This Day in Naval History - Oct. 18

From the Navy News Service

1812 - U.S. sloop of war Wasp captures HM brig Frolic.

1859 - U.S. Marines reach Harper's Ferry, Va., and assault the arsenal seized by John Brown and his followers.

1867 - USS Ossippee and USS Resaca participate in the formal transfer of Alaska to U.S. authority at Sitka and remain to enforce law and order in new territory.

1944 - 3rd Fleet carrier aircraft attack Japanese ships in harbor and land forces around Manila.

1968 - In Operation Sea Lords, the Navy's three major operating forces in Vietnam (Task Forces 115, 116 and 117) are brought together for the first time to stop Vietcong infiltration deep into South Vietnam's Mekong Delta.

Today in the Department of Defense, Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn have no public or media events on their schedules.

A National Capital Region flyover of Arlington National Cemetery occurs at 10:05 a.m. EDT with four FA-18's.

U.S-Turkish Alliance in Good Shape, Gates Says

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2010 – The U.S.-Turkey alliance is built on fundamental common interests, and the defense partnership between the two nations is as close as it has ever been, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.

Gates was the keynote speaker at the American Turkish Council Convention at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The United States and Turkey are allies that have fought together in Korea, Kosovo and Kabul, and remain allies even when they disagree, he said.

“Even as our views and approaches on some issues may differ, we are allies, we share fundamental interests in the region, and our goals remain the same: A respect for sovereignty and rule of law; economic growth and development; and enduring stability and security,” Gates said.

Turkey is a stalwart NATO ally and has 1,700 troops in Afghanistan. Gates thanked Turkey for leading the International Security Assistance Force in the past and for extending its command of the Kabul Regional Command for another year. Gates also complimented Turkey for its engagement with Iraq. He said Turkish leaders regularly work with Iraqis “to reinforce that nation’s emerging democracy, encouraging national reconciliation initiatives and working to rebuild defense and security ties with the Iraqi Security Forces.”

The secretary reaffirmed the U.S. pledge to confront the PKK -– a Kurdish terrorist group that has targeted Turkey, as well as its officials and military.

“In response to the rise in PKK terrorist attacks against Turkish military forces and civilians over the past year, the U.S. has increased its efforts to crack down on PKK criminal enterprises, enhanced its intelligence support, and reached out to our European allies to encourage them to freeze PKK assets in Europe,” he said.

Gates also touched upon the need for NATO reform, and urged all NATO nations to support the new strategic concept that heads of state will discuss and vote on at next month’s Lisbon Summit in Portugal.

The threats have changed over the years, Gates said, and NATO must change too. “Reflecting this strategic reality, NATO is now pursuing new missions far from its original geographic boundaries –- whether in the hills of the Hindu Kush or off the coast of Somalia,” the secretary said.

NATO is changing operationally, Gates said. However, like the Defense Department, he added, the alliance requires structural reform.

“The alliance has long had too many committees, too many headquarters and too much bureaucracy overseeing too few deployable and properly resourced military capabilities,” he said. “To some degree, the institutional reforms being pursued at NATO reflect many of the changes underway in our own Department of Defense -– all for the purpose of reducing overhead and shifting more resources to our fighting forces.”

Gates also wants the NATO allies to agree to take up the phased adaptive approach to missile defense. Rogue states, such as Iran, can launch missiles against NATO allies, he said.

“Two-and-a-half years ago in Bucharest, NATO’s heads of state and government recognized the need for an alliance-wide response to the threat of ballistic missiles in the hands of those who might seek to intimidate or harm NATO,” he said. “We resolved then to develop options that could extend coverage to all European allied territory and populations, a resolution echoed at subsequent high-level meetings.”

The phased adaptive approach, Gates said, offers a territorial missile defense system based on proven technologies that can be adapted to meet future dangers and protect a steadily increasing swath of NATO territory.

“As the threat from ballistic missiles grows, so will the scope and effectiveness of NATO’s defenses against them,” he said. “Our object is the fullest-possible coverage of NATO allies and, over time, to provide coverage for all of NATO.”

The first phase becomes operational next year, Gates said, with sea-based SM-3 interceptor missiles deployed to areas where the threat is greatest. The second phase, due in 2015, involves placing upgraded, ground-based SM-3s in Romania as well as at sea.

“Phases three and four will deploy even more advanced interceptors, including a second land-based interceptor site in Poland,” he said. “Overall, this approach provides the alliance with a great deal of flexibility to protect against the range of threats posed by ballistic missiles, and to adapt as new threats develop and old ones recede.”

Gates said he wants to keep the U.S.-Turkish relationship on track.

“The United States and Turkey have wisely remembered our friendship during times of agreement and disagreement, and it is incumbent for us to continue to do so,” he said. “There is too much at stake for us not to do so –- for our prosperity, for our security, and for the credibility of our alliance.”

