USN TO NASA - Kayla Barron

"She Was a Pioneering Navy Submarine Officer.  Now She's Headed to Space" by Karli Goldenberg, Military.com 6/18/2021

Lt. Cmdr. Kayla Barron, one of the first women to serve on a Navy submarine, is now one step closer to being one of the first women to walk on the Moon.

Barron, 33, who commissioned as a Navy officer in 2010, was selected by NASA out of a pool of approximately 18,000 people to join the 2017 astronaut candidate class.

Barron is no stranger to firsts.  When the Navy first began the process of integrating women into submarine crews in 2010, during her senior year at the Naval Academy, Barron became a member of the first class of women commissioned into the submarine community.

"I think I've been lucky to be in the right place at the right time for some of these big changes, the submarine force being a great example.  They opened the community to women during my senior year at the Naval Academy, allowing me to volunteer to serve in that community," Barron said.

She would ultimately serve on the Ohio-class ballistic submarine Maine, where she'd complete three patrols in the job of division officer.

For her first spaceflight, Barron will serve as a mission specialist for the SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station.  The mission is slated for launch "no earlier than Sunday Oct.  31," according to a NASA Commercial Crew Program post.

In addition to the upcoming SpaceX Crew-3 mission this fall, Barron is also set to take part in NASA's Artemis program, which aims to "send the first woman and next man to the Moon" by 2024.

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For Barron, though, it's not about being the first, it's about striving for her personal best.

"I don't think I really like to latch onto being the first," she said.  "For me, I want to find the opportunities that will be the most challenging, the most developmental and will allow me to serve in the best way I can given what I think I can bring to the table."

Barron, who still serves on active duty in the Navy, said her service with the submarine force gave her the confidence to apply to be an astronaut.

"My experiences on the submarine were really formative, and were ultimately what gave me the confidence to even think that I could apply at all to become an astronaut, let alone eventually become one," she said.

Following two years of training to build basic skills and create a strong foundation for astronaut candidates, including Survival, Evasion, Resistant and Escape, or SERE, training with the Navy in Redington, Maine, Barron became a NASA astronaut.

"I definitely rely on my experience from the submarine force, every single day in my role at NASA," Barron said.  She had a breakthrough in conceptualizing space, she said., when she started thinking of the space station like a submarine.

"The parallels are really endless," she said.  "In my opinion, just like you can imagine, you know human beings trying to live and work in an environment where human beings aren't supposed to live and work, whether that's under the surface of the ocean or in the vacuum of space.  So you face a lot of really similar challenges."

As one of two submariners in the astronaut office, Barron said she brings unique experience and an "operational mindset" to the upcoming mission.

"It really takes ... an understanding of how to bring everybody's knowledge, experience and skill sets to the table in order to make strong decisions operationally that not only keep everyone safe but also accomplish all the goals you're trying to make," Barron said.  "Really understanding how to bring that team together is something that I really think I can contribute to our mission, that operational understanding and experience."

As Barron continues her work as an astronaut, she said that she is particularly inspired by the women who paved the way for her.

"Here at NASA, we walk the halls with our heroes," she said.  "They're amazing women who were the first to command a space shuttle or the first woman to command the space station.  It feels like I'm just a part of that lineage and I'm really standing on the shoulders of people who've paved the way in order for me to be there.  I've just felt really lucky that people have seen the value and my experience and perspective and have really given me the opportunity to challenge myself and continue to grow in these various environments."

U.S. NAVY - Fleet Exercises

"Biggest Navy Exercise in a Generation Will Include 25,000 Personnel Across 17 Time Zones" by Gina Harkins, Military.com 5/21/2021

Tens of thousands of sailors and Marines will participate in the biggest U.S. naval exercise in a generation to test how the services will fight across vast distances as they prepare for possible conflict with China or Russia.

Aircraft carriers, submarines, planes, unmanned vessels, and about 25,000 personnel will participate in Large Scale Exercise 2021 [LSE], which will begin in late summer.  The massive exercise will span 17 time zones with sailors and Marines in the U.S., Africa, Europe and the Pacific joining.

Live forces will participate in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

"LSE is more than just training, it is leveraging the integrated fighting power of multiple naval forces to share sensors, weapons, and platforms across all domains in contested environments, globally," said Adm. Christopher Grady, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, told Military.com in an email.

The exercise, he added, will be the first in a series "that will continue to push the envelope of what it means to be the superior maritime force."

The Navy and Marine Corps are working more closely after decades of missions focused on the Middle East.  As competition for influence builds with China and Russia, the Department of the Navy is shifting its focus from a largely land-based fight against terror groups to deterring aggression.

Three dozen units will participate in physical portions of the large-scale exercise, while more than 50 will join the exercise remotely, said Lt. Cmdr. Tabitha Klingensmith, with U.S. Fleet Forces Command.  Participating units will include personnel from all three Marine expeditionary forces and sailors from the Navy's Second, Third, Sixth, Seventh and Tenth fleets.

While the U.S. has held big naval exercises like Bold Alligator and Rim of the Pacific, Klingensmith said the training events are growing in scope and complexity.  Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday has referred to the upcoming large-scale exercise as the biggest naval training event in a generation.

That's because combining live and virtual participants "will expand the playing field beyond what has ever been achieved in live-only exercises," Klingensmith said.

"LSE 2021 will use technologies similar to what you see in virtual video gaming environments to expand the number of participants by linking commands and units around the globe virtually, thereby increasing the number of players, real and synthetic, to better replicate the realistic scale of scenarios the Navy and Marine Corps team is likely to face in the future," she added.

The sailors and Marines participating will test several concepts they're likely to encounter in a possible conflict with China.  Scenarios will test the sailors and Marines' ability to conduct distributed operations; expeditionary advanced-base operations; littoral operations in a contested environment; and command and control in a contested environment.

"We've been applying warfighting concepts like Distributed Maritime Operations ...  to fleet battle problems at the strike group level to rapidly advance organizational learning," Grady said.  "LSE 2021 is important because we will apply those lessons learned at-scale to further our employment of synchronized, integrated operations across all domains globally, to ensure we remain the superior maritime force in a high-end fight."

