US Air Force Unveils Hand-Held Laser Gun

The US Air Force has unveiled its first hand-held laser weapon that gives security forces a non-lethal option for controlling crowds and protecting areas like checkpoints, according to service officials. While only in prototype form and years away from fielding, the weapon, known as the Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response (PHaSR) system, holds great promise, they said. The PHaSR is about the same size and weight of a fully loaded M60 machine gun - around 9 kg - but shoots a low-power beam of laser light instead of bullets. The light it generates is capable of temporarily impairing an individual's vision, much like the disorienting glare one sees when looking into the sun, said the officials. Upon completion of testing, one prototype will be handed over to the Department of Defense's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) and the second to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ): the law enforcement arm of the US Department of Justice. Both organisations support the programme, with the latter interested in its civil applications.

Military Recruiting Demographics

The U.S. military is not a "poor man's force." That's the conclusion Defense Department officials reached following examination of enlisted recruiting statistics gathered over the past year. "There is an issue of how representative of America is the force," said Curt Gilroy, the director of DoD's accessions policy in the Pentagon. DoD tracks "representativeness" - as Gilroy calls it - very closely. And representativeness can take a whole host of forms - race, education, social status, income, region and so on. "When you look at all of those, you find that the force is really quite representative of the country," he said in a recent interview. "It mirrors the country in many of these. And where it doesn't mirror America, it exceeds America." The data shows the force is more educated than the population at large. Servicemembers have high school diplomas or the general equivalency diploma. More servicemembers have some college than the typical 18- to 24-year-olds. "To carry representativeness to the extreme, we would have to have a less-educated force or we would want a lower-aptitude force," Gilroy said. The study is part of DoD's focus to bring the best recruits into the military. The services - who are responsible for manning, equipping and training the force - take this data and apply it to recruiting efforts. The force is a volunteer force; no one is coerced into serving. The military is one option young people have after high school. Military service offers money for college - money a large segment of the population doesn't have. For those people, the military is an attractive option. Many young people who don't yet know what they want to do see the military as a place to serve and decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives, rather than take a low-paying job or do nothing. Critics say the U.S. military has too many African-Americans as compared to the population and not enough Hispanics or Asian-Americans. "We don't recruit for race," Gilroy said. "We have standards, and if people meet those standards, then should we say they are not allowed in because of race? That would be wrong." The statistics show the number of African-American servicemembers is dropping. That concerns Gilroy and his office. The military is a leader in equal opportunity in the United States, he said, adding that few, if any, Fortune 500 companies can match the equal employment opportunity record of the military. The office is studying why young black men and women are not signing up. The office also is studying the Hispanic population in America. Census records say Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States. Young Hispanic men and women have a strong tendency to serve in the military, though so far, only the Marine Corps has been "able to break the code" to get significant numbers of recruits, Gilroy said. On the socioeconomic side, the military is strongly middle class, Gilroy said. More recruits are drawn from the middle class and fewer are coming from poorer and wealthier families. Recruits from poorer families are actually underrepresented in the military, Gilroy said. Other trends are that the number of recruits from wealthier families is increasing, and the number of recruits from suburban areas has increased. This also tracks that young men and women from the middle class are serving in the military. Young men and women from urban areas are not volunteering, Gilroy said. In fact, urban areas provide far fewer recruits as a percentage of the total population than small towns and rural areas. DoD and the services will use these statistics and more to craft their recruiting policies, Gilroy said.

