Archived Military Matters
The About.com U.S. Military Newsletter
Note: Newslinks contained in this archived newsletter will take you to the discussion area of the U.S. Military Forum, but links to the stories from there are probably no longer valid. Online news-sources normally leave links active for only a few days.
Newsletter #50
3/22/00
Howdy all, and welcome to the 50th edition of Military Matters, the newsletter for About.com's U.S. Military Information Page. If you need information about anything concerning the Military, please try http://usmilitary.about.com. If you know anyone who is interested in military matters, please feel free to email them a copy of this newsletter.
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BACK-ISSUES: Back-issues of Military Matters are now available to read online at:
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/newsletters/blnewsletters.htm
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT: That Others May Live - Book review of an exciting new book all about the Air Force's elite Combat Pararescue Force.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/weekly/aa032000a.htm
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IMPORTANT NOTE: In order to participate in About.com Forums (other than as a guest, which is "read only,") it is now necessary to join the About.com Community (Even if you are already a member of "Delphi.") You can join the About.com Community for FREE at http://usmilitary.about.com/gi/membership/join.htm If you are already a member of Delphi, this WILL NOT change your Delphi account. I apologize for the inconvenience.
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Last Poll: How Truthful are Military Recruiters? 49 percent said "Somewhat Truthful; 24 percent said, "Mostly Truthful"; 18 percent said "Rarely Truthful"; 6 percent said "Never Truthful"; and 4 percent said "Always Truthful
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1562.1
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This Issue's Poll: Should the U.S. Get out of Kosovo and leave day-to-day peacekeeping to the Europeans? Yes - We already did our part; or No - We started it, we have to stick it out.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1692.1
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NEWS AND COMMENTARY:
To read the full stories, click on the link below. If you are not a member of our Forum, and don't wish to join, you may still read the story by clicking on "Enter as a Guest" when you see the login screen. You can join very easily at:
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PLEASE NOTE: IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO JOIN IN ORDER TO READ THE ENTIRE NEWS-STORY. When you see the log-in screen, simply click on the button "Enter as a Guest." You can view the entire story by clicking on the link, "Read Story Here" in the message.
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Navy Attacks Florida: PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A battle group including an aircraft carrier and nine other warships left Key West Tuesday for the Florida Panhandle, where the Navy plans to conduct one of the largest military bombing exercises in the Gulf in years.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1690.1
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Whales Beach Themselves after Naval Exercise: Scientists are trying to understand why about a dozen whales became stranded last week on two beaches in the Bahamas, a highly unusual event that coincided with U.S. Navy operations in the area. Beachgoers pushed several of the beaked whales back into the waters after the 12-foot to 15-foot toothed mammals mysteriously swam or washed ashore last Thursday, one day after a Navy exercise in which loud noises were propagated through waters in the region. Five of the animals ultimately died ashore.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1683.1
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Americans Flock to Play "Boot Camp.": NEW YORK - Cold, frustrated and impossibly tired, Jennifer Bowden flings out her elbows and knees in a struggle to belly-crawl through a sandpit in the freezing darkness. Her arms sizzle with pain, her clothes fill with chunks of snow and dirt and her face stings from the frosty darts of a pre-dawn snowfall. Under the shadow of New York's skyscrapers, in Central Park, a retired Navy Seal named Jack Walston is giving the seven men and eight women a taste of military life. Just a taste, however.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1619.1
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Rockers Rally for Veterans: CLEARWATER, Fla. - Norman LaFountaine traveled hundreds of miles to listen Saturday to the blare of rock from a bygone era and relive memories of a war that divided the country. VetRock 2000, an all-day concert by bands whose glory days were in the 1960s and 70s, kicked off a 31-city tour to raise money for Vietnam veteran outreach groups. Blood, Sweat & Tears, John Kay and Steppenwolf, The Animals II, The Guess Who, and the Lovin Spoonful were among the performers.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1623.1
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New Air Force Fitness Test: SAN ANTONIO -- The days when airmen could bicycle their way to fitness are just about over. In July the Air Force plans to begin testing members' ability to do push-ups and sit-ups as part of its physical training program. Airmen won't be graded, though, until January 2002.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1678.1
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3rd Time's the Charm: Recruits who receive low scores the first two times they take the armed forces entrance exams will be allowed to take the tests a third time much more quickly under a year-long pilot program that begins April 1.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1670.1
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Army Recognizes Y2K Warriors: As battles go, it wasn't exactly D-Day. But that won't stop some in the Army from pinning medals on the soldiers who helped defeat the Y2K bug. In a recent memo to his unit leaders, the deputy commander of the Atlanta-based Army Forces Command issued a ''Y2K Awards Matrix.''
