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Bremerton's 67th Annual Armed Forces Day Parade(Posted May, 9, 2015)

Bremerton Base will kick off its parade seasonby participating in this annual event. Pleaseconsider taking part in this event. Try parking atOC and walking down to the staging area.

Date and Time: Saturday, May 16 at 10:00 a.m.

Subvets placement: E-21

Subvets Show time: 9:15 a.m.

Staging location: 11th Street and Park Avenue

Upcoming Events at the Naval Undersea Museum(Posted May 8, 2015) The Naval Undersea Museum has several programs coming up, the first on Saturday, May23rd!From: Olivia WilsonOperations ManagerNaval Undersea Museum

Historian Presentation - May 23 at 2:00pm: The Naval History & Heritage Command's SeniorHistorian Dr. Michael Crawford will give a talk in the Naval Undersea Museum auditorium. Dr.Crawford's talk will be about NHHC's award-winning series Naval Documents of the AmericanRevolution. This official Navy publication received an Honorable Mention for Volume 12 for theSociety's Thomas Jefferson prize. Volume 12 and the series in general will be the topic of thepresentation. (Please see flyer attached).

Author Talk & Book Signing - June 25 at 1:00pm: In conjunction with the Naval Submarine LeaguePacific Northwest Chapter, the Naval Undersea Museum, is excited to announce that author RearAdmiral Dave Oliver, will give a special presentation about his book, "Against the Tide: Rickover'sLeadership Principles and the Rise of the Nuclear Navy" in the Naval Undersea Museum auditorium.The driving force behind America's nuclear submarine Navy, Rickover revolutionized naval warfarewhile concurrently proving to be a wellspring of innovation that drove American technology in thelatter half of the twentieth-century.

Summer STEAM - every Wednesday in July and August from 10:00am-2:00pm. NUM will host it'sfirst of a 10-series weekly Summer STEAM workshop on 1 July. Torpedoes and propulsion are thefirst theme of the season. Subsequent Summer STEAM themes are as follows: July 8: Optics, July 15:Basic Robotics, July 22: Water Properties, and July 29: SEA Fair.

Active Duty Senior Chief Submariner Goes on Eternal PatrolMarch 24, 1973 to April 29, 2015(Posted May 7, 2015) Jayson Matthew Brettin, Senior Chief U.S. Navy, of Poulsbo, Wash., passed away on April 28,2015. Having served his country almost 23 years, he affected the lives of many. Not only was he aloving husband, father, grandfather, son and brother — countless others knew him as a friend andmentor. Although taken from us much too soon, he leaves a lasting impression on all our hearts. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to The Dolphin Scholarship Foundation,Wounded Warrior Project or any veteran charity of your choice. Funeral services will be held on Friday, May 8, 2015 at 2 p.m. at Naval Base Bangor/Bangor Plaza,2720 Ohio Street, Silverdale, WA 98315. Please sign online guest book atwww.tuellmckeebremerton.com. Arrangements by Tuell-McKee Funeral and Cremation ofBremerton, 360-377-5179.

Senior Base Member Admitted to Harrison Hospital(Posted April 29, 2015) Member Ed Foskett called:

Former national e-board member Carl "Bud" Berg, 84, was admitted yesterday, Tuesday, April 28th

to CHI Harrison Hospital with bleeding GI ulser. The bleeding has been stopped. Bud is in room 320and open for visiting. Hospital # is 360-744-3911. Details to follow.

Memorial Day Observance/Tolling the Boats(Posted April 25 2015)

Submarine Group 9 will be hosting the subject event at 1000 on 21 May (Thursday) at DeterrentPark, Bangor.

Click for base access form for those who do not have base access.

April 21st Monthly General Meeting Summary(Posted April 22, 2015)

Last evening, Tuesday, April 21st, an excellent turnout which included other members from SanDiego, Seattle and South Sound bases made for a grand get-to-gather for swapping stories ofyesteryear.

After traditional opening ceremonies led by base Cdr Jim DeMott, Seattle Base Commander DickGonzalez and accompanied by base members Dutch Krompholz and Pat Householdercaptured the Traveling Dolphins from Bremerton Base. Of course they were required to presenttales of the past of their submarine experiences in order to prevail in their mission. Vcdr SteveCorcoran turned over the dolphins.

Top: L-R...Jim Demott, John Mansfield, Dutch Krompholz, Bob Bissonnette, Dick Gonzalez, Mike Ellis and Pat Householder. Bottom:L-R...Dutch Krompholz, Pat Householder, Dick Gonzalez and Steve Corcoran. Photos provided by John Mansfield. Big Pic

South Sound Base Commander John Mansfield, accompanied by base member Mike Ellis wereshort another member to compete for the dolphins.

Western Regional Director and San Diego Base Commander Bob Bissonnette gave a review ofhis career in the Navy and the Arctic Submarine Lab in addition to his service to the Subvets as aBase Commander, District Commander, WR Director and USSVI Photographer. He informed usof the progress being made on a “new” national web site which will be “friendlier” to users. Also amethod to pay dues via a web site may be in the future.

The business portion of the meeting was held after a break. Of note are upcoming events; May16th, Bremerton Armed Forces Day Parade and May 5th, deadline for 2015 Scholarship applicationsubmittals.

A reminder that the Western Region Roundup in Laughlin, NV is coming up from 26 April to 1May was announced.

More details of the meeting will be forth coming in the base minutes.

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ON THE BACK PAGEBELOW ARE QUICK LINKS TO CURRENT MILITARY EVENTS

Stuff you won't see in the local fish wrapper

70 years ago: Historic VE Day celebration photosThe Naval Undersea Museum has several programs coming up, the first on Saturday, May 23rd!NATO researchers test underwater drones in NorwayGoat Removed from USS Lake Erie Along with COSubmarines Resurface as Growth BusinessNavy's New Missile Subtension with Russia rise7News' Brandon Beyer spends day aboard submarine

From the Deckplates - A Matter of Compensation, Not RankDeconstructing Navy Inc.NATO Anti-Submarine Exercise to be Held in NorwayBaltic Neighbors Gird Against RussiaSubmarine Spotted in Scapa FlowNavy Week Feature: Lt. Commander Maura ThompsonTrident Nuclear Submarines To Be Moved To Gibraltar Amid SNP Threat

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BACK PAGE Issue/Date 20150504

AMERICAN SUBMARINERSU. S. SUBMARINE VETERANS BREMERTON BASE

P O. Box 465, Silverdale, WA 98383-0465Stuff you won't see in the local fish wrapper

Updated:May 08, 2015 17:50

70 years ago: Historic VE Day celebration photosThe Naval Undersea Museum has several programs coming up, the first on Saturday, May 23rd!NATO researchers test underwater drones in NorwayGoat Removed from USS Lake Erie Along with COSubmarines Resurface as Growth BusinessNavy's New Missile Subtension with Russia rise7News' Brandon Beyer spends day aboard submarine

From the Deckplates - A Matter of Compensation, Not RankDeconstructing Navy Inc.NATO Anti-Submarine Exercise to be Held in NorwayBaltic Neighbors Gird Against RussiaSubmarine Spotted in Scapa FlowNavy Week Feature: Lt. Commander Maura ThompsonTrident Nuclear Submarines To Be Moved To Gibraltar Amid SNP Threat

70 years ago: Historic VE Day celebration photosmsn.com May 8, 2015

Victory in Europe Day, or VE Day,was marked 70 years ago. Germanyofficially surrendered to the alliedforces on May 8, 1945, signaling theimpending end of World War II � andcelebrations broke out all over theworld. Take a look at some photosfrom VE Day.

