Inspector General of the Department of the Air Force

The Inspector General of the Department of the Air Force is responsible for conducting investigations and inspections as directed by the Secretary of the Air Force, Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, and Chief of Space Operations. The position was originally established after World War II as The Air Inspector, which was carried over from the Army Air Forces. The current mission of the Inspector General is prescribed by Title 10 (§ 8020) and Title 32 of the United States Code (§ 105) to develop Air Force and Space Force policy to assess readiness, discipline and efficiency with a vision to help shape senior leader decisions affecting the readiness of the Air Force and Space Force to strengthen the nation's defense.
The Office of Inspector General of the Department of the Air Force consists of four directorates:
History.
In 1943, Junius Jones was designated The Air Inspector of the Army Air Forces and when the AAF became the U.S. Air Force in 1947, he retained his position.
In 1948, The Air Inspector was renamed to the Inspector General of the Air Force.
In December 1971, Lt Gen Louis L. Wilson Jr. oversees the activation of the Air Force Inspection and Safety Center (which later became the Air Force Inspection Agency in 1991) to provide independent assessments of acquisition, safety, nuclear surety, operations, logistics, support, and healthcare to Air Force senior leaders. It also evaluates Air Force activities, personnel, and policies, and provides legal and compliance oversight of all Air Force-level Field Operating Agencies and Direct Reporting Units.
In September 1986, as a result of the Goldwater–Nichols Act, the Inspector General moved directly under the Secretary of the Air Force.
In June 2016, the Air Force IG, and its database contractor Lockheed Martin, came under criticism when 100,000 official records dating back to 2004 were lost due to corrupted data.
In 2021, the Inspector General of the Air Force was renamed the Inspector General of the Department of the Air Force.


USCGC Gresham (WAVP-387)


List of United States Coast Guard people

The following is a list of people who served in the United States Coast Guard and have gained fame through previous or subsequent endeavors, infamy, or successes:
Note: When adding a name to this list, please place the same in alphabetical order and provide a reliable verifiable source. Secondary sources such as fansites are not allowed. As a guide please see: . Additions that are not in alphabetical order and/or do not provide a primary reliable verifiable source will be removed.
Sources.
U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office FAQ


Cutterman insignia

The cutterman insignia is a device awarded by the United States Coast Guard to represent service aboard a Coast Guard cutter. The pin is awarded on a temporary basis after six months of sea time, qualification in required watch stations, successful completion of an oral or written board, and receiving a recommendation from their unit's commanding officer. Temporary insignias may be worn while attached to a cutter, but must be removed upon permanently transferring to a non-afloat unit. The award becomes permanent after 5 years of cumulative sea time in the Coast Guard (prior service sea time counts for pay purposes, but not for qualification as a cutterman).
On 18 October 1974, the Office of Personnel promulgated the Coast Guard Cutterman Insignia program, to “recognize the contributions and qualifications of our personnel.” The version awarded to officers is gold-toned, while the version awarded to enlisted members is pewter-toned.
The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary also issues a version of the cutterman insignia to represent service serving a Coast Guard cutter provided they meet the criteria provided by the Auxiliary and the Coast Guard. The insignia design is identical in size and form to the cutterman insignia. A pewter auxiliary emblem is superimposed in the center of the bronze-tone stylized waves.


Regiment Potchefstroom Universiteit

Regiment Potchefstroom Universiteit (Afrikaans for Potchefstroom University Regiment) is an artillery regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or United States Army National Guard unit. It is part of the South African Army Artillery Formation.
History.
1 Observation Battery.
The original regiment was formed in 1946, when the South African Army was reorganised for peacetime. It was initially called "1 Observation Battery", and in 1950 it was renamed "1 Observation Regiment".
On being affiliated with the Potchefstroom University in 1960, it was given the name "Regiment Potchefstroomse Universiteit".
Structure.
In terms of organisation the regiment was structured with:
Affiliated Division.
During the bush war the regiment served with:
and with
Amalgamation with 25 Field Regiment.
25 Field Regiment was amalgamated with Potchefstroom University (RPU) during September 1991.


USS Lamar (PCE-899)

USS "Lamar" (PCE-899)/USCGC "Lamar" (WTR-899) was a "PCE-842"-class patrol craft acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II for the task of patrolling assigned ocean areas or protecting larger ships in convoy.
Construction.
"PCR-899" was laid down as "PC-899" on 11 January 1943, by Willamette Iron & Steel Corporation in Portland, Oregon. She was reclassified "PCE-899" on 28 March 1943. She was launched on 11 August 1943, and was sponsored by Mrs. Opha McClimans. She was commissioned on 17 March 1945, under the command of LT Charles E. Pigg, Jr.
World War II service.
After shakedown along the U.S. West Coast, "PCE-899" departed San Pedro, California, on 5 May for the Marianas. Steaming via Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, she reached Guam on 12 June and began weather station patrols out of Apra Harbor. Assigned to SerForPac, she gathered weather data in an area west of the Marianas. Placed in "caretaker status" 27 June 1946 at Apra, she resumed active status on 12 September under the command of LT M. H. Seaver.
End-of-war operations.
Resuming weather reporting patrols in waters between the Marianas and the Carolines, "PCE-899" operated out of Guam until 26 August 1948 when she departed her patrol area for Pearl Harbor. Reaching Pearl Harbor 9 September, she served there for more than three months, then sailed for Guam on 22 December. She arrived 1 January 1949, made periodic patrols for five months and departed for the U.S. West Coast on 1 August. Steaming via Kwajalein and Pearl Harbor, she arrived San Diego, California, on 27 October. Five days later she headed for the U.S. East Coast, arriving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 25 November. "PCE-899" decommissioned on 16 December 1949 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
Recommissioned as a training ship.
Towed from Philadelphia to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1950, "PCE-899" recommissioned on 13 December 1950 under the command of LT L. C. Riley. Assigned to the 9th Naval District, she served as a U.S. Naval Reserve training ship out of Milwaukee. For more than 13 years she provided valuable service in training and maintaining the fighting excellence of officers and men of the Naval Reserve. Renamed "Lamar" ("PE-899") on 15 February 1956, she primarily cruised the upper Great Lakes. From 17 August 1959 to 17 October she made a training cruise that sent her via the St. Lawrence River and Nova Scotia to Newport, Rhode Island.
Lamar converted for U.S. Coast Guard use.
"Lamar" completed service in the Great Lakes on 6 April 1964 and sailed to Philadelphia, arriving 28 April. She decommissioned 25 May and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Her name was struck from the Naval Register in June 1964 and transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard on 29 July 1964. She was converted for use at the Coast Guard Yard and was commissioned there on 11 September 1965 under the command of LCDR William T. Rockwell, Jr., USCG. She was assigned as a reserve training vessel to Monterey, California, where she provided training for reservists from the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th Coast Guard Districts. Her authorized complement was 39 officers and men and she was equipped to carry 57 trainees. She was also available for limited search and rescue patrols if needed.
Supporting the Cuban Patrol in the Straits of Florida.
En route to Monterey, she was diverted to assist the Cuban Patrol in the Straits of Florida in October 1965 during an increase in the number of migrants leaving Cuba for Florida. She was detached from this duty and set a course for Monterey on 18 November. She arrived in Monterey on 14 December and was assigned as the training ship for the Western Districts Reserve Training program. LCDR Ernest Bizzozero, USCG, became her commanding officer on 10 June 1967.
The Coast Guard decommissioned her on 30 September 1969. On 8 November 1971 she was sold to the Foison Industries Corporation in Taiwan for $23,300.


Royal Air Force Motorsports Association

The Royal Air Force Motor Sports Association (RAFMSA) is the officially recognised sports body of the RAF that encourages participation in motor sports. As well as running its own competitions and championships, its members variously compete and officiate in other motor sports events at local, national and international level.
Full Membership is open to serving RAF personnel, whilst Associate Membership is available to dependents of serving personnel, former personnel, and those having an association or working with the RAF. The supported 4-wheel disciplines include sprinting/time-trials, circuit racing, rallying and karting, whilst the 2-wheel disciplines include Road Racing, Trials, Enduro and motocross.
The RAFMSA is affiliated to both the MSA and ACU.
RAFMSA Karting runs the Inter-Service Kart Championship.