General Officer Announcements

The chief of staff, Air Force announced today the following assignments:

Brig. Gen. Richard T. Devereaux, who has been selected for promotion to major general, commander, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, Air Mobility Command, Fort Dix, N.J., to director, operational planning, policy and strategy, deputy chief of staff, operations, plans and requirements, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Brig. Gen. William J. Bender, director, warfighter systems integration, Office of Information Dominance and Chief Information Officer, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Pentagon, Washington, D.C., to commander, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, Air Mobility Command, Fort Dix, N.J.

Missing Vietnam War Soldiers Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Army Staff Sgt. Robert S. Griffith, of Hapeville, Ga., will be buried on Oct. 23 in Fairburn, Ga.  The group remains of the other two soldiers which could not be individually identified -- Army Staff Sgt. Melvin C. Dye, of Carleton, Mich., and Sgt. 1st Class Douglas J. Glover, of Cortland, N.Y., will be buried at a later date.  The men were aboard a UH-1H Iroquois helicopter on Feb. 19, 1968, when it was shot down by enemy fire in Laos.  They were involved in an attempt to extract a long-range reconnaissance patrol in the mountains of Attapu Province.  Three other American service members survived the crash and were rescued, but three Vietnamese Montagnards did not survive.

Several hours after the crash, a team was dispatched to survey the location and reported seeing remains of at least five people.  Enemy activity prevented remains recovery at that time.  The following month a second team was sent to the crash site but found no remains.

In 1995, a joint U.S.-Lao People’s Democratic Republic team traveled to the recorded grid coordinates for the crash site but found no evidence of a helicopter crash.  The team then surveyed a second location in the area where they found helicopter wreckage and human remains.  In 2006, a follow-on team was not able to resurvey the same site due to severe overgrowth and time constraints.  Another team excavated the location in late 2007 recovering human remains, wreckage and military-related equipment.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command used dental x-rays in the identification of Griffith’s remains.

Since late 1973, the remains of 938 Americans killed in the Vietnam War have been accounted for and returned to their families with 1,708 service members still missing.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, call 703-699-1169 or visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo.

Remarks by the Honorable Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy at the 235th Anniversary Celebration

Battleship NORTH CAROLINA

Wilmington, NC

Thank you all so much. This is a catapult we’re on. And it keeps bending and buckling and I’m afraid that one of us is going to be catapulted off.  Thank you so much for that welcome. Thank you, particularly to our veterans who are here today. Thank you, Mike McIntyre, for that generous introduction.

I’m going to talk a little bit about what Congressman McIntyre has done for the Navy later. But I did have to share one story. He’s pretty proud of the fact that Mountain Dew started in his hometown. And we went down to the Pax [Patuxent] River Naval Air Station to watch the first flight – or the first supersonic flight – of the Navy’s Green Hornet F-18 that were flying on biofuels. And Congressman McIntyre went with us.

And the Navy gives me a wonderful ride. We’ve got a great aircraft. There’s only one design flaw and that is the cup holders are about that big. So if you don’t hold onto your drink when you take off, it’s going to get all over you. I reminded Congressman McIntyre of that as we headed out. And he very beautifully picked up his drink as we took off. On the way back, he and I both forgot. And I got to wear an entire glass of Mountain Dew to my next meeting which was at the White House.

So we were laughing about that today as we were taxiing out. And I had a glass of iced tea and was talking about it and everything. And we took off and I put it down too quick and poured the iced tea all over me.  So this is the Mike McIntyre memorial drink-spilling aircraft that we have in the U.S. Navy. I’m not flying with you anymore.

To everybody here, General Jensen, thank you for being here from Camp Lejeune, Captain Bragg, directors of the Battleship North Carolina Memorial, Dave Echevarria and the members of the Navy League here in Wilmington. Thank you for putting this on and thank you for this great weather. I just got back yesterday from a trip to six countries in eight days. And I flew back yesterday from Greenland. We stopped at Mons and Brussels and Belgium and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. We got to go down and see the Sailors of the USS Taylor in La Coruña, Spain. It was the ship’s last port visit before coming home after six months at sea. And I spent the last day and-a-half of the trip in Greenland talking with them about security issues in the high north.

One thing that was an absolute constant in the Baltics and Greenland and NATO and at

SHAPE was the recognition of a need for more energy independence. That’s why one of the things I’m doing in the Navy is trying to make this a focus. Strategically, we buy too much energy from people who may not have our best interests at heart and tactically, getting a gallon of gasoline to our frontline unit costs too much, takes too long, and is too dangerous. The Army did a study, and found that for every 24 convoys we lose a Marine or a soldier.  We’ve got to change the way we use and produce energy. One of the things I do want to do is express my appreciation to Congressman McIntyre for is his service on both agriculture and armed services. He took the time to learn about the need for energy independence. We went to see it in action, as I told you, down in Patuxent River. And he’s been a strong supporter of what we’re trying to do in the Navy and what we’re trying to do with energy. As well as a strong supporter - as is the entire state of North Carolina - for all the bases, the installations that we have here.

