ADM. ERIC T. OLSON-NAVY SEAL

Olson Picked to Lead U.S. Special Operations Command

TOOLBOXPresident Bush today nominated Navy Vice Adm. Eric T. Olson to lead U.S. Special Operations Command, replacing Army Gen. Bryan “Doug” Brown, according to a Pentagon release.

Olson would be the first Navy officer to head Socom. The command is responsible for about 48,000 elite troops, such as Army Green Berets, Rangers, Delta Force operatives, Navy SEALs and Air Force rescue teams. Olson is now Socom’s deputy commander.

Socom’s influence and budget — projected at more than $6 billion for 2008 — have grown since Sept. 11, 2001. In 2004, Bush designated Socom as the lead military organization for combating terrorism. In recent years, about 80 percent of deployed Special Operations forces have been engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Olson, a longtime Navy SEAL, has served in Israel, Egypt and Tunisia. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1973 and received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Silver Star.

Brown intends to retire this summer, military officials said.

Olson’s nomination marks another step in the recent turnover of key commanders involved in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Adm. William J. Fallon this spring replaced Gen. John P. Abizaid as head of Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, and Gen. David H. Petraeus succeeded Gen. George W. Casey Jr. as the top commander in Iraq.

One key military leader is likely to remain in his post. Bush is expected to nominate Marine Gen. Peter Pace to serve a second two-year term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Associated Press reported yesterday.

“It would not be a surprise,” a military official said yesterday.

If confirmed, Pace — who served four years as vice chairman before becoming chairman in 2005 — would exceed the six-year limit for those positions. However, the limit does not apply in wartime and the president can override it “in the national interest.”

NAVY SEALS P.T. TEST

NAVY SEALS FACE CHARGES!!!

Image via Wikipedia

SEALs face charges for WTF?

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

Unless this guy shows up with multiple compound fractures caused by the repeated use of a chunk of rebar long after he was in custody in the rear, I will go on record as saying I don’t give a f**k.

 

 

Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.

 

The three, all members of the Navy’s elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral’s mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.

 

Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named “Objective Amber,” told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have absolutely got to be shittin’ me, a bloody lip? Good Lord, I hope he didn’t have any scrapes on him’s widdle knee. This is another slap in the faces of those we ask to do the toughest job on the damn planet. I think it may just be time to have a no prisoners policy. All of the organs of our government now seem to be more concerned with the safety and legal rights of murderous barbarians and oblivious to the damage they are doing to the morale and esprit de corps of our troops, not to mention the safety of our country.

 

WTF is wrong with these people? The only nice thing is they will face a jury of their peers as they told the command to suck it and demanded court martial. All it takes is a few good men on that f**king jury to tell all the chickenshits in the chain of command that we know who the good guys are and these guys walk. Navy it’s time to represent for your brothers, serve proudly on that jury and let the gutless punks know what they ought to focus on

 

 

 

 

 

NEW NAME ON MY WEBLOG. “THE PATRIOT”

MY DOMAIN NAME EXPIRED,  SO THIS IS MY NEW NAME. “THE PATRIOT”

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO READS MY BLOG, I HOPE YOU CONTINUE. I INTEND TO CONTINUE TO BLOG ABOUT THE SAME TOPICS, I WILL STILL BE OPINIONATED!

THANKS AGAIN,

MICKMCK707.WORDPRESS.COM

NAVY SEALS DELAYED 36 HOURS BY OBAMA IN HOSTAGE RESCUE

While Barack Obama is basking in praise for his “decisive” handling of the Somali pirate attack on a merchant

ship in the India Ocean, reliable military sources close to the scene are painting a much different picture of the incident – accusing the president of employing restrictive rules of engagement that actually hampered the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips and extended the drama at sea for days.

Multiple opportunities to free the captain of the Maersk Alabama from three young pirates were missed, these sources say – all because a Navy SEAL team was not immediately ordered to the scene and then forced to operate under strict, non-lethal rules of engagement.

