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    Medal of Honor Awarded to 1st Living Recipient since Vietnam
    Ruggbutt
    By Ruggbutt,
      WASHINGTON — In the most dangerous valley of the most rugged corner of eastern Afghanistan, a small rifle team of airborne soldiers fell into a vicious insurgent ambush, a coordinated attack from three sides.   A young Army specialist, Salvatore A. Giunta, took a bullet to the chest but was saved by the heavy plates of his body armor. Shaking off the punch from the insurgent round, he jumped up and pulled two wounded soldiers to safety before grabbing hand grenades and running up the trail to where his squad mates had been on foot patrol.   There, he saw a chilling image: Two insurgents hauling one of his American comrades into the forest. Specialist Giunta hurled his grenades and emptied the clip in his automatic rifle, forcing the insurgents to drop the wounded soldier. Still taking fire, he provided cover and comfort to his badly wounded teammate until help arrived.   True stories of combat defy retelling, and he leaves the recounting of the details of that mission on Oct. 25, 2007, to others. “It was one of the worst days of my life, and when I revisit it, it kind of guts me a little bit more every time,” he said on Friday.   But the White House wants to honor his heroism, and announced that for his valor during that mission, Salvatore Giunta of Hiawatha, Iowa, who is now 25 and a staff sergeant, will become the first living service member to receive the Medal of Honor, the military’s most prestigious award, for action during the wars since September 11, 2001.   President Obama spoke with Sergeant Giunta on Thursday, to discuss the “acts of gallantry at the risk of his life that went above and beyond the call of duty,” according to a White House statement. The date of the medal ceremony has not been set.   “President Obama said ‘thank you’ for what I did,” Sergeant Giunta said in an interview from his current post in Vicenza, Italy. “My heart was pounding out of my chest, so much that my ears almost stopped hearing. I had my wife by my side. She was holding my hand. When she heard me say, ‘Mr. President,’ she gave me a squeeze.”   The soldiers of Company B, Second Battalion, 503rd Infantry, were part of Operation Rock Avalanche, a classic hearts-and-minds campaign to provide food, winter clothing and medical care to remote Afghan villagers — and to assure them that the American and Afghan troops were a stronger force for security than the insurgents.   The mission was described by Elizabeth Rubin, who wrote of the military’s travails in the Korangal Valley for The New York Times Sunday Magazine on Feb. 24, 2008. It is also the subject of a section of a recently published book, “War,” by Sebastian Junger. After months of patrols that cost the American military dearly, the outposts in the Korangal were eventually disbanded, and the forces in them relocated to provide security to larger population centers.   Sergeant Giunta does not discuss strategy or policy when he reflects on that night, when two paratroopers died and most of the patrol received serious injuries.   “I entered the Army when I was 18, and I’m 25 now — I became a man in the Army,” he said. “That night I learned a lot, and after that night I learned even more. This respect that people are giving to me? This was one moment. In my battalion, I am mediocre at best. This shows how great the rest of them are.”   The official White House statement does not share in Sergeant Giunta’s modesty. “His courage and leadership while under extreme enemy fire were integral to his platoon’s ability to defeat an enemy ambush and recover a fellow American paratrooper from enemy hands,” the statement said.   Sergeant Giunta has also received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He has served two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

    Flames Roar in San Bruno, California
    ONETINSOLDIER
    By ONETINSOLDIER,
        Bad news in the bay area, no details, happening as i type this.   R.I.P. to those lost.