My Apologies

Due to computer & internet problems my blogs will TEMPORARY be out of commission. I hope to have all the bugs worked out early this week

''Growler'' Officially A New Name In Anti-Radar Warfare

The Navy’s new airborne jamming aircraft will be known officially as the EA-18G “Growler,” its informal moniker for the last several years, the Pentagon has announced. EA-18G GrowlerThe designation comes two years after the Navy petitioned the Air Force Materiel Command, which assigns aircraft names and numbers for all the service branches, for the title. About 30 names, including “Shocker,” “Demon ” and “Gator,” also were considered, said Chuck Wagner, a spokesman for the Naval Air Systems Command. The plane, which is to enter service beginning in 2009, replaces the EA-6B “Prowler,” a Vietnam War-era workhorse that is being retired. The Growler will be based on the Navy’s F/A-18F Super Hornet, a two-seat fighter-bomber, but equipped with radar jammers and HARM anti-radar missiles rather than the Super Hornet’s complement of bombs and missiles. EA-18G GrowlerThe first two Growlers, both test models, are expected to roll out of Boeing Inc.’s Super Hornet assembly plant in St. Louis next year. The Navy expects to buy 90 of the planes by 2013 and spread them among 10 electronic warfare squadrons. Each operational Growler will cost about $66 million, the Navy estimates, and the service is spending an additional $1.5 billion on research and development. All the Growlers are expected to be based at Whidbey Island, Wash., home of the Prowler.

Recruiters Top Goals In October

After a spring and summer of missed marks, Reserve recruiters topped 100 percent of their goals in October, the second straight month of making mission. Headhunters for the Regular Army beat the numbers, too, as they have for every month since June. The National Guard, meanwhile, met recruitment goals for the first time this year. The Army released the October recruiting results. The active Army exceeded its goal of 4,700new soldiers by 225people, beating mission by 5 percent. The Reserve tallied an impressive 21 percent above the goal of 1,242 sign-ups by getting 1,505 people to join. The National Guard topped mission by 2 percent, bringing in 4,050 new soldiers. The Guard goal was 3,970 enlistments. The Army pushed a family focus in 2005 with ads aimed at countering a trend among parents and other “influencers” to counsel against military service. Michael Goldstein, spokesman for recruiting for the Western Region, said talking to family members is a tool that works in Las Vegas. “I think we have a better idea now as to what kind of resistance there has been to our possibilities by family members and friends,” he said. “We’re asking the influencers to be more a part of our decision-making process.”

Air Force Makes Significant Changes To Basic Training

The Air Force is making significant changes to Air Force Basic Training, beginning with recruits who report to Lackland on November 9th. Instead of waiting until week #5 to get into the "war-fighting mode," new recruits will begin concentrating on becoming warriors, right from day one. In the past, much of the first couple of weeks of basic training were taken up by class-room studies in such areas as financial management, customs and courtesies, military law, and other such subjects. War-fighting skills, such as M-16 training, field tactics, and self-aid/buddy care weren't' covered until Warrior Week, during the 5th week of training. Additionally, M-16 training in Air Force Basic Training has been minimal. Recruits typically didn't handle an M-16 until "Warrior Week," receiving one day's worth of class room training, followed by a few hours on the firing range. At other times during basic, recruits would fake rubber M-16s, called "Rubber Duckies." Rubber Duckies are no more. Now, each new recruit will be issued an M-16 replica on the very first day of training. The replica is exactly like the M-16 they will be expected to use in combat, except it won't fire. The replica is the same size, same weight, and has the exact same parts. The rifle-replica can be stripped and cleaned just like the real thing. It's an exact same replica, down to the small springs. To avoid confusing the replica with the real thing, the stocks on the replicas will be painted blue. Recruits will begin instruction on the M-16 from day one, and will carry their "weapon" with them, throughout basic training. Recruits will have several chances (instead of just one, as under the previous system) to exhibit knowledge about safe weapons handling, identifying components, field stripping and cleaning the weapon, and carrying the weapon in formation and close order drill. To free up more time for weapons training, the Air Force is changing it's long-standing basic training policy about folding T-shirts and underwear into little 6-inch squares. Instead, the Air Force will be adapting a Navy boot camp practice of rolling underwear up. Officials at Lackland estimate that eliminating the underwear folding classes and the folding time opens up 18 extra hours for weapons training. Another significant change is moving "Warrior Week," where recruits "deploy" to a simulated forward-operating Air Base in a combat zone, from the 5th week to the 4th week of training. Additionally, the Airman's Coin, which was previously presented to each recruit upon completion of Warrior Week, won't be presented until a ceremony, shortly prior to graduation. The new course-outline is designed so that the first half of basic training focuses primarily upon war-fighting skills and preparation for Warrior Week, and the final two weeks of basic training will focus on classroom instruction in areas such as financial management, customs and courtesies, military law, and Air Force history. According to Chief Master Sergeant Steve Sergeant, superintendent of Air Force Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base, these changes are just the start. In the future, the Air Force wants to add a 7th week to basic training. Unfortunately, because of funding, and the requirement to build additional facilities, the earliest this could happen is in 2008. Also under consideration is a new complex for Warrior Week. The changes are a result of the Triennial Basic Training Review, which occurred in March.

