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ABOUT.COM
MILITARY MATTERS
Newsletter #87
12/18/00
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BACK-ISSUES: Back-issues of Military Matters are available to read online at:
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Military Divorce - Jurisdiction and Division of Retired Pay.
Part III of the multipart article about military-related domestic situations.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/weekly/aa121700a.htm
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Previous Poll: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established as a military
alliance primarily to counter a growing Soviet threat. The North Atlantic Treaty
was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949, creating an alliance of 12 independent
nations committed to each other's defense.
As the Soviet Union is now history, is it time to allow NATO to dissolve into the history roles as well?
44 percent said (A) Yes - The Europeans can handle their own military affairs through the Euro-Military; and 56 percent said (B) - No - The United States would lose too much influence over European military situations.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/polls/blnato.htm
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This Issue's Poll:
Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) prohibits commissioned officers from speaking or writing "contemptuous words" against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present. DOD Directive 1344.10 extends this prohibition to all active duty personnel, including enlisted.
Should military personnel be restricted from speaking their minds about the President and other public officials?
(A) Yes - at all times; (B) No - all should be able to express their views just like any citizen; (C) Only when on duty or in a way which connects it to the military; (D) Only when speaking directly to the public official; or (E) Only senior-level personnel should be prohibited from criticizing public officials
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/polls/blspeech.htm
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NEWS AND COMMENTARY:
IMPORTANT NOTE: In the past I've linked to news items through the U.S. Military
Message Forum to make it easy for those who wished to comment on the stories,
or read the comments of others. Recently, I've discovered that some U.S. Army
domains are blocking these links because they lead to a "Chat Area,"
which is prohibited by Army policy. To ensure maximum benefit from news stories,
beginning in this issue, I'll be linking to the stories through pages on the
main site. Those of you who wish to participate in the message forum may still
do so by clicking on the message forum link you'll find with the story on the
applicable site page.
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Reserve/Guard Can Now Nominate for Service Academy Appointments: WASHINGTON -- Reserve and National Guard members can now apply to send their sons and daughters to military service academies via presidential nomination. The initiative, part of the fiscal 2001 National Defense Authorization Act signed by President Clinton Oct. 30, covers reserve component members with eight or more years of active duty service or have qualified for a non-regular retirement, said Charles L. Cragin, principal deputy under secretary of defense for reserve affairs. The president has the authority to nominate 100 individuals to each of the service academies each year. Previously, only active duty people were eligible for such nominations.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews101.htm
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Tricare Prime Remote to Start for Active Duty Family Members: WASHINGTON -- Families of active-duty service members serving in areas far from a military base and its medical facilities will be eligible soon for a new program designed to cut their healthcare costs. The fiscal 2001 defense authorization act provides for TRICARE Prime Remote for Family Members to begin Oct. 1, 2001. Active duty members in locations more than 50 miles from a military medical treatment facility have had TRICARE Prime Remote since Oct. 1, 1999. Their families, however, are covered under TRICARE Standard.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews103.htm
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Anti-Fonda Email Does Not Violate Military Regs: MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Pacific Air Forces’ top legal expert says forwarding a new version of an anti-Jane Fonda e-mail from government computers in the Pacific does not violate Air Force regulations. Twenty-eight years after Fonda’s visit to North Vietnam outraged U.S. servicemembers, a "Hanoi Jane" letter reached some Pacific military bases via the Internet last week. A copy of the e-mail obtained by Stars and Stripes showed that hundreds of recipients, among them several general officers and two commanders in charge of PACAF fighter wings, are forwarding the message.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews106.htm
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Sailor Gets the Boot for Stealing from AOL: YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — A Navy judge on Friday ended the career of a young sailor who used his computer savvy to steal more than $10,000 in goods and services from America Online in 1997 and 1998. Cmdr. Keith Allred sentenced Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian Baros, 23, of Strike Fighter Squadron 154 at Atsugi Naval Air Station, Japan, to four months in the brig. Baros was also given a bad-conduct discharge.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews107.htm
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E. Timor Deployment Nearly Finished: CAMP FOSTER — A Marine engineer detachment
deployed to East Timor returns to Okinawa Monday, after spending three months
rebuilding bridges, schools, medical clinics and orphanages in the newly created
country. The 29 Marines and one sailor are from the 9th Engineering Support
Battalion at Camp Hansen. They worked in several remote areas of East Timor.
