Yerkrapah

Yerkrapah Volunteer Union ( "«Yerkrapah» kamavorakan miut'yun, YeKM") or Yerkrapah Union of Veterans, meaning "Defenders of the Land", is a non-governmental group that consisted of 6,000 veterans of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, formed by Vazgen Sargsyan. The Yerkrapah is a large and influential veteran group. The Yerkrapah Union was actively involved in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War although after the death of Sargsyan, Yerkrapah began to decline in support in politics. Yerkrapah had incorporated between 5,000 and 30,000 veterans. According to Thomas de Waal, after 1994 "the veterans' group Yerkrapah became the most powerful organization in the country."
Military operations.
Yerkrapah serves as part the reserve of the army. It sent thousands of armed volunteers fight during the April War of 2016.
Political involvement.
By 1998, the Yerkrapah parliamentary faction, led by Vazgen Sargsyan as "the power behind the throne", was the largest faction in the National Assembly (it had 69 members). The faction was made up of members of the union. That summer, merged with the Republican Party of Armenia, absorbing the much smaller party in name and legal status. Yerkrapah as a political movement lost their nominal political influence by 2001.
On 25 February 2008, a cohort of top army leaders led by the then-Chief of the General Staff Seyran Ohanyan, protesting against its involvement in politics. The move came after the deputy chairman gave their backing to ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan. In 2019, Chairman Sasun Mikaelian insisted that the organization shall not serve as an 'appendage" of the ruling party, warning of consequences of what happened when the previous governments "tried to make Yerkrapah serve the authorities".
Youth wing.
On 9 September 2014, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Education and Science, and Yerkrapah signed a memorandum to implement “Patani Yerkrapah” (Youth Protectors of the Land) patriotic clubs in Armenian educational institutions. Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan, stressed the importance of the clubs in contributing to youths’ knowledge of Armenian history.
Yerkrapah Day.
Yerkrapah Day (Armenian: Երկրապահի օր) is a professional holiday for all members of Yerkrapah, celebrated annually in Armenia on 8 May. The official status of Yerkrapah Day holiday was conceived after the entry of a law which President Robert Kocharyan signed on 6 January 2001 and which the Parliament of Armenia approved on 24 July that year. It is associated with Shushi Liberation Day. Yerkrapah Day is not a non-working day if, depending on the year, it does not fall on a weekend.


Victor Williams (general)

Major-General Victor Arthur Seymour Williams CMG (1867 – December 12, 1949) was a Canadian general in the First World War and later the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police. In June 1916 he was seriously wounded and captured by the Germans. As a brigadier-general he was one of the highest ranked Canadians ever captured by the enemy.
Early life and education.
Williams was born at Port Hope, Ontario in 1867, the son of Arthur Trefusis Heneage Williams, by his wife Emily, daughter of Benjamin Seymour. After attending Trinity College School in Port Hope, he entered the Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, in 1884. In 1886, “Williams was one of four new Inspectors who had attended the Royal Military College in Kingston. The other three officers were: S.T. Wood, P.C.H. Primrose, and T.W. Chalmers." Two years into his studies he was withdrawn from the college at his parents' request and entered service in the North-West Mounted Police. In December 1887 he was gazetted an inspector.
Army career.
He transferred to the Mounted Infantry in 1889. He married Helen Euphemia Sutherland on October 23, 1890. He eventually took a commission with the Royal Canadian Dragoons in 1893. In 1899 he went to South Africa, serving as a major and lieutenant-colonel in command of 'B' Squadron of the Canadian Mounted Rifles during the Second Boer War.
Williams was promoted brevet colonel for his overseas service and appointed commandant of the Royal School of Cavalry in Toronto, Ontario. In 1907 he was appointed commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Dragoons and Inspector of Cavalry for the Dominion of Canada. In 1911 he commanded the mounted units at the Coronation of King George V. From 1912 to 1914 he was Adjutant-General at Ottawa. He commanded Valcartier Camp, Quebec, during the mobilization of the 1st Canadian Division, and accompanied the contingent overseas. During the war he served on the general staffs of Field Marshal Sir John French and the British II and III Corps.
As a brigadier-general, he commanded the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Canadian Division from December 1915 to June 1916. He was mentioned in despatches on 30 April 1916 for gallant and distinguished services in the field. He was severely wounded and taken prisoner on June 3, 1916 during the Battle of Mont Sorrel. He was released in a prisoner exchange before the end of the war.
He returned to Canada in late 1918. After the war, he was promoted major-general in command of Military District 2 based in Toronto. He then commanded military districts in Kingston and Toronto. He served as the Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police from 1922 to 1939. He died in Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto on December 12, 1949 and was buried in the St. John's Cemetery in Port Hope.
Recognition and honours.
Mount Williams (2730 metres) in the Canadian Rockies on the border of Alberta and British Columbia was named in his honour in 1918. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in January 1920 for his war service.


Stevens Battery

The Stevens Battery was an early design for a type of ironclad, proposed for use by the United States Navy before the American Civil War. One full-sized example was begun but never completed due to lack of funding.
Background.
In 1841, the United States was in the midst of a war scare with the United Kingdom over the American boundary with Canada, among other issues. Americans remembered the British invasion of the United States by sea during the War of 1812 and, to avoid its recurrence, President John Tyler and Secretary of the Navy Abel P. Upshur called for a large increase in the size of the U.S. Navy in order to defend the coast. A like-minded U.S. Congress authorized the use of $8,500,000 (USD) to fund the expansion.
In this environment, Robert L. Stevens and Edwin Augustus Stevens, the sons of Colonel John Stevens of Hoboken, New Jersey, proposed to the Department of the Navy on August 13, 1841 the construction of a revolutionary steam-powered ironclad vessel of high speed, with screw propellers and all machinery below the water line. Congress passed and President Tyler signed the Stevens Battery Act the same year to authorize funding for the construction of the ship, and the U.S. Navy's Board of Commissioners approved the Stevens brothers' specific proposal for the ship in January 1842. An Act of Congress authorizing Upshur to contract for the construction of a shot- and shell-proof steamer, to be built principally of iron, on the Stevens plan was approved on April 14, 1842. The ship, which became known as the "Stevens Battery," was to be the first such ship ever to be built under government authorization. She was intended to serve as a fast, powerful, heavily armored, mobile battery, reinforcing the coastal fortifications of New York City.
The Stevens brothers selected their family estate in Hoboken, New Jersey, as the construction site for the ship. They had to have a drydock dug out of solid rock there, and then install large pumps to keep the drydock from flooding, and delays occurred from the very beginning of the project. The budget for the ship was set at $600,000 (USD), based on vaguely similar earlier ships, but in fact the new ship was revolutionary in concept and design that no one really knew how to build her or how much she would cost.
The 1844 design.
The Stevens' original design for the ship was completed in 1844 and called for a 250-foot- (76-meter-) long ship 40 feet (12.2 m) in beam and displacing 1,500 tons. She was to be armed with six large-caliber muzzle-loading cannons in open casemates on decks, loaded from below the main deck by gun crews protected by armored casemates employing sloped armor to further improve protection. She was to be proof against 64-pound (29-kilogram) shells, the largest fired by U.S. Navy guns at the time. To achieve this, she was to be armored with 4.5-inch- (114-millimeter-) thick iron plate reinforced by 14 inches (356 millimeters) of locust timber, a thickness of iron and wood believed by the Stevens to be sufficient to resist any gun then known. Furthermore, she was to be semisubmersible, able to submerge herself to her gunwales to make her a smaller target for enemy gunners. Her steam engines were to produce 900 indicated horsepower (ihp) and give her an estimated top speed of 18 knots (33 km/hr), and this very high speed for the era combined with good maneuverability were intended to make her a hard target to hit as well.
Experiments by John Ericsson with his 12-inch (305-mm) wrought iron gun "Oregon", which could fire a 225-pound (102-kilogram) shell 5 miles (9.25 kilometers), soon proved that 4.5-inch (114-millimeter) armor was insufficient. In March 1845, Robert Stevens' health failed and he spent the next two years recuperating in Europe. His absence and the need to rethink the ship's armor scheme led to little work being done on her for several years. In 1851, Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft ordered work on the ship stopped because of her inadequate armor, and Commodore Charles W. Skinner, chief of the Navy's Bureau of Construction announced his intention to scrap the incomplete ship and sell her materials.
The 1854 design.
The Stevens brothers succeeded in getting Congress to overrule Bancroft and Skinner, and set about radically redesigning the Stevens Battery. The new design was ready by January 1854. It called for a great increase in the ship's size and capabilities. She was now to be 420 feet (128 m) long, 53 feet (16 m) in beam, and displace 4,683 tons. She was to be proof against 125-pound (56.7-kilogram) shells, with armor made up of 6.75-inch (171-millimeter) iron plates sloping upwards from 1 foot (0.3 m) below the waterline to the main deck and running along the entire side of the ship from stem to stern. She was to have bulwarks to make her more seaworthy when steaming which could be lowered to reduce her freeboard in combat, making her a smaller target. Again, the ship was to be semisubmersible, able to submerge herself down to the gunwales, also to make her a smaller target.
Her armament was to consist of two 10-inch (254-millimeter) rifled guns mounted on pivots fore and aft and five 15-inch (381-mm) smoothbore guns mounted on the deck above an armored casemate. The guns were to fire 425-pound (193-kilogram) shells. The gun crews, protected by the casemates, would load the guns from below through holes in the deck protected by armored hoods; the gun's muzzle would be pointed into the hole, and a steam-powered cylinder would use a ramrod to load the gun for the next shot, allowing a high rate of fire. Water was to be injected into each gun automatically after it fired, to cool the gun and prevent it from being damaged by extended, rapid firing.
The ship was to have eight steam engines generating to drive two propellers and give the ship a maximum speed of , breathtakingly fast for the time. She would have consumed a lot of coal, and her 1,000-ton coal capacity suggests that she would have had a very short operating range. She was to be the first ship equipped with fan-driven ventilation, to increase crew comfort by extracting fumes and hot air from below decks.
The Stevens brothers made significant progress on the newly designed ship between January 1854 and September 1855, but then work slowed again. When Robert Stevens died in April 1856, worked stopped entirely, and did not resume until 1859.
The Navy by then was losing interest in the ship. By 1861, it had spent $500,000 (U.S.) on the project, and the Stevens family had spent another $228,435 (U.S.). That year, Edwin Stevens and his brother John C. Stevens offered to pay for completion of the ship themselves if the Navy would agree to pay for the ship if it was completed and proved successful, but a Navy board rejected the offer, finding deficiencies in the project. It was not clear when the ship would be completed, and in 1862 Edwin Stevens estimated that it would take another $730,484 (U.S.) just to complete the ship enough for to be launched.
The Civil War and USS "Naugatuck".
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, Edwin Stevens claimed that a completed Stevens Battery would have a decisive impact against Confederate forces. Hoping to prove his point, he purchased an iron-hulled steamer and modified her greatly into a warship that would demonstrate to the U.S. Navy some of the principles he had in mind for the Stevens Battery, including high maneuverability, a respectable top speed, a semisubmersible capability, and a large gun on the main deck capable of a high rate of fire and loaded from below the deck by gun crews protected by armor.
The resulting vessel, "Naugatuck", went into service with the United States Revenue-Marine in the autumn of 1861, but soon was loaned to the Navy. In action in May 1862, her main gun burst. Her armor protected the gun crew from the explosion as Stevens intended, but the Navy was not won over by the design, and "Naugatuck" soon went back to the Revenue-Marine.
Although the Navy had a large ironclad program during the Civil War for which the Stevens Battery seemed a logical fit, a Navy board found numerous deficiencies in the ship and the Navy decided not to spend any more money on her. On July 17, 1862, Congress voted to turn all ownership of and rights to the Stevens Battery over to the Stevens family, and the ship spent the Civil War in her drydock.
The 1869 design.
Edwin Stevens died in 1868, leaving the Stevens Battery and $1,000,000 (USD) with which to finish her to the State of New Jersey. New Jersey Governor Theodore F. Randolph appointed an oversight commission, and Major General George B. McClellan, the commander of the Army of the Potomac early in the Civil War, became engineer-in-chief.
McClellan redesigned the ship yet again. The 1866 Battle of Lissa, in which ramming had proven an important tactic, was influential in ship design for 40 years, and his 1869 design called for the ship to have an iron spur ram bow. She also was to have a heavier hull. Instead of guns mounted in casemates, the Stevens Battery now was to have her guns in a revolving turret like that of USS "Monitor", although the type and caliber of guns were never determined. Her machinery was removed and replaced by ten large-diameter boilers and two Maudsley and Field vertical overhead-crosshead steam engines which were to give the Stevens Battery a top speed of .
The end.
By 1874, all the money for her completion was gone, and the ship was not yet ready for launching even after the Stevens family had spent $2,000,000 (USD) on her since proposing her in 1841. McClellan estimated that she would require another $450,000 (USD) just to reach a state where she could be launched, with more necessary to fit her out after that. No more money was available from the Stevens family, Robert and Edwin Stevens both were dead, and the last hope to make something out of the project was to sell the ship. A possible sale to Prussia fell through, and there were no other potential buyers.
Most of the ship's machinery was sold in 1874 and 1875, and the ship was sold for scrap at public auction in 1881. The scrappers had to use blasting to dismantle her hull.
The Stevens Battery in many ways was far ahead of her time when proposed in 1841, and remained a revolutionary design with potential capabilities far beyond the norm for her times. But her first design proved inadequate in the face of the advance of gun technology, her second design took too long to build and never found favor with the U.S. Navy, and her third design, although modernized, came too late to salvage the project before it ran out of money. Had the Stevens Battery ever put to sea in the 1840s, 1850s, or 1860s, she might have set a new standard for the time in naval design.


