Posts filed under ‘Washington’
SHAKO: Memorial Day 2013
Ideals Carved in Stone
U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jose A. Torres Jr.
In late May every year, soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment – known as The Old Guard because it is the oldest serving unit of the Army – place American flags at every grave marker in Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery in advance of the Memorial Day holiday, which honors the nation’s war dead. The cemetery is located in Virginia, just across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital, Washington.
If you click on the above image to enlarge it, you’ll notice the symbols at the top of the headstones of the first three graves indicate (from left to right) the deceased is a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim who all died in the service to their country. Behind these three headstones, on the left, you can also make out the grave of a woman Army officer, who earned the Bronze Star medal in Iraq.
We think these symbols, purchased with blood and carved in stone, are silent testaments of the ideals that America stands for — even if the road to achieving those ideals has been a rocky one since 1776. In the not so distant past, men and women of all races, colors or creeds — even if they weren’t treated equally back home — still answered the nation’s call to serve, sometimes at the risk of their own lives, because they believed in those ideals.
Today, the Army notes that “though they may differ in faith or background, all soldiers bleed the same color for our country. They serve with honor and integrity, and those that fall are all given the same honors.”
Each May, the soldiers of The Old Guard, who also provide military honors at burial services in Arlington, fan out across the cemetery’s rolling lines of graves — and in a matter of just a few hours — place the small flags a uniform distance from each marker and then salute.
On May 23, about 1,200 Old Guard soldiers participated in the “Flags In” event this year, and about 220,000 graves received a flag, as did memorial markers and rows of urns at the cemetery’s columbarium, according to Army Maj. John Miller, spokesman for the Old Guard.
The tradition dates back to the Grand Army of the Republic in 1868 to honor Union Soldiers that had fallen during the Civil War, Miller said. The custom was interrupted a few times over the years but the Old Guard revived it after World War II.
Army Sgt. Titus Fields of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment — The Old Guard — places an American flag in front of a gravestone in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., May 23, 2013. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jose A. Torres Jr.)
SHAKO is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military history, traditions and culture. For the uninitiated, a shako is the tall, billed headgear worn by many armies from the Napoleonic era to about the time of the American Civil War. It remains a part of the dress or parade uniform of several military organizations like the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.
NAVAL WARFARE: What’s to See at Sea-Air-Space Expo
Navy League’s Expo
X-47B unmanned aircraft on board the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman by Alan Radecki)
Your intrepid 4GWAR editor is at the Navy League’s 2013 Sea-Air-Space Expo at the Gaylord National Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland (it’s across the Potomac from Alexandria, Virginia).
The annual gathering brings together Navy and Coast Guard officials from all over — including many foreign countries — as well as defense contractors — large and small — and scribes like your editor to find out what’s the Navy’s up to and where it thinks it’s going in the future.
We’re helping the folks at Seapower, the Navy League’s magazine, cover the scores of briefings by Navy and Coast Guard commanders, government officials, big defense contractors and organizations dedicated to the sea services.
On Monday we wrote about the Navy’s plans for unmanned aircraft on nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the successes of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and what Naval Air Systems Command is doing to integrate new systems into the fleet while making them interoperable with existing systems and platforms.
You can see all three stories among lots of others written by the staff of Seapower by clicking here.
FRIDAY FOTO (April 5, 2013)
Hail to the Chiefs
(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Todd Frantom
We know this kind of photo is a cliche, but we just love the bland expression on this Navy chief’s face as these beautiful Springfield 1903 rifles — with fixed bayonets — sail over him. We also love the chief’s cutlass. Haven’t seen anything like that on a modern day sailor since the river battle scene in “The San Pebbles” (See photo below)
This week’s Friday Foto shows the Navy celebrating 120 years of the chief petty officer rank during an April 1 ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington. D.C. The chief petty officer rank was created in 1893 and Navy chiefs have been leading sailors ever since. We wonder who yelled at the blue jackets and told them to shape up before 1893.
