From the Navy News Service

1942 - Patrol Wing (VP) 82 aircraft sinks German submarine, U-656. It is the Navy's first submarine kill of World War II.

1954 - The first of six detonations takes place during Operation Castle nuclear test.

1980 - USS Vulcan (AR 5) completes first six-month deployment with women as part of its crew.

Sbm later?

There is a special on the History Channel at 10:00pm tonite on the WWII carrier Enterprise, if anyone is interested

KITTY HAWK TO INDIA? Reliable sources report that DoD is considering transferring the USS "Kitty Hawk" (CV 63 - built by New York Ship in 1961 and still active), to India, as an incentive to them to buy a whole lot of US-built fighters. Good idea, although it would be nice if, one day, DoD would consider giving some country a bunch of old fighters as an incentive to them to buy some US-built ships. As one humorist points out, however, an advantage of this deal is that tech support would only require a local call. February 26, 2008.

I think Cole was part of the Nassau ESG. I posted deployment recently.

18 hour day today a normal but bad day tomorrow and then two 12 hour days over the weekend.

Larry

The Western-backed government and the opposition have repeatedly failed to agree a deal to end political impasse.

A US official quoted by news agencies said the move was "a show of support for regional stability".

"We are very concerned about the situation in Lebanon. It has dragged on very long," the unnamed senior US official told Reuters news agency.

A US defence official quoted by Reuters said the USS Cole, a guided-missile destroyer, had left Malta on Tuesday and was heading toward Lebanon.

He stressed that once in position, it would not be within visible range of Lebanon but "well over the horizon".

The news agency said the official had indicated that the destroyer could be replaced by the USS Nassau, an amphibious assault ship, which is currently heading towards the Mediterranean.

The USS Cole was attacked in the port of Aden, Yemen, in October 2000 by water-borne al-Qaeda suicide bombers. Seventeen US sailors were killed and the ship was badly damaged.

Postponed 15 times

Lebanon has not had a president since 24 November, when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud left office. Parliament has repeatedly failed to elect a successor amid an ongoing row over candidates.

The election was postponed once again this week, and is now due to take place on 11 March. It was the 15th such delay.

There are fears that the political deadlock could lead to escalating sectarian violence.

Recent clashes between supporters of rival factions have further raised tensions and prompted several countries to advise their citizens against travelling to Lebanon.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal warned earlier this month that the country was "on the verge of civil war".

The setting up of an international tribunal to try the assassins of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is another source of tension.

Syria is widely blamed for the February 2005 car bomb attack that killed Hariri, but Damascus has denied any involvement.

Two months after the assassination, amid US-led international pressure, Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year occupation.

Back to work.

Larry

USPS has approved pictorial postmarks for Christening of USS NEW YORK LPD-21 at both Westwego LA and at New York City. Approval came in today! These will appear in a later Postal Bulletin with an extention. If you already mailed your covers to Westwego, you may get back their circular date stamp, as they might not even know the approval went through yet.

By Zachary M. Peterson - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Feb 26, 2008 14:30:56 EST