Click here for all 36 images.

The Naval Undersea Museum has several programs coming up, the first on Saturday, May 23rd!From: Olivia WilsonOperations ManagerNaval Undersea Museum

Historian Presentation - May 23 at 2:00pm: The Naval History & Heritage Command's Senior Historian Dr. Michael Crawford will give a talk inthe Naval Undersea Museum auditorium. Dr. Crawford's talk will be about NHHC's award-winning series Naval Documents of the AmericanRevolution. This official Navy publication received an Honorable Mention for Volume 12 for the Society's Thomas Jefferson prize. Volume 12 andthe series in general will be the topic of the presentation. (Please see flyer attached).

Author Talk & Book Signing - June 25 at 1:00pm: In conjunction with the Naval Submarine League Pacific Northwest Chapter, the NavalUndersea Museum, is excited to announce that author Rear Admiral Dave Oliver, will give a special presentation about his book, "Against the Tide:Rickover's Leadership Principles and the Rise of the Nuclear Navy" in the Naval Undersea Museum auditorium. The driving force behindAmerica's nuclear submarine Navy, Rickover revolutionized naval warfare while concurrently proving to be a wellspring of innovation that droveAmerican technology in the latter half of the twentieth-century.

Summer STEAM - every Wednesday in July and August from 10:00am-2:00pm. NUM will host it's first of a 10-series weekly Summer STEAMworkshop on 1 July. Torpedoes and propulsion are the first theme of the season. Subsequent Summer STEAM themes are as follows: July 8:Optics, July 15: Basic Robotics, July 22: Water Properties, and July 29: SEA Fair. ^ NATO researchers test underwater drones in NorwayBy Steven Beardsley Stars and StripesPublished: May 6, 2015

ABOARD THE NRV ALLIANCE IN THE NORTHSEA � At first glance it resembles a torpedo � a sleekmetal cylinder with a propeller and what appears to be adorsal fin.

Yet the device lowered into the frigid waters off thewestern coast of Norway by the crew of this 3,200-tonresearch vessel is no weapon; it�s a robot, programmedto search for submarines with little guidance from itsoperators. Part of a NATO project based in Italy, it is anearly version of the kind of unmanned, autonomoustechnology many believe to be the future of anti-submarine warfare.

�Really, the advantage of autonomy is a humandoesn�t have to be there,� said Ryan Golehahn, thelead scientist behind the project. �It�s ideal indangerous or denied places.�Golehahn works at NATO�s Centre for MaritimeResearch and Experimentation, a civilian program startedby the alliance in 1959 to study the science behindhunting submarines. His team is embarked on the NRVAlliance � NRV stands for NATO Research Vessel �

for almost two weeks to test several autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs, during an annual anti-submarine exercise off the coast of Norway.

Researchers hope that by adapting to the region�s rocky, cold waters, the vehicles will be able to distinguish geological features from anomalieslike submarines. Their aim is to have NATO members use the devices in exercises in five years, and they hope to provide a seedbed of informationfor alliance members developing and deploying their own AUV programs.

The first step for the team was making the trip north from Italy, where the center conducts most of its AUV research. The decision was driven bythe �operational relevance� of the northern region, researchers said, an oblique reference to increased Russian activity in the area and a newemphasis on submarine detection.

Last week Finland dropped depth charges to warn a foreign craft detected in its waters. Swedish maritime forces spent several days searching for asuspected submarine last year. Neither government has named Russia, but they have left little doubt of where their suspicions lie.

�We wanted to come up north because we know this is a very favorable environment for submarines,� said Kevin LePage, a research directorat the NATO research center. �We know it�s also oceanographically challenging.�Those challenges include a coastline marked by fjords, the deep inlets whose rocky slopes extend far into the waters; cold temperatures and arelatively low salinity, both of which affect sound; and marine life such as whales and large fish.

The team is testing three different AUVs. Two rely on precharged batteries for daylong operation below surface. A third, smaller vehicle, known asa wing glider, uses surface wave motion to power its roving. All use sonar to track potential targets and communicate progress back to the ship.Buoys dropped in the area extend a vehicle�s range through use of acoustic modems tuned to the vehicle, which gather information that can berelayed to the ship quickly via radio signal.

Although an AUV may resemble an unmanned air drone, it cannot be operated in real time like a drone. Sound is slower than electromagneticwaves by several magnitudes, making for delays between the vehicle�s projection of data and its reception back on the ship.

�(The AUV) operates autonomously because it has to,� said Golehahn.

The vehicles are programmed to sift the sound data they receive � essentially, reflections of sound off objects � by assigning values for eachresponse. They can then use that information to track an object according to parameters chosen by shipboard operators.

An AUV can track several objects at once, which researchers can map back at the ship. By overlaying the vehicle�s input with transponders fromknown ships or submarines, they can see how effectively the vehicle is determining targets to pursue and adjust accordingly.

When the vehicle is done for the day, it surfaces and emits a transponder signal. A GPS device � which looks like a dorsal fin � is used to guidethe device when surfaced and before it dives.

The goal for researchers is to prove concepts for allies interested in better submarine detection, at a fraction of the cost of new submarines. Theysay the future is to network these vehicles and improve their capabilities to the point where submarines of the future may even be dronelike.

�One thing I expect to see is unmanned submarines doing surveillance,� LePage said, the research director.

The technology is still young, however, and improvements are necessary. Battery life is still limited. Advances in processors and improved datalinks will be crucial.

For now, researchers are just happy to be testing at sea. They�ll seek to get as much from the exercise as possible, LePage said, because fundingfor such missions is limited. The culminating event will be working with a submarine to test their vehicles� tracking abilities.

�We�ve been waiting for this for about a year and a half, and we�re finally here,� said LePage �I�m curious what we�ll see.� Read allwith images! ^ Goat Removed from USS Lake Erie Along with COLos Angeles Times | May 04, 2015 | by Tony Perry

Navy Capt. John Banigan is no longer aboard the San Diego-based guided missile cruiser Lake Erie.

Neither is a goat named Master Chief Charlie.

Banigan was ousted from command last week after the brass lostconfidence in his ability to lead, the standard explanation when acommanding officer is removed.

Banigan has been reassigned to a desk job. Master Chief Charlieis also ashore, though it remains unclear whether he is on Navyproperty or civilian property. He is, however, in excellent health,the Navy said.

The fate of the captain and the goat became mixed when theNavy began an investigation into the command climate aboardthe Lake Erie, which was reassigned to San Diego from Hawaiiin September.

According to Navy Times, one of the things that investigatorsfound was that Banigan allowed Master Chief Charlie to make

the trip from Hawaii to San Diego.

Banigan may have failed to comply with the rules of the California Department of Food and Agriculture that require anyone bringing farm animalsinto the state to have them checked out by a veterinarian.