The Navy and Marine Corps are finalizing details on the exercise, but Klingensmith said they plan to incorporate at least one unmanned platform -- the Autonomous Littoral Connector, a surface vessel that can provide logistics support from shore to ship.

That's traditionally a Navy mission, she said, but during the exercise it'll be under the command and control of the Marine Corps.  The 2021 updates to Commandant Gen. David Berger's Force Design Plans for the Marine Corps call for that service to -- in partnership with the Navy -- explore developing "littoral maneuver groups" to operate the future light amphibious warship.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the number of time zones involved in the exercise.

U.S. NAVY - Eisenhower (CVN 69) Carrier Strike Group

"Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group Deploys After Extended Scrimmage" by Dave Ress (The Virginian-Pilot ), Military.com 2/18/2021

In a way, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower [CVN 69] and the three cruisers, four destroyers and nine Carrier Air Wing 3 squadrons that spent much of this winter out at sea have been running scrimmages to prepare for the big game, said Rear Adm. Scott Robertson, the strike group’s commander.

The big game is the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group’s departure Wednesday on deployment.  But those scrimmages, which the Navy calls COMPTUEX — a training exercise for composite units — came with some differences.

“COMPTUEX provided graduate-level training that simulates the full spectrum of operations, low intensity to high-end combat,” Robertston said.  Low intensity, for example, includes humanitarian missions; high-end, on the other hand, is the kind of great-power confrontation with Russia or China that is increasingly the focus of U.S. strategic thinking.

The COMPTUEX scrimmages included, for the first time in recent memory, scenarios with SEAL team sailors and Marines to test how they and a carrier strike group would support one another.

The exercises included live fire onshore, with the strike group’s sailors providing over-the-horizon targeting and directing combat aircraft in close-air support for SEALs onshore.

In addition, the strike group practiced the complexities of coordinated operations with an expeditionary strike force of an amphibious assault ship and the Marines they bring to hostile shores.

That practice was with a virtual expeditionary force — ships and Marines that lived within the computer screens, software and radio communications systems of the Eisenhower strike group.

The Eisenhower strike group also practiced operating with another carrier-centered task force — though this one, like the expeditionary group, was virtual.  Such combined strike group operations are what the most intensive confrontation with great power navies would almost certainly involve.

At the heart of much of the strike group did was what the Navy calls LVC training, for “live, virtual, and constructive.”  It’s a mix of operating real ships and aircraft with virtual ones.

To practice the most intensive kind of combat, it can be tough to bring together all the fighter aircraft that might attack a carrier, Robertson said.  But engaging with a relatively small number of real fighters or ships while radars and other sensors showed several more was a good way of practicing how to scramble in response, Robertson said.

“We had some days when the weather was really bad for flying, but we could run large attacks on radar that felt like the real thing,” he said.

The Eisenhower strike group’s COMPTUEX scrimmages also included operations with NATO’s Sea Centre of Excellence in Norfolk.

These involved practicing NATO communications procedures that differ a bit from U.S. Navy methods, mainly because they’d involve long-distance transmissions from NATO’s London-based Allied Maritime Command or its Naval Striking and Support Forces operation in Portugal.  This effort included working with different messaging formats, chat capabilities and security measures.

“This was a really good start; we got some great operating lessons out of it,” said Royal Navy Commodore Tom Guy, deputy director of Combined Joint Operations at the Sea Centre of Excellence.

Both NATO and the Navy have stepped up their focus on the North Atlantic in recent months, with the establishment of NATO’s Joint Force Command in Norfolk and the Navy’s decision to revive the Atlantic Fleet, renaming and refocusing its Norfolk-based Fleet Forces Command.

In the same way, COMPTUEX’s work with SEALs reflects a new strategic concern with great power confrontation, as special warfare operations strike a new balance with their heavy emphasis on counter-terrorism operations that dates from the 9-11 attacks two decades ago, said Capt. Donald G. Wetherbee, Commodore, Naval Special Warfare Group 2.

For Robertson, who is leading the Eisenhower strike group on its deployment after the carrier spent just six months at home, COMPTUEX marked the end of a months-long training program.  The destroyers and one of the two carriers in the current strike group were not part of the Eisenhower’s group in its previous, seven-month deployment.

The months since the Eisenhower’s return started with what Robertson described as a naval version of the start of a preseason football camp, with individual ships drilling and practicing their specialties before doing team drills, while strike group ships and aircraft drilled on operating together.  COMPTUEX ran through a wide variety of scenarios, designed and run by another carrier group, which also assessed the Eisenhower strike force’s performance.

The bottom line, said Robertson: “We’re ready to deploy.”

This article is written by Dave Ress from The Virginian-Pilot and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network.  Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.

U.S. NAVY - New Skipper for Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier

 

FILE -- In this file photo, Capt. Amy N. Bauernschmidt, executive officer of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, reads the petty officer advancement results over the ship's announcement system, Nov. 21, 2018. (U.S. Navy/Gwendelyn Ohrazda)

"First Woman to Command a Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier Slated to Lead USS Abraham Lincoln" by Andrew Dyer (San Diego Union-Tribune) - Military.com 12/24/2020

SAN DIEGO — Navy Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt, who was selected earlier in December to be the first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, has been assigned command of the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln, the Navy announced Wednesday.

Bauernschmidt previously served as the Lincoln’s Executive Officer — another first for a woman — from 2016-2019.  After leaving the Lincoln, Bauernschmidt served as the commanding officer of the amphibious transport dock USS San Diego, a command she left in October.

“I am incredibly honored and humbled to be selected,” Bauernschmidt said in a statement.  “I love leading sailors and I take that responsibility extremely seriously.”

Bauernschmidt graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994.  Women from that class, the Navy said, were the first to serve on combatant ships and aircraft.  She trained as a helicopter pilot and spent much of her early flying career with helicopter squadrons at Naval Air Station North Island.

She is slated to take command of the ship this coming summer, the Navy said.

NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO - USS Bonhomme Richard Fire

NOTE:  This was copied from the e-newspaper therefore no link to article.

"17 sailors, 4 others hurt in fire aboard naval ship" by Andrew Dyer, Union-Tribune San Diego 7/13/2020

The fire caused a huge plume of smoke that prompted warnings about air quality in National City and other areas nearby.

