NIWC Pacific Holds Change of Command, Retirement Ceremony

04 May 2023

From Maison Piedfort, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific

SAN DIEGO — Capt. Patrick McKenna assumed command from Capt. Andrew Gainer in a change of command and retirement ceremony at Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific May 4. As commanding officer, McKenna will lead more than 5,200 civilian employees and military members across the globe in serving NIWC Pacific’s information warfare mission.

A native of Middleton, Wisconsin, McKenna’s naval career began in 2000 at Officer Candidate School in Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Since then, he has logged more than 3,000 flight hours as an operational aviator and served in various leadership roles, including lead project officer and department head, as well as commanding officer for USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).

Prior to assuming command at NIWC Pacific, he served asNaval Information Warfare Systems Command(NAVWAR) Commander Rear Adm. Doug Small’s executive assistant.

“The technology here is amazing, and the capability we deliver to the fleet is vital, but first and foremost, it’s the workforce here that’s been the most awe inspiring and has me most excited about what the next 36 months will bring,” McKenna said. “I’m inheriting that workforce, and that is one hundred percent a testament to Capt. Gainer.”

During the retirement portion of the ceremony, Small, presiding officer of the change of command ceremony, thanked Gainer for his leadership over the last six years, first as executive officer then as commanding officer: “NIWC Pacific plays an outsized role in preparing the Navy for whatever’s next in the strategic powers competition. Capt. Gainer has been at the heart of making sure the constant sense of urgency, associated with that competition, is brought to bear here every single day. I’m sure Capt. McKenna will do the same.”

Small presented Gainer with the Legion of Merit award for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service during his tours at NIWC Pacific. In the award summary, Small highlighted his “significant, positive impact” while leading the Navy’s largest command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR), cyber, and space warfare center: “Capt. Gainer’s technical acumen, vision, and focused leadership were instrumental in enabling NIWC Pacific’s leading role in reshaping 21st century warfare.”

Under his leadership, NIWC Pacific managed more than 600 technical projects and delivered more than $8 billion of C4ISR, cyber, and space capabilities to the fleet. When Gainer, a native of Bellingham, Washington, assumed command in May 2020, it was in a socially-distanced, limited-attendance ceremony in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Today he retired after 30 years of naval service surrounded by family and friends.

“It’s important to me that we recognize this career as a joint effort,” Gainer said, highlighting teams and initiatives at the Center exemplifying the collaborative culture needed to accomplish its mission. “We’ll never be done fortifying our culture — it’s a 24/7, 365-day a year job,” Gainer said. “And I’m proud of every team or activity that shines a light on how we’re all interconnected.”

NIWC Pacific’s mission is to conduct research, development, engineering, and support of integrated command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, cyber, and space systems across all warfighting domains, and to rapidly prototype, conduct test and evaluation, and provide acquisition, installation, and in-service engineering support.

https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3385640/niwc-pacific-holds-change-of-command-retirement-ceremony/

First of its Kind Submarine Visit Forges Relationship

04 May 2023

From Lt. Eric Uhden, Commander, Submarine Squadron 15 Public Affairs

NAVAL BASE GUAM – Senior leaders from the navies of Japan, South Korea and the United States visited Naval Base Guam to embark a U.S. Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine operating off Guam, April 18.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Rick Seif, commander, Submarine Group 7/Task Force 74, was joined on USS Maine (SSBN 741) by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Vice Adm. Tateki Tawara, commander, Fleet Submarine Force, and Rear Adm. Su Youl Lee, commander, Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy Submarine Force. During their time at sea, the senior leaders toured the sub, including demonstrations of the unit’s capabilities. The ballistic missile submarine operates globally under U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).

“This underway embark onboardUSS Maine in Guam reflects our special relationship with Japan and the Republic of Korea, as well as our ironclad commitment to each alliance,” said Seif. “These submarines, which patrol continuously, provide a critical, stabilizing, and highly effective element of the U.S. nuclear deterrence force.” This was thefirst trilateral embark onboard a ballistic missile submarineinvolving senior commanders of the submarine fleets of the three nations.

“This tour facilitated our understanding of a U.S. strategic operational asset,” said Tawara. “I am convinced that the deepening of mutual understanding among the commanders of the three nation’s submarine forces through such visits will strengthen the alliance with the United States.”

“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the ROK-U.S. alliance, which remains the linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula. As such, this visit was an opportunity to reaffirm the security commitment and capabilities that the U.S. provides to the ROK.” said Lee.