Reusable Booster System

The Reusable Booster System (RBS) was a United States Air Force research program, circa 2010 to 2012, to develop a new prototype vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing (VTHL) reusable booster and a new prototype expendable second stage to replace the existing Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV) after 2025. The program was discontinued in 2012.
History.
Program funding was initially set at ."Officials anticipate awarding up to three contracts for the project, where winners would compete for individual tasks of experiments and demonstrations that address technology, processes and other attributes of a reusable booster system, or RBS." The proposal deadline was March 19, 2011. The Air Force had developed a notional plan to build a fleet of eight of the RBS systems, to be flown from both Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Three designs were submitted: by Andrews Space, Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The first phase of the flight experiment in 2014 was to be a vertical takeoff, going downrange at not much more Mach 1, and a horizontal landing.
In December 2011, Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract to build a flight demonstration vehicle, the RBS Pathfinder, which was to have been completed in 2015. It was being developed under the Air Force Research Laboratory's (AFRL) RBS Flight and Ground Experiments (RBS-FGE) program.
In 2012, Lockheed began initial (short burn) rocket engine tests.
Phase 2 (e.g. demonstrating the rocketback maneuver) was cancelled by September 2012.
The program was discontinued in October 2012, citing DoD funding reductions and an October 2012 negative report by the National Research Council (NRC), after having expended only a small fraction of the original $250 million budget planned to be spent through 2019.
Among other factors, the October 2012 NRC report suggested that the Air Force "should develop and fly more than one Pathfinder test vehicle design [and that] competition amongst RBS concepts should be maintained as long as possible to obtain the best system for the next generation of space launch."
Propulsion.
A large-liquid-engine group comprising the Air Force Space Command, propulsion researchers from AFRL and SMC's launch systems program office was also meeting to discuss engine options. The group considered whether to focus on developing oxygen-rich, staged combustion (ORSC) engines like the Air Force's long-running Hydrocarbon Boost program, use an existing design like the TR-107 or evolve a newer engine such as Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's J-2X or RL60. Any path would have resulted in building an engine capable of roughly 250,000 lbf (1112 kN) thrust by 2020.


Vernon Duke

Vernon Duke ( 16 January 1969) was an American composer/songwriter, who also wrote under his original name, Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for "Taking a Chance on Love" with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche (1940), "I Can't Get Started" with lyrics by Ira Gershwin (1936), "April in Paris" with lyrics by E. Y. ("Yip") Harburg (1932), and "What Is There To Say" for the "Ziegfeld Follies" of 1934, also with Harburg. He wrote the words and music for "Autumn in New York" (1934) for the revue "Thumbs Up!" Vernon collaborated with lyricists such as Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin, Ogden Nash and Sammy Cahn.
Early life.
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dukelsky (Russian: Владимир Александрович Дукельский) was born in 1903 into a noble family of mixed Georgian-Austrian-Spanish-Russian descent, in Parafianovo, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (in present-day Belarus). The 1954 "Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians" referred to "one of his grandparents" (Princess Tumanishvili) as having been "directly descended from the kings of Georgia". His birthplace was a small railroad station in Minsk Governorate. At that time his mother "happened to be traveling by train". The Dukelskys resided in Kiev, and Vladimir's only visit to Saint Petersburg and Moscow occurred in the summer of 1915. The impressions of that remarkable summer were later echoed in Dukelsky's most daring classical composition, the Russian oratorio "The End of St. Petersburg" (1931–37). The title is a reference to the film The End of St. Petersburg directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin. He was Jewish.
At the age of 11, Dukelsky was admitted to the Kiev Conservatory where he studied composition with Reinhold Glière and musical theory with Boleslav Yavorsky. In 1919, his family escaped from the turmoil of civil war in Russia and spent a year and a half with other refugees in Constantinople. In 1921, they obtained American visas and sailed steerage class on the SS "King Alexander" to New York.
He underwent his immigrant inspection at Ellis Island; on the passenger list, the purser of the "King Alexander" recorded his name as "Vladimir Doukelsky" in the French fashion. It was in 1922 in New York that George Gershwin befriended the young immigrant; Gershwin (himself born Jacob Gershowitz) suggested Dukelsky truncate and Americanize his name. Dukelsky's first songs published under his nom de plume were conceived that year, but he continued to write classical music and Russian poetry under his given name until 1955.
Career.
In 1924, the restless young man left hospitable America for the Old World. In Paris, he received a commission from Serge Diaghilev to compose a ballet. Dukelsky's first theatrical production, "Zephyr and Flora", was staged in the 1925 season of Ballets Russes, with choreography by Léonide Massine and scenography by Georges Braque, to great critical acclaim. In a review of musical novelties of the season, Sergei Prokofiev described it as full of "superior melodies, very well designed, harmonically beautiful and not too 'modernist'." Prokofiev was as impressed with the young talent as Diaghilev was, and soon the composers became close friends. They frequently saw each other until the end of the 1930s and corresponded until 1946, when the attacks of Soviet officialdom on Prokofiev (who returned to Russia in 1938 although Duke urged him not to go) made the further exchange of letters too dangerous for Prokofiev. Dukelsky's First Symphony was premiered by Serge Koussevitzky and his orchestra in 1928 in Paris on the same bill as the excerpts from Prokofiev's "The Fiery Angel". Some of Dukelsky's and Prokofiev's compositions of the 1930s bear evidence of the sustaining musical dialogue.
In the late 1920s, Dukelsky shared his time between Paris, where his more classical works were performed, and London where he composed numbers for musical comedies under the pen name of Vernon Duke. In 1929, he returned to the United States with an intention of settling in the country permanently. He composed and published much serious music, but devoted even greater efforts to establishing himself on Broadway. Duke's songs "April in Paris" (1932), "Autumn in New York" (1934), "I Like the Likes of You" (1934), "Water Under the Bridge" (1934), "I Can't Get Started" (1936) were 1930s hits.
The support and devotion of Serge Koussevitzky, who published Dukelsky's chamber music and conducted his orchestral scores, helped him develop his more classical works. Dukelsky's concerto for piano, orchestra and soprano obbligato titled "Dédicaces" (1935–1937), was premièred by Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in January 1939 in New York. His oratorio, "The End of St. Petersburg", was premiered a year earlier by Schola Cantorum and the New York Philharmonic under Hugh Ross. In 1937, the composer was asked to complete Gershwin's last score, a soundtrack to a Technicolor extravaganza "The Goldwyn Follies", for which he contributed two parody ballets, choreographed by George Balanchine, and a song "Spring Again". In 1939, Dukelsky became an American citizen and took Vernon Duke as his legal name. Duke's greatest success came a year later, with the Broadway musical "Cabin in the Sky" (1940), choreographed by George Balanchine and performed by an all-black cast at the Martin Beck Theater in New York.
Military service.
Between 1942 and 1944, he joined the Coast Guard and, while in service he discovered Sid Caesar, a saxophone player in the Coast Guard Band, and wrote a touring show for the Coast Guard called Tars & Spars. He also conceived some of his finest music in the classical tradition, including a Cello Concerto (commissioned by Gregor Piatigorsky) and a Violin Concerto.
Third Symphony.
His pensive Third Symphony (1946) was dedicated to the memory of Koussevitzky's wife, Natalie. With years, both Serge and Natalie Koussevitzky, Dukelsky's devoted supporters, had become a sort of surrogate family to him. When Dukelsky's own mother died in 1942, the composer took the conductor's refusal to officially commission this work with great bitterness. The dedication was revoked and the relationship soured.
In 1946, Duke left the United States for France, where he continued his double career of being a classical composer and a songwriter (now setting to music the texts of French lyricists). By 1948, the composer was back in America. He moved from New York to California where he spent his last decades, writing songs, film and theater scores, chamber music, poetry in Russian and polemical articles and memoirs in English. On October 30, 1957, he married singer Kay McCracken. His final appearance on Broadway came less than two weeks later with the two songs and incidental music he wrote for the Helen Hayes show, Jean Anouilh's "Time Remembered" (1940) (French title: "Léocadia") which ran for 247 performances. He continued to try to mount Broadway musicals during the last decade of his life, including two shows that closed during tryouts, and one was never produced.
Later works.
As a classical composer, Dukelsky used the same musical language as his modernist contemporaries Sergei Prokofiev, Arthur Lourié, and, to a lesser extent, Igor Stravinsky. His harmonies, however, were highly original. As a songwriter and author of theatrical and film music, he was close to George Gershwin and Harold Arlen, but developed an idiosyncratic voice of his own.
Death.
Duke died in Santa Monica, California on 16 January 1969, during surgery for lung cancer. His numerous papers — musical and literary manuscripts and correspondence in English, French, and Russian — are now stored in the Musical Division of the Library of Congress.


Charles Chanson

Charles Chanson (1902–1951) was the Commander of the French-Indo-Chinese forces in southern Vietnam during the First Indochina War.
Born on 18 February 1902 in Grenoble, France, Charles Marie Ferreol Chanson was educated at Ecole Polytechnique (entrance: 1922). His father was General Henri Chanson and his great grandfather was General Achille Chanson. All were artillery officers.
During World War II, Chanson served in France during the Battle of France (1939–1940), in North Africa from 1941, and later with the general staff of U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower in Germany.
He was posted to Indochina in 1946 where he was Commander of the French-Indo-Chinese forces in South Viet Nam.
During his five years in Indochina, he was credited with the restoration of peace and security in southern Vietnam following the capitulation of the Japanese Forces in 1945 and the void left by the Allied forces. Between 1950 and 1951, he worked closely with General Jean Marie de Lattre de Tassigny who commanded French troops in Indochina, providing troops to successfully defend northern Vietnam against the Viet Minh.
Chanson was killed on 31 July 1951 at Sadec (or Sa Đéc) in southern Vietnam, when a caodaist suicide bomber exploded a device of several grenades. Governor Thai Lap Thanh and the bomber also died in the explosion.
One of his faithful subordinates Colonel Leroy wrote that the success in South Vietnam of Chanson was the reason for his murder and that foreign western secret services had backed it.


Coast Guard Station Chatham

United States Coast Guard Station Chatham is a United States Coast Guard station located in Chatham, Massachusetts. The station was the origin of the famous 1952 Pendleton rescue.


David R. Ashbaugh

 David R. Ashbaugh is a Canadian police officer known for his extensive research on the friction ridge identification, introducing for the first time the use of the term ridgeology in forensic identification and the ACE-V methodology. David Ashbaugh also wrote and published a fundamental and essential reference book for the entire forensic identification community : Quantitative-Qualitative Friction Ridge Analysis: An Introduction to Basic and Advanced Ridgeology.
Biography.
David Ashbaugh was born on 11 March 1946. He worked for more than thirty years at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police before retiring in 2004. During his career, he served more than twenty years as a certified forensic identification specialist. During his career, he contribute numerous articles to the field magazines and journals and made a lot of training around the world.
Work.
David Ashbaugh made extensive research on the science of fingerprint identification. In the 80’s, he introduced in the field the ACE-V methodology for fingerprint identification, where ACE-V stand for Analysis, Comparison, Evaluation, and Verification. In 1983, Ashbaugh published the first article using the term ridgeology in forensic identification, creating also the terms level 1, level 2, and level 3 detail now in use in the identification community. In 1999, he authored a book treating of ridgeology methods, poroscopy, edgeoscopy, pressure distortion, and more.


Philip Primrose

Philip Carteret Hill Primrose (October 23, 1864 – March 17, 1937) was a Canadian police officer and the fifth Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.
Primrose was born in 1864 in Nova Scotia. He attended the Pictou Academy before graduating from the Royal Military College in 1885. Upon his graduation, he took up employment with the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) (later merged into the Royal Canadian Mounted Police). Over the 30 years he spent with the NWMP, he was stationed at many locations throughout the North-West Territories, serving as Superintendent on four separate occasions before his retirement from the force in 1915.
Primrose then moved to Edmonton and accepted the position of city police magistrate, a position he would hold for 20 years. Amongst other positions, during World War I he commanded the Edmonton Reserve Battalion of the Canadian Army. Although he had never actively participated in politics, in 1936 Primrose was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, a position he held for only 167 days before he died after a long illness.
Early life, education and career.
Primrose was born in 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the second of three children of Alexander and Elizabeth Catherine Rebecca Primrose (née Daly). He was named after a good friend of his father, Philip Carteret Hill. His father Alexander came to Nova Scotia from Rothiemay, Scotland and settled in the Pictou area around 1815. He was a barrister and served a term on the Halifax City Council from 1853–1855. He was a distant cousin to the Earls of Rosebery, including the 5th Earl, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1894–1895, A cousin, Clarence Primrose served in the Senate of Canada from 1892 until his death in 1902. He was a descendant of the United Empire Loyalists.
After graduating from the Pictou Academy in 1881, Primrose was accepted into the Royal Military College, from which he graduated in 1885. He remained in Canada after graduation, rejecting the option of accepting a commission in the British Army. Primrose was appointed an Inspector of the North-West Mounted Police on August 1, 1885, and was sworn in on August 31 of the same year.
Police career.
North-West Mounted Police.
During his 13 years as Inspector, Primrose was posted to many locations in the North-West Territories, including Wood Mountain in the District of Assiniboia (today in Saskatchewan), Fort Macleod, and Calgary (today, both in Alberta). In addition to serving as a "Mountie", he served as Justice of the Peace while stationed at Macleod. In 1898, at the outbreak of the Klondike Gold Rush, Primrose was assigned to the Yukon, where he was stationed at the H Division in Tagish. He became superintendent of that division in October 1899, then was transferred to become superintendent of the B Division one month later. In 1901, he was posted to Dawson, where he assumed responsibility for 43 Mounted Policemen and 4 other men at the Whitehorse station. During his time in the Yukon, the main role of the police was guarding people awaiting trials and prisoners serving sentences.
Primrose supervised the 1900 Yukon census, reporting to the Commissioner that the territory's population was 16,463. On May 13, 1900, he fined 31 "members of the sporting fraternity" $55 each, boosting the territorial treasury. Other activities included more community-oriented tasks, such as firefighting when permitted. During his time in Dawson, he befriended a lawyer currently practicing in the area, William L. Walsh. Walsh would be his predecessor to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. Primrose's assignment to the Yukon ended in 1902.
After returning from the Yukon, he assumed command of the A Division of the NWMP in Maple Creek (today in Saskatchewan). After two months at Maple Creek, he took over the NWMP Macleod Department (today in Alberta) as Superintendent, serving there until 1913. He became a prominent landowner during his time in Macleod, owning several lots in town, as well as a section outside. He was appointed a commissioner of police in the new province of Alberta in November 1911. In 1913, he was posted to the NWMP Headquarters in Regina to assist in the organization of the Criminal Investigation Branch. In August he was granted a leave of absence when he went to the Mayo Clinic at Rochester to undergo surgery to repair an undisclosed rupture and remove his appendix. After returning to Regina in 1914, he retired at the rank of Superintendent on April 5, 1915.
Magistrate.
Following his retirement from the NWMP, Primrose was offered the position of a police magistrate in Edmonton. Primrose accepted, as he had always wanted to retire in the city. In 1917, he was chairman of the three-person Alberta Provincial Police board of commissioners, where he was tasked with supervising the new force. Before his retirement as magistrate in July 1935, it had been estimated that he had dealt with over 40,000 cases.
During World War I, Primrose was the commanding officer of the Edmonton Reserve Battalion of the Canadian Army, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was president of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police Veterans' Association in 1922; he lobbied hard for adequate pensions for veterans.
Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.
Although a Liberal by family heritage and disposition, Primrose never sought public office, or ever actively participated in politics. On September 10, 1936, on the advice of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, Primrose was appointed to the office of Lieutenant Governor of Alberta by Governor General John Buchan, succeeding William L. Walsh, his old friend. He was sworn in on October 1, 1936. During his time as Lieutenant-Governor, Primrose and his wife resided in Government House, however, during this time, he was plagued by illness, therefore making him essentially unable to fulfill his duties of office, remaining in medical care from October 19, 1937 until his death. Most of his duties were carried out by his wife, Lily, who hosted the 1937 New Year's Day reception at Government House, and served as an honorary officer of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Women's Auxiliary. Public functions were also attended by others family members, assisting in the absence of Primrose. On February 25, 1937, the Speech from the Throne was read by Horace Harvey, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alberta, due to Primrose's illness.
Personal life.
On January 8, 1902, Philip Primrose married Lily Deane (June 3, 1877 – March 15, 1966). She was the daughter of Superintendent Richard Burton Deane of the North-West Mounted Police. Deane had served with the NWMP during the Riel Rebellion of 1885, tasked with guarding Riel and 50 other participants of the uprising in their prison cells. The Primroses had four children: Phyllis Jessie (1902–1975), Neil (1904–1904), Neil Philip (1905–1991), and Sybil E. (c. 1909–1946). His oldest son, Neil Philip was a lawyer, practicing in Vegreville and Edmonton. After being created a King's Counsel in 1951, Neil served as a Judge with the Supreme Court of Alberta in its Trial Division. One of his grandchildren, John Nairn Primrose won trap shooting championships at the Commonwealth Games in 1974 and 1978 respectively, as well as going on to win two world championships, and, in 1981, was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada.
Primrose Lake was named after him in 1900, while he was Inspector in charge of the Tagish branch of the NWMP. In 1927, Primrose was made a life member of the Army, Navy, and Veterans' Association in Edmonton. He received the RCMP Long Service Medal in 1935. In 1970, a subdivision in Edmonton was named in his honour. Philip Primrose was a member of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
Death and state funeral.
Philip C. H. Primrose died on March 17, 1937, in Edmonton, while still occupying the office of Lieutenant Governor, a post he had held for only 167 days. He was the first Lieutenant Governor of Alberta to die in office. He had suffered a heart attack, with pre-existing complications from a long, undisclosed illness. On March 19, 1937, he lay in state for two hours in the main chamber of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in what was described as one of the "most impressive ceremonies ever beheld in Edmonton." His coffin, draped with the Union Flag lay on a table in the chamber in front of the speaker's rostrum, guarded by four Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables; members' desks were draped in purple velvet. At his request, Primrose was dressed in the uniform of a NWMP Inspector.
After lying in state for two hours, his body was taken back to the funeral home, and was taken to Government House the next morning, from where it was brought to the church that afternoon. His state funeral, the first ever in Alberta, was held in Edmonton's First Presbyterian Church. It was attended by many prominent provincial-level politicians, including Premier William Aberhart, Chief Justices Horace Harvey and Charles Richmond Mitchell, University of Alberta president William A. R. Kerr, Attorney General of Alberta John Hugill, Mayor of Edmonton Joseph Clarke, and Assistant RCMP Commissioner Colonel Henry M. Newson. He was interred at the RNWMP plot at the Edmonton Cemetery. The state funeral was said to have "set the precedent for others in the future." John C. Bowen was sworn in as Primrose's successor to Lieutenant Governor on March 23, 1937.
Legacy.
Primrose was described as "one of the most colourful, interesting and forceful characters in Edmonton's civic life for may years." His NWMP command was described as a "model to the Force", while his police career had been described to have "won the confidence and respect of the public to an exceptional degree." Donald E. Cameron, who delivered the eulogy at the funeral remarked of Primrose, "Colonel Primrose never sought for himself or for his men more than that their record of service should be allowed to speak for itself. Somewhat austerely he clung to the tradition of the service that duty faithfully discharged its own reward." An obituary published shortly after his death described him as "courageous, outspoken and firm in dealing with his criminals." John W. McDonald, Mayor of Macleod also stated, "Col. Primrose was one of the outstanding officers of the force. … He was a good citizen and a good police officer and a man of many admirable qualities."
On January 12, 1970, the Primrose subdivision in Edmonton, Alberta, North of Whitemud Drive to 100 Avenue, west of 178 Street to RDA was named in his honour, although most of this area is now better known as West Edmonton Mall.