The exact reason for Banigan's removal as the ship's skipper remain unclear. The Navy declines to comment.

Master Chief Charlie's unofficial role as the ship's mascot was no surprise. Read all ^ Submarines Resurface as Growth BusinessTechnology, geopolitics make nonnuclear subs attractive again; a Baltic battleBy Daniel Michaels in Kiel, Germany, Christina Zander in Musk�, Sweden and Robert Wall in London | The wall Street Journal | May 1, 2015

The submarine battle that erupted across the Baltic Sea wasabout business.

The Swedish government, upset with German ownership ofSweden�s biggest shipyard, last summer compelledThyssenKrupp AG to sell its Kockums operation to Sweden�sSaab AB. The move, which ThyssenKrupp calls �unfair,�cost the German industrial group a billion-dollar submarinecontract and hundreds of skilled engineers.

And Sweden�s maneuver established defense contractor Saabas a new rival in the global submarine market. ThyssenKrupp,the world�s top nonnuclear-sub maker, already feels heatfrom newly active producers in Japan and South Korea, andfrom old rivals in France and Russia.

�It means we have to get better and puts pressure on ourpeople,� says Hans Christoph Atzpodien, executive-boardchairman of ThyssenKrupp�s industrial-solutions division.

For Saab, which quickly won a first stage of the Swedishsubmarine contract and is jockeying for foreign orders, Kockums �is a good marriage,� says Gunilla Fransson, head of Saab�s security-and-defense unit. �Saab has for many years been very good at defense exports.�The Swedish-German sub spat is part of a new current for military contractors: Diesel subs have resurfaced as a growth business, thanks to shiftinggeopolitics and innovation.

For the first time since the Cold War, the world sub fleet is growing. Driven by changing strategic threats, surging global trade and newtechnologies, countries are buying or upgrading subs, even as some scale back on land and air equipment.

Stealth makes subs particularly appealing to countries feeling threatened by larger rivals. Vietnam is buying its first subs, from Russia, whileAustralia, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea are expanding their fleets�a response, in part, to China�s expansion of its navy with shipsincluding its first aircraft carrier and large nuclear subs.

Iran has said in state-controlled media it is developing conventional subs to enhance its Russian-built fleet. Firm numbers aren�tavailable�countries guard their military plans�but at least 17 nations have made public plans to create or expand sub fleets.

Submarines are unique among large military equipment for their ability to defend a country, project power and protect themselves. Aircraft carriersembody awesome strength but are expensive and vulnerable. Ground-based aircraft can reach far but require support ranging from refueling planesto spare parts.

In a shift, there is new demand for subs powered by diesel engines and electricity, not just for those with nuclear reactors. The Cold War�s endspurred cuts in the global fleet of diesel-electric submarines, to 256 last year, compared with 463 such vessels 15 years ago, according to London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

But in the 10 years through 2024, navies world-wide will double annual spending on conventional subs, to an average $11 billion from $5.5 billionin 2014, estimates Strategic Defence Intelligence, a research firm. Over the past decade, annual sales were just a few billion dollars, analysts say.

Nuclear subs will continue dominating the seas and remain vital to nuclear powers. But they can cost roughly $2 billion, compared with around$500 million for the kind of diesel-electric sub Sweden is ordering.

The Asia-Pacific region will get more than half of all new subs over the next decade, analysts predict. The primary motivation is China�s speedynaval expansion. Countries from Japan to Australia are responding with maritime military buildups that rely heavily on subs.

Growing demand for conventional subs is notable because the U.S., the world�s biggest arms exporter, only makes nuclear military subs�builtby General Dynamics Corp.�s Electric Boat unit and Newport News Shipbuilding, a unit of Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc.�and doesn�texport them. That leaves the market for conventional subs to others.

Aside from Saab, ThyssenKrupp�s rivals include firms such as French warship maker DCNS, Admiralty Shipyard JSC of Russia, SouthKorea�s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., and a Japanese partnership of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Kawasaki HeavyIndustries Ltd.. With Saab joining the fray, �The competition in the market is tougher,� says Xavier Mesnet, who markets submarines for DCNS.

Cold War undersea warfare was mainly a cat-and-mouse game between nuclear-powered subs. The Soviet Union, the U.S., Britain and Francebuilt giant �boomers� carrying ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads and smaller nuclear-powered �hunter-killer� attack subs to track anddestroy the big ones.

Conventional subs were noisy and mainly for coastal defense or muscle-flexing. They could stay submerged for just a few days on battery power,while nuclear subs were limited mainly by food supplies.

The gap is closing. Two years ago, a German Navy 212A Class sub heading to U.S. war games dove into the Atlantic Ocean and stayed under for18 days, the longest acknowledged duration undersea for a conventional sub. ThyssenKrupp, which built the 212A, says its full capabilities areclassified.

Such subs are rewriting naval strategy with advanced fuel cells and batteries that run almost silently on stored chemicals. While lacking nuclearsubs� near-limitless ability to remain submerged, the new nonnuclear subs have an advantage: They can be quieter because they don�t emit thetelltale humming of a nuclear-reactor cooling system.

Silence and underwater stamina are making nonnuclear subs harder to track. In 2005, Sweden�s HMS Gotland proved so hard for the U.S. Navyto detect in war games that the Pentagon leased it for two years to assess how to find it, the Swedish Navy says. The U.S. Navy says it regularlyconducts exercises with diesel-electric submarines operated by others, declining to discuss specifics of such drills.

Endurance and stealth �will be a very significant change,� says Peter Roberts, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, aLondon think tank, who sees a boom in new-sub sales and in sub-hunting investments. In the Western Pacific, he foresees �a spiral of submarineand antisubmarine warfare.�The trend was evident in late 2013, when the U.S. chose Okinawa, Japan, for the first deployment of cutting-edge P-8 Poseidon maritime-surveillance jets. Their mission is to track China�s growing, increasingly sophisticated sub fleet. Australia and India, also wary of China�sundersea expansion, are the P-8�s first foreign buyers. Lots more and images ^

Two Chinese Warships Enter Black Sea, Reports Link Visit to Possible Chinese Frigate Sale to RussiaBy: Sam LaGrone | May 5, 2015 1:38 PM | USNI News

Two People�s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) guided missilefrigates entered the Black Sea on Monday in a first for the PLAN,according to photos of the ships crossing the Bosporus Straitobtained by USNI News.

The pair is bound for the Russian naval base at Novorossiysk aheadof a planned visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping to Moscow tocommemorate the end of World War II in Europe , according toRussian state media reports.

The ships will arrive at Novorossiysk by May 9, according to pressreports.

Last week, Chinese officials said the pair of 4,000-ton Type 54AJiangkai II frigates � Linyi (574) and Weifang (547)� � woulddrill with Russian ships in a first ever bilateral exercise in theMediterranean in May as part of a exercise schedule agreed to lastyear. Read all with images ^

Navy's New Missile Sub (video, a good review of what's in the future for the submarine force/Ed)DefenseNews.Com | May 3, 2015 Navy's New Missile Sub

(Defense News) Rear Adm. Joseph Tofalo, director of Navy undersea warfare, on core missile sub requirements.^

tension with Russia rise (video)ABOARD THE USS VICKSBURG, North Sea | By Balazs Koranyi

(Reuters) - NATO launched one of its biggest-ever anti-submarine exercises in the North Sea on Monday, inviting non-member Sweden for the firsttime, amid increasing tensions between Russia and its northern neighbors.

