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Cowardice and Incompetence in the Persian Gulf – The US Navy has Severe Problems
US Defense Watch ^ | July 6, 2016 | Ray Starmann

Posted on 07/06/2016 8:14:44 PM PDT by pboyington

Edited on 08/21/2016 5:52:12 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

Last week, the Navy released the results of a lengthy investigation it had completed, concerning the conduct of one officer and nine enlisted sailors after they willingly surrendered their two Riverine Patrol Craft to the Iranians and were subsequently detained for 15 hours in the Persian Gulf last January.


(Excerpt) Read more at usdefensewatch.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Military/Veterans; Politics
KEYWORDS: catholic; codeofconduct; easterneuropean; greek; iran; iranseizesussailors; iranseizesussoldiers; italian; obama; usnavy
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To: ebshumidors

If they went down shooting, Obama would have blamed them and sent reparations to Iran, saying, “This is not who we are.”


41 posted on 07/07/2016 5:41:19 AM PDT by ebshumidors
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To: miss marmelstein

It’s un-American to allow this to happen.


42 posted on 07/07/2016 7:08:50 AM PDT by ripnbang ("An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man a subject)
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To: ripnbang

This happened to the Brits a few years ago and some of us scoffed. That was before Obama was president.


43 posted on 07/07/2016 7:11:56 AM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard the Third: With my own people alone I should like to drive away the Muslims)
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To: WENDLE

Did you read the entire article? The female gunner was ready to fight and the males weren’t.


44 posted on 07/07/2016 7:19:21 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$
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To: pboyington; warsaw44; ConservativeMind; PGR88; Boowhoknew; wastoute; miss marmelstein
Thinking of my own time as a LTjg leading small boat detachments with a couple good NCO’s, here is my take on doing it the right way.

The Navy now has GPS, but I would have had a chart, magnetic compass and timely information about currents and tides. Also the radar would have been working. In fact everything would have been working and the crew knowledgeable, because I was forward deployed and not tied up to some stateside pier. Besides keeping up on my planned maintenance I would have conducted a local operation or seagoing exercise once or twice a week.

My CO and I would have laid out a course which intercepted the friendly shore at least by the latitude of the Iranian island. We would have avoided the island, and the refueling ship would have been where we assigned it. Most likely we would have chosen courses which kept us in sight of land the whole way.

The departure port, the refueling ship, and the destination port would have all shared the same radio frequencies and made regular radio checks. During an amphibious exercise my wave of assault boats was swallowed by a fog. When I saw that fog coming I made sure the flag ship could vector us back to our LPD.

In my Old Navy if we were going anywhere near harm’s way we would have done so intentionally and been prepared to kick the sh*t out of the Iranians to help them understand they should obey the law. Our guns would have been test fired when we got underway.

Well, this is a short version of how it should have been done by someone who was competent, but not brilliant. This evolution was certainly not rocket science, was definitely inconceivable in my Navy, and could have been carried out by just about any small boat qualified junior officer during my time on active duty.

45 posted on 07/19/2016 4:48:39 PM PDT by Retain Mike
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To: pboyington

When the military spends all of its time on sensitivity training and other PC insanity, you lack time to conduct real training for war.


major point...................


46 posted on 07/19/2016 4:52:52 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: Retain Mike

I would not have done what they did with my fishing boat.


47 posted on 07/19/2016 4:53:51 PM PDT by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: pboyington

The worst thing that can happen to a unit is to have a weak and indecisive commander.


48 posted on 07/19/2016 4:59:54 PM PDT by yuleeyahoo (Those are my principles, and if you do not like them...well I have others. - Groucho Marx)
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To: Retain Mike
Thank you for that explanation.

Thank you for your service, as well.

49 posted on 07/19/2016 6:32:43 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (If 0bama had a son...he would be killing people.)
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To: ConservativeMind

Thank you.


50 posted on 07/19/2016 9:01:35 PM PDT by Retain Mike
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To: pboyington
Deserves repeating.

Lastly, the report found that the female gunner should “receive proper recognition for her extraordinary courage in activating the emergency beacon while kneeling, bound and guarded at Iranian gunpoint, at risk to her own safety.”

Apparently, the female gunner in Nartker’s crew was the only one who seemed to understand their duty and who exhibited courage.

51 posted on 07/19/2016 9:09:30 PM PDT by Chgogal (A woman who votes for Hillary is voting with her vagina and not her brain.)
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Sounds like this guy was in charge:

Or maybe this guy:


52 posted on 07/19/2016 9:19:21 PM PDT by Henchster (Free Republic - the BEST site on the web!)
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To: Chgogal

Credit where credit is due


53 posted on 07/21/2016 8:52:43 PM PDT by pboyington
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