Saturday, August 27, 2011

MabeInAmerica

Comedian Tom Mabe will join Halli and MoJoe this Sunday at 5 pm ET / 2 pm PT on The Halli and MoJoe Show. Tom will give us a humorous look on how to handle telemarketers...plus we will have Hurricane Irene and your political updates.
Join us at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thehalliandmojoeshow

National Guard Responds to Hurricane Irene

By Air Force Tech. Sgt. John Orrell
National Guard Bureau

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 26, 2011 – The governors of seven states declared states of emergency today, prompting National Guard adjutants general to upgrade hurricane condition levels and relocate assets in preparation for Hurricane Irene, Guard officials said today.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York and Virginia declared states of emergency, allowing them to use state resources such as their National Guard, with about 101,000 Guard members ready to assist potentially affected East Coast states if called upon by their governors.

In North Carolina, the National Guard has about 40 personnel activated for state active duty and an Emergency Operations Center communicating with the governor and the state emergency management office.

Irene was 490 miles south of Cape Hatteras, N.C., and is anticipated to make landfall tomorrow.

North Carolina Guard officials said the Guard is ready to answer the call, as they have many times before.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell authorized about 300 Virginia Guard members to be activated yesterday. About 50 already have responded with the other 250 being alerted and expected to respond tonight.

“We will be staging personnel, vehicles and equipment to support missions such as high water transport and recovery, light debris removal and route clearance,” said Army Col. Gerald Catrett, director of operations for the Virginia National Guard.

“It is critical for us to have personnel in place and ready to respond before severe weather hits so we can rapidly respond when called,” he said.

Delaware is at hurricane condition three and will evacuate 13 aircraft, both Air and Army, to avoid damage, but no personnel evacuations are in the plans.

Army Maj. Gen. Francis Vavala, the adjutant general of the Delaware National Guard, said they are prepared to provide 200 Guard members within hours of request by the governor and up to 500 personnel can be called upon after 48 hours.

Connecticut, New Jersey and New York all are preparing for the worst and are ready to respond when called upon by their governors, Guard officials said.

In the wake of Irene, Puerto Rico was picking up the pieces and the National Guard had about 330 personnel activated to assist with the cleanup.

They are using landing craft and providing transportation for citizens with special needs, military equipment and heavy equipment to and from Vieques Island.

“This is the only National Guard [unit] that has this type of boat, and we are proud about that,” said Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Vicens, adjutant general of the Puerto Rico National Guard.

National Guard officials continue to monitor Irene.

NAVSUP's Global Logistics Support Holds an Assumption of Command Ceremony

By Kim Longstaff, Naval Supply Systems Command Global Logistics Support Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- NAVSUP Global Logistics Support (GLS) will hold an assumption of command ceremony aboard the USS Midway Museum in San Diego Aug. 31 at 3 p.m.

William E. Bickert Jr., NAVSUP GLS acting commander, will relinquish command to Rear Adm. Jonathan A. Yuen, a native of San Francisco.

Bickert, a member of the Senior Executive Service and a retired U.S. Navy Supply Corps captain with 24 years of active service, led the command since July 15 and will return to his position as NAVSUP GLS deputy commander.

Guest speaker Rear Adm. Mark F. Heinrich commanded the Navy's global logistics organization from June 2009 to July 2011. Heinrich is currently serves as commander, NAVSUP and chief of Supply Corps.

Yuen's last assignment was as deputy chief of staff for Logistics, Fleet Supply and Ordnance, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Prior to that tour, Yuen served as deputy commander and chief of staff of the Joint Contracting Command - Iraq/Afghanistan, headquartered in the international zone of Baghdad.

Heinrich, Bickert and Yuen served aboard USS Constellation (CV 64) during their careers. Heinrich and Yuen are both U.S. Naval Academy graduates.

NAVSUP GLS is comprised of more than 5,700 military and civilian logistics professionals operating from 110 locations worldwide. NAVSUP personnel provide an array of integrated global logistics and contracting services to Navy and joint operational units across all warfare enterprises and base supply functions at 70 shore entities.

A component of NAVSUP, headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pa., NAVSUP GLS is part of a worldwide network of more than 22,500 military and civilian personnel providing combat capability through logistics.

Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center Provides Engineering Support to Seabees

By Mason Lowery, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Public Affairs

PORT HUENEME, Calif. (NNS) -- The Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center's (NFELC) lead in-service engineer for the Seabees' Elevated Causeway System (ECLAS) - Modular returned to Port Hueneme, Calif., Aug. 19 after spending a week providing support to Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 2 in Little Creek, Va.

Knut Aakhus spent a week with ACB 2 Seabees to provide them engineering support as they trained to deploy the ELCAS.

The ELCAS is a portable causeway, or pier, that enables a task force to receive and ship supplies nearly anywhere in the world, without a usable seaport.

"ELCAS is almost half-way through its planned lifecycle, so it's pretty tried and true by now. But the sheer immensity of its scale doesn't allow it to be used very often, so we have to capitalize on every opportunity, make in-person observations about the health of the equipment and identify possible improvements," said Aakhus. "It's important that we give the users a chance to explain first-hand what they feel is working well and what isn't. Attending the training exercise is by far (the) best way to gather that sort of direct, thorough feedback."

NFELC provides in-service engineering and logistics support for the ELCAS system, which has a 40-year planned lifecycle. Created in 1992, the ELCAS is made from heavy steel and built in sections, or pontoons. The sections are held in place with lengthy steel pylons that are driven into the seabed with a crane. The causeway can support a task force's heavy equipment and containers they need to bring ashore during exercises and missions.

The Seabees realize the value of NFELC's engineering contributions to the ELCAS, said Capt. Joe Grealish, ACB 2 commanding officer.

"While the Seabees doing the actual construction are justified in taking pride and credit for their terrific work, it bears mentioning that we depend heavily on the brilliance and determination of the professionals at NEPO (Naval Facilities Engineering Command's Expeditionary Program Office) and NFELC to bring the ELCAS system into place," said Grealish.