Navy and fire officials are investigating a three-alarm fire on board the amphibious assault ship [USS] Bonhomme Richard at San Diego Naval Base that injured 17 sailors and four civilians Sunday morning and blazed throughout the day, causing smoke plumes throughout the region into Sunday evening.

The cause of the blaze and the extent of damage were not known Sunday night, but Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3, said the Navy believes the fire began in a lower cargo hold, a deep V area, where marine equipment and vehicles are stored.

The 17 sailors and four civilians were hospitalized and the injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.  Sobeck said he believes most suffered smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion and all are in stable condition.

In total, about 1,000 sailors are assigned to the ship; 160 sailors were aboard Sunday morning.  They were evacuated, the Navy said.

The fire was reported shortly after 8:50 a.m., according to San Diego Fire-Rescue officials.  Witnesses reported hearing an explosion.  Throughout the day, fumes and smoke that turned black, gray and white billowed from the ship.

The city of National City issued an advisory around 2:30 p.m. urging residents to stay indoors due to potential health effects of the smoke plume.  One National City business only allowed to operate outdoors due to COVID-19 public health orders — Machete Beer House — announced on Instagram it was closed for the day due to the plume.

The San Diego County Air Pollution Control District issued an advisory: “In areas where you smell smoke it is advised that you limit physical activity.  If possible, stay indoors to limit your exposure to fine particulate matter.”

Sobeck said the fire was not fueled by oil, hazardous materials or electrical causes.  It is a Class Alpha fire, he said, meaning it was fueled by paper, cloth, rags or other materials in a standard fire.  He added he is not concerned about the air quality or toxicity around the fire.

Sobeck said there was no ordnance on board.  There are a million gallons of fuel on board, he said, but that is “well below” any heat source.

The explosion people heard in the morning was likely caused by a change in air pressure, he said.

Earlier, at least a dozen fire engines and trucks were near the pier, with at least six ambulances staged inside.  The fire department said 150 firefighters were assigned to the blaze and a fire investigator was dispatched.

All Navy ships in port in San Diego were directed to provide fire parties to assist in firefighting efforts, according to Mike Raney, a Navy spokesman.

Two other ships, the guided-missile destroyers [USS] Fitzgerald and [USS] Russell, were moored near the [USS] Bonhomme Richard but were moved early Sunday afternoon to berths farther away from the burning vessel.

Federal Fire San Diego Division Chief Rob Bondurant said in a statement around 4:15 p.m. that two teams were still fighting the blaze on the ship.

“Federal Fire is rotating their crews aboard the ship with U.S. Navy firefighting crews from the waterfront to fight the fire in order to find the seat of the fire and extinguish it,” Bondurant said.  “Also, Navy Region Southwest tugs are also continuously combating the fire from the bay.”

By Sunday evening, significant progress was made, Sobeck said.  Sailors were fighting the fire inside the ship, he said, putting firefighting agents directly onto the blaze.

He said all sailors are trained in boot camp how to fight fires.

“The sailors across this waterfront are absolutely doing a magnificent job,” he said.  “They are fighting (for) their ship and saving their ship.”

He said he did not know the extent of the damage, but he anticipates the Navy would be able to repair the ship.

“We’re absolutely going to make sure it sails again,” Sobeck.

Meanwhile, warnings about air quality and safety issues persisted into the early evening, as fire crews continued spraying water on the smoking ship.

A shelter-in-place alert went out around 5:30 p.m. asking all personnel who are not first responders but who are north of Pier 5 to take shelter until further notice.  The Navy also was not letting any watercraft beyond the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.

Sobeck said the Navy was just trying to put a perimeter around the fire.

“It’s an ashy fire; there’s nothing toxic in there,” Sobeck said.

Earlier in the day, San Diego Fire Chief Colin Stowell said via text that the Navy would have a strategy and plan to fight the fire, and told CNN that the ship could burn for days.

Stowell wrote that it is very difficult to get access and make an “offensive attack on a fire below deck.”

“Heat cannot ventilate out,” Stowell wrote.  “(There are a) lot of dynamics with a ship fire, different from a structure fire.”

The ship was in drydock at General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego last year and has been undergoing further maintenance pierside at San Diego Naval Base.  Its last deployment was in 2018.

Such vessels are used to deploy Marines in amphibious landings.  During operations, the ships conduct flight operations with helicopters and jet aircraft, such as the AV-8B Harrier and its replacement, the F-35 B Lightning.

While deployed, these ships carry more than 2,000 sailors and Marines.

Eric A. Dukat, a retired Navy commander who is now an associate professor in the College of Maritime Operational Warfare at the U.S. Naval War College, told The New York Times that sailors are thoroughly equipped to handle fires on ships.

“Everyone gets trained to be a firefighter, flooding stopper — all the damage control — and that’s because when you’re out at sea, there’s nobody coming to you,” he said.

Dukat, who worked as a damage control assistant aboard the Wasp, said fires on ships present a unique hazard because of the rising heat inside the vessel and the intense steam that’s produced when water is used.

In 1967, a fire on the aircraft carrier [USS] Forrestal killed more than 130 sailors after a rocket accidentally fired on the flight deck and ignited several explosions.

The episode has been used as a lesson on how to tackle safety procedures aboard Navy vessels, Dukat said.

The [USS] George Washington, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, caught fire in 2008 when oil was improperly stored on the craft.  At least 37 sailors were injured in the fire that took 12 hours to put out and cost $70 million in repairs.

Photojournalist Sam Hodgson and staff writer Karen Pearlman contributed to this report.

PERSONAL NOTE:.  I served in the U.S. Navy for 22yrs (ATC retired), Viet Nam Vet, Naval Air.  When at sea deployed aboard USS Hancock (CVA 19), also was stationed with squadrons at Naval Base San Diego.