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1658.1
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UN Plans to Give Condoms to Peacekeepers: UNITED NATIONS - Worried by the threat of AIDS among U.N. peacekeepers, the United Nations has decided to distribute a condom a day to each of the 16,000 male troops it plans to send to Congo and Sierra Leone this year. The decision is the closest the United Nations has ever come to acknowledging one of the dirty secrets of peacekeeping: that U.N. troops around the world frequent brothels and are in danger of contracting the HIV virus that causes AIDS, as well as providing a market for prostitution and the trafficking of women.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1593.1
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China Hints at Nuke Use: BEIJING -- As top Chinese and Taiwanese leaders lowered their voices Monday, a Chinese military newspaper laid out in chilling detail how China could conquer Taiwan by force. Beijing's tactics, the publication said, might include a neutron bomb attack on Taiwan and a nuclear showdown with the United States.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1646.1
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The Tragedy of Child Soldiers: According to UNICEF statistics, 300,000 children under 18 are serving as regular soldiers, guerrilla fighters, porters, spies, sexual slaves, and even suicide commandos, in conflicts under way in over 50 nations. Over the past decade, conflicts have claimed the lives of more than 2 million children; left millions maimed or permanently disabled, 10 million with serious psychological trauma, and resulted in over 12 million children refugees.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1656.1
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NATO Peacekeepers Crossed Border: PRISTINA, Yugoslavia -- NATO attempted Sunday to find out how seven of its peacekeepers strayed across Kosovo's administrative boundary between the province and the rest of Serbia. NATO questioned the Czech soldiers Sunday, a day after Serb authorities detained them for eight hours.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1654.1
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Militias may Halt Attacks into Serbia: Under pressure from U.S. diplomats and peacekeeping troops, ethnic Albanian militias are close to an agreement to suspend attacks against Belgrade security forces in Serbia, just beyond the U.S.-patrolled sector of Kosovo, according to U.S., NATO and Kosovo Albanian sources.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1647.1
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Canada Finally Goes Stealth: The Canadian military is ordering fall fashions this month, the first camouflage uniforms the army has ever been issued for battlefield use. The order for 36,000 pants and shirts marks the demise of the drab green uniform that has begun to look archaic next to the heavily camouflaged gear of Canada's NATO allies.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1637.1
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North Korea Military Improving: SEOUL, South Korea - While attention is focused on the threat of war across the Taiwan Straits, U.S. officials say they see steady - but not alarming - improvements in North Korea's military.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1605.1
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Russia's Military Firmly Behind Putin: MOSCOW -- Soldiers in Chechnya cast absentee ballots Friday in Russia's presidential election and a top general said they overwhelmingly back acting President Vladimir Putin, who has made building a powerful military a key part of restoring Russia's global clout. Reviving the military is one of the few firm ideas Putin has offered as he seeks a full term in March 26 elections. It's an idea that has gone down well with Russians nostalgic for the past, helping give Putin a commanding lead in the election race.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1607.1
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Retaliation Alleged over Vaccinations: DAVIS -- Current and former Air Force reservists concerned about the safety of an anthrax vaccine said Monday that the military is retaliating against those who refuse it, and warned that widespread resistance to the shots threatens to decimate their ranks. Air Force Reserve members said commanders at nearby Travis Air Force Base were blocking transfers into units that do not require the six-shot regimen, leaving them in administrative limbo.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1689.1
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Army Doctor Charged in Girl's Death: The Army has charged a doctor at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with involuntary manslaughter, alleging he improperly administered an antibiotic to a teenage girl, failed to promptly call for assistance when she had an adverse reaction and then lied about the dosage he gave the girl.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1687.1
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Sailor will be Court-Martialed while Deployed: A Navy Seabee asked to be court-martialed for refusing to take the anthrax vaccine and got what he wanted. Sort of. Builder 3rd Class David Ponder, who is homeported in Gulfport, Miss., wants to be court-martialed locally. But the Navy refused that request and sent him on scheduled deployment, meaning he will get his day in court in Okinawa.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1669.1
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Sailor Charged with Espionage isn't allowed to see his Lawyers: A U.S sailor who could face the death penalty for espionage isn't being allowed to meet privately with his lawyers, for what the U.S. Navy says are security reasons. The accused man's military lawyers, moreover, say that a judge's order is keeping them from meeting in private with his civilian attorney -- or each other -- even if their client isn't present.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1652.1
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Is C.O. Responsible for Marine's Death?: No one knows who shot Lance Cpl. Samuel D. Irwin. Perhaps no one will ever know. It was April 28, 1999, and the young Marine was stooped atop a tall berm at the Corps' desert training center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., when he suddenly grabbed his chest and slumped down. "I've been shot!" he cried out. Then he died.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1667.1
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5 Soldiers Punished for Mistreating Kosovo Civilians: Five enlisted soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division have been punished for mistreating and assaulting Kosovar civilians in early January. Two officers from the 82nd are still under investigation, officials said Monday.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1653.1