They say the response duty office at the Pentagon was initially unwilling to grant an order to use lethal force to rescue Phillips. They also report the White House refused to authorize deployment of a Navy SEAL team to the location for 36 hours, despite the recommendation of the on-scene commander.

The White House also turned down two rescue plans offered up by the Seal commander on the scene and the captain of the USS Bainbridge.

The SEAL team operated under rules of engagement that required them to do nothing unless the hostage’s life was in “imminent’ danger.

In fact, when the USS Bainbridge dispatched a rigid-hull inflatable boat to bring supplies to the Maersk Alabama, it came under fire that could not be returned even though the SEAL team had the pirates in their sights. Many hours before the fatal shots were fired, taking out the three young pirates, Phillips jumped into the Indian Ocean with the idea of giving the snipers a clear target. However, the SEAL team was still under orders not to shoot. Hours later, frustrated by the missed opportunities to resolve the standoff, the commander of the Bainbridge and the captain of the Navy SEAL team determined they had operational authority to evaluate the risk to the hostage, and took out the pirates at the first opportunity – finally freeing Phillips. The G2 Bulletin report was authored by Joseph Farah, founder and editor of WND, and a veteran newsman with extensive military sources developed over the last 30 years.

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NAVY SEAL LT.JG. BOB KERREY AWARDED MEDAL OF HONOR

Joseph Robert Kerrey

Name: Joseph Robert (Bob) Kerrey
Specialty: Navy SEAL BUD/S
Class: 42 SEAL
Service: 1968 – 1969
Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade Retired
Rank: Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Home: Lincoln, Nebraska
Assigned: SEAL Team ONE
Organization: U.S. Naval Reserve, SEAL
Conflict: Vietnam War
Age: 25
Location of Action: Near Nha Trang Bay, Republic of Vietnam
Date of Action: March 14, 1969
Date of Award: May 14, 1970
Retired: Medically Retired

Awarded: Congressional Medal of Honor on May 14, 1970 by President Richard Nixon, “For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a SEAL team leader during action against enemy aggressor (Viet Cong) forces.”

Other Awards: Bronze Star, for action Feb 25, 1969, in Thanh Phong, Vietnam.

Contributions

Bob Kerrey served with distinction as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam from January – March 1969. On March 14, 1969, Kerrey led a SEAL unit on a daring operation to capture key Viet Cong political cadre personnel. He was severely wounded in an intense firefight by an enemy grenade that cost him part of his leg. Kerrey continued to direct his men in the firefight and extraction. The captured prisoners provided critical intelligence for the U.S. Kerrey was subsequently awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions.

MOH Citation

“Acting in response to reliable intelligence, LTjg Kerrey led his SEAL team on a mission to capture important members of the enemy’s area political cadre known to be located on an island in the bay of Nha Trang. In order to surprise the enemy, he and his team scaled a 350-foot sheer cliff to place themselves above the ledge on which the enemy was located.

Splitting his team in 2 elements and coordinating both, LTjg Kerrey led his men in the treacherous downward descent to the enemy’s camp. Just as they neared the end of their descent, intense enemy fire was directed at them, and LTjg Kerrey received massive injuries from a grenade which exploded at his feet and threw him backward onto the jagged rocks.

Although bleeding profusely and suffering great pain, he displayed outstanding courage and presence of mind in immediately directing his element’s fire into the heart of the enemy camp. Utilizing his radio, LTjg Kerrey called in the second element’s fire support which caught the confused Viet Cong in a devastating crossfire.

After successfully suppressing the enemy’s fire, and although immobilized by his multiple wounds, he continued to maintain calm, superlative control as he ordered his team to secure and defend an extraction site. LTjg Kerrey resolutely directed his men, despite his near unconscious state, until he was eventually evacuated by helicopter. The havoc brought to the enemy by this very successful mission cannot be over-estimated.

The enemy soldiers who were captured provided critical intelligence to the allied effort. LTjg Kerrey’s courageous and inspiring leadership, valiant fighting spirit, and tenacious devotion to duty in the face of almost overwhelming opposition sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.”