U.S. NAVY - Ohio-class Submarine Georgia Ran Aground, Report

The Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia (SSGN 729) exits the dry dock on March 22, 2019, at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, following an extended refit period. (Bryan Tomforde/U.S. Navy)

"Captain Warned That Crew Wasn't Ready Before Sub Ran Aground, Investigation Shows" by Hope Hodge Seck, Military.com 3/1/2020

A newly released investigation from a submarine mishap in 2015 that caused some $1 million worth of damage shows that an inexperienced crew was given the go-ahead to complete a tricky return-to-port mission in the dark, despite warnings from the commanding officer that they weren't ready.

The Ohio-class submarine Georgia ran aground in the predawn hours of Nov. 25, 2015, the day before Thanksgiving, as it prepared to return to port at Kings Bay, Georgia, to replace a failed towed array sonar.  While conducting a scheduled pick-up of a new pilot at Fort Clinch, Florida, near the entrance to St. Marys River, which approaches the base, the sub inadvertently exited the channel, then collided with a buoy amid the crew's efforts to re-orient.  The grounding occurred as the crew worked to get clear of the buoy, the investigation shows.

Ultimately, the sub was able to return to port to assess damages, which were mostly cosmetic, save for the ship's screw propeller, an acoustic tracking device and an electromagnetic log meter that measured the sub's speed.  The Georgia was taken into dry dock in December 2015 for assessment and the costly repairs.

The investigation, which was completed in March 2016 but just released to Military.com this month through a public records request, found that the "excessive speed" of the sub as it approached the pilot pick-up made it more difficult for the crew to control the ship, and that the tugboat carrying the pilot was positioned poorly, making the maneuver more complex.

Ultimately, though, blame for running aground is laid at the feet of the commanding officer.  In the wake of the incident, the commander of Georgia's blue crew, Capt. David Adams, was relieved of his post due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command.  Like all submarines in its class, Georgia has two identical crews -- a blue and a gold -- that alternate manning and patrols.

"His inability to effectively manage the complexity of the situation and failure to respond to the circumstances in a manner sufficient to protect the safety of the ship and crew is beneath my expectations for any CO," an investigation endorsement by Rear Adm. Randy Crites, then-commander of Submarine Group 10, reads.

In his detailed and thorough endorsement of findings, Crites also dismisses the notion that maneuvering in the dark and with a green crew was what led to the sub's disastrous mishap.

"Ultimately, had this crew (and the Pilot) executed the same plan in the same manner during broad daylight, there is nothing in the ship's planning effort, demonstrated seamanship, or response to tripwires that indicates the outcome would be any different," he said.

While coming in for the brunt of the blame, Adams was not alone in being designated for punishment.  Crites indicated his intent to take administrative action against the sub's executive officer; chief of boat; navigation/operations officer; weapons officer, who was the officer of the deck; and assistant navigator.  He also said he'd issue non-punitive letters of caution to the commander of Submarine Squadron 16 and his own chief of staff and director of operations -- all Navy captains -- for failure to take appropriate action toward resolution regarding Adams' concerns around the sub's transit into port.

The 475-page investigation, which includes witness statements, logs and other supporting documentation, offers insight into what those concerns were.  In a Nov. 24 email to the commodore of Squadron 16 marked "confidential," Adams, the Georgia blue crew commander, lays out his qualms about the plan he has been ordered to execute, particularly the predawn return to port for a brief one-day stop with a crew that had spent just three weeks underway together on a new ship.

"CO/XO/NAV have not piloted into Kings Bay in the last 20 years.  All of the untoward [incidents] I know of occurred between [St. Marys] and Fort Clinch," he wrote.  "My assessment is that this is not a prudent plan for [return to port] ...  Having just been at sea for a few weeks, I have not built enough depth.  I am concerned about the fatigue level of my command element.

"Given an all day evolution and subsequent [underway], we will have spent the majority of 36 hours awake and are set to pilot out and submerge on the mid-watch at 0330."

The two-page memo, it appears, was never received and read by Submarine Squadron 16's commodore, Capt. John Spencer.  But Adams testified he had relayed the same concerns face-to-face with Spencer days before, on Nov. 22.  He also discussed the same issues, he said, in a follow-up phone call.

This much is clear: the plan wasn't called off, and the mission was cleared to proceed.  But murky communication dogged the lead-up to the operation, and later the mission itself.

Spencer and others testified that Adams had been given leeway to "slow things down a little" if he felt uncomfortable.  Adams said he believed any delay would have been viewed as insubordination.

On the day of the mishap, communication was also flawed, in ways that underscore the crew's unfamiliarity with each other, and possibly the sleep deprivation that had left some members running on just two to three hours of rest.

According to the investigation, as the Georgia approached the point at which it was to meet with the tug and pick up the pilot -- the navigation expert who would drive the ship into port -- it became clear that the tug was well west of its expected position.  The sub, meanwhile, was approaching too fast and slowing too gradually.  The investigation found it was still making 15 knots, or about 17 miles per hour, when it passed the set "all stop" point.  That speed and positioning would make every maneuver that followed more risky and difficult.

Initial attempts to communicate with the tug and the pilot aboard via radio were unsuccessful, and the planned transfer happened late.  Adams did not want to scrap the transfer and proceed into port without the pilot, the investigation found, because of the challenges of pulling into port without one.

When the sub exited the channel at the west end of the Fort Clinch basin, the crew's communication skills faced a major test.  The assistant navigator recommended to the navigator that the sub go to "all back emergency," a call the navigator then passed to the bridge.  The officer of the deck seemed to agree, but said nothing, the investigation found.  Adams, however, overrode the order, believing it would not work, and ordered "all ahead full" instead.  He started directing the officer of the deck, but did not fully take control of the sub or give direct orders to the helm, the report states.

Despite a series of maneuvers -- right hard rudder, left hard rudder, all ahead full, right hard rudder -- the sub collided with Buoy 23 in the channel.  But the worst was still to come.

"When [Adams] asked [the lookout] if the ship hit buoy 23, [the lookout] informed the CO that he did not care about the buoy, but thought the ship was going to run aground on the beach forward of the ship," the investigation states.

As grounding looked imminent, the Georgia asked the driver of the C-tractor tugboat if the tug could cross in front of the sub on the starboard, or right, side, and push the bow around.  The tug master refused, according to the investigation, worried that the water was too shallow.

The sub ended up, as the lookout put it, "hitting Fort Clinch."

