Navy

The May 23 Op-ed article by Maxwell Glen and Cody Shearer, "The Navy goes into show biz," seems to be saying four things: first, that it is wrong for the Navy to profit from the film industry; second, that it is wrong for the film industry to profit from the Navy; third, the Navy should not use privately funded movies for recruiting purposes; fourth, the Navy should not be spending so many taxpayers dollars on recruiting. Consider each in turn. First, it would be wrong for the Navy to refuse private funding to offset the cost of pilot proficiency training (and that is what the hours flown during the filming of Top Gun represent, since they would have been flown even without the presence of a film crew)

SAN FRANCISCO - In 2005, the USS America aircraft carrier was towed out to sea on its final voyage. Hundreds of miles off the Atlantic coast, U.S. Navy personnel then blasted the 40-year-old warship with missiles and bombs until it sank. The Kitty Hawk-class carrier - more than three football fields long - came to rest in the briny depths about 300 nautical miles southeast of Norfolk, Va. Target practice is now the way the Navy gets rid of most of its old ships, an Associated Press review of Navy records for the last dozen years has found.

Citing unexpected circumstances, a Montgomery County judge yesterday revoked an earlier ruling ordering a Lansdale man to serve a four-year stint in the Navy. Common Pleas Court Judge S. Gerald Corso sentenced Nathan I. Rubinkam, 20, to five years' probation and 150 hours of community service. The ruling overrides an Aug. 24 order to send Rubinkam into the Navy and have him serve five years of nonreporting probation for his part in a series of thefts from autos in the North Penn area in 1988 and 1989.

The University of Pennsylvania dominated the U.S. Naval Academy in three out of four races in a women's rowing regatta yesterday on a windswept Schuylkill. Penn outrowed the Middies by almost 1 1/2 lengths in the varsity race, covering the 2,000-meter course in 6 minutes, 44.6 seconds. Navy's time was 6:50.0. The Quakers also won the second varsity and the first novice varsity races, while Navy prevailed in the second novice varsity race.

The Navy is fighting to keep the USS Olympia, Adm. George Dewey's flagship in the Spanish American War battle of Manila, from being taken over by a man who successfully sued the ship's owners after his son fell overboard and drowned. The Olympia, moored at Penn's Landing, was about to be padlocked by U.S. marshals Friday so that its contents could be attached to the estate of Robert Matthews, a 20-year-old deckhand who drowned in 1983. They were prevented from finishing the job when U.S. District Judge Marvin Katz gave the U.S. attorney's office, representing the Navy, time to prepare legal papers for presentation today.

Fresh off their most meaningful victory in recent seasons, the Drexel Dragons didn't allow Navy to catch them still savoring it last night. The Dragons (14-5) put the Midshipmen away early on their way to a 73-57 nonleague victory at Halsey Fieldhouse. It was Drexel's seventh straight victory. And it marked the first time the Dragons had put together that many wins since the 1985-86 season, when Drexel went to the NCAA tournament. Playing a Navy team (7-12) that had not distinguished itself this season, Drexel was a prime candidate for a letdown.

The Penn basketball team faced a unique challenge last night against Navy. The Midshipmen's high-powered offense came into the contest averaging nearly 25 three-point attempts per game and a 40 percent shooting average from beyond the arc. Off the floor, a raucous crowd of 2,185 at Alumni Hall was inspired by a national television broadcast and ceremonies marking Pearl Harbor Day. But the Quakers managed to take care of both those problems with...

The report on the April gun-turret explosion on the USS Iowa may satisfy the immediate administrative needs of the Navy. But as an exercise in historical inquiry, or common justice, it stinks. After a disaster that cost 47 lives, the Navy seems to have reposed its faith in scientific and pseudo-scientific investigative methods, chemical and psychological - as if an extravagant investment in state-of-the-art forensics would dispel all doubts. It plainly didn't. Even after investing four months and $4 million in the inquiry, the Navy still doesn't really know how the explosion occurred, or who was to blame.

A limited number of standing-room tickets are on sale for the Army/Navy game, set for Dec. 12 at Lincoln Financial Field. The tickets cost $45 each and can be purchased on a first-come, first-served basis at all Ticketmaster outlets. Premium packages, going for $275 and $350 per person, are also available. The packages include various perks, such as lower-level seating, a parking pass and access to the pregame VIP Tailgate at Citizens Bank Park. To purchase either premium package, fans should call 1-888-332-CLUB.

For Jeff Battipaglia, it's sea over land. The St. Joseph's Prep lineman committed to Navy on Monday, choosing the Midshipmen over Army. Battipaglia was a first-team member of The Inquirer's all-Southeastern Pennsylvania football team. As the 6-foot-4, 265-pounder tells it, he was interested in the military colleges long before they started recruiting him. "I know it's a clich? to say it, but Sept. 11 had a profound effect on me," Battipaglia said. Battipaglia's father, Joe, worked across the street from the World Trade Center as an investment strategist and escaped harm during the terrorist attacks on Sept.

