Friday, February 13, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Winner, Winner, Tuna Fish Dinner
Dogtooth Tuna! My first fish caught on Kwaj!
The Dogtooth
Learning how to clean the fish. This guy's daughter owns a fish market in the states. 
Keepin the knife on the backbone and slice away
Fresh Sashimi! Quite Tasty
The Fishing Team
Shark Scraps
Land Shark!
Pan-Seared Tuna with Avacado, Soy, Ginger, and lime
Fantastic!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Delta Mariner
Here is a news release on one of the cooler projects we have been working on. I am simply attaching the offical press release to avoid any legal gray areas. Luckily Beth and I were in the attorney's backyard oceanside bar this weekend enjoying his new Amber Boch homebrew and he assures me that the as long as we focus on the offical news releases when discussing work then the blog is good to go! Maybe one day you'll here the rest of the story just not over the internet.
From army.mil
-The Missile Defense Agency contracted the Delta Mariner to bring their support equipment to their launch site at Meck Island. The Delta Mariner, a 312-foot long and 8,000-horsepower supply ship, specializes in transporting space-bound hardware. Designed to navigate shallow inland waterways as well as the open ocean, this versatile transport vessel hauled launch support equipment almost 11,000 miles from Decatur, Ala., down the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi rivers into the Gulf of Mexico. The ship transited the Panama Canal en route to the Hawaiian Islands then on to Kwajalein Atoll. This journey began on Dec. 22 and ended when the Delta Mariner docked at Meck Island on Jan. 30.
The logistics functional lead for targets and countermeasures, Ken McDonald, reported, "This shipment is the first of its kind for the Missile Defense Agency. We have never shipped materiel by ship at any time in the agency's history." It is also reported to be the largest ship that has ever sailed into the lagoon. The delivery of the launch support equipment to Meck Island marks the first phase of preparation at Reagan Test Site to support the Missile Defense Agency's two-stage intermediate/long-range launch vehicle, or LV-2. The LV-2 is part of the agency's Flexible Target Family and will be used to test the Ballistic Missile Defense System later this year. The Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct two tests this year with launches of LV-2s from Meck Island. The joint Government-Lockheed Martin test support teams will maintain a consistent presence on Kwajalein for the remainder of the year. The LV-2 Project Manager, Scott Shifrin, stated, "We are very pleased with the support provided by RTS and USAKA. We look forward to launching targets from Meck Island for many years to come." The Flexible Target Family, developed by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, is composed of targets that exhibit various degrees of threat emulation with a broad range of performance characteristics and features in order to present tailorable target behaviors that test multiple Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) capabilities. The LV-2 uses Trident C4 Stage 1 and Stage 2 motors for the required trajectories, accommodating the agency's desired capability for heavier payloads, longer downrange distances, higher velocities and variable launch capabilities. The LV-2 first flight is planned for 3rd quarter fiscal year 2009 in a planned BMDS flight test.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Operation Flintlock 65 Years Later
This week is the 65th year since Operation Flintlock and The Battle of Kwajalein. So not only is our home a tropical paradise it is also a former battlefield where thousands lost their lives during World War II. Here is a little excerpt from wikipedia on the battle.
-The Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, fought from January 31, 1944, to February 3, 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Following the capture of Tarawa in November 1943, American eyes turned to the Marshall Islands. These were the next vital stepping stone across the Pacific towards Japan, and would bring the islands of Guam and Saipan within the reach of US forces. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north.The Japanese defenders put up a stiff resistance though outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500.
For the United States, the battle represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan and a significant moral victory because it was the first time the United States penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific sphere.
By the time U.S. Troops landed on the islets of Roi, Namur, and Kwajalein the Navy had laid on a non-stop barrage of 2655 tons of ammunition.
In their first amphibious attack, the new 4th Marine Division landed on Roi and Namur Islands on February 1st 1944, while US 7th Division landed on Kwajalein. At the time this was the longest shore to shore amphibious assaults in history. The lessons of the bloody fighting on Tarawa had been well learned and the successful attack on the Marshalls set the pattern for future amphibious operations in the Pacific War.
The airfield on Roi (the eastern half) was captured quickly, and Namur (the western half) fell the next day. The worst setback came when a Marine demolition team threw a satchel charge of high explosives into a Japanese bunker which turned out to be a torpedo warhead magazine. (Photo of this Explosion in the upper right of the operation flintlock collage). Only 264 out of 10.000 Japanese soldiers surrendered during the US Invasion.
-The Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, fought from January 31, 1944, to February 3, 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Following the capture of Tarawa in November 1943, American eyes turned to the Marshall Islands. These were the next vital stepping stone across the Pacific towards Japan, and would bring the islands of Guam and Saipan within the reach of US forces. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north.The Japanese defenders put up a stiff resistance though outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500.
For the United States, the battle represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan and a significant moral victory because it was the first time the United States penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific sphere.
By the time U.S. Troops landed on the islets of Roi, Namur, and Kwajalein the Navy had laid on a non-stop barrage of 2655 tons of ammunition.
In their first amphibious attack, the new 4th Marine Division landed on Roi and Namur Islands on February 1st 1944, while US 7th Division landed on Kwajalein. At the time this was the longest shore to shore amphibious assaults in history. The lessons of the bloody fighting on Tarawa had been well learned and the successful attack on the Marshalls set the pattern for future amphibious operations in the Pacific War.
