Navy Trivia: Petty Officer

The Petty Officer can trace his title back to the old French word petit meaning something small. Over the years the word also came to mean minor, secondary and subordinate. In medieval and later England just about every village had several "petite", "pety" or "petty" officials/officers who were subordinate to such major officials as the steward of sheriff. The petty officers were the assistants to the senior officials.

The senior officers of the early British warships, such as the Boatswain, Gunner and Carpenter, also had assistants or "mates." Since the early seamen knew petty officers in their home villages they used the term to describe the minor officials aboard their ships. A ship's Captain or Master chose his own Petty Officers who served at his pleasure. At the end of a voyage or whenever the ship's crew was paid off and released the Petty Officers lost their positions and titles. There were Petty Officers in the British navy in the Seventeenth Century and perhaps earlier but the rank did not become official until 1808.

Petty Officers were important members of our Navy right from its beginnings and were also appointed by their ship's Captain. They did not have uniforms or rank insignia, and they usually held their appointments only while serving on the ship whose Captain had selected them.

Petty Officers in our Navy got their first rank insignia in 1841 when they began wearing a sleeve device showing an eagle perched on an anchor. Some Petty Officers wore the device on their left arms while others wore it on their right. All wore the same device. Specialty or rating marks did not appear officially until 1866 but they seem to have been in use for several years previously. Regulations sometimes serve to give formal status to practices already well established.
In 1885 the Navy recognized it three classes of Petty Officers--first, second and third--and in the next year let them wear rank insignia of chevrons with the points down under a spread eagle and rating mark. The eagle faced left instead of right as it does today.

The present Petty Officer insignia came about in 1894 when the Navy established the Chief Petty Officer rank and gave him the three chevrons with arc and eagle. The first, second and third class Petty Officers also began wearing the insignia they do today.

Soldier burned in effigy stirs outrage

These are the people (traitors) that support the Democrats in Congress.
Portland Traitorous Slide Show

Notice the moonbat cowards keep their faces hidden.

Representative of the barking moonbat left.

Military / Veterans Report

Space Camp Scholarships for Children
Applications are being accepted for the 2007 Bernard Curtis Brown II Memorial NASA Space Camp Scholarship to attend Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. Children of active-duty servicemembers, in grades 6 through 9, can apply for the scholarship, which covers tuition, meals, lodging, program materials, and transportation for a five-day program. To apply, students must submit a scholarship application, along with a handwritten essay stating why they should be selected, and two letters of recommendation from someone other than a relative. An application can be found by visiting the Military Child Education website. The deadline for submission of applications, hand written essays, and letters of recommendation is April 2, 2007.

Remember: Not applying for scholarships is like turning down free money. Get started on your search for scholarships today - visit the Military.com Scholarship Finder.

---

Fallon Takes Reins of Central Command
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla.
For the first time since the United States created a combatant command with responsibility for the Middle East, Northern Africa and Southwest and Central Asia, a naval officer took over the helm of U.S. Central Command here today. Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, a naval aviator with almost 40 years of service, assumed duties as commander of CENTCOM from Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, who is retiring after leading CENTCOM for more than three years.

---

Road WorkAlthough, for the most part, Marine Corps in theme, Gary Sullivan thinks that his cartoons can be enjoyed by one and all. Just a smidgen of humor is all that is needed...or if that doesn't work, try a pitcher or two of ice-cold beer with some barbecued spare ribs.

---

Ever used a Holystone? A small abrasive stone of pumice or rough slate that was used to smooth and polish the wooden decks of a sailing ship. For ease of handling and stowage, it was almost exactly the same size as the average Bible, or "holy" book. Another origin of the term is that fragments of broken monuments from the abbey of Saint Nicholas (located in Great Yarmouth, England), were used at one time to scrub the decks of the British Navy.
MMCM(SS) Greg Peterman USN Retired
*

May God hold you in the palm of His hand

9/11 Mastermind Confesses in Guantanamo [Update]

KSM's World War
What his confession says about our enemy--and us.

In Cairo last year, Deputy Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Habib told us that the 9/11 attacks were "great crimes," but that he doubted Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda were responsible. It's probably too much to expect that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession that he "was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z" will sway minds like Mr. Habib's. But for the rest of us, the testimony by bin Laden's top operational lieutenant is a jolting re-education in the enemy we face.

"I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew," he boasted to a U.S. military tribunal on March 10, referring to our colleague Daniel Pearl. "For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head."