ABOARD THE USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH - The Navy for the first time Tuesday launched an unmanned aircraft the size of a fighter jet from a warship in the Atlantic Ocean, as it wades deeper into America's drone program amid growing concerns over the legality of its escalating surveillance and lethal strikes. The drone, called the X-47B, is considered particularly valuable because it is the first designed specifically to take off and land on an aircraft carrier, allowing it to be used around the world without needing the permission of other countries to serve as a home base.

WHEN NAVY PETTY Officer Jeffrey Ferren died of a heart condition last year, his widow, Gabriella Kubinyi, believed she would at least be taken care of financially. That's because as a member of the U.S. armed forces, Ferren, 31, of Camden, had life insurance through Prudential Insurance Co. But Kubinyi's grief at losing her husband in April 2012 was only compounded when the Newark, N.J., insurance giant told her that she would not be receiving his full $400,000 death benefit. The insurer said a clerical error had resulted in the wrong amount being deducted from her husband's paychecks, therefore she would not get the full benefit amount, according to attorney Aaron J. Freiwald, who yesterday filed a lawsuit against Prudential in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

Building 661 at the Navy Yard was never a thing of beauty. Built in 1942, during the first months of U.S. involvement in World War II, the brick-and-concrete structure's purpose was to house an indoor swimming pool, basketball courts, and offices, a function it pragmatically performed until the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard closed in 1995. On Wednesday, the building, which has been unoccupied for nearly two decades, will begin a new life as headquarters of the Energy Efficient Buildings Hub, the two-year-old federally funded innovation center operated by Pennsylvania State University.

GROTON, Conn. - A former submarine commander who faked his death to end an extramarital affair should be honorably discharged from the Navy, a panel of officers recommended Friday after a daylong hearing in which the officer said he accepted "full and total accountability" for his behavior. Cmdr. Michael P. Ward II, a married 43-year-old, sent his mistress in Virginia an e-mail in July posing as a fictitious coworker named Bob and saying Ward had died unexpectedly. Ward was relieved of his duties aboard the USS Pittsburgh in August a week after he'd taken command and has received a letter of reprimand for adultery and other military violations.

If North Korea were to launch a ballistic missile at the United States, the Aegis air-defense missile system designed and built by Lockheed Martin Corp. for ships could detect and strike it down within minutes. Not just hit the missile, but destroy the warhead and determine whether the threat was conventional explosives or chemical, biological, or nuclear in nature. For 40 years, Lockheed Martin in Moorestown has been the Navy's contractor for the Aegis system, which uses radar, sensors, and computers to detect, track, and guide weapons that can intercept enemy threats.

Navy sailor Pasquale Troisi completed four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, served in combat, and had once dreamed of becoming a Navy SEAL. But during his most recent deployment, his chief responsibility was perhaps the closest to his heart: protecting military chaplains, doctors, and others who did not carry weapons. Troisi built his military career on a foundation of his strong Catholic faith, according to those who knew him. For Troisi's loved ones, that dedication to God and country has made the events of the past weeks even harder to accept.

Warren B. Goodman, 91, of Bala Cynwyd, an ice skater who won championships in the 1930s, died Thursday, March 14, of a heart attack while visiting his daughter in Los Angeles. Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Goodman started skating at age 11 with skates he found in an attic. With the exception of two lessons from a professional, he was self-taught. In 1937, while attending West Philadelphia High School, he won the Middle Atlantic States Men's Junior Championships; in 1938, he won the Philadelphia District Men's Junior Championship; in 1939, he won the Men's Senior title at the Middle Atlantic Championships; and in 1940, he competed at the U.S. Championships in Cleveland, where he placed fourth in the Men's Senior Division.

Even during this desultory economic recovery, one industry thrives: the manufacture of synthetic hysteria. It is, however, inaccurate to accuse the Hysteric in Chief of crying "Wolf!" about spending cuts under the sequester. He is actually crying "Hamster!" As in: Batten down the hatches - the sequester will cut $85 billion from this year's $3.6 trillion budget! Or: Head for the storm cellar - spending will be cut 2.3 percent! Or: Washington chainsaw massacre - we must scrape by on 97.7 percent of current spending!

FOR THE LAST DECADE, construction cranes have been busy at the Navy Yard churning up dirt and converting the former shipyard into an office mecca for companies of all sizes. After celebrating the 10,000-employee milestone last week - the same number that was there before the shipyard closed in 1995 - developers said they're ready to turn their attention to a new phase: nightlife. Planning officials said they soon hope to secure the first restaurant that would be open for dinner and that would cater largely to the after-work crowd.