Norman B. Hall

Norman Brierley Hall (1 September 1886 – 26 April 1962) was an engineering officer in the United States Coast Guard who became the first aviation engineer in the Coast Guard in 1916.
Hall was born at New York City on 1 September 1886 and graduated from high school in Brooklyn, New York in 1903. He then attended the Webb Academy of Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture, graduating in June 1906. Hall worked at a Hoboken, New Jersey shipyard as a general draftsman for fifteen months before becoming a cadet engineer in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service on 21 October 1907. He was commissioned a third lieutenant of engineers on 4 September 1908.
Hall was promoted to second lieutenant of engineers on 5 January 1911. He was assigned to on 11 August 1914. While serving there, he discussed the possibility of using aircraft to aid search and rescue missions with his commander Captain Benjamin M. Chiswell and Third Lieutenant Elmer F. Stone. With Chiswell's encouragement, Commandant Ellsworth P. Bertholf sent Hall to study aircraft design, construction and maintenance at the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company factory in Hammondsport, New York on 31 October 1916.
Hall was promoted to first lieutenant of engineers on 26 April 1921 and then to lieutenant commander on 12 January 1923. From April 1928 to May 1933, he was head of aviation engineering activities at Coast Guard headquarters. On 1 July 1929, he was promoted to commander.
On 23 September 1938, Hall was promoted to captain. In June 1942, he was made chief of the Port Security Division. In August 1942, Hall was given the additional assignment of Coast Guard liaison to the Facility Security Division of the Office of the Petroleum Coordinator for War. In July 1943, he was also made a member of the Merchant Marine Council. On 25 November 1944, Hall was promoted to commodore. Early in 1945, he replaced James A. Hirshfield as vice chairman of the Merchant Marine Council. Hall was awarded the Legion of Merit for his World War II service.
At the time of his retirement on 1 November 1947, Hall was promoted to rear admiral.
Hall died on 26 April 1962 in Bethesda, Maryland. He was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York next to his first wife Elizabeth (Hamilton) Hall (6 October 1892 – 8 October 1951). He had remarried with a widow, Gladys Marsh Footner, in 1954 and they were living in Chevy Chase, Maryland at the time of his death.


Zahme Sau

Zahme Sau (German: tame boar) was a night fighter intercept tactic introduced by the German "Luftwaffe" in 1943 and conceived by Viktor von Loßberg. At the indication of a forthcoming raid, the fighters were scrambled and collected together to orbit one of several radio beacons throughout Germany, ready to be directed en masse into the bomber stream by R/T running commentaries from the Jagd division. Once fed into the stream, fighters made radar contact with a succession of individual bombers and maintained contact (and combat) as far as their ammunition and fuel held out.


Christmas tree (aviation)

A "Christmas tree" was a type of alert area constructed by the United States Air Force for the Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the Cold War. Oftentimes, bombers or tanker aircraft were stationed next to a readiness crew building (RCB), also known as "mole hole" facilities. The alert apron, also known as an alert ramp, received the name "Christmas tree", because in planform it resembled a tree of the same name.
History.
Before the development of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, aircraft such as the Convair B-36 Peacemaker, Boeing B-50 Superfortress and Boeing B-47 Stratojet were parked on alert aprons at right angles. Due to the size of the aircraft, this created a problem in launching aircraft efficiently in the event of an emergency scramble, requiring a different solution to be devised. To fix this, aircraft were repositioned on specifically designed alert aprons arranged in herringbone configurations, which then allowed the planes to pull out onto the runway as quickly as possible.
This meant that the aircraft would be positioned at 45 degrees in relation to an alert apron center-line leading to a short taxiway and then onto the nearest runway(s). Two aircraft would be positioned on either side of the center-line, typically four deep on either side, with one additional aircraft being positioned directly aligned on the center-line farthest back. The success of this formation also led to the adoption of the setup for the Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter and KB-50 Superfortress aerial refueling aircraft. As newer bomber and aircraft eventually entered the SAC inventory, the "Christmas tree" aprons would be used by the B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortress, Convair B-58 Hustler, General Dynamics FB-111, Rockwell B-1 Lancer, Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender aircraft.
During an alert, flight crews and ground crews would run out of the alert facility, "i.e.", the "mole hole," either to their awaiting planes or to alert vehicles that they would drive to said aircraft. This latter option was particularly critical for crews of the last three aircraft on the ramp that were located several hundred yards from the alert facility.
During an alert sortie, there was no specific departure order; the first plane ready to taxi was the first to leave. At this point, the aircraft would perform an "elephant walk" to the duty runway, which was typically located close to the Christmas tree, due to the need to launch the aircraft as quickly as possible in response to a probable inbound enemy attack. If the aircraft were to be launched as quickly as possible, then a Minimum Interval Takeoff (MITO) would be performed, in order to lessen the chance that the aircraft would be caught on the ground in the event of a nuclear strike.
Although it is unknown how much each "Christmas tree" cost to construct and maintain, the Christmas tree at the former Loring Air Force Base, Maine is estimated to have cost $ (equivalent to $ in today's dollars) when it was constructed between 1959 and 1960.
Although Strategic Air Command was disestablished in 1992, "Christmas tree" aprons and their associated "mole holes" continue to exist on numerous Air Force Global Strike Command, Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, Air Education and Training Command, Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard bases, as well as two active Army Air Fields and several civilian and joint civil-military airports that were previously SAC installations for all or part of the 1950s through the 1990s.


Awards and decorations of the United States Department of the Air Force

Awards and decorations of the United States Department of the Air Force are military decorations which are issued by the Department of the Air Force to airmen of the United States Air Force and guardians of the United States Space Force and members of other military branches serving under Air Force and Space Force commands.
The Department of the Air Force first began issuing awards and decorations in 1947. At that time, airmen were eligible to receive most U.S. Army decorations. In 1962, following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Department of the Air Force began a concentrated effort to create its own distinctive awards, separate from the Army.
Airmen and guardians are also eligible to receive approved foreign awards and approved international decorations.
Special awards and trophies.
In 2018, as part of the Air Force's initiative to reduced directive publications, the eight-page AFI 36-2805 was released, superseding 30 previous AFIs. Guidance for special awards was moved to a website at https://access.afpc.af.mil/.


USS PGM-32

USS "PGM-32" was a in service with the United States Navy during the end of World War II, and briefly post-war.
History.
"PGM-32" was laid down on 14 August 1944, as "PC-1568" by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Co.. Two days later on 16 August, she was reclassified as Motor Gunboat, and renamed "PGM-32". On 14 October 1944, she was launched, and was commissioned on 9 February 1945, with LTJG G. A. Oberle, USNR, in command.
On 2 September 1945, "PGM-32" was present in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender aboard the .
In 1946, she participated in Operation Crossroads,the U.S. nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll. "PGM-32" would survive the blasts.
Ship's fate.
"PGM-32" was transferred to the State Department, Foreign Liquidation Commission on 27 October 1947 and subsequently sold. Her fate is unknown.