His Own Words

“I accepted the medal for the many people who got nothing,” said Bob Kerrey…There were a lot of very, very brave men and women whose actions weren’t recognized. I received the medal on behalf of them.”

Biography

Bob Kerrey was born in Lincoln Nebraska on August 27, 1943 and graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1966. He served as a Navy SEAL from 1968-1969, and deployed to Vietnam from January to March 1969. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his courageous actions wounded and under fire, leading a SEAL unit on a daring operation in which he lost part of his right leg to an enemy grenade.

Bob Kerrey went on to become a successful businessman, operating a chain of restaurants and fitness centers from 1972-1982. He is most known for his 18-year political career, which included an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 1992. Kerrey served as Governor of Nebraska from 1983-1987, and as U.S. Senator from Nebraska from 1989-2001. Since leaving, he has been University President of The New School in New York. Kerrey was also a member of the Nat’l. Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, (“9/11 Commission”), from 2003-2004.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE REALLY MISSED THE BOAT ON BOB KERREY, WE SHOULD HAVE VOTED FOR HIM WHEN HE RAN FOR PRESIDENT!!!

NAVY SEALS PROVE AGAIN THAT THEY ARE THE BEST OF THE BEST

They were the real thing, common crooks of the high seas, with nothing romantic, charmingly eye-patched or gold-earringed about them.

But with three crack rifle shots, three of the bad guys were dispatched by Navy Seals, and Richard Phillips, the captain of the United States-flagged freighter Maersk Alabama, was freed in a daring Indian Ocean operation that rightfully raised Americans’ spirits Easter Sunday.

Three shots, three dead across the bounding main in a dusk so dark that night-vision scopes had to be used? There are no better-trained special forces in the world than the Coronado-based Seals, no snipers better able to pull the trigger and make it matter.

As negotiations to free Phillips had soured after several days, and after an earlier escape attempt from the 25-foot lifeboat had failed, President Obama had authorized the use of force.

That force paid off, and will continue to pay off down the years, not only in the safety of Captain Phillips, who had bravely offered himself up as a hostage to the pirates in return for the release of his crew and ship.

It showed the Somali criminals currently terrorizing the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean sea lanes in the most dramatic fashion possible that once the life of a United States citizen hangs in the balance, all bets are off. And the advantage is suddenly not at all with the guys with the fast boats, the grappling hooks and

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the greed. It’s with the extraordinary combination of intelligence, patience and might that is the United States military operating at its best.

THE NAVY SEALS ARE NOT USED ENOUGH TO PROTECT OUR COUNTRY AND OUR CITIZENS. WE NEED THIS SHOW OF POWER, TO STOP THE TERRORISTS. WE HAVE TO LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY ARE ONLY GOING TO PUSH US SO FAR

NAVY LT. BOB KERRY FIRST SEAL TO RECIEVE MEDAL OF HONOR

In response to reliable intelligence, Lieutenant (j.g.) Kerrey led his SEAL team on a mission to capture important members of the enemy’s area political cadre located on an island in the bay of Nha Trang. In order to surprise them he and his team scaled a 350-foot sheer cliff to place themselves above the ledge on which the enemy was located. Splitting his team in two elements and coordinating both, he led them in the downward descent to the enemy’s camp. As they neared the bottom, intense enemy fire was directed at them, and Lieutenant (j.g.) Kerrey received massive injuries from a grenade which exploded at his feet and threw him backward onto the jagged rocks. Although bleeding profusely and suffering great pain, he immediately directed his element’s fire into the heart of the enemy camp. Utilizing his radioman, he called in the second element’s fire support which caught the confused Viet Cong in a devastating crossfire. Successfully suppressing the enemy’s fire, and although immobilized by his multiple wounds, he continued to maintain control as he ordered his team to secure an extraction site. The enemy soldiers who were captured provided critical intelligence to the allied effort.

Bob Kerrey was the first U.S. Navy SEAL to receive the Medal of Honor. Following military service he served as Governor of his home state of Nebraska from 1983 – 1987, at which time he was elected to the US Senate.  He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for President in 1992, losing to William J. Clinton.