Today is a particularly poignant day to be talking about the Navy. One decade ago, 10 years ago today, the USS COLE was attacked in the Gulf of Aden in Yemen as the world we lived in began to change. I want to take just a moment to recognize the sacrifice of those 17 Sailors aboard the COLE who were killed that day. As well as the service of the tens of thousands of Sailors and Marines around the world and in Afghanistan, Iraq, and those forward deployed and those who have worn the uniform of our country; those who have answered the call, those who have made the sacrifice for America.

More than anything else, holding this event on the anniversary of the COLE bombing reminds us of the need for constant readiness, constant preparedness. The Sailors on the COLE didn’t wake up that morning thinking they were going to war. But when war came, it came to them. They reacted with courage, they reacted with devotion to duty, and they reacted with loyalty to their shipmates. Those are the same traits that have been the hallmark of the United States Navy for 235 years.

The spirit of the men and women of the COLE is the very same shown by those who once walked these decks. And I can’t tell you how many memories coming to a ship like this brings back to me. I served on a World War II era Cruiser – it had the same teak decks, the smells, the sights. And I can feel the notion that generations of Sailors holystoned these decks – and I think of the people who served here – and the Sailors and the Marines who have walked the decks of every ship named NORTH CAROLINA since the beginning of our country.

The story of our Navy and the stories of those who have gone down to the sea in ships, since the birth of the republic, lives on in the steel of ships like this NORTH CAROLINA, and every ship we sail today. The first NORTH CAROLINA, which there was a model of coming in, was authorized by Congress in 1816 hard on the heels of the War of 1812 – it was a 100-gun wooden ship. That first NORTH CAROLINA was a result of the lessons that we learned in that war, the experience we gained from the construction, the battle records of those first six frigates.

That NORTH CAROLINA, like this one, was one of the most powerful ships of its kind, capable of standing toe- to-toe with any ship in the world. We saw the ironclad NORTH CAROLINA, and then at the beginning of the 20th century, the third NORTH CAROLINA. And one that spoke to the birth of a new Navy; a Navy more ready to engage the world and one ready and eager to develop and embrace new technologies.

The cruiser NORTH CAROLINA witnessed the birth of naval aviation, and in 1915 conducted the first ever underway demonstration of a steam catapult when it launched a Curtiss Model F into the bright blue skies off the coast of Pensacola.  And then came this NORTH CAROLINA. One of the last classes of ships built in

accordance with the limitations imposed between the two wars, authorized in ‘37 and commissioned in early ‘41 with war looming on the horizon.

This NORTH CAROLINA, exactly like its predecessors, incorporated the latest technologies and innovations of naval architecture. She was built with four main engine rooms to improve its watertight integrity. She was welded instead of riveted. She was one of the first ships equipped with the Navy’s newest technology – something called radar.

When the war finally came, NORTH CAROLOINA headed west. I realize that most of you know this story better than I do, but here’s the Cliffs Notes version: NORTH CAROLINA arrived in the Pacific four days after Midway and from that point she participated in virtually every major action of the Pacific.  Her campaign across the Pacific was the map of that war: Guadalcanal, the Solomons, the Gilberts, the Marshalls, Truk, Tinian, Saipan, Guam, Philippines, Okinawa. Over the course of that war she was attacked by enemy planes and kamikazes countless, countless times. She was hit by a torpedo that should’ve sunk her, but her crew and damage control parties saved her. She fired tens of thousands of rounds in support of Marines onshore. She ended the war anchored in Tokyo Bay proudly displaying 15 battle scars.

Today the name NORTH CAROLINA and the legacy that this ship earned lives on. Just two years ago, right here in Wilmington, we commissioned a new NORTH CAROLINA. This one, a Virginia-class submarine, bears all the history and actually some of the pieces of this ship and its forbearers. She and her crew are already living up to this namesake – to the honor of the name – and representing this city, this state, this nation, proudly and with distinction.

In 235 years the Navy has been in constant motion – just like the oceans we sail. In 235

years, we have led the United States and the world in technological innovation and the ability to meet and to overcome any challenge, any obstacle, and every fight that we have faced. In 235 years we have grown, we have adapted, and we have changed when necessary. We’ve done it to address the ever-shifting requirements of a fluid and complex world.  You can see in the history of the five ships named NORTH CAROLINA in the different propulsion forces they used: first wind, then coal, then oil and now nuclear. You can see it in the very service that each one has. When they were commissioned, the Navy and the nation didn’t know with certainty what the future would bring. Our nation didn’t know what conflicts or what conditions would be required of its ships 10 years or 20 years or 30 years in the future.

We had to build ships then and we have to build ships now that are flexible and able to do a lot of things. Ships like the submarine NORTH CAROLINA.

As Congressman McIntyre pointed out the destroyer GRAVELY is being commissioned here next month. And we have to trust the integrity, the ingenuity, and the creativity of the most important thing we have in the Navy, our Sailors, our Marines. We trust them to make sure that we continue to be the most formidable expeditionary fighting force the world has ever known.

