Sunday, September 24, 2017

What Happened to the U. S. Navy?

As you know, the better part of humility is not offering opinions on topics you do not understand. Military preparedness counts among those that your humble blogger does not understand.

The same cannot be said by Ray Starmann, former U. S. Army intelligence officer, founder of the blog, U. S. Defense watch. A few weeks ago Starmann posted about what is wrong with the United States Navy. Considering the Navy’s recent collisions, the question is germane. (via Maggie’s Farm)

I report his analysis. You decide on its value:

It’s not Kim, it’s not China, it’s not Putin and it’s not Dr. No. It’s a lack of training, a lack of focus on what is important and it’s a complete abandonment of the Navy’s and the military’s mission which is to train for war and to win those wars when called upon to do so.

Starmann then made his case. He began with the embarrassing surrender of two Navy speed boats to the Iranian Navy in January 2016. You will notice that this incident took place during the Obama presidency. Could it be that Barack Obama liked to surrender and submit to Iran?

Starmann wrote:

In January 2016, two US Navy high speed Riverine boats from the 5th Fleet were apparently underway from Bahrain to Kuwait when they strayed into Iranian waters, while attempting to contact a vessel to refuel. The Pentagon first said that they had engine trouble. Yet, if that was the case, why didn’t the other boat tow the boat with mechanical problems to international waters and safety?

Then, the Pentagon said that they had navigational issues. How was this possible in 2016, with each boat having an array of GPS and radar equipment? Even if one boat’s systems completely shut down, couldn’t they rely on the other boat’s GPS or radar?

Lieutenant David Nartker, commanding officer of the two US Navy Riverine boats, surrendered his men and his craft with superior firepower to a half dozen Iranian thugs in bass boats that looked like they belonged on Bill Dance’s fishing show. Nartker surrendered without firing so much as a flare. After boarding the Navy boats, Nartker and his men were ordered down on their knees while the Iranians trained machine guns and cameras on them.

Nartker doubled and tripled and quadrupled down on his disgraceful conduct by apologizing to the Iranians for a worldwide TV audience.

And then there was this: a baby was born on an aircraft carrier in September, 2016. You know who was commander in chief at that time:

Last September, a baby was born on the aircraft carrier, the USS  Dwight  David Eisenhower, which is part of the 5th Fleet.

According to the Navy, “As the baby was born at sea aboard an operational unit, the main focus for the U.S. Navy, the ship and its crew is the safety and well being of the baby and the mother,” Cmdr. Bill Urban, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command spokesman, told The Virginian-Pilot. Urban continued – “While it would have been preferred to send her to her home port earlier, per policy, we are now focused on caring for the health and welfare of our Sailor and the newest member of our Navy family,” Urban said.

Absolutely, Commander Urban, the main priority of a Navy ship of war is post natal care. I mean why not, the Navy can’t do anything else right, why not just become a floating maternity ward.

Apparently an incubator, diapers and formula were flown out to the carrier following the baby’s birth.

Rather than blame it all on the Obamafied military, Starmann takes us back to the G. H. W. Bush era, when the Tailhook scandal was skillfully used by feminist radicals to undermine military readiness. One notes that Bush himself, a former fighter pilot, caved to feminist outrage and  sympathized with the victims of the male debauchery, thus fueling the attack on the Navy.

Starmann explained:

In actuality, the Navy has been sliding down the drain for 26 years, ever since the feminist slaughter house called the Tailhook Affair, when hundreds of US Navy and Marine Corps officers, including Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Frank Kelso, were keel-hauled by the Navy for drinking, carousing, indecent conduct and drummed up charges of sexual assault. Imagine that, aviators who drink and get laid; can’t have that in the military.

Tailhook became a catalyst for the left and for feminists to destroy the military through social engineering. As James Webb remarked, “When the Tailhook investigation began, and certain political elements used the incident to bring discredit on naval aviation as a whole, and then on the Navy writ large, one is entitled to ask… Who fought this? Who condemned it? When a whole generation of officers is asked to accept … the destruction of the careers of some of the finest aviators in the Navy based on hearsay, unsubstantiated allegations, in some cases after a full repudiation of anonymous charges that resemble the worst elements of McCarthyism … what admiral has had the courage to risk his own career by putting his stars on the table, and defending the integrity of the process and of its people?”

