Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

December 3, 2008 12:47:12 PM CST


Navy

Navy news stories

1 - 20 of 29 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

 Supreme Court 
 OKs Navy Sonar 
 Near Whales 

5-4 decision sides with Bush administration

(Newser) - The Supreme Court sided 5-4 with the Bush administration today, exempting the Navy from switching off high-powered sonar near whales during training off California's coast. The piercing underwater sounds panic whales and make their ears bleed, environmentalists tell the Los Angeles Times . But the “public interest” in the exercises “plainly outweighs” those environmental concerns, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. More »

More about:  Bush administration environment US Supreme Court Navy sonar whales

3 Early Crashes Sparked Navy Fears About McCain

'Clown around' flight hit wires that triggered balckout in Spain.

(Newser) - Three aircraft crashes involving Navy flyer John McCain early in his career led Navy administrators to question his skills and judgment, reports the Los Angeles Times . In the most troubling incident, McCain was "clowning" around in a Skyraider over Spain in 1961 and flew into electrical wires, causing a blackout, according to the candidate's own account. McCain also crashed a jet in Texas and one in Virginia during training. More »

More about:  Election 2008 John McCain plane crash crash Navy aircraft aviator

Medvedev: US Taunting Russia With Ships

He scoffs at notion
that they're providing humanitarian relief

(Newser) - Dmitry Medvedev accused the US of baiting the bear today by using military vessels to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia. “I wonder how they would feel if we now dispatched humanitarian assistance to the Caribbean, suffering from a hurricane, using our navy,” mused the Russian president, theorizing that the US was actually using the trips to rebuild Georgia’s army. More »

More about:  George W. Bush Russia Georgia NATO Dmitry Medvedev Navy

OPINION

The Lessons
of War Are
What Counts

McCain's service not instant qualification, writes fellow vet Kerrey

(Newser) - John McCain has made a major show of his military credentials, arguing that his Navy service and time as a POW qualify him to be commander in chief. But that service by itself doesn't qualify him, ex-Sen. Bob Kerrey, a fellow Vietnam vet, argues in the LA Times. "The more McCain's supporters talk about his warrior nature, the more I worry about what he might do as president," Kerrey writes. More »

More about:  Election 2008 John McCain Vietnam Navy Vietnam veteran Bob Kerrey

Navy Accuses Sailors
of Abusing Detainees

Six guards in Iraq face charges

(Newser) - The US Navy will court-martial six sailors who are charged with abusing detainees at a US prison camp in Iraq, Reuters reports. The sailors are accused of beating prisoners and confining them in an unventilated room with pepper spray, a Navy statement says. More »

More about:  Iraq US military prison Navy Abu Ghraib physical abuse imprisonment Camp Bucca

Swift Boat Vets Want Their
Name Back

Vietnam servicemen bemoan association with Kerry attack ad

(Newser) - These days, the phrase "Swift boat" has come to mean a vicious political attack of the kind suffered by John Kerry in the 2004 election. While the term has gained such currency that it's now used as a verb, one group is seriously miffed: the Navy veterans who, like Kerry, served on a Swift boat during the Vietnam war. The New York Times reports on the former servicemen looking to reclaim their honor. More »

 Navy Ship Leaves Port
 —Without 100 Sailors 

USS Ronald Reagan, fleeing typhoon, leaves 100 seamen in Hong Kong

(Newser) - A US aircraft carrier set sail from Hong Kong early Sunday with about 100 of its crew still on shore leave, the AP reports. The USS Ronald Reagan and its support ships left port early because Typhoon Fengshen was bearing down. Officials are scrambling to book flights to reunite the sailors and their ship—though security prevented them from saying where. More »

More about:  China weather Hong Kong Navy sailor aircraft carrier

'Celebrity of Power' Lured McCain From Navy to Capitol

'Smitten' Republican passed up chance for admiral's star that was family tradition

(Newser) - When Capt. John McCain turned down a chance to be admiral in 1981, deciding to run for Congress instead, he’d spent four years as the Navy’s Senate liaison, developing an appetite for what one observer called “the glamor of … political combat.” The New York Times profiles a key phase of the Republican nominee-in-waiting’s seduction by "the celebrity of power." More »

More about:  John McCain Senate Jimmy Carter Navy

 US Preparing Iran War Plans 

Attack isn't imminent, Joint Chiefs chair says, but US has capability

(Newser) - The US is preparing for a potential military action against Iran, the nation’s top military official said today. Such an attack would be “extremely stressing” on the military, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, but it is on the table if a diplomatic solution can’t stop Iran’s alleged hunt for nuclear weapons and involvement in Iraq, the Washington Post reports. More »

More about:  Iran US military Robert Gates Air Force Navy Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen

Navy Busts
Marriage
Fraud Ring

Dozens of sailors charged with wedding foreigners for profit

(Newser) - Dozens of US sailors and Eastern European women have been arrested for their part in a purported mass-marriage fraud ring, CNN reports. Sailors allegedly tied the knot with women they barely knew, netting the wives green cards and the sailors marriage benefits totaling roughly $500,000. “What we see are small pockets of friends forming this conspiracy,” said the investigating agent. More »

More about:  crime marriage fraud Navy

 SEAL's Sacrifice 
 Wins Medal of Honor 

Sniper who smothered grenade hailed for saving lives of fellow service members

(Newser) - A Navy SEAL who dove on a live grenade to save comrades' lives in Iraq received the Medal of Honor today, the Navy Times reports. Michael Monsoor's parents, George and Sally, received the nation's highest combat honor from President Bush, who wept during the ceremony. Monsoor, 25, died Sept. 29, 2006, as US forces tried to take Ramadi from insurgents. More »

More about:  Iraq George W. Bush US Navy Navy Ramadi Navy SEALs Medal of Honor Silver Star

OPINION

 Next Prez's To-Do: Fix Military 

Budget woes aren't the only defense issue facing White House's next denizen

(Newser) - Has President Bush done irreparable damage to our armed forces? Not necessarily, Phillip Carter and Fred Kaplan write in Slate, offering a to-do list for the next president to tackle as he or she begins the process of fixing a military "in strange shambles." Overhaul the budget: "We don't have the money to stay this course." More »

More about:  Iraq War on Terror US Army military soldier Air Force Navy war cost

Ex-Sailor Convicted in Terror Case

Navy signalman told al-Qaeda group about ship movements

(Newser) - A jury in Connecticut convicted a former Navy sailor today of passing along classified information about US ships in the Persian Gulf to terrorists, the AP reports. Prosecutors said Phoenix native Hassan Abu-Jihaad, 32, sent details about naval ship movements to a group affiliated with al-Qaeda in April of 2001. The FBI says no attacks resulted from the leak. More »

More about:  al-Qaeda terrorism Navy Persian Gulf Strait of Hormuz USS Cole Muslim convert

Questions Trail After Satellite

American politicians, Asian powers fret over missile capability

(Newser) - The US Navy's destruction of a spy satellite on Wednesday continues to stir doubts both domestically and internationally, reports the New York Times. China issued an explicit warning yesterday, and Russia has raised questions. “The geopolitical fallout of this intercept could be far greater than any chemical fallout that would have resulted from the wayward satellite,” said House Homeland Security Committee member Edward Markey. More »

More about:  China military Robert Gates Navy satellite spy satellite