The Navy plans to sink 15 decommissioned ships and scrap an additional 24 in the next five years, according to the latest shipbuilding plan.
In fiscal 2009, the Navy will sink the Yellowstone-class destroyer Acadia, the Spruance-class destroyer Conolly and the acoustic research ship Hayes. The Hayes is still active and will be decommissioned sometime this year, according to the Navy. The service requested $5.4 million to sink the three ships in the fiscal 2009 budget presented to Congress in early February. Two ships in the current plan are slated to sink and become artificial reefs, the plan notes: the Spruance-class destroyer Arthur W. Radford, which rests in Philadelphia, and the auxiliary aircraft landing training ship and former carrier Forrestal, currently berthed in Newport, R.I. Specific sink dates have not been set for these two ships because plans must be coordinated with Congress and other government agencies, the plan states. The Radford was named after the first Navy admiral to hold the position of chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was decommissioned in March 2003 after about 26 years in service. The Forrestal spent 38 years in service. The ship was the first of its class of aircraft carriers, and was known unofficially as the “Forrest fire” due to the number of fires onboard. Innovations on the Forrestal-class carriers included an angled flight deck and a steam catapult. The ship was named after former Navy secretary James Forrestal, who was also the first defense secretary. The majority of the ships the Navy plans to sink — 11 vessels of the 15 — are auxiliary ships. These ships will be replaced by T-AKE dry cargo and ammunition ships. The Lewis and Clark-class T-AKE ships replace three auxiliary ships: the Kilauea-class ammunition ships, the Mars-class combat stores ships and — when operating with a Henry J. Kaiser-class oiler — the Supply-class fast combat support ships. The Navy plans to buy 12 T-AKE ships by fiscal 2012. Right now, there are three T-AKEs in service with a fourth, the Richard E. Byrd set to enter service this year. The Navy plans to scrap 24 ships in the next five years, but specific dates are not provided in the fiscal 2009 30-year ship plan. Nearly half of the ships — 10 hulls — are submarines, nine of which are nuclear powered; the Navy does not sink nuclear ships due to environmental concerns.
“For nuclear ships, dismantling through a special recycling process is the only viable option,” the plan states. “Disposal of conventionally powered ships by sinking will usually be conducted as part of an approved training exercise or to support weapons testing requirements.” according to the Navy plan.
The Navy’s fleet of inactive ships has been reduced by more than two-thirds in the last decade, the plan notes. An inventory of 195 ships in 1997 is now down to 62 ships, the document says. “Over the past seven years, the Navy’s average cost to dismantle conventionally powered Navy inactive ships in the U.S. is $300 per ton,” said Kathleen Roberts, a Naval Systems Command spokeswoman. Further, it costs the Navy $14 million per year to maintain its current inactive ship inventory, Roberts said. The Navy is asking Congress for $110 million total in fiscal 2009 to pay for ship deactivations and disposal, according to the budget request. Plans for how and when the Navy moves forward with its inactive fleet are made at the service’s annual ship disposition review conference. The next conference is slated for November or December this year, said Lt. Clay Doss, a Navy spokesman.

Speaking Navy, watch a preview airing tonite on PBS of their up coming special on Carriers, filmed aboard the Nimitz. Looks like its going to be a great show, might I suggest all you with an interest in the Navy watch it when it airs in your area. Check your PBS listings for April.

The ship is named New York in honor of the state, the city and the victims of Sept. 11, 2001. A unique characteristic of the ship is the use of 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the World Trade Center wreckage that was incorporated into the construction process. The steel was melted and formed to make the bow stem of the ship. Use of this steel symbolizes the spirit and resiliency of the people of New York. The official motto of New York is: “Never Forget.”

Should be a great learning experience. She graduates from University of FLorida in Dec---I hope.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7614213749009433989&q=submarine%2C+uss

From the Navy News Service

1844 - The Peacemaker, an experimental 14-inch gun, explodes aboard USS Princeton.

1893 - USS Indiana (BB 1), the first true battleship in the U.S. Navy, is launched.

1959 - USS Strong (DD 758) rescues 13 Arab fishermen from Bahrain when their fishing boats flounder in a storm.

1980 - The blue crew of USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN 657) launches four Trident I (C-4) missiles in the first C-4 operational test.

In any event, there will be a series of articles on fraudulent postmarks, etc. and FLK will have his due. He's not alone.
Larry

Think your right about Karcher Covers being mixed in with a lot of large cover lots on E-Bay.
Eample was several years back I purchased a large lot of Naval Covers on e-Bay from a well known cover seller, in the lot there were about 25 Karcher covers, no mwention of them in the auction description, just stated it was a mixed lot and named some of the ships, the scans that were shown were some of the better quality covers. Felt like I got my moneies worth out of the lot, even counting the Karcher junk, so never complained to the seller. After all he did state it was a mixed lot, with some better covers. Not sure today if I would have kept that lot, but we all learn in this hobby as time goes by.

From the Navy News Service

1861 - Congress approves the construction of seven steam sloops.