The mishap, and the misgivings that preceded it, came against the backdrop of a Navy grappling with a culture in which overworked and unready crews were regularly put underway in service of operational needs.  After two separate deadly destroyer collisions in 2017, service leaders found, among other things, that a "'can-do' culture" had undermined safety and led to unduly high operational tempo and fatigue.

"The can-do culture becomes a barrier to success only when directed from the top down or when feedback is limited or missed," the Navy's comprehensive review of the destroyer mishaps, released in October 2017, found.

Whether these factors came into play with the Georgia is more difficult to say.

In a statement for the investigation, Adams emphasized that he took full responsibility for what had transpired.

"Despite my significant reservation - expressed face-to-face, on the phone, and In emails with staff and leadership ... concerning the risks of proceeding into Kings Bay in the dark with an inexperienced team, when my requests to delay [return to port] one hour later were denied, I failed in my command responsibilities by driving to achieve mission success at the expense of appropriately acting to mitigate risks to increase our margin of safety," he said.

"In retrospect, I should have loitered at [St. Marys] until I was satisfied that the risks were commensurate with the mission gain."

Reached for comment by Military.com, Adams, who retired in 2016, referred to a public statement he had released at the time of his relief, in which he called the actions that caused the grounding "mine alone."

"I ask that my lapses not be used to denigrate the terrific service of the Sailors and families of GEORGIA BLUE," he said at the time "After thirty years of serving in the world's finest Navy, my only regret is that I will miss sailing with them again to stand against our nation's enemies."

But the fact that some above Adams were also warned offers insight into how the higher command viewed the incident.

Crites faulted Spencer, the Squadron 16 commodore, with "failure to provide his ship a plan with adequate margin to safety, specifically in not providing sufficient guidance and training to his staff that developed the plan in his absence and not aggressively pursuing complete resolution of the ship's requested arrival through personal intervention with the Type Commander staff."

The chief of staff and director of operations for Submarine Group 10, Crites said in the report, had failed to "pursue acceptable resolution to the concerns they had with the plan for the ship's arrival."

Holly Carey, deputy public affairs officer for Submarine Force Atlantic, declined to say whether all administrative actions recommended by the investigation were carried out.

"What I can tell you is that the Navy is confident that leadership took appropriate corrective actions against several personnel assigned to the squadron and submarine based on the findings of the investigation," she said.

"Following the investigation, which concluded in 2016, leadership took appropriate accountability measures and has taken all necessary steps to prevent a recurrence in the future.  USS Georgia, and her current crew, serve proudly today among the U.S. Submarine Force and has leadership's full confidence to protect the interest of the United State and allies."

OPINION - Shields and Brooks 8/31/2018

"Shields and Brooks on John McCain’s patriotism, Florida election upsets" PBS NewsHour 8/31/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s news, including the service and sacrifice of Sen. John McCain, American political icon who died over the weekend, takeaways from Florida’s primary election, plus a warning made by President Trump to evangelical leaders about the stakes going into midterms.

Judy Woodruff (NewsHour):  But first of the analysis of Shields and Brooks.  That is syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

So, gentlemen, you just heard — you were sitting here, Mark, listening to Mark Salter remember his good friend John McCain.

What are you thinking right now?

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  Well, I mean, Mark Salter was more than a wordsmith or even an alter ego.  I mean, he was — he was John McCain.  They were inseparable in thought and word.

And I thought he expressed it well.  I mean, it’s an outpouring on the part of the nation, Judy, that is beyond presidential in its admiration, its affection and its sympathy.

And I think it gives everybody in politics, in public life pause.  I mean, what is it that this man had that made — that allowed him to touch so many people?

David and I have been lucky enough to spend our company in the — our time in the company of people who run for office, most of whom we like.  And I can tell you what everyone’s going through in their mind right now, whether they’re Democrats or Republicans or liberals or conservatives as they look at this outpouring of affection, and that is, damn it, I will never have a funeral like this.

(LAUGHTER)

Mark Shields:  It’s just remarkable.

Judy Woodruff:  And it’s affection, as Mark is saying, David, across party lines.

David Brooks, New York Times:  Yes.

And it’s for values.  And one of the things that’s interesting about McCain is, though he fought in Vietnam, he’s not really a Vietnam person.  He’s a World War II person.  He missed the ’60s.  He was in Hanoi Hilton.  So all the culture war and all the values shift, which was a lot about self, he never had that.

For him, it was about country, about self.  And I have been traveling around the country recently.  And I found so many people are really attached to their town or their community or their ethnic group, not so many who are attached to nation.

But that World War II generation and the people — the values of John McCain, he really was attached to nation.  And it really was service to nation above Arizona, above anything else, above the Navy.  It really was service to nation and a sense of, we’re all in the same nation, we must at — all at some level be brothers with one another, and then a life of true sacrifice for the nation.

I mean, it’s worth pointing out the guy could not comb his hair.  When they broke his arm, he could not get his arm — his arms up for the rest of his life to comb his hair.  And so that’s just a daily bit of sacrifice he did for the country as a whole.

Mark Shields:  Could I just add one personal note?

Judy Woodruff:  Sure.

Mark Shields:  And that that’s this, that Mo Udall, who was the Democratic — great Democratic congressman, environmentalist, and party leader, or Democratic leader from Arizona, befriended John McCain as a young member of the House.

John was in the minority.  He didn’t really know anybody in the House of Representatives.  Mo was a committee chair and influential.  The Arctic National Wildlife to save is his project.

And he befriended John.  He included John.  And John never forgot it.  They struck, forged a great friendship.  And Mo Udall, who was a giant, was — contracted Parkinson’s in 1980.  He was forced to leave the House a decade later.

And he lingered in the ravages of Parkinson’s for eight years, the last few of which he was crippled, uncommunicative, I mean, that terrible disease, that terrible scourge, on a cot in a veterans hospital in Northeast Washington.

And one person, public person, regularly went to visit him, without cameras, without reporters, to bring with him the news of Arizona, to read, even though he was unresponsive, about sports, about Indian American, national — Native American.  It was John McCain.

And that’s — that’s an incredible value.  And it’s great.  It’s a wonderful tribute to him.  And I just wanted to offer it.