More than a dozen vessels from 11 countries are participating in the "Dynamic Mongoose" exercise. NATO will simulate detecting and attackingsubmarines in one of the most hostile seas, with rugged but shallow underwater canyons, rapid currents and unusually high sound pollution fromfreshwater pouring in from Norway's fjords.

Tensions have run high since Russia annexed part of Ukraine lastyear, with the three small Baltic states, who also rely on theNordics for defense, fearing they may be next as they are hometo big Russian minorities.

Finland detected an unidentified submarine along its coast lastweek, firing depth charges at the vessel, while NATO-memberLatvia, a former Soviet state, last month said it detected aRussian submarine near its waters.

Russian aircraft have also repeatedly approached and evenviolated Nordic and Baltic airspace in recent months, challengingair defenses and triggering allied responses.

"Russia has a right to be at sea, just as we do," Rear Admiral Brad Williamson, the commander of the exercise said. "But the incidents we haveseen are not in line with international regulations... and that's been the cause of concern."

"This is not a response to that... but provides relevance to the exercise," Williamson said on board the USS Vicksburg, the lead vessel in theexercise.

Nordic defense ministers issued a strongly worded condemnation of Russia last month, calling it the biggest threat to security, prompting Russia tosay that Finland's and Sweden's closer ties with NATO were of "special concern".

"The Russians have increased their activity a lot and so have we," said Kai Nickelsdorf, the commander of Germany's U33 submarine, which isplaying the role of an enemy in the exercise.

The four submarines involved, including a Swedish one, will be tasked to approach and target the ships undetected, simulating an attack on surfaceships.

Although Norway shares a long maritime border with Russia in the Arctic, it played down the recent increase in activity.

"We saw a drop in activity level a few years ago and it's now back to where it was, the normal level," Ole Morten Sandqvist, the commander of theNorwegian fleet said. "The number of ships, aircraft in the air and so forth.. has become more frequent than it used to be."

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Peter Graff) ^ 7News' Brandon Beyer spends day aboard submarine (video)Posted: May 04, 2015 4:21 PM PDT PORT EVERGLADES, Fla. (WSVN) -- 7News received an in-depth look inside a submarine as crews prepare for an annual event that salutesforces at sea.

Thousands of sailors are in South Florida to celebrate Fleet Week, including a crew from the U.S.S. New Hampshire, a Virginia Class AttackSubmarine based out of Groton, Connecticut. As they set sail to Port Everglades from Port Canaveral, 7News' Brandon Beyer was onboard for thefinal 24 hours.

In the control room, crews get ready to dive. Within minutes, the vessel was hundreds of feet below the surface.

The crew had just returned from one of theirlongest deployments: six months away fromfamily. "Life on a submarine can be verydifficult," said Petty Officer Matthew Roina."When we're out to sea for a long period oftime, we don't get to have very muchcommunication, so we can't talk with ourfamily. All we have is e-mail. We don't haveany phone calls or anything like that."

Life on a submarine is also compact. Eachrack, or area where sailors sleep, fits sixbunk beds.

Once settled in, sailors then haveapproximately one hour to eat quite a bigmeal.

Crews spend several months in tight, close quarters but Master Chief Jesse Cook said it only brings the crew closer. "We are a family," he said."We're a very tight-knit family."

The next day, crews tie down belongings and equipment in a way to prepare themselves in case the submarine is forced to make quick maneuvers.As the ship reaches angles of 15 and 30 degrees, crews can be seen clinching onto anything already tied down, as they struggle to stay standing asthe sub dives.

As they approach Port Everglades, the sub surfaces and the crews pause as they pin dolphin pins on a new crew member.

Under the Captain's watchful eye, they're back to work. The submarine is then towed in and tied to the U.S.S. Cole.

For the next several days, sailors from all over the country will relax and enjoy the festivities. ^

From the Deckplates - A Matter of Compensation, Not Rank | U.S. Naval InstituteProceedings Magazine - May 2015 Vol. 141/5/1,347 | By Senior Chief Jim Murphy, U.S. Navy, Retired Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter recently called for the services to find new ways to inspire, and excite people, especially those with advancedtechnical skills. Inspiration and excitement are crucial for all service members and are influenced positively and negatively by leadership and severalother quality-of-life issues. Attracting and retaining people with unique skills, especially those in the burgeoning cyber workforce, presents adifferent but related set of challenges. The services compete with the civilian sector for these high-demand skills, so recruiting and keeping the bestcandidates often comes down to compensation.

One of Secretary Carter ideas for tackling the recruiting challenge is to access some enlisted candidates directly into mid-career paygrades. Thisstrategy might attract and later retain technicians, but it would entail an unnecessary shift in military culture. Moreover, the suggestion assumesthese skills are needed in uniform. Some are more suitable to civilian service, which provides the mid-career placement, career on- and off-ramps,and faster advancement the Secretary envisions.

Secretary Carter suggestion also perpetuates the misperception we only value and compensate people based on rank. That is wrong and dangerous.It also ignores the value of military experience and leadership development in that environment. Furthermore, that strategy would unfairly harmother communities; manpower in some paygrades is limited by statute, so each advanced placement in one field necessarily dictates feweropportunities and leaders in another.

Using the assumption military service is appropriate, solutions other than advanced rank upon enlistment should be considered.

The first option is to continue present enlistment policies while augmenting a technician's base salary with substantial specialty pay. This is theeasiest method to implement and would work equally well in the enlisted and officer communities, both of which already target in-demand skillswith monthly and career bonuses.

Another option is to develop in each service a second, parallel enlisted rank structure. The Army for years had specialist ranks through paygrade E-9, with pay identical to their corresponding non-technical ranks but with limited authority. The Army still has E-4 specialists and corporals.Expanded across the services, this would enable technical experts to compete for promotion as a cohort while less technical, more leadership-focused members compete in their own group. This approach would present a significant cultural transformation in the services and would createtwo classes of military professionals, both serious drawbacks. In the officer ranks, corresponding staff-corps communities could be expanded withcandidates accessed at advanced ranks, similar to physicians and attorneys.

The warrant officer ranks present another opportunity. The Army warrant officer community is specifically targeted toward technical specialistswhereas the higher commissioned ranks offer a path toward command. The Army, unlike the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, acceptscandidates with or without prior enlisted experience. The Air Force has not had a warrant officer program in decades. Moving technical specialties,perhaps very specific subspecialties in limited career fields, would provide higher compensation and status to attract qualified candidates. Thiswould solve one of the problems the Navy attempted to overcome with the now-canceled Flying Warrant Officer Pilot Program, specifically, todevelop technical specialists unencumbered by the career progression requirements of the [unrestricted line] officer (NAVADMIN 192/13). This toowould entail a substantial cultural shift for the Sea Services. The easiest and least culturally disruptive strategy is to access technical specialists under existing policies and compensate them appropriately usingbonuses standardized across the services based on specific qualifications. This would provide the financial incentive necessary to attract and retainadvanced technicians who would progress based on both technical and leadership abilities, maintaining parity for all service members. This strategyoffers several advantages: It could be implemented without major changes to existing policies, it could be quickly adjusted to meet shifting personnelneeds, and it does not require congressional action.