Marines Honored On Postage Stamp

Marine Corps hero "Chesty" Puller would have been proud to be honored with a postage stamp, but he would have wanted to include the face of every Marine he served with, his daughter said Tuesday. Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "Chesty" PullerLt. Gen. Lewis B. Puller and three other Marines - Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Daly and Lt. Gen. John A. Lejeune - are on a set of four 37-cent stamps is being unveiled Thursday in ceremonies at the Marine Corps Barracks in Washington and Camp Pendleton, Calif. The stamps go on sale nationwide the same day The Postal Service gets thousands of proposals for stamps every year and selects only about 30 for production. "Father would like those odds, and he beat them," said Martha Puller Downs of Alexandria, Va., the general's daughter. Indeed, during the Korean War, when surrounded by more than 100,000 Chinese soldiers at the Chosin Reservoir, Puller is reported to have said: "They're on our right, they're on our left, they're in front of us, they're behind us; they can't get away from us this time." Marines still leave mementoes at Puller's grave. "They knew he took care of them," Downs said. Yet growing up, she said, "I really didn't know him as a legend or hero. I knew him as a magnificent father ... he was fun." A native of West Point, Va., Puller was a battalion commander and regimental commander with the 1st Marine Division during World War II and the Korean War. During his 37-year career, he was awarded 14 personal decorations in combat, five Navy Crosses, one Army Distinguished Service Cross plus a long list of campaign medals, unit citation ribbons and other awards. Being honored on the other three stamps in the set are:

*Basilone, who won the Medal of Honor in World War II. Basilone was cited for holding 3,000 Japanese soldiers at bay for 72 hours during the battle of Guadalcanal with only 15 men, 12 of whom died in the fight. Sent home to promote the sale of war bonds, Basilone requested to return to combat and again distinguished himself in the battle for Iwo Jima, where he was killed. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart.

*Daly, who received the Medal of Honor twice for separate acts during combat in the Chinese Boxer Rebellion and in Haiti protecting American lives during an uprising in 1915.

*Lejeune, who is remembered as a wartime commander and the first Marine to command at Army division in combat. Lejeune led the Army's 2nd Infantry Division in World War I. He is credited with establishing Marine Corps institutions and traditions and the Marine base located near Jacksonville, N.C. bears his name.

Post-Battle Tattooing Ritual 'As Old As War Itself'