3rd Medical Battalion

The 3d Medical Battalion (3D MED BN) is a medical support unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered at Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan. The unit falls under the command of 3rd Marine Logistics Group.
Mission.
To provide direct and general Health Service Support to III MEF in order to sustain the combat effort across the full spectrum of MAGTF operations.
History.
Lineage.
1942-1945
3D Medical Battalion was activated 12 August 1942 at San Diego, California, as the 3D Medical Battalion and assigned to the 2D Marine Division. In September 1942 reassigned to the 3D Marine Division. Deployed during February-March 1943 to Auckland, New Zealand. Redeployed during March-April 1945 to Guam. The unit was deactivated 1 December 1945.
1952-2009
3D Medical Battalion was reactivated 5 March 1952 at Camp Pendleton, California, and assigned to the 3D Marine Division as before. Deployed during August 1953 to Camp Gifu, Japan. Redeployed during March 1956 to Camp Hauge, Okinawa. Redeployed during June 1965 to Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam. Re assigned during July 1979 to 3D Force Service Support Group.
During the Tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka and Indonesia, elements of 3D FSSG assisted from December 2004 - February 2005. Elements also participated in humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan during October 2006 - March 2006.
Reassigned during July 2007 to Combat Logistics Regiment 35, 3D Marine Logistics Group.
World War II.
3D Medical Battalion participated in the following WWII campaigns. Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Guam, and Iwo Jima.
Vietnam War.
The battalion participated in the following operations during The war in Vietnam. Da Nang, Chu Lai, Phu Bai, Dong Ha, and Quang Tri. The unit was departed South Vietnam on 24 November 1969, redeploying to Okinawa.
The Gulf War and the 1990s.
In the mid 1990s 3rd Medical Battalion part of 3rd Force Service Support Group (FSSG) was headquartered at Camp Hansen with H&S Co, and Bravo Company on site, Charlie Company was located on Camp Schwab. Hospital Corpsmen from both Bravo and Charlie Companies manned the Medical Clinics and Ambulances providing medical support to Marine Forces on both camps.
Members deployed as part of the 31st MEU and participated in various operations and training in the Pacific Rim.
Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
During the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq elements of 3D FSSG participated in operations from March 2004-March 2005 and March 2007 - June 2008.
COVID-19 Pandemic.
In April 2020, A detachment was sent to Guam to assist the outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. "“The rapid response by the 3rd MLG was incredible...Their footprint ashore will ensure our Sailors off ship are well cared for.” - Rear Adm. Stu Baker, commander, Carrier Strike Group Nine.
Task Force (TF) Medical's response force was made up of 90 Marines and Sailors assigned to 3rd Marine Logistics Group out of Okinawa, Japan. In total they cared for 850 COVID-19 positive service members. Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Knapp was the officer in charge and uniquely, compared to the force makeup, all 4 program leads were female.
Honors awarded.
Presidential Unit Citation streamer. Vietnam 1965-1967
Navy Unit Commendation streamer with four bronze stars. World War II: Iwo Jima -1945, Vietnam 1965-1966, 1968, 1980-1984, 1985-1987
Meritorious Unit Commendation streamer with one bronze star. 1989-1991, 2004-2005
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign streamer with four bronze stars
World War II Victory streamer
National Defense Service streamer with three bronze stars
Korean Service streamer
Vietnam Service streamer with two silver and one bronze star
Global War on Terrorism Service streamer
Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm streamer