I’ve been Secretary almost a year now. I’ve visited with tens of thousands of Sailors and Marines around the world on every ship and every submarine and every squadron and every MEF [Marine Expeditionary Force] and every mobile unit, every SEAL [Sea Air and Land] team and every SEABEE [Construction Battalion] battalion. I’ve seen the same devotion to duty and the readiness to give everything in service of our country. For that we owe them a huge debt.  We owe them our very existence. As our judge and minister said in his eloquent invocation, they are what allowed us to live the way we do.

Less than 1 percent of our country today serves in uniform. And it’s a fact that we don’t recognize enough and we don’t thank the people who are willing to do it enough. But on this occasion, the Navy’s birthday, we get to say thanks to all of those who have served, to all those who have made the Navy what it is, to their families who have supported them and sacrificed for them back home, and most importantly to those standing on the back of Poseidon - those Sailors and Marines today on station all around the world.

Thank you all, Wilmington, and Godspeed.

President Obama signs Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010

Written by: Christopher Lagan

Earlier today, President Obama signed into law the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010. The signing of this bill gives the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Bob Papp, authorities to make changes and operate the Coast Guard to better serve the public.

“The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010 provides us with authority to enhance the safety of U.S. ports and waterways, acquisition assistance to acquire state-of-the-art ships and aircraft to patrol America’s waters, and tools to promote individual readiness, including improvements to our family housing and child development centers,” said Adm. Papp  in an ALCOAST on the subject adding, “I am particularly pleased with the modernization authority—it will allow us to finish our organizational realignment and enhance our ability to meet the high demand for our services.”

Finishing organizational realignment of the service means using the best processes to ensure Coast Guard men and women have the training, tools, and leadership necessary to safely and successfully fulfill our missions of maritime safety, security and stewardship.

Additional authorities granted within the Act validate the Coast Guard’s decision to take control of the process to replace aging cutters and aircraft, providing our men and women in uniform with state of the art platforms to conduct Coast Guard missions.

Finally, and significantly, the Act bolsters the Coast Guard’s authorities when it comes to combating smugglers of people and narcotics attempting to violate U.S. territorial waters.

“I could not be more pleased with this Authorization Act and want to thank the Administration and Congress for their support,” said Papp. “The Act will help us remain always ready well into the future.”

Today in the Department of Defense, Monday, October 18, 2010

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates delivers remarks at the American-Turkish Council's 29th Annual Conference on U.S. -Turkish Relations at 12:30 p.m. at The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.  For more information email atc@the-atc.org .

Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn has no public or media events on his schedule.

Today in the Department of Defense, Sunday, October 17, 2010

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn have no public or media events on their schedules.

Paying tribute to the troops: Capital Cutters perform at Walter Reed

Written by: Christopher Lagan

Post written by LTJG Ryan White, Coast Guard Community Relations

The all-volunteer jazz band Capital Cutters paid tribute to recovering war heroes at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with a special performance earlier this week.

Capital Cutters is made up of a variety of Coast Guard employees – truly embodying a joint effort, involving active duty, reserve, auxiliary, civilian and retired members.  Their leader, Steve Wolf, is a retired lieutenant commander and 1976 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

The ten-piece jazz band set up shop in the main cafeteria at Walter Reed and played various sets through lunch.  Their sounds proved to be magnetic, drawing passing medical staff and family members from the hall as they listened to Zoot Suit Riot and Go Daddy-O.

Army Captain Rohul Amin, a medical resident at Walter Reed listened to the Capital Cutters as he ate lunch. “People show appreciation in different ways.  This is a more tangible way. Visitors are always appreciated by wounded warriors,” said Amin.

A Walter Reed physician’s assistant, Ivan Cabonell, agreed.  He was one of the many passersby who took a moment out of his day to appreciate the music. “It’s a refreshing sound,” said Cabonell.

Between sets, members of Capital Cutters visited wounded warriors recovering at the hospital.  As the band made its way from the comfortable setting of the cafeteria, they entered the ward, with the foreign scent of disinfectant.  They approached, with some hesitation, the room of Tim Hall, a young soldier who served with the 173rd Airborne.  What they found in the room is a testament to the fine men and women serving in the U.S. military.

Hall was hit by a mortar while serving in Afghanistan.  He lost both of his legs due to the injuries he sustained during the attack.  While Tim Hall’s body may have been broken lying in his hospital bed, his mind, and his spirit were strong.  Hall was joined by his mother and father from Nevada as they monitored his progress.  He laughed, joked and answered the group’s many questions about his service to our nation.

It was clear from the patients the band interacted with that the medical staff of Walter Reed truly care for the heroes who pass through the doors of the hospital each week.  The medical professionals are sometimes overlooked in the work they do.  Cabonell said that the Capital Cutters music “helps the staff as well.”

The Capital Cutters returned to the cafeteria to gather their gear to depart.  During the day they were approached by the hospital’s chaplain to possibly visit again, during the holidays.  While not always in the spotlight, injured service members spend time away from family and friends.  The holidays can make that especially tough.  The Capital Cutters and many others have been willing to do what they can to make each day a little better.