One lesson of his testimony is the scope of his terror success, and his even larger ambition. Among the 31 actual events: The February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, chiefly carried out by his nephew Ramzi Yousef; the October 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, in which 202 were killed and another 200 injured; the killing of two U.S. GIs in Kuwait the same month; the November 2002 hotel bombings in Kenya, in which 13 Israelis and Kenyans died; and the November 2003 attacks in Istanbul against Jewish and British targets, which killed 57 and wounded 700. That's roughly 3,280 murders.

But even this pales next to what might have happened had the U.S. not arisen from pre-9/11 complacency and gone on offense. By his own admission, KSM also planned attacks on targets in South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Israel, the Straits of Hormuz and Gibraltar, the Panama Canal, Brussels and London. He made extensive plans to assassinate Pope John Paul II during the pope's visit to Manila in 1995. He attempted to destroy an American oil company in Indonesia "owned," as he put it, "by the Jewish former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger."
Among other U.S. targets, there was "Shoe Bomber" Richard Reid's failed attempt against American Airlines Flight 63 in December 2001, schemes to assassinate Presidents Clinton and Carter, and a "new wave" of attacks after 9/11 targeting skyscrapers in L.A., Chicago and Seattle, New York's suspension bridges and stock exchange, and nuclear power plants in "several U.S. states."

Perhaps most ominously, KSM also admitted to being "directly in charge" of "managing and following up on the Cell for the Production of Biological Weapons, such as anthrax and others, and following up on Dirty Bomb Operations on American Soil." Given such a confession, is it too much to ask the FBI to reconsider its dogmatic view that the 2001 anthrax attacks could only have had a domestic source?

No doubt many terror experts will declare that much or all of this is boasting, and perhaps some of it is. We can only hope so. And no doubt the truly credulous will assume it is largely a product of CIA coercion, as if the attacks KSM claims credit for had some other provenance.

But we think KSM's world of war makes clear that, if anything, President Bush understated the danger posed by the 14 "high-value" enemy combatants he transferred to Guantanamo last autumn. And it reveals just how terribly mistaken was the view of those who told us, pre-9/11, that terrorism was merely a law enforcement threat like any other.

That view permeated the CIA, where Paul Pillar helped run the Counterterrorist Center and wrote that "There is no . . . BinLadentern" akin to the old Communist Comintern. He denounced "overheated rhetoric that has spun out ever more frightening and unusual ways in which terrorism might inflict large numbers of casualties." And he deprecated President Clinton for ordering government agencies to examine the plausibility of a biological attack on New York City after he'd read "The Cobra Event," Richard Preston's 1998 novel on the subject.

When the 9/11 Commission concluded that the failure to avert that awful day was above all "a failure of imagination," the Pillar world view is Exhibit A. And we mention it here because now, after five years without a terror attack on U.S. soil, that view is making a comeback in the growing opposition to holding enemy combatants in Guantanamo or to warrantless wiretaps of al Qaeda.
As KSM makes clear, bin Laden and his acolytes declared "war" on the U.S. in his fatwa of 1998, a fact the U.S. only figured out on September 11. He professes to regret the death of women and children, but calls such indiscriminate killing "the language of any war" and justified by his religious motivation.

"For sure, I'm American enemies," said KSM in his broken English. For sure, too, he is a reminder of the evil that still confronts us in this conflict with radical Islam, and one that we underestimate at our existential peril. Source opinionjournal.com

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a chilling string of other terror plots during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wednesday by the Pentagon.

"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Mohammed said in a statement read during the session, which was held last Saturday.
New York Post Breaking News
Planned assassination attempts on Carter, Clinton...
Admits plot to blow up Big Ben...

It will be interesting to see how the anti-American anti-War Liberals cope with and spin this news.
Well, here they go. The MSM is rushing to his defense.
Drive-By Media Enraged Over KSM Confessions [Audio] 15:20 Rush.com
*

Military / Veterans Report

Recommended Reading:
IN WASHINGTON, IT'S ALWAYS THE YEAR OF THE RAT
By Ann Coulter
Democrats have leapt on reports of mold, rats and bureaucratic hurdles at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as further proof of President George Bush's failed war policies.

To the contrary, the problems at Walter Reed are further proof of the Democrats' failed domestic policies — to wit, the civil service rules that prevent government employees from ever being fired. (A policy that also may account for Robert Byrd's longevity as a U.S. senator.)