The embark was an example of how U.S. forces are advancing the U.S-Japan-ROK trilateral relationship that is forward-leaning, reflective of shared values, and resolute against threats that challenge regional stability.

USSTRATCOM forces are on watch 24/7 globally, operating in all domains, while supporting other commands, to defend the nation and our allies.

Maine is the 16th Ohio-class of ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), and the third U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. Maine was commissioned on July 29, 1995 at Kittery, Maine.

Maine is one of eight ballistic-missile submarines stationed at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, Washington, and is capable of carrying up to 20 submarine-launched ballistic missiles with multiple warheads.

https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/3384347/first-of-its-kind-submarine-visit-forges-relationship/

Funeral Held in Ukraine for American Man Killed in Action

5 May 2023

Associated Press | By Nicolae Dumitrache

KYIV, Ukraine — Soldiers from the International Legion of Ukraine said farewell Friday to an American military veteran they served with, who was killed a month ago in the fierce struggle to prevent the eastern city of Bakhmut from falling into Russian hands.

In a funeral service at Kyiv's St. Michael's Cathedral, Ukrainian regular army troops bore theUkrainian-flag-draped coffin of Chris Campbellwhile about three dozen members of the International Legion looked on. (what about the American flag?)

After folding the flag, they presented it to Ivanna Sanina, Campbell's Ukrainian wife.

The Florida native is one of least nine Americans now known to have been killed in fighting in Ukraine, including another last month in Bakhmut. Two Canadian volunteers were also killed there April 26 after Russian artillery hit their position.

The struggle for Bakhmut, located about 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the Russian-held regional capital of Donetsk, has been one of the bloodiest of the war. It has now been going on for more than eight months.

It is believed to have cost thousands of lives, though neither side has said how many. Russia now has possession of most of the city.

Campbell served with the International Legion of Ukraine, a unit of foreign volunteers with prior military experience formed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Sanina, herself a volunteer to provide aid to the frontline troops, said she had first met him at an event for volunteers earlier in the war.

“I asked him, ‘Why are you here?’ It was our first meeting, and he said, ‘Because it is right,’” she told reporters tearfully, calling him “the bravest man I've ever known.”

She last saw him two days before his April 6 death in Kharkiv, when he had a short respite from the front lines. She said she could tell how hard the fighting in Bakhmut had been on him.

“I saw that he changed a lot,” she said. “Every man, the horrors which they see, it's awful.”

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/05/05/funeral-held-ukraine-american-man-killed-action.html

What a strange story!

'We Can Think of Few Things as Irresponsible': 7 Former Defense Secretaries Blast Hold on Military Promotions

4 May 2023

Military.com | By Rebecca Kheel

Seven former defense secretaries who served in administrations from both parties are warning that a Republican senator's hold on nearly 200 military promotions hurts military families and emboldens U.S. adversaries.

"There are also real-world impacts on the families of these senior officers," the former defense secretaries wrote in a letter released Thursday by Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. "Most cannot move and resettle their families; their children cannot enroll at their next schools on time; and spouses cannot start new jobs at the next duty station. We can think of few things as irresponsible and uncaring as harming the families of those who serve our nation in uniform."

The message is similar to ones current defense officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have issued in recent weeks. But the letter, which was addressed to Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., raises the pressure on the senator at the center of the controversy, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., by bringing in voices from both Republican and Democratic administrations. In releasing the letter, Schumer said he hopes it encourages other Senate Republicans to push Tuberville to "drop these reckless holds."

The letter, which does not mention Tuberville by name, was signed by Trump administrationDefense Secretaries Jim Mattis and Mark Esper; Obama administration Defense Secretaries Chuck Hagel, Leon Panetta and Bob Gates, who was also defense secretary under President George W. Bush; and Clinton administration Defense Secretaries William Cohen and William Perry.

Tuberville has been delaying Senate confirmations of promotions for all one-star generals and admirals and above overhis objection to the Pentagon's decision to cover travel and leave for service members seeking abortionsand other reproductive health care. Tuberville's hold, as the procedural mechanism he is using is known, applies right now to 196 nominees, a number that has steadily grown since he first announced the hold in February.

Tuberville has suggestedhe could lift his hold if he is granted a vote on the Pentagon's abortion policies, but there have been no signs the standoff will end soon.