1928 - A packtrain escorted by 35 Marines is ambushed by 600 Sandinastas near Bromaderos, Nicaragua. The Marines fight off the repeated attacks and are relieved the next day.

1942 - During the Battle of the Java Sea, an allied naval force attacks a Japanese invasion convoy.

"All,
1. There is a little miscommunication going on. All surface ships (not submarines) with a Post Office, whether run by a Postal Clerk (PC) or a
Postal Petty Officer (PPO) will receive a stamp, FUNDED BY U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC). Mr Reyes, this is not optional. The Fleet Supply Officer, RDML Brown, has made this a mandatory requirement so all ships will comply. If you mistakenly passed that information to the Fleet, please retract. This is not a Pentagon directive...they are coordinating this for USFFC via Ms Kweilen Kimmmelman(DEPUNSECNAV). As soon as Ms. Kimmelman provides cost information, USFFC will make arrangements for the procurement/shipment of the comm emorative stamp to all units. FPO's have been provided by East and West Coast Postal advisors and forwarded to DEPUNSECNAV.

2. This should not be a burden as this is not additional duty, rather it is a temporary replacement stamp in lieu of the current stamp.
Please await further guidance from U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC). You can contact me (see below) or PCCM Card (xxx-xxx-xxxx if you have any questions.
V/R
CDR Fulford"

Also receive Four Chaplains covers. Cancels were underinked but readable; a little disappointing.

To all: the information I'm posting on cancels comes from those of you that report it to me. I'm simply compiling and posting the information that is provided to me. So please share what you know about GWF cancels or the 100 Years of Global Partnership cancels and I'll post it too.

http://www.uscs.org/comm_cancels_08.htm

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced Monday that the mission to launch a Navy missile-interceptor at a dead spy satellite appears to have succeeded in destroying a tank filled with toxic rocket fuel.
In a statement, the Pentagon said that it had reached its conclusion based on studying remnants from the missile strike last Wednesday.
"Based on debris analysis, officials are confident the missile intercept and destruction of a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite achieved the objective of destroying the hydrazine tank and reducing, if not eliminating, the risk to people on Earth from the hazardous chemical," the Pentagon said in a statement released Monday morning.
The statement said a joint space operations headquarters based at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, was tracking fewer than 3,000 pieces of debris, "all smaller than a football." Most of the debris, the statement said, already re-entered the atmosphere or would within coming weeks.
There had been no reports of debris hitting Earth, the statement said, adding that "it is unlikely any will remain intact to impact the ground."

Yesterday was a good day to outline new articles. Trying to keep them shorter. Should finish the older ones first. Finishing an article on the first legal beers since 1916. On board nimitz on 100th consecutive day underway April 1980

Too much work on covers and articles about chaplains.

It was an old German ice cream place -- the original owner is long gone but he spoke German with my grandmother and my father remembers that Mr. Egger had a shortwave radio and listed to broadcasts of speeches from Germany before the war. He was a character -- I remember from my childhood that he wasn't fond of kids or any other form of people -- but he made great ice cream. The tradition continues. The coffee ice cream was wonderful, even on a winter day. Larry

Working on a few articles. Does anyone have details about the Gallery brother who wasn't a flag officer, Chaplain John Ireland Gallery? I have a penalty envelope sent from him and it makes a nice short article.

Sinking
These ships will be disposed of by sinking in the listed fiscal years.
* 2009: destroyer tender Acadia, destroyer Conolly, both no longer in service, and research ship Hayes.
* 2010: combat store ships Concord, San Jose, Spica and Niagara Falls.
* 2011: combat store ship Saturn and ammunition ship Kilauea.
* 2012: ammunition ships Flint, Shasta, Mount Baker and Kiska.
The decommissioned auxiliary aircraft landing training ship — and former carrier — Forrestal and destroyer Arthur W. Radford also are expected to be sunk, but no time frame has been determined.
Scrapping
These decommissioned ships are scheduled to be dismantled in the next five years: destroyer tender Puget Sound; command ship Coronado; submarine tenders Simon Lake, L.Y. Spear and McKee; cruisers Yorktown, Vincennes and Thomas S. Gates; aircraft carriers Independence and Constellation; amphibious transport dock Austin; helicopter amphibious assault ship New Orleans; dock landing ships Anchorage and Fort Fisher; submarine Trout; and nuclear submarines Drum, Omaha, Cincinnati, New York City, Groton, Birmingham, Phoenix and Baltimore. The fast-attack submarine Los Angeles, still in commission, also is on the list to be dismantled.