The Capital Cutters groups was joined by Portia Davidson from the Coast Guard Office of Diversity, April Kaufman,  radio personality and Southern Shore Chapter of the American Red Cross board member and Lee Darby, producer and publisher of the Jersey Girl Publishing Corporation.  Kaufman and Darby work closely to help get the word out regarding support for wounded warriors.

Today in the Department of Defense, Friday, October 15, 2010

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates is traveling.

Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn has no public or media events on his schedule.

Missing WWII Airman Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Arthur F. Parkhurst, of Evansville, Ind., will be buried on Oct. 16 in Dayton, Ohio.  On March 12, 1945, Parkhurst and five other crew members aboard a C-47A Skytrain departed Tanauan Airfield on Leyte, Philippines, on a resupply mission to guerilla troops.  Once cleared for takeoff there was no further communication between the aircrew and airfield operators.  When the aircraft failed to return, a thorough search of an area ten miles on either side of the intended route was initiated.  No evidence of the aircraft was found and the six men were presumed killed in action, their remains determined non-recoverable.

In 1989, a Philippine national police officer contacted U.S. officials regarding a possible World War II-era aircraft crash near Leyte.  Human remains, aircraft parts and artifacts -- including an identification tag belonging to Parkhurst -- were turned over to the local police, then to U.S. officials.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command used dental comparisons and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA -- which matched that of Parkhurst’s brother and sister -- in the identification of his remains.

At the end of the war, the U.S. government was unable to recover and identify approximately 79,000 Americans.  Today, more than 72,000 are unaccounted-for from the conflict.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, call 703-699-1169 or visit the DPMO Web site at www.dtic.mil/dpm

Float plan helps save six lives

Search and rescue…. one of the Coast Guard’s oldest and most recognizable missions. On an average day, the Coast Guard rescues 13 lives and in 2009 the Coast Guard responded to more than 23,000 SAR cases and saved 4,747 lives.

On Sunday evening, one such SAR case lasted nearly 24 hours, covered about 3,200 square miles, and ended in the successful rescue of six men.

When Sharon McDade called the Coast Guard to report her husband, son and four other men were overdue from a fishing trip off the coast of New Jersey, she was able to provide the necessary information to help Sector Delaware Bay SAR planners put together a coordinated search effort. Aircraft from Air Station Atlantic City, N.J., Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and Air Station Cape Cod, Mass., along with the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Finback and rescue boat crews from Station Barnegat Light, N.J., began an aggressive search.

By midday Monday, watchstanders had worked with family members to positively identify the voice of one of the fishermen on a vague mayday radio call heard by Sector Southeastern New England. Watchstanders correlated McDade’s overdue boat information with the mayday call to confirm they were looking for the 32-foot boat, Black Magic, with six men onboard.

“We knew we had a genuine case with a good chance of survival,” said Senior Chief Bud Holden, an operations specialist and the Command Duty Officer on watch at Sector Delaware Bay when the initial call came in.

Without knowing what happened to the men and having only a general understanding of where they were planning to fish, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Nearly 24 hours after the search began on one of the last legs of their search pattern, the crew of the HH-6035 rescue helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City caught the glimmer of a flashing light. As the crew investigated the source of the light, they found it was coming from the Black Magicwith all six men safely onboard. The boat had suffered mechanical problems and drifted about 120 miles east of Atlantic City.

Thanks to the men’s foresight to put together a float plan, a family member’s concerned phone call, the efforts of skilled Coast Guard SAR watchstanders and the cooperation of several Coast Guard rescue assets, the men are were safely rescued.

“The fact that these fishermen told their families where they were going, their route and intended fishing grounds really helped in search efforts,” said Holden. “Not to mention that they stuck with their plan and did not divert to other areas. This information was critical in search planning efforts, ultimately saving the lives of these men.”

CGC Finback, homeported in Cape May, N.J., with the help of the 47307 Motor Life Boat crew from Station Atlantic City, brought the Black Magic and the six men to Station Atlantic City Tuesday afternoon where they were reunited with their families.

While this SAR case ended well, it is still a cautionary tale.

“People running that far off shore need to ensure they have some sort of communication that does not require power, like an EPIRB,” said Holden. “A correctly registered EPIRB provides the Coast Guard with position information and can take the search out of search and rescue.”

Gates, NATO Defense Ministers Discuss New Strategic Concept

By John D. Banusiewicz

American Forces Press Service

BRUSSELS, Belgium, , Oct. 13, 2010 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and his fellow NATO defense ministers are here to discuss myriad issues in advance of next month’s summit meeting of the alliance’s heads of state in Lisbon, Portugal.

While en route here from Hanoi, Vietnam, where he attended an expanded defense ministers meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Gates told reporters traveling with him that tomorrow will be a busy day for NATO’s North Atlantic Council, but that the alliance’s mission in Afghanistan won’t be part of the agenda.

“Obviously, Afghanistan will figure prominently in Lisbon, but not tomorrow,” he said. “The work that we have cut out for us in Brussels tomorrow really is about trying to move forward and reach final agreement on a lot of the other aspects of the summit that are important in terms of the future of the alliance.”

