Tony

A week after the Pentagon ordered a stand-down to examine the problem of white supremacy and extremism in military ranks, a Navy Admiral told sailors in an open letter that "we cannot be under any illusions that extremist behaviors do not exist in our Navy." In the note to the fleet, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday also addressed two recent racist incidents on Navy ships based on the West Coast.

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (WAFB) - A sailor from Baton Rouge has been identified as the victim of a shooting in California over the weekend, according to the U.S. Navy. Officials identified the sailor as Chief Petty Office Ramone Joseph, 36, who had served in the Navy since 2004.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy’s top admiral on Tuesday condemned two new racist incidents involving hate symbols on warships, which sources said included a noose that was left on a Black sailor’s bed. The incidents, which occurred in recent weeks, underscore deep concerns about racism in the ranks. The cases come as Pentagon leaders face growing pressure to show progress in combating extremism after current and former military servicemembers were found to have participated in the siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

The US and its NATO allies are increasingly worried about Russia's improved submarine fleet, which can sail quieter and longer, and, with new submarine-launched missiles, strike farther. That challenge is emerging as the US Navy is still determining what its fleet will look like in the future, but in the Atlantic, it isn't alone in the undersea fight, according to Adm. Robert Burke, commander of US Naval Forces Europe.

The Pentagon plans to be more aggressive in shutting down attempts by extremist groups to recruit service members to their cause. Following the revelation that nearly one in five people charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol had some connection to the military, the Defense Department is turning its attention to its ranks to try to stamp out dangerous and violent ideology.

WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. Navy commanders met with sailors on ships on the West Coast Monday and Tuesday, after two recent racist incidents triggered one of the first military stand-downs to address extremism in the ranks. The meetings came after a noose was found on one ship, and hate speech was found written on a wall on another ship. But the discussions with sailors and admonishments by leadership were spurred by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's recent orders for all military commanders to meet with troops in the next 60 days to talk about extremism and racism.

UNCLASSIFIED// ROUTINE R 092219Z FEB 21 MID200000590050U FM CNO WASHINGTON DC TO NAVADMIN INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS NAVADMIN 032/21 MSGID/NAVADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/CNO/FEB// SUBJ/CNO MESSAGE TO THE FLEET ON EXTREMIST BEHAVIOR// RMKS/1. Shipmates, I am certain the vast majority of men and women in the United States Navy serve with honor, character, and integrity. But we cannot be under any illusions that extremist behaviors do not exist in our Navy. 2. Just in the past few weeks, there have been two separate incidents where symbols of hate and violence were anonymously left in living areas aboard ships in our Fleet. The chain of command took both of those incidents seriously and immediately launched investigations, which are ongoing. 3. But there is more we must do, together, because these symbols are contrary to our Navy culture, core values, and warfighting effectiveness. 4. As directed by the Secretary of Defense and across the Fleet, each command will conduct a stand down by April 6, 2021 to address extremism within our ranks. We must better understand the scope of the problem, get after this issue, and eliminate conduct that is driven by extremist beliefs. No doubt, this is a leadership issue. We will own this. 5. As a Navy uniform and civilian, active and reserve - we cannot tolerate extremist behavior of any kind, and must engage in open and honest conversations with each other and take action. Leaders at all levels must lead by example. You must set the tone. You must model correct behavior 24/7/365 in person and online. 6. We also have a responsibility to educate, and inspire those in the Navy, those coming into the Fleet, and those leaving our service that extremist behavior is unacceptable. Hate and extremist ideology are wedges that divide us. These actions stoke resentment and tear others down. Thats the opposite of how we will treat each other as shipmates. We build each other up, we encourage each other, and we celebrate our shipmates success. 7. If we dont eliminate extremist behaviors from our Navy, then racism, injustice, indignity, and disrespect will grow and continue to keep us from reaching our potential - an inclusive, respectful, professional fighting force that answers the Nations call. If we must first question the intentions of our shipmate standing the watch with us, now, and especially, when taking fire, we will fail when the Nation needs us must in combat. 8. Some Sailors may think their voices do not matter right now, or feel frustrated seeking to be seen and be heard. But let me be clear, each of your voices matter. This stand-down is another in our efforts to listen, to learn, and to improve. 9. Now is the time for us to come together and be guided by a strong moral compass. We must eliminate extremist behavior and its corrosive effects on our fighting force. And we must remember that we swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution above all else. 10. Today, and every day, our Navy must be a shining example of an organization centered on respect, inclusive of all. 11. Simply put, we must demand of each other that we treat everyone with dignity and respect. That is how we will become a stronger Navy. 12. CNO Gilday sends.// BT #0001 NNNN UNCLASSIFIED//