The airfield on Roi (the eastern half) was captured quickly, and Namur (the western half) fell the next day. The worst setback came when a Marine demolition team threw a satchel charge of high explosives into a Japanese bunker which turned out to be a torpedo warhead magazine. (Photo of this Explosion in the upper right of the operation flintlock collage). Only 264 out of 10.000 Japanese soldiers surrendered during the US Invasion.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
As per request
American and Marshallese Flags
Only 7158 miles to home
Downtown Bike Parking
Our new rides, BMW for a Huffy quite the trade!
Beth's Red Rider
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
First Christmas Coconut
As I figure out my video editor I will upload more videos from our adventures!
This is from our Christmas Drop for the Marshallese Village on the outer atoll islet of Majetto. I am trying my first coconut hand picked and machette sliced by the local Marshallese. Sticky Sweet Goodness!
This is from our Christmas Drop for the Marshallese Village on the outer atoll islet of Majetto. I am trying my first coconut hand picked and machette sliced by the local Marshallese. Sticky Sweet Goodness!
Monday, January 19, 2009
The RESSLYN
For those of you that remember the Diablo Dispatch from Iraq I will try my best to continue in that tradition. However, I am still not sure if I am allowed to be blogging so I have to stop by our Legal Office and double check. Although Beth has already been out drinking in the attorney's back yard ocean side bar so I think we may be okay for now. I thought I might walk you through my day on Saturday (your Friday), it started off with an early morning workout. The great thing about early morning workouts on Kwaj is that you can see the Southern Cross (a.k.a. Crux; The Southern Hemisphere's North Star) as you bike to the gym.
One of my additional tasks has been trying to track down a Marshallese Boat to carry a deceased U.S. Army Soldier (Marshallese Citizen) to his desired final resting place on Ujae Atoll (140 Miles West of Kwaj). In the Marshallese Culture the funeral process can last a very long time. The Soldier's funeral was held today on Ebeye the most populated islet in the Atoll. Picture Below.
The RESSLYN was unloading food supplies to include a giant pig as we approached.
One of my additional tasks has been trying to track down a Marshallese Boat to carry a deceased U.S. Army Soldier (Marshallese Citizen) to his desired final resting place on Ujae Atoll (140 Miles West of Kwaj). In the Marshallese Culture the funeral process can last a very long time. The Soldier's funeral was held today on Ebeye the most populated islet in the Atoll. Picture Below.
Ebeye is a 3000 meter by 800 meter islet just north of Kwaj. It is supposedly the most densely populated piece of land in the world (ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebeye), 13,000 people live there literally on top of each other it is also pleasently known as the "Slum of the Pacific". I have been to many a slum in my Army adventures (Pristina and Gilijane, Kosovo; Tikrit, Baghdad, Sadr City, Babylon and Najaf, Iraq; and Brompton of course). Sadly, its not an Army post without a nearby shady town, think Daleville of Fort Rucker or Fayetteville of Fort Bragg and Ebeye is it for Kwaj.
In an effort to save your tax dollars I passed on using our own Army Marine assets to take the remains and the Marshallese family for the four day burial process and instead tried to outsource at a significantly reduced price by contacting the Marshallese owner of an inter Atoll cargo boat. The boat was intended to bring about 30 people and the remains to Ujae Atoll. So my boat warrant officer, our host-nation officer, our Marshallese translator, and I hopped in our small dual engine boston whaler style boat and speed over to Ebeye to due a safety assessment of the cargo ship. This was my first visit to Ebeye and upon our arrival we were swarmed by little kids. The translator asked the oldest looking one to keep in eye on our boat and I think slipped him a buck or two but I wasn't looking to closely at that transaction. So we left the boat and headed over to the RESSLYN the suggested cargo boat for the journey.
Picture looking into the RESSLYN from the Ebeye dock.
The RESSLYN was unloading food supplies to include a giant pig as we approached.
While the boat was only three years old one could tell that it hadn't quite been maintained to USCG safety standards. We talked with the boat captain and he gave us permission to board the vessel. Not that I knew what I was looking at but I wanted to provide some cover for our boat warrant and make sure he wasn't held a gun point and forced to serve as a cabin boy. The upper deck was good looking but had limited charts of Ujae Atoll not that we had any better charts, thank goodness for GPS. After boarding the ship we went down below to checkout the engine room and made an assessment that it should be renamed the oil room since everything was covered in oil. The fire suppression system was non-existent and there was a half-naked marshallese man sweating it out on the repair of a transmission both were very very scary. In addition the boat only had two life rafts for just ten people so all around a bad selection for our desired mission but the owner and captain tried their best to offer up their services at a premium price. I am still in the market for a ship so if any of you know of any high quality Marshallese fishing or cargo boats let me know. (Update: We found a boat! RMI government owned...). After we got back from Ebeye having stopped in the hardware store for some WD-40 for our Bikes and eyeballing some good looking Southern Fried Chicken, I headed over to the small boat marina for a boating orientation class. Beth and I are both getting certified to drive all the rental boats so we can go out fishing, SCUBA diving or adventuring among the atoll's islets. I think I have gone on long enough but needless to say it was another great day on the Atoll.
~Kevin
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