Thanks!, Mike Kaup

1795 - The U.S. Navy Office of Purveyor of Supplies is established. This is officially recognized as the Navy Supply Corps Birthday.

1919 - USS Osmond Ingram (DD 255), the first Navy ship named for an enlisted man, is commissioned.

1944 - Carrier groups under Adm. Raymond Spruance attack Saipan, Tinian and Rota in the Marianas.

1945 - U.S. Marines and a Navy corpsman raise the American flag on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima. The scene has been forever remembered on the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Village computer center is closing - bbl

Glad to see that the search function has been improved. We should never forget to thank Karl Zurn and his team for this wonderful -- free -- site. Enjoy/

Larry

From Naval Special Warfare Command Public Affairs

SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Two Navy SEALs will receive awards for actions they took during a highly classified operation to rescue U.S. POWs near Thanh Hoa, North Vietnam nearly 35 years ago.

Lt. Melvin S. Dry will be posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal with valor and Lt. Phillip L. "Moki" Martin will be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with valor.

The awards will be presented in two separate ceremonies. The Dry family will accept the Bronze Star Medal on behalf of Lt. Dry at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Feb. 25.

Lt. Martin will be awarded his medal at Naval Special Warfare Command Headquarters in Coronado Calif., on March 18.

In 1972, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff authorized U.S. Pacific Command to execute Operation Thunderhead in which SEALs were employed to assist in the rescue of POWs planning to escape, steal a boat and flee via the Red River to the Gulf of Tonkin. Although mission training and planning and rehearsal was conducted, the mission was aborted before execution. The operation was the first combat-use of a mini wet-submersible SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SDV).

The details of the once secret operation and the accounting of the SEALs' actions were reported in a magazine article in October of 2005.

When retired Capt. John D. Chamberlain, the then commander of the amphibious-transport submarine USS Grayback (LPSS-574) in which the SEALs were launched from during the operation, read the article and realized that neither Dry nor Martin were ever recognized.

Chamberlain collected naval messages, official documents, personal statements from witnesses and submitted awards for the two SEALs in November 2005.

The Navy authorized the medals on Oct. 26, 2007

Nassau Strike Group Deploys
Story Number: NNS080220-18
Release Date: 2/20/2008 8:08:00 PM

From Nassau Strike Group Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) -- The Nassau Strike Group (NASSG), with its more than 2,800 Sailors and Marines, deployed Feb. 19-20 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the Navy's 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO).

Commanded by Capt. Robert G. Lineberry, commander, Amphibious Squadron Six, the NASSG is made up of the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA 4); the amphibious transport dock ship USS Nashville (LPD 13); the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48); the guided-missile destroyers USS Ross (DDG 71) and USS Bulkeley (DDG 84); the attack submarine USS Albany (SSN 753); all homeported at Norfolk; and the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), homeported at Mayport, Fla.

Philippine Sea departed from Mayport on Feb. 19, with Ashland deploying from Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Va., on the same day. The remaining ships departed Naval Station Norfolk on Feb. 20.

During the past few months, the strike group has conducted several training exercises and passed multiple certifications in its pre-deployment preparation cycle.

MSO helps set the conditions for security and stability in the maritime environment, as well as complement the counterterrorism and security efforts of regional nations. These operations seek to disrupt violent extremists' use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack or to transport personnel, weapons or other material.

While in theater, the strike group will also support the other tenets of the Navy's Maritime Strategy, which include forward presence, deterrence, sea control, power projection, and humanitarian assistance/disaster response. The Maritime Strategy represents a new vision for the 21st century and establishes new capabilities to codify longstanding challenges, while maintaining our focus on enduring missions.

For more news from Nassau Strike Group, visit www.news.navy.mil/local/esg8/.