    F-35 engine fight gives rivals sense of deja vu
    Fates
    By Fates,
      For years, top U.S. Defense Department officials have tried to cancel the F136 engine being developed by GE and Britain's Rolls-Royce Group PLC (RR.L) as an alternative to the F135 engine built by Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N). Then each year, Congress has defied veto threats and White House pressure to keep the program alive.   The struggle has taken on new significance this year, amid a major Pentagon cost-cutting push and growing concern among lawmakers about widening U.S. deficits.   "We've nicknamed ourselves the Groundhog Day program. Come February we get to do it again," Russell Sparks, vice president of military strategy at GE Aviation, told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit.   David Hess, president of Pratt & Whitney, said the comedy movie "Groundhog Day," starring Bill Murray, provided an apt analogy for the fight over funding for a second engine for the F-35 fighter, built by Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N).   In that film, Murray plays a television weatherman who wakes up to relive the same day, February 2, over and over again.   "There is a bit of a 'Groundhog Day' feel to it," Hess told the Reuters Summit. "You know, we've been battling this for 4 years and for 4 years we've had a customer who says he doesn't want it, and for 4 years Congress has put it back in. So it does seem to be deja vu all over again."   Together the two companies have at least 33 lobbyists working on the issue, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group.   Read More: http://www.reuters.c...E68802820100909

    Wind Farms Disturbing Radar?
    Fates
    By Fates,
      Emerging technology can ease the problem of wind farms causing interference with air-traffic control systems. But deployment of that technology in the U.S. has been slowed by questions over authority and cost.   Since 2006, radar maker Raytheon and National Air Traffic Services, which provides air traffic control in the U.K., have been working on a project to upgrade air traffic radar so it can distinguish between aircraft and wind turbines' spinning blades. Concerns over the disturbances turbines can cause on air traffic control systems are already stunting the growth of wind power: radar and wind turbines conflicts derailed nearly as much as the total amount of installed wind power capacity in the U.S. last year.   In the test, due for completion next spring, Raytheon and NATS are seeking to certify a combination of wind turbine mitigation techniques, including upgrading radar hardware and changing signal-processing algorithms.   "When you start putting a set of turbines across an area, what it looks like to the radar is a whole great field of moving objects," said Peter Drake, Raytheon's technical director for Digital Airport Surveillance Radar, the radar system used for airport terminals. "It's a very real problem."     Read more: http://news.cnet.com...l#ixzz0ytQqFigP

    UPS cargo plane crashes near Dubai airport
    FastCargo
    By FastCargo,
      Yahoo News   By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer – Fri Sep 3, 5:08 pm ET   DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A UPS cargo plane with two crew members on board crashed shortly after takeoff Friday outside Dubai, officials said.   The state news agency WAM, quoting the General Civil Aviation Authority, reported that the "bodies of two pilots" had been found at the scene, but UPS did not confirm that.   The plane went down inside an Emirati air base near a busy highway intersection about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Dubai's international airport. WAM said the crash occurred in an unpopulated desert area, suggesting there may not have been casualties on the ground.   Smoke rose from the crash site, which was shielded from the highway by walls. Migrant laborers from a nearby camp gathered along the roadside to watch.   UPS spokeswoman Kristen Petrella said the Boeing 747-400 — which has a wingspan of 212 feet (64.6 meters) and length of 232 feet (70.7 meters) — went down at about 8 p.m. in Dubai (12 p.m. EST). Flight 6 was en route to the UPS hub in Cologne, Germany, she said. Petrella said the plane had two crew members but the company has not confirmed any casualties.   Two U.S. aviation experts said the plane had taken off and then turned around and was returning to land when the accident took place. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the media.   UPS, an Atlanta-based company formally known as United Parcel Service Inc. and the world's largest shipping company, dispatched an investigation team to the scene.   A Dubai-based spokesman for the General Civil Aviation Authority, Ismail al-Baroushi, said an investigation was under way, but it was "too early to speculate" on the cause of the crash. National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz also said the U.S. agency will send a team of experts to Dubai to assist with the investigation.   A witness, who refused to give his name, said he was sitting on the balcony of his home when he heard a "big boom."   "There was fire and too much smoke," he said.   In October 2009, a Sudanese Boeing 707 cargo plane crashed in the desert outside Dubai after taking off from Sharjah airport north of Dubai, killing six crew members. Emirati regulators have banned the plane's Sudanese owner, Azza Transport, from operating in the country.   There are about 300 747 freighters in service, carrying about half the world's air cargo.   UPS planes have been involved in four accidents since 1985, none fatal, according to an aviation safety database. The most recent involved a fire that broke out in the cargo hold of a McDonnell Douglas DC-8 en route from Atlanta to Philadelphia. Smoke was billowing from the plane when it landed, but the three pilots were able to evacuate safely, said the database, maintained by the Flight Safety Foundation of Alexandria, Va.   In 2005, pilot error cause the nose gear of a McDonnell Douglas MD-11F to collapse during a landing in Anchorage, causing $10 million in damages to the plane.   Prior to Friday's accident, five major airline accidents have been linked to Dubai Airport since 1973, with no fatalities, according to the database. The most recent was on March 12, 2007, when a Biman Bangladesh Airlines Airbus A310 with 236 passengers and crew members aborted a takeoff. The plane came to rest at the end of the runway with a collapsed nose gear.   ___   Associated Press Airlines Writer Samantha Bomkamp in New York and AP writers Michael Casey in Dubai and Joan Lowy in Washington contributed to this report.

    Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer Offers Strong Bilateral Economic Benefits
    Erik
    By Erik,
    Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer Offers Strong Bilateral Economic Benefits Defence Professionals -- 16:14 GMT, September 1, 2010   WARSAW, Poland | Poland’s plans to procure a new advanced jet training system can act as a catalyst for Polish industry in a number of industrial sectors, not just in aerospace and defence, according to Alan Garwood, group business development director at BAE Systems - the world’s second largest defence, security and aerospace company.   Speaking ahead of his company’s participation in the MSPO defence exhibition in Kielce (September 6-9) Garwood said that a key requirement for the Polish government should be ensuring that large defence procurements, such as the advanced jet trainer programme, sustain Polish jobs and support the development of skills and high-end technology transfer, through mutually beneficial industrial partnerships.   “BAE Systems delivers on its promises and has an unrivalled track record of producing economic and industrial benefits for its customers, in support of defence equipment sales,” Garwood says. “If our Hawk advanced jet trainer is selected to meet Poland’s new generation pilot training requirements, it will present opportunities for Polish industry to become part of a global supplier network, not just of BAE Systems but also its partners such as Rolls-Royce, which already has a significant presence in Poland.   “This would give Polish companies access to and involvement in the development of the latest emerging technologies in both the defence and commercial business sectors,” he adds.   In neighbouring Czech Republic, where BAE Systems is delivering a 10 year US$1.3 billion industrial partnership programme in support of the Gripen fighter lease, delivery is approaching 80% of requirement, some 2 years ahead of plan.   “Our approach has been to provide Czech companies with access to inward investment, export promotion, research and development and manufacturing opportunities, linked to the global footprint of BAE Systems and its supplier base,” states Garwood.   BAE Systems will be using its participation in MSPO Kielce to highlight its capabilities in the land systems, security and aerospace sectors, with a particular focus on its ability to meet Poland’s stated need for a new fast jet pilot training system.   The company’s Hawk advanced jet trainer is already training frontline pilots to fly the world’s most advanced and capable combat aircraft, including F16 Block 50/60, F18 Super Hornet, F35, Su30, Gripen and Eurofighter Typhoon. Air powers ranging from Australia to the United States, with 20 others in between, choose Hawk to meet their lead-in fighter trainer requirements.   Last month, India committed to buying a further 57 Hawk advanced jet trainers, in addition to the 66 already in manufacture. These aircraft, to be built in India through a partnership with local aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics, will be used to train Navy and Air Force pilots in preparation for flying the Su30 and India’s next generation fighter aircraft. Eurofighter Typhoon, Gripen NG, F18 Super Hornet and a number of other combat aircraft are currently being evaluated by the Indian MoD.   The advanced training systems built into today’s new generation Hawk jet trainers enable one aircraft to carry out a number of tasks, for which its rivals may need two or more aircraft.   “Today’s Hawk advanced jet trainer will be training some of the world’s most capable frontline pilots for decades to come. It builds on a pedigree of success, established by previous generations of this highly successful platform which, although entirely different to today’s aircraft, share the same name,” comments Garwood.   “For Poland, we will offer a low risk solution based on the aircraft selected by the UK to train its frontline F-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon pilots. This will provide a seamless entry into service and delivery of the required training capability, from day one.”     Defence Professionals

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