Another Indication Of A Country In Decline

US Navy to lower its fitness standards – again

December 24, 2017

U.S. Pacific Fleet / CCL

How soon until the military starts handing out participation trophies?

The U.S. Navy announced earlier this month that it will be scaling back its physical fitness requirements for both officers and enlisted personnel in an effort to boost recruitment.

The new rules, which are set to take effect March 31, 2018, will givenearly 50,000 sailors who previously did not meet fitness requirements a “clean slate,” according to Navy Times.

Effort to Increase Ranks

Prior to this rule change, sailors have been required to leave the service if they fail two Physical Fitness Assessments, or PFAs, within a three-year period. The PFA is a two-part process consisting of Body Composition Assessment and a Physical Readiness Test, the latter of which grades sailors on push-ups, sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run based on their age.

The new regulations will allow sailors who have failed these PFAs to remain in the service “until at least the end of their current enlistment or service obligation,” according to Navy Times.

“If those sailors pass their next PFA test, they will be in good standing and can potentially stay beyond their current enlistment,” according to the Times. “But if they continue to fail the PFA, they won’t be allowed to stay in beyond their current service obligation, according to the new rules.”

These changes are a part of the Navy’s effort to increase its personnel by 4,100 by September.

“Retention of every capable Sailor is critical to the operational readiness of the Navy,” Vice Adm. Robert P. Burke, the chief of naval personnel, wrote. He continued:

The goal of the Navy’s physical readiness program is to maintain a minimum prescribed level of fitness necessary for world-wide deployment and to maintain a sailor’s long-term health and wellness.

Not the First Time

This isn’t the first time the Navy has lowered its personnel standards recently. According to Navy Times, “the change marks the third time in a week that the Navy has scaled back its rules that send sailors prematurely packing before the end of their enlistment.”

 

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The branch has also recently “increased high-year tenure for E-3 sailors and ended early out programs.”

In addition, the Navy relaxed its body fat standards in 2015.

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Almost 1,700 sailors were discharged last year for failure to meet PFA standards, and as of July 2017, more than 43,000 sailors received at least one failure on a PFA in the previous three years — one away from dismissal. Records showed that another 5,477 failed twice.

The Navy’s new rules will give these sailors a reprieve if they wish to remain in the service. But wouldn’t a smarter way to recruit more sailors be to simply increase their pay?

When A Nation Appears Weak, Timid And Reticent To Take Action, This Is What Happens.

MUST SEE VIDEO: America's Enemies 

Preparing For Attack

• 04/14/2016 
• Source: AAN 
• by: AAN Staff

 28  5  20  3  0 0

The Cold War may be over, but if Vladimir Putin has his way, it could get hot 

very quickly. Yesterday, in a shocking act of provocation, Russian ships 

buzzed an American destroyer in the Baltic. The details are below:

A United States Navy destroyer operating in international waters in the

Baltic Sea experienced several close interactions by Russian aircraft

April 11 and 12. 

USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) encountered multiple, aggressive flight

maneuvers by Russian aircraft that were performed within close

proximity of the ship.

On April 11, Donald Cook was conducting deck landing drills with an

allied military helicopter when two Russian SU-24 jets made numerous

close-range and low altitude passes at approximately 3 p.m. local. One

of the passes, which occurred while the allied helicopter was refueling

on the deck of Donald Cook, was deemed unsafe by the ship's

commanding officer. As a safety precaution, flight operations were

suspended until the SU-24s departed the area.

On April 12, while Donald Cook was operating in international waters

in the Baltic Sea, a Russian KA-27 Helix helicopter conducted circles

at low altitude around the ship, seven in total, at approximately 5 p.m.

local. The helicopter passes were also deemed unsafe and

unprofessional by the ship's commanding officer. About 40 minutes

following the interaction with the Russian helicopter, two Russian

SU-24 jets made numerous close-range and low altitude passes,

11 in total. The Russian aircraft flew in a simulated attack profile and

failed to respond to repeated safety advisories in both English and

Russian. USS Donald Cook's commanding officer deemed several of

these maneuvers as unsafe and unprofessional.

Quotes: 

"April 11-12, USS Donald Cook was operating in a professional manner

in international waters conducting operations and exercises with our allies

in the Baltic Sea."

"In my judgement these maneuvers in close proximity to Donald Cook

are unprofessional and unsafe."

-Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, Adm. Mark Ferguson

This is what an absence of leadership looks like. Barack Obama may have

 no taste for another military occupation of the Middle East, and on that, 

most Americans agree. But as Ronald Reagan noted, America is supposed

 to be a "Shining City on a Hill," a beacon of liberty and the world's first line 

of defense against encroaching tyranny. Yet when it's come time to fulfill 

that obligation, time and again, he's apologized to our enemies and 

negotiated from weakness. Predictably, the sharks are smelling blood, 

and now we're all unsafe.

 Source: AAN

- See more at: http://americanactionnews.com/articles/must-see-video-america-s-enemies-preparing-for-attack#sthash.yc6ZJuso.dpuf

Can't Wait For The Military To Do Away With Sex Distinct Bathrooms! Then They Will Wonder Why Things Go Astray!

