This week in links: MWR site trouble, a familiar face coming back as region CO
Friday, January 29, 2010
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Links for the week of Jan. 29:
USS John C. Stennis is back off the coast of California to train pilots for carrier landings. A Navy photographer snapped a picture of Bill Gates when he paid a visit to the ship before it left Bremerton. In San Diego, a local newspaper posted a photo of a sailor standing watch and another with the city's skyline in the background as the Stennis pulled away.
A possible intrusion to the Navy Region Northwest Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) computer network prompted the Navy to shut down the network to make some changes. That explains why the region's Web site for MWR and Fleet and Family Readiness services, NavyLifePNW.com, has been down recently.
The city of Marysville named a street after the Everett-based frigate USS Ingraham, which is currently on a seven-month deployment. The ship is expected to return home in April.
Rear Adm. Doug Biesel was assigned this week as the next commander for Navy Region Northwest. Biesel was the first CO for Naval Base Kitsap, which combined all of Kitsap County's naval installations under one command in 2004.
The Quadrennial Defense Review, expected to be made public next week, is likely to contain a plan for the future of the U.S. aircraft carrier fleet. Navy Times reported that a draft version of the QDR shows the Navy keeping 10 or 11 carriers. Rumors had been swirling that the QDR might result in cutting two aircraft carrier groups to take the total number down to nine. Some speculated that could mean an early retirement for USS Abraham Lincoln, which is scheduled for its mid-life refueling in 2013.
Also next week, the defense budget will be introduced to Congress. First Lady Michelle Obama gave a preview of new funding for military families in the budget during a speech in Washington, D.C.
The Navy continues to play a big role in relief efforts after the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Journalists from the Baltimore Sun spent time reporting from the hospital ship USNS Comfort off Haiti's coast. They produced this report about some of the tough decisions facing doctors regarding whom they can help.
— Elaine Helm Norton, Northwest Navy News editor