He prayed that every Marine entrusted to his care would make it out of Iraq alive. But a roadside bomb claimed one of his men, then two more fell in Fallujah. Now, almost a year after Capt. Michael Pretus returned from the war, he said, "There's not a day, not an hour that goes by that I don't think of them." So, on a Sunday afternoon last month, he walked into a Fredericksburg tattoo parlor and had their names etched into his right shoulder in precise lettering fit for a plaque. Above each is the symbol of a fallen warrior: a pair of empty boots and an erect rifle, adorned with a helmet. In the background, silhouettes of 20 other Marines represent the surviving members of Pretus's platoon. Behind them is the orange-red glow of a sunset -- or a sunrise. Pretus, a 30-year-old from Fredericksburg with a Marine's muscular build, a sniper's intense gaze and a scholar's sense of history, hasn't decided which. "This is my tribute to them," he said, as the artist's buzzing tattoo machine injected ink into his arm. "They are my heroes. . . . As a platoon commander, these parents look at you and say, 'Take care of my son.' It eats at you. I wish I could have brought them all home alive." Commemorating combat experience with a tattoo is a warrior ritual that stretches back centuries, a practice "as old as war itself," said C.W. Eldridge, a historian for the National Tattoo Association and owner of the Tattoo Archive, a Berkeley, Calif., tattoo studio. Like their counterparts in past wars, Iraq veterans are choosing traditional patriotic symbols -- U.S. flags, eagles, names of units -- for their tattoos. But some images are strikingly personal. Aided by improved pigments and more sophisticated equipment, they reveal in graphic detail the pain and permanence of war. Mike Ergo, 22, a former Marine, had specific instructions for his tattoo artist. The enemy's hair had to be curly and dark, the beard thick. This was part of a face etched into his memory, that of the first insurgent he killed during the battle of Fallujah last November. Ergo wanted it to come out just right. In the tattoo, inked onto the inside of his left forearm in April, the enemy fighter is being slain by Saint Michael, the archangel, who stands, sword drawn, with his foot on the back of the man's head. The image is a reminder, Ergo said, that he survived one of the deadliest, bloodiest battles of the war -- and the other guy didn't. "The tattoo kind of just helps me to see that this guy got what was coming to him," said Ergo, who lives near San Francisco. His unit was going house to house when it came across a group of insurgents hiding in a small room underneath a stairwell. As soon as the Marines opened the door, the enemy fighters slammed it shut and started firing. "Bullets were everywhere," Ergo recalled. "I couldn't believe they missed us." The Marines unloaded scores of rounds into the door, Ergo said, and just when they thought all the insurgents were dead, one popped out and threw a grenade at them. After it went off, Ergo charged. "Thinking, 'Oh, I'm going to die,' doesn't help the situation," he said. But he "was definitely scared that I'm going to get shot in the face." He kicked open the door and found himself standing just a few feet from a man who raised his gun and yelled "Allahu Akbar!" -- God is the greatest! Ergo fired eight to 10 shots into his chest, he said. "It's one of those things you can't really forget, you know?" Ergo said. "I see his face every day anyway. It just flashes through my mind when I go to sleep." Matthew Brown's tattoo begins with a bluish-green N just below his knee, followed by the letters O-V-E-M-B-E, descending to the R inked above his ankle. Instead of numerals, the 11 is spelled out by a pair of bullets. It's the day Brown was shot by a sniper in Fallujah. So much blood spilled from his sliced femoral vein he turned a ghostly white, and a chaplain read him his last rites as he lay in a morphine daze. " 'God be with you, son,' " he remembers the chaplain saying. "I'll never forget it," said Brown, 21. That's why he decided to have the date tattooed on the side of his right calf. He and several other Marines were holed up in a former convenience store when he was hit in the upper thigh. Medics quickly put a tourniquet on his leg and evacuated him to a field hospital, where the priest blessed him. When the doctors sedated him, he said, he went into a coma and didn't wake up until almost a week later and thousands of miles away at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. Brown, who was a lance corporal, has since received a medical discharge from the Marine Corps and has returned to his home outside Carlisle, Pa. Not long after Carmine Castelli returned from Iraq, he turned his back into a shrine for his fallen friends. In ornate script between his shoulder blades, the 20-year-old Marine Corps lance corporal carries the words, "Rest In Peace U.S. Marines." The names of five of his buddies flank the empty boots of the fallen warrior. Remembering the dead was not enough for Castelli, who is based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.; he wanted to make them part of him. So in May he decided to have their names inscribed into his skin. "They were my best friends," he said. "I'll never regret it. These are guys I'll always have in my heart. . . . They should have their names shown off. They earned that right." At the bottom of the tattoo, near his waist, are the words, "Burn Down Fallujah." That was, he said, a Marine mantra as they went block by bloody block, rooting out insurgents during intense urban combat. Last year, when members of the 101st Airborne Division were first coming back from the war, many of them stopped by Donna Vinge's tattoo parlor, not far from the front gates of Fort Campbell, Ky., to get tattoos commemorating the war. But as the 101st headed back to Iraq for another tour recently, the soldiers wanted talismans, symbols to give them strength and protection in battle. Vinge's artists have been busy inking angels fighting off demons with swords, names of loved ones, horseshoes and centaurs, she said. One soldier, shipping out the next day, said he wanted a four-leaf clover. "I better get something that'll give me good luck."