Women in the United States Marine Corps

There have been women in the United States Marine Corps since 1918, and women continue to serve in the Corps today. As of 2016, women make up 8% of all active enlisted Marines, and 7.5% of active Officers. These numbers give the Marine Corps the lowest ratio of women in all of the U.S military branches. Women's presence in the Marine Corps first emerged in 1918 when they were permitted to do administrative work in an attempt to fill the spots of male Marines fighting overseas. It was not until 1948 that women were able to become a permanent part of the Corps with the passing of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act. However, even with the Integration Act, women were still banned from certain military occupation specialties. It was not until 2016 that Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced that all military occupations would be open to women without exception. As of 2018, there were 18 women serving in the Marine Corps combat arms. In December 2020, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego agreed to join the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in accepting female recruits, with 60 female recruits starting their boot camp training at the San Diego depot in February 2021. 53 of these recruits would successfully graduate from boot camp in April 2021 and become Marines.
History.
Note that some minor wars women served in have been omitted from this history.
Prior to World War I.
Lucy Brewer (or Eliza Bowen, or Louisa Baker) is the pen name of a writer who purported to be the first woman in the United States Marines, serving aboard the USS "Constitution" as a sharpshooter in the 1800s while pretending to be a man named George Baker. Brewer's adventures were probably written by Nathaniel Hill Wright (1787–1824) or Wright's publisher, Nathaniel Coverly. No one by the name of Lucy Brewer (or that of her other pseudonyms, or that of her husband) can be found in historical records; in addition, it is highly unlikely a woman could have disguised herself for three years on the "Constitution", as the crew had little to no privacy. (For example, no toilet facilities or private quarters existed on the ship, and physical examinations were thorough in the Marines.) In addition, Brewer's book "The Female Marine"'s identifying details of the "Constitution"'s travels and battles are nearly verbatim to accounts published by the ship's commanders in contemporary newspapers.
World War I.
Opha May Johnson was the first known woman to enlist in the Marines. She joined the Marine Corps Reserve on August 13, 1918 during America's involvement in World War I, officially becoming the first female Marine. From then until the end of World War I, 305 women had enlisted in the Marines. They were often nicknamed "Marinettes", and helped with the office duties at the Headquarters Marine Corps, so the men who usually worked the administrative roles could be sent to France to help fight in the war.
World War II.
The Marine Corps created the Marine Corps Women's Reserve in 1943, during America's involvement in World War II. Ruth Cheney Streeter was its first director. Over 20,000 women Marines served in World War II, in over 225 different specialties, filling 85 percent of the enlisted jobs at Headquarters Marine Corps and comprising one-half to two-thirds of the permanent personnel at major Marine Corps posts. However, it was not until after World War II, in 1948, that the Women's Armed Services Integration Act gave women permanent status in the Regular and Reserve forces of the Marines.
Korean War.
The Marine Corps Women's Reserve was mobilized in August 1950 for the Korean War, eventually reaching peak strength of 2,787 active-duty women Marines. Most women Marines served as part of the clerical and administrative staff.
Vietnam War.
In 1967 Master Sergeant Barbara Dulinsky became the first female Marine to serve in a combat zone in Vietnam. At the peak of the Vietnam War, there were approximately 2,700 women Marines on active duty, serving both stateside and overseas.
Middle East conflicts.
One thousand women Marines were deployed for Operation Desert Storm (1990) and Operation Desert Shield (1990-1991).
Female Marines served in the Iraq War from 2003 until 2011.
Female marines currently serve in the Afghanistan War that began in 2001, and the American-led intervention in Iraq that began in 2014.
Diversity of women in the Marine Corps.
Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said accessions of female "and" minority officers into the service reached 33 percent in the fiscal year of 2016, an increase of about ten percentage points from previous years. Additionally, a 2016 study of enlisted recruits showed that in the Marine Corps, nearly seventy percent of enlisted recruit females were white, followed by Hispanic women, which account for twenty percent. By February 2021, both the Parris Island and San Diego U.S. Marine depots had female drill instructors training women recruits.
Issues for women within the Corps.
Combat exclusions and women in combat (1993-present).
On April 28, 1993, combat exclusion was lifted from aviation positions by Les Aspin, permitting women to serve in almost any aviation capacity.
In 1994, the Pentagon declared:
That policy also excluded women being assigned to certain organizations based upon proximity to direct combat or "collocation" as the policy specifically referred to it. According to the Army, collocation occurs when "the position or unit routinely physically locates and remains with a military unit assigned a doctrinal mission to routinely engage in direct combat."
In 2013 Leon Panetta removed the military's ban on women serving in combat, overturning the 1994 rule. Panetta's decision gave the military services until January 2016 to seek special exceptions if they believed any positions must remain closed to women. The services had until May 2013 to draw up a plan for opening all units to women and until the end of 2015 to actually implement it. In 2015 Joseph Dunford, the commandant of the Marine Corps, recommended that women be excluded from competing for certain front-line combat jobs. That year a U.S. official confirmed that the Marine Corps had requested to keep some combat jobs open only to men. However, in December 2015, Defense Secretary Ash Carter stated that starting in 2016 all combat jobs would open to women. In March 2016, Ash Carter approved final plans from military service branches and the U.S. Special Operations Command to open all combat jobs to women, and authorized the military to begin integrating female combat soldiers "right away."
Also in 2016, a female lance corporal in the Marines requested a lateral move into an infantry "military occupational specialty," making her the first female Marine to sign up for the infantry.
Also in 2017, there have been many females breaking barriers in the Marine Corps. On the enlisted side, PFC Maria Daume, who was born in a Siberian prison and later adopted by Americans, became the first female Marine to join the infantry through the traditional entry-level training process. On the officer side, First Lt. Marina A. Hierl became the first woman to graduate from the infantry officer course of the Marine Corps, and Second Lt. Mariah Klenke became the first female officer to graduate from the Marines' Assault Amphibian Officer course.
In early 2018, Col. Lorna M. Mahlock became the first African American woman to be nominated as a Brigadier general (one star) in the United States Marine Corps.
Sexism and sexual harassment.
"Frontiero v. Richardson", , was a landmark Supreme Court case which decided that benefits given by the military to the family of service members cannot be given out differently because of sex.
In 1991 the Tailhook scandal occurred, in which Marine Corps (and Navy) aviators were accused of sexually assaulting 83 women (and 7 men) at the Tailhook convention in Las Vegas.
In early 2017 a nude photo scandal occurred; initially it was reported that the scandal was contained to only the Marine Corps, but the scandal later involved the rest of the US military. The scandal caused the Corps to ensue multiple investigations on over 80 Marine personnel, as well as addressing the culture of sexual harassment within the Marine Corps.
In the 2017 annual report on sexual assault in the United States military, there were 998 reported cases of sexual assault in the Marine Corps, up 14.9% from the year before. Pentagon officials said that the increased percentage was due to the greater awareness of administrative and legal options given to victims, giving them more confidence to speak out.
Sexual orientation and gender identity policy.
Before the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was enacted in 1993, lesbians and bisexual women (and gay men and bisexual men) were banned from serving in the military. In 1993 the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy was enacted, which mandated that the military could not ask service members about their sexual orientation. However, until the policy was ended in 2011 service members were still expelled from the military if they engaged in sexual conduct with a member of the same sex, stated that they were lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and/or married or attempted to marry someone of the same sex.
From 1960 to June 30, 2016, there was a blanket ban on all transgender people, including but not limited to transgender women, from serving and enlisting in the United States military, including but not limited to the Marines. From June 30, 2016 to April 11, 2019, transgender personnel in the United States military were allowed to serve in their preferred gender upon completing transition. From January 1, 2018 to April 11, 2019, transgender individuals could enlist in the United States military under the condition of being stable for 18 months in their preferred or biological gender. On April 12, 2019, Directive-type Memorandum-19-004 took effect and therefore transgender personnel in the United States military are not allowed to serve or enlist in the United States military, except if they serve in their original sex assignment, had been grandfathered in prior to April 12, 2019, or were given a waiver. Directive-type Memorandum-19-004 was scheduled to expire on March 12, 2020, but was since extended till September 12, 2020. Before it expired, it was replaced by a reissued version of DoD Instruction 1300.28, “Military Service by Transgender Persons and Persons with Gender Dysphoria," which took effect on September 4, 2020. President Joe Biden repealed Trump's 2018 memo through his executive order signed on January 25, 2021.


