Category Archives: Military Personnel

Navy Dolphins Discover Rare Torpedo in Training Exercise

Navy Dolphins Discover Rare Torpedo in Training Exercise

A sailor works with a bottlenose porpoise before a night training exercise at Point Loma, Calif. US Navy Photo

A sailor works with a bottlenose porpoise before a night training exercise at Point Loma, Calif. US Navy Photo

Two Navy dolphins discovered a more than hundred year-old relic of the service’s past buried in the muck off the coast of Southern California, Navy officals told USNI News on Monday.

On a routine training mission in March, Navy dolphins Ten and Spetz, “discovered an almost completely buried object that was quite rare, Chris Harris, operations supervisor for the Navy’s Marine Mammal Program, told USNI News. Read More

SEAL Killed in Training Accident

SEAL Killed in Training Accident

SEALs train at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in 2012. US Navy Photo

SEALs train at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in 2012. US Navy Photo

A SEAL from the Naval Special Warfare Group Two at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story was killed Wednesday in a training accident at Army installation Ft. Knox, according to several press reports. Five other sailors were injured in the accident. Read More

East: U.S. Army Needs Focus on Human Dimension

East: U.S. Army Needs Focus on Human Dimension

Gen. Robert Cone, TRADOC commander in 2011. US Army Photo

Gen. Robert Cone, TRADOC commander in 2011. US Army Photo

The hard learned lesson of how important the human dimension and human domain is in warfare could be lost when budgets gets tight, the Army’s top training officer told attendees at the EAST: Joint Warfighting 2013 symposium in Virginia Beach, Va. on Wednesday.

“We need to prepare the land force [Army, Special Operating Force and Marine Corps] for a sophisticated understanding of the human dimension and human domain,” and invest in it, Gen. Robert Cone, commanding general of U.S. Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, said. Read More

East: Pentagon Acquisition Chief Sees Tough Year Ahead

East: Pentagon Acquisition Chief Sees Tough Year Ahead

rank Kendall, the under secretary of defense, Acquisition, Technology and Logistics in 2012.

rank Kendall, the under secretary of defense, Acquisition, Technology and Logistics in 2012.

The Pentagon’s top acquisition official apologized he “didn’t have better news” in discussing the Department of Defense’s fiscal outlook during his keynote address on Tuesday at the EAST: Joint Warfighting 2013 symposium in Virginia Beach, Va.

Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics warned the Department of Defense might have to again operate under a Continuing Resolution rather than a budget for Fiscal Year 2014.

“It’s starting to make me nervous,” he said. Read More

Somerset LPD will Commission in Philadelphia

Somerset LPD will Commission in Philadelphia

Somerset (LPD 25) is launched from the Huntington Ingalls Industries Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana on April, 14 2012. US Navy Photo

Somerset (LPD 25) is launched from the Huntington Ingalls Industries Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana on April, 14 2012. US Navy Photo

The Navy will commission the third San Antonio-class (LPD-17) amphibious warship — Somerset (LPD-25) — named after a Sept. 11, 2001 attack site in Philadelphia, Pa., according to a Thursday releases from Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

Somerset County in Pennsylvania was where the hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11. Passengers and crew attempted to seize control of the plane from terrorists and the plane ultimately crashed before reaching its target. Read More

Three Marines Relieved Over March Mortar Accident

Three Marines Relieved Over March Mortar Accident

Lt. Col. Andrew J. McNulty speaks to 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment service members during a memorial ceremony March 21, 2013. McNulty was relieved of command on Wednesday. US Marine Corps Photo

Lt. Col. Andrew J. McNulty speaks to 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment service members during a memorial ceremony March 21, 2013. McNulty was relieved of command on Wednesday. US Marine Corps Photo

Three Marine officers were relieved of command Wednesday in the aftermath of a March mortar accident that killed seven Camp Lejeune, N.C. Marines, 2nd Marine Division officials told USNI News.

Lt. Col. Andrew McNulty, commander of 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, the battalion’s Alpha Company commander Capt. Kelby Breivogel and the battalion’s infantry weapons officer Chief Warrant Officer 3 Douglas Derring were relieved of their duties with the 9th Marines, 1st Lt. Peter Koerner with 2nd Marines told USNI News on Thursday and first reported by Marine Corps Times. Read More

Crashed KC-135 Crew From Fairchild AFB

Crashed KC-135 Crew From Fairchild AFB

Capt. Mark Voss, Tech Sgt. Herman Mackey III and Capt. Victoria A. Pinckney were killed when their KC-135 went down in Kyrgyzstan on Friday.

Capt. Mark Voss, Tech Sgt. Herman Mackey III and Capt. Victoria A. Pinckney were killed when their KC-135 went down in Kyrgyzstan on Friday.

The Air Force has identified three crewmembers of a KC-135 refueling tanker that crashed Friday in Kyrgyzstan, according to a Sunday Pentagon release. Read More

Air Force Tanker Crashes in Kyrgyzstan, Crew Status 'Unknown'

Air Force Tanker Crashes in Kyrgyzstan, Crew Status ‘Unknown’

A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refuels an F-16 Fighting Falcon over the Pacific Ocean in 2012. US Air Force Photo

A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refuels an F-16 Fighting Falcon over the Pacific Ocean in 2012. US Air Force Photo

An U.S. Air Force refueling tanker has crashed in the northern region of Kyrgyzstan has crashed, according to a Friday release from the Pentagon.

The KC-135 Stratotanker went down about 100 miles west of the U.S. Transit Center at Manas, a U.S. installation that has supported the U.S. air war in Afghanistan since 2001. Read More

Document: U.N. Report Calling For Moratoria on Lethal Robots

Document: U.N. Report Calling For Moratoria on Lethal Robots

From the summary of the U.N. Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns. The report calls for a suspension of lethal robotic technology until international rules can be drafted:

Lethal autonomous robotics (LARs) are weapon systems that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further human intervention. They raise far-reaching concerns about the protection of life during war and peace. This includes the question of the extent to which they can be programmed to comply with the requirements of international humanitarian law and the standards protecting life under international human rights law. Read More