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Survey - Pay is the #1 Reason People Leave/Stay: When Congress set out last year to find out what active-duty service members like and dislike about today's military, it hoped the information would help set personnel policies. But the findings of a survey conducted last fall by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has resulted in confusion, not enlightenment.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1680.1
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New Contract could Shake up Tricare: Changes defense officials plan to make in contracts with the private companies that administer Tricare could result in unequal benefits across the country and limit the access of some active-duty families and retirees to military pharmacies, hospitals and clinics, critics warned.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1679.1
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Ending the Married Vs. Single Pay Gap?: An unusual report from the Congressional Budget Office compares the pluses and minuses of addressing service members' key concerns about pay and benefits, including what it would take to eliminate pay differences between married and single members. The report, released March 11, comes just as lawmakers are starting to write the 2001 defense budget.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1675.1
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GI Bill isn't what it used to be: WASHINGTON - For Manuel Rivas, the GI Bill offered him an opportunity in 1946 that was too good to pass up. Just coming out of World War II, Rivas was among millions of veterans to take advantage of the paid college education the government offered for those who served. Today's veteran leaving active duty faces a much dimmer picture, advocates say. Even though veterans still can sign up for GI Bill benefits and actually donate $1,200 of their own money towards the fund, the legislation is sorely inadequate, advocates say, to meet skyrocketing costs of a college education today.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1624.1
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AF Brat Cooks up $1 Million Recipe: SAN FRANCISCO -- Roberta "Bobbie" Sonefeld finally has her slice of the American pie: a $1 million cut. The daughter of a career Air Force family, Sonefeld joined the ranks of millionaires Feb. 29 when she won the 50th Anniversary Pillsbury Bake-Off.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1677.1
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Hiroshima Bombardier Dies at 81: Thomas Wilson Ferebee, the bombardier in the crew of the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in World War II, died Thursday in Windermere, Fla. He was 81.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1589.1
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Environmently Friendly Missiles?: A Huntsville researcher has developed a new rocket fuel that could make missiles safer for the environment but more lethal for enemies. Currently, many missiles and rockets use fuels that could cause cancer in those who work around them, but Darren Thompson, a chemical engineer at the Army's Aviation and Missile Command, has created a low-toxicity fuel that may not cause such health hazards.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1686.1
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Missile Defense Test Postponed: Pentagon officials said yesterday that a critical test of the National Missile Defense system will not take place until late June, a delay that could threaten the politically sensitive timetable for deciding whether to start building the multibillion-dollar network of radars and interceptors.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1655.1
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Pilot Killed During Air Show: KINGSVILLE, Texas - An Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashed while performing maneuvers as part of an air show Sunday near Kingsville Naval Air Station, killing the pilot, authorities said. The pilot was identified as Maj. Brison Phillips. He was a member of the 78th Fighter Squadron from Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter, S.C.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1640.1
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Review finds Flaws in Kosovo Bombing Campaign: WASHINGTON - It was the most precise bombing campaign in history, but the U.S. air assault against Serbia last year also revealed serious inadequacies in American military might. That is the conclusion of the "lessons learned" by the Pentagon from the NATO operation that began a year ago Friday. Despite unrelenting bad weather and a few glaring mistakes, American warplanes flew more than 35,000 sorties and achieved an unprecedented 99 percent bombing accuracy rate. Not one U.S. life was lost.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1685.1
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Extended Deployment Pay Plan will cost Millions: The Pentagon is quietly wrestling with the ramifications of a law requiring $100-a-day payments to service members who deploy more than 250 days in any 365-day period. The payments, which will not begin until fiscal year 2002, would cost the Army $50 million if implemented in 1999 -- the equivalent of half a million deployment days -- congressional sources said in mid-March.
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages/?msg=1673.1
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You can read more military news on the About.com U.S. Military Site at:
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/newsindex.htm
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LINK OF THE WEEK: Commissaries -- Ever wondered if that base had a commissary, or what its hours of operation were? Check out DECA's Home Page.
http://www.commissaries.com
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CHAT: Dennis Fauchier (DennisHOST) will be hosting General Military Chats every Saturday from 6:00 PM (EST) to 7:00 PM (EST) and every Wednesday from 12:00 PM (EST) to 1:00 PM (EST). Edward Hanrahan (AssassinHOST) will host every Saturday night from 9:00 PM (EST) to 1:00 AM (EST).
http://usmilitary.about.com/mpchat.htm
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MILITARY HUMOR: The new ensign was standing his first night watch on the bridge of a destroyer. Far out on the horizon, the USS New Jersey was conducting a night gunnery exercise.
The ensign, seeing the flashes of light from the battleship, ran excitedly up to the signal bridge and pointed out the "Morse code" coming from the other ship.
Ensign: "What are they saying? What are they saying?"
Signalman: "Boom. Boom."
(Many thanks to Alec B. for sending that along)
For more military humor, check out the Military Humor Netlink on the About.com U.S. Military Site at
http://usmilitary.about.com/msubmenujokes.htm
A HREF="http://usmilitary.about.com/msubmenujokes.htm">(AOL Link)</A>
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With those words of wisdom, I once again leave you.,
Rod Powers
About.com's U.S. Military Information Site
