Just In:29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, retired Gen. Alfred Gray laid to rest at ANC - YouTube - 29 JUL 2024

Marines from the Marine Corps Band "The President's Own" and Marine Barracks Washington DC rendered military honors with funeral escort for 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps GEN Alfred Gray Jr. USMC ret. in Section 35 of Arlington National Cemetery,Arlington VA.*GEN Gray deployed eight times over his 41-year career,several of them clandestine.In one of his most notable deployments,GEN Gray led Vietnam's first independent Marine ground operations.A pioneer in signals intelligence,he laid the groundwork for the Marine Cryptological Support Battalion (National Security Agency).*Among GEN Gray's Awards and Decorations were the Silver Star Medal,Bronze Star Medal,the Legion of Merit and a Distinguished Service Medal.*At the committal,the Navy Hymn "Eternal Father Strong to Save" was played.*GEN Gray was interred with his wife,Janie Ann Gray.As he and his wife had no surviving family,LTGEN George Flynn USMC ret. received the U.S. Flag from the funeral service.*Text by Arlington National Cemetery and edited by Andrew Taylor

FBI Director Robert Mueller Media Conf. at West Point 10/06/16 - Vietnam veteran (US Marine Corps) and Special Prosecutor

No Signs of Slowing Down:The Steadfast B-52H

In an unprecedented move,a US Air Force Boeing B-52H Stratofortress bomber called "Ghost Rider" has been taken out of retirement at the famous Boneyard storage facility at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base,Arizona.Thousands of planes are kept in storage at the bone-dry desert tract and occasionally used for spare parts.Till now,though,none had ever been returned to flight.
Ghost Rider was found to have dry rot in its fuel lines and on its tyres,but after a bit of refurbishment,it passed a runway test of its steering and landing gear,and its eight Pratt&Whitney engines fired right up.The flight control systems worked perfectly as well,so on 13 February the sturdy bomber was flown to Barksadale AFB,Louisiana,one of two bases that host the B-52Hs;the other is Minot AFB in North Dakota.Ghost Rider will take the place of a B-52 damaged in a cockpit fire.
The B-52s played a major role in the Vietnam War from 1964-73.Thirty-one of them were shot down,with the loss of 25 crewmembers.After Vietnam,they went on to serve over Iraq,Yugoslavia and Afghanistan in Operations Desert Storm in 1991 and Desert Strike in 1996;Operation Allied Force in 1999;Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001;and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.The Stratofortress has been constantly upgraded and will be in service until 2045,according to the current plan.It has proven to be a superior economical and adaptable high subsonic speed bomber with substantial loiter capability.
In 2013,the fleet-wide technology upgrade called Combat Network Communications Technology,or CONECT,was begun to modernise technology,computing and flight deck avionics,and involved installing new modems,servers,radios,receivers,data links and digital workstations.From 2016-17,the Internal Weapons Bay Upgrade will be carried out,resulting in a 66% increase in weapons carriage capacity through installation of a digital interface and rotary launcher.JDAMS,aong with JASSM and MACD missiles will be carried internally in the weapons bay,giving the streamlined plane a 15% improvement in fuel mileage besides the increased firepower.
An airman enlisting today could well spend his or her entire career on the B-52H.*
Boeing(BA),United Technologies(UTX)

The Hagel Resignation-Will It Affect Military Operations?