The role and duties of a master chief — and the tradition behind them — are outlined in this interesting column from the Washington Times.
Please click on both photos to enlarge image.
TECHNOLOGY: DARPA’S Part in Obama Brain Initiative
Pentagon Brainiacs to Study the Brain
Jens Langner image via Wikipedia
The day after President Obama announced a new research initiative to study the human brain, a caller to a Washington radio talk show asked whether he should be concerned that a Pentagon agency – DARPA – was included in the White House brain initiative.
DARPA – the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – is the Defense Department’s think-outside-the-box research arm. Since its creation in 1958 – in response to the launch of the first manmade spaced satellite, the Soviet Union’s Sputnik – DARPA has been behind some remarkable scientific developments including the Internet, Global Positioning Systems and radar-defeating stealth technology.
But what is the motivation for this government agency, known for high risk projects, to launch a high tech study of how the human brain works? The answer might surprise you. Forget “The Manchurian Candidate,” brainwashing and mind control. DARPA is interested in helping people – war injured veterans in particular – recover their memory or their ability to use their limbs again.
DARPA intends to invest about $50 million next year in trying to understand the dynamic functions of the brain and coming up with breakthrough applications. Obama wants to spend a total of $100 million on projects to help researchers find new ways to treat, cure and even prevent brain disorders.
“This kind of knowledge of brain function could inspire the design of a new generation of information processing systems; lead to insights into brain injury and recovery mechanisms; and enable new diagnostics, therapies and devices to repair traumatic brain injury,” DARPA Director Arati Prabhakar, said on DARPA’s website.
According to to the Defense and Veterans’ Brain Injury Center, between the years 2000 and 2012, 266,810 members of the U.S. Armed Services sustained traumatic brain injuries. They ranged from mild (concussion) to penetrating (open head wound/brain penetrated). Most (82.4 percent) are mild, the DVBIJ said.
Defense Department chart
ARCTIC: Food For Thought
Avoiding Cold War in a Cold Place
Only eight countries have territory bordering the Arctic Circle: the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Russia and Denmark (by virtue of its control of Greenland).
Together, these eight form the Arctic Council, an international forum created in 1996 to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the eight Arctic states and also involve the indigenous communities in the High North. Some of the topics of common interest include sustainable development and environmental protection.
In 2011, the eight Arctic Council members completed the Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement, the first binding treaty concluded under the Council’s auspices.
Rich oil and mineral deposits are believed to lie beneath the Arctic Sea and its underwater coastline. One of the world’s last great fisheries is also in Arctic waters. All of these valuable resources will become more accessible at climate change and other factors melt more and more summer ice in Arctic waters. That will open up sea lanes for transporting cargo and passengers as well as oil and natural gas exploration.
While the Arctic states have worked out agreements dealing with these natural resources little has been done to prevent or adjudicate conflict, says Paul Arthur Berkman, a biological oceanographer at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Writing in the New York Times opinion pages today (March 14), Berkman says the potential for conflict is high – even if tensions now are low.
“How, for instance, will each nation position its military and police its territory?” asks Berkman, adding: “How will the Arctic states deal with China and other nations that have no formal jurisdictional claims but have strong interests in exploiting Arctic resources?”
It’s an important topic to mull. To read more, click here.
WASHINGTON: Hagel Takes Over at Pentagon
Chuck in Charge
Chuck Hagel, with his wife, Lilibet watching, is sworn into office as defense secretary by Michael Rhodes, the Defense Dept. director of administration and management. (Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley)
Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) was sworn in today as the 24th Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.
In an address to uniformed and civilian workers at the Pentagon, Hagel called for teamwork with allies — “working with old allies and reaching out to new allies.” He added: “We must lead with our allies. No nation, as great as America is, can do anything alone.”
Mentioning the looming budget cuts posed by the sequestration deficit reduction measures scheduled to take effect March 1, Hagel said: “That’s a reality. We need to figure this out …we need to deal with this reality.”