GENDERS AWAY! NAVY STUNS WITH 'UNISEX' UNIFORMS

'We used to call this cross-dressing'

Published: 16 hours ago

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/09/dernstwnd_avatar.jpg

 DOUGLAS ERNST 

The U.S. Navy plans to go “gender-blind” with new uniforms and hats issued to sailors in 2016. (Image: U.S. Navy)

Welcome to the U.S. (unisex) Navy.

Sailors will soon be issued “Dixie Cup” hats and gender-neutral uniforms to satisfy Navy Secretary Ray Mabus’ demands. A preview of the new uniforms was revealed Monday.

“Having service members don the same headgear is symbolic of a Navy that is gender-blind,” Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen told Military Times on Monday. “We have been working hard to design covers and uniforms that improve uniformity across the force as well as improve the function and fit of sailors’ uniforms according to Mabus’ plan for uniform and cover redesign.”

The new hat will be issued to sailors with a rank of E-6 and below next April. A re-designed Service Dress Blue uniform for men and women will be issued beginning Oct. 1 next year, and the female version of the iconic “crackerjack” uniform will be phased out by next fall, the newspaper reported.

“We have done several wear-tests and have incorporated sailors’ feedback,” Lt. Cmdr. Christensen added.

Feedback on Military.com’s website was resoundingly negative.

“We used to call this cross-dressing. Our senior military leadership have obviously bought into the pop-social theory, espoused by today’s progressives, that gender differences are a result of experience and cultural conditioning,” a user identified as OldNavy207 wrote Tuesday.

“Years from now people in our country won’t even know who to have sex with,” another user added.

“The U.S. Navy, 242 years of tradition unhampered by progress, but crippled due to political correctness,” said Michael Llyod.

Mabus told skeptical midshipmen in May the move was designed to improve moral and and cohesion.

“We are not trying to make women look like men, but make everybody look like a U.S. sailor or Marine,” Mabus said at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, on May 13, Marine Corps Times reported.

Copyright 2015 WND

Obama Does Not Carry A Big Stick In Foreign Affairs, He Approaches The World With A Limp Noodle!

US Refuses to Condemn Iran Aggression at Sea

• 
  

(globalsecurity.org)

Iran blatantly breached international maritime conventions by raiding a cargo ship and forcing it to an Iranian port, but the US refuses to condemn Tehran for the aggression as it aims to reach a nuclear deal by June 30.

Iranian forces on Tuesday fired warning shots across the bridge of the MV Maersk Tigris, a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel, as it was traversing the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians boarded and directed it toward the Iranian mainland, a Pentagon official said. No one was injured.

The incident, which prompted the US Navy to dispatch a destroyer and plane in response, comes at a critical time in Tehran’s relations with the US, which is negotiating a final deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

In another incident, US Navy officials said Tuesday that several Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) Navy vessels had surrounded a US-flagged cargo ship, the Maersk Kensington, last Friday as it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz. No shots were fired, the Iranian vessels broke off contact, and the cargo ship proceeded without further incident.

US Navy ship. (AP/Bullit Marquez)

In Tuesday’s incident, the intercepted ship was traveling through the narrow Strait, which is technically Iranian and Omani territorial waters, but under international agreement it is open to foreign ships making innocent passage, explained Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. It was not clear whether the ship had strayed off course into coastal waters not protected by that agreement.

The master of the MV Maersk Tigris initially refused an order to move further into Iranian waters, but after the warning shots were fired, the vessel complied, Warren said. The cargo ship was directed to waters near Larak Island, located off the major Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

Iranian state television reported that only 24 crew – hailing from Britain, Bulgaria, Romania and Myanmar – were on board the vessel, adding that the ship was seized based on a court order due to unspecified violations.

Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

A History of Iranian Maritime Belligerence

The Strait of Hormuz is the route for about a fifth of the world’s oil.

Iran had previously threatened to block the strait, a move that could spark a military conflict in the Gulf. American and allied naval forces routinely patrol the strait and have conducted military drills aimed at countering threats such as sea mines, which Iran could use to close the waterway.

Tehran frequently conducts military exercises in and around the strait. Large-scale, live-fire naval drills in February saw Revolutionary Guard forces assault a replica of a US aircraft carrierbuilt in a Bandar Abbas shipyard.

“It is inappropriate” for the Iranians to have fired warning shots across the ship’s bridge in Tuesday’s circumstances, Warren said, adding that it was too early to know whether the Iranian intervention amounted to a violation of the freedom of navigation through a waterway heavily used by international shipping.

In 2007, Revolutionary Guard forces captured 15 British sailors and marines from a frigate in the Gulf, accusing them of operating in Iranian waters. They were released less than two weeks later.

Commenting on the incident, US State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke refused to condemn Iran’s hostile action, saying that they were still “collecting information.” Neither would he define the incident as an act of piracy or violent aggression.

“I’m not going to apply an adjective to it right now,” Rathke stated. “I don’t have further reaction at this point.”

The Obama administrationd appears to be selectively ignoring Iran’s aggressive actions in order not to jeopardize a potential nuclear deal with Iran.