Mariiampil

Mariiampil (), or formerly Marynopil () is a village (a former township) in the Halych Raion of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (province) on the left bank of the Dnister.
Etymology of the town's name.
Unlike other cities, the toponym "Mariyampil" has a well-defined etymology. The name derives from the Christian name Mary.
Based on the folk legend (from the book "Культурні грона Дністра", "Kul'turni groda Dnistra"), during the time of the Tatar raids, the Polish leader (wojewoda), Kaietan was fleeing the Tatars on his horse. Having crossed the Dnister, this horse could not jump onto the bank. Despairing of being caught by the Tatars, Kaietan yelled "Jesus-Maryja" and the horse carried him to dry land. In thanks giving to God, Kaietan founded on the either bank of the river, the cities of Jesupol, in honour of Jesus and Marijampol, in honour of Mary, the Mother of God.
Most researchers believe that this settlement was named by the hetman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski. The Polish researcher W. Urban found in the ancient documents of the parish of Marijampil that in 1691, the town of Božyj Vydok was renamed as Marijampol by Stanislaw Jablonowski. This name was chosen since this hetman brought to the town the miraculous icon of "Our Lady of the Knight" ("Рицарської Богоматерi", Rytsars'koi Bohomateri) that had followed him in all his military campaigns, especially his campaign in defence of Vienna in 1683.
Around 1694, the neighbouring town in honour of Jesus was named "Jesupil".
In 1946, after the Western oblasts of Ukraine were reestablished as part of the Soviet Union, Marijampol was renamed Marynopil. In 2003, after a townwide referendum, the town administration decided to return to its historic name of Mariyampil (Ukrainian version of Polish name). In February 2004, this was confirmed by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
Name variations include Marinopol', Marijampol, Mariyampol', Marynopil, Mar'yampol', and Mar'yampol.
History.
Mariyampil is at the same time an ancient and new settlement. It is an ancient town due to the fact that the area has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic era and through the existence of the Kingdom of Galicia. It is a new settlement since its current history only dates from 1691, when on the ruins of the pagan town of Chortopol' (Ukrainian for Devil's Town), the town, with a Christian name of Marijampol, was built.
From the top of the Castle Hill (Zamkova hora), it is possible to see the Dnister valley (Dniester Canyon). The view from the hill breathes of its history about the kings and their (boyars), about the Tatar and their raids, about the religious growth and years of neglect.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the first town was built during the times of Ruthenian Kingdom of the 12th to 13th century. It was founded on the high bend on the Dnister river and, thus, the town was well fortified. It has been suggested that the town was called Chortopil. Based on the folklore tale recorded by I. Drabčuk, the castle was built by either king Danylo of Halych or one of his sons in the 13th as a defensive outpost. According to further legends, since the 13th, in the courtyard of the castle, a deep, 207 ft (63 m) well was built by Tatar captives. This well was forgotten and covered in the 20th century. Unfortunately, historical information about these times is scarce. Obviously, the mysterious Chortopil managed to exist into the 15th century, whereupon it was ruined during one of the Tatar raids.
About half a mile away (500–900 m) from this place along the Dnister, near a Tatar encampment, in the 15th century, the town of Delijiv – Vovchkiv was built. The first historical mention of this settlement can be found in 1404, when the lord of Vovchkiv, a "dibr Vovce" Dobeslav out of Delijiv had to send seven of his subjects to the court in Halych. For the existence of this town from at least 1378, the judicial document, "Acts of the lands and towns," from the middle of the 15th century. In them, a Jan with the surname of Bylinka, who was adjudicated to have the privilege of "Vovce," given to him by the king Wladyslaw Opolczyk (1372–1380) and a document affirming this signed by the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon.
In the 16th century, Vovchiv grew tremendously. In 1594, together with its neighboring town of Cheshybisy (today Yezupil) was burned by the Tatars. Beginning in the 1630s, this settlement belonged to the princely (szlachta) family of Theodor-Andrzej Belzecky. In 1638, he helped Vovchiv in obtaining the Magdeburg City Rights. In the 1670, the Polish king John III Sobieski granted the settlement the Magdeburg Rights. The nucleus of the city was the wooden castle called Bozhy Vydok (Heavenly View), that was built by Belezecky on one of the foothills.
The second half of the 17th century was extremely difficult for Galicia: military campaigns, Tatar raids, epidemics, fires, and civil strife. In 1655, the inhabitants of Vovchkiv and neighbouring towns, raided the castle of Jesupol, destroying its gate and taking the treasure of the former szlachta. In two years time, the raids of the renegade Cossack leader Anton Sichlos ruined the towns of Jesupol and Vovchkiv-Bozhy Vydok. The worst came in 1676 when the Ottoman armies with their allies the Crimean Tatar besieged the castle and burnt the town and castle to the ground.
In 1691, the Polish king gave the ruined town of Vovchkiv-Bozhy Vydok to the Krackowian, castellan, hetman Stanislaw Jan Jablonowski (1634–1702) with the privilege of building a fort on this location. It is not known who suggested that the castle be built on a hill of the bend in the river, that made this place an impregnable fort. The fort had four tall towers. There were two entrances to the castle through strong doors and a draw bridge. The walls of the fort were up to 10 ft thick and 15 ft tall. The southern and southeasterly sections of the fort were protected by a large, deep moat. At the foot of the hill, a square market place was built. The first inhabitants were the villagers from the former town of Bozhy Vydok. Later settlers from Masuria settled in Vovchkiv, which was now called Mariyampil.
Due to the work of the Stanislaw Jan Jablonowski, the town not only obtained its name, but also the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Marijampil, the main religious object of this settlement.
The Polish ducal dynasty of Jablonowski ruled Marijampol for almost 190 years and they saw its large growth. On the death in 1702 of Stanislaw Jan Jablonowski, his son, Jan Stanislaw Jablonowski, Ruthenian voivode, a scholar and a writer, inherited the town. Under his supervision, the wooden (Roman Catholic) church of Holy Trinity, which now housed the Icon of the Mother of God, was built.
Around 1703, Marijampol had its own crest, which was used as the town seal. At first, the crest consisted of the Lamentation of Mary over the crucified body of Christ; later, the crest was an icon of the Our Lady with Christ. The field of the crest was blue with the figures in gold. Later, the family crest of the Jablonowski was added as a separate crest.
In 1736–1741, the grandson of Stanislaw Jan Jablonowski, Jan Kaietan Jablonowski (1699–1764) set aside money for the construction of a stone church of the Holy Trinity. In 1742, he built in Marijampol, a Capuchin Monastery along with the (Roman Catholic) church of St. Anthony, at first out of wood and later out of stone. The stone buildings were completed by 1757. In 1753, next to the monastery, one of the many centres of higher learning in Galicia was built. At first, it solely consisted of a collegeum of classical studies, but later the study of rhetoric was added. In 1746, under the patronage of Therese of Wilgorsly, the wife of Jan Kaietan Jablonowski, a hospital for the poor and a school for princely (szlachta) orphans was built. The Sisters of Mercy of the Order of Charity were in charge of this establishment.
In 1772, the Galician lands became a part of the Austrian empire. In time, Marijampol become the administrative center for the local district. For the next 150 years, a military garrison was stationed in the local castle. The town continued to expand by area and population. In 1775, there were 1,332 inhabitants and 218 buildings in Marijampol. In accordance with the decree of the Austrian king about closing small monastic establishments, the Capuchin monastery was abandoned. Later, the Austrian government gave the monastery to the Sisters of Mercy, and around the church of St. Anthony a Greek-Catholic community developed.
The first mention of churches in Marijampol can be traced to the 1742 founding document of Kaietan Jablonowski to the Capuchins, which mentions that the monastery was to be built next to a "Ruthenian" (Orthodox) church. At the end of the 18th century, there were two churches in Marijampol: the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the center of the town and the Church of St. Nicholas. In 1790, the first church was in a state of severe neglect, while the second had burned down. Thus, due to the lack of a religious place for the inhabitants, they petitioned the Austrian king to permit them to build a new church. The authorities gave the inhabitants the church of St. Anthony. The 130-year common use of this church by both the Roman Catholics and Greek-Catholics was the source of many disagreements and legal cases of both courts in Halych and Lviv. To these religious problems, even the emperor and parliament were dragged into. The authorities attempted to be even-handed when dealing with the two sides.
Marijampol played an important role in the Napoleonic Wars. In 1809, a 4,000-strong, pronapoleonic, gathering of Polish partisans under the command of P. Strizewsky gathered in the local fortress. Against them an 8,000-strong Austrian army, consisting of corps under the generals Merfeld, Kesler, and Ederman, could not dislodge the army from the fortress. The Austrian artillery was called in and, in addition to the damage to the surrounding buildings, it managed to cause some damage to the fortress. At the same time, word came to the generals that Napoleon Bonaparte and Francis II had agreed to a peace treaty. Thus, the Polish army left the fortress. In order to avoid a similar repeat, the Austrian government in 1817 decreed that the walls of the fortress be torn down. In the 1820s, the Jablonowski family taking advantage of the large amount of building material that could be obtained from the ruins of the fortress, built in Marijampol a typical, contemporary palace, which has survived to today in ruins.
The European Spring of Nations in 1849 touched the life of Marijampol. A large influence on the socio-political life had the family Zaklynskiy. One of the most notable members was Hnata Onufriyovych Zaklynska (1818–1866), a member of the Greek-Catholic parish of Marijampol at the end of the 1840s. Together with her husband, Joseph Katherine, they organized in the town a reading room, a choir, and a drama group. Another prominent member was Father Vasyl Motiuk (1853–1934), a Greek-Catholic pastor. For 50 years from 1884, he organized a church choir which was well known beyond the confines of the town. Motiuk was the starter of many social organizations, especially the reading club of "Prosvita" (Enlightenment) in 1899. Based on the plan given by the engineer Volodymyr Sichynsky, the members of the club met in a single-story building that became a meeting place for the drama group, the choir, a store, and a credit union.
In the early 19th century, the town grew economically. It had always been a center for artisan materials, primarily out of wood and stone. The largest artisan shop was a shingle making shop and became well known for its shingles in the Austrian Empire and around the world. During the 1844 International Exhibition in Vienna, it demonstrated its products in public. For the further development of trade in Marijampol, Jablonowski invited Jewish merchants and built a Market Square (bazaar). In 1857, this town was settled by the followers of the Hasidic sect led by rabbi Elisar Gorovuč ben Meshulam Isaac Ga Levi . The Jewish community in Marijampol then experienced a huge increase in numbers.
In 1898, Marijampil had 4,135 inhabitants, of which 2,020 were Roman Catholics, 1,265 Greek-Catholics, and 850 Jewish. Most of the Roman Catholic inhabitants of Marijampol were either the descendants of the Galician szlachta or the descendants of the Mazurian colonists from the former town of Vovchkiv. Until the First World War, the three communities lived in relative peace in Marijampol. However, the worldwide cataclysms of the 20th century heavily touched on the town. During the World War I, due to its location Marjapol was involved in many fights. On 2 September 1914, the town was captured by the Russian Imperial Army. Fierce fighting occurred in Marijampol from 27 February to 4 March 1914. Many inhabitants were evacuated, however, many more were killed in the fighting. A major fire destroyed many of the buildings including the palace. The Russian Army was unable to defend against the fierce Austrian counterattack and the town was retaken by the Austrian assault on 2 July 1915. The Russian Army returned for the second time in June 1916. In July 1920, the front-lines between the Bolsheviks and the forces loyal to Symon Petliura met around Marijampil. During this time, the commander of the Ukrainian Army, Chief-Otaman Symon Petliura visited Marijampol. From 3 March through 15, 1920 the town and the left bank of the Dnister river were controlled by the 1st Cavalry Army of Budyonny.
At the same time, the Ukrainian and Polish communities of Marijampol were growing to become radicalized. Many youths from Marijampol joined the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and the Ukrainian Galician Army. During the short-term government of the Western Ukrainian Republic, the Ukrainian youth took control of the town from the Poles. On 9 June 1919, during the Liturgy in the monastery church that had been shared for the last 130 years between the Roman Catholics and Greek-Catholics, 40 Polish soldiers entered the church started to destroy books, steal the valuables, and assault the parishioners. After the battles of Polish-Ukrainian War and the annexation of Galicia the Second Polish Republic under the Treaty of Riga, the Ukrainian found themselves under a brutal Polish regime.
On 26 September 1924, the leaders of the Stanislawow voivodeship forced the Greek-Catholics to abandon the church by 1 January 1926. Given the hardships of post-World War I Poland, it was impossible to build a new church. Thus, the Sister Servants and the Roman Catholic parish pastor, Father Maricin Bosak emptied the church of the Greek-Catholics icons and objects. From 5 January 1926, a day before Christmas, the church was closed to Ukrainians. Soon thereafter, the wooden bell tower was destroyed as well. One of the most important figures in the interwar period in Marijampol was the Roman Catholic pastor Marcin Bosak (1889–1941), who arrived in this town in 1920, and immediately took an interest in the cultural growth of the Polish community. He not only improved their spiritual life, but also their economic status. Under his initiative, the shingle factory, the city's cultural center, the three-story school, new sewers, sidewalks, and the new Roman Catholic Church were built. Furthermore, he organized several Polish organizations.
With the help of the Stanislawow (Greek-Catholic) bishop, Reverend Gregory Khomyshyn, in 1930, in Marijampol, a new Greek-Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was built and consecrated. The Ukrainian reading hall of Prosvita was re-opened in 1927. In its halls were headquartered the Milkmen Association (Molocarska spilka), the store "Village Host" (Silskiy hospodar), Agrarian school (Khliborobska byshkil), the "Self-help" co-operative (Vlasna pomic), a patriotic organization Sokol, and other numerous organizations such as a library and a child daycare (ran by the sisters of Father Vasyl Motiuk, Stephania and Olha). From 1935, an underground station of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) was headquartered in Marijampol.
The most tragic years for Marijampol were in 1939–1950 and especially after the Soviet invasion in 1940. Twenty Polish and all religiously active families were deported to Siberia. On 19 December 1940, the German Gestapo roaming through the countryside of the western Ukraine before Operation Barbarossa shot 12 members of the UIA. During the night of 23/24 September, the members of UIA killed the Roman Catholic pastor Father Marcin Bosak. During the years of the German occupation, all the Jews of Marijampol were sent to a ghetto and later killed in an unknown place. The Jewish cemetery, which had its first burial in 173, was completely ruined by the Germans; with the headstones being used to pave sidewalks.
Upon the return of the Soviet army, a garrison of NKVD soldiers was stationed in the Castle hill. Agents of this new government created a Polish organization that took part in the burning of the neighboring Ukrainian town of Tumyr, where a division of the UIA was based. Vovchkiv, by the end of war was the base for a division of the Polish Armia Krajowa of the Prykarpattia, which as revenge for the burning of Tumyr, was burned by the UIA during the night of 29/30 March 1944. Almost 60 people were killed in Vovchkiv. The ethnic hostilities continued and after the World War II. On Good Friday of 1947, agents of the NKVD arrested Father Honchar, who had refused to renounce the Greek Catholic Church.
During the population exchange of Poles and Ukrainians in 1945–1952, most of the Poles in Marynopil were sent to Wroclaw and Opole in Poland, while the Ukrainians from the San region and the land of Lemkos in Poland replaced the evacuated Poles.
In September 1949, in the Dibrova Forest near Marynopil, the UIA leader Saner was killed by the Soviet agents. As a result, a new group of families from Marynopil were sent to Siberia.
After the fall of the Communist regime, Polish-Ukrainian ties in Marynopil were renewed. Each year, both communities exchange visits between Mariyampil and Wroclaw.
Miraculous Icon of the Our Lady of Marijampil.
The main symbol of Marijampil, from its very first beginnings, has been the painted cloth containing an image of Our Lady. Since it was brought to this town by its founder Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski, the icon has guarded the inhabitants of Marijampil from misfortunates and fortified them against evil.
Many researchers think that the beginnings of this icon date to the 16th century, and whose painter was influenced by the work of the painter Raphael Santi. Other believe that an earlier date is possible for this icon. In fact, H. H. Hoffman believes that this icon was painted by Byzantine masters.
This icon was placed in the field chapel of the royal hetman Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski during his battle at Chotin (1673), Zurawny (1676), and the Siege of Vienna in 1683, as well as his countless campaigns in the Volyn, Podilia, and Bukovyna regions. It was believed by the soldiers of Jablonowski that this icon gave them victory and thus it came to be known as the "Hetman," "Knightly," or "Victorious" icon of Our Lady.
After Jabłonowski's wars, the icon was placed in his new castle in Marijampil. The image of Our Lady with the Infant Jesus was placed on the coat-of-arms of the city. The grandson of the hetman, Jan Kajetan Jablonowski, in 1721, placed the icon in the newly built wooden church of the Holy Trinity. In 1733, the icon was noted to weep, which led the inhabitants of Marijampil to build a new stone church.
The icon not only attracted soldiers, but also the inhabitants, by its powers. In time, healings of the sick, cleansing of the sinned, and conversion of the pagans were attributed to the icon. The icon was declared officially miraculous in 1737. The news of this icon travelled all over Europe due to the praise given by printers, writers, and polemists. The wife of Jan Kaietan Jablonowski, Theresa from Wilgorska created for the icon a silver crown and gown. In 1752–1788, the priest Wojec Bilinsky donated silver and gems to the icon. The miraculous nature of the icon is catalogued in W. Urban's work "The icon of the Mother of God of Marijampil in Wrocław" (Wrocław, 1981, in Polish). In 1936, the icon was restored by the Lvivsky artist Jurii Janiš.
During the postwar population exchange, the icon was saved by the Polish community from the hands of the atheistic communists and brought to Poland. At first the icon was placed in the church in Glubczuc, where it was restored by Marian Pacyn. At the start of the 1950s, the icon was transferred to Wrocław to the church of the Sisters of Nazareth. In 1965, four Polish bishops, including the future Pope, but then Archbishop of Kraków, John Paul II, festivally transferred the "Knightly Icon of Our Lady" to the newly built, 13-storey church on Piasek in Wrocław. Sometime in the next 20 years, a thief stole the silver crown. A new coronation was performed on 10 September in the presence of the Primate of Poland Józef Glemp.
In the 1990s, a copy of the miraculous Icon of the Marijampilian Mother of God was given by the Polish Marijampilians to the Ukrainian inhabitants of Marijampil. It was placed in a side altar of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.


