The Navy’s operational security program is making a big push for sailors and and their families to lock down their social media presence lately, in the wake of a list of service members posted to an Islamic State group supporter’s website last month. Though no imminent threats have been made against sailors, officials urged personnel to tighten the privacy settings on their social media accounts by making them private or unsearchable, and removing any military affiliation from their accounts. But the internet is a labyrinth of accessible personal information and confusing privacy settings, so the experts at Navy Information Operations…
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[HTML1] Vice Adm. Bill Moran took command Aug. 2 as your new chief of naval personnel. He’s taking the reins at an uneasy time for Navy manpower. In a short video posted today, Moran acknowledges as much to sailors: “We are in the midst of a challenging operational and fiscal environment,” Moran says. “And as I take the watch, my staff and I are determined to communicate with you, hear what we know, and in some cases, what we don’t know.” Unfortunately, there are a lot of those unknowns right now. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, successfully raised eyebrows last week…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGmYsLDSbyM&feature=share[/youtube] Navy spouses upset with the latest round of sailor cuts are going on the offensive with a new video released Monday. The 5-minute-long video challenges the Navy’s rationale for sending home 2,947 sailors next year and urges viewers to sign a petition started a day before. The video quotes Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jon Greenert, who has written that the board considered performance in making their selections, then asks: “Why are sailors with [driving under the influence citations] allowed to stay, while other sailors with clean records are being let go?” The video — uploaded by self-described Navy…
At a Nov. 4 ceremony in Cannes, France, honoring the U.S.-French alliance, President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy reviewed troops from both nations. Amid them, standing at attention, front and center, was a formation of sailors in blue-and-gray NWUs. The fleet has often complained that the off-base restrictions on NWUs are too tight: In the U.S., you can’t wear them for personal appointments or shopping. But if it’s good enough for a formal review by the president, isn’t it OK for the mall? Asked that in a Nov. 8 interview, Greenert replied: “I have never had anybody approach…
Staff writer Mark D. Faram reported Monday that results of the first enlisted retention board have hit the streets, and petty officers third and second class in 31 overmanned ratings are finding out their fate. And this is only the first round: Those considered by the second ERB, sailors E-6 through E-8, won’t be notified of the results until after Thanksgiving. In a blog post Monday, Fleet Forces Command’s Adm. John Harvey stressed the fleet’s role in supporting those who must leave: On a final note, I want to say that it’s never easy to see our Shipmates leave. I take…
Do you have a favorite re-enlistment ceremony? Maybe a family member or VIP swore you in. Maybe the location was historically significant. Or maybe you were being circled by sharks at the time. Although he wasn’t defying death while raising his hand, Senior Chief Aviation Electrician’s Mate (AW) Mukunda-Krishna Tyson of Patrol Squadron 1 likely won’t forget his ceremony before Sunday’s Seattle Seahawks game. In the photo below, Tyson is sworn in by Lt. Thomas Madera, also of VP-1, as tens of thousands of fans watched. VP-1 is based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. (And the hometown Seahawks…
More than 90,000 sailors have served in individual augmentee assignments — largely in Iraq, Afghanistan and environs — and Tuesday, Fleet Forces Command launched a web site honoring those who’ve “performed above and beyond the call of duty.” The site pays tribute to the 1,416 IAs awarded the Bronze Star, the 10 given the Bronze Star with Combat “V” device, the 48 awarded Purple Hearts, the one sailor awarded the Silver Star and the 14 killed in the line of duty as of Aug. 9. The page also lists the totals, but not the IA recipients, for every meritorious service…
The destroyer Stout came home to Norfolk Saturday following a Med cruise in support of theater security operations and ballistic missile deterrence … … and just in time for Father’s Day: Stout took part in the coalition strikes on Libyan forces that began in mid-March. Stout was the first ship on station and fired multiple salvos of Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libyan air defenses, surface-to-air sites and communications nodes, along with the destroyers Stout and Barry, the attack submarines Providence and Scranton and the guided missile submarine Florida, according to the Navy. The crew also had to deal with the…
Announcements of annual safety campaigns may for many go in one ear and out the other, but the Naval Safety Center’s summer campaign, which officially begins Memorial Day weekend, is an opportunity for Navy leaders to hit the deckplates and hammer home the message that it’s possible to have fun without taking life-threatening risks. Last summer was the Navy’s safest on record. Still, 14 sailors and 14 Marines lost their lives in motor vehicle and recreational mishaps. That was a big improvement over the five-year average of 44 total off-duty deaths each summer. But still … Leaders can find all…
A year ago, the dock landing ship Oak Hill was in poor shape — and that’s by the Fleet Forces Command chief’s reckoning. Beginning in 2005, five deployments in five years, no time for maintenance and inadequate manning had left the relatively young ship with a degraded power plant, endemic corrosion and a whole lot of systems that just didn’t work. A long-overdue yard period, money, lots of outside help and long hours produced a remarkable turnaround Apr. 4-8, when the ship passed its rigid underway material inspection by the Board of Inspection and Survey with flying colors. Oak Hill…