Tuberville's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Military.com about the letter from the former defense secretaries, but he has previously rejected arguments that his hold harms the military, in part by suggesting the military has too many generals and admirals.

Tuberville has also insisted current officers will stay in their posts until their replacements are confirmed, but military officials pushed back on that argument this week too.

"One of our expeditionary forces, about 45,000 Marines, has a three-star and a one-star. That three-star will retire this summer," Gen. Eric Smith, assistant commandant of the Marines, said at a Senate Armed Services Committee subcommittee hearing Tuesday. "Long service, suffered a family tragedy as well, so he will retire. That will leave that expeditionary force with a one-star…So that's a significant amount of supervision and experience that is no longer focused where it should be on our most precious asset, the Marines in those Marine expeditionary units. That's just a small anecdote, but that is not a one-off."

In their letter, the former defense secretaries point to several key positions awaiting confirmation, including new commanders for the U.S. 5th Fleet in the Middle East and U.S. 7th Fleet in the Pacific, the new U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, and the next director of intelligence at U.S. Cyber Command. They also highlighted the expected nomination of a new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff later this year.

"Leaving these and many other senior positions in doubt at a time of enormous geopolitical uncertainty sends the wrong message to our adversaries and could weaken our deterrence," the former secretaries wrote.

While thesecretaries acknowledged senatorscan have "sincere and legitimate" concerns about Pentagon policies, they encouraged lawmakers to use other means to voice their objections, such as at hearings and in the annual defense policy bill.

"We believe placing a hold on all uniformed nominees risks turning military officers into political pawns, holding them responsible for a policy decision made by their civilian leaders," they wrote. "We, therefore, strongly urge the Senate to ensure the continued readiness of the U.S. armed forces by lifting the blanket hold and promptly voting to confirm these uniformed nominees."

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/05/04/we-can-think-of-few-things-irresponsible-7-former-defense-secretaries-blast-hold-military-promotions.html

>>18801458

Bannon specifically said he's never attended a Jesuit school, he jokes with Steve Cortes that has attended a Jesuit school. Do your homework before accusing.

>>18801332

you fail to mention, it's not required to join and pay to read, how do you think they can keep providing things for free. He has excellent theories and read, not that I agree with all, but he does a good job.

5 May, 2023 14:37

==Another Ukrainian terrorist plot foiled – FSB

A sabotage group was planning tokill a senior leaderat the Zaporozhye nuclear facility, Russia’s domestic security agency says

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has busted a Ukrainian terrorist group in Zaporozhye Region that was allegedly planning to assassinate a high-ranking official at a nuclear plant while also gathering sensitive data on the Russian military.

In a statement on Friday, the agency said that its operatives “have quelled the activities of a sabotage and terrorist group” in the former Ukrainian region which voted in a referendum to become part of Russia last autumn, adding that the group consisted of several agents of Kiev’s special services.

The FSB also said a law enforcement operation prevented “an act of terrorism against one of the leaders of the Zaporozhye NPP,” the largest nuclear facility in Europe, which has been under Russian control since the early days of the Ukraine conflict.

The group’s activities were coordinated by two Ukrainian Intelligence agents, with another two people – a recruiter and an intermediary, who is currently residing in Finland – also involved, the agency stated. The two apprehended suspects have been charged withplotting a terrorist attack, it added.

The agency also released a video showing what appears to be Russian operatives tackling a member of the group, as well as pictures of several items apparently confiscated by law enforcement. The security service said the items included a ready-to-use explosive device, explosive substances, automatic small arms, and munitions.

The Ukrainian saboteurs were alsogathering data about the locationof Russian military facilities, law enforcement agencies, and service members, as well as pro-Russia residents, the statement read.

The FSB says it is looking into whether the group’s members had committed any terrorist or sabotage attacks prior to their arrest.

In recent months, Ukraine has ramped up its sabotage attacks on Russian targets, while conducting attempts to assassinate Russian officials. Earlier this week, the FSB said it bustedanother Ukrainian terrorist ringthat was planning tostage attacks in Crimea, Russia, as well as eliminating a number of high-ranking local officials, including the region’s head, Sergey Aksenov.

https://www.rt.com/russia/575832-ukraine-terrorist-plot-fsb/

>>18801571

The evil is everywhere!

>>18801619

I couldn't agree more, the Senate will not allow even a vote on the military paying for travel and abortions for soldiers and family, so hold them up as long as possible