Thanks to the Democrats, government employees have the world's most complicated set of job protection rules outside of the old East Germany. Oddly enough, this has not led to a dynamic workforce in the nation's capital.
Continued xx Archive

---

VA Guaranteed Home Loan
A VA-guaranteed loan is a loan made by private lenders (such as banks, savings & loans, or mortgage companies) to eligible veterans. If you want to purchase or refinance a home, condominium or manufactured home, the VA can guarantee up to $417,000 of the total loan -- much higher than you can get with most conventional home loans. Better yet, there is no need to worry about financing a down payment on a VA loan. However certain funding fees and closing costs apply, and you must be able pay a portion of these fees upfront. Click here to read more about the VA Guaranteed Home Loan.
First Step:
Save time and get piece of mind by requesting free information from lenders approved by Military.com. Start now.

---

New Collection at the Veteran's History Project
The Veterans History Project is celebrating Women's History Month with "Women at War". The 12 fully digitized collections to the Project's "Experiencing War" Web series covers four wars, beginning with World War II - the first conflict which American women appeared in uniform in all branches of the armed forces. To date, more than 45,000 individuals have submitted stories to the Veterans History Project, and 3,900 of those stories can be accessed online at www.loc.gov/vets. To become involved in the Veterans History Project, download a project how-to kit from the Veterans History Project website at www.loc.gov/vets, or call the toll-free message line at (888) 371-5848.

---

Former Sailor Arrested on Terror Charge
A former Navy Sailor was arrested Wednesday for allegedly releasing classified information that ended up in the hands of a suspected terrorism financier.

Hassan Abujihaad, 31, of Phoenix, is accused in a case that began in Connecticut and followed a suspected terrorist network across the country and into Europe and the Middle East.

He was arrested in Phoenix on charges of supporting terrorism with an intent to kill U.S. citizens and transmitting classified information to unauthorized people. More

---

Gen. Pace Calls Homosexuality Immoral
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he considers homosexuality to be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly. More

---

Did you Know knock off work?
Otherwise known as, to quit suddenly; to stop. -- For example, "It's about time to knock off work" Nautical origin: Aboard sailing ships, the galleys rowed to the rhythm of a mallet striking a wooden block. When the knocking stopped, it was a signal to stop rowing and "knock off work!"
*

Military / Veterans Report

Any Soldier, Inc. Supports Troops
Any Soldier Inc. started in August 2003 as a simple family effort to help the soldiers in one Army unit. Due to overwhelming requests, the Any Soldier effort was expanded on January 1, 2004 to include any member of any of the Armed Forces that is in harm's way. Receiving letters is the most requested thing by the Soldiers, and the Any Soldier, Inc. website gives directions on how to send letters to the Soldiers. The website also provides a message board so recipients can make special requests, post photos and messages or express appreciation to those who send items.

---

Blue Star Mothers Support Troops
Some homes display a unique flag that signifies a family's support of a son's or daughter's service in the military. Those banners represent an old tradition and are part of Blue Star Mothers of America Inc., a patriotic organization that traces its roots back to World War I, when mothers displayed flags decorated with stars signifying the number of offspring serving in the military. Blue Star Mothers chapters routinely send care packages, including cakes and cookies, to support U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the war against terrorism. For more information, visit the
Blue Star Mothers of America website

Looking for ways to support and honor U.S. military servicemembers and veterans who protect our security and freedom? Go to the Military.com Support our Troops webpage to learn more.

---

Keylogging is a Clear-Cut Danger
A small but insidious program hidden within a computer's files or memory or tucked away inside an add-on device can tell the world everything you are doing on your computer. This program, called a keylogger, records every keystroke the computer user makes. The data obtained by keylogging could make its way to an identity thief or end up in an enemy's computer. Soldiers, family members and Department of the Army civilian employees can download free commercial antivirus and firewall software from AKO that will protect their home computers.

---

POW Benefits Act Introduced
Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-Palm Harbor) proudly announces the introduction of H.R. 1197, the Prisoners of War (POW) Benefits Act. H.R. 1197 establishes presumptions for disability compensation for several diseases, including Type II Diabetes and Osteoporosis. This will allow former POWs to claim these disabilities as service-connected and qualify them for disability compensation. Additionally, this legislation establishes a system by which the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) can determine future presumption conditions for former POWs. Under H.R. 1197, the VA Secretary would have to review the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Former Prisoners of War and all other sound medical and scientific information and analysis available to him when making these determinations. For more information, read the full article at Military.com.

How do you feel about this action? Let your public officials know how you feel
*