Surfman Badge

The Surfman Badge is a military badge of the United States Coast Guard, issued to enlisted or officer personnel who qualify as Coxswains authorized to operate surf boats in heavy surf. Those so qualified are referred to as surfmen, a term that was originally used by the United States Life-Saving Service, one of the predecessors to the Coast Guard.
Surf boats are boats that are designed to operate under extreme weather and sea conditions. Some of the surf boats that the Coast Guard operates include the 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB), the (now decommissioned) 44-foot MLB, 42-foot Near Shore Lifeboat (SPC-NLB) and the 52-foot MLB (the only "Boats" in the Coast Guard to be given names, such as "Victory" at Station Yaquina Bay, Oregon, the oldest steel motor lifeboat in the US Coast Guard).
Requirements.
To be awarded the Surfman Badge, a service member must undergo training in actual surf and breaking bar conditions, accumulate a minimum number of hours operating in these conditions, while conducting practical exercises and undergo a rigorous underway check ride as well as an oral review board. The process to qualify for a Surfman Badge requires at least eight years of training and experience. Coast Guard regulations do not permit the wearing of both Surfman and Coxswain insignia simultaneously.
The training includes a monthlong course at the National Motor Lifeboat School at Station Cape Disappointment (Ilwaco, Washington) to train prospective surfmen in handling the 47' MLB in rough weather.
History.
Although the earliest ancestors to the United States Life-Saving Service started before the Civil War, it was not officially established as a branch of the United States Treasury Department until June 1878, under Sumner I. Kimball, who led the Treasury's Revenue Marine Service. Kimball established the first training routines for surfmen, which included the Beach Apparatus Drill (firing rope lines via Lyle gun to establish a breeches buoy for rescues close to shore; the drill had to be completed within five minutes), boat handling (righting surfboats), first aid, signal flags, and nightly beach patrols.
Motto.
The Surfmen's motto was adopted around the beginning of the 20th Century: "The book says that you've got to go out, but it doesn't say a word about coming back." This is sometimes shortened as "You have to go out, but you don't have to come back", as popularized in the 2016 film "The Finest Hours".


Heringsdorf Airport

Heringsdorf Airport () is a regional airport located near Garz on the island of Usedom in Germany. It used to be an East German airbase and today features summer leisure routes from cities in Germany and Switzerland as well as general aviation.
The airport takes its name from the nearby municipality of Heringsdorf, located some to the north. The largest town on the island however is Świnoujście in Poland, immediately to the east of the airport.
Facilities.
Heringsdorf Airport features a single small terminal building equipped with check-in facilities and an information desk. The apron features one stand for mid-sized-aircraft such as the Airbus A319 and several stands for smaller aircraft such as the Cessna 172. By winter 2015, the airport has been equipped with renewed firefighting and security facilities as well as a refurbished check-in area.
Airlines and destinations.
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Heringsdorf Airport:
The nearest major international airport is Berlin, approx. to the south.
Ground transportation.
Due to the size of the airport and the island itself there is no scheduled public transportation. However every destination on Usedom can be reached by rental car and taxis.


Navy Distinguished Public Service Medal


Sahrawi Youth Union

Sahrawi Youth Union, also known as UJSARIO (its Spanish abbreviation for Unión de la Juventud de SAguia el Hamra y RIo de Oro), is the youth organization of the Polisario Front.
Organization.
UJSARIO was founded in 1984 through the merger of Unión de Estudiantes Saharauis (Sahrawi Students' Union or UESARIO) and the Polisario Front Youth. It operates from the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, organizing youth and students within the exile community, and promoting the interest of the youth within the POLISARIO and the Sahrawi republic.
The work of UJSARIO is divided in different national areas:
It has extensive international contacts with other youth political or cultural movements, especially in Spain, like the Spanish Youth Council or the Spanish Youth Organization. It is a full member of the Arab Youth Union, General Union of Arab Students, the World Federation of Democratic Youth, the International Falcon Movement - Socialist Educational International, the International Union of the Socialist Youth, the African Youth Union, the Pan African Youth Movement and the Youth for Development and Cooperation (YDC). It campaigns for a free Western Sahara, and tries to organize international youth exchanges and opportunities for refugee Sahrawis to study abroad.
From late 2005 to 31 December 2013 the General Secretary was Musa Salma. Since then, the General Secretary is Zain Sidahmed. In April 2012, Teceber Ahmed Saleh, member of the UJSARIO delegation, was elected as one of the African vicepresidents of the IUSY Presidium for the 2012–2014 term, at the IUSY World Congress held in Asunción, Paraguay.
Since 2006, UJSARIO organizes jointly with not-for-profit organizations a "Religious Dialogue for Peace" forum in the refugee camps, with presence of imams, priests, bishops and professors from Algeria, Austria, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, Spain, Turkey and the United States.
In May 2013, UJSARIO and the Ittihaida Youth (the Moroccan party Socialist Union of Popular Forces youth) presented a joint resolution in the framework of the International Union of Socialist Youth World Council defending a peaceful, just, permanent and mutually-accepted solution that enables the self-determination of Western Sahara. At the same time, both organizations supported the UN mission to organize a referendum in Western Sahara.


Coast Guard Base Cape Cod

United States Coast Guard Base Cape Cod is a United States Coast Guard base located in Sandwich, Massachusetts. It was founded in August 2014 as the single point for Deputy Commandant for Mission Support for the United States Coast Guard First District.


USCGC Monomoy

Two ships of the United States Coast Guard have been named USCGC "Monomoy" for the island off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts.


List of United States Air Force bands

The United States Air Force has many bands that perform entertainment and public affairs functions. In mid-2012, there were 11 Air National Guard bands containing a total of 350 musicians. Six bands will be inactivated.


Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal

The Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal (CGDSM) is a military decoration of the United States Coast Guard that was established 4 August 1949 and is presented to coast guardsmen for "Exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility." Prior to this date, members of the Coast Guard were eligible to receive the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. The Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal, which replaced the Transportation Distinguished Service Medal in 2002, is another higher precedence Distinguished Service Medal that may be awarded to Coast Guardsmen. The Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal is equivalent to the Army's Army Distinguished Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps' Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Air Force and Space Force's Air Force Distinguished Service Medal.
Criteria.
The Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal is awarded to any coast guardsman who distinguishes themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the United States Government in a duty of great responsibility. The medal may also be awarded to any member of the uniformed services of the United States who distinguishes themselves while working with the U.S. Coast Guard. The exceptional performance of duty must be clearly above what is normally expected and must have contributed materially to the success of a major command or project. The decoration is typically awarded to senior flag officers, such as the Commandant of the Coast Guard. However, this does not preclude the award of the medal to any person who meets the eligibility requirements.
The bestowing authority of the Coast Guard Distinguished Service Medal is the Secretary of Homeland Security. Prior to 2003, the award was authorized by the Secretary of Transportation, and prior to 1967, it was authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Devices.
Additional awards of the CGDSM are denoted by inch gold stars.


Coast Guard Public Service Awards

The United States Coast Guard maintains several civilian Public Service Awards to recognize private citizens, groups, or organizations for helping the Coast Guard carry out its missions. These awards are U.S. Government Awards issued by the Coast Guard, and like the Gold and Silver Lifesaving Medals, are not classified as military decorations, therefore, they may be awarded to any person.
Awards.
The Coast Guard civilian Public Service Awards include:
Distinguished Public Service Award - Aside from the Gold and Silver Life-Saving Medals, this is the highest public recognition that the Commandant of the Coast Guard may award. Distinguished Public Service Awards are given to recognize:
- Extraordinary heroism in advancing the Coast Guard's mission
- Exceptional coordination and/or cooperation in matters pertaining to the Coast Guard's responsibilities
- Personal and direct contribution to the Coast Guard that had a direct bearing on the accomplishment of the Coast Guard's responsibilities to its citizens
Meritorious Public Service Award - The second-highest Public Service Award is given to recognize:
- Unusual courage in advancing a Coast Guard mission
- Substantial contribution to the Coast Guard that produced tangible results
- Specific individual accomplishments that provide unique benefits to the public
Public Service Commendation - This award is intended primarily to recognize personal and beneficial contributions to the Coast Guard's responsibilities. Recipients are recognized for:
- Courage or initiative in advancing one or more Coast Guard missions
- Beneficial contribution in one mission area or a limited geographical area
Certificate of Merit - This award recognizes significant endeavors such as:
- Displaying initiative in advancing one or more of the Coast Guard's missions
- Significant effort that resulted in the completion of a project or program significantly beneficial to the Coast Guard's missions and responsibilities
Certificate of Appreciation - These certificates are presented to individuals or groups who have exhibited public-spirited efforts that benefit Coast Guard personnel or missions.