AMERICA MOURNS - John McCain 8/29/1936 - 8/25/2018

John McCain Dies at 81




"Honoring John McCain’s lifetime of public service, America mourns" PBS NewsHour 8/26/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The country’s top leaders mourned on Sunday news that Sen. John McCain, Republican leader and two-time presidential candidate, died at his home in Arizona on Saturday.  From the former director of the CIA David Petraeus to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, they talked about his legacy of public service and commitment to values.  Hari Sreenivasan reports.

"A personal look at John McCain’s political impact" PBS NewsHour 8/26/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The death of Sen. John McCain, has brought recognition and mourning from all corners of American political life.  NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Jeff Greenfield points to a contrast between McCain’s close relationships with people on both sides of the political aisle and a current, divisive political environment.  He joins Hari Sreenivasan for more on McCain's legacy.

U.S. NAVY - Collisions and the Tough Message

NOTE:  During my 22yr carrier in the Navy (now retired) I served on a Court Martial Trial board.  The charges in these cases are appropriate.

"Harsh legal charges for U.S. Navy ship collisions send tough message" PBS NewsHour 1/17/2018

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Last year, two naval destroyers were involved in two separate deadly collisions in the Pacific.  Now the former commanders of both vessels face a battery of offenses, including negligent homicide.  John Yang talks to retired Lt. Col. Gary Solis of Georgetown University about the unusual nature of the charges and the larger message they send.

U.S. NAVY - Systemic Problems?

My 22yr Navy carrier really make this hit 'home.'

"Navy orders investigation of Pacific fleet after two recent collisions" by Lolita C.  Baldor, Annabelle Liang, and Stephen Wright (AP) - PBS NewsHour 8/21/2017

Excerpt

The U.S. Navy ordered a broad investigation Monday into the performance and readiness of the Pacific-based 7th Fleet after an early morning collision between the USS John S. McCain and an oil tanker in Southeast Asian waters left 10 U.S. sailors missing and others injured.

It was the second major collision in the last two months involving the Navy's 7th Fleet.  Seven sailors died in June when the USS Fitzgerald and a container ship collided in waters off Japan.

Navy Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, will call for a pause in operations and seek a deeper look at how the Navy trains and certifies its forces that are operating around Japan, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said.

"Do repeated Navy collisions suggest a systemic problem?" PBS NewsHour 8/21/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  After the Naval destroyer USS John S. McCain collided Monday with an oil tanker east of Singapore, the Navy's top admiral ordered a one-day, worldwide safety review.  Just two months ago, another deadly collision occurred between a destroyer and a cargo ship near Japan.  John Yang talks with retired Cmdr. Bryan McGrath of the Hudson Institute.

DoD - Bad Contracting Again

This is an ongoing issue in Department of Defense contracting.  Ignoring issues in a rush to get funding.

"The government is paying billions to shipbuilders with histories of safety lapses" PBS NewsHour 7/17/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The U.S. shipbuilding industry continues to win billions of dollars in contracts to build Navy and Coast Guard vessels, despite serious safety lapses that have endangered and killed workers.  From Reveal at the Center for Investigative Reporting, special correspondent Aubrey Aden-Buie reports.

SAN DIEGO - USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)

"‘America’s Big Stick’ is S.D.’s new carrier" by JEANETTE STEELE, San Diego Union-Tribune 11/20/2015

NOTE:  This is from the online edition, so there's no link.  Also corrected obvious typos in the article.

The Navy currently has 10 aircraft carriers, and a handful of them have been familiar guests in San Diego: Vinson, Reagan, Nimitz, Stennis.

Now, there’s a new biggun in town.

The carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is scheduled to reach San Diego for the first time Monday.  The nuclear flattop is transferring here after a 29-year career on the East Coast.  And the ship is finishing an eight-month deployment of epic dimension.

Six of those months, including a hellaciously hot summer, were spent conducting airstrikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and northern Iraq.

Some weeks, the heat index on the flight deck climbed past 150 degrees.  The ship’s captain called the conditions “at the very edge of human performance.”

Then, on a rare around-the-world journey, the Roosevelt hosted Defense Secretary Ashton Carter off the coast of Asia, where Carter warned China against aggression at sea.   For the Roosevelt’s crew, then, the Monday arrival in San Diego will be a return to not only the American mainland but also to normal life.

For the city, the flattop brings a new hull number to the skyline — 71 — and new naval history to learn.  The ship is named for Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president.  Roosevelt is known for advocating an aggressive foreign policy and especially for using the Navy as a sign of U.S. ambition.  His most famous quote is, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”  His namesake carrier has adopted that motto, calling itself “America’s Big Stick.”

Its crew members said Thursday that they lived that mantra on this latest deployment.  Navy aircraft delivered more than 1,000 munitions against terrorist targets — more ordnance than any other carrier group so far in the airstrike campaign against the Islamic State.

“Everyone was working very hard, and there was no question that everybody was very tired.  But morale was high because I think the sailors and Marines knew why we were there,” said Capt. Craig Clapperton, the Roosevelt’s commanding officer.

“Our pilots were going up every day, flying anywhere from eight to 16 missions in country,” he said during a phone interview from the ship.  “And they were coming back very, very often with no bombs left on their jets.”

Days handling the aircraft were long and hot.

But maybe the worst conditions were in the kitchen, or “galleys.”  That’s because the carrier uses outside air to ventilate those spaces, Clapperton said.  Temperatures got up to 120 degrees.

After sailors started reporting heat-stress injuries in July, Navy brass had to shorten shifts to give people a break in the even hotter months of August and September.

One Roosevelt cook, Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony Scott, called morale “pretty decent” despite the “treacherous” weather.  “The fight against ISIS, the crew takes that seriously,” said Scott, 29.  “And we take our jobs pretty seriously and have been motivated to do our part.”  As a result, last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris resonated strongly with him.