From the Department of Defense

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- A network of land-, air-, sea- and spaced-based sensors confirms that the U.S. military intercepted a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite which was in its final orbits before entering the earth's atmosphere.

At approximately 10:26 p.m. EST, Feb. 20, a U.S. Navy AEGIS warship, USS Lake Erie (CG-70), fired a single modified tactical Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) hitting the satellite approximately 133 nautical miles over the Pacific Ocean as it traveled in space at more than 17,000 mph. USS Decatur (DDG-73) and USS Russell (DDG-59) were also part of the task force.

The objective was to rupture the fuel tank to dissipate the approximately 1,000 pounds of hydrazine, a hazardous fuel which could be harmful, before it entered into earth's atmosphere. Confirmation that the fuel tank has been fragmented should be available within 24 hours.

Due to the relatively low altitude of the satellite at the time of the engagement, debris will begin to re-enter the earth's atmosphere immediately. Nearly all of the debris will burn up on reentry within 24-48 hours and the remaining debris should re-enter within 40 days.

DoD will conduct a press briefing at 7 a.m. EST to provide further information related to the operation. The briefing can be viewed live on www.Defenselink.mil through the Pentagon Channel.

Missile Strikes a Spy Satellite Falling From Its Orbit U.S. Navy handout via Associated PressThe missile launching from the Lake Erie, an Aegis-class cruiser, on Wednesday night.
By THOM SHANKERPublished: February 21, 2008

