With the “global force for good” in mind, some 400 military service members, many of them trained and skilled in the medical and health professions, boarded the hospital ship Mercy at San Diego Naval Base, Calif, on the morning of May 1 for a mission to Southeast Asia. Joining them that day were scores of civilians, volunteers of all ages from universities, nongovernmental organizations and charities who embarked on the ship for “Pacific Partnership 2012,” the seventh iteration of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s humanitarian and civic action program that grew from the widespread disaster of the 2004 tsunami that struck…
Author Gidget Fuentes
Apparently it’s not just the Navy that has a sleep problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 41 million American workers aren’t getting enough Zzzzs. That’s nearly one in three workers. “Not surprisingly, workers who work the night shift are more likely to not get enough sleep,” according to Dr. Sara Luckhaupt of the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, who authored the study. Those workers pulling more than 40 hours on the job each week also are more apt to get less sleep than what medical experts say is needed to stay alert, avoid…
Amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard arrived in Sasebo, Japan, on April 8 for the Navy’s planned “hull swap” this spring with its older sibling, Essex. The BHR, as many call it, left San Diego in February for the cross-Pacific trek, carrying utility craft and about 800 Marines headed to South Korea for bilateral training exercises. The ship stopped in Okinawa, Japan, before heading on course for Sasebo Naval Base, the forward-deployed homeport for 7th Fleet’s amphibious force. While in Sasebo, the San Diego sailors will train with their Essex counterparts before both ships’ skippers exchange command for the official swap and…
It’s getting more jittery in the Pacific. North Korea’s failed launch of a missile April 12 gives them more drive to conduct their next nuclear underground test, if nothing but to show the world that its new leader, Kim Jong Un, is just as tough and threatening as his paternal predecessors, defense analysts say. All that missile rattling, along with China’s growing military might, has heightened insecurities in an already-tense Asia-Pacific. With the U.S. strategy now taking a keener eye on the Pacific, and the brass talking more about ramping up training and deployments around the region, some of the Navy’s…
Buoyed by some Hollywood hype, the Navy’s weeklong large-scale training exercise “Solid Curtain/Citadel Shield” generated a bit more excitement today than the annual security drill tends to muster around the Navy town of San Diego. Naval security boats gave chase to a motorboat with gun-toting men racing through San Diego Bay that came dangerously close to the cruiser Princeton as it headed out of the bay. The suspected “terrorists” tried to scuttle their boat along a beach at North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado, but a fiery explosion wounded two men as two others raced for cover in nearby…
When temperatures go below freezing, perhaps the last place you’d want to place your lips is anything made of metal. Anyone who’s ever played in a marching or military band for an outdoor performance knows that the show must go on, regardless of Mother Nature’s moods. That’s just what some members of the U.S. 7th Fleet Band did this past weekend, enduring snow and icy conditions to entertain the crowd in Sapporo, Japan. The northern Japan city on Hokkaido island, which hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, is famous for its annual Sapporo Snow Festival attended by some 2 million visitors who don…
The Navy’s “silent” warriors won’t exactly be off radar when “Act of Valor” hits the theaters in February. The movie, produced by the Bandito Brothers, is notable for the use of some real Navy SEALs, rather than more actors, to portray the commandos. Since the successful killing of Osama bin Laden last year, and even the 2009 rescue of an American boat captain held hostage by Somali pirates, the oft-secretive naval special warfare community has been in the spotlight more than usual. The occasional best-selling book and, unfortunately, tragic losses of SEALs fallen in combat capture the public’s focus. This…
Nearly three years ago, the Navy and defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp. unveiled the X-47B unmanned air system in Palmdale, Calif., showing off the bat-wing-like tailless and pilotless autonomous bomber that is designed to take off and land on aircraft carriers. In February, the first air vehicle made history when it completed its first real flight, a half-hour mission over the California desert. On Nov. 22, the second air vehicle, known as AV-2, took off in the hazy blue skies at nearby Edwards Air Force Base and flew up to 5,000 feet as it cut some race patterns over a…
No doubt the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor stands out as a critical turning point in our nation’s history. Next month, we mark the 70th anniversary, and the nation will join countless veterans and service members in recalling the sacrifice from that day and the amazing generation that stepped up and answered the nation’s call. Such pivotal moments are shared by U.S. allies including the Australians, who are strengthening their ties and military relationship with the United States that goes back 60 years to World War II with an alliance that’s remained solid – and popular among U.S. sailors and Marines…
The 86-pound trophy – you read that right, 86 pounds – is the result of eight weeks and some hard work by a creative team of 30 workers with Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries. A group of them traveled to San Diego for the Michigan State-North Carolina game, with the trophy securely packaged for the cross-country trek. LaMar Smith, a graphic designer with the Newport News, Va., shipbuilder, came up with the idea for the trophy. He wanted to incorporate the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson – the game’s host – into the design and have…