The United States has provided humanitarian aid and support in East Timor since
September 1999.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews108.htm
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Army Awards Contract for Long-Distance College Program: WASHINGTON — Sgt. Christopher Jones, 23, joined the U.S. Army three years ago with a desire to help protect America. But his commitment meant he had to give up a goal of getting a college degree. Now, the infantryman can do both with the "Army University Access Online" program. "This program gave me the opportunity to serve my country, which was the primary reason for joining the military, and also achieve my personal goal of getting an education," said Jones, who will work toward a degree in education. Thursday, the Army awarded the five-year, $453 million contract to Fairfax, Va.-based PricewaterhouseCoopers to provide distance education to an estimated 80,000 soldiers. The program will let them earn a college degree within four years of active enlistment.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews109.htm
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Military Sells Parts Cheap, Then Buys them Back at Huge Costs: The Military
sells thousands of gauges, rivets, bearings and other overstocked spare parts
to surplus dealers at bargain basement prices, as low as 2 percent of the original
cost. But often the military discovers later that it needs some of the parts
it sold, so it buys them back – at a huge markup – from the same dealers.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews113.htm
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Worker Launches Buried Rocket: BARTOW, Fla. – A.R. Connor bulldozed trees and
brush into a pile, set them on fire and walked off to get a drink of water.
Then came the explosion, as a 2-foot-long, World War II-era rocket blasted out
of the fire and crashed into a chain-link fence 700 feet away.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews115.htm
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Powell Named Secretary of State: Retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, toughly
telling would-be American foes that "we will meet them, we will match them,
we will contend with them," accepted President-elect Bush's nomination today
to be the nation's 65th secretary of state and the first African American to
hold that position.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews116.htm
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School of Americas Closes: FORT BENNING, Ga. –– The Army's controversial school
for Latin American military personnel, bowing to pressure from critics who called
it a training ground for dictators, torturers and assassins, has shut its doors.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews118.htm
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Drudge List Inaccurate: The listing posted on the Drudge Report Web Site about
absentee military ballots which were not counted is inaccurate, said Bonnie
Jones, supervisor of elections for Escambia County, in Florida’s panhandle.
She said all 88 of the people on Drudge’s list are registered to vote in her
county, but just 14 of them had their oversees ballots rejected.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews75.htm
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A New Army Unifom?: For the first time in recent memory, the Army Uniform Board
has been asked to consider whether the Army dress uniform should be redesigned.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews77.htm
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Congress Looks at Beret Decision: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric Shinseki’s decision
to make the black beret standard headgear for all soldiers is attracting congressional
scrutiny, and some veterans groups are pushing for hearings on Capitol Hill
on the issue.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews78.htm
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Panel to Put UCMJ Under a Microscope: A new, independent panel will examine
whether the 50-year-old Uniform Code of Military Justice, the set of laws governing
all the military services, should be updated for the 21st century.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews80.htm
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Navy Considers Regular Reenlistment Bonus Program: The Navy is working the numbers
on a proposed program that would pay thousands of sailors who don’t now qualify
for re-enlistment bonuses to sign up for another tour. Navy officials say they
are considering some type of regular reenlistment bonus, some 23 years after
a similar program was discontinued.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews82.htm
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Old Sailors on Liberty: Gibraltar — Maybe they had lost a little spring in their
step, but several of LST 325’s crew members still had that sailor’s rolling
gait as they hit the beach on liberty here, after 13 days at sea and decades
away from the seafarer’s life.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews83.htm
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A Better Rifle: The M-16A2 is headed for mothballs in the Marine Corps as soon
as 2002, and which rifle will replace it will be determined over the next few
months. The likely successor: the M-4 carbine, a cut-down version of the M-16
that’s shorter, lighter and more easily adapted for different situations.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews85.htm
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Marine Gets Four Years for Child Porn Possession: IWAKUNI MARINE CORPS AIR STATION,
Japan — A lance corporal here was sentenced Monday to four years’ confinement
for possession of child pornography. Lance Cpl. Luigi F. Aguilar, 24, a maintenance
technician with Marine Air Wing Squadron 12, pleaded guilty to two counts of
possession of child pornography between November 1997 and Aug. 15, 2000. The
military judge, Lt. Col. Timothy Miller, also sentenced Aguilar to a dishonorable
discharge, forfeiture of all military pay and allowances, and reduction in rank
to private.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews95.htm
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USS Cole Back in States: PASCAGOULA, Miss. — With a shroud covering the gaping
hole in its side, the bomb-damaged USS Cole returned for repairs Wednesday to
the shipyard where it was built, arriving piggyback aboard a heavy-duty transport
ship.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews88.htm
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Even More Navy Promotions: The Navy has delayed releasing names of sailors promoted
off the September E-4 to E-6 advancement exams in a push to add hundreds more
to the list.
