Navy To Name Ship After Giffords

The United States Navy has certainly been getting some well-deserved good publicity. First they rescue the captain of an American ship from Somali pirates (largely due to the remarkable marksmanship of some Navy Seals). Then naval airpower breaks the back of the Libyan military and gives the rebels in that country the edge they needed to overthrow the Libyan dictator. Next, Navy Seals go into Pakistan and kill Osama bin Laden. And only a few weeks later, Navy Seals go into Somalia and rescue to people held by Somali pirates.

Now the Navy is scoring another public relations coup. This one is not due to the bravery and excellence of sailors, but to the intelligence and compassion of their leadership. The U.S. Navy is naming a new ship after former Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords (who survived being shot in the head by a madman in a mass shooting). Here is the announcement as written in Navy Times:

In yet another break with tradition, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Friday that a new Littoral Combat Ship would be named for Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman who survived a January 2011 assassination attempt.

“The selection of Gabrielle Giffords, designated LCS 10, honors the former Congresswoman from Tucson, Arizona, who is known for supporting the military and veterans, advocating for renewable energy and championing border security,” the Navy said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Roxanna Green, whose 9-year-old daughter Christina-Taylor Green was killed in the shooting, was named sponsor of the ship.

“Giffords and the ship’s sponsor, Roxanna Green, are sources of great inspiration and represent the Navy and Marine Corps qualities of overcoming, adapting and coming out victorious despite great challenges," Mabus said.

The future Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) will be an Independence LCS 2-class ship. Funded in the 2012 budget, its construction contract is expected to be awarded in the first half of this year to Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.

For those of you (like me) who are unfamiliar with what an Independence class LCS-2 ship is, the picture above is of one, and here is a description of the ship and its capabilities from Defense Update:

The Littoral Combat Ship is a key element of the Navy's plan to address asymmetric threats of the twenty-first century. Intended to operate in coastal areas of the globe, the ship will be fast, highly maneuverable and geared to supporting mine detection/elimination, anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare, particularly against small surface craft.


The new 127 meter long Independence Class LCS will provide a platform for intelligence gathering, employ surface (anti-ship) and land attacks precision weapons, and operate manned and unmanned aerial and surface vehicles (UAV/USV). To further adapt for specific missions, LCS will incorporate a modular and interchangeable approach, enabling it to be reconfigured to specific missions such as antisubmarine warfare, mine warfare, or surface warfare missions on an as-needed basis. The LCS will be able to swap out mission packages pier-side in a matter of hours, adapting as the tactical situation demands. These ships will also feature advanced networking capability to share tactical information with other Navy aircraft, ships, submarines and joint units.


The Independence Class LCS, built by General Dynamics is designed to offer the largest usable payload volumes per ton of ship displacement of any U.S. Navy surface combatant afloat today -- providing the flexibility to carry out one mission while a separate mission module is in reserve. Its large flight deck sits high above the water, sized to support near-simultaneous operation of two SH-60 helicopters or multiple unmanned vehicles. In addition, the deck is suitable for landing the much-larger H-53 helicopters, should that become a future requirement.


The stable trimaran hull allows for flight operations in high sea conditions.

I think this is a great idea, and I believe most Americans will agree. I bet the sailors assigned to this new American warship will wind up calling her affectionately "Gabby" -- at least I hope so.

This Should Explode Some Heads On The Right

Back during the Clinton administration (1993) there was a well-intentioned but misguided effort to help homosexuals who wished to serve in the United States Military. It was called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". This new policy said that the military would no longer try to investigate and expose gays/lesbians and kick them out -- as long as they didn't not make their sexual preference known to others. In other words, the military would put up with homosexuals as long as they stayed in the closet.

Although a small improvement over the old "witch-hunt" policy, the new policy still meant gays/lesbians had to live a lie -- something not required of their fellow soldiers and sailors. It also meant that many good people continued to be kicked out of military service for their sexual preference, even though their job performance was excellent. This was simply unacceptable in a country where the vast majority no longer expected their gay/lesbian citizens to stay in the closet.

In the 2008 presidential election Barack Obama promised that he would do away with the already archaic "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (and he was overwhelmingly elected). It took a little longer than many of us had wished, but on December 18th of 2010 the Congress passed a law abolishing the policy and the president signed it on December 22nd. For the first time in this nation's history homosexuals could openly and proudly serve in the military.

