European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 9, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                May 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 5 die when Navy Helo goes Down by Sandra Chereb the associated press Navy Heli copter struck a Power line during a training flight and crashed in a rugged area of the Northern Nevada killing All five Crew the Navy said Navy investigators were on the scene Early tuesday to recover the the sh60f flying out of naval air station went Down late base spokesman zip Upham the helicopter was on a com Bat search Andrescu Upham he said it struck a High voltage transmission cutting the no electrical ser vice interruptions were the helicopter was assigned to helicopter Antisubmarine squad Ron seven based in the Squadron is part of Carrier air Wing which deploys aboard the uss Harry tru the Crew was on a monthlong training Mission at Fallon that began april Upham said the crash occurred in an unpopulated area managed by the Bureau of land Man he described the area As rugged very names of the Crew members were withheld pending the notification of their 60 Miles East of is the Home of the navys elite strike and air warfare formed in 1996 with the Consolida Tion of the Navy fighter weapons school known As top gun and the Carrier airborne Early warn ing weapons or top Marine in court for killings in Laditha by Thomas Watkins the associated press Camp the biggest criminal Case involving civilian deaths in Iraq reached a military courtroom for the first time tuesday As a hear ing opened for a Marine officer charged with failing to properly investigate the killings of 24 Randy is one of four officers accused of fail ing to report and investigate the All four Are charged with dereliction of the hearings will investigate whether the officers failed in their duties by not launching an investigation three enlisted marines Are charged with unpremeditated murder in the they deny saying they responded properly to a perceived threat during a highly chaotic a military attorney from appeared wearing desert flanked by his civilian attorney and two military defense at the article 32 the military equivalent of a grand jury Thomas the investigating offic will hear evidence and recommend whether the charges should go to stones civilian Charles has said he expects to Call several witnesses to including a two Star Gener Al and a sergeant who was involved in the the slayings occurred after a Roadside bomb destroyed a hum Vee that was a part of a Marine killing Lance Miguel Terrazas of Al and in Juring two of his in the marines shot five iraqi men As they approached the scene in a car and others including women and children died when troops went House to House in the Clearing Homes with grenades and what is in dispute is whether enlisted marines actions amount to murder and whether their commanders failed in their duty to the marines were praised for their actions in a months time Maga Zine published a Story that questioned the official prompting an the squad staff sgt Frank is charged with the unpremeditated murder of 18 flying with a Mig Ben and stripes first Andrew an f15 Eagle Pilot assigned to the 493rd fighter Squadron at Raf flies alongside a romanian mig21 Lancer during a training Mission last week Over Eastern More than 200 air forces in Europe airmen mostly from Raf Lakenheath and Mildenhall were in Romania participating in exercise sniper Lance where 493rd fighter Squadron f15 Eagle pilots honed their do fighting skills against romanian mig21 sniper Lance was staged out of Mihail to Calniceanu air base near the Eastern coast of visit for More sniper Lance information and uss Higgins Captain relieved of duty stars and stripes the Captain of the destroyer now in the Cen trial command theater of operations has been relieved of the Navy announced Jeffrey Menne was relieved tuesday due to a loss of Confidence in his ability to com a Navy news release the Navy gave Little information on Why Menne lost his the loss of Confidence decision was based on an administrative matter and is under further i Vestiga the news release a Navy spokesman declined to give More details on Why Menne was saying the matter is under Menne received his commission in 1988 from the naval Roth at the University of South according to his biography on the uss Higgins web from june 2002 to May Menne served in As Fleet exercise officer for the com Mander of 6th report heavy rotation in Iraq and Afghanistan wearing out planes stars and stripes the head of the air forces air combat command says the ser vices Fleet of warplanes is older than Ever and wearing out faster because of heavy use in Iraq and Usa today reported Ronald keys noted cracked wings on a10 attack planes and frayed electrical Ca Bles on u2 spy the paper compared to the air Force now spends 87 percent More on maintenance for a War plane Fleet that is less ready to the paper wrote that air Force records keys told Usa today that Hes concerned that policymakers will Only pay attention when a plane either crashes on Takeoff or Over a City because a Wing Falls i dont want to write a or have my successor write a let dear and your son or daughter Are dead be cause the Wing fell off on we knew it was going to fall we just didst know keys is reported As that kind of what were getting Down the average air Force War plane is years old compared with years in the paper in the average plane was 22 years aircraft age is said Christopher a National Security analyst at the congressional research some aircraft May have been lightly used for years and have Safe Fly ing hours maintaining old planes May be expensive but often cheaper than buying a new he chronological age is Only one measure of aircraft Bolk com told Usa age is not a safety Saab is celebrating the 60th anniversary 60 production slots available upts 50 discount on certain options and packages save thousands on your loaded Saab fora limited period first first served Saab map often 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