Category: U.S. Navy

It is pretty clear that the Trump administration is sending another signal to North Korea that if they try something here in the short term the US is ready to respond:

A U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula as a show of force, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday, as concerns grow about North Korea’s advancing weapons program.

Earlier this month North Korea tested a liquid-fueled Scud missile which only traveled a fraction of its range.

The strike group, called Carl Vinson, includes an aircraft carrier and will make its way from Singapore toward the Korean peninsula, according to the official, who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity.  [Reuters]

You can read more at the link.

This is pretty significant that the US, ROK and Japanese Navies continue to do this interoperability missile defense exercises.  Hopefully a new administration in the ROK does not stop ROK participation in the future:

The United States, South Korea and Japan kicked off naval missile-defense drills Friday, joining forces to counter the growing threat from North Korea.

The three-day exercise began amid fears that the North may test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile or stage another provocation in connection with Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony on Friday.

The Yokosuka, Japan-based guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem, Japan’s JDS Kirishima and South Korea’s Sejong the Great participated in missile detection and tracking drills in the waters off the divided peninsula and Japan.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Any tri-lateral cooperation like this good between the US, ROK and Japan:

The United States, Japan and South Korea will practice detecting and stopping ships carrying weapons of mass destruction during a sea exercise this weekend.

The trilateral exercise comes in light of North Korea’s continued work on its nuclear weapons and missile program, South Korean defense officials told reporters in Seoul on Thursday.

The maritime interdiction operation will be held Saturday and Sunday in international waters south of South Korea’s Jeju Island, Yonhap News reported.

The sea services also will conduct search and rescue exercises aimed at rescuing personnel on disabled ships, the report said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

Here is a story of yet another senior military officer getting in trouble:

It wasn’t an encounter with a female junior enlisted sailor that led the Navy to strip a warship commodore of his command in August, it was his attempt to mislead investigators after being confronted about the incident.

According to a 40-page investigation received by The Virginian-Pilot through the Freedom of Information Act on Thursday, Capt. Anthony L. Simmons cast his visit to a Chesapeake Wild Wing Cafe as a 20-minute stop to pick up a take-out order during which he had a beer, spoke with the sailor and bought her and one other person a drink, all while his wife waited in the car.

But investigators found that Simmons entered the restaurant alone, dressed in civilian clothes around 6 p.m. Aug. 5 and went to the bar. His take-out food sat there for nearly an hour after he initiated conversation with the female sailor from a few seats away. As other patrons arrived at the restaurant, Simmons moved closer to her and attempted to buy her a drink.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but the junior enlisted sailor reported him for sexual harassment after he tried to pick her up at the bar.

USS Ronald Reagan back at Yokosuka, Japan after a 7-week trip, mostly in the South China Sea. #USNavy @Gipper_76 pic.twitter.com/POu4cQMVGp

— Erik Slavin (@eslavin_stripes) July 26, 2016

If this report is true, it makes me wonder why Chris Kyle had to exaggerate his combat awards considering one Silver Star and three bronze stars with valor is incredibly impressive?  With that said I think the possibility may exist that Kyle may have received awards that he did not upload into his OMPF considering that his DD-214 says he actually has more awards than what he claimed.  Hopefully his wife has records of all his awards to shed light on what the truth of this allegation is:

NO AMERICAN HAS been more associated with the Navy SEAL mystique than Chris Kyle, known as the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history. His bestselling autobiography, American Sniper — a story of honor, glory, and quiet heroism — has sold more than a million copies. The movie adaptation became the highest-grossing war film in American history.

“All told,” Kyle wrote in his book, “I would end my career as a SEAL with two Silver Stars and five Bronze [Stars], all for valor.”

But Kyle, who was murdered by a fellow military veteran several years after leaving the Navy, embellished his military record, according to internal Navy documents obtained by The Intercept. During his 10 years of military service and four deployments, Kyle earned one Silver Star and three Bronze Stars with Valor, a record confirmed by Navy officials.

Kyle was warned at least once before American Sniper was published that its description of his medal count was wrong, according to one current Navy officer, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak about the case. As Kyle’s American Sniper manuscript was distributed among SEALs, one of his former commanders, who was still on active duty, advised Kyle that his claim of having two Silver Stars was false, and he should correct it before his book was published.

Current and former Navy SEALs interviewed for this article, who agreed to speak on background because they feared being shunned by their close-knit community, did not dispute Kyle’s heroism in combat, but saw the inflation of his medal count as significant because they consider battlefield embellishments to be dishonorable.  [The Intercept]

You can read much more at the link.

Navy coordinated with Japan SDF, Korean Navy as Russian planes approached USS Ronald Reagan https://t.co/GQMHhza58p

— Erik Slavin (@eslavin_stripes) October 30, 2015

The U.S. nuclear-powered Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier sails in waters off South Korea’s largest port city of Busan on Oct. 23, 2015, as it is part of a fleet review that the South Korean Navy held as part of celebrating the 70th anniversary of its founding. (Yonhap)

This naval commander sounds like a candidate for his own reality TV show:

A Navy commander who served as the executive officer of a submarine repair facility in Georgia was relieved of duty on Aug. 24, the Navy announced Monday.

Cmdr. Vincent J. Wood, who was second in charge at the Trident Refit Facility at Kings Bay, was removed from his position because of an ongoing investigation into allegations of personal misconduct, the Navy said.

Wood, who had held his job since April, was removed by Capt. Gunter Braun, commanding officer of the facility. Wood has been administratively reassigned to Submarine Group 10 at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay.

According to the Navy Times, Wood is accused of having an affair with a married civilian employee. The Times said he violated a protective order that required he stay away from the woman.

Quoting a police report, the Times said the two were found together on Aug. 23, and the woman’s husband got into a fight with Wood, who was then hospitalized. Wood suffered “a large contusion to his left eye, several knots on his head, an abrasion to the bridge of his nose, a small cut under his nose, and abrasions to both knees,” according to the report that the Times quoted.  [Stars & Stripes]

USS Michigan (Trident sub w/ stealth & nuclear capability) is in Pusan, ROK. http://t.co/xlPYfxiFVj @dpinkston pic.twitter.com/7FgWlENubb

— Adam Cathcart (@adamcathcart) June 30, 2015