List of commanders of the Aegean Army

This list includes commanders of the Aegean Army, who were, in their time of service, nominal heads of the Aegean Army (), one of the four field armies of the Turkish Land Forces.
The current Commander of the Aegean Army is Lieutenant general Ali Sivri, since 22 August 2019.


Project O Canada

Founded in 2001, Project O Canada was a Toronto-based anti-terrorism investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Created in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, subdivisions of the project named "A-O Canada" and "C-O Canada" were based in Ottawa and Montreal, RCMP Divisions A and C respectively. By December 2001, the RCMP was shifting its focus from gathering intelligence, to seeking information "in a manner suitable for court purposes".
It was later criticised for bringing together forty members from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's (RCMP) "Commercial Crimes", "IPOC", and "National Security Investigations" branches, Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Customs and Revenue Agency, Canada Border Services Agency, the Quebec and Ontario provincial police, and local officers from Hull, Gatineau and Ottawa. The team was composed almost entirely of individuals with no knowledge of intelligence gathering, Islam, or human rights issues, and was simply told to cooperate fully with the American Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency, turning over all information without hesitation.
The project was ultimately found to have played a "central role" in the wrongful rendition and torture of Canadian citizens, including Maher Arar, who was tortured for ten months before being found innocent of the officers' claims that he was "suspected of being linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist movement".
First months.
Growing out of an earlier project begun in 1997, the 35-officer project initially focused on the actions and acquaintances of NGO-worker Ahmed Khadr, who was believed to be financially supporting Islamic militants in Afghanistan.
They also investigated claims from local residents that a man who resembled Mohamed Atta had worked part-time at the "Best Copy" copy shop in downtown Toronto, seizing the store's records and investigating its customers, adding a number of them to an Interpol database.
By October, the RCMP claimed to have identified 10-12 "al-Qaida suspects" in the city, and a month later reported they had "undertaken 24-hour surveillance of at least five suspected supporters of Osama bin Laden."
Expansion of the project.
In October 2001, the RCMP's Toronto office met with Ottawa officers in Newmarket, Ontario and requested they form a "Project A-O" division. Its first task was to help Toronto by taking over the investigation of the electronics store owner Abdullah Almalki, who had worked for Human Concern International at the same time as Khadr. Almalki had been under surveillance by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service since he first met with Khadr in 1998.
"Project C-O" meanwhile put Abdelrahman, the younger brother of Mohamad Elzahabi working as a mechanic in Montreal, "under a microscope".
Ontario Provincial Police officers were also tasked to help the Federal police agency.
Actions.
The Ottawa office, under the control of Cpl. Randal Walsh, Garry Clement and Supt. Mike Cabana, quickly moved from providing assistance to their Toronto colleagues, and began conducting their own investigations focusing primarily on Abdullah Almalki and Ahmad Abou El Maati.
When Almalki met with telecommunications engineer Maher Arar at the "Mango Cafe" shawarma restaurant in Ottawa to discuss local doctors and printer cartridges, officers clandestinely acquired his 1997 lease agreement from Minto Developments Inc., and saw that he had listed Almalki as an emergency contact. He was subsequently placed under surveillance by "Project A-O", and his name added to a Canada Customs "terrorist lookout list", although it was later determined there was no evidence to support such an action.
In January 2002, Cpl. Randy Walsh received search warrants to raid seven homes, although later analysis suggested that if he had been honest about their evidence before the judge, the warrants would not have been granted. A publication ban initially prevented the media from reporting the identities of those targeted, although later reports confirmed which buildings had been searched.
In addition, while they lacked a warrant to search his house, officers visited Arar to discover he was overseas. When he returned, he agreed to discussions with a lawyer present, but the RCMP found the requirement too "stringent" and did not follow up.
In April 2002, "Project A-O" sent American officials their complete files without any limits on its use or "regard for the rights of citizens", leading to tension between RCMP headquarters and the anti-terrorism project. The Americans later used faxes detailing the sale of walkie talkies seized at Almalki's house in the raid as evidence in their trial against Mohamad Elzahabi.
In August, after Almalki was arrested in Syria - "Project A-O" officers wanted to send Syria information about him, as well as a list of questions that they wanted him to answer, stating that "Depending on his willingness to answer truthfully and depending on the answers he provides you, a second series of questions has been prepared for him". Sgt. Rick Flewelling, from the RCMP headquarters, intervened and insisted that the Department of Justice and Foreign Affairs would have to be involved
In September 2002, the A-O division began asking the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) to help them secure the ability to travel to Syria to interrogate Almalki themselves, or at least direct how he would be interrogated by Syrians. When DFAIT officer Jonathan Solomon demanded to know whether they would be clear not to use torture, since it had already been used against Ahmed el-Maati, A-O Division officers "got awkward" and Cabana claimed that it was possible that el-Maati had just been lying about Syria using torture. Also in September, as Arar was en route to New York from Switzerland, "Project A-O" officers faxed a memo to Americans which involved a number of "false claims" about Arar, stating that he and his wife were "Islamic
Extremist individuals suspected of being linked to the Al Qaeda
terrorist movement". Arar was subsequently arrested and deported to Syria where he was tortured for ten months before being found innocent of any wrongdoing.
The project also sent officers to Pakistan in 2005, after it was announced that Khadr's son Abdullah had been arrested. Abdullah stated that when he was about 14 years old, his father had purchased two pairs of walkie talkies from Almalki, although his lawyers later argued the statement had been made due to his mistreatment by Pakistani officials.
Members.
Toronto Members
Ottawa Members
Fallout.
After it was discovered that Canadian authorities had been complicit in the rendition and torture of an innocent Canadian, a Royal Commission was formed to investigate. "Project A-O" figured prominently in the explanation of Canada's anti-terrorism investigations, while attorney Don Bayne unsuccessfully argued that since the RCMP couldn't disclose "full" information due to national security concerns, it therefore shouldn't have to disclose "any" information about the project.
The Commission determined that the "Project A-O" officers "lacked experience
and training in conducting national security investigations".
See also.
Richard Proulx (RCMP officer)
References.
Ref Note