Thank you @Intel for the heads up! FY-22 Active Limited Duty Officer (LDO) And Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Selection Board Quotas

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Feb. 9 is the anniversary of the Ehime Maru tragedy and the former commander of the US submarine has written a heart-wrenching letter to the victim’s families. Retired US Navy Commander Scott Waddle said he hopes the families of those who died on the Ehime Maru, Uwajima Fisheries High School training vessel will read the open letter and understand he hasn’t forgotten what happened at sea.

More than a quarter of the 4,800-member crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt tested positive for coronavirus during a shipboard outbreak last year.

There is, at first glance, a stark difference between the world’s leading navies when it comes to building cruisers—the biggest, most heavily armed surface warships now that battleships are long gone. In just three years starting in mid-2017, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy launched eight new Type 055 cruisers. Each Type 055 displaces 12,000 tons and packs 112 vertical-launch cells for anti-air, anti-ship and land-attack missiles.

KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan air force pilot has again applied for refuge in the United States after the Pentagon reversed its previous decision to endorse his move. The government is reviewing Maj. Mohammed Naiem Asadi’s new application for Significant Public Benefit Parole, a temporary status for noncitizens in need of protection, his lawyer Kimberley Motley said Sunday.

UNCLASSIFIED// ROUTINE R 081631Z FEB 21 MID600050233348U FM CNO WASHINGTON DC TO NAVADMIN INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC BT UNCLAS NAVADMIN 030/21 PASS TO OFFICE CODES: FM CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1// INFO CNO WASHINGTON DC//N1// MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC/N1/FEB// SUBJ/FY-22 ACTIVE-DUTY NAVY AND NAVY RESERVE E9, E8 AND E7 SELECTION BOARD MEMBERSHIP NOMINATIONS// REF/A/DOC/BUPERS/29APR20// NARR/REF A IS BUPERSINST 1401.5C, SUPPLEMENTAL GUIDANCE FOR U.S. NAVY SELECTION BOARDS.// RMKS/1. This NAVADMIN announces the solicitation of enlisted selection board participants for the FY-22 Active-Duty Navy and Navy Reserve Master Chief, Senior Chief and Chief Petty Officer Selection Boards. The experience gained from exposure to the selection board process is beneficial to all senior enlisted leaders. Every master chief petty officer, not otherwise restricted from participating in an enlisted selection board, is strongly encouraged to serve as a member on an FY-22 enlisted selection board. In order to ensure our board membership requirements are met, immediate superior in command (ISIC) and/or type commander (TYCOM) leadership is encouraged to seek out the best board member candidates within your purview and direct them to submit applications for the FY-22 enlisted selection boards. 2. FY-22 enlisted board schedule (recorders report one week early for training): a. Reserve/FTS E9/E8 (combined): 19 through 30 April 2021 b. Active-Duty E9/E8 (combined): 1 June through 2 July 2021 c. Reserve/FTS E7: 12 through 30 July 2021 d. Active-Duty E7: 9 August through 10 September 2021 3. Due dates for member and recorder applications to be received by Selection Board Membership (PERS-805): a. Reserve/FTS E9/E8 (combined): 15 February 2021 b. Active-Duty E9/E8(combined): 1 March 2021 c. Reserve/FTS E7: 12 April 2021 d. Active-Duty E7: 3 May 2021 4. Prior to submitting an application, review reference (a) which can be found at: a. Active: https://www.mnp.navy.mil/group/advancement-and- promotion/active-duty-enlisted b. Reserve: https://www.mnp.navy.mil/group/advancement-and- promotion/reserve-officer 5. In addition to membership criteria contained in reference (a) and on the Enlisted Selection Board Member/Recorder (NAVPERS 1400/2) application form, the following also applies to selection board nominees: a. Must not have a relative or personal relationship defined in reference (a) serving on the same board in any capacity. b. All Navy relatives (Active Duty or Reserve) must be listed on the application form along with their rank/rate, even if not board eligible. c. Must not have been a member of the same board in the previous year. d. Must not be the subject of an investigation of any kind. e. If under care for any severe medical issues, the member shall consult with a treating physician regarding the possibility of travel in the time frame indicated. The medical provider is not required to endorse the members application. 