European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 1, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 1 2007 stars and stripes Pace 11 san Diego not Guam to get uss Carl Vinson by Jeff Schogol stars and stripes Arlington a the nuclear pow ered aircraft Carrier uss Carl Vinson will be based in san Diego not Guam the Navy announced Friday afternoon Guam and san Diego were among the four Sites considered As the Nimitz class aircraft carriers new Home the others were Pearl Harbor Hawaii and Bremer ton Wash after a thorough review of prospective Home ports the Secretary of the Navy selected san Diego As the preferred alternative after evaluating a number of factors including its existing infrastructure family support facilities and proximity to train ing a Navy news release says now undergoing maintenance in new port news the Carl Vinson is expected to move to san Diego in Early 2010 the news release says the move Marks the carriers return to the Pacific the ship was based in Bremer ton from 1997 to 2005 Navy Secretary Donald c Winter announced last year the ship would return to Pacific Fleet the Carl Vinson will be the sixth Courtesy of the defense visual information network the uss cart Vinson is under Way in the Straits of Gibraltar As it makes its Way to the Atlantic Ocean in 2005 the Carrier will be Home ported in san Diego Carrier in the Pacific the Navy has carriers based in Yokosuka Japan Bremerton and Everett and san Diego having six of our aircraft carriers in the Pacific greatly enhances our nations Winter said in fridays news re lease it will help protect our vital inter ests reassure our friends and allies and maintain unfettered Access to sea Guam has undergone a buildup in recent years with plans for Many More troops to be stationed there beginning in 2008 marines from the m Marine expeditionary Force will begin moving from Okinawa the military expects to use its existing landholdings on Guam which should be enough to hold additional military operations and housing but More land might be needed to accommodate military training and housing for the civilian and contracted work Force expected to grow with the Mili tary buildup in fiscal 2004 construction began on a number of projects including renovation of the first of several Navy wharf other projects included a new High school at naval base Guam and an army and air Force Exchange service Complex at Ander sen air Force base in january 200i the Navy proposed Home porting up Tathree fast attack submarines on the Pacific Island of Guan to get the ships closer to their operating area submarine Squadron 15 includes the uss Corpus Christi uss Houston and uss Frank Cable the Only submarine tender in the Pacific Fleet the uss Buffalo is slated to join Guam sub Fleet sometime in 2007 about military personnel Are stationed Oil Guam Home to Resi dents according to a 2004 census report email Jeff Schogol at  retired general time to stabilize Iraq running out by Jeff Schogol stars and stripes Arlington a the United states should plan on having three years left to conduct major operations in Iraq said retired Gen Barry Mccaffrey Mccaffrey commander of Southern command has written a report on the conditions in Iraq and the Way Forward after his trip in Early March to Iraq and Kuwait one of the re ports conclusions the United states has Little time left to get things right in Iraq it is very unlikely that the political opposition can constitutionally Force the presi Dent into the report says however our next president will Only have 12 months or less to get Iraq straight before is forced to pull the plug therefore our planning Hori Zons should assume that there Are less than 36 months remaining of substantial troop presence in in a thursday phone interview with stars and stripes Mccaffrey said president Bush can continue pursuing the War in Iraq for the rest of his term because it is unlikely the democratic controlled con Gress will Stop War funding if they significantly impair the presidents ability to command wartime forces then he will turn around and say let you be a Hwe can sustain probably seven to 10 brigades in perpetuity in Iraq but weve got retired Gen Barry Mccaffrey former commander Southern command countable for the Mccaffrey said Why in their right they want to do that however Mccaffrey said the current troop presence in Iraq is unsustainable and recommended withdrawing some of the surge units we can sustain probably seven to 10 brigades in perpetuity in Iraq but weve got Mccaffrey said the army is starting to unravel after having been starved for re sources and Given its current commitments to Iraq and Afghani Stan he said we have no strategic Reserve in the United states to deploy into a new combat require he said there is no strategic Reserve in the Middle East we Are Flat on our asked about Mccaffrey report Pentagon spokes Man Bryan Whitman reiterated comments from the joint chiefs of staff that the military has about 2 million troops to Call upon the recent increase in forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan reflect the defense departments capability to provide extra troops when needed Whitman said in other matters Mccaffrey stressed the need to give the iraqi troops and police officers enough weaponry to eventually take Over for and other coalition forces right now the iraqis Are ill equipped with Only three c130 transport aircraft soviet weapons retired Gen Barry Mccaffrey and no logistics or medical system Mccaffrey insists the iraqis need 150 helicopters 24 c130 Hercules aircraft Light armoured vehicles and Preci Sion weapons to suppress mortar and rocket attacks responding to Mccaffrey com ments a senior military official said the iraqis Are already getting More sophisticated weaponry including cougars and other a Mored vehicles the iraqi Security forces Al ready have More than Par Mored humvee a division of tanks and mechanized vehicles and a brigade of armoured Security vehicles the official said in a Friday email to stars and stripes having said that general Mccaffrey right and there Are plans to steadily increase the armament of the is ensuring that it is done in a manner that ensures that there is sufficient maintenance spare parts training Etc so that All the new systems dont become hangar Queens in Short the official said go to to see the full report email Jeff Schogol at  it missile silo fixes will Cost millions by Mary Pemberton the associated press Anchorage Alaska the missile defense Agency is looking at a million repair Bill to re place electronics at seven missile silos under construction at fort Greely after the components were ruined by unprecedented flood ing the electrical components were damaged when under ground rooms next to the missile silos flooded last summer during record setting Rains the Greely area considered just about perfect for missile silos because of its Low water table of Over 200 feet deep and porous Gla Cial gravel normally receives an average of 11 inches of rain a year Over a 10day period last june it received More than half that amount the situation was made worse when a whole Bunch of Circum stances occurred at the same time including North Korea threat ening and then eventually launch ing a Long Range missile that failed said it cmdr Sean Kelly a spokesman for the United states Northern command at Peterson air Force base in Colorado the flooding problem had no Impact on Greely ability to re Spond to the crisis because the flooded silos were under construction and did not contain missiles Kelly said Rick Lehner spokesman for the missile defense Agency also said the flooding problem did not affect Greely readiness to re Spond to the threat from North Korea Greeley other silos were equipped with missiles and on Alert he said also missiles could be fired from Vandenburg air Force base in California if needed fort Greely has 26 silos of which seven were under construction at the time the silos were still being built and there were no interceptors in Lehner said their water detection alarms had been turned off because the rooms were under construction at the time Kelly said Lehner said civilian construction Crews could not be held responsible for not detecting the flooding because they we rent being allowed onto Greely be cause of the tense situation with North Korea according to the missile de sense Agency from june 1627 the missile defense Complex at Greely received Over 6 inches of rain the Rains flooded the 85foot silos and seven prefabricated underground rooms adjoining them that contained the electronics the rooms were under construction at the time and their underground drainage system was not Complete Between no water and 63 feet of water flooded the silos the underground rooms were flooded with Between Iva and 15 feet of water the mad said there was no mechanical or structural damage to the silos but the electronics were damaged by water water vapor and condensation when you flood a building the electronics get Kelly said Between 40 percent and 70 per cent of the electronic modules in the rooms adjoining the seven silos Are being replaced Boeing the Lead contractor on the interceptor project is overseeing re placement of the modules the sensitive electronic mod Ules Are highly susceptible to water mad said in a news release