A school located in Sumberejo village, in Situbondo Regency of East Java, Indonesia received a face-lift from US and Indonesian Sailors and Marines.

The six-day Tactical Engineering Exercise (ENGEX) with the Indonesian Armed Forces began on March 11. It involved US Sailors and Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 31 (CLB 31) attached to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEU) and Sailors from the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49).

The school was given a new roof, window frame upgrades, door frames and doors, and a fresh coat of paint. About $15,000 was spent on the project.

“We are really impressed with how well the operation is already going,” said US Marine 2nd Lt. Brian D. Woodall, the Engineering Platoon Commander for CLB 31. “Working together and observing their work techniques is very beneficial. I think we are showing both sides it is possible for us to work together if there is ever a problem or crisis in this region. We hope this launches a long lasting partnership between the two militaries.”

Indonesian Marine Sergeant Edi Kurniawan from the 1st Zeni Marine Battalion and a site planner and architect doesn’t disagree. “Everyone was looking forward to working with the American people, because the opinion is that the US has the best trained forces. I think this project will show we can work together very well.”

Last March 11, the USS Columbus (SSN 762) has departed Pearl Harbor Naval Station for her first Western Pacific deployment in four years. Commander James Doody, Columbus’ commanding officer, said his crew is looking forward to deploy after their overhaul period. Columbus returned to Pearl Harbor in December 2006 after spending two years at Submarine Base Bangor, Washington.

“The mood is pretty upbeat and everybody’s pretty excited to get out there and do what we have to do,” said Doody. “Especially since a lot of people have done a lot of work not only to maintain the ship while it was in the shipyard, but to do all the operational preparation that it’s going to take for us to be successful.”

Machinist Mate Fireman Robert Bresley, a new check-in on panel Columbus, agreed with his skipper.

“I just got here last week,” he said. “I’m very excited and I’m all packed up and ready to go on my first deployment.”

Columbus is heading to the Western Pacific, where according to Doody, they will be conducting the “conventional” intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations and too will be willing to enter in any procedure called upon by commandant, 7th Fleet operating commandant.

Columbus is the 51st of the Los Angeles blast submarines and the 12th “improved” edition of this course, which includes a Tomahawk cruise projectile steep launching structure and an improved hull pattern for under-ice operations. Columbus has been homeported in Pearl Harbor since 1994.

On March 12, 2008, two F-16 Fighting Falcons and a Coast Guard helicopter under the direction of North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted a small Cessna aircraft flying through the Temporary Flight Restriction zone over the National Capitol Region.

The civilian aircraft was alerted by the Visual Warning System after entering the TFR from the north and the pilot turned west to leave the restricted area. The fighters intercepted the aircraft and escorted it to a landing facility in Leesburg, Va.

The Visual Warning System was designed to warn pilots who are violating the Air Defense Identification Zone established by the Federal Aviation Administration over Washington, D.C. VWS is a ground-based system that uses safety-tested low-level beams of alternating green and red lights to alert pilots that they are flying without approval in designated airspace. It provides a clear warning to pilots who enter the ADIZ without authorization and cannot be contacted on radio by air traffic control.

The visual warning will only respond to aircraft that are unauthorized or unidentified and unresponsive and the VWS prompts immediate action by the pilot to contract air traffic control and exit the ADIZ.

WASHINGTON – Boeing Company said it will formally protest a $35B Air Force contract awarded to European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company and Northrop Grumman Corp. on Monday.

The Chicago-based aerospace company “found serious flaws in the process that we believe warrant appeal,” Boeing’s chairman and CEO, Jim McNerney, said in a statement.

Boeing’s protest, to be filed Tuesday, compounds existing pressure on Air Force officials to explain their decision to award the high-stakes deal to a European company instead of an American one. Air Force officials have said the impact on American jobs was not one of their criteria for awarding the contract. Air Force officials will testify before House and Senate committees on Tuesday.
The company argued that the Air Force changed its method for evaluating the two tankers even after issuing a request for proposals. These changes allowed a larger tanker to be competitive even though the Air Force originally had called for a medium-sized plane. Air Force officials have indicated that the larger size of the tanker offered by the EADS/Northrop team helped tip the balance in its favor.

“We didn’t think they wanted a bigger plane,” Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems unit, said last week. Albaugh said this is why Boeing based its offering on Boeing’s 767, “we were discouraged from offering the 777,” a bigger aircraft that would have been more comparable to the winning bid.