Recruit Loses 230 Pounds In Order To Enlist

When a recruiter stopped by to talk to his son, Roderick Evans was the one sold on the military. A home health care specialist in Detroit, Mich., Evans had a passion for helping others and a desire to make a difference. A military medical career sounded like a perfect fit. Pvt. Roderick Evans carries a picture of himself at 418 pounds to remind himself to never give up. He lost 230 pounds in order to enlist.The recruiter, on the other hand, saw a different picture. He took one look at Evans and said, “You’re just too big.” At 5 feet, 7 inches and 418 pounds, Evans could hardly disagree. But instead of easing the rejection with his usual overdose of comfort foods, the self-proclaimed Snickerholic “went on a crusade.” Fueled by sheer willpower and a determination to join the military, the 36-year-old finally conquered a lifelong battle with his weight. Three years and 230 pounds lighter, Evans again saw a recruiter. This time, he was met with a much different reception. “He had me come down to his office for a (fitness) test,” said Evans, now 39 years old and a svelte 165 pounds. “I passed with flying colors and signed up for the Reserves on the spot.” As a 91W combat medic student at the Army Medical Department Center and School, Evans now serves as a motivator for his fellow Soldiers, a role he never anticipated when growing up on the streets of Detroit. “It was rough,” Evans said. “You had to either be the big guy so no one messed with you or you had to know how to fight. I was the big guy.” Evans’ mother, a single mother of four, worked at two jobs to keep a roof over their heads. Evans became “papa” at home, cooking and cleaning for his siblings. As a teen, his size was an advantage in football. That and his passion for the marching band kept him fairly fit and out of trouble, he said. He continued with both in college at Grambling University, La., then signed on as a trombone instructor and vocal teacher at his alma mater. Evans taught there for 14 years. Over the years, a love of sweets turned the 260-pound teen into a 418-pound man. When his brother became sick, Evans and his wife, La Tanya, moved back to Michigan to help with his brother’s three children. Evans took a job as a sales manager at a clothing store and a night job in home health care. Despite his weight, Evans was healthy but frustrated by his physical condition. At 36, “I couldn’t walk from the couch to the door without sitting down,” he said. “But I didn’t want to push back from the table.” Although he worked in a clothing store, his own shopping trips were a dreaded nightmare. When he went shopping, he didn’t ask the salesman to show him where the jeans were or for a style tip, he asked for the largest size in the store. Sometimes even the largest size wouldn’t fit. “That’s when my wife would turn to me and just say, “It will be OK,’” Evans said. “She knew how bad I felt.” But it wasn’t until the recruiter walked in that Evans pushed his plate away. He got up from the couch and started walking, then running. With smaller portions and a steady diet of gym trips, the weight flew off. “I never lost sight of my goal (joining the Army),” Evans said. “Even at 418 pounds I never gave up. That’s just who I am.” A much slimmer Evans enlisted in July and traveled to Fort Sam Houston to start combat medic training. He is once again a father figure, but this time for the younger Soldiers, who call him “pops.” Pvt. Roderick Evans, from C Company, 232nd Medical Battalion, learns the fireman’s carry as part of combat medic training.“I watch over them and try to keep them motivated,” Evans said. “I’m up early and running and yelling and keeping the Soldiers going at PT.” “Pvt. Evans motivates me every time I see him in front of the company,” said 1st Sgt. Armand Fermin, C Company, 232nd Medical Battalion first sergeant. “His performance and attitude are phenomenal. He energizes me and the cadre and provides the younger Soldier medics a positive role model.” Evans said his fellow trainees always ask him where he gets his energy. “I tell them I do it because I couldn’t at one time,” he said. “If I could fly, I’d fly.” Right now he is flying through training, and his leadership is helping him to obtain a few other goals – become an active duty officer and a nurse. “I feel like a different person,” Evans said. “I’m the same on the inside, but now my energy level matches my inner drive. I have the energy to do what I want to do.” Regarding his surgery- and prescription-free weight loss, “If you get it in your head that you can and will beat this, you will,” he said. “Say today, not tomorrow. I won’t cut off, but cut back. Try not eating sweets for a week, anything that will motivate you.” Evans still avoids Snicker bars and most sweets, but doesn’t give them a second thought. His primary focus is on his military future. “I’m aiming for 20 years in the Army,” he said. “It took me a long time to achieve this goal and I’m going to keep going until I can’t.”

