I wonder what this button does?!
October 6th, 2011 | 7th Fleet Diplomacy Photos Ships The Pacific | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
A Russian boy watches as another plays with the controls in the combat information center aboard the destroyer Fitzgerald during a recent visit to Vladivostok, Russia.//Navy photos by Ens. Carissa Guthrie
We couldn’t help but smile at the faces of these Russian boys, who got the chance to play sailor aboard the destroyer Fitzgerald during an outing from Parus Nadezhdy Children’s Rehabilitation Center in Vladivostok. If we only knew what they were saying…
The Yokosuka, Japan-based Fitzgerald wrapped up a four-day visit to Russia’s Pacific Fleet port city, where they joined in community projects, sporting matches with Russian sailors and visited sick children at a local hospital before returning to sea for a planned U.S.-Russian joint exercise. The Parus Nedezhdy center for orphan children is something of a regular guest when U.S. ships visit the city. It’s Russia, of course, so chess remains a popular hobby and the obvious outlet for the American sailors to match wits and brains with the local children. Looks like fun. But it’s not about winning and losing, right?
Fire Controlman 3rd Class Alexander Poehner and Sonar Technician 1st Class Joseph Whalen face off Russian boys in a chess tournament Oct. 3 on the Fitzgerald's mess decks.
The warm relationship with Chile
September 2nd, 2011 | 3rd Fleet Diplomacy Submarines Training | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
The quiet diesel-electric submarine Carrera slid through San Diego Bay on Sept. 1 for the start of a three-month deployment to the United States, where the Chilean boat will train with 3rd Fleet’s ships, subs and aircraft.
Carrera’s presence in a U.S. port – it calls the submarine piers at Point Loma Naval Base its short-term home – marks the fourth time the Chilean Navy is sending one of its small, stealthy subs to play with the U.S. fleet. The goal of the Diesel Electric Submarine Initiative, of course, is for the U.S. Navy and its foreign seagoing allies to train and operate together, namely with the mission of hunting down those quiet subs that get into the hands of rogue states or terrorist organizations. The stealthiness of the quiet diesels posts quite the challenge for sonar techs, aerial sub hunters and tacticians, and their growing proliferation in the Pacific region continues to worry naval commanders and is seen as a growing threat to U.S. national security and that of its allies.
Last year, Thomson, a Type 209 boat in Chile’s fleet, trained off Southern California and in November headed back to their homeport of Talcahuano with good memories and a few smiles from some victories in the cat-and-mouse game at sea with U.S. sailors – including the crew of fast-attack submarine Asheville.
Chilean submarine Thomson at the pier at Point Loma Naval Base in San Diego in November 2010. This fall, a sister sub, Scorpene-class Carrera, will train with 3rd Fleet in San Diego./Photo by Gidget Fuentes
Thomson’s presence here in San Diego last year came months after a devastating 8.8-magnitude earthquake and tsunami struck Chile. Mother Nature’s fury devastated many communities, including homes of crew members assigned to the sub. But even as their military helped in recovery efforts in the ensuing months, the Chilean navy kept to its commitment and deployed the sub and its crew to San Diego.
U.S.-Chile naval relations go as deep as the diesel-electrics. This week, the Chilean training ship Esmeralda, a masted sailing ship, is visiting Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, following visits to San Diego, San Francisco and Vancouver, Canada, where protesters complained about the ship’s seedier past as an alleged torture chamber dating back two generations to the days of dictator Augusto Pinochet. No such greeting expected in Hawaii, though.
“Know Your AOR” edition: Spratlys
July 22nd, 2011 | China Diplomacy Geography Navy The Pacific The Philippines | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
You may have caught it in passing on a news ticker or blog, but have no clue what or where on Earth are the Spratly islands. But you hear they are contested islands some defense experts think potentially could spark the start of a regional war.
The archipelago is comprised of small atolls, reefs, islets and outcroppings in the South China Sea, west of the Philippines and spread across a large area but claimed by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia. The islands, which range in size from small to tiny, are in a prime fishing region and sit atop what’s believed to be vast reserves of oil and natural gas. It’s no surprise numerous disputes flare up between nations that stake claim on the islands and nearby waters, a well-trafficked route for commercial ships and military vessels.
“The worry, among others that I have, is that the ongoing incidents could spark a miscalculation, and an outbreak that no one anticipated,” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told reporters in Beijing during his China visit earlier this month. The Spratlys were among the hot topics at a regional security conference in Bali just this week.
But that political and diplomatic hubbub is pretty much lost on residents of the remote tropical islands. Their biggest worry? Boredom. So says this Associated Press report from a recent – and controversial – July 20 visit by some Filipino lawmakers to Pagasa, one of the islands: “The only sounds are the waves slapping the shore and the wind whistling in the ears. At high noon, fighting off sleep is a struggle.”
Nonexistent crime tests the Filipino police officers on the island, which covers just 91 acres. “One big problem really is how to kill time,” said one town mayor. “After fishing, walking around, playing billiards and cards, what else can one do next?”
Something to think about during those long days at sea.