In determining how to attract technical specialists, we must decide if we want leaders or technicians. We need both, in most cases individuals needto be both, and existing personnel policies support both. If we assume military service is required, we need mechanisms to attract in-demand skillswithout needlessly dismantling beneficial elements of military culture. The first step is to recognize the issue is most often one of compensation, notrank. (And that is why they invented propay/ed)

Senior Chief Murphy retired from the Navy after 21 years of service. ^

Deconstructing Navy Inc. | U.S. Naval InstituteProceedings Magazine - May 2015 Vol. 141/5/1,347 |By Ensign Daniel S. Stefanus, U.S. Navy On the surface, hiring contractors would seem a wise choice. But the Navy does so at grave risk to its budget and culture of self-sufficiency The 21st-century Navy has taken the inherent efficacy of operational contract support (OCS) over sailors; labor as a sacred truth. The moreservices we can contract out, the more we are. But we have not paused to examine the leviathan we have created. There have been far too fewstudies providing long-term cost-benefit analyses of hiring a legion of contractors rather than retaining a legion of service members. We haveevolved into the hybrid military-contractor government body ; Fully 10 percent of the U.S. federal budget is now awarded to military contractors. The contractor component is strong, both as lobbyists in Washington, D.C., and as determinants of the Fleet�s battle readiness. As we enter anincreasingly perilous fiscal environment, all signs point to the Fleet doubling down on contracting out critical services as a financial necessity; butshould we? Rise of the Contractors When the United States intervened to shield Bosnia from atrocity, then-President Bill Clinton faced an uncomfortable situation. Memories ofVietnam lingered in the American psyche, with only 49 percent supporting the intervention at all and a much smaller number in favor of a largeU.S. ground presence. Service contractors overseas offered a way for U.S. forces to be supplied and taken care of while minimizing additionalboots on the ground. The crucial overarching assumption was that a contracting process would yield massive cost savings over organic militaryefforts. However, that has never been significantly proven or borne out in defense budgets. Following Bosnia, the idea of using contractors tominimize costs gained traction despite the paucity of evidence supporting its claims, and domestic contracting exploded. In the subsequent decades, contracting has become our go-to response whenever we need a quick surge of manpower or our forces seemunprepared for a task. Between 1999 and 2012, adjusted for inflation, the Department of Defense�s contract obligations have increased from$170 billion to $360 billion. This explosion is apparent in all branches of the DOD, and the Navy is no exception. As the scandal revealed, contractors have become apervasive aspect of Fleet life. The prevalence of OCS is problematic for safe and effective operations out at sea. The Navy�s hallmark has always been its independence andself-sustainability. But due to the demands and complexities of its high-tech fleet, it cannot provide many of the services it needs, so contracting thiswork is vital. However, the use of OCS for services seems less essential. Inevitably, some services contractors are necessary, especially husbandingagents in foreign ports in lieu of building or expanding American bases overseas. Domestically, the need for contracting such services is less clear.As we delegate more responsibilities to contractors instead of sailors, we become increasingly dependent on the former for our basic operationalcapabilities. As the Congressional Research Service outlined, the military is unable to effectively execute many operations, particularly those that arelarge-scale and long-term in nature, without extensive operational contract support. This dependence on OCS could be deadly in times of global crisis. Just as we fear losing our shipbuilding industrial base, so should we dread losingoperational autonomy? Relying on external organizations for the sourcing of services and employees is a grave threat to our independence andeffectiveness as a global fighting force. These companies often have looser regulations and security than the Navy and could be compromised orcease operations during a national emergency. The possibility of losing these critical services at the time we need them most should be seriouslyconsidered during the procurement process. Moreover, when these companies grow in size and importance, they will become increasinglyinfluential on naval policies and operations. Meanwhile, the Navy will become tethered to their capabilities and interests. We must take these factorsinto account when evaluating the role of OCS in the Navy. Contracting: Why? Why Not? In discussing this issue, the three main arguments in favor of contracting are that sailors cannot keep up with technological changes, they cost toomuch, and they are less flexible and adaptable than contractors. If we were to carry these arguments to their logical conclusions, why have sailors atall? Technology does advance at a rapid clip, but contemporary sailors have in large part been raised in this technological age and understand itsconcepts. Moreover, we send them to years of schooling over the course of their service, providing them with the tools necessary to adapt andthrive. Doubting their capacity to learn doubts the Navy�s relevance and future as a global maritime force. A problem could also lie in themultiplicity of systems, difficulty in obtaining replacement parts and materials, and in underfunded, clogged training pipelines. Nevertheless, asfrontline warfighters we cannot surrender to the challenges of technology. If a contractor can understand a system, then so can a sailor, especiallysince many contractors are former sailors. Rather than outsourcing these difficulties, we must embrace them. While technologies change muchmore rapidly than ship or submarine classes, this does not mean that we cannot train sailors to change with them. (Perhaps "Its the economy, stupid"/ed) Read all! ^

NATO Anti-Submarine Exercise to be Held in NorwayStaff, news.xinhuanet.com, May 1

Nearly 5,000 soldiers from more than 10 NATO allied nations will participate in an anti-submarine warfare exercise in Norwegian waters in earlyMay, the Norwegian military said Thursday.

Submarines, surface ships and aircraft will operate inthe exercise, dubbed "Dynamic Mongoose," fromMay 4 to 13 in the North Sea and Skagerrak, a straitbetween Norway, Sweden and Denmark, according toa statement posted on the Norwegian Armed Forces'official website.

NATO intends to practice anti-submarine warfare byair, surface and underwater capabilities as it ischallenging to find submarines along the Norwegiancoast, the statement said.

"Norway is an attractive place to train and practice forforeign forces," Commodore Ole Morten Sandquist,chief of the Norwegian Navy's combat force, wasquoted as saying. "It is important for Norway thatNATO is good for anti-submarine operations in ourregion."

International exercises would strengthen Norway'sability to carry out its defense tasks as realistic

exercises give participants valuable skills in a multinational framework, Sandquist said.

"Norway is dependent on NATO. It is, therefore, important that NATO will come to us to practice and train. This gives us the opportunity topractice with our closest allies," he said. See and red more ^ Baltic Neighbors Gird Against RussiaCharles Duxbury, Christina Zander and Juhana Rossi, Wall Street Journal, Apr 29

Coastal states bolster their defenses as Moscow takes a more forward military stance.

GOTLAND, Sweden � Shots and shouts rang out among the trees as National Guard troops practiced defending this Swedish island�scommunications infrastructure against invading saboteurs on a recent weekday.

On a recent weekday, members of the volunteer force swept through a clearing to flush out enemy stragglers before a call of �no sightings�brought the drill to an end.

Until recently, the arrival of foreign troops to this Baltic Sea outpost was seen as so unlikely that this force of part-timers, who get about a week oftraining a year, was judged adequate insurance against it.