6. Additional information pertaining to selection board membership: a. Frocked master chiefs may participate as selection board members and are encouraged to apply. b. In select circumstances, Navy Personnel Command (NPC) may provide permanent change of station (PCS) order modifications if an applicant with PCS orders is selected to serve on an enlisted selection board. Selected board members should contact PERS-805 at (901) 874-3185/DSN 882 or via e-mail at pers-805.fct(at)navy.mil, if this applies. Do not contact your detailer directly as they may be eligible before the board. c. Sailors desiring to sit on a selection board who are attached to deployed units will not normally be approved. In rare circumstances and driven by needs of the board, concurrence on the application from a fleet master chief is required. Applicants who PCS to a deployable unit after having submitted an application should notify PERS-805. If the unit is due to deploy during or close to the board date, applicants should request that their application be pulled. d. Active Duty and Reserve component master chiefs are encouraged to apply for any of the above boards. There are no restrictions preventing a Sailor of one component from serving on a board of the other. e. Senior chief petty officers and chief petty officers (to include frocked) may serve as recorders on any of the above boards for which they are not eligible. f. Senior chief petty officers may apply to be a board member on only E7 boards. g. Petty officers (E6 and below) may not serve on the boards in any capacity. h. Recorders must be stationed CONUS, no exceptions. 7. The application form (NAVPERS 1400/2) can be downloaded from a. Active: https://www.mnp.navy.mil/group/advancement-and- promotion/active-duty-enlisted b. Reserve: https://www.mnp.navy.mil/group/advancement-and- promotion/reserve-officer 8. The signed application must be endorsed by the members commanding officer (CO) and forwarded directly to their cognizant force/fleet master chief (FORCM/FLTCM). The FORCM/FLTCM will forward endorsed applications to PERS- 805 via e-mail at pers- 805.fct(at)navy.mil or will return the endorsed applications to the member for submission. In circumstances where the applicant is assigned to a joint command or otherwise does not have a FORCM/FLTCM, the application should be sent to PERS-805 by the commands senior enlisted leader (SEL), provided the SEL is not eligible for advancement on the board for which the applicant is submitting. If you are unsure of your circumstance, please contact PERS-805. 9. Do not use request chits and do not forward applications through your commands administrative support personnel, including those of the command master chief (CMC), CO or those of your FORCM/FLTCM. This will compromise board membership and invalidate your application. Applications go directly to the CMC. Forms received from or routed through, individuals other than the applicant or the FORCM/FLTCM, except as specified in the previous paragraph, will not be considered. 10. Board membership will be held in the strictest confidence. Once an application is submitted, a policy of non-disclosure has been ordered by Deputy Chief of Navy Personnel (DCNP). Do not discuss applications or selection, if chosen to serve on a board, with anyone other than the CO, reporting senior, CMC, chief of the boat, cognizant FORCM/FLTCM or board support personnel at NPC. It is appropriate for a CMC to be told by a member in the command of that members board service. However, the CMC may not disclose their own service on a board to anyone other than the CO or next echelon ISIC. Failure to adhere to this policy is a direct violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and will result in removal from the board and possible administrative or disciplinary action by DCNP. 11. Careful consideration should be given to a nominees application and availability to serve as a selection board member. CO concurrence is required. Do not recommend personnel that are under an investigation of any kind or those with severe medical issues. If the CO initiates or becomes aware of an investigation after the initial nomination is submitted, notify the points of contact below immediately. COs, CMCs and applicants should understand that once selected, the member is under official orders to the board and requests for removal from board duties will not be granted except in extreme cases as specified in reference (a). 12. Points of contact: a. Enlisted Board Membership Clerk at (901) 874-3185/DSN 882 b. Membership Branch Head at (901) 874-2209/DSN 882 c. pers-805.fct(at)navy.mil 13. Released by Vice Admiral John B. Nowell, Jr, N1.// BT #0001 NNNN a

In October 1967, Navy meteorologist Paul Grisham shipped out to Antarctica, where he worked as a weather forecaster for a science station and airport on Ross Island. Thirteen months later, he returned to his family in sunny California, but his wallet never left.

An instructor at the Navy’s Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes Ill., has died from complications related to the COVID-19 virus, the service announced on Friday. Chief Quartermaster Herbert Rojas, 50, died on Tuesday in his quarters, where he had been quarantining since Jan. 27, training command spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Phillip Chitty told USNI News.