USS LST-22

USS "LST-22" was an United States Navy used exclusively in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II and staffed by a United States Coast Guard crew. Like many of her class, she was not named and is properly referred to by her hull designation.
Construction.
"LST-22" was laid down on 5 November 1942, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by the Dravo Corporation; launched on 29 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. W. A. Barnes. She was floated down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers by a Navy ferry crew to the Naval Section Base, Algiers, Louisiana, in May 1943. Her first commanding officer, Lieutenant Lawrence N. Ditlefsen, USCG, took command on 29 May 1943, and "LST-22" was formally commissioned on 16 June 1943. She then proceeded on her shakedown cruise to Panama City, Florida.
Service history.
During the war, "LST-22" served exclusively and extensively in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater from September 1943 until November 1945.
"LST-22" sailed from Galveston, Texas, on 19 July 1943, with Convoy HK 109 heading for Key West, Florida, where she arrived on 23 July.
"LST-22" joined a convoy to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the Panama Canal, toward the end of July 1943, on the first leg of the cruise to the Southwest Pacific. Stopping at Bora Bora, Tutula, Viti Levu and Noumea the LST reached Brisbane, Australia, late in September 1943.
"LST-22" participated in the landing at Scarlet Beach during the Battle of Finschhafen from 22–24 September 1943.
In November 1943, she sailed from Townsville, Australia to Milne Bay, Oro Bay, Lae, Buna, and back to Milne Bay. Early December saw the LST in Port Moresby, then to Lae, in Task Unit 76.3.6 with RAAF equipment and personnel aboard. At Goodenough Island, a Marine cargo was loaded consisting of combat vehicles and gear of the First Marine Division to be landed at Cape Cretin and on 13 December 1943, "LST-22" completed loading Marine Corps personnel and joined Task Force 76.2.2 consisting of two Coast Guard-staffed and five Navy-staffed LSTs with three destroyers and for Cape Gloucester, New Britain.
"LST-22" participated in the Cape Gloucester landings, New Britain at the end of December 1943 and January 1944. After beaching at Cape Gloucester on 26 December 1943, the ship underwent its first enemy air raid. Returning to Goodenough Island, another combat load was taken to Saidor, New Guinea, beaching there on 2 January 1944.
The next two months were occupied in resupply echelons. A second trip to Saidor on 8 January 1944, was followed by a second trip to Cape Gloucester on 14 January 1944. On 1 February 1944, a third trip was made to Cape Gloucester. On 4 February, a second trip to Saidor she underwent four "red" alerts during loading operations. On 25 February, she again departed Cape Sudest for Cape Gloucester, returning to Buna Roads to take an LCM in tow on 27 February, for Cape Cretin together with two other LSTs, departing on 29 February, for the Admiralty Islands with the LCM still in tow. She arrived at Hyane Harbor, Los Negros Island, on 2 March 1944, in a support of the Admiralty Islands landings during the initial phase of the operation. While on the assignment the ship came under enemy mortar fire and on orders of the Task Group Commander, opened fire with her /50 caliber gun on the mortar fire area. During the afternoon she underwent an enemy attack, no casualties resulting from enemy action but three men being injured from an exploding shell which hit the guard rail. Arriving at Cape Sudest on 4 March 1944, the LST commenced loading cargo for a resupply run to Seeadler Harbor on 9 March, and returned to Cape Sudest on 12 March. Trips to Buna Roads, Cape Cretin, Lae, Seeadler Harbor and Buna Roads with cargo consumed the rest of March 1944.
After 14 days at Buna Roads for anchor upkeep and training, "LST-22" proceeded to load cargo at Goodenough Island, and departing for Cape Cretin, on 18 April, formed Task Group 77.4 for Tanalmeral Bay, Dutch New Guinea, arriving there 23 April 1944. There they participated in the Hollandia operation on D-day plus one and underwent several 'red' alerts but no enemy action, departing next day for Cape Cretin.
The first half of May 1944 was occupied with runs carrying cargo for Aitape, from Seeadler Harbor, and to Hollandia. On 18 May 1944, the ship was underway for Wakde, Dutch New Guinea, with an LCT in tow, beaching there under enemy fire on 19 May. One man was wounded from enemy fire, and cargo was discharged under sporadic fire from enemy emplacements on the beach. A second trip to Wake was made on 23 May. This was followed by a trip with cargo for the Biak Island invasion on 28 May, after which was taken in tow for Hollandia. June was taken up with two more trips to Biak and another to Arare, Wakde Island, where she beached on 6 July 1944. On 9 July, she proceeded to Noemfoor, four days after the surprise landing there on 2 July, and after unloading returned to Humboldt Bay. Trips to Maffin Bay, Cape Sansapor landings and Alexishafen, New Guinea, consumed the rest of July and August 1944.
Following dry docking and overhaul at Alexishafen, preparations were made for the Morotai landings. With echelon of LSTs, LCIs, and LCTs in tow, she departed Hollandia, 11 September 1944, with cargo and personnel discharged at Morotai on 16 September 1944. Just before beaching at Morotai, an enemy plane was fired upon by "LST-22" and was thought to be damaged by her guns. Returning to Hollandia, she moved again to Alexishafen, for overhaul and installation of more antiaircraft guns, returning to Hollandia, on 7 October 1944.
From the Western New Guinea area the "Love 6" echelon with destination Leyte, Philippine Islands, was formed and departed Hollandia, on 23 October 1944, to participate in General Douglas MacArthur's promised liberation of the islands from the Japanese occupation. Unloading was carried out 30 October, "D" plus 10 day, following a typhoon which the ship rode out at anchor. Returning to Hollandia, on 5 November 1944, a trip to Milne Bay followed and on 19 December, she departed for Aitape, for practice exercises with elements of the 43rd Infantry.
On 28 December 1944, "George 1" echelon of Task Group 78 was formed with the ultimate destination of Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. Various elements joined until the entire task group was formed before entering the Philippines. Several enemy planes were seen attacking en route but only one came within range and this was destroyed by the fire from several LSTs, with partial credit to the crew of "LST-22". One casualty resulted when a strafing bullet from the plane went through the thigh of an Army photographer on board. On 9 January 1945, two hours before "H" hour, LVTs were launched to carry the first assault wave to San Fabian Beach. The ship discharged the balance of her cargo at "H" hour plus one, with the aid of the pontoons carried from Milne Bay. The balance of 9 January, and that night were spent at anchor with occasional air raids. Next day she departed for Leyte, the focal point for future movements replacing Hollandia, and remained there until 22 January 1945. On 27 January, she began a resupply run to Lingayen Gulf, discharging cargo and personnel and departing 8 February for Mindoro Island to take on a load for Leyte Gulf.
From 15 February to 6 March 1945, was spent in the Leyte Gulf area, "LST-22" departing for Manila, on 14 March, and returning to Leyte, on 26 March 1945. Two shuttle trips to Manila were made in April. "LST-22" left Leyte, on 8 May 1945, with Convoy IG 21, for Hollandia, Dutch East Indies, where she arrive on 14 May 1945. From Hollandia, she went to Madang, New Guinea, to pick up an Australian Tank Company to be transported to Cape Torokina, Bougainville. From there she went to Green Island to load equipment for the Royal New Zealand Air and Ground Forces for Jacquinot Bay, New Britain, and reloaded there with Australian Ground Forces for Wide Bay, New Britain.
From Wide Bay, she proceeded to Manus Island, for availability for cleaning and painting her bottom. Arriving at Subic Bay on 10 July 1945, she unloaded for a limited availability after which she departed for Manila. Here she loaded cargo for Palawan, where she unloaded early in August, 1945, and from there proceeded to Zamboanga City, Mindanao. Here she loaded a full cargo and personnel for Leyte. The war was now over. After unloading at Leyte, she departed for Manican Island, for a 30-day availability beginning on 20 August 1945. On 23 September 1945, she was ordered to Leyte, and departed for Wakde Island, to load, as part of operations of lifting troops from rear areas. Loading at Wakde, with cargo and personnel for Zamboanga, she reloaded there for Agusan, Mindanao, and from there proceeded to Bacolod, Negros, Philippine Islands, to pick up an amphibious truck company and Philippine Army personnel. Proceeding to Dumaguette, Negros, the Philippine Army personnel were debarked and she proceeded to Mactan Island, unloading the rest of her cargo and personnel at Cebu City, Cebu. Loading at Mactan, she departed for Guiuan, Samar, and after unloading proceeded to San Pedro Bay, Leyte.
On 9 November 1945, she was released from Philippine Sea Frontier duty and proceeded to Guiuan, Sanar, to pick up cargo for the United States. She departed 11 November, for the United States via Pearl Harbor.
Postwar career.
"LST-22" arrived in San Diego, on 12 December 1946, and was decommissioned and her Coast Guard crew removed on 1 April 1946. She was struck from the Navy list on 17 April 1946, and was sold to Ming-Sung Industrial Co., Ltd., of Shanghai, China, on 3 February 1947 to be converted for merchant service.
Honors and awards.
"LST-22" earned six battle stars for her World War II service.
External links.