USLHT Cedar

USLHT "Cedar was a lighthouse tender in commission in the fleet of the United States Lighthouse Service in 1917 and from 1919 to 1939, and – as USCGC "Cedar" (WAGL-207) – in the fleet of the United States Coast Guard from 1939 to 1950. She was in commissioned service in the United States Navy as the patrol vessel USS "Cedar from 1917 to 1919 during and in the immediate aftermath of World War I. She also saw service in World War II under U.S. Navy control while in the Coast Guard fleet. She spent her career in the Pacific Northwest and the Territory of Alaska.
Construction and commissioning.
"Cedar" was constructed in 1916–1917 by the Craig Shipbuilding Company in Long Beach, California, for the United States Lighthouse Service. Designed for extended cruises in the waters of the Territory of Alaska, she was the largest lighthouse tender built for the Lighthouse Service. She had a steel hull with a double bottom and a wooden superstructure. She was completed in 1917 and commissioned into service in the Lighthouse Service′s fleet as USLHT "Cedar" on 30 June 1917.
Service history.
World War I.
Shortly after "Cedar"s completion, the Lighthouse Service transferred her to the United States Navy in August 1917 for World War I service. Commissioned into Navy service as USS "Cedar", she operated as a patrol vessel in the Thirteenth Naval District in the Pacific Northwest.
At 14:00 on 24 October 1918, "Cedar" received word that the Canadian passenger steamer had run aground in a snowstorm 11 hours earlier on Vanderbilt Reef in Lynn Canal in Southeast Alaska during a voyage from Skagway to Juneau, Territory of Alaska. The largest all-weather ship in the vicinity and the only one large enough to take off all of "Princess Sophia"′s passengers and crew, "Cedar" was away. She established wireless contact with "Princess Sophia" and proceeded immediately to the scene, arriving there at 20:00 and finding that the fishing schooner "King & Winge", two other large vessels, and 15 smaller fishing vessels also were there. "Cedar" was only the rescue vessel equipped with wireless, so her captain, J. W. Ledbetter, began to organize a rescue attempt. Training "Cedar"′s searchlights on "Princess Sophia", Ledbetter could see that waves were breaking against her hull, making it too dangerous for "Princess Sophia" to launch her lifeboats. "Princess Sophia" and the rescue ships agreed to await high tide at 05:00 on 25 October to attempt to launch the boats, then cancelled that plan out of concern for the safety of the boats, and "Cedar" anchored in the lee of a nearby island for the night.
By 0900 on 25 October 1918, a gale was blowing and Ledbetter, who had brought "Cedar" back to the scene of "Princess Sophia"′s grounding, was having trouble keeping "Cedar" on station. He decided to try to anchor "Cedar" downwind of Vanderbilt Reef, fire a line to "Princess Sophia", and then evacuate all on board by breeches buoy, but anchoring proved impossible. As conditions worsened, "Cedar" and "King & Winge" took shelter behind Sentinel Island, and Captain Miller of "King & Winge" came aboard "Cedar" to discuss further rescue options. They decided that if the weather moderated enough, they would attempt to anchor "King & Winge" near Vanderbilt Reef while "Cedar" anchored to windward of "King and Winge" to create a lee; "Cedar" would then launch her boats, which would ferry "Princess Sophia"′s passengers and crew to "King and Winge". Ledbetter and Miller agreed that it would be best to wait until 26 October to attempt the rescue, as "Princess Sophia" appeared to be withstanding the pounding she was taking on the reef and it was possible the weather would improve enough by 26 October to make a rescue less risky.
At 16:50 on 25 October, however, just as Miller was departing "Cedar", "Princess Sophia" sent a distress signal saying that she was sinking. "Cedar" got underway from Sentinel Island in an attempt to reach her, but conditions were so extreme that she was herself in danger, and after 30 minutes she had to turn back. Sometime around 17:50, "Princess Sophia" slipped off the reef and sank with the loss of all 343 people aboard, the worst maritime disaster in the combined history of Alaska and British Columbia. On 26 October 1918, "Cedar", "King & Winge", and other vessels reached the scene of the sinking, and found only "Princess Sophia"s mast protruding above water; they recovered bodies, but found no survivors. "Cedar" and "King & Winge" proceeded to Juneau, where Ledbetter sent out a wire which reported "No sign of life. No hope of survivors."
"Cedar" remained in U.S. Navy service through the end of World War I on 11 November 1918 and during its immediate aftermath. By executive order, the Navy transferred her back to the Lighthouse Service on 1 July 1919.
1919–1941.
As USLHT "Cedar", the ship returned to lighthouse tender duty, operating in Alaskan waters. After the 12-gross register ton motor vessel "Anna Helen" suffered a gasoline explosion and caught fire when her gasoline engine backfired at the junction of Icy Strait and Lynn Canal in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska about outside the entrance to Funter Bay on 22 October 1928, "Cedar" and the motor vessel "Gloria" responded to render assistance. "Gloria" rescued "Annie Helen"′s two-man crew from a dory and "Cedar" and "Gloria" stood by the burning vessel, but "Annie Helen" was consumed by the flames and sank without "Cedar" or "Gloria" having a chance to do anything to save her.
On 1 July 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was abolished and the United States Coast Guard took over its responsibilities and assets, and "Cedar" thus became part of the Coast Guard fleet as USCGC "Cedar".
World War II.
On 1 November 1941, with World War II raging in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, the U.S. Coast Guard was transferred to the control of the U.S. Navy under Executive Order 8929, and "Cedar" thus again came under U.S. Navy control only weeks before the United States entered the war on 7 December 1941. Given the hull classification symbol WAGL-207, and stationed at Ketchikan, Territory of Alaska, she was assigned to the Thirteenth Naval District in the Pacific Northwest and the Seventeenth Naval District in the Territory of Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, for duty in support of aids to navigation. During 1942 and 1943, she operated in support of Allied forces in the Aleutian Islands during the Aleutian Islands Campaign.
Post-World War II.
Returned to U.S. Coast Guard control after the conclusion of World War II, "Cedar" was stationed at Kodiak, Territory of Alaska. The Coast Guard decommissioned her on 29 June 1950 and laid her up at Seattle, Washington. After five years of inactivity, she was sold on 27 June 1955 for scrapping.


Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Intelligence Group

Surveillance, Reconnaissance, Intelligence Groups (SRIG) were intelligence units of the United States Marine Corps from 1988 to 1997. The SRIG command structure combined units of Radio Battalion, ANGLICO, Force Reconnaissance, remotely piloted aircraft, counterintelligence, and other intelligence elements of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force.
Mission.
According to the SRIG doctrinal manual, SRIG's mission was "to provide surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence, counterintelligence, electronic warfare, air and naval gunfire liaison, tactical deception, maritime direct action and secure communications to MAGTFs.
History.
The concept of the SRIG grew out of the Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center (SRC), created in 1969 to coordinate III Marine Amphibious Force's operations in the Vietnam War.
The first SRIG to be activated was the 2nd SRIG, in October 1988, under the command of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune. 1st SRIG was activated in October 1989 at Camp Pendleton, and 3rd SRIG in October 1990 at Camp Hansen, Okinawa.
SRIG's first combat missions came during Operation Desert Storm. Members of 1st SRIG took the first Iraqi prisoners of the war, and later helped coordinate naval artillery and air strikes in the Battle of Khafji.
1st SRIG's activities in Somalia included Operation Restore Hope from 1992 to 1993 and Operation United Shield in 1995.
In October 1997, the SRIGs were dissolved and individual units were placed under the direct command of their respective MEFs.


Supplementary Reserve (United Kingdom)


VQ-5

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 5 (VQ-5) was a former squadron of the U.S. Navy that was established on August 15, 1991. During its short-lived career, it was one of two squadrons assigned in the U.S. Navy to operate the ES-3A Shadow, which was a specialised version of the S-3 Viking used for over-horizon tracking and electronic intelligence.
History.
Early years.
In 1991, with the retirement of the EA-3B Skywarrior after 40 years of flying the US Navy, the Navy prepared for the delivery of their new ES-3As. Before this, VQ-5 was established on August 15 of that year at NAS Agana, Guam, receiving their first 2 S-3A Vikings for pilot and crew training on 10 November 1991. On May 8, 1992, the first ES-3A was delivered to VQ-5, with ES-3A's VQ-5 Det. A, on board the USS Independence, becoming the first ES-3A unit to deploy on a carrier.
Detachments to carrier air wings.
Starting in 1994, VQ-5 operated in detachments were deployed to numerous carrier air wings. As part of a 7th Fleet directive that year, it assigned a two-plane permanently attached detachment (VQ-5 Detachment 5) to Carrier Air Wing 5 based in Japan with the Independence. Unlike CVW-5 which was based at NAF Atsugi, VQ-5 Det. 5 was based in NAF Misawa. During that same year, they participated in operation during the tensions in the Korean Peninsula. VQ-5 also deployed to CVW-15 on board the Kitty Hawk during 1994 before their disestablishment in 1995.
In 1995, with the impending closure of NAS Agana in Guam, the Sea Shadows moved to NAS North Island in San Diego. During the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, VQ-5 was deployed on two carriers in the region, the USS "Nimitz" as well as the USS "Independence". Other deployments to carriers in the following years included CVW-14 and CVW-11 on board the Carl Vinson, Nimitz as part of CVW-9, Abraham Lincoln with CVW-11 and CVW-14 and the Constellation with CVW-2.
Final cruise and retirement.
In 1998, VQ-5 made their last cruise ever as Detachment C deployed with the Carl Vinson and CVW-11 during Operation Desert Fox before returning in May 1999. VQ-5 never deployed again and remained back in North Island. In June 1999, a ceremony was held for the decommissioning of the squadron although they were officially inactivated on July 31, 1999.


