Tag: U.S. Navy

US Navy releases photos of training today by two aircraft carrier strike groups and Japanese navy between Korea and Japan pic.twitter.com/p5AcvEi1Wl

— Alastair Gale (@AlastairGale) June 1, 2017

I wonder how the North Koreans could even find the USS Michigan much less sink it?  Sounds like another empty threat from the Kim regime:

After the United States deployed a nuclear-powered submarine and an aircraft carrier to South Korean waters amid high inter-Korean tensions, North Korea on Sunday threatened to sink the underwater vessel, accusing America of stepping up military intimidation.

“The moment the USS Michigan tries to budge even a little, it will be doomed to face the miserable fate of becoming a underwater ghost without being able to come to the surface,” the North’s propaganda website Uriminzokkiri said in a posting.

“The urgent fielding of the nuclear submarine in the waters off the Korean Peninsula, timed to coincide with the deployment of the super aircraft carrier strike group, is intended to further intensify military threats toward our republic,” the website claimed.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on what is going on with the USS Carl Vinson otherwise known in the media as “Trump’s Armada”:

The USS Carl Vinson, a U.S. aircraft carrier, on Saturday started a joint naval drill with the South Korean Navy in the East Sea amid heightened tensions from North Korea’s failed ballistic missile launch earlier in the morning, defense officials here said.

“South Korea and U.S. strike forces began a drill in the East Sea from 6 p.m. today against the backdrop of the current security situation,” the South Korean Navy said.

No specific schedule for the rendezvous was released to the media yet, but the exercise is expected to continue until sometime next week.

At the core of the naval exercise lies the missile warning informational link exercise (LINKEX) that monitors, traces and intercepts any intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) from North Korea.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

What really bothers me about this whole USS Carl Vinson story is why should the US Navy report to the media where their ships are at?:

The U.S. military’s top Pacific chief was in the hot seat Wednesday at a House hearing and took the blame for apparent miscommunication over the USS Carl Vinson carrier’s movements amid the rising tensions with North Korea.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said in an interview the military was sending “an armada” to the Korean Peninsula and reports at the time indicated the carrier strike group was led by the Vinson. But as tensions mounted with North Korea over the nuclear and ballistic-missile threat, it was learned last week from a New York Times story the Vinson was actually headed in another direction and not toward Korean waters.

“With regard to the Carl Vinson, that’s my fault on the confusion and I’ll take the hit for it,” Navy Adm. Harry Harris, the four-star commander of U.S. Pacific Command, testified at a hearing of the House Committee on Armed Services.

Harris explained that he made the decision to pull the aircraft carrier out of Singapore and cancel a port visit to Australia. He also ordered the carrier to proceed north. However, he said, he failed to communicate that adequately to the press. “So that is all on me.”  [CNBC]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the stupidest article that I have read today that is example of the bias in the mainstream media against the Trump administration:

Trump ‘Armada’ Sent to Deter Kim Can’t Shoot Down His Missiles

The U.S. Navy flotilla sailing toward the Korean peninsula to deter Kim Jong Un’s regime lacks a key capability: It can’t shoot down ballistic missiles.

The USS Carl Vinson and the aircraft carrier’s accompanying destroyers and cruiser are expected to arrive in waters near the peninsula this week, carrying a full complement of weaponry, including scores of Tomahawk cruise and anti-ship missiles, radar-jamming aircraft and non-stealthy “Super Hornet” jets built by Boeing Co.

That firepower brings a lot to any fight, but the Navy’s lack of ballistic missile defense capability on the scene means the Trump administration’s high-profile show of force has a significant gap as it warns North Korea against another missile test and pressures it to back down from its nuclear program.  [Bloomberg]

Does this writer, Anthony Capaccio really think the US Navy is stupid enough to put an aircraft carrier at risk of a North Korean ballistic missile strike without missile defense?  The US Navy will defend the aircraft carrier and any other assets with an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capability as needed.  Where the carrier is at now off the coast of Okinawa does not warrant Aegis BMD protection.

The article then goes on to claim the Korean peninsula is at risk from ballistic missile attack as well:

While the Obama administration began the process of deploying Thaad, a high-altitude missile defense system, to the South Korean mainland, the hardware isn’t fully operational yet either. That leaves Seoul — just 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of the demilitarized zone — and the rest of the country more vulnerable to attack.