NEW NAVY HIGH SPEED VESSEL

We have a winner: Austal wins coveted Joint High Speed Vessel contract!

H/T Defense News article here.  Congratulations to Austal USA for (finally!) receiving the contract for the Joint High Speed Vessel!  As I’ve discussed in previous posts, this is a program near and dear to my heart and I fully intend to write a book about this someday (and of course a movie deal will be forthcoming).  The High Speed Vessel program began in the late nineties and many observers (myself especially) noticed a very unusual ship operated by the Royal Australian Navy, the HMAS Jervis Bay.  The RAN leased an aluminum commercial car ferry and used it for relief operations to East Timor.   What captured my attention, after months of research, was the open nature of the vehicle deck, coupled with a large passenger area, all with a low draft hull but with the ability to make better than 30 knots. My research was focused on capability, not hull form, type, manufacturer, none of that stuff that maritime designers and naval architects become obsessed with.  I was obsessed with its potential.  As someone who spent much time and many sleepless nights waiting on broken C-5’s throughout the Pacific, I really thought this type of ship was a potential game changer and my boss at the SEAL headquarters also immediately understood the potential and before long, with no money but a lot of enthusiasm, we were part of the team of organizations which would eventually lease the HSV X-1 Joint Venture.   Eventually, the US military would operate four high speed vessels, technically, the first was the Westpac Express and a sister ship to the design chosen today.  Built by Austal in Western Australia, they operated in direct support of the Marines of III MEF on Okinawa.  Then, we got the HSV X-1, followed by the Army’s lease of the TSV 1X Spearhead, and finally the HSV-2 Swift, the best design of all with the most capability.  The latter three ships were all built by Incat in Tasmania Australia.  Only the Swift and WestPac Express are still operated by the US military.  While assigned to the Pacific Command as a reservist, I also convinced the theater Special Operations Commander there to get another HSV and while successful in convincing the SECDEF and SOCOM Commander of the need, the decision was made to go after the original HSV X-1 Joint Venture and while it performed fairly well (from what I hear) the decision was made to allow it to go back to the manufacturer.   Later, I also did work as a contractor on the program and throughout the entire process, was amazed at the institutional opposition, mostly because it didn’t look like traditional navy grey steel single hulled ships.  Then along came the Littoral Combat Ship and when the Navy selected Austal’s trimaran as one of the two designs, I thought there was still hope. Now today, to see one of the two original companies selected, is a very good day indeed. The program looks to be five ships for the Army and five for the Navy.  I’m going to go out on a limb and say this will not be the end of this program, either for the US military or foreign buyers.  In today’s’ world, buying a vessel that’s part multi-mission ship, part helicopter carrier, part afloat staging base, that can do 30 plus knots and costs 180 million, will be a hit.   Two final comments:  When we had our first major meeting at the Navy Warfare Development Command and we went around the room and asked, what each of us thought about this concept’s potential I said it will be the C-130 of the sea.  It could be a relief or rescue vessel, a command post, a helo carrier, an amphib like ship, and most important to me, a special operations forces afloat staging base.  The most succinct comment ever uttered on the high speed vessel was the first Navy SEAL SDV platoon commander who embarked and at the end of his brief wrote: you are only limited by your imagination. COMPUTER DETECTIVE

VETERAN FROGMAN ONE OF FIRST TO HIT NORMANDY BEACH

 To have participated in Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy in World War II, now that’s something.

To have waded ashore through a deathly brew of bullets, blood and floating bodies, well, that’s a feat of a totally different stripe.

But to have been a Navy frogman, the first to touch beach the morning of June 6, 1944, that’s the stuff legends are made of.

A forerunner to the Navy special operations force known as the SEALs, Naval Combat Demolition Units cleared the way for the initial invasion force on that historic day.

“There was stuff blowing up all over the place,” Dennis Shryock recalled.

