Tag: U.S. Navy

US and ROK Navies Begin Anti-Submarine Naval Exercise

| January 14, 2015

The US and ROK militaries have begun a naval exercise that has got the North Koreans predictably pissed off about:

The U.S. and South Korea on Tuesday kicked off a two-day joint naval drill that includes two U.S. destroyers and several South Korean vessels.

The USS Mustin and the USS John McCain, each with about 280 personnel, are participating off South Korea’s eastern coast. Commander Naval Forces Korea spokesman Lt. Arlo Abrahamson said the exercise includes anti-submarine warfare training, communication drills, ship maneuvers and liaison officer exchanges.

“Some of it they’ve done ashore, and some of it they do at sea,” he said.

The South Korean destroyer Gwanggaeto, a submarine, anti-submarine aircraft and two helicopters are also taking part, according to a South Korean navy spokesman, who said the exercise is meant to reinforce the allies’ readiness posture against North Korea, which is believed to have some 70 submarines.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

US Navy Restricts Sailors from Shore Leave on the Philippines

| November 20, 2014

It must suck to be these sailors stuck on a boat like because of the actions of one idiot:

Sailors on ships docked at Subic Bay won’t get shore leave while authorities determine the fate of a Marine accused of a slaying there.
“In consideration of recent events in Olongapo City, the United States has temporarily restricted shore leave for… U.S. forces [visiting] the Subic Bay area,” according to an official at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
Marine Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton, who has been in custody in the Philippines for almost a month, is suspected of involvement in the death of Jeffrey Laude, 26, a transgender person also known as Jennifer whose body was found Oct. 11 in a motel bathroom.
The death, which prompted protests from family members and anti-American activists, comes at a crucial time for U.S.-Filipino relations as the countries prepare to implement an agreement that will see thousands of U.S. troops rotate through bases in the Philippines over the next decade.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman Robert Garcia told the AFP news agency earlier this month that nine U.S. Navy ships had canceled visits to the port. Ships were still scheduled to visit for emergency repairs, but crews wouldn’t be allowed ashore, he said. (Stars and Stripes)

You can read more at the link.

Naval Officer and CID Agent Arrested for Corruption

| September 18, 2013

Just when you thought you had seen it all in regards to corruption someone finds a new way to screw taxpayers for his own benefit:

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The former captain of the destroyer USS Mustin, a Navy special agent and a Singapore-based defense contractor have been arrested in connection with an alleged bribery scheme to swap classified ship information for luxury travel and prostitutes, U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday.

Cmdr. Michael Vannak Khem Misiewicz, a captain-select, who commanded Mustin and later served as deputy operations officer aboard the USS Blue Ridge for the Yokosuka-based U.S. 7th Fleet, was arrested Monday in Colorado, where he works at Peterson Air Force Base.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service supervisory agent John Bertrand Beliveau II was arrested in Virginia, and Leonard Glenn Francis, head of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, or GDMA, was arrested in San Diego on Monday, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Diego.
Misiewicz steered the aircraft carriers USS George Washington and USS John C. Stennis, the USS Blue Ridge and other ships to so-called “pearl ports” — international ports with lax oversight — where Francis’ company could overcharge the Navy for millions of dollars in services to moored ships, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday. [Stars and Stripes]

You can read more at the link but you would think it would be in the best interest of the Navy to use ports that cost less to dock and resupply at in the first place?