That is now changing.

After Russia grabbed a piece of the Black Sea coast fromUkraine and ramped up its marine and air force exercises onand over the Baltic, the other eight countries with a piece ofthat sea�s shoreline have realized that this backwater isn�tas placid as it was.�People believed in security mechanisms like the U.N. andEU and so on, but it has been shown that those don�t work� one country has invaded another relatively close to us,�said Hans Hakansson, the National Guard chief on Gotland.�If it can happen in one place it can happen in another.�Last month Sweden said it would send a permanent force ofprofessional soldiers � initially a company of about 150 � toGotland for the first time in a decade as it refocuses its militaryon national defense and away from international missions inplaces like Afghanistan and Mali.

The Swedish plan to deploy even such a modest defensiveforce on this island near the Baltic Sea�s center is an eye-catching example of a militarization that evokes memories ofthe Cold War, when the Baltic was part of the front linebetween the Soviet Union and the West.

While military spending is falling in the U.S., the U.K. andFrance, the reverse is true in this corner of northeastern Europe.The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think tank, said this month that seven out of the nine states around the Baltic Sea are setto increase military spending this year and that the other two are considering it.

Sweden will refit warships previously set for retirement and increase its submarine fleet while Poland is budgeting for new naval vessels, helicoptersand coastal defense systems.

The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which were long under Soviet control and joined NATO in 2004, are leading the push forstronger defenses against Russia and are eager to see the likes of Sweden get a tighter grip on its maritime assets.

The three small states fear becoming isolated from their NATO allies if Russia were to intervene within their borders to protect Russian minoritiesfrom discrimination � a move it has threatened to make.

Concerns about the strength of Western defenses rose in mid-October when Sweden confirmed a foreign submarine has sailed secretly into itsterritorial waters close to the capital, Stockholm.

Lawmakers suspected Moscow was behind the incursion, but the authorities there denied involvement.A follow-up hunt was triggered a week later after mechanic Robin Klameth reported a 65-foot dark shape in waters near the boatyard where heworks east of Stockholm.�You could see it was a submarine,� he said in a recent interview. �When it moved forward, water was pushed up over its front and dividedby a tower.�Finland�s navy on Tuesday dropped small depth charges to warn off a suspected submarine detected near Helsinki.

Such incidents have sent a chill through a region already concerned about Russian aerial activity.

The number of interceptions of Russian aircraft in European airspace has been rising fast, according to NATO, and Sweden and Finland havecomplained of violations.

Analysts say Russia�s testing of its neighbors in this way is connected with the oil transports it sends over the Baltic Sea: More oil is shippedthrough the straits between Sweden and Denmark than through the Suez Canal, according to data from the U.S. Energy InformationAdministration.

�They are training the defense of an important transport route,� said Stefan Ring, a military strategy expert at the Swedish Defense University.

As well as triggering a rush to spend more on defense, Moscow�s sabre-rattling over the Baltic has hastened the development of a patchwork ofalliances among Russia�s neighbors.

Last month jets from NATO outsiders Finland and Sweden trained aerial interceptions with U.S. aircraft deployed temporarily to Estonia. The fiveNordic states � Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland � plan more joint training and intelligence sharing.

Russia has expressed concern over such tie-ups. �Unlike in previous years, Northern European military cooperation is being directed againstRussia,� the Russian foreign ministry said this month.

NATO itself has also increased its local presence, preparing a defense force of up to 30,000 troops with command-and-control centers in Polandand the three Baltic states.

On a recent weekday, NATO jets normally based in Italy were training at an air base in Estonia, 30 miles from the southern Baltic shore.Two F-16s from the 510th U.S. Fighter Squadron flew in formation over a sparsely wooded plain, and puffs of white smoke showed where theirbombs hit decoy targets as the planes banked and climbed.

While NATO says such training, taking place about 70 miles from the Russian border, is all about defense, Moscow has condemned it as aggressiveand unnecessary.

Russia�s actions represent �the most serious challenge to European security,� the defense ministers of the five Nordic countries said in a jointstatement this month.

The Russian side disputes that characterization. In a recent open letter published in a Swedish daily, Russia�s ambassador to Stockholm said hiscountry was a �good and reliable neighbor for all time.�On Gotland, 33-year-old nurse and part-time soldier Oscar Hedin rests between training exercises. He twisted his ankle and is getting it bound up bya colleague.

He said there is a new sense of relevance about this year�s training.

�It�s maybe not that I expect an invasion imminently but you never know,� he said. �With Moscow, you never really know.� ^ Submarine Spotted in Scapa FlowStaff, The Orcadian, Apr 27

The sighting of a submarine in Scapa Flow has created a huge amount ofinterest this morning.The vessel is believed to be a Walrus-class submarine, operated by theRoyal Netherlands Navy.

According to experts these vessels are considered as one of the world�smost advanced non-nuclear attack submarines.

It is not clear why the submarine is in the area, but there has been a hugeincrease in Navy activity in northern waters during the recently heldExercise Joint Warrior involving NATO forces.

When first approached this morning, all a Royal Navy statement wouldsay on the matter was: �I�m afraid that it is MOD policy not tocomment on submarine movements for security reasons.�This picture of the submarine in the Flow was taken by Hazel Weaver,skipper of the local dive boat Valkyrie. ^

Navy Week Feature: Lt. Commander Maura ThompsonAngela Thomas, 710 KEEL, Apr 27 |

What�s it like being one of only a handful of womenon a submarine? I had the opportunity to ask U.S.Navy Lieutenant Commander Maura Thompson thatquestion. She�s a supply officer on the USSLouisiana. "We�re underwater three months at a time. We willhave a few people come on and off, but for the mostpart, it�s just 160 of us. We become very much like afamily. We get very close and very weird,� Lt.Comm. Thompson said. �It�s very challenging attimes. We are often tired, the mission always comesfirst. There�s always something that breaks, somethingthat goes wrong, and we always end up having tocome together to overcome those things. So it�schallenging, but fun at the same time.� LCDR Thompson told me while she was at the NavalAcademy, she got the opportunity to take a 24-hourride on a sub, the USS Ohio, and thought she�dnever be on a submarine. That changed 10 yearslater when she was a lieutenant. "A supply admiral actually called me and said,�We�re bringing women on submarines. Wouldyou consider applying to be one of the first?� I hadnever even really considered it. My husband was on a

submarine, I didn�t know if it was the life for me.� She decided to apply and was accepted. A year later, she showed up to the USS Louisiana, and she said it�s been fantastic. Shesaid the person who�s made the biggest impact on her in submarines is her chief, the sub�s cook. "When I first came onboard the submarine�I was the first woman to show up, and everyone was a little bit hesitant about offendingme or telling me when I was doing something that was wrong. And there�s a lot of cultural things that I didn�t understand aboutbeing on a submarine. It was great to have a CSC who was not afraid to take me aside and say, �Hey, Ma�am, we don�t dothat� or �Maybe you should think about doing this,� and I appreciated so much having people who could be honest with me. Andafter a while, the crew warmed up to me and now, gender�s just not a thing.� Thompson said her favorite part about being in the Navy is working with the finest sailors she�s ever encountered. "I always say, hey USS Louisiana, finest in the fleet. I don�t know if it�s true, I haven�t been on every boat, but it feels like it tome. Sailors are fantastic. They�re so young, I work with so many sailors that are teenagers or in their early 20′s, and they constantlysurprise me with how ingenious and smart they are,� she said. �They overcome sleep challenges and work challenges, and areable to accomplish enormous tasks together and help each other. They are constantly surprising me pleasantly.� Thompson will be all over the place during the week, and she�s brought three USS Louisiana sailors with her to share theirexperiences. Navy Week runs from today through May 3. ^

Trident Nuclear Submarines To Be Moved To Gibraltar Amid SNP ThreatMarco Giannangeli, Express, Apr 27

Ministry of Defence officials who assessed its suitability, estimate that relocation would cost Britain about �3billion and take up to 10years to complete.