President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel,the first man to rise from the enlisted ranks of the US Army to the top job at the Pentagon,held several private meetings over the past month,but still couldn't see eye to eye.So the President and Hagel agreed to part ways,and the President started searching for his fourth Pentagon chief in six years.Hagel had been preceded by Bob Gates and Leon Panetta.*
Some observers described Hagel as seeming disengaged at national security meetings.
Perhaps the President needed a fall guy after the Democrats' dismal mid-term election results,losing control of the US Senate,others speculated,and the soft spoken Hagel fit the bill.Believe me,he was up to the job,Hagel's former Senate colleague and fellow Vietnam veteran Senator John McCain,R-Arizona,remarked upon hearing the news.It was the job he was given,where he was never brought into that tight circle inside the White House that makes all the decisions,which has put us into the incredible debacle that we're in today throughout the world,McCain continued.*
For instance,Hagel wrote a letter to National Security Adviser Susan Rice in which he was critical of the administration's Syria policy,according to The New York Times.Hagel was also said to differ with the President over Mr.Obama's plan to close the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay,Cuba.And the White House was consternated when Hagel contradicted the President's view that the ISIL militants were a junior varsity squad,when Hagel described ISIL as an imminent threat to everything America stands for.We must prepare for everything,Hagel said.The only way is to take a steely-eyed look at it.*
The resignation really doesn't affect the way the Pentagon views the world,said Rear Admiral John Kirby,US Navy,spokesman for the Department of Defense.We're going to keep going after ISIL.We're going to move to a train,advise and assist mission in Afghanistan,and will continue to reassure our European allies in the face of Russian agression.Winning is a daily thing that we look at.We are definitely succeeding.We are taking back ground.We constantly assess that,every single day.We're not making any big muscle moves.We think we've got it about right here,RADM Kirby insisted.*
Several service members expressed surprise about the resignation,however,and felt Mr.Hagel wasn't to blame for troop cutbacks and efforts to trim military benefits.That problem rested squarely with Congress.

The USS Enterprise Begins Final Missions

On Sunday 11 March,the USS Enterprise(CVN-65)departed her homeport of Norfolk,Virginia on her final deployment,the 22nd since being commissioned in 1961.Headed for the Middle East,the Big E will possibly transit the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf,braving Iranian threats.
The Enterprise served as part of the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.She also participated in the Vietnam War,helping evacuate Saigon in its tumultuous final days as a free city in 1975.In 1986,she was featured in the classic film "Top Gun."The Big E has provided major support to Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom,as she will continue to do on her final missions.
In recent years,the crew have valiantly struggled through innumerable maintenance issues on the vintage warship,plagued by the unavailability of many parts.Upon decommissioning scheduled for 1 December,the Enterprise's eight nuclear reactors will be removed,leaving her riddled with holes prohibitively expensive to repair.
We salute the men and women of the Big E and her carrier strike group past and present,and wish them a safe sunset.

Naval ROTC Returns to Harvard

The specter of the Vietnam War has receded from Harvard University.The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps,expelled from campus beginning in 1969,has been reinstated by an agreement signed by Harvard President Drew Faust and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.A director of Naval ROTC will be appointed;the university will resume funding the program;and the program will be given office space,as well as access to classrooms and athletic fields.
The Reserve Officer Training Corps provides scholarships to those who undergo military training while in school and agree to serve in the armed forces after they graduate.Harvard was one of the six original schools to support ROTC in 1926.During the Vietnam War,supporting the ROTC was equated with supporting the much-despised conflict in Southeast Asia.
Dr.Faust said she decided to reinstate ROTC when Congress voted to repeal the Pentagon's "don't ask,don't tell" policy on gays in the military in December 2010.She hailed the armed forces' vital role in securing our freedoms.Secretary Mabus said the reinstatement will benefit both the military and the nation,because with exposure comes understanding,and through understanding comes strength.
There are currently 10 Harvard students who have participated in Naval ROTC at another school.

