Good cover story by the Sun-Sentinel on the USS PITTSBURGH pulling in to Port Everglades for Fleet Week
Monthly Archives: April 2008
“Submarine Life is chaotic, and awesome”
Return of 4th Fleet … Discovery of the future?
The Navy is returning the 4th fleet to service. Set to control the Caribbean and South American AOR, the 4th fleet has an opportunity to really define the methods of operation in the “green water navy” that we increasingly find ourselves. While I personally would not characterize this as a green water navy, since I reserve that term for our riverine forces, 4th fleet is definitely going to be concerned with littoral operations and activities that are most decidedly NOT open ocean in the traditional sense.
The folks over at Information Dissemination have a good write-up here:
Based on our observations of previous deployments for SOUTHCOM, the leadership style and priorities of Adm. Stavridis, and the appointment of Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan, we believe 4th Fleet is about to execute a very unique Green Water Strategy that may serve as a model for peacetime strategy in the 21st Century. Adm. Stevenson continuously highlighted the value of amphibious forces during today’s roundtable, but when speaking of them in an operational context outlined the strategic value they bring to peacetime operations. With access to regional ports, with good relations with many regional neighbors, 4th Fleet is taking an engagement approach across the spectrum ranging from security cooperation to proactive humanitarian impact while it deals with the low end naval requirements of dealing with illicit trafficking.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for 4th Fleet, but its a path the Navy must go down as our operational tempo in the Caribbean and South American regions increases. As countries in the region continue to develop and become increasingly intertwined in the world economy, our interests will correspondingly increase and the region is simply to large for 2nd Fleet to effectively manage.
CARRIER
PBS has a 10 part series running that shows life on the USS NIMITZ. It’s been quite the hyped up series since it displays true life. This isn’t one of your Discovery Channel “behold 4 1/2 acres of sovereign territory” tv shows. It really focuses on the people who make the ship move, and gives you a fairly unfiltered perspective. The CNO has had to do a little explaining:
“We did not get a Navy ‘commercial’ in the traditional sense,” wrote Roughead, a member of the Joints Chiefs of Staff and the senior military officer in the Department of the Navy. ” ‘Carrier’ is very different from the hardware documentaries we have supported in the past. This program focuses on our people and the reality-TV approach gives it a sense of authenticity and credibility. Since we did not monitor the individual interviews and ongoing production, the program contains material that does not always and fully represent the discipline, values and mission of the U.S. Navy.”
I watched the first two episodes this evening, and I’d have to say that it’s a very good show with real stories worth watching. I think ADM Roughead got it completely right on this one. If our number one asset is our people, then let’s show America what the 19-21 year olds who truly make the Navy run are going through.
Everyone should go and check it out.
I know what you did last summer … and I don’t care.
Syrian reactors in the desert are blown up by Israel. No big shocker as Israel tends to be a bit heavy handed when it comes to dealing with perceived threats. The question now is … why do we care? and why does the U.S. Congress think they should have been informed of another nation’s activities?
Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said after a briefing Thursday that many lawmakers “believe that we were used today by the administration” and that the White House had belatedly informed Congress “because they had other agendas in mind.”
Hoekstra had pressed the administration for several months to brief lawmakers on the intelligence behind the strike at Al Kibar.
Of course there were other agendas in mind. The only reason this has been announced now is to put some form of pressure on Syria (as a “destabilizing force” in the region) as well as Iran. It definitely allows us to give Iran a taste of our intelligence collection capability in a matriarchal “look, I know what you’re doing. Don’t make me call your father” sort of way. Will it have any effect? Who’s to say? Really, as far as the Congress and Senate are concerned, if they needed to know … they would have been informed. Israel acted of their own accord. They’re big boys, they can do what they want with their toys.
My concern is what effect the decision to make this incident public may have on the talks between Syria and Israel regarding the possible return of the Golan Heights.