A senior academic said yesterday that the MoD was clearly �reading the writing on the wall� about the -possibility of anotherScottish referendum.

SNP deputy leader Stewart Hosie has threatened to hold Westminster to �ransom over �Trident if it gains enough seats after Mayto hold the balance of power.

A senior military source said yesterday: �A party was sent to Gibraltar in January to determine whether the option could work. Onecan only assume it�s part of broader �contingency planning.�Gibraltar has the �capacity to accommodate -submarines large enough for Trident.

The move would prove more politically palatable than other UK mainland options such as Falmouth.Its deep Mediterranean waters would allow easy access, in contrast to �Devonport, which has only a single deep water channel largeenough which would be vulnerable to sabotage.

In addition, its 34 miles of excavated tunnels include enormous caverns that have been made blast proof against nuclear detonationsand could be adapted to store nuclear warheads. Theodore Bromund, of the Washington DC-based Heritage Foundation think-tanksaid: �Gibraltar is already a first strike target, so moving Trident there would not increase concerns.

�There is no other available port in the UK. Gibraltar would require expansion rather than starting again.�University of York international �security lecturer Dr Nick Ritchie, said: �If the MoD is exploring other options, it shows admirableplanning and foresight. Choosing Gibraltar would avoid the nimbyism question. Any alter�native site in England or Wales would carrypolitical down sides. But Gibraltar has enough patriotism to overcome this.

�It would be interesting to see Spain�s reaction, -however, since it is a non-nuclear member of Nato.�Gibraltar�s chief minister Fabian Picardo said: �Gibraltar has had �facilities for nuclear submarines for many years.�There are regular visits by British and American nuclear submarines. Gibraltar has always loyally served the defence interests of theUnited Kingdom.�The Sunday Express revealed in September plans to temporarily relocate Trident to the US naval submarine base at Kings Bay,Georgia, in the event of victory by Scottish nationalists.

The MoD said: �We are fully committed to retaining the deterrent on the Clyde and indeed we are basing all our submarines therefrom 2020.� ^ New Software Lets Sailors Use Navy-Issued Phones for Personal UsePublished April 24, 2015 � Military.com

The Navy has green lighted a plan that allows sailors to stop carrying their work and personal phones.

Navy leaders authorized mobile software for Defense Department-issued phones that will separate a user�s official calls, messages and imagesfrom their personal ones.

Newly issued devices, starting with Apple�s iPhone 5S and 6 models running IOS 8, will utilize systems developed by Good Technology thatsegregate official business uses of the phone and securing it with enhanced encryption and passwords, according to the Navy�s April 21announcement.

�Mobility is transforming how the Navy operates, connects, and supports our personnel and the fleet,� Vice Adm. Ted Branch, Deputy Chief ofNaval Operations for Information Dominance and Director of Naval Intelligence said in the announcement.

�To meet this growing demand the Naval Enterprise Networks program office has implemented a mobile solution to meet operational needs whilecomplying with architectural and security requirements to protect the Navy enterprise,� he said.

The solution uses �Good Container� technology that will enable sailors to use their Navy-issued phones for government work and personalactivities in keeping with Navy policies on acceptable use of government IT, Branch said.

Users may load non-work apps to the phone, but only outside the Good Container system. Read all ^

Want to see inside a U-boat?? Then look here for 42 stunning images!Apr 3, 2015 | War History Online

German submarine U-995 was a German Type VIIC/41 U-boat of the Kriegsmarine. She was laid down on 25 November 1942 by Blohm & Vossin Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned on 16 September 1943 with Oberleutnant Walter K�hntopp in command.

At the end of the war on 8 May 1945 she was stricken atTrondheim, Norway. She was surrendered to the Britishand then transferred to Norwegian ownership in October1948. In December 1952 U995 became the NorwegiansubmarineKaura and in 1965 she was stricken by theRoyal Norwegian Navy. She then was sold for thesymbolic price of oneDeutsche Mark to Germany whereshe became a museum ship at Laboe Naval Memorial inOctober 1971

The Type VII was based on earlier German submarinedesigns going back to the World War I Type UB III andespecially the cancelled Type UG, designed through theDutch dummy company Ingenieurskantoor voorScheepsbouw den Haag (I.v.S).

Which was set up by Germany after World War I inorder to maintain and develop German submarinetechnology and to circumvent the limitations set by theTreaty of Versailles, and was built by shipyards aroundthe world.

The Finnish Vetehinenclass and Spanish Type E-1 also provided some of the basis for the Type VII design. These designs led to the Type VII alongwith Type I, the latter being built in AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, Germany. The production of Type I was cut down only after two boats; thereasons for this are not certain and range from political decisions to faults of the type.

The design of the Type I was further used in the development of the Type VII and Type IX. Type VII submarines were the most widely used U-boats of the war and were the most produced submarine class in history, with 703 built. The type had several modifications.

The Type VII was the most numerous U-boat type to be involved in the Battle of the Atlantic See all ^

Petraeus sentenced to 2 years' probation for military LeakPosted: 12:46 PM, Apr 23, 2015 | MITCH WEISS, Associated Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) � Former CIA Director David Petraeus, whose career was destroyed by an extramarital affair with his biographer,was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation plus a $100,000 fine for giving her classified material while she was working on the book.

Petraeus appeared at the sentencing, which came two months after he agreed to plead guilty to a federal misdemeanor count of unauthorizedremoval and retention of classified material.

The plea agreement carried a possible sentence of up to a year in prison. In court papers, prosecutors recommended two years of probationand a $40,000 fine. But Judge David Kessler increased the fine to "reflect seriousness of the offense."

In court, before being sentenced, Petraeus apologized "for the pain my actions have caused."

The agreement was filed in federal court in Charlotte, the city where Paula Broadwell, the general's biographer and former lover, lives with herhusband and children.

The prospect of probation for Petraeus had been raised as an issue in an unrelated case by supporters of Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA officerconvicted of giving a New York Times reporter classified details of an operation to derail Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Federal prosecutors in Virginia have urged a stiff sentence for Sterling, and probation officers have calculated a sentencing guidelines range of20 to 24 years.

Supporters including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu argued that Sterling's expected sentence would be out of line withthe deal that Petraeus secured.

The affair ruined the reputation of the retired four-star Army general who led U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As part of his deal, Petraeus agreed not to contest the set of facts laid out by the government.

