Awesome Weapons:: Pentagon holds off on using ray gun to keep order

Pentagon holds off on using ray gun to keep order::Perception of civilian torture feared

Here is the link to this AP article from the Gazette


WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein had been gone a few weeks, and U.S. forces in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, were being called unwelcome invaders. One of the first big anti-U.S. protests of the war escalated into shootouts that left 18 Iraqis dead and 78 wounded. It would be a familiar scene in Iraq’s next few years: Crowds gather, insurgents mingle with civilians. Troops open fire, and innocents die. All the while, according to internal military correspondence obtained by The Associated Press, U.S. commanders were telling Washington that many civilian casualties could be avoided by using a nonlethal weapon developed during the past decade. Military leaders, including one at Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs, repeatedly and urgently requested — and were denied — the device, which uses energy beams instead of bullets and lets troops break up crowds without firing a shot. It’s a ray gun that neither kills nor maims, but the Pentagon has refused to deploy it out of concern the weapon might be seen as a torture device. Perched on a Humvee or flatbed truck, the Active Denial System gives people hit by the invisible beam the sense their skin is on fire. They move out of the way quickly and without injury. On April 30, 2003, two days after the first Fallujah incident, Gene McCall, then the top scientist at Air Force Space Command, typed a two-sentence e-mail to Gen. Richard Myers, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman. “I am convinced that the tragedy at Fallujah would not have occurred if an Active Denial System had been there,” McCall told Myers, according to the e-mail obtained by AP. The system should become “an immediate priority,” McCall said. Myers referred McCall’s message to his staff, according to the e-mail chain. McCall, who retired from government in November 2003, is convinced the system would have saved lives in Iraq.
A few months after McCall’s message, in August 2003, Richard Natonski, a Marine Corps brigadier general who had just returned from Iraq, filed an “urgent” request with officials in Washington for the energybeam device. The device would minimize what Natonski described as the “CNN Effect” — the instantaneous relay of images depicting U.S. troops as aggressors.
A year later, Natonski, by then promoted to major general, again asked for the system, saying a compact and mobile version was “urgently needed,” particularly in urban settings. Natonski, now a three-star general, is the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for plans, policies and operations. He did not respond to an interview request. In October 2004, the commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force “enthusiastically” endorsed Natonski’s request. Lt. Gen. James Amos said it was “critical” for Marines in Iraq to have the system. Senior officers in Iraq have continued to make the case. One December 2006 request noted that as U.S. forces are drawn down, the nonlethal weapon “will provide excellent means for economy of force.” The main reason the tool has been missing in action is public perception. With memories of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal still fresh, the Pentagon is reluctant to give troops a space-age device that could be misconstrued as a torture machine. “We want to just make sure that all the conditions are right, so when it is able to be deployed the system performs as predicted — that there isn’t any negative fallout,” said Col. Kirk Hymes, head of the Defense Department’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.

Now- for all of the people who think that carry weapons on the ship is a bad idea- this sort of weapon could be the answer in the future- a non-lethal but extremely painful ray that could deter boarding terrorists and pirates. I think that science will be able to develop small scale versions of this technology within the next 5 years if the pentagon will ever approve of its use. A trial by fire in Iraq could send us into an era of non-lethal combat-- This could help keep our forces overseas out of trouble and it could also be essential in protecting ships.

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Critical Times: The Maritime Industry Manning Shortage

Anyone working in the maritime industry knows that there is a manning shortage that seems to be worsening. As someone currently working in the Tug and barge industry, I know there is an unquenchable need from companies to fill all billets, particularly mates. This shortage can be linked to several factors such as an aging current work force that is approaching retirement, the shift from crews made up of haws pipers and academy guys to boats with almost all academy guys for officers, stagnant pay for so many years, over regulation, and personal liability.

To illustrate the age gap, on the vessel which I am currently working on the person that is nearest to my age is 20 years older than me. Three of the eight are do to retire this year. This is not isolated to my boat, but out of all the ships and tugs I have sailed on, my observation has been that there is a missing generation within the industry. Talking to the guys on the boats they for the most part agree with that statement. The industry was slow during the 80s and part of the 90s and guys just got out of it. For a lot of people once you leave the industry you never want to get back into it.

The second contributor is the shift from a hawspiper/Academy mix to a primary Academy make-up for officers. With the shift in regulations and license requirements the Coast Guard has made it very difficult for guys to start on deck as an AB and move up through the ranks. This has resulted in the dependence on the academies to produce officers for the industry. The problem with this is that now the primary sources of officers have the credentials and background and are choosing to shift to a shore side position. In years past employees would shift around in the industry so there was never a real shortage. If a guy was working in New York Harbor he would just shift around in the harbor so the employee was never really going anywhere, they were still in the industry. This is not the issue now, I am finding that my friends and my self are thinking about or have already made the choice to move ashore. I guess what I am trying to say is that the demographics are changing to more college boys, and they have the credentials and the foresight to move to more favorable careers.

This comes to the last two points, which are probably the biggest isssues, the pay and the quality of life. First I will talk about the pay. It is a well-known fact that the pay has been stagnant for such a long time that, every year you stay in the industry you are making less than the prior year. Every time I look in the paper and I see that a principle of a middle school makes more than a captain of an ATB carrying millions of gallons/ dollars of product and equipment, the college educated workforce realizes this as well. Not to mention that the Captain is a moving target for a lawsuit and prosecution by false courts contrived by the Coast Guard-- there are no accidents, only negligence in this industry. Why would you want to stay in an industry that is so vilified when you know that if there is any mishap that you are pretty much screwed? What job in the country has as much liability as the maritime business? That is something we starting out in the industry hear over and over again, “You are only good as your last job”

The industry as a whole is facing a huge problem and it is going to take everyone in all sectors of the industry to come together and let the government know what a vital role they play in the nation. It is critical that we lift regulations and red tape to attract people to come into the industry and end the constant fear of jail time, civil penalties, and losing your license to work. A rise in pay would help attract new people and bring back some people that may have left shipping for greener pastures.

International shipping school: Estonia

When I was looking at my site statistics today I saw that American visitors were ranked #1, but the interesting thing to me was that Estonia ranked #2. It made me think back to when I was a cadet and we went to Estonia and visited their maritime academy. I was very impressed with it and the cadets there. I would say that they were actually right up there with my school, Maine and the simulator they had at the time was better than ours. I was very impressed by their strong language skills which is something that we tend to lack in the U.S. It is good to know that some of our foreign counterparts are excellent merchant mariners as well, especially when there are so few American ships in the ocean these days.

So for all the Estonian visitors to my site I wanted to say hello and 'Aitah' (I think that is Thank You) for a great stay at your beautiful country and being so welcoming when we visited your maritime school.