USS LST-26

USS "LST-26" was a United States Navy used in the Asiatic-Pacific 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-26" was laid down on 16 November 1942, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by the Dravo Corporation; launched on 31 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Mathilda B. Coulter; and commissioned on 7 June 1943, with Lieutenant Raymond B. Newell, USCGR, in command.
Service history.
"LST-26" sailed from Galveston, Texas, on 24 July 1943, with Convoy HK 111 heading for Key West, Florida, where she arrived on 28 July.
Proceeding to the Pacific, "LST-26" was at Townsville, Australia, on 29 October 1943. "LST-26" participated in the Cape Gloucester landings, New Britain at the end of December 1943 and January 1944.
"LST-26" remained busy participating in the Aitape, Humboldt Bay-Tanahmerah Bay invasions at the end of April and the beginning of May 1944, the Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operations in the middle of May 1944, the Biak Island invasion at the end of May to the middle of June 1944, the Noemfoor Island invasion at the beginning of July 1944, the Cape Sansapor landings at the end of July and the beginning of August 1944, and the Morotai landings in the middle of September 1944.
From the Western New Guinea area "LST-26" moved to the Philippines to participate in General Douglas MacArthur's promised liberation of the islands from the Japanese occupation starting with the Leyte landings from the middle of October until the middle of November 1944, and the Mindanao Island landings in March 1945. She left Leyte on 3 April 1945, for Manila and after proceeding to Subic Bay returned to Leyte on 2 May 1945. Departing Leyte on 8 August 1945, she proceeded to Manus, Torokina and Hollandia.
Postwar career.
Following the war, "LST-26" performed occupation duty in the Far East until early November 1945. Leaving Hollandia on 29 August 1945, she arrived at Zamboanga, Mindanao on 3 September 1945. From there she went to Okinawa and returned to San Francisco, via Leyte and Pearl Harbor, arriving at San Francisco on 6 December 1945. She returned to the United States and was decommissioned on 1 April 1946. She was struck from the Navy list on 8 May 1946, and was sold to Arctic Circle Exploration, Seattle, Washington, on 17 June 1946, for conversion to merchant service.
Awards.
"LST-26" earned five battle stars for her World War II service.


List of United States Navy ships

List of United States Navy ships is a comprehensive listing of all ships that have been in service to the United States Navy during the history of that service. The US Navy maintains its official list of ships past and present at the Naval Vessel Register (NVR), although it does not include early vessels. The NVR "US Navy Inactive Classification Symbols" is a concise list of inactive definitions. The "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships" includes much detail on historical ships, and was used as the basis for many of Wikipedia's ship articles.
Due to the large number of entries, the list has been divided by the first letter of the ship's name—see the infobox.


Naval Support Activity Danang

Naval Support Activity Danang or NSA Danang was a United States Navy logistics support organization located in Danang, South Vietnam active from October 1965 to April 1972.
History.
In March 1965 when United States Marine Corps combat troops landed at Danang, the support establishment was rudimentary. The port of Danang contained only three small piers, three Landing Ship, Tank (LST) ramps and a stone quay that were inaccessible to oceangoing vessels; even smaller craft had trouble approaching. The scarcity of lighterage and the heavy weather that often buffeted the harbor made ship-to-craft cargo transfers hazardous and inefficient. Warehouses, open storage areas, cargo handling equipment, and good exit routes from the port were limited. From March to July 1965, III Marine Amphibious Force troops delivered supplies to the units in the field while the Seventh Fleet ran port operations. Soon, the fleet dispatched Naval Beach Group 1, Cargo Handling Battalions 1 and 2, nucleus port crew, Mine Force, Service Force, underwater demolition team, and explosive ordnance disposal units to Danang. In addition, the Navy took charge of the offloading, storage and delivery of supplies common to all the allied forces in I Corps. Additional responsibilities included harbor defense and the transshipment of cargo to the smaller ports in the region. The fleet also managed logistic operations at these locations.
U.S. Naval Support Activity (NSA) Danang was officially established on 15 October 1965 under the operational control of Commander, III Marine Amphibious Force. During the next several years, the command created subordinate naval support activity detachments at Chu Lai, Huế, Tân Mỹ, Đông Hà, Cửa Việt, Phu Bai and Sa Huỳnh. These detachments decentralized the support function and improved the logistic flow.
During 1965 the logistic operation at Danang suffered from lack of suitable or sufficient harbor craft, cargo handling equipment, and port personnel. Management and planning of the logistic flow needed refinement, as ships arrived en masse with cargo improperly stowed and packaged. Storage areas ashore were limited by space and access. Finally, the harsh northeast monsoon made cargo operations at Danang and throughout I Corps hazardous and difficult during the winter months.
In November 1965 500 men moved into the old French Army camp, Camp Tien Sha at the foot of Monkey Mountain. The camp was quickly expanded to include 25 new barracks able to accommodate an additional 1700 men, together with a barber shop, post exchange and milk plant. NSA Danang originally operated from a commercial pier on the city side of the Hàn River and this "Museum Ramp" () near the Cham Museum began operation in November 1965 off-loading LCU's and LST's. In July 1966 the "Bridge Cargo Ramp" () began operations increasing NSA's supply capability.
In August 1967, the headquarters of NSA Danang was moved from downtown Danang to Camp Tien Sha.
Logistic vessels under the control of NSA Danang included Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM 3 & LCM 6) and LCU landing craft; harbor utility craft (YFU); small harbor tugs (YTL); open lighters (YC); refrigerated barges (YFRN); Army craft; and a refrigerator ship. While base facilities were under construction, the fleet deployed to Danang LSTs, a Landing Ship Dock (LSD) and an Attack Transport (APA), the latter for quartering and messing NSA personnel. The harbor defense unit used landing craft, picket boats and Boston Whalers to monitor and protect the maritime traffic. A small craft repair facility and an Auxiliary floating drydock (AFDL) helped keep NSA vessels in working order. Over 130 rough terrain and warehouse forklifts and 20 cranes eased cargo handling.
The logistic establishment at Danang functioned with growing efficiency by mid-1968 as it built new port and shore facilities. Seabees, initially using materials pre-stocked before the war in Advanced Base Functional Component packages, constructed three deep-draft piers for oceangoing ships, two wooden piers an LST causeway and the Bridge Cargo Complex that consisted of a long wharf, 300,000 cubic feet of refrigerated storage space and 500,000 square feet of covered storage space. Amphibious fuel lines were laid along the sea floor to storage tanks ashore at Red Beach Base Area, north of the city and the Marines' Marble Mountain Air Facility to the south.
By July 1968 NSA Danang handled 350,000 tons of cargo each month for the 200,000 allied troops in I Corps. Danang had become the largest fuel complex in South Vietnam capable of holding over 500,000 barrels. The station hospital begun in 1965 had treated over 21,000 casualties, 44,000 nonbattle patients and one million outpatients flowing in from the hostile and disease-ridden I Corps environment.
In mid-October 1968 the Deep Water Pier complex () on the Tien Sha peninsula was completed, beginning operations in September 1968. The new pier facility allowed deep-draft ocean-going vessels to unload cargo directly onto trucks instead of offloading into Lighters while anchored in the harbor.
By 1969 NSA Danang was the Navy's largest overseas shore command and third largest supply depot after Norfolk and Oakland Naval Supply Depot and Camp Tien Sha had grown to accommodate over 6000 personnel.
In April 1972 all US Navy facilities in Danang were transferred to the Republic of Vietnam Navy.


Combat Logistics Battalion 26

Combat Logistics Battalion 26 (CLB-26) is a logistics battalion of the United States Marine Corps. They are part of Combat Logistics Regiment 27 and the 2nd Marine Logistics Group. The unit is based out of the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and is in direct support of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU) .
Mission.
Provide timely, reliable, and continuous combat logistics support to all elements of the 26th MEU.


Al Vandeweghe

Alfred Bernard "Al" Vandeweghe (October 25, 1920 – February 2, 2014) was a professional American football player for the All-America Football Conference's Buffalo Bisons. He played in five games in the 1946 season after his collegiate career at William & Mary. He later coached at his "alma mater" from 1947 through 1949.
He served in the United States Navy at the United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge, where he played football.


Coast Guard Station Gloucester

United States Coast Guard Station Gloucester is a United States Coast Guard station located in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It is located on Harbor Loop on the Mainland. The first successful US Coast Guard Air Station was CGAS Ten Pound Island in Gloucester Harbor, which operated from 1925 to 1935.
The station has three assets: two 47′ MLB and an RBS2. In order to respond to "SAR" search and rescue in heavy weather the 47 MLB is utilized. Gloucester's "AOR" (area of responsibility) also includes narrow rivers and harbors, which the RBS is utilized over the 47 to gain entry into shallow waters.
Many books and movies have revolved around the station, most notably; "10 Hours Until Dawn" and the story of "Andrea Gail" and her crew was the basis of the 1997 book "The Perfect Storm" by Sebastian Junger, and a 2000 film.