Yokosuka Bracing For Protests

No one around Yokosuka Naval Base clutched their chests in surprise at the news that the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) was to be replaced in 2008. USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63)
People have known that the 44-year old, conventionally-powered aircraft carrier — the Navy’s oldest active-duty ship — is entering its twilight years. But that some Japanese object to the Kitty Hawk’s replacement running on nuclear power caused eyebrows to knit. The announcement likely will translate into more protests at the gate, said Susan Murphy, a former surface warfare officer and Navy wife. “I’ve never seen as many protests as I have in Japan,” she said. “I’m not worried about nuclear power — we have that down to a science — I’m more concerned about the Japanese reaction.” Some Japanese people may not understand that the Navy has operated several nuclear ships for years, said Jen Negishi, a Navy Exchange store clerk. Reports that a nuclear-powered carrier is to be based in Japan aren’t “really going to impact the base but I think we’ll see more protests,” Negishi said. “People worry about terrorist attacks even though that isn’t likely in Japan. The Japanese people won’t like it but everyone is going nuclear.” Others cited the economic benefits of a nuclear carrier. It’s less expensive to operate than the Kitty Hawk, which the Navy has said can use 1,000 barrels of fuel a day when under way. But others speculated that the new ship and new technology may leave the base’s Ship Repair Facility and local work force feeling some economic repercussions. Still, said Seaman Recruit Jose Lopez, while bringing a nuclear-powered carrier to Japan may spark more confrontations in the short term, it will bolster security in the long term. “It will make us stronger on this side of the world to have a better carrier,” he said.

Tuskegee Airmen Return To War Zone

The Tuskegee Airmen know about war. They battled the Nazis abroad and racism at home. Now they’ve made their way back to the front lines to show their support for Airmen fighting the war on terror. Five members arrived here Oct. 25 to interacting with military members, sharing their stories and offering words of encouragement. “We’re here to lend support to the troops,” said retired Tuskegee pilot Lt. Col. Bob Ashby. “It’s a rare opportunity for us to show them that their hometown, their home state supports them -- and that their fellow Tuskegee Airmen wish them well.” Airman 1st Class Charles Hernandez said he’s glad the famous Airmen made the visit. They’ve helped give him a better understanding of his mission. “It gave me a newer perspective on what we’re doing here; not just at Balad, but as an Airman in today’s air force,” said Airman Hernandez an electrical power production troop with the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron. “They fought a battle both overseas and one in the states because they were black,” the Airman said. ”Yet they did what they needed to do for the greatness of our country and our freedom.” Airman Hernandez said, “They reminded me that we’re here for a good reason and there are people back home who believe in what we’re doing -- and believe in our cause. The Tuskegee Airmen are heroes and patriots and I was honored to sit and eat with them.” The Tuskegee Airmen formed in 1941 when the Army Air Force began a program to train black Americans as military pilots at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. “It was an experimental program and we were expected to fail. But our primary objective was to finish the program and prove them wrong,” said Colonel Ashby, an original Tuskegee Airman. Lt. Col. Lee Archer, also an original Tuskegee Airman -- and the only documented African-American ace -- said the men wanted to do more than that. “All we wanted was to fly for our service,” he said. “We wanted to do it for our country.” Colonels Archer and Ashby and many others did just that, and so was born the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen. It continues to thrive in today’s Air Force, especially at the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, home of the Tuskegee Airmen’s alma mater, the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group. “The Tuskegee Airmen paved the way for future generations,” said Col. Dick Toliver. He is a second generation Airmen who joined the Air Force and the Tuskegee Airmen after the Korean War. “The legacy is right here, but it doesn’t look like the original group. It’s a collection of people of color and different nationalities. It’s what it’s always been, a reflection of America.” Just by being in the military, Airmen are part of the legacy, he said. And they have a responsibility to live up to. “The challenge is to continue to improve because when you become complacent it opens the door to regress,” Colonel Toliver said. “Don’t assume racism is dead and the challenges are gone. Racism is about more than color so the challenge is to improve relations and build upon what’s already been done.” During their Balad visit, the Tuskegee Airmen will see today’s Airmen are following in the footsteps that have been left for them, wing commander Brig. Gen. Frank Gorenc said. “(The Tuskegee Airmen’s) work, their accomplishments, their collective experiences laid the very foundation of our wing,” he said. “They should be proud of what they see because the Tuskegee Airmen of today are writing another chapter in the already distinguished history. “For the Tuskegee Airmen,” the general said, “the legacy continues in the air and on the ground.”