http://usmilitary.about.com/library/news/blnews81.htm
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You can read more military news on the About.com U.S. Military Site at:
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They said what??? (Selected excerpts from the Forum)
WOMEN IN COMBAT: "It is much simpler to put a woman in the cockpit of a fighter plane than in an infantry platoon. Hell, if she has a deep enough voice, nobody would know the difference." - JSTARSFLYER
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages?lgnF=y&msg=4417.588
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THE FAT LADY'S CLEARING HER THROAT: "Ask yourself, how much of "your own man" can you be when you can come out as a national nobody, 65 million in your political war chest, and nothing going for you but your Daddy's name?" - CHIEN
http://forums.about.com/ab-usmilitary/messages?lgnF=y&msg=5247.52
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Around and About:
U.S. Government Politics & Current Events:
http://uspolitics.about.com/
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Shopping About -- Buy your favorite items on the Internet.
http://usmilitary.about.com/gi/shopping/vstore/vstore.htm?channel=careers&site=usmilitary
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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: Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the skies,
Air defenses were
up, with electronic eyes.
Combat pilots were nestled in ready-room beds,
As enemy silhouettes danced in their heads.
Every jet on the
apron, each SAM in its tube,
Was triply-redundant linked to the Blue Cube,
And ELINT and AWACS gave coverage so dense
That nothing that flew could slip through our defense.
When out of the
klaxon arose such a clatter
I dashed to the screen to see what was the matter;
I dialed up the gain and then quick as a flash
Fine-adjusted the filters to damp out the hash.
And there found
the source of the warning we'd heeded:
An incoming blip, by eight escorts preceded.
"Alert status red!" went the word down the wire,
As we gave every system the codes that meant "FIRE"!
On Aegis! Up Patriot,
Phalanx and Hawk!
And scramble our fighters -- let's send the whole flock!
Launch decoys and missiles! Use chaff by the yard!
Get the kitchen sink up! Call the National Guard!
They turned toward
the target, moved toward it, converged.
Till the tracks on the radar all finally merged,
And the sky was lit up with a demonic light,
As the foe became pieces in the high arctic night.
So we sent out
some recon to look for debris,
Yet all that they found, both on land and on sea,
Were some toys, a red hat, a charred left leather boot,
Broken sleighbells, some gloves, and a ripped parachute.
Now it isn't quite
Christmas, with Saint Nick shot down.
There are unhappy kids in each village and town.
Can the Spirit of Christmas even hope to evade
All the web of defenses we've carefully made?
Just look how the
gadgets we use to protect us
In other ways alter, transform, and affect us.
They can keep us from things that make life more worth living,
Like love for each other, and thoughts of just giving.
But a crash program's
on: Working hard, night and day,
All the elves are constructing a radar-proof sleigh.
So let's wait for next Christmas, in cheer and in health,
And be good boys and girls, as Santa goes STEALTH
For more military
humor, visit our Military Humor Subject-Area on the About.com U.S. Military
Information Site at:
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/militaryhumor/index.htm
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With those words of wisdom, I once again leave you.,
Rod Powers
About.com's U.S. Military Information Site
