class Coleman Thompson VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Command of patrol coastal ships USS Tempest (PC 2) and USS Monsoon (PC 4) was returned to the U.S. Navy from the U.S. Coast Guard during a ceremony held at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek Aug. 22. Tempest has been on loan to the Coast Guard since December 2005, and Monsoon was on loan since October 2004. Both ships were transferred back to naval control during a ceremony that exemplified the interoperability of the two services. "The Navy and the Coast Guard have a great working relationship," said Cmdr. Stephen Coughl…

2018 Nuclear Posture Review (pdf)

25,000-ton cruiser under consideration Analysis of alternatives sees nuclear BMD vessel By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jul 23, 2007 19:01:31 EDT Under pressure from the Navy to develop a new cruiser based on the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class hull form, and from Congress to incorporate nuclear power, a group of analysts working on the next big surface combatant may recommend two different ships to form the CG(X) program. One ship would be a 14,000-ton derivative of the DDG 1000, an “escort cruiser,” to protect aircraft carrier strike groups. The vessel would keep the tumblehome hull of the DDG 1000 and its gas turbine power plant. The oth…

3 Programs, 3 Sets of Risks By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS Defense News Each of the U.S. Navy’s new ship designs brings its own set of potential problems: å The Carrier: The CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford design features a number of new elements over the previous Nimitz-class carriers, including a new hull, new reactor plant and redesigned flight deck. A new dual-band radar is being developed — the size of which is key to a much smaller island that enables new flight deck operation patterns — and the EMALS magnetic launch system represents a radical improvement. The Navy first planned to put off installation of the new launch system until later ships in the class, but it decided …

From Defense Aerospace E-3 Sentry Celebrates 30 Years in Air Force's Fleet (Source: US Air Force; issued April 4, 2007) TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --- It all started 30 years ago -- March 23, 1977, to be exact -- when the first E-3 Sentry touched down on Oklahoma soil. The arrival of aircraft tail number 75-0557 began a new era for the 552nd Airborne Warning and Control Wing, and for air surveillance. To celebrate the occasion, wing officials conducted an arrival ceremony the next day and invited the base and local community leaders to help welcome the new aircraft. The story of the E-3 goes back to April 1975, when a systems integration demonstrati…

313-Ship U.S. Navy Fleet Plan Sent to Congress By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS DefenseNews The long-awaited 30-year shipbuilding plan of Adm. Mike Mullen, U.S. Navy chief of operations, is now official. The strategy to build a 313-ship fleet was sent to Congress Feb. 7 after having been endorsed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The official plan mirrors earlier draft versions that were reported on by Defense News. It commits the Navy to a force of 11 aircraft carriers — dropping to 10 in fiscal 2013 and rising to 12 ships beginning in 2019. The submarine force dances around a median of 48 boats, from a high of 55 subs in 2018 to a low of 40 in 2028, before r…

From DefenseNews 33 Major Bases on the Block in Biggest BRAC Round Yet By GORDON TROWBRIDGE The Pentagon asked on Friday to shut down 180 installations across the country in the first round of base closings since 1995, and the fifth since 1988. This round is the biggest yet, with recommendations that fall heaviest on National Guard and Reserve facilities, commercial office space and a handful of large, politically sensitive bases. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the moves, if approved, would unfold over six years starting next year and would save almost $50 billion over 20 years. “Our current arrangements, designed for the Cold War, must give w…

3D interactive tour of the destroyer USS Zumwalt here