According to Starmann political correctness has diminished the United States Navy. For those who think, with Joe Biden, that gender diversity will make the military stronger, these events serve as a rebuttal.

Starmann concluded.

Since September of 1991, the Navy has slowly castrated itself with a pen knife, transforming the once proud service into the ill-functioning eunuch of today.

We now have a Navy that can’t fight, can’t navigate, and is largely without basic seamanship skills.

One must ask what the PC revolution has done to help the US Navy fight and win wars?

It’s done nothing except to put people’s lives in danger and to get people killed.

Expect more incompetence, more babies born on ships, more PC lunacy and more general misconduct. The US Navy is a total cluster.

As I said, I report. You decide.


7 comments:

Sam L. said...

I agree with Mr. Starmann.

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

The Glowing Box changes everything. The Tailhook matter was a broadcast spectacle. Military preparedness be damned, pilots should be altar boys. Isn't that what the girls all want? PC pajama boys flying multimillion dollar aircraft?

So the Navy and Marine Corps aviation brass get cleansed through the bureaucratic laundry, with careers ruined sometimes by hearsay. Meanwhile, our nation's Secret Service is a serial disgrace. The IRS commissioner Koskinen sneers at Congressional investigation. Ben Rhodes is Obama's lying enabler, and is lauded for his brilliance.

It's great television. And no one is held accountable. What do all these examples have that our military leaders do not?

As for the Iranian issue, I am still waiting to hear from someone -- anyone -- any rationale for how Obama's Iranian deals benefited American national interests in that troubled region of the world. Lieutenant Narkter was simply following Obama's example. Obama bows to a Saudi King, Narkter kneels before Iranian thugs.

Uncle Max said...

I have two nephews in the Navy. First in our family to join it. I was Army. I went to both of their graduations from boot near Chicago. The second time there, I knew what I would see, but that first time? Wow. I couldn't help feeling , is this really a military boot graduation or a bunch of grads of a technical school, all wearing the same stuff? I mean no offense, b/c I haven't been around the Army since the mid-80's, but I was shocked really... and saddened. Everything in that critical review strikes true to me. The Navy has systemic issues and has been thoroughly compromised. I hope someday, they turn things around. It is completely infected with Political Correctness, root and branch.

Shaun F said...

I don't understand why a pregnant woman is serving on an operational navy unit. Based on my limited knowledge, pregnant women in the military are given medical categories by their doctor which prevent them from serving on operational ships. Meaning they get a desk job at the shore office. Very odd.

Uncle Max said...

Shaun F>>>

"A sailor who complained of a stomachache recently gave birth to a healthy, 7-pound baby girl aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Navy told The Virginian-Pilot. The sailor, who was on the ship while it operated in the Persian Gulf, did not report she was pregnant because she said she did not know she was."

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/09/12/us-navy-sailor-gives-birth-on-aircraft-carrier-after-complaining-stomach-pains.html

Crazy.

Shaun F said...

Uncle Max. Thank you.

I had forgotten about that segment of women in the military who "did not know she was pregnant." That explains it. From what I've seen, not knowing you're pregnant - is a sign that the elevator is going down.

Ares Olympus said...

Stuart: Starmann then made his case. He began with the embarrassing surrender of two Navy speed boats to the Iranian Navy in January 2016. You will notice that this incident took place during the Obama presidency. Could it be that Barack Obama liked to surrender and submit to Iran?

Could it be that Stuart didn't like President Obama?

But in terms of diplomacy, even if the incident was a conspiracy of sorts, it looks like a sensible test. If you want to test the good will of a rival power, put something valuable to you at their mercy, and allow them to make the wise choice to take good care of your asset, and return it unharmed.

It looks like the U.S. and N.Korea are playing higher stakes games. Shooting down an aircraft in international space is an act of war, but what do we think we'd do if N.Korea or China were flying military aircraft close to Hawaii? We can say we wouldn't shoot it down, but of course we'd assert the right to do so.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/north-korea-asserts-its-right-to-shoot-down-us-bombers/2017/09/25/74da66c4-a204-11e7-8cfe-d5b912fabc99_story.html