Naval Board of Inquiry

Naval Board of Inquiry and Naval Court of Inquiry are two types of investigative court proceedings, conducted by the United States Navy in response to an event that adversely affects the performance, or reputation, of the fleet or one of its ships or stations.
Convening the board.
Depending on the severity of the event that has occurred, the Board of Inquiry could be called by the Secretary of the Navy, or a lesser authority reporting to a higher authority.
In any case, the authority calling for the board of inquiry must be of an authority superior to the authority related to the unanticipated event. The process could sometimes be to a month, depending on the YDP. Last-minute alteration and formatting by the YDP and senior board members will make the job much more difficult for the junior board members to get the report done.
Purpose of the board.
Naval Boards of Inquiry are called to examine all particulars concerned with the event in question, and to determine facts and cause, corrective action, and disciplinary action, if called for by the findings and suggestions of the inquiry.
Events or actions calling for an inquiry.
A Naval Board of Inquiry may be convened to determine area logistic depot is not corrupted and for numerous reasons, such as when a Naval ship:


Space Flag

Exercise Space Flag is a United States Space Force (USSF) exercise dedicated to providing tactical space units with advanced training in a contested, degraded, and operationally-limited (CDO) environment. The intent of Space Flag is to provide space forces with realistic, threat-based training to enhance their ability to analyze and respond to current and future threats within a broader warfighting context. Space Flag is the USSF's sole large-force employment exercise focused on gaining and maintaining space superiority and was modeled after the U.S. Air Force's Red Flag Exercise.
With the activation of Space Training and Readiness Delta Provisional (STAR Delta) on 24 July 2020, the unit responsible for Space Flag has been re-organized under STAR Delta and temporarily re-designated STAR Delta, Operating Location-Alpha (OL-A). STAR Delta, OL-A was previously known as Distributed Mission Operations Center-Space (DMOC-S) or the 705th Combat Training Squadron (CTS), OL-A and is located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.
The first Space Flag was held in April 2017. For the first two calendar years—2017 and 2018—Space Flag occurred twice per year. Starting in 2019, Space Flag increased to three times per year, with one iteration as a coalition event. Space Flag 19-3 in August 2019, was the first event to include coalition partners from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States.
The 527th Space Aggressor Squadron and 26th Space Aggressor Squadron operate the red cell and provide Opposing force functions or OPFOR for Space Flag.
Notable appearances in media.
Space Flag was loosely referenced in episode 5 of the Netflix series Space Force (TV series).


National Civil War Naval Museum

The National Civil War Naval Museum, located in Columbus, Georgia, United States, is a facility that features remnants of two Confederate States Navy vessels. It also features uniforms, equipment and weapons used by the United States (Union) Navy from the North and the Confederate States Navy (Southern /Rebel) forces. It is claimed to be the only museum in the nation that tells the story of the two navies during the Civil War.
Origin.
The museum opened in 1962 at 202 4th Street in Columbus as the "James W. Woodruff, Jr., Confederate Naval Museum", named after the man whose financial support made the museum a reality.
It was known as the Confederate Naval Museum in 1970 when the two ships were listed on the National Register of Historic Places as C.S.S. Muscogee and Chattahoochee (gunboats). The Georgia Historical Association authors of the National Register nomination noted that Biggers, Scarbrough and Neal, the Columbus architects who designed the museum, had created "an imaginative and quite contemporary canopy for the salvaged gunboats."
In March 2001, the museum relocated to its present eight million dollar facility at 1002 Victory Drive and received a new name to reflect new exhibits that showcase both the Union and Confederate navies.
Exhibits.
The highlight of the museum is the hull of C.S.S. "Jackson" (also known as C.S.S."Muscogee"), a revolutionary developed ironclad warship ram put to fire in the Chattahoochee River by the Union Army troops of Gen. James H. Wilson and recovered from the muddy bed of the river in the 1960s. Also on display are what's left of C.S.S. "Chattahoochee" and an intact rowboat from U.S.S. "Hartford", famed flagship of Federal Admiral David Farragut at the naval Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864.
Two models of the warships U.S.S. "Monitor" and C.S.S "Virginia" (the former U.S.S. "Merrimack" steam frigate under construction at Gosport Navy Yard near Norfolk, Virginia, captured after scuttling April 1861 with the naval facilities), used in the TNT cable TV channel's 1991 film "Ironclads", and recreated full-scale sections of three other American Civil War-era warships are among the hundreds of Civil War artifacts located in the museum (including sections of U.S. Navy Admiral David Farragut's "U.S.S. Hartford" including the berth deck, wardroom and captain's cabin). There is also a battle experience theater that will put visitors right in the middle of a Civil War battle and an interactive Confederate ironclad ship simulator offering visitors an opportunity to experience 19th-century naval combat at first hand.
A large Civil War naval flag exhibit is the newest addition to the museum. According to executive director Bruce Smith, it is the largest display of navy-related flags from the Civil War era anywhere in the nation. Fourteen flags representing ships and forts from the entire scope of the Civil War are seen in this new exhibit, which is entitled "Ramparts to Topmast: Flags of Triumph and Despair".
Thanks to a family from Ohio, visitors can see a particular flag that was in hiding for 137 years. On the night of July 22, 1862, the captain of the ironclad warship C.S.S. "Arkansas" believed his ship was safe in the harbor on the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Then in the darkness, two Union Navy ships attacked it. U.S.S. "Queen of the West" attempted to ram "Arkansas." As the two vessels lay side to side, a civilian engineer, John P. Skelton, aboard the Federal ship leaped aboard "Arkansas" and tore down its flag. He reboarded to his own ship and hid the flag in a barrel of beans. After his discharge, Skelton took the flag back to Ohio, where it remained until 1999 when his ancestors sent the flag back home again. It now rests in a place of honor on the wall of the museum.
The museum also has the largest collection of surviving Brooke rifled naval cannons made in Confederate iron foundries at Selma, Alabama. These four cannons are two 7-inch rifles, one 10-inch smoothbore, and one 11-inch smoothbore. The 11-inch smoothbore is the largest surviving Brooke artillery pieces.
U.S.S./C.S.S. Water Witch project.
The museum constructed a full-scale reproduction of U.S.S./C.S.S. "Water Witch" in 2009 using her original plan drawings. At more than in length, the ship was a landmark in the Columbus area. The masts were nearly tall. The replica was built using untreated lumber, and deteriorated over the years. It was determined to be unsalvageable and demolished in October 2019.
The original "Water Witch" was stationed as a Union Navy blockader outside Savannah, Georgia during the war and was captured during a Confederate States Navy commando raid in 1864 and put into service for the Confederacy. The story of the "Water Witch" is compelling because she served the navies of both sides during the course of the war, and also because her capture was led in-part by an African-American Confederate pilot, Moses Dallas.
Other activities at Port Columbus.
The museum holds an annual symposium, summer camps, and living history programs among the other special events it schedules throughout the year. Another part of the rapidly growing Port Columbus operation is site rental. The museum regularly rents out its galleries for various events from weddings to business meetings.