In Tribute:Ambassador Richard Holbrooke

The man who symbolized American diplomacy for more than four decades,Ambassador Richard Holbrooke,has died from complications of epic surgery to repair his torn aorta,the main artery leading from the heart.Dr.Sanjay Gupta said the tear is typically caused by years of high blood pressure in men in their 50s and 60s.Mr.Holbrooke was 69,but had no intention of slowing down at an age when most have at least partially stowed their shingles.
Mr.Holbrooke was a significant associate of Democratic presidents from Lyndon B. Johnson to Barack Obama,beginning his career at the Saigon embassy in Vietnam,where he served from 1963-66.His greatest achievement was brokering the Dayton Accords in 1995,the peace treaty which ended the Bosnia War,but he also participated in the Paris peace talks that ended the Vietnam War and the reopening of relations with China.
A tough and demanding boss with a vast knowledge of history,Richard Holbrooke knew all the reporters by name and was quite open with them.A man of charisma and great intellect,the tall ambassador was described by those who knew him well as being larger than life and a force of nature who saw the U.S. as a force for good in the world.
Mr.Holbrooke held a number of posts,including Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia,Ambassador to Germany and U.N. Ambassador.His current title was Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan,but he was regarded as the architect of President Barack Obama's policy for that region and worked closely with General David Petraeus,commander of coalition forces in the Afghan War.
General Wesley Clark,U.S. Army Retired,said Richard Holbrooke epitomized everything great and good about U.S. diplomacy and the United States of America.He had a tremendous vision of what Europe was all about.He pushed for NATO alliance enlargement,shifting U.S. policy on the matter.He could always step back from a problem.He was an outstanding leader.We were in awe of what he delivered.

Platoon Commander and Scholar

Colonel William Joseph Davis,U.S. Marine Corps Retired,PhD,was recently interred in Arlington National Cemetery,having died just before Christmas.Colonel Davis,86,was a veteran of three wars,beginning his service as a Navy enlisted man in World War II.After the war,he earned a BA from Penn State University and joined the Marines as a 2nd Lieutenant.He was a platoon commander in the 1st Battalion/7th Marines during the Korean War,and became Commanding Officer of that unit in the Vietnam War.Colonel Davis was decorated for valor several times,receiving two Silver Stars,a Legion of Merit with Combat V,and the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat V.
Colonel Davis earned his MA at the University of Pennsylvania,where he was a Professor of Naval Science.He also studied at the Air War College in Montgomery,Alabama and was Commanding Officer at The Basic School in Quantico,Virginia. Upon retiring from the service in 1976,he earned a PhD and taught for Pepperdine University at several military bases across the country.The author and publisher of military books,Colonel Davis was known for his swimming and golfing.He is survived by his wife of 63 years,Isabel Anne,a daughter and son-in-law,a grandaughter and two step-grandaughters.

A Marine for NASA

Major General Charles F. Bolden,Jr.,U.S. Marine Corps Retired,has been selected by President Barack Obama to head NASA.General Bolden was himself an astronaut,having flown on four space shuttle missions-commanding two of them.His last mission was in 2004.Before his space career,which also included stints as a NASA administrator,General Bolden was a Marine aviator,flying more than 1000 sorties in the Vietnam War.He served in the Persian Gulf as well.The U.S. Naval Academy graduate was praised by fellow astronaut Senator Bill Nelson(D-Florida) for being a patriot,a leader and a visionary.General Bolden would be charged with conducting a review of all of NASA's programs,retiring the shuttle and guiding the follow-on Orion program,if he wins U.S. Senate approval.He would be the first African American to direct NASA.

Three-War Marine Dies

Lt.General Victor H. Krulak,who led U.S. Marines through three major conflicts,has died in San Diego.In poor health for some time,he was 95.General Krulak won the Navy Cross for his actions in World War II.Leading a diversionary raid in the Pacific theater to mask the Bougainville invasion,he declined evacuation despite being badly wounded.In Korea,he was chief of staff to the 1st Marine Division.During the Vietnam War,he was commander of Fleet Marine Force Pacific,championing the cause of small unit tactics to win hearts and minds.He could thus be seen as a precursor to General David Petraeus,whose surge approach bases troops in Iraqi neighborhoods.His son,General Charles Krulak,served as Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995-99.Lt.General Krulak's book "First to Fight" is considered a classic of Marine Corps literature.