The sky was just lightening with a few snowflakes swirling as Petty Officer Devyn Drake stopped by her apartment mailbox early Wednesday morning and spotted something out of the corner of her eye, by an outdoors stairway. It was a infant car seat. She walked over, and spotted 3-month-old Vanessa Varrios-Dasilva in it.

FY-22 - Precept for Active Duty and Reserve LDO and CWO

FY-22 Active Duty LDO/CWO Primary Discrete Requirements

Thanks for posting those links @Determinism

FRESNO, Calif. — On Jan. 28, a federal grand jury in Fresno indicted Selma couple Marquis Asaad Hooper, 30, and Natasha Renee Chalk, 37, charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, Hooper was stationed in Japan as a chief petty officer with the Navy’s Seventh Fleet until October 2018. His wife, Chalk, was a naval reservist stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California. Hooper separated from the Navy in October 2018. Shortly before Hooper’s separation was final, Hooper and Chalk fraudulently obtained access to a database containing millions of people’s personal information.

WASHINGTON — A sailor based in Georgia died Thursday from the coronavirus, the Navy announced, a day after the Pentagon reported two service members with the National Guard had also recently died from the disease. The sailor was assigned to the USS Tennessee, a ballistic-missile submarine based in Kings Bay, Ga., according to a statement from Submarine Forces. The sailor was admitted to the hospital at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., on Saturday and then transferred Sunday to the intensive care unit at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville where the individual tested positive. The sailor died in ICU from complications related to the virus.

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta arrived at its new homeport here Thursday, bringing with it some of the Navy’s most advanced capabilities, according to Naval Forces Japan. Commissioned in San Diego in July 2017, the Rafael Peralta is one of the Navy’s newest destroyers and is outfitted with the Aegis Baseline 9 combat system. It can deploy with two MH-60 Seahawk helicopters and “has improved ballistic missile defense, anti-air and surface warfare capabilities,” according to a statement from Naval Forces Japan.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has ordered a DOD-wide stand down to discuss the problem of extremism in the ranks, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said Feb. 3. Austin and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with service civilian leaders and service chiefs to discuss the problem of extremism. Kirby noted that some of the extremists who stormed the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6 were active duty service members and others were military veterans. Kirby was quick to say that "the vast majority of men and women who serve in uniform and the military are doing so with honor, integrity and character, and do not espouse the sorts of beliefs that lead to the kind of conduct that can be so detrimental to good order and discipline and in fact is criminal." Still, Austin said in the meeting with military leaders that while the numbers may be small, they are not as small as anyone would like. "No matter what it is, it is … not an insignificant problem and has to be addressed," Kirby said during a press gaggle in the Pentagon. The stand down will occur over the next 60 days, Kirby said. This is so "each service, each command and each unit can take the time out to have these needed discussions with the men and women of the force," he said. There is much that needs to be hammered out including the details of the training that will go along with the stand down and what the secretary and all in the military want to accomplish. The stand down is similar to safety stand downs that units may have, Kirby said. Austin called extremism in the ranks a leadership issue, and "it's got to be a leadership issue down to the lowest levels, small unit leadership all the way up to him," Kirby said. "So if you consider it a leadership issue, then maybe there will be some potential solutions there to allow us greater visibility." This is a thorny problem, one that has raised its head in the past. There is a DOD Instruction aimed at this very problem — DODI 1325.06 "Handling Dissident and Protest Activities Among Members of the Armed Forces." The DOD Instruction expressly prohibits military personnel from actively advocating for and participating in supremacist, extremist or criminal gang doctrine, ideology or causes, Kirby said. There are questions that need to be answered, like what constitutes extremist activity? What is permissible in looking for extremists in the ranks? In the meeting Feb. 3, Austin made it clear that he is still mulling over how he wants to organize the effort to attack the problem from an institutional perspective, the press secretary said. The secretary may establish a task force to get after the problem or perhaps another way. "He hasn't ruled anything in or out," Kirby said.

The Navy needs to modernize the way it names ships, buildings and streets, and the service should rename assets that honor the Confederacy, a task force designed to identify problematic policies recommended this week. The recommendation is one of nearly 60 presented to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday in a new 141-page report released Wednesday from Task Force One Navy. Gilday ordered the creation of the task force in July following the death last May of George Floyd, a Black man who died in the hands of law enforcement, prompting nationwide protests about racism and police brutality.