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In the Military Gregg K. Kakesako |
See also: For Your Benefit
Engle to lead Navy’s
Pacific Division engineersRear Adm. (select) Gary A. Engle will assume command of the Pacific Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, on Friday, relieving Rear Adm. (select) Richard E. Cellon.
Cellon will move on to become commander of the Atlantic Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, in Norfolk, Va. Engle comes to Hawaii from the 1st Naval Construction Division (Seabees), where he served as chief of staff.
The Seattle Times on Sept. 16 reported that almost one-third of the ceramic armor tile used to protect troops inside the new Stryker carriers failed to meet the minimum requirements to stop heavy machine-gun fire.
The vehicle's maker, General Dynamics Land Systems, is now rushing about 20 two-man teams to Fort Lewis to fortify the unit's 309 Stryker vehicles. The plan is to add a 3-mm steel backing to the armor, a fix expected to be completed by month's end.
The 3,600 members of the Fort Lewis-based 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, are scheduled to debut the Stryker vehicles in Iraq later this year. Three weeks ago, the Army confirmed only one flaw in the 39 major tile types that make up the vehicle's armor plating. But more live-fire tests in Aberdeen, Md., revealed that 12 of the tile types could not stop a 14.5-mm round, slightly bigger than a 50-caliber bullet.
The Navy will base eight F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike-fighter squadrons and one fleet replacement squadron, consisting of 120 aircraft, at the Oceana Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia and two other F/A-18E/F fleet squadrons with 24 aircraft at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina. The Navy also will construct another airfield in Washington County, N.C. -- a move opponents say will destroy rural life in the area.
The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot on Sept. 10 reported that Capt. Kevin Peppe, commodore of Submarine Squadron 8 in Norfolk, "distracted the crew" of the fast attack submarine USS Oklahoma City as it was bringing the sub to the surface in the Mediterranean Sea in November 2002, which ended in a collision with an 800-foot Norwegian tanker. There were no injuries, but the Oklahoma City needed more than $3 million in repairs and the tanker had to replace 10 tons of steel plating in its hull.
A Navy report said the commodore was a contributing factor in the collision, the newspaper reported.
The Oklahoma City, a 360-foot, Los Angeles-class sub with a crew of about 130, was surfacing near the heavily traveled Strait of Gibraltar on Nov. 13, 2002, to transfer Peppe and his staff ashore. The sub was surfacing from a depth of 150 feet to receive radio transmissions about Peppe's plans.
Investigators put that responsibility on the sub's captain, Cmdr. Richard Voter, who was relieved of command Nov. 30, 2002. Voter remains in the Navy. The officer of the deck and two enlisted men were disciplined shortly after the accident for dereliction of duty.
Peppe was admonished. He was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet headquarters command, then retired.
The Oklahoma City was the second sub in two years to collided with another vessel. On Feb. 9, 2001, the Pearl Harbor-based USS Greeneville collided with the Japanese fishing training vessel Ehime Maru off Diamond Head. The Ehime Maru sank, killing nine students, teachers and crewmen.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
"In the Military" was compiled from wire reports and other
sources by reporter Gregg K. Kakesako, who covers military affairs for
the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. He can be reached can be reached by phone
at 294-4075 or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.