This week, the 85-year-old veteran is returning to northern France for the first time since he stepped ashore at Utah Beach as a 21-year-old explosives specialist. His daughter, Donna Barlow, a DODDS teacher, and her family arranged the trip to Normandy from their home near Heidelberg, Germany.

“We’re all very aware of what these guys went through, without inflating or overdramatizing anything,” said Kelly Hampton, of Carterville, Ill., another of Shryock’s daughters.

Hampton, who accompanied her father to Europe, her brother-in-law, Randy Barlow, and nephew Jesse traveled with Shryock to Normandy this week. Friday marks the 64th anniversary of the Allied landings, one of the iconic events of World War II.

Shryock’s trip would have coincided with the dedication of the U.S. Navy D-Day Monument at Utah Beach, but its unveiling has been pushed back to Sept. 27. Instead, U.S. commemorative events for this year’s anniversary will feature a midmorning wreath-laying ceremony at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. Sword Beach in the British sector will host the main remembrances this year.

As always, any D-Day veteran should draw crowds of well-wishers, no matter the nationality. The landings allowed the Allies to get a foothold in northern France, from which men and materiel poured in to overwhelm and defeat Nazi Germany. The war in Europe ended 11 months later.

For Shryock — who after the war worked as a law clerk and raised five children with his wife, Blanche — there’s a stark difference between this foray and the last expedition.

“The Germans were cutting into us, too,” Shryock said of the landings on Utah. The ocean water around him “looked like pure blood. That was sickening.” But he added, “we couldn’t stop doing our job.”

Despite the bloodletting, Utah Beach fared far better than Omaha, the other beach in the U.S. sector. Demolition teams suffered six dead and 11 injured on Utah, according to Navy statistics. Thirty-one died and 60 were injured on Omaha.

Shryock is proud of the role he played in the battle. While his memory may fail him from one sentence to the next, the Springfield, Ill., native remains upbeat and engaging, a proud and consummate gentleman from a bygone era.

“He’s a survivor and he does it with a wonderful attitude,” Hampton said.

Before the war, Shryock was a member of the Illinois Reserve Militia. He joined the Navy days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and signed on to become a Seabee, or a member of a Navy construction unit. Shortly thereafter, the Navy, with an eye toward the pending invasion, created an unconventional warfighting unit at Fort Pierce, Fla. One of the specialties needed was demolition, which Shryock took on.

He recalled 5-mile swims and training in hand-to-hand combat. But Shryock said he didn’t fully realize how valuable underwater demolition teams were until he was ready to ship out for Europe.

His team had done some additional training on Long Island, N.Y., and was waiting to go to Europe by sea when it was told the military would be flying them, instead. He laughed heartily as he recalled how a group of officers protested vehemently when they had to give up their seats to enlisted personnel.

In all, 34 demolition units were deployed to England for the invasion. Shryock and others who served at Utah Beach participated in the landings in southern France two months later.

When the Normandy landing was delayed by a day because of the weather, Shryock said his boat circled around in the English Channel on June 5 waiting for the word.

The seas “were bad, but I never did get seasick,” Shryock said.

Working off of maps of the coastline supplied by the French Resistance, Shryock’s unit arrived off shore at least an hour before the 6 a.m. invasion. Despite the maps, his team landed a few miles off target, but adjusted and worked to clear the way for the incoming landing force.

“I don’t know why,” Shryock said, “but I didn’t think anybody would shoot me.”

Utah Beach was not as heavily defended as Omaha Beach, but there still were pockets of resistance and men were falling all around Shryock as he moved from obstacle to obstacle, lacing each with 60 pounds of explosives. At times he was so close he could hear German soldiers talking and even saw one of their remote-controlled mini-tanks packed with explosives roving across the sand. The only injury he sustained was a chipped tooth from a piece of shrapnel.

Shryock remembers the channel being packed with boats and the blood and chaos, but also remembers things like a woman waving hello from a seafront house. He’s hoping on this trip to visit the house, assuming it’s still there, and to see what else he can remember from that historic day.

“I want to see if my footprint is still there,” Shryock said.

COMPUTER DETECTIVE