Japan Party OKs Draft Of Constitution

The ruling party approved its final draft of a proposed revision of Japan's pacifist constitution that would drop a clause outlawing war and give the military a greater role in international security, officials said. Article 9 of Japan's current constitution — drafted by U.S. occupation forces and unchanged since 1947 — bars the use of military force in settling international disputes. It also prohibits maintaining a military for warfare, though the Japanese government has interpreted that to mean the nation can have armed troops to protect itself, allowing the existence of its 240,000-strong Self-Defense Forces. The Liberal Democratic Party's final draft cuts the "no war" clause from Article 9, and outlines an expanded role for the military. In the approved draft, released on the party's Web site, the section currently titled "Renouncing War" will be renamed "National Security." The change is part of a general push by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government to give Japan a larger military and diplomatic profile in the world. Koizumi's party has also long campaigned for replacing the U.S.-drafted constitution with Japan's own. Koizumi said he hoped the draft would draw public attention and promote debate on a Constitutional revision. "The constitution is an important issue, and we need to get support and understanding from other parties and the public," Koizumi told a group of reporters. "We'll never wage a war, but we should clearly state a possession of troops for self-defense so they're not misunderstood as unconstitutional." Ruling lawmakers will present the final draft to an LDP general assembly in late November, then plan to discuss it further with the party's coalition partner New Komei Party and opposition leaders, an LDP official said on condition of anonymity citing party rules. The approved draft says, "In addition to activities needed for self-defense ... the defense forces can take part in efforts to maintain international peace and security under international cooperation, as well as to keep fundamental public order in our country." The draft also calls for the establishment of a military court. In addition, it proposes to weaken the division between religion and state, a change that could give the prime minister greater freedom to visit a war shrine — a practice that has enraged China and other Asian countries that suffered under Japan's wartime occupation. Critics say the shrine visits glorify militarism. The draft says the state may engage in religious activity "in cases within the boundary of social customs." The present charter totally bans the state from religious activity. The draft leaves intact the status of the emperor as "the symbol of the state" who has no political power. In an effort to calm worries about a resurgence of Japanese militarism, the draft said Japan remains a pacifist nation and renounces the use of military force to settle international disputes. It also limits overseas troop deployment to activities involving international cooperation for global peace and safety. "The draft completely overturned the pacifist principle of the current constitution," said opposition Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima, calling it a "serious challenge to postwar democracy and totally unacceptable." But Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, a member of the party's constitution revision committee, praised the outcome. "Well done ... but there is a room for improvement," he said. "We should produce (a constitution) that passes along Japan's history, culture, tradition and pride to our descendants." Public support for amending the constitution's pacifist clause has grown as Japan tries to raise its international standing. Opinion polls indicate that a majority of Japanese want the constitution changed to more clearly define the military's role and its right to aid allies — but also that most Japanese want to keep the pacifist clause.