Major US Ships Underway USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) CARRIER USS Enterprise (CVN 65) CARRIER USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) CARRIER USS Nimitz (CVN 68) CARRIER USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) CARRIER USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) CARRIER Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG): USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) USS Nashville (LPD 13) USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG): USS Boxer (LHD 4) USS Dubuque (LPD 8) USS Comstock (LSD 45) Essex Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG): USS Essex (LHD 2) USS Juneau (LPD 10) USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) Amphibious Warfare Ships: USS Tarawa (LHA 1) USS Saipan (LHA 2) USS Wasp (LHD 1) USS Bataan (LHD 5) USS Ponce (LPD 15) USS Ashland (LSD 48) There are many, many, many more US ships underway. Every carrier is surrounded by many ships that are guarding it and besides those there are: Tenders Supply Ships Nuclear Armed Subs Attack submarines Missile carriers Mine Sweepers They carry with them immense armaments of missiles immense armaments of shells for guns tens of thousands of personnel thousands of aircraft (either on board or at deployable bases) In addition, I told you yesterday, that on Tuesday, Oct. 17, guided-missile destroyers USS Cole guided-missile destroyer USS Bulkeley guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, attack submarine USS Albuquerque had sailed into the Persian Gulf. Last week I told you about the USS Benfold (DDG 65) and USS Howard (DDG 83) and Amphibious Squadron 5, and the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, and Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WHEC 726) and the destroyer U.S.S. McFaul, and the war frigate U.S.S. Nicholas, and the battle cruiser U.S.S. Leyte Gulf, and the attack submarine U.S.S. Alexandria, and and the “fast combat support ship” U.S.N.S. Supply. [The U.S.N.S. Supply is not a supply ship - it is an exceptionally fast combat ship.] and Marine Strike Fighter Squadron 251, and Electronic Attack Squadron 137, and Airborne Early Warning Squadron 123. and Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 11. and Carrier Strike Group 12 (CSG 12) and Destroyer Squadron 2 (DESRON 2), and Carrier Air Wing 1 (CVW 1) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7, and guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio (CG 68); and guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage (DDG 61) and guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87); and fast-attack submarine USS Newport News (SSN 750) And that is JUST the US Navy. For the first time in years joining a US operation and its command is a Canadian Frigate the HMCS Ottawa (FFH 341) Meanwhile in the Mediterranean intelligence for the theatre of operations is being conducted under the command of US Vice Admiral J. “Boomer” Stufflebeem, (formally titled Commander of Joint Task Force Lebanon) on board the USS Mount Whitney which has the most sophisticated command and control suite in the world. "... the uniquely advanced C41 command and intelligence system through which he can flash intelligence data to every American commander at any point between the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf and Iran." There he exercises direct command over a task force of 1,800 sailors, Marines, Air force medical and other personnel serving aboard the USS Barry, the USS Trenton, HSV Swift and USNS Kanawha Also in this Mediterranean armada under his command are two additional carriers of other countries with 75 fighter-bombers, spy planes and helicopters on their decks; 15 warships of various types – 7 French, 5 Italian, 2-3 Green, 3-5 German, 5 American; thousands of Marines – French, Italian and German, as well as 1,800 US Marines. One of the carriers is France’s nuclear-powered 38,000-ton Charles De Gaulle carrier, 40 Rafale M fighter craft whose range is 3,340 km and that can take off at intervals of 30 seconds. The ship also carries three E-2C Hawkeye surveillance craft. The combat control center of the French carrier can handle 2,000 simultaneous targets. The carrier leads a task force of the above mentioned 7 French warships carrying 2,800 French Marines. The Charles De Gaulle is also a floating logistics center operating water desalination plants for 15,000 men and enough food to feed an army for 90 days. The third carrier joining the other two is the: Italian aircraft-helicopter carrier Garibaldi, which has launch pads for vertical takeoff by 16 AV-8B Harrier fighter-bombers 18 Sikorsky SH-3D Seak King sea-choppers Italian Agusta Bell AB212 helicopters designed to attack submarines and missile ships. In addition to these new forces all under the above mentioned US Command there are the permanently base Mediterranean forces such as the Italian-based American Sixth Fleet, some 15 small Israeli missile ships half a dozen submarines and the NATO fleet of: Canadian, British, Dutch, German, Spanish, Greek and Turkish warships. The British also have permanent air and sea bases in Cyprus. In a previous