Prosecutors said that while Broadwell was writing her book in 2011, Petraeus gave her eight binders of classified material he had improperlykept from his time as the top military commander in Afghanistan. Days later, he took the binders back to his house.

Among the secret information contained in the "black books" were the names of covert operatives, the coalition war strategy and notes aboutPetraeus' discussions with President Barack Obama and the National Security Council, prosecutors said.

Those binders were later seized by the FBI in an April 2013 search of Petraeus' Arlington, Virginia, home, where he had kept them in theunlocked drawer of a desk in a ground-floor study.

Prosecutors said that after resigning from the CIA in November 2012, Petraeus had signed a form falsely attesting he had no classified material.He also lied to FBI agents by denying he supplied the information to Broadwell, according to court documents.

Petraeus admitted having an affair with Broadwell when he resigned as CIA director. Both have publicly apologized and said their romanticrelationship began only after he had retired from the military.

Broadwell's admiring biography of him, "All In: The Education of David Petraeus," came out in 2012, before the affair was exposed.

Petraeus held the CIA post less than a year, not long enough to leave a significant mark on the spy agency. The core of his identity has been amilitary man.

\With a Ph.D. and a reputation as a thoughtful strategist, Petraeus was brought in by President George W. Bush to command multinationalforces in Iraq in 2007, a period when the war began to turn in favor of the U.S.

Petraeus' command coincided with the "surge" of American forces in Iraq and a plan to pay Sunni militias to fight al-Qaida in Iraq.

With American help, the Sunni tribes were able to push out insurgents and enable U.S. troops to withdraw in 2011. Those same Sunni areas arenow controlled by the Islamic State group, which evolved from the remnants of al-Qaida after Iraqi's Shiite-led government proved weak. ^

A rare glance into the heart of a WWI German U-boatBusiness Insider By Amanda Macias

This photograph shows the submarine's four bow torpedo tubes and hydroplane on the port side. The following images, provided by Tyne & Wear Archives, show the heart of a World War I Germansubmarine that sank in 1918 after it was rammed by a torpedo boat destroyer. Click

During WWII, Germany built 1,162 destructive "U-boats," which is short for the German word "Unterseeboot," or undersea boat. By April 1917,430 Allied and civilian vessels were sunk by German U-boats. (Looks familiar to some.) See other images of WWI uboat and comments ^ U.S. Navy Tests New Submarine-Hunting Drone Ship Zachary Cohen, CNN, Apr 20 Silently moving deep beneath the ocean's surface, combat submarines can employ the element of surprise to carry out devastating attacks on navalfleets and land targets.

For decades, the U.S. military has maintained its dominance in the depths of the world's oceans by boasting the most technologically advancedsubmarine fleet.

However, officials say China and other nations are rapidly expanding the size and scope of their own submarine forces. And, according to a reportby the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, the U.S. must rethink the role of manned submarines and prioritize new underwaterdetection techniques.

"We know they are out experimenting and looking at operating, and clearly want to be in this world of advanced submarines," Vice Adm. JosephMulloy told the House Armed Services Committee's sea power subcommittee in February.

Mulloy, who is deputy chief of naval operations for capabilities and resources, says Chinese submarines are still technologically inferior to those usedby the United States, but that margin of difference is shrinking.Concern that China could match U.S. underwater capabilities in the near future has encouraged the development of an unmanned drone ship toindependently track enemy ultra-quiet diesel electric submarines over thousands of miles to limit their tactical capacity for surprise.

Initiated by a Pentagon research group called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Anti-Submarine Warfare ContinuousTrail Vessel (ACTUV) would be able to operate under with little supervisory control but also as remotely controlled or piloted vessels, depending on

the circumstances of specific missions.

"We're looking for test-ready, multi-sensor approaches thatpush the boundaries of today's automated sensing systems forunmanned surface vessels," said Scott Littlefield, DARPAprogram manager. "Enhancing the ability of these kinds ofvessels to sense their environment in all weather and trafficconditions, day or night, would significantly advance ourability to conduct a range of military missions."

DARPA says the so-called drone ships will be 132 feet longand likely cost about $20 million, significantly less than thebillion-dollar manned warships currently in use.

The development of the ACTUV aligns with the "culturechange" described by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Tuesday atthe Navy League's Sea Air Space symposium at National

Harbor, Maryland.

"Unmanned systems, particularly autonomous ones, have to be the new normal in ever-increasing areas," Maybus said.

Mabus said new staff will be put into place to help streamline, coordinate and champion unmanned systems in "all domains."

An ACTUV prototype vessel is already in production and, if testing is successful, the Navy could move to the next phase of development by 2018. ^

White and blue crackerjacks moving forwardBy Lance M. Bacon, Staff writer 8:07 a.m. EDT April 20, 2015 | Navy Times The good news: Officials have the money for the long-awaited reboot of dress whites and dress blues. The bad news: The money isn't available until 2016. Money problems and a decision to roll-out new women's jumper-style dress blues in tandem with the men's have delayed the roll-out by a yearfor service dress blues; service dress whites will be delayed for two years. Men and women, E-6 and below, will be able to buy the service dress blues at the Navy Exchange in early 2016, said Capt. Janet Bristol, headof the Uniform Matters Office. The uniforms are likely to be issued to recruits beginning Oct. 1, 2016, the start of fiscal year 2017. Funding for

the crackerjack whites is earmarked for fiscal 2017. "We are definitely going forward with it," she said in a recentinterview. "We are still formalizing some of our final decisions on thetiming and rollout schedule, but the funding is in place, the uniformswill be coming and I think the sailors will enjoy the new features." The dress blues sport sure-to-be popular updates like a front zipperon the trousers that renders the 13 buttons purely decorative, and aside zipper on the blouse. The dress whites are set for the largestredesign in decades and will have tailored cuffs and piping thatmatches the blues. But not all changes are being well-received: Manyfemale sailors complain that the "Dixie cup" is easily stained bymakeup and doesn't fit hair buns.

Read All ^

Top "Thanks to those who point out articles for others to enjoy! " Front PagePublished for American Submariners by USSVI Bremerton Base -Webmaster Don "Red" Bassler

A car load of merry makers celebrate VE Day Victory in London.

General Dwight Eisenhower and Prime Minister Winston Churchill on VE Day in London.

Crew members of the NATO research vessel NRV Alliance prepare to launch the first of two autonomous underwatervehicles in the North Sea off the coast of Norway on May 5, 2015. Programmed to track objects moving underwater, thedevices are being tested by NATO's Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation as part of a NATO anti-submarine warfare exercise, Dynamic Mongoose.

The German Navy's U32 submarine, shown preparing for maneuvers with the U.S. Navy in 2013. Soon after, the212A Class model from ThyssenKrupp remained submerged for 18 days, the longest acknowledged dive for aconventional submarine. Photo: Carsten Rehder/DPA/Zuma Press

Chinese frigate 547 Linyi passing through Bosphorus on May 4, 2015. Photo by Nurderen �zbek viaBosphorus Naval News

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Swedish corvette HMS Visby patrols the Stockholm Archipelago October 19 2014, searching for what themilitary says is a foreign threat in the waters (Reuters / Marko Savala)

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