Reaching agreement on NATO’s new strategic concept -- with assured security and dynamic engagement at its center -- will be at the top of the list, the secretary said. Also, he added, the council will try to agree on committing to various “critical capabilities” -- among them missile defense, capabilities to counter improvised explosive devices, cyber defense, and aircraft command and control systems.

“There are about 10 of these capabilities that we believe we need to commit to as guidance for the defense planning process,” Gates said. “They wouldn’t all be locked in stone, but they certainly should be things that the alliance should focus on.”

There’s a proposal to slim down the alliance’s command structure to realize “significant efficiencies,” Gates said. NATO has 14 agencies, he explained, and a proposal is on the table to trim that number to three.

“With all these reform efforts and efforts to bring efficiencies, our position, of course, will be -- just like we’re doing in Washington –- that any savings realized as a result of these efficiencies be plowed back into these critical capabilities that I talked about,” Gates said.

Amid reports that some allies are planning defense cuts, Gates said he knows they must deal with the issue based on their own internal dynamics, but he’s worried that any such cuts would cause the alliance to look toward the United States to cover any gaps created.

“At a time when we’re facing stringencies of our own, that’s a concern for me,” he said.

On missile defense, Gates said he believes broad support exists for the phased, adaptive approach to missile defense in Europe that calls for increasingly capable sea- and land-based missile interceptors and a range of sensors to defend against the ballistic missile threat from Iran.

“The linkage with national missile defense, so that both territories and populations are covered, is really more a matter of software –- of connecting the command and control of the different national capabilities,” he said. That would require only a modest financial outlay beyond what already has been approved –- perhaps 85 million to 150 million euros over 10 years, he added.

A defense ministers’ session of the North Atlantic Council will take place tomorrow morning, and they’ll be joined in the afternoon by the alliance’s foreign ministers for a joint session of the council. The foreign ministers will hold a separate meeting among themselves after that.

Gates: Resources Must Match Words in NATO Strategic Concept

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2010 – Deeds and resources must match words as NATO formulates its strategy agreement for the future, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in Brussels today.

Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton discussed the new Strategic Concept that NATO leaders will debate and adopt at the Lisbon Summit in November. The two leaders made their statements during a closed-session meeting of defense and foreign ministers.

Both secretaries praised the draft proposal submitted by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

“The secretary general’s draft does a good job of capturing the complexity and uncertainty of today’s security environment, and strikes the proper balance between security concerns both in and out of area,” Gates said.

The new concept is the first update of NATO’s long-term security strategy since 1999.

Clinton said the concept “must express the alliance’s enduring commitment to protect freedom and security through collective defense, crisis management and cooperative security.

“[The concept] must demonstrate our renewed determination to meet emerging security challenges,” she continued. “And it must explain to our publics how NATO will continue to deter and defend against all threats to peace, prosperity or democracy –- including terrorism, proliferation and cyber attack.”

The draft concept strikes the right balance in disarmament and deterrence, NATO’s relations with Russia and the need to enhance NATO’s capacity for conducting civilian-military operations, the secretary of State said.

The concept will require resources to develop the capabilities needed, Gates said. “We will have to make sure —- at Lisbon —- that the words in the Strategic Concept will be matched by agreement to invest in the capabilities necessary to turn those words into reality,” he said. “I therefore very much welcome the alliance’s agreement to fund the critical capabilities we have identified as a matter of priority.”

Two emerging threats addressed by the draft concept are the threats from ballistic missiles and cyber attacks, Gates said.

“It is vitally important that we not only talk about these new threats in Lisbon, but act to counter them by agreeing to acquire the capabilities necessary to collectively defend against them,” he said.

The ballistic missile threat exists and will grow, Gates said, noting that NATO nations must agree to counter the threat.

“For the past year, ever since President Obama announced our new approach to countering the missile threat to Europe, the (NATO) alliance has worked on territorial missile defense. The studies have been done, the data are well-known and the affordability is clear," Gates said. "We can protect ourselves from ballistic missiles affordably, and over time increase protection over all parts of NATO Europe, consistent with the principle of the ‘indivisibility of security.’ It is time for a decision.”

The alliance also needs to bolster its cybersecurity defenses, Gates said. “Our vulnerabilities are well-known, but our existing programs to remedy these weaknesses are inadequate,” he said. “The new draft highlights this underappreciated new threat, though the language could be sharpened further.”

Gates urged the ministers to review NATO’s cybersecurity policy after Lisbon as a matter of priority. “We need to identify what more must be done to protect our vital information systems,” he said. “And then we need to agree to fund the capabilities that are necessary to protect these systems.”

The world is experiencing tough economic times, Gates said, but he urged NATO ministers in Brussels to be careful not to “hollow out” the alliance during restructuring efforts.

“The substantial reforms discussed by defense ministers this morning should, in time, produce savings that must be reinvested in new capabilities,” he said. “This is how we will keep the alliance modern, strong, effective and relevant.”

2010 Proves Banner Year for Recruiting

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2010 – The military services had a banner year for recruiting and retention in fiscal 2010, Defense Department officials said here today.