newsletter I provided you with a link to a map showing how all these locations surround Iran. What I have listed here are just the Naval Forces, that are aligned with the US effort. I have made no mention of the Army and the Air Force. It has taken me many hours to compile just this list which is very far from exhaustive. One of the most time consuming parts of making and maintaining such a compilation is trying to assure that I have no redundancies. Sometimes I will receive ten separate lists that will include certain ships that I have already listed but that will have some that I haven't had before. Before the addition of tens of thousands of naval personnel in the last couple of weeks from the countries listed here - I had an estimate that there were over 75,000 naval personnel involved. We know that there are hundreds of thousand of army personnel - (and I am talking just about the US and its allies) in the Middle East. The casualties are mounting continuously in Iraq. This week alone - there were over 300 US casualties in just one battle alone. If you support the war in Iraq - or at least the American soldiers please take a few minutes and read down through these three hundred names and say a prayer for them. http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a2547.htm#001 And if your vision is broader you might also say a prayer for the thousands of Iraqi Police recruits who take the brunt of much of that battle and what the UN says are 655,000 mostly civilians who have been killed in Iraq in retaliation for less than 3,000 Americans killed at the WTC on 9/11 - which in actuality they had nothing to do with because the terrorist pilots came from America's ally Saudi Arabia. But - I digress. That is past - and what I am talking about is the present. The current build up noted in general in some current magazines but probably not on the front page of your local paper - and not in the detailed manner that I have noted above. There will be readers of this newsletter - who will say - "So what." So - those are facts but that is irrelevant - because it is nothing out of the ordinary. Just the normal everyday carrying on of the the US Navy. In my view - it is a matter of timing. If Iran had been going to pre-empt they should have done it - before the Ike arrived yesterday. If Israel is going to pre-empt I would have thought they would do it at the New Moon last night - but at least before the Enterprise is scheduled to depart at the end of this week. We can say - the ball was in Iran's court - but now it is in Israel's court. If it leaves Israel's court then it will be in Iran's court again - without any factor that I am aware of that will return it to Israel's court. It is like watching a tennis or ping pong match. Back and forth. Back and forth. But I think Bush is about to call the match. Unless all the above build-up is just to impress the world observers and to exercise the troops. There is still time for an October Surprise. People read things like the above and then ask that I send them some useful information instead. Okay, here goes. When sheltering at home - people want to know how much protection different materials will give them. Here is a little table I have constructed. Any material will do - even feathers. It is the density that counts and while I have not calculated the number of feet of feathers you would need - here are some other equivalents. 6 inches of lead would do but is too expensive and there is nothing magical about lead. It is only the density that counts. 8 inches of steel is the equivalent 2 feet of concrete will weigh as much and is also equivalent. That much filled concrete blocks or bricks will do about as well 3 feet of earth is the standard and cheapest 4 feet of water would be okay - but is generally hard to manage. Barrels of it would not be as thick on the rounded parts - so you would need to stagger a couple of rows of barrels. 6 feet of books 10 feet of wood Just any material that you have around. The heavier and denser the better. It could be canned goods - or bags of wheat, beans, or potatoes. For any of the latter you would need about 6 feet of the material. Distance is also a factor. The center of the 7th floor of a fourteen story building will give good protection. More floors below and above - would be even better. Hope that helps. One other thing - and I think this is most important. Next to understanding fallout and survival preparation I think the two next greatest threats that will occur after a nuclear war - and which will probably be caused by it are social breakdown and pandemics caused by the breakdown of the sanitary systems. For this reason I have wanted to send out to everyone a free CD on how to deal with pandemics. Regrettably it does not appear to me that I will have the time or resources. Therefore I am going to direct you to: http://pandemicreferenceguides.com/ where you can download the information for free. I feel that the work that has been done there is one of the greatest contributions to public service of which I am aware. I highly commend the author of the site. Peace and love, Bruce DawnSayer@webpal.org _______________________</pre>