Jagdgeschwader III

Jagdgeschwader III (Fighter Wing III, or JG III) was a fighter wing of the Imperial German Air Service during World War I. It was founded on 2 February 1918, as a permanent consolidation of four established "jagdstaffeln" (fighter squadrons)—2, 26, 27, and 36. JG III was formed as a follow-on of Manfred von Richthofen's highly successful "Jagdgeschwader I". With a nominal strength of 56 aircraft, JG III would be under direct orders of an Armee headquarters. The German General Staff was planning a German spring offensive to begin on 21 March 1918, and wanted to assign a fighter wing to each of the three Armees involved in the assault. An experienced flying ace with 22 victories, "Oberleutnant" Bruno Loerzer, was appointed to command JG III.
On 12 to 15 March 1918, JG III's aircraft would be hidden near the front lines awaiting the Spring Offensive. On 21 March, the wing cleared the sky of opposing aircraft, to begin their support of Operation Michael. Subsequent to this, the wing would fight in the Battle of the Lys, the Third Battle of the Aisne, and the Second Battle of the Marne offensives. When the Allied Hundred Days Offensive began on 8 August, JG III was still in the fight. Despite increasing shortages of supplies, aircraft, and pilots, along with frequent changes of airfields during withdrawals, the wing had its most successful month of the war in September. On 2 September, JG III shot down 26 enemy aircraft, for the best day's performance of any German wing in World War I. However, by October, the Allied air forces—which now included fresh American units—were numerous enough to overwhelm German defenses.
"Jagdgeschwader III" flew its final combat missions on 4 November 1918. Incomplete records make the wing's wartime victory total uncertain, but it is conservatively estimated as a minimum of 370 French, British, and American aircraft shot down.
Operational history.
Foundation.
Jagdgeschwader III (JG III) was founded on 2 February 1918. It comprised four "Jagdstaffeln" (fighter squadrons) with a nominal strength of 14 aircraft each. This fighter wing would fly under direction of an Army Headquarters. The success of such a massing of fighter aircraft power had already been proven by the success of "Jagdgeschwader I (JG I)", founded 23 June the previous year. German strategy now called for a fighter wing per army to support each of three attacking armies. "Jagdgeschwader II (JG II)" and "Jagdgeschwader III" were slated to be combat ready in time to join JG I in the German spring offensive planned for 21 March 1918. JG III would consist of four existing seasoned "Jagdstaffeln"—2, 26, 27, and 36. "Oberleutnant" Bruno Loerzer was selected for command of JG III.
From 12 to 15 March 1918, the four squadrons of the new wing moved forward to support 17th Armee when the attack began. Nine additional jastas had also been moved there. Hangar tents were not erected for airplanes; the machines were hidden in farm buildings to prevent observation by enemy reconnaissance craft. Flying was kept to a bare minimum, as JG III husbanded its resources while awaiting the upcoming offensive.
Operation Michael.
Fog and low clouds prevented flying until about noon on 21 March, after which the wing established air superiority over the British positions. The next day, JG III tangled with British pilots of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) over Cambrai, claiming two victories and sustaining a casualty. On 23 March, the RFC concentrated on attacking the German army cooperation two-seaters near Bapaume. In turn, the German fighter pilots assailed the British. JG III was credited with nine victories that day; however, British aircraft managed for the first time to strafe the advancing German troops. The RFC reinforced its numbers on 24 and 25 March. The morning of 26 March saw the greatest British force yet, with formations as numerous as 60 planes. The confused, ferocious air combats continued over the next two days. Then the German advance stalled. Air activity dwindled.
Battle of the Lys.
The German high command began a further offense on 12 April. JG III was shifted to support the 4th Armee for an attack on Kemmel Ridge. Ten additional "jadgstaffeln" were placed under Loerzer's command. The 14 squadrons were committed to a front only 15 kilometers wide, and penetrated deep into British-held territory. On 25 April, three German divisions stormed the hill. Overhead, about 100 German aircraft flew unopposed. German ground support planes strafed the British while JG III flew top cover.
This latest offensive petered out by the end of April. The pilots of JG III anxiously awaited new Fokker D.VII fighters. Their old Albatros fighters were worn out; the new Triplanes were too slow, and needed scarce castor oil for a reliable rotary engine lubricant. When a few of the new aircraft arrived, they were parceled out, with three squadrons each receiving some. "Jagdstaffel 26" kept its triplanes, but other spare Fokker Dr.Is were returned to the rear.
By 24 May 1918, JG III had moved to support the upcoming German offensive against the Chemin des Dames. The German high command wanted to defeat the Allies before American troops could enter the war. For the first time, French fliers would oppose the Germans.
Third Battle of the Aisne.
The next offensive was launched by the Germans on 27 May. Surging forward under air cover, the German infantry gained 21 kilometers to capture bridges crossing the Marne River. However, by 3 June 1918, the exhausted German troops ran down. With heavy casualties, insufficient supplies and few reinforcements, the attack stalled.
Now three of JG III's squadrons were re-equipped with Fokker D.VIIs. "Jagdstaffel 36" remained stocked with Fokker Dr.I triplanes.
The wing now partnered with JG I on 9 June 1918, for the latest segment of the German Spring Offensive. JG III covered the 18th Armee's flank. Fighting continued through the month. By the 28th, a new foe had appeared to oppose JG III—the American First Pursuit Group.
Second Battle of the Marne.
On 15 July 1918, the Germans launched another offensive. JG III supported 7th Armee, and in turn was supported by JG I. As 7th Armee was the first to attack, it saw heavy fighting. JG III was now equipped with Fokker D.VIIs equipped with parachutes, but it faced opposition from an array of French, American, and British squadrons. Despite excessive heat and rainy weather, air activity over the battlefield was brisk. An armada of 225 French bombers struck German pontoon bridges crossing the Marne River, dropping 40 tons of bombs. By nightfall, JG III had downed seven enemy planes.
The following day was hotter still. There was a very real danger that phosphorus ammunition aboard any German aircraft could ignite from the extreme temperatures; seven German airplanes supporting 7th Armee were lost to self-ignition of ammunition during 15 and 16 July.
On 17 July, German progress on the ground stalled with the arrival of the British XXII Corps and 85,000 American as reinforcements for the French. Heavy rain and fog restricted air activity. The following day saw a French counterattack. Over the next few days, JG III had to move to the rear as the French assault gained ground. When foul weather grounded the wing on 26 and 27 July, the unit had been displaced three times. By the beginning of August, the air offensive had fizzled out in a week-long rain that prevented flight.
Tide of battle turns.
On 8 August 1918, the British 4th Army and the French 1st Army surged into an attack launched on the heels of a heavy artillery bombardment. The assault included a large force of tanks and a huge air effort by the Royal Air Force. The German 2nd Armee, located northwest of JG III, bore the brunt of the blow. The wing fought intensely for three days, racking up nine victories. On 12 August, JG III was held patrolling behind their own lines in anticipation of another Allied attack near Fismes. The next two days were spent flying in the van of the German attack; there was no concerted Allied air opposition.
Battle of Bapaume.
The next stage of the Allied Hundred Days Offensive came on 21 August 1918. The British Third Army attacked, supported by 100 tanks and newly committed American air power. Pilots from JG III dove on four 148th Aero Squadron Sopwith Camels on a ground attack mission on 26 August. Nine Camels of the 17th Aero Squadron came to the aid of their fellow Americans. In the ensuing dogfight, seven Americans were downed for no German loss. Six of the casualties came from the 17th Aero Squadron.
In the final six days of August, "Jagdgeschwader III" scored 23 victories. On 2 September, they bettered that in a single day. The wing scored 26 of the 35 German aerial victories on 2 September. The 148th Aero Squadron took the brunt of the action; out of B Flight's five pilots, only one returned home. By the last mission of the day, there was no aerial opposition to the wing; JG III turned to strafing enemy troops. JG III had had the most successful day of any German wing in World War I.
On 3 September, the German wing downed 10 more enemy planes; on the next day, 15 more. The wing would continue to wage its successful campaign, although by 17 September "Jagdstaffel 36" had only a single airplane. On 18 September, a headquarters summary from the 17th Armee noted that JG III had destroyed 250 enemy aircraft in 202 days of fighting. On 24 September, "Jagdstaffel 36" received an infusion of Fokker D.VIIs; however, the squadron would not score another victory until 4 October.
"Jagdgeschwader III" continued to fight through the end of September, but several factors began to degrade its combat capabilities. There were frequent airfield changes due to the retreat of German ground forces. Fuel for the airplanes began to be rationed. A trio of JG III's most prolific aces dropped from the wing's ranks in late September—Rudolf Klimke, Otto Fruhner, and Friedrich Noltenius.
Records for October 1918's wing operations are scarce. However, those existing depict a diminished wing constantly on the move and curtailed by supply shortages. They were faced with overwhelming numbers of Allied fighters. Mid-month, Bruno Loerzer, lately promoted to "Hauptmann", took Paul Baumer with him to the new fighter testing at Adlershof, Germany. That removed two more high scoring aces from the ranks of JG III. From 14 to 25 October, JG III scored no victories. Nevertheless, on the war's heaviest day of aerial combat, 30 October, the wing still shot down 10 enemy aircraft.
End.
On 4 November 1918, all four "jadgstaffeln" of "Jagdgeschwader III" flew into combat, scoring victories against Bristol F.2b and Sopwith Snipe fighters and an Airco DH.9 bomber. These 13 victories would be the last by JG III. The Armistice of 11 November 1918 would end the war.
The wing's pilots remained defiant to the end. Before surrendering their Fokker D.VIIs to the Allies, "Jagdstaffel 2" pilots wrote their names and the number of their aerial victories on the aircraft fuselages.
Incomplete records preclude an exact count of "Jagdgeschwader III" victories. However, they are estimated at a minimum of 370 enemy aircraft destroyed during the wing's nine months of existence.
Notable members.
Below is the listing of flying aces serving with "Jagdgeschwader III", the number of victories they scored while flying with the wing, and the most prestigious decoration they received.
Aircraft.
The following models of aircraft are known to have been flown by "Jagdgeschwader III".


List of commanders of the Second Army of Turkey

This list includes commanders of the Second Army of Turkey, who were, in their time of service, nominal heads of the Second Army (), one of the four field armies of the Turkish Land Forces.
The current Commander of the Second Army is Lieutenant general Sinan Yayla, since 22 August 2019.