Naval Acquisition Career Center

The Department Of the Navy Acquisition Intern Program is a civilian (not active duty military) professional hiring program. The Naval Acquisition Career Center manages several hundred interns at any given time.
The internship is two and one half years, but may vary in length depending on the program the intern applies for. The career fields available are Business/Cost Estimating and Financial Management, Contracting, Communications/Computer Systems, Acquisition Logistics, Systems Planning, Research, Development and Engineering, or Manufacturing, Production and Quality Assurance. This is an excepted service position.
Interns can choose a variety of locations in which to live. While this program is designed for those just out of college that is certainly not the rule. There are many interns that are non-traditional and the Navy encourages veterans as well as non-veterans to apply for positions through this program. There are GPA requirements for each career field, see job descriptions below. Some internships require the completion of a senior project.
The program has been converted from the General Schedule pay scale to the National Security Personnel System pay for performance.
The 'Naval Acquisition Career Center bulletin board is the primary vehicle for collective communication to the intern workforce, their supervisors and the CFMs, as well as other interested parties.
Organization.
The Naval Acquisition Career Center is organized to provide the Naval Acquisition Intern Program with support for all aspects of the program. Under the lead of the director, intern operations are primarily under the direction of the Acquisition Intern Program Division Head with other administrative support coming from the Operations Division.
Job descriptions and position qualifications.
Community Planner (0020 job series) positions provide contractor guidance and documentation to assure contract compliance and quality assurance as pertains to facility planning, regional planning, special project planning, safety site planning, and economic analysis. Provides direct support to in-house and contracted planning projects by using technical skills and techniques. Interpret laws, regulations and policies and apply technical principles, practices and theories. Related Degrees: Urban Development & Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Economics, Geography Requires a "minimum GPA of 2.95", based on the bachelor's degree.
Computer Scientist (1550 job series) positions involve the application of, or research into, computer science methods and techniques to store, manipulate, transform or present information by means of computer systems. This involves the development, test, and evaluation of automated systems, programs, hardware and software interfacing techniques, and adapting advanced methods and techniques in computer science to solve computer processing requirements. Related Degrees: Computer Science Requires a "minimum GPA of 2.75", based on the bachelor's degree.
Contract Specialist (1102 job series) positions are involved in the acquisition of supplies and services. Assignments may include requirements determination and contract planning, business evaluation and price-cost analysis, negotiation, contract administration, and contract termination. Related Degrees: Any Business Degree Requires a "minimum GPA of 2.95", based on the bachelor's degree.
Engineering (800 job series) positions perform professional engineering tasks to support acquisition programs, projects and activities. These may relate to the design, development, construction, fabrication, installation, modification and analysis of platforms (ships and airplanes); equipment; systems or system components; facilities; environmental protection, etc. Typical specialties may include aerospace, computer, electrical, electronics, chemical, architect, fire protection, environmental, marine, ocean, materials, civil, industrial, mechanical engineering and naval architect. Related Degrees: Any Professional Engineering Degree and MBA "Requires a minimum GPA of 2.75", based on the bachelor's degree.
Financial Management Analyst (501 job series) perform, advise on, or supervise work in any of the phases of budget administration when such work requires knowledge and skill in applying budget-related laws, regulations, policies, precedents, methods, and techniques. This typically involves analytical, technical, and administrative duties in one or more phases of the budgetary process, e.g. budget formulation and justification, presentation and enactment, or execution. Related Degrees: Finance, Accounting, or other Business "Requires a minimum GPA of 2.95", based on the bachelor's degree.
Logistics Management Specialist (346 job series) positions are involved in the identification of activities involved in providing logistics support, the integration of actions required of each activity into a logistics plan, the monitoring of progress in meeting the requirements, the adjustments of logistics plans and schedules for all related actions, and coordination of efforts to effect the plan. This includes determining requirements for funds, manpower, facilities, equipment, transportation, communications, training, supplies and support services; as well as, the design and development, procurement, production, storage, maintenance, utilization and disposal of supplies and equipment. They are also involved in acquisition of required support services such as transportation and communications and in the acquisition and training of personnel. Related Degrees: Supply Chain Management, or other Business Requires a "minimum GPA of 2.95", based on the bachelor's degree.
Natural Resources Specialist (401 job series) positions are involved in directing program requirements for natural resources consultation, technical reviews, and guidance on facility planning efforts, design and construction projects, real estate actions, environmental compliance documentation, and development of Integrated Natural Resources Management Plans for Navy and Marine Corps activities. Related Degrees: Biology, Natural Resource Management, Environmental Protection/Science Requires a "minimum GPA of 2.95", based on the bachelor's degree.
Operations Research Analyst (1515 job series) positions perform professional and scientific work requiring the design, development and adaptation of mathematical, statistical, econometric, and other scientific methods and techniques to analyze problems of management and to provide advice and insight about the probable effects of alternative solutions to these problems. The primary requirement of the work is competence in the methods of scientific inquiry and analysis rather than in the subject matter of the problem. Related Degrees: Operations Research, Mathematics or Statistics Requires a "minimum GPA of 2.95", based on the bachelor's degree.
Psychologist (0180 job series) Conducts analysis for programs relating to military training, interacting with groups engaged in the conduct of instructional systems evaluations, training effectiveness assessments, training management studies/organizational analyses, staff studies, and other training analyses. Related Degrees: Industrial /Organizational, Human Factor, Cognitive, Experimental or Educational Psychology Requires a "minimum GPA of 2.95" based on the bachelor's degree.
Realty Specialist (1170 job series) positions are involved in the identification of real estate requirements, including the design and preparation of real estate acquisition documents, obtaining and preparing documentation, planning and executing major administrative actions, analyzing proposed easements, leases, licenses, host-tenant real estate, and use agreements. Also involves the preparation of documents for disposal of excess property; and, providing technical advice to Navy and Marine Corps regarding real estate actions. Related Degrees: Realty, Urban Development & Planning Requires a "minimum GPA of 2.95", based on the bachelor's degree.
Application information.
The Naval Acquisition Intern Program uses the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) USA Staffing Tool, Application Manager , as its one stop source for applying to the program. Application Manager is a web-based program available for applicants to apply. It automates the applicant recruitment, qualification assessment, referral, and notification processes. Applicants complete the on-line application process and submit a resume and transcripts; preferably through the "upload process", to be considered.
The primary Naval Acquisition Intern Program recruiting method is an on-campus approach at colleges and universities to attract applicants to meet the needs of the Department of Navy Acquisition Workforce. Participating commands represent the program at colleges and universities during the spring recruiting season. In most cases, Navy civilian representatives from participating commands will be on-campus to recruit at events scheduled through college placement offices.
Occasionally, Naval Acquisition Intern Program vacancies that are open to the public will be posted and filled through OPM's USAJOBS website: . It is possible to use the Job Search Agent function in My USAJOBS to build an ongoing search for "Naval Acquisition Intern Program" jobs.
Participating commands.
The following is a list of mission statements of commands that participate in the Navy Acquisition Intern program.
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)[www.navair.navy.mil]
Serves the nation and the Navy by developing, acquiring, and supporting naval aeronautical and related technology systems with which the operating forces, in support of the Unified Commanders and our allies, can train and fight.
Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)[www.navsea.navy.mil]
The largest of the Navy's five systems commands, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) engineers, builds and supports America's Fleet of ships and combat systems.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC)
To manage the planning, design and construction of shore facilities for U.S. Navy activities around the world.
Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP)[www.navsup.navy.mil]
To provide U.S. Naval Forces with supplies and services.
Space And Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR)
Provides the warfighter with knowledge superiority by developing, delivering, and maintaining effective, capable and integrated command, control, communications, computer, intelligence and surveillance systems.
Marine Corps
To serve as the Commandant's principal agent for equipping the Operating Forces to accomplish their warfighting mission.
Military Sealift Command (MSC)
To provide ocean transportation of equipment, fuel, supplies and ammunition to sustain U.S. forces worldwide during peacetime and in war.
Navy International Program Office (NIPO)
Provides assistance to America's Allies, partners, and friends within the framework of U.S. laws, DoD policy, and congressional guidance.
Office of Naval Research (ONR)
Coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the United States Navy and Marine Corps through universities, government laboratories, and nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
Strategic Systems Program Office (SSP)
The Strategic Systems Programs organization began with the POLARIS program and continues with the Ohio (SSBN-726)-class Trident submarines.
Navy Engineering Logistics Office (NELO)
The Navy Engineering Logistics Office provides engineering logistics support. This involves engineering logistics, transportation, and other business and supply-related support to the Fleet and shore establishment within the Department of the Navy.
External links.
Other Links:


USS LST-27

USS "LST-27" was a United States Navy used exclusively in the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater during World War II and manned by a United States Coast Guard crew. Like many of her class, she was not named and is properly referred to by her hull designation.
Construction.
"LST-27" was laid down on 10 December 1942, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by the Dravo Corporation; launched on 27 April 1943; sponsored by Mrs. R. R. Creed; and commissioned on 25 June 1943, with Lieutenant Alfred Volton, USCG, in command.
Service history.
On 4 April 1944, she was in the Mediterranean reaching Tunisia, on 13 April 1944. There are records that indicate she traveled from Oran, Algeria, joining Convoy MKS 46 sometime after 9 April 1944, arriving in Gibraltar on 21 April 1944. She departed Gibraltar on 22 April 1944, with Convoy MKS 46G to rendezvous with Convoy SL 155 on April 23, 1944, arriving in Liverpool on 3 May 1944.
She participated in the invasion at Omaha Beach. LST-27 departing from Trebah near Falmouth, Cornwall, for the Normandy coast on 5 June 1944, transporting units of the 29th Infantry Division. She remained in British waters until 2 July 1944, when she departed for Norfolk, Virginia, arriving there on 17 July 1944.
Postwar career.
"LST-27" was decommissioned on 9 November 1945, at Boston, and was struck from the Navy list on 28 November 1945. On 15 December 1947, she was sold to the Rhode Island Navigation Co., of Newport, Rhode Island, for scrapping.
Awards.
"LST-27" earned two battle stars for her World War II service.
External links.


Sergeant Major of the Air Force

The Sergeant Major of the South African Air Force is the most senior Warrant Officer in the South African Air Force. The post was created in 1979. It is a singular appointment – it is only held by one person at any time. The Sergeant Major of the Air Force reports to the Chief of the Air Force and is responsible for maintaining discipline in the Air Force.
Rank and Insignia.
Rank.
Before 2008 all Sergeant Majors of the Air Force were Warrant Officer Class 1, with appointment to the position of Sergeant Major of the Air Force.
In 2008 the SANDF expanded the Warrant Officer ranks and the Sergeant Major of the Air Force now holds the rank of Senior Chief Warrant Officer.
Insignia.
Prior to 2002 the Sergeant Major of the Air Force had a unique rank insignia, consisting of a Warrant Officer class 1 insignia with the South African Air Force badge above it.
Following the Warrant Officer rank redesign the Sergeant Major of the Air Force does not have a unique rank insignia