“It makes me feel pretty proud to know we’ve been making a major commitment to that effort, especially with all those things that recently happened in France,” Scott said.  Since the Paris assaults, which killed 129 and injured hundreds, the United States has continued its bombing campaign in the Middle East.  It also began assisting French warplanes with targeting data.  One scholar of Roosevelt’s presidency said the Navy carrier’s involvement in the anti-terrorism effort is something from the “Rough Rider’s” playbook.  “He didn’t want to have wars, but he believed that a strong military discouraged potential aggressors,” said William Tilchin, a Boston University professor and editor of the Theodore Roosevelt Association journal.

The Roosevelt’s arrival in San Diego is part of a massive three-carrier swap that involves 9,000 sailors and two other flattops.  The carrier Ronald Reagan left town in August to take up residence in Japan.  But, first, the George Washington left Asia and came to San Diego, where the two carriers swapped crews.  The San Diego-based crew is now sailing the George Washington around South America toward Virginia, where the carrier will begin a four-year overhaul of its nuclear core.  Those San Diego sailors will fly home in December and January to take over jobs on the Roosevelt.  Because about 1,300 San Diego sailors will serve on three carriers in the space of a year, this group has been dubbed the “Three Presidents Crew.”  About half of the Roosevelt’s 3,000 crew members will transfer to San Diego.  The other half will fly home to Virginia to take up residence on the George Washington.

These naval musical chairs will save the Navy about $41 million, as thousands of sailors won’t have to relocate with their ships.

One of the newcomers to San Diego will be Shakayla McGee, 20, an aviation boatswain’s mate arriving on the Roosevelt.  A native of South Carolina, it’s her first time in this city.  “I know it’s always sunny,” McGee said.  “Now I want to try the food.” The Roosevelt’s captain, Clapperton, has lived in Coronado and joked that he might as well be on the chamber of commerce payroll.

“I’ve been talking to my sailors about the quality of life and all the things to do in San Diego,” he said.  After more than eight months at sea, he said, “Their faces just light up.”

PS:  When I was in the Navy I served with squadrons out of NAS Miramar (now MCAS Miramar) that deployed on the USS Hancock (CVA-19) which is much like the USS Midway (Museum SD).

U.S. NAVY - South China Sea

China, the bully on the 'block.'

"Why the U.S. Navy is navigating the South China Sea" PBS NewsHour 11/5/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  What do recent U.S. naval forays in the South China Sea -- including Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s visit aboard an aircraft carrier -- mean for tensions with China over the disputed waters?  Hari Sreenivasan speaks to Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  Joining me now to help us understand the United States’ recent activity in the South China Sea and what it means is Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

So, first, how big a deal is this, if Ash Carter gets on a very nice ship and decides to take a cruise in territorially disputed waters?

BONNIE GLASER, Center for Strategic and International Studies:  Well, Secretary Carter has done this previously, when he attended the Shangri-La dialogue in June of this year.

He was on a P-8 surveillance aircraft flying over the Malacca Straits.  So it’s not unusual for the United States secretary of defense to be on a military platform out in the South China Sea demonstrating to the region that the United States has an abiding interest in peace and stability in the region.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  Is it a provocative act to be in this specific place at this time?

BONNIE GLASER:  Undoubtedly, the Chinese see it as a provocative act, but I think that the other nations in the regions do not.

I think if you look at Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, the other claimants, they are very happy to see the United States’ flag shown in the region.  They supported the United States exercising freedom of navigation around what is called Subi Reef, which is the elevation, the low-tide elevation that the USS Lassen, a destroyer, conducted a freedom of navigation operation in just a few days ago.

So, this is something that the region supports generally.

HARI SREENIVASAN:  The freedom of navigation idea, is it a right that sort of use it or lose it?  If you don’t use it, is that kind of what we’re stressing here by having carrier groups go through?

BONNIE GLASER:  The United States has been doing this of course for centuries.  And since 1979, it has had a freedom of navigation program.

And, in fact, this is the seventh what we call FONOP that has been conducted since 2011 in the South China Sea.  And, yes, I think if the Navy does not sail through, and not just the U.S. Navy, but Australia navy, Japan’s navy doesn’t sail through waters that are high seas, that they are not territorial seas of other countries, even in territorial seas, we can sail through making innocent passage.

And, in fact, that is really what we did in this case.  We sailed through a territorial sea of China’s Subi Reef.  So, yes, you have to exercise it or other countries may claim it and may try to exclude other navies.

U.S. NAVY - Ballistic Missile Subs

"How many ballistic missile submarines does the U.S. really need?" PBS NewsHour 7/31/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The Navy's formidable fleet of nuclear-armed submarines is approaching the end of its lifespan, and there’s growing debate over how many are needed and how to pay for them.  Jamie McIntyre, national security correspondent for Al Jazeera America on special assignment for the NewsHour, got a rare behind-the-scenes look at one of the most powerful weapons ever built.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  During the 1980s and ’90s, the U.S. Navy built a fleet of nuclear-armed submarines.  Their mission?  Deter an attack against the United States, and, if that failed, fight a nuclear war.

Those submarines are now approaching the end of their life spans.  The Navy plans to build replacements, but there’s growing debate over how many are needed and how to pay for them.

Veteran Pentagon reporter Jamie McIntyre, who is now national security correspondent for Al-Jazeera America, has been on special assignment for the “NewsHour.”  His report was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

MAN:  Man battle stations, missile.  Spin up all missiles.

MAN:  Sound the general alarm.

JAMIE MCINTYRE (NewsHour):  If America’s strategy of nuclear deterrence ever fails, the beginning of the end might look something like this.

The U.S. Navy’s ballistic missile submarines are all part of the Ohio class, named for the first submarine of the design, the USS Ohio.  They have only one mission:  to lurk silently, deep beneath the ocean, ready to rain nuclear devastation on virtually any target anywhere any time on orders of the president.

Submerged just off the coast of Hawaii, the 180-man crew of the USS Pennsylvania demonstrated for the PBS NewsHour an abridged version of what it practices every week the sub is at sea.  The submarine’s video screens display only unclassified data.

MAN:  We have a verified and correct launch order directing the launch of missiles 7, 3, and 5.

JAMIE MCINTYRE:  And the Navy reviewed our footage to ensure nothing was compromised.  What we saw was a mock doomsday scenario.

U.S. NAVY - Bribery Scandal

A personal note, as retired Navy I can tell you that at the very least all the officers involved, including the two Admirals, carriers are dead.  Those not criminally charged will retire.

