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"Everywhere you looked,” she said, “there was fire.”

You had to be with Tony Mecham, stunned by the number of severe burn victims — 22 — being airlifted from Cal Fire's Potrero station.

You had to be with Nelly Bulkin, awakened from a fitful sleep by her husband and told to grab their four children and race from their Rancho Bernardo home.

“Embers were flying everywhere,” she said. “I thought for sure our home was going to burn down."

A natural disaster of staggering scope, San Diego County’s 2007 firestorms killed 10 people and destroyed 1,738 homes. Flames consumed 368,316 acres, an area larger than the city of Los Angeles.

More than 500,000 people were evacuated, exceeding the number of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Motels across the county overflowed with people who were dislocated; others bunked down at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and what was then Qualcomm Stadium.

via www.sandiegouniontribune.com 

A long, very interesting look at the devastating fires that ravaged San Diego County a decade ago. A timely piece in that the conditions are ripe once again for similar outbreaks. The Santa Ana winds (super dry, hot, fast winds blowing from East to West) are predicted for this week. 

The USS Constitution is set to travel from Charlestown Navy Yard to Fort Independence at Castle Island and back on Oct. 20 to commemorate the ship’s 220th birthday and the 242nd birthday of the US Navy.

The ship will not sail under her own power but will be tug-assisted for this turnaround demonstration, according to David Wedemeyer of the USS Constitution Museum.

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“Old Ironsides” underwent restoration work beginning in May 2015 to replace 100 hull planks and install 2,200 new copper sheets. The Constitution returned to the water July 23 and reopened tours in early September. This will be her first trip out of dock in three years.

via www.bostonglobe.com

Work ups after a yard period.

… every effort will be made to recover your remains, and expeditiously evacuated from the battlefield. 

Mortuary  affairs specialists will clean you, dress you in a dress uniform, with all appropriate decorations, and arrange your return to the United States.

The  Air Force will fly you home, first to Dover AFB, DE. No cargo besides human remains will be on the flight. If you were  the only fatality, you'll be the only cargo.

A trained Casualty Assistance Officer will contact your next of kin to  notify them  of your death, and to assist in the preparations for your  burial. Your next of kin my choose to bury you in a national cemetery, or in a private cemetery.

Within 24 hours of your death, the service will bestow a gratuity of $100,000 to your next of kin. This is tax free. It's available to cover the routine costs of death- funeral, transportation and lodging for relatives, that sort of thing. There are no restrictions on how it may be used.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service will, within 30 days, pay all  outstanding basic pay and allowances to your next of kin. 

If you maxed our your Servicemen's Group Life Insurance (and you  almost certainly did), SGLI will pay  out per your instructions a benefit of $400,000. Like the gratuity, this is tax free. 

If your family was living in government quarters at the time of your death, they will be allowed to remain for one year. 

If they were living  on the economy, they will continue to receive your Basic Allowance for Housing for six months. 

If you were eligible for retirement at the time of your death, and signed up for the Survivor Benefit Plan, your spouse will receive an annuity roughly equal to 55% of your base pay for the rest of their live, or until they remarry (unless they remarry after age 55, in which case the annuity continues). 

Yaminohasha gives a demonstration of how to employ a low tier cruiser to best effect. Watch and learn.

Via Yahoo.

Bergdahl, 31, is accused of endangering his comrades by abandoning his post without authorization. He told a general after his release from five years in enemy hands that he did it with the intention of reaching other commanders and drawing attention to what he saw as problems with his unit.

It wasn't immediately clear whether his defense has conceded that he's responsible for a long chain of events that his desertion prompted, which included many decisions by others on how to conduct the searches. Despite his plea, the prosecution and defense have not agreed to a stipulation of facts, said one of his lawyers, Maj. Oren Gleich.

This indicates that they did not reach a deal to limit his punishment, and that he may be hoping for leniency from the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance. The misbehavior charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, while the desertion charge is punishable by up to five years.

As I understand it, a guilty plea before an agreement on stipulation is quite unusual. Further, there appears that no agreement on sentencing is in place either. Having said that, my feeling is that "Big Army" is not going to push very hard for a lengthy sentence. I would not be surprised if the sentence is merely dishonorable discharge, and time served. 

I think the statute of limitations has run out on this.  

low pass OV-10 Bronco from joseph conforti on Vimeo.