After he was sworn in, Hagel said he spent some time at the Pentagon’s memorial to the 9/11 attack. He noted that Thursday (Feb. 28) will be the 22nd anniversary of the end of Operation Desert Storm, the first war in Iraq. In the time between those two events he said, one “starts to see a pattern of different kinds of threats,” Hagel said.
He noted that the military, and the country as a whole, faces a continuing number of challenges. “If nothing else, what we’re all dealing with is the uncertainty of the planning, the uncertainty of the commitments, the uncertainty of what’s ahead,” he said. Hagel promised to a defense secretary who “will be straight with you.” Then with a grin, he ended the brief session saying: “Now I’ve got to go to work.”
Defense Dept. photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, U.S. Navy.
WASHINGTON: Senate Confirms New Defense Secretary
Obama’s Choice Approved
Now Leon Panetta can finally retire to his farm in California. The U.S. Senate today (Feb. 26) voted to approve — by a narrow margin — the nomination of Chuck Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense.
Former Sen. Chuck Hagel speaking in 2012. (Defense Dept. Photo by Glenn Fawcett)
The Senate voted 58-to-41 to confirm Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska and Vietnam combat veteran, as the 24th Defense Secretary. It was the closest vote on a nominee for the Pentagon post since it was created in 1947, the New York Times reported.
The nomination was held up by his former Republican colleagues who staged a de facto fillibuster before Congress took a Washington’s Birthday break earlier this month.
In the end, only four Republicans voted for Hagel: Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Richard Shelby of Alabama, the Times reported.
Hagel’s opposition to the 2007 troop surge in Iraq and sanctions against Iran earned him the enmity of conservatives. And comments critical of Israel’s influence on Capitol Hill and an openly gay nominee for an ambassadorship created more enemies who sought to discredit him for what he had said or written in years past. Senate opponents also raised questions about whether — after leaving the Senate — he was paid by foreign governments and organizations hostile to the United States. No evidence was found.
The delay in Hagel’s nomination process forced Panetta to come back to Washington from an anticipated retirement to travel to a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels this month. Hagel earned two Purple Hearts during service as an Army sergeant, and served as senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009. He is scheduled to be sworn in Feb. 27
SHAKO: A Fourth Iraq-Afghanistan Medal of Honor Recipient
Outnumbered, Outgunned — but NOT Overwhelmed
President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to former Army Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha during a White House ceremony on Feb. 11, 2013. (Photo Credit: Leroy Council, AMVID)
On Monday (Feb. 11) Army Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military decoration for bravery. That makes him only the fourth living American service member to receive the Medal of Honor for heroism in the Iraq and Afghan wars. Seven others have received the Medal of Honor posthumously.
The staff sergeant, retired now, and working in the oil fields of North Dakota, was cited for his heroic actions in a horrendous battle at a besieged outpost in Afghanistan’s Nuristan Province more than three years ago.
On the morning of October 9, 2009, Combat Outpost Keating — manned by just 53 soldiers at the bottom of a deep valley — was attacked from all sides by as many as 300 Taliban fighters firing machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds down onto the tiny post.
“These men were outnumbered, outgunned and almost overrun,” President Obama said at the medal award ceremony in the White House. But they fought back, even after the enemy breached the perimeter defenses.
Obama noted that Romesha was not the only hero in Outpost Keating that day. For their actions on Oct. 9, 2009 the defenders earned 37 Army commendation medals, 27 Purple Heart medals, 18 Bronze Star medals and nine Silver Stars.
We’ll let the Army citation for Romesha’s actions that day speak for itself:
Staff Sergeant Clinton L. Romesha distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Section Leader with Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, during combat operations against an armed enemy at Combat Outpost Keating, Kamdesh District, Nuristan Province, Afghanistan on October 3rd, 2009.
On that morning, Staff Sergeant Romesha and his comrades awakened to an attack by an estimated 300 enemy fighters occupying the high ground on all four sides of the complex, employing concentrated fire from recoilless rifles, rocket propelled grenades, anti-aircraft machine guns, mortars and small-arms fire. Staff Sergeant Romesha moved uncovered under intense enemy fire to conduct a reconnaissance of the battlefield and seek reinforcements from the barracks before returning to action with the support of an assistant gunner.