"Navy commanders accused of taking bribes for contracts in fraud scandal" PBS Newshour 11/27/2013

Excerpt

JEFFREY BROWN (Newshour):  For decades, Leonard Francis, known as "Fat Leonard" for his imposing girth, has been well-connected in top U.S. Navy circles, perhaps too connected.

His company, Glenn Defense Marine, provided logistics support to U.S. warships at ports in East Asia.  Since 2011, the company has won more than $200 million in Navy contracts, contracts that federal investigators now charge are at the center of an elaborate criminal conspiracy involving bribery, fraud and more.

Last month, The Washington Post reported that Francis plied top Navy commanders with prostitutes, cash, luxury hotel rooms...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

JEFFREY BROWN:  ... even tickets to a Lady Gaga concert in Thailand.  In return, officials at the Justice Department say, Francis received classified information on ship deployments.  He also allegedly pressured commanders to steer ships to ports where his company would then overcharge for services like sewage disposal and tugboats.

NAVY - Captain Kirk Commands New Ship

Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer DDG 1000

"Captain Kirk to command new Navy destroyer" by Dylan Stableford, Yahoo News 10/30/2013

NOTE:  Link includes video

The commander of the U.S. Navy's sleek new guided-missile destroyer, which launched late last week in Maine, has a name to match its space-age look: Captain Kirk.

Captain James Kirk, the prospective commanding officer of USS Zumwalt, will lead the 610-foot vessel, the Navy's largest destroyer and first of three new Zumwalt-class ships "designed for littoral operations and land attack," the Navy said.

Kirk, a native of Bethesda, Md., was commissioned at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990 and has served in a variety posts as a "surface warfare officer," according to his online bio.  "Ashore, Captain Kirk has served as Executive Assistant to the Navy’s Chief of Legislative Affairs and as an Action Officer on the Joint Staff."

Kirk obtained a master's degrees in national security studies at the U.S. Naval War College and U.S. Army War College, where he undoubtedly heard more than his share of "Star Trek" jokes.

The ship, which was moved from dry dock in Bath, Maine, to a pier on the Kennebec River on Friday, is loaded with new technologies, including "radar reflecting angles, a striking inward-sloping tumblehome hull" and advanced gun system.

The lead ship and class are named in honor of former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., who served as chief of naval operations from 1970 to 1974.

According to the Navy, construction on the first Zumwalt is "more than 87 percent complete," with remaining work on the hull scheduled to be completed before delivery in late 2014.

So who will serve as Capt. Kirk's "Spock" on the Zumwalt? According to the Navy, it's Cmdr. Jeffrey W. Hickox, who was named prospective executive officer of the ship.

U.S. NAVY - Defense Secretary, Wake of Washington Navy Yard Shooting

"Defense Secretary Hagel on Security: 'We Need To Do More -- And We Will'" PBS Newshour 9/18/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In the wake of the Navy Yard shooting, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recognizes his department's responsibility to ensure the safety of its employees.  But, he told Judy Woodruff, there were "red flags that didn’t get connected."  On Syria, Hagel said the military is ready to respond to any option the president decides to take.

JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour):  Secretary Chuck Hagel, welcome to the NewsHour.

SECRETARY CHUCK HAGEL:  Thank you, Judy.

JUDY WOODRUFF:  Let's talk first about these tragic shootings at the Navy Yard this week.  You acknowledged earlier today that there were a number of red flags, as you put it, that were thrown out that should have been picked up.  You've commissioned a couple of reviews to be done, and you've said whatever mistakes were made, we're going to fix them.

But what do you say to the families of the victims and to the people who still work at this Navy Yard and other military installations who are thinking, I thought if my loved one worked at a place like this, they'd be safe?

AMERICA - More on the Washington Navy Yard Shootings

I'm retired U.S. Navy (22yrs) and have worked (before my full retirement) for a DoD sub-contractor.  ONE problem is the DoD depending on the Contractor (who hires the sub-contractor) to do vetting for security clearances for the sub-contractor.  Of course the vetting is SUPPOSED to be the same as DoD would do, but is it?

"Navy Yard Tragedy Draws Attention to Who Has Access to Military Facilities" (Part-1) PBS Newshour 9/17/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  While Washington mourned the 12 victims of the Navy Yard shooting, authorities released new details about the shooter, Aaron Alexis.  The Defense Department contractor had had run-ins with the law and sought help for mental health issues.  Ernesto Londoño of The Washington Post joins Gwen Ifill to update the developing portrait.

"How Did Aaron Alexis Get Security Clearance to Be a Defense Contractor?" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 9/17/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Revelations about the mental health of the gunman who killed 12 at the Navy Yard raises questions about how someone like Aaron Alexis is allowed access to a U.S. military base.  Judy Woodruff discusses screening with Dr. E. Fuller Torrey of the Treatment Advocacy Center and Dr. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, a former Army psychiatrist.

AMERICA - Washington Navy Yard Shooting

"At Least 12 Killed in Mass Shooting at Washington Navy Yard" (Part-1) PBS Newshour 9/16/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  A shooting at the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Southeast Washington, D.C., claimed the lives of at least a dozen people inside.  District of Columbia police confirmed one shooter, Aaron Alexis, died at the Navy Yard.  Judy Woodruff reports.

"Witnesses Raise 'Security Vulnerabilities' Concerns at Navy Yard After Shooting" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 9/16/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Judy Woodruff speaks with Bloomberg News' Chris Strohm, who spoke to eyewitnesses on the scene at a mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard.  Employees recounted hearing gunshots and hiding under their desks, and weighed in on the screening practices to get into the building.

MILITARY - Navy SEAL "The Shooter"

"Navy SEAL Who Killed Osama Bin Laden Faces Insecurity, Financial Challenges" PBS Newshour 2/12/2013

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Ray Suarez talks with journalist Phil Bronstein who wrote an Esquire profile of the Navy SEAL credited with killing Osama bin Laden.  Since the SEAL -- known as "the shooter" -- retired from service, but he's been met with significant challenges, or as Bronstein writes, "no landing pad in civilian life."