The right-wing fundamentalists in this country tried to stop the new law. They still want to marginalize gays/lesbians and keep them as second-class citizens. But our military leaders knew it was time to change and they have been hard at work trying to institute the new policy. And so far there have been no problems -- after all, in the heat of battle a man or woman's courage and competence is a lot more important than their sexual preference.

Now the United States Navy has taken the final step toward true equality for the sailors in that branch of the military. On April 13th Rear Admiral Mark Tidd, Chief of Chaplains for the Navy, sent out a memorandum saying Navy chaplains could officiate the marriage (or civil union) ceremonies of same-sex couples.

The memo said, "Consistent with the tenets of his or her religious organization, a chaplain may officiate a same-sex civil marriage: if it is conducted in accordance with a state that permits same-sex marriage or union; and if that chaplain is, according to the applicable state and local laws, otherwise fully certified to officiate that state's marriages." It went on to say, "If the base is located in a state where same-sex marriage is legal, then base facilities may normally be used to celebrate the marriage. This is true for purely religious services (a chaplain blessing a union) or a traditional wedding (a chaplain both blessing and conducting the ceremony)."

Of course this has the right-wing in a tizzie. They are trying to claim the new Navy policy violates the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -- even though that law has been declared unconstitutional by a federal court and the Justice Department (on President Obama's instructions) is refusing to appeal the decision. And even though the House Republicans have hired a lawyer to appeal the decision, it is unlikely to be overturned.

Defense Department spokeswoman Eileen Lainez answered this charge by saying, "DOMA does not limit the types of religious ceremonies a chaplain may perform in a chapel on a military installation. Chaplains are authorized to perform religious ceremonies consistent with the practices of the chaplain's faith group in chapels on military installations."

I am not a religious person, but I applaud this decision by the U.S. Navy. Anyone who wants a religious service should be able to have one -- that is a basic tenet of religious freedom. No chaplain will be forced to perform any ceremony if he/she does not want to do it. It simply allows those chaplains willing to perform the ceremony to do so, and allows them to use base facilities.

This new rule hurts no one and violates no one's rights. In fact, it does just the opposite by guaranteeing the religious rights of all American citizens serving in the military (or those wishing to marry someone serving in the military). It is one more step toward true freedom and equality for America.

Pirates Make Bad Mistake

The picture above shows the results that can be expected when pirates decide to fire on a United States Navy ship. I would have thought the pirates would have learned their lesson the last time they tangled with the U.S. Navy (and most of them wound up dead), but I guess there are some people who just have to learn the hard way.

Maybe these pirates thought they were badder than they actually were, or maybe they didn't think this looked like a warship -- who knows. Maybe they were just stupid. Anyway, the pirates fired upon the the USS Ashland about 300 miles off the coast of Djibouti. The Ashland shot back, setting the pirate boat on fire.

I don't know if any of the pirates were killed, but the Ashland plucked the survivors out of the water and gave them medical treatment. I expect they will now be charged, tried and given a long stretch in prison to consider the stupidity of their actions.

Navy Rescues American Captain

It looks like the Somali pirates made a huge mistake by not releasing the American ship captain (pictured) they were holding hostage after they lost control of his ship. They should have turned him loose and ran for their lives before the U.S. Navy arrived, but evidently these pirates weren't too bright.

It looks like they actually thought they could negotiate with the United States Navy. They were wrong. They had a chance to live even after the Navy arrived. When the captain made a break for freedom a couple of days ago, they could have surrendered. But they recaptured him instead and kept him tied up.

Yesterday, while one of the pirates was on board the Navy ship trying to negotiate, the other three pirates made a serious mistake by pointing a gun at the American hostage. Navy snipers were given the green light and killed all three of the pirates. They then took the remaining pirate in custody and freed the hostage.

Kudos to the Navy for a job well done. Any pirate stupid enough to mess with an American ship in the future should receive the same treatment. If this would happen every time they take a ship (or even try to take one), it wouldn't be long before the pirate problem would be solved.

Also congratulations go out to the French for re-taking their yacht and killing the pirates, although it is regrettable that a hostage died in that effort.