UPDATE: In the event any of the locals in Yokosuka are planning on using this recent water leak as fuel to some of their upcoming protests, I’d like to direct them to this Associated Press report, which tells how a last month a nuclear power plant IN YOKOSUKA spilled some Uranium…now I don’t need [...]
And now from the we-all-saw-that-coming department, the USS George Washington’s Commanding Officer (CO) and Executive Officer (XO) have been relieved of their duties following the shipboard fire they had in May. The firing came at the direction of Admiral Willard, Commander Pacific Fleet, who cited the typical nondescript “lack of confidence” with an additional “failure [...]
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Gary Roughead, or Supreme Command of the Navy (SCOTN) as he’s referred to in Japan, recently appeared on a Japanese television news program to discuss the US Navy’s global mission, as well as its mission in the western Pacific region. I’ve been saying for a while that I just [...]
The Japanese held another protest against the upcoming arrival of the USS George Washington (CVN 73) today. I wasn’t there, but they’re all the same. The gather by the local mall, then march down to the main gate. Unfortunately for them, the main gate is closed to all auto and pedestrian traffic, so no one [...]
Stripes is running a story about human trafficking in Okinawa. A few years ago, after stories about rampant sex trafficking around Korean military bases were published, the US military has tried to take steps to distance itself from such activity. For one, George Bush signed an executive order making solicitation of prostitutes a crime, and [...]
Despite this PowerPoint being sent to pretty much everyone in the Fleet and then some, a reader wrote that the crew of the USS George Washington was recently given training on Operations Security (OPSEC) due to this slide show being unauthorized. Since I’d like to avoid an ass-chewing from my omnipotent command, I have removed [...]
Someone e-mailed me a PowerPoint presentation created by CNFJ, detailing recent incidents involving US Navy Sailors, and the punishments handed out by the Japanese government. There were some things I haven’t even heard about, and most of the consequences were pretty surprising. I think if there’s ever a deterrent to Sailors acting like drunken fools [...]
Visiting the Stars & Stripes website this morning, I was surprised to see the following:
Stripes.com hacked; users’ computers may be affected
The Stars and Stripes Web site appears to have been struck by a hacker early Saturday. Indications are that this may have been related to an automated cyber-attack launched last month that [...]
UPDATE: Stars & Stripes has an article out about Kenny’s MySpace as well. As expected, no mention of where they got their idea for such an article, or of D-San , the guy who brought it to everyone’s attention.
Just an update for historical purposes. D-San points us all to Olatunbosun Ugbogu’s MySpace page found here. [...]
I apologize for not posting in a while, but my blog has been under a little scrutiny from CTF70 lately, and I’ve had to mind my Ps & Qs as much as possible while I was underway. Now that I’m back, however, let’s rock and roll.
So, I know it’s widely known now that another [...]
A local DoDDS teacher, who also happens to be regular reader of this fine publication, sent me an e-mail asking me to talk about some drama that’s been going on between Yokosuka DODDS teachers and their school’s principal over…lunch breaks? The teacher wished to remain anonymous and avoid any reprisal. Here’s the teacher’s story:
Sullivans Elementary [...]
The Sailor who was wanted as a person of interest in the slaying of a Japanese taxi driver, in Yokosuka on March 20th, is now in US Military custody after being arrested in Tokyo. The Sailor had been on an unauthorized absence (UA) (the Navy equivalent to AWOL) for nearly a month, and was already [...]
From the STARS & STRIPES:
Navy seeking Yokosuka sailor after stabbing
Officials: American not a suspect in death of Japanese taxi driver
By Allison Batdorff, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, March 22, 2008
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — A Yokosuka-based sailor is being sought for questioning in connection with the Wednesday night stabbing death of a Japanese taxi driver [...]
Today’s Lessons Learned: Mess Decks Intelligence isn’t an acceptable news source to some of those in the Navy, and a MilBlog shouldn’t be the place for “breaking” news.
CNN is running a story on Chinese hackers who openly boast about pwning pentagon and other DoD computers, with financial compensation from the Chinese government. From the article:
They operate from a bare apartment on a Chinese island. They are intelligent 20-somethings who seem harmless. But they are hard-core hackers who claim to have gained access [...]
It’s official, the “period of reflection” is over. Thanks Vox, you helped me have the story before S& S
Military members in Okinawa still some have restrictions, but they aren’t too bad. All restrictions for civilians have been completely lifted, while a curfew of 10PM to 5AM has been imposed on the US military. [...]
Voxman, a regular reader and commenter on this site, just posted a comment in which he claims to have a source that confirmed the restrictions, on US military and SOFA personnel in Okinawa, will be lifted Tuesday morning, 04 March. From the comment:
VoXman wrote:
I cannot reveal my source, but the lockdown will be over in [...]
Screw all the protests. Screw all the blog and forum posts stereotyping US service members in Japan as monsters. Screw every senior US leader who got on their knees to kiss the asses of the Japanese people. And a very special screw you to the Japanese media and public who completely overlooked the daily occurrences [...]
Yes, I know this is the coolest title I’ve had for any entry yet. I saw this video on YouTube a few days ago, but since the Navy is super lame and blocks it, I’ve uploaded it to DailyMotion for all to see. The video, originally titled “Night Stalkers in Japan,” is an Australian [...]
USFJ: Troops Commit Less Crimes Than Japanese.
Three cheers for Commander of US Forces Japan, Air Force Lt. General Rice. Mr. Rice stated the obvious, as I’ve been doing for a while, that US troops stationed in Japan commit much fewer crimes, on average, than the Japanese. Sure, I know the fact that we commit fewer crimes, doesn’t make it any [...]