WASHINGTON - Just hours after a Navy missile interceptor struck a dying spy satellite orbiting 130 miles over the Pacific Ocean, a senior military officer expressed high confidence early Thursday that a tank filled with toxic rocket fuel had been breached.
Video of the unusual operation showed the missile leaving a bright trail as it streaked toward the satellite, and then a flash, a fireball, a plume and a cloud as the interceptor, at a minimum, appeared to have found its target, a satellite that went dead shortly after being launched in 2006.
"We're very confident that we hit the satellite," said Gen. James E. Cartwright of the Marines, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "We also have a high degree of confidence that we got the tank."
General Cartwright cautioned that despite visual and spectral evidence that the hydrazine rocket fuel had been dispersed, it could take 24 to 48 hours before the Pentagon could announce with full confidence that the mission was a success. Even so, he said the military had 80 to 90 percent confidence the fuel tank was breached.
The fuel tank aboard the satellite was believed strong enough to survive the fiery re-entry through the atmosphere, and officials expressed concerns that the toxic fuel could pose a hazard to populated areas.
General Cartwright said debris from the strike, with individual pieces no larger than a football, already had begun to re-enter the atmosphere. Most, he said, was predicted to fall into the ocean.
Even so, the State Department was alerting American embassies around the world so they could keep their host governments informed, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency had put out instructions to first responders across the United States about steps to take should hazardous debris fall in populated areas.
The first international reaction came from China, where the government objected on Thursday to the American missile strike, warning that the United States Navy's action could threaten security in outer space.
Liu Jianchao, the Chinese foreign ministry's spokesman, said at a news conference in Beijing that the United States should also share data promptly about what will become of the remaining pieces of the satellite, which are expected to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and mostly burn up in the next two days.
"China is continuously following closely the possible harm caused by the U.S. action to outer space security and relevant countries," Mr. Liu said, according to the Associated Press. "China requests the U.S. to fulfill its international obligations in real earnest and provide to the international community necessary information and relevant data in a timely and prompt way so that relevant countries can take precautions."
American officials were critical of China last year for using an anti-satellite weapon to destroy a satellite in a much higher orbit in January 2007 and then refusing to confirm the test for nearly two weeks. The Chinese test produced 1,600 pieces of debris that are expected to orbit the Earth for years, preventing other spacecraft from using the same or similar orbits.
During a Pentagon news conference Thursday morning, General Cartwright rebuffed those who said the mission was, at least in part, organized to showcase American missile defense or anti-satellite capabilities.
He said the missile itself had to be reconfigured from its task of tracking and hitting an adversary's warhead to instead find a cold, tumbling satellite. "This was a one-time modification," General Cartwright said.
Sensors from the American missile defense system were an important part of this mission, though, he said.
He stressed that "the intent here was to preserve human life," but also acknowledged that "the technical degree of difficulty was significant" and the accomplishment earned cheers from personnel in command centers across the military, as well.
Completing a mission in which an interceptor designed for missile defense was used for the first time to attack a satellite, the Lake Erie, an Aegis-class cruiser, fired a single missile just before 10:30 p.m. Eastern time, and the missile hit the satellite as it traveled at more than 17,000 miles per hour, the Pentagon said in its official announcement.
"A network of land-, air-, sea- and spaced-based sensors confirms that the U.S. military intercepted a nonfunctioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite which was in its final orbits before entering the Earth's atmosphere," the statement said.
By early Wednesday, three Navy warships were in position in the Pacific Ocean to launch the interceptors and to track the mission.
Radar and other tracking equipment, both in space and on the ground, were monitored at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, and at a space command headquarters in Colorado Springs, with control of the operation managed by the Strategic Command in Omaha, Neb.
Although the satellite circled the globe every 90 minutes, analysts pinpointed a single overhead pass each day that would offer the best chance of striking the satellite and then having half of the debris fall into the atmosphere in the next three orbits over water or less-populated areas of the Earth.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who left Washington on Wednesday for a week of meetings in Asia, had been empowered by President Bush to issue the order to shoot down the satellite and gave the order several hours before the strike.
The many moving parts of a mission to shoot down a dying spy satellite with an antimissile interceptor were lined up earlier Wednesday after the space shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth, officials said.
Military officials said their goal had been to carry out the mission before March 1, when the satellite was expected to start skidding against the upper reaches of the atmosphere.
That initial friction would bump the satellite into a more unpredictable Earth orbit, even before it started a fiery descent through the atmosphere.
Providing new information about how the mission would be carried out, a senior military officer on Wednesday described the vessels, weapons and command structure for the operation
The senior military officer said the mission would be launched in daylight to take advantage of radar, heat-sensor tracking and visual tracking equipment. The Navy had a window that lasted only tens of seconds as the satellite passed overhead, military officers said.
The Lake Erie has two Standard Missile 3 rockets that were adapted to track the cold satellite, as opposed to the heated enemy warheads for which it was designed. A second ship, the destroyer Decatur, had a third missile as backup. Another Navy destroyer, the Russell, sailed with the convoy for added tracking capabilities.
The 5,000-pound satellite, roughly the size of a school bus, was managed by the National Reconnaissance Office and went dead shortly after it was launched in December 2006.
The FEMA document notes, "Any debris should be considered potentially hazardous, and first responders should not attempt to pick it up or move it."

LATEST NEWS Task of Shooting Down Satellite Begins
By THOM SHANKERPublished: February 20, 2008