The services met their overall numbers, and exceeded qualitative goals, said Clifford Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.

The Army had the highest recruiting goal with 74,500 new soldiers, and it recruited 74,577. The Navy had a goal of 34,180 sailors and recruited 34,140. The Marine Corps recruited 28,041 young men and women on a goal of 28,000. The Air Force recruited 28,493 airmen, topping a goal of 28,360.

All of the reserve components made their fiscal-year goals, with the exception of the Army National Guard. The Army Guard intentionally missed its recruiting goal in order to stay within end-strength limits.

The services also set quality records with 100 percent of the recruits in the Army and Marine Corps having a high school diploma. In the Air Force, the percentage with at least a high school diploma was 99 percent and in the Navy, 98 percent.

However, the services are not taking this success for granted, Stanley said.

“Recruiting is always going to be a challenge,” he said. “It’s still a challenge.”

While the high unemployment rate has helped spur recruiting, it was not the biggest reason young men and women decided to join the military, Stanley said.

“As we look at where we are right now in terms of the challenges facing us, it’s more to it than the economy,” he said. “To a person -- serving their nation, doing it with honor, being patriots -- seems to be the recurring theme that comes up every time we look at and talk to those who are wearing a uniform today, and we’re still proud to have that in our active and our reserve components, and our Guard.”

Stanley said the propensity of Americans to enlist is higher than it has been in the past. Still, he said, there are difficulties. Only three of every 10 Americans in the prime recruiting group of 17 to 24 years of age are even qualified to enlist, he added. Many candidates, he said, are disqualified for medical, educational or conduct reasons. Also, he added, the military and private industries are in competition for these prime recruits.

“We know that as the economy turns, our business will get a little tougher,” said Maj. Gen. Donald M. Campbell Jr., the commander of Army Recruiting Command. “But I believe if we set the conditions now in the Army like we're trying to do and focus on quality of life, taking care of our soldiers and our families and focusing on those tools that allow them to recruit in difficult environments, then we’ll be okay.

“But the bottom-line premise for all services,” Campbell continued, “will be that three in 10 is the number that we’re going to have to choose to look at in 17-to-24-year-olds.

Navy Honors Killed, Injured in USS Cole Attack

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2010 – Navy officials, current and former crew members and families of the fallen gathered today at Norfolk Naval Station, Va., to remember the 17 sailors killed and 39 others wounded in the al-Qaida attack on the USS Cole 10 years ago today.

Suicide bombers launched the surprise Oct. 12, 2000, attack on the Arleigh Burke-class, Aegis-equipped guided missile destroyer as it was anchored in Aden, Yemen, for a routine refueling stop. The attackers detonated an explosive-laden boat against the ship’s port side, tearing a 40-by-40-foot hole in the hull and sending seawater gushing into the engineering compartment.

The attack was the deadliest assault against a U.S. naval vessel since the Iraqis attacked the USS Stark on May 17, 1987.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, the Cole’s commander during the attack, recalled the impact of the blast.

“There was a thunderous explosion. You could feel all 505 feet and 8,400 tons of guided missile destroyer violently thrust up and to the right,” Lippold said during a recent radio interview. “Lights went out, and within a matter of seconds, I knew we’d been attacked.”

During today’s ceremonies, Navy Adm. J.C. Harvey Jr., commander of USS Fleet Command, saluted the Cole crewmembers’ quick response and valor as they fought to keep the ship afloat and tended to the wounded while defending against a feared follow-on attack.

Harvey said the attack underscores the importance of always being trained and prepared, and he praised the sense of vigilance that has been passed down to subsequent USS Cole crews.

After 14 months of upgrades and repairs following the attack, the USS Cole made an overseas deployment in November 2003. The ship later deployed to the Middle East in June 2006.

The USS Cole, which recently returned to its Norfolk homeport after a deployment that took it through the Gulf of Aden, shows no visible evidence of the deadly attack that occurred a decade ago. But below its decks are regular reminders, including a blackened U.S. flag that survived the attack and 17 gold stars that line the ship’s “Hall of Heroes” passageway.

As a ship’s bells rang 17 times during today’s ceremonies, the names of the fallen 17 sailors were read aloud:

* Petty Officer 2nd Class Kenneth Eugene Clodfelter, 21, a hull maintenance technician from Mechanicsville, Va.;

* Chief Petty Officer Richard Costelow, 35, an electronics technician from Morrisville, Pa.;

*Seaman Lakeina Monique Francis, 19, a mess management specialist from Woodleaf, N.C.;

* Seaman Timothy Lee Gauna, 21, an information systems technician from Rice, Texas;

* Seaman Cherone Louis Gunn, 22, a signalman from Rex, Ga.;

* Seaman James Rodrick McDaniels, 19, of Norfolk, Va.;

* Petty Officer 2nd Class Marc Ian Nieto, 24, an engineman from Fond du Lac, Wis.;

* Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronald Scott Owens, 24, an electronics warfare technician from Vero Beach, Fla.;