Staff Sergeant Romesha took out an enemy machine gun team, and, while engaging a second, the generator he was using for cover was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, inflicting him with shrapnel wounds. Undeterred by his injuries, Staff Sergeant Romesha continued to fight, and upon the arrival of another Soldier to aid him and the assistant gunner, he again rushed through the exposed avenue to assemble additional Soldiers.
Staff Sergeant Romesha then mobilized a five-man team and returned to the fight equipped with a sniper rifle. With complete disregard for his own safety, Staff Sergeant Romesha continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire, as he moved confidently about the battlefield engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets, including three Taliban fighters who had breached the combat outpost’s perimeter.
While orchestrating a successful plan to secure and reinforce key points of the battlefield, Staff Sergeant Romesha maintained radio communication with the tactical operations center. As the enemy forces attacked with even greater ferocity, unleashing a barrage of rocket-propelled grenades and recoilless rifle rounds, Staff Sergeant Romesha identified the point of attack and directed air support to destroy over 30 enemy fighters.
After receiving reports that seriously injured Soldiers were at a distant battle position, Staff Sergeant Romesha and his team provided covering fire to allow the injured Soldiers to safely reach the aid station. Upon receipt of orders to proceed to the next objective, his team pushed forward 100 meters under overwhelming enemy fire to recover and prevent the enemy fighters from taking the bodies of their fallen comrades.
Staff Sergeant Romesha’s heroic actions throughout the day-long battle were critical in suppressing an enemy that had far greater numbers. His extraordinary efforts gave Bravo Troop the opportunity to regroup, reorganize and prepare for the counterattack that allowed the Troop to account for its personnel and secure Combat Outpost Keating.
Staff Sergeant Romesha’s discipline and extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty reflect great credit upon himself, Bravo Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and the United States Army.
When President Obama called Romesha to tell him that he would receive the Medal of Honor at the White House, Romesha said he was honored. “But he also said, it wasn’t just me out there, it was a team effort,” Obama recalled. He cited the fallen, as well as survivors of Romesha’s team in the audience, at the ceremony.
The following soldiers were killed that day in the defense of Outpost Keating: Private First Class Kevin Thomson; Sergeant Michael Scusa; Sergeant Joshua Kirk; Sergeant Christopher Griffin; Staff Sergeant Justin Gallegos; Staff Sergeant Vernon Martin; Sergeant Joshua Hardt; and Specialist Stephan Mace.
To read more about Staff Sgt. Romesha and other Medal of Honor recipients, click here.
SHAKO is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military history, traditions and culture. For the uninitiated, a shako is the tall, billed headgear worn by many armies from the Napoleonic era to about the time of the American Civil War. It remains a part of the dress or parade uniform of several military organizations like the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.
WASHINGTON: Senator Threatens to Block Obama’s Defense, CIA Picks UPDATE
Gauntlet Down
(Note: Senate Republicans have held up Hagel’s nomination until at least late February. See update below)
Photo: Sen. Graham’s website
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) – a longtime member of the Senate Armed Services Committee – is not happy with White House explanations about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya last year. Four Americans were killed, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya.
On the Sunday (Feb. 10) television talk show “Face the Nation,” Graham threatened to hold up the nominations of President Obama’s picks to Secretary of Defense and CIA Director until he gets some questions answered.
Graham, along with several other Senate Republicans – including Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire – believe the White House has not been forthcoming on the events surrounding last September’s attack on the U.S. Embassy annex in Benghazi. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack, which the administration said was prompted by Muslim outrage across the Africa, the Middle East and Asia over a viral video that insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
In testimony last week before the Senate Armed Services Committee both Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff, said they soon knew that the attack was a terrorist plot and not a spontaneous demonstration that turned violent.