Obviously Mr. Capaccio does not know that both the US and the ROK militaries have Patriot missile batteries located across the peninsula.  The THAAD battery was installed to add an advanced upper tier missile defense capability to compliment the already existing lower tier Patriot coverage.

It is pretty clear by the title of the article that Mr. Capaccio is trying to make President Trump look dumb by supposedly not having an Aegis BMD ship with the carrier.  The media is now jumping on this meme with Newsweek publishing a similar headline of “USS Carl Vinson Cannot Shoot Down Missiles“.  I wonder how many other media outlets will echo the same claim to where people who read just the headline begin to think it is true?

Considering all the media hype of using the Carl Vinson to bomb North Korea the carrier strike group does not even arrive in the East Sea until next week:

A U.S. Navy strike group led by third Nimitz-class supercarrier USS Carl Vinson will arrive in South Korea’s East Sea next Tuesday and likely participate in a joint military drill between Seoul and Washington to prepare for a possible missile threat from North Korea, officials from the South’s Ministry of National Defense said Monday. Discussions for the exercise are still ongoing, according to a senior official.

The arrival date, April 25, coincides with the 85th anniversary of the North’s Korean People’s Army, which Pyongyang might celebrate with a show of its military power. The local official said Washington was sending the Vinson strike group to South Korean waters because it deemed there was a high possibility the North will raise tension by a nuclear or missile provocation.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but the Carl Vinson was just at South Korea as part of March’s Foal Eagle exercise without the media hype it is getting now.

Considering how open this guy was with his side job I would be very surprised if no one in his chain command knew what he was doing:

A decorated Navy SEAL is under investigation for taking orders on porn sets.

The military is investigating Navy Chief Special Warfare Officer Joseph John Schmidt III for appearing in more than 29 adult films in the last seven years, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on Friday.

Schmidt, 42, has served for more than 23 years in the military, but has allegedly found time to moonlight as a porn star under the name Jay Voom.

Schmidt has shared the most screen time with his wife, porn star Jewels Jade, but he has also appeared with X-rated actresses Mena Li and Ashden Wells. His portfolio includes titles such as “Apple Smashing Lap Dance” and “Strippers Come Home Horny From the Club.”

The military is looking into whether Schmidt violated a rule that prohibits Navy SEALs from doing other work without their commanders’ approval.  [NY Post]

You can read the rest at the link, but Schmidt’s wife claims she got back into porn after giving it up to be a mother because of financial difficulties.  She recruited her husband to help her out in order to not have to pay a male to participate in the films with her.  Schmidt was was actually only a few months from retiring before this thing blew up in his face.  It will be interesting to see if the Navy tries to take any rank away from him before retiring.

It is pretty clear that the Trump administration is sending another signal to North Korea that if they try something here in the short term the US is ready to respond:

A U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula as a show of force, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday, as concerns grow about North Korea’s advancing weapons program.

Earlier this month North Korea tested a liquid-fueled Scud missile which only traveled a fraction of its range.

The strike group, called Carl Vinson, includes an aircraft carrier and will make its way from Singapore toward the Korean peninsula, according to the official, who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity.  [Reuters]

You can read more at the link.

This will likely be the first of many visits by US ships to the controversial ROK naval base on Jeju island:

A US Aegis destroyer visited South Korea’s naval base on the southern resort island of Jeju on Saturday, becoming the first foreign warship to visit the base since it opened in February last year, officials said.

The 8,400-ton USS Stethem arrived at the base at around 9:50 a.m. for a two-day stay, after participating in the Foal Eagle joint military drills with South Korea in the East Sea from March 17-21, according to the officials.

The soldiers will take part in various programs to boost ties between the two countries and rest before heading back to the vessel’s home port in Japan, they said.

The residents of a nearby village held a press conference and protested the ship’s entry, saying it would bring “catastrophe” to the “peaceful” island.   [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

Rear Adm. James Kilby, commander of U.S. Carrier Strike Group 1, makes remarks after arriving with the group’s flagship supercarrier USS Carl Vinson at South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan on March 15, 2017. The Carl Vinson is taking part in joint South Korea-U.S. military maneuvers aimed at countering North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats. (Yonhap)