WASHINGTON - The many moving parts of a mission to shoot down a dying spy satellite with an anti-missile interceptor lined up Wednesday after the space shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth, officials said.
Military officials were reviewing the weather in the Pacific Ocean to determine if the operation could be launched overnight on Wednesday, as rough seas west of Hawaii prompted officials to caution that the attempt to destroy the satellite, carrying 1,000 pounds of toxic rocket fuel, might be delayed.
The goal of the mission is to prevent the fuel tank from reaching Earth and spilling its hazardous contents in a populous area. In the event that any of the hydrazine fuel falls on a populated area, the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday issued directions to community first responders on how to deal with dangerous debris from the satellite.
Military officials said their goal was to carry out the mission before March 1, when the satellite is predicted to start skidding against the upper reaches of the atmosphere. That initial friction would bump the satellite into a more unpredictable orbit around the Earth, even before it starts a fiery descent through the atmosphere.
Providing new information about how the mission would be carried out, a senior military officer on Wednesday described the vessels, weapons and command structure for the unusual operation, the first time an interceptor designed for missile defense would be used to attack a satellite. The senior military officer briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.
The officer said that three Navy warships were in position in the Pacific Ocean to launch the interceptors, and that radar and other tracking equipment, both in space and on the ground, were being monitored at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, and at a space command headquarters in Colorado Springs.
The operation is being controlled from the Strategic Command headquarters in Omaha, Neb., with additional monitoring of information transmitted from the interceptor managed by the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency.
Although the satellite circles the globe every 90 minutes, analysts have pinpointed a single overhead pass each day that would offer the best chance of striking it and then having half of the debris fall into the atmosphere during the very next three orbits over water or less-populated areas of the Earth.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who left Washington on Wednesday for a week of meetings in Asia, has been empowered by President Bush to issue the order to shoot down the satellite. Officials said Mr. Gates would have to weigh the opportunity of success against the many risks - including weather, technical problems and even world politics - before issuing the order.
Given rough seas on Wednesday, it was likely the mission would await at least a day. As the deadline approaches, officials said, such moderate risks as high seas might be overlooked.
The senior military officer said the mission would be launched in daylight to take advantage of radar, heat-sensor tracking and even visual tracking equipment.
When the order is given to carry out the mission, the Navy will have a window that lasts only tens of seconds as the satellite passes overhead, the senior military officer said.
An Aegis cruiser, the Lake Erie, has two Standard Missile 3 rockets on board that have been adapted to track the cold satellite, as opposed to the heated enemy warheads for which it was designed. A second Aegis ship, the Decatur, has a third missile as back-up, and another Navy vessel, the Russell, is sailing with the convoy for added tracking capabilities - what the senior military officer described as providing a "stereo picture."
Separately, a Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, dismissed suggestions that the operation was designed to test the nation's missile defense systems or antisatellite capabilities, or that the effort was to destroy sensitive intelligence equipment.
"This is about reducing the risk to human life on Earth - nothing more," Mr. Whitman said.
While officials should be able to determine within minutes of the launch whether the satellite was hit by the interceptor, which carries no explosive but strikes with destructive force, it may take a day or more to determine whether the fuel tank with 1,000 pounds of toxic Hydrazine was destroyed. Any decision to launch a second or third missile may take several days.
The 5,000-pound satellite, roughly the size of a school bus, is managed by the National Reconnaissance Office and went dead shortly after it was launched in December 2006.
FEMA on Wednesday issued an 18-page instructions document, "First Responder Guide For Space Object Re-Entry," to help local authorities deal with debris from the satellite should it fall in their areas. "The satellite that is degrading from orbit has hazardous materials on board that could pose immediate hazards to people if they come in contact with the material," the FEMA document states. "Any debris should be considered potentially hazardous, and first responders should not attempt to pick it up or move it. First responders should secure a perimeter and control access around any debris. DO NOT pick up any debris."
The document describes specific dangers posed by the hazardous material, what protective clothing is required for emergency workers in the vicinity, and how to manage populations near a site where debris falls.

Hi Dan!

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Santa Cruz Main Post Office
Great White Fleet postmark
850 Front St
Santa Cruz, CA 95060-9998

Monterey Main Post Office
Great White Fleet posrmark
565 Hartnell St
Monterey, CA 93940-9998

Keep in mind that these are for May 1 (Monterey) and May 2 (Santa Cruz), so wait until the end of April before you sned for your covers to be postmarked.

Thanks!, Mike Kaup

Specifications: Displacement, Surfaced: 1,526 t., Submerged: 2,424 t.; Length 311' 9"; Beam 27' 3"; Draft 15' 3"; Speed, Surfaced 20.25 kts, Submerged 8.75 kts; Complement 6 Officers 54 Enlisted; Operating Depth, 300 ft; Submerged Endurance, 48 hrs at 2 kts; Patrol Endurance 75 days; Cruising Range, 11,000 miles surfaced at 10 kts; Armament, ten 21" torpedo tubes, six forward, four aft, 24 torpedoes, one 3"/50 deck gun, two .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. machine guns; Propulsion, diesel electric reduction gear with four General Motors main generator engines, HP 5400, Fuel Capacity, 97,140 gals., four General Electric main motors, HP 2740, two 126-cell main storage batteries, twin propellers.