Deja Vu In The Baltics

A few days ago I posted something about the ongoing Russian military buildup in the Baltics and subsequent sabre rattling, as evidenced by the buzzing of a U.S. Navy destroyer. I closed that post by making fun of the Navy's administration-mandated response: moving toward gender-neutral uniforms.

Lo and behold - yesterday there was a story about Russian fighters buzzing a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane flying over the Baltic Sea.

A U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane was intercepted by a Russian fighter plane over the Baltic Sea in what American officials said on Sunday was an unsafe and unprofessional manner, the second such instance in a week.

The Russian jet came to within 50 feet of the Air Force plane and then executed a barrel roll over the American plane’s left side to its right...

Even though the incident involved an Air Force plane, the Navy responded immediately.*

Navy Secretary Bends Rules About Ship Naming to Honor Democratic Politician

(*Okay, that wasn't really the Navy's response. The ship-naming fiasco took place a few days ago, but still, it highlights the ineffectiveness - one might even say the timidness - of the obama administration when confronted by Russian provocation.)

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is under fire for bending service rules in order to name the next Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer after a retired Democratic politician.

Mabus, who has previously been accused of politicizing the ship-naming process, announced Monday that the destroyer will be named after Carl Levin, a former Democratic U.S. senator from Michigan who is still alive and did not serve in the U.S. military.

Mabus disregarded Navy ship-naming rules stipulating that destroyers should be named for deceased members of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including secretaries of the Navy.

There have been exceptions made in the past. However, those exceptions are typically reserved for people of unquestioned stature, not political hacks.

“There are the typical exceptions,” the Navy explains in an online document produced by the History and Heritage Command. “Roosevelt was named in honor of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, while Winston Churchill honors the great war leader of World War II.”

Other exceptions include "destroyers named for Thomas Hudner, a retired Navy flag officer, Paul Ignatius, a former Navy secretary, and former Sen. Daniel Inouye, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II Army combat service in Italy."

Speaking of Medal of Honor awardees, there are nearly 200 Navy and Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients who have never had ships named after them. How does Carl Levin, who never served a single day in the military, jump ahead of them? What was his significant contribution that warrants the honor of a ship named after him?

Mr. Levin presided over the committee during the Obama administration’s major drawdown of troops and weapons systems. Joint Chiefs of Staff officers testified in recent months that they doubt they can fight one major war on the schedule outlined in the National Military Strategy.

This is just the latest in a series of obama administration moves towards politicizing the Navy.

An examination by The Washington Times of the 71 Arleigh Burke monikers shows Mr. Levin is the only one — except Winston Churchill — who does not meet the Navy guideline for destroyers. Most Arleigh Burke honorees are naval war heroes; a significant number earned the Medal of Honor. There are several Navy secretaries.

(Secretary of the Navy) Mabus, a former Democratic governor of Mississippi, has irked some Republicans for veering from tradition by naming warships after social activists and politicians with no link to the military.

Since the start of the Obama administration, Mr. Mabus has named combat logistics supply ships after civil rights leader Medgar Evers and leftist farmworker Cesar Chavez.

All previous Lewis and Clark-class cargo ships had been named for famous explorers or people who made significant contributions to the military, as called for in Navy conventions.

He named a littoral combat ship after former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Arizona Democrat, who was seriously wounded in a January 2011 assassination attempt.

In January Mr. Mabus again broke with past tradition. He named a fleet replenishment oiler, TAO-205, after civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, Georgia Democrat. Mr. Lewis voted for removing all U.S. troops from Iraq in 2007 and from Afghanistan in 2011.

Navy guidelines had said such ships are named for rivers or people instrumental to maritime and aviation design and production.

But Mr. Mabus changed the convention last year, saying the 17 oilers will be named after civil and human rights activists.

Ah, yes. Hope and Change. Fundamental Transformation.

obama is not politicizing the military.

He's pussifying it...