That has led Graham and others to accuse the administration of withholding information on what he called “a national security failure of massive proportions.”
On the talk show, Graham said he would hold up the nominations of former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel to head the Pentagon and John Brennan to take over the CIA “until we get an accounting.”
Graham said he did not intend to filibuster the nominations.
UPDATE:
After the Senate Armed Services Committee narrowly approved Hagel’s nomination Feb. 12 on a 14-to-11 party line vote (Democrats for, Republicans against) the nomination stalled in the Senate Feb. 14 when it failed to secure the 60 votes needed to halt debate and be brought to the Senate floor for a vote. No further action is expected before Feb. 25 when the Senate returns from a Washington’s Birthday break. Meanwhile, retiring Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has given his last press conference, been honored for his service and after a teary, applause-filled ceremony, boarded a plane to return home to California. He may have to return –temporarily — but stay tuned.
Senate rules allow a single senator to throw a monkey wrench into the presidential appointee process – at least until pressure is brought to bear on them – or they get their way. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who was on the same program as Graham, said the Republican was right to probe and seek more answers but that holding up two key national security nominations was “inappropriate” and “unprecedented.”
Current Defense Secretary Panetta wants to retire and go home to California. The longer the Pentagon goes with out a replacement, the harder it will be to shepherd the next defense budget – already weeks late for its scheduled delivery by the administration – through a Congress bent on cutting the deficit.
Stay tuned, it’s going to be a bumpy ride for the next couple of weeks.
CORRECTS PREVIOUS VERSION to show Committee vote was Feb. 12 and vote to end debate was Feb. 14.
SHAKO: Hawaii’s Sen. Daniel Inouye, Medal of Honor Recipient, Dead at 88
Aloha ‘Oe
Another member of America’s greatest generation has died.
Senator Daniel Inouye, a member of the legendary Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team and a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for bravery, was 88.
Inouye died from respiratory complications at 5:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today (Dec. 17) at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, according to a statement from his office.
Sen. Inouye receives Medal of Honor from President Clinton
(Inouye Senate Office website)
As a Red Cross volunteer in Honolulu on Dec. 7, 1941, Inouye aided the wounded after the Pearl Harbor attack. Like thousands of other young nisei men – those whose parents had been born in Japan – 17-year-old Inouye enlisted to fight the Japanese — even though Japanese Americans on the West Coast were forcibly relocated to internment camps. Like nearly all Japanese Americans in the service, Inouye was sent to Europe to fight the Hitler’s Army.
Inouye was assigned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team – which received seven Presidential Unit Citations, and produced 21 Medal of Honor winners as well as more than 9,000 Purple Heart medals for wounds suffered in battle. The 442nd motto was “Go For Broke.”
In Northern Italy in April 1945, Inouye – then a lieutenant – was attacking a series of German machine gun nests when his right arm was nearly severed by enemy fire. The arm was later amputated at a field hospital.
He received the Distinguished Service Cross – the Army’s second-highest decoration for bravery – at the time. But decades later, he and other Japanese-Americans veterans were presented with the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony.
Lieutenant Daniel Inouye U.S. Army
(Congressional Medal of Honor Society)
At the ceremony in 2000, President Bill Clinton said the nation owes “an unrepayable debt” to Inouye and his fellow Asian-American soldiers. “Rarely has a nation been so well-served by a people it ill-treated,” Clinton said, according to USA Today.
Here is Inouye’s Medal of Honor citation:
Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 21 April 1945, in the vicinity of San Terenzo, Italy. While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper’s bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions. In the attack, 25 enemy soldiers were killed and eight others captured. By his gallant, aggressive tactics and by his indomitable leadership, Second Lieutenant Inouye enabled his platoon to advance through formidable resistance, and was instrumental in the capture of the ridge. Second Lieutenant Inouye’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.
Inouye went on to a distinguished career in Washington, serving as congressman and later senator from his native Hawaii after it gained statehood in 1959. At his death he was the senior member of the Senate.