* Seaman Lakiba Nicole Palmer, 22, of San Diego, Calif.;

* Seaman Joshua Langdon Parlett, 19, an engine room fireman from Churchville, Md.;

* Seaman Patrick Howard Roy, 19, a fireman from Cornwall on Hudson, N.Y.;

* Petty Officer 1st Class Kevin Shawn Rux, 30, an electronic warfare technician from Portland, N.D.;

* Petty Officer 3rd Class Ronchester Manangan Santiago, 22, a mess management specialist from Kingsville, Texas.;

* Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Lamont Saunders, 32, an operations specialist from Ringgold, Va.;

* Seaman Gary Graham Swenchonis Jr., 26, a fireman from Rockport, Texas;

* Ensign Andrew Triplett, 31, of Macon, Miss.; and

* Seaman Craig Bryan Wibberley, 19, of Williamsport, Md.

Today in the Department of Defense, Thursday, October 14, 2010

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates is traveling.

Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn has no public or media events on his schedule.

This Day in Naval History - Oct. 13

From the Navy News Service

1775 - The Continental Congress establishes a Continental Navy, later known as the U.S. Navy.

1943 - The Destroyer Bristol (DD 453) is sunk, with the loss of 52 lives, by the U-317 off the coast of Algeria.

1954 - USS Saipan (CVL 48) begins relief and humanitarian aid operations for Haitians who were victims of Hurricane Hazel. The operation ended Oct. 19.

DOD, DHS Join Forces to Promote Cybersecurity

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2010 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today that their departments will work together to better protect against threats to military and civilian computer networks and systems.

The departments’ new memorandum of agreement on cybersecurity was created, the senior officials said, to coordinate and improve efforts to secure the nation’s critical cyber-based infrastructure.

“With this memorandum of agreement, effective immediately, we are building a new framework between our departments to enhance operational coordination and joint program planning, Gates and Napolitano said in a joint statement. “It formalizes processes in which we work together to protect our nation’s cyber networks and critical infrastructure, and increases the clarity and focus of our respective roles and responsibilities.”

Under the agreement, DOD cyber analysts will work with their counterparts at DHS to formally support the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, called NCCIC. The agreement also provides a full-time senior DHS leader to DOD’s National Security Agency, along with a support team comprised of DHS privacy, civil liberties and legal personnel.

“This structure is designed to put the full weight of our combined capabilities and expertise behind every action taken to protect our vital cyber networks, without altering the authorities or oversight of our separate but complementary missions,” Gates and Napolitano said in their joint statement.

“We will improve economy and efficiency by better leveraging vital technologies and personnel to serve both Departments’ missions in full adherence to U.S. laws and regulation,” they added. “This memorandum of agreement furthers our strong commitment to protecting civil liberties and privacy.

According to a senior DHS official, the agreement is the “next logical step” in cybersecurity efforts and has several important effects.

“We expect it to enhance joint planning and increase visibility between DOD’s and DHS’s operational processes and increase each agency’s effectiveness,” the senior DHS official said today in a telephone briefing for reporters. “For example, we would hope that this would drive more rapid collaboration under the National Cyber Incident Response Plan,” a federal plan to define roles and responsibilities of agencies and industry in responding to potential cyber attacks.

In the same briefing, a senior DOD official said that one of DOD’s key missions is to provide defense support to civilian authorities during attacks on the homeland.

“This applies to responding to hurricanes or other natural disasters or to [weapons of mass destruction] and it applies to cybersecurity as well,” the senior DOD official said. “So from our perspective supporting DHS on cybersecurity is part of DOD’s mission and this [agreement] is intended to help DOD and [the National Security Agency] in particular to be able to do that more effectively.”

By executive order, NSA acts as the national manager for National Security Systems and in that capacity it reports to the Secretary of Defense and to the Director of National Intelligence.

“We’re not talking about new missions or new authorities; we’re looking to help our departments be able to do their jobs better,” the senior DOD official said.

“The U.S. just happens to have a tremendous amount of expertise at NSA,” he added. “Our perspective is that it will be a lot faster and more cost effective to make sure NSA is supporting DHS as effectively as possible than to expect DHS to try to build all the capabilities NSA has. As a country we don’t have the time or the money to try to buy all of the capabilities twice.”

DOD needs DHS to succeed in the cybersecurity mission, the senior DOD official said.

“We need it to help us be able to do our own assigned missions,” he said, “from transporting troops and material to wars overseas to supporting defense of the homeland. We rely as a department not just on the dot mil -- our own networks -- but on a secure dot gov and dot com to work with our partners.”

The DOD official added, “It may seem ironic in today’s connected world, and especially for cybersecurity, that we’re suggesting it’s critical to have people work together on a daily basis, face-to-face. But that’s the reality of how people work and from a DOD perspective we understand that this arrangement will help DHS compete more effectively for support from NSA.”

“We look forward to building on this vitally important step toward greater collaboration,” Gates and Napolitano said in their joint statement, “as we continue to work together on new and better ways to protect our economy and critical networks against evolving threats by those who seek to harm the United States.”