STRYKER PATROL – U.S. Army soldiers, assigned to the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 3rd Platoon, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, conduct a patrol in Mosul, Iraq, Nov. 20, 2005 in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt

By Chief Journalist (SW/AW) David Rush, Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- In a first for the U.S. Navy, an underwater glider was launched with the aid of Navy divers from the Dry Deck Shelter aboard USS Buffalo (SSN 715) Nov. 14.

The glider is a uniquely mobile network component capable of moving to specific locations and depths and gathering various information, which is transmitted on a predetermined interval when it surfaces to computers via a built-in satellite phone.

“Our interest in the submarine force has been to use these to characterize the ocean,” explained Lt. Cmdr. Patrick Cross, Pacific Submarine Force oceanographer. “They’re equipped with sensors that can give us [readings on] salinity and temperature versus depth, and from that we can get sound speeds (the localized rate at which sound from a source travels through water). We can feed that data into our MODAS (Modular Ocean Data Assimilation System), run by the Naval Oceanographic Office, and that provides a picture that we provide to our submarines,” said Cross.

The battery-powered device paints a picture for assets below and above the ocean that can be used to their advantage, according to Cross.

“It’s basically a three dimensional depiction of ocean conditions that is used in tactical decision aids to determine sonar performance,” said Cross. “The gliders are a great way to have a persistent sensor out there to continuously feed us data on what the ocean is doing," he said. "Then we can feed that to our shore-based computer models and get a better picture of the ocean and give that information to all tactical assets - not just submarines, but anyone involved in ASW (anti-submarine warfare).”

Cross added that the gliders have demonstrated their capability in various exercises.

“We have had incremental success since we began using them in exercises, including a glider in RIMPAC (exercise Rim of the Pacific) ’04," he said. "It did a great job of demonstrating the technology."

Retrieving a glider via submarine is a logical next step.

“One of the future exercises we hope to do is recover a glider on board a submarine, demonstrating both deployment and recovery. We would locate the glider via GPS, and divers would retrieve it and bring it aboard,” Cross said.

The gliders are relatively inexpensive, easy to reconfigure for various missions, and have a long life span with minimal maintenance required. When new batteries are required, they can simply be replaced and the glider can be put back in the water again.

For related news, visit the Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/subpac/.

FIRE POWER — U.S. soldiers, assigned to Battery A, 4th Battalion, 11th Field Artillery Regiment, practice firing their M-198 howitzers at Q-West Base Complex, Iraq, Nov. 22, 2005. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ashley N. Rice

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Clark joins Saddam's defense team

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U.S. Soldiers Face Disciplinary Action Over Body Burning

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Annapolis Fire Caused Millions in Damage

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Iranian President Wants Bush Tried for War Crimes
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Andrew Card's Plane Makes Emergency Landing
Two Seattle Monorail Trains Clip Ends; No One Injured
'Crying' Mary Draws Faithful
Thousands Evacuate Tokyo for WWII Bomb Removal
Palestinians Head to Egypt- Violence in Egypt Elections
Busy 'Black Friday' Lifts Retailers' Spirits
Prepare for the Worst (bird flu)
Manhunt Continues - Two fugitives remain at large
Quake Hits Iran

Reuters: Top News
Iraqi Shiite urges strong hand against insurgents
CIA flight probes make governments squirm
Arab leaders' absence dims summit
Talks test FAA and air controllers' ties
Top White House aide's plane in emergency landing
Chinese city turns taps back on
Adverts pulled from S.Korean TV amid stem cell fury
Green investors hope for new Kyoto rules post-2012

AP World News
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German Leader Vows to Intensify U.S. Ties
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Rain, Snow Halt Relief Efforts in Kashmir
Ukraine Marks Soviet-Era Forced Famine
Earthquake in Central China Kills 15
Outlawed Group Gains 25 Seats in Egypt
Iran President: Charge Bush for War Crimes
Early Winter Brings Chaos to Europe
Zimbabweans Form Lines for Food, Not Votes

Military.com
Navy, Army Eager to Play

CENTCOM: News Release
COALITION RELEASES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INVESTIGATION INTO BURNING OF TALIBAN BO
CITIZEN TIPS, SOLDIER DILIGENCE TAKE TERRORISTS OFF STREETS
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MND CS COMPLETES ROAD IN AL HILLAH
TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESTORED IN AL ANBAR
IRAQI, U.S. FORCES NAB TERRORISTS, STOP BOMB ATTACKS
OPERATION TIGERS KICKED OFF IN RAMADI
COALITION RELEASES EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF INVESTIGATION INTO BURNING OF TALIBAN BODIES

Department of Defense
Bush: Americans Thank U.S. Troops -- Story
Relative Confirms Death of Zarqawi Confidant -- Story

IN IRAQ
Sailors, Iraqi Marines Secure Oil Terminals

TOP NEWS
SPECIAL REPORTS
Iraq Transition of Power

IRAQ
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (pdf)
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (pdf)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
National Guard, Reserve Update


Today in History
1095 - Pope Urban II preaches the first Crusade.
1815 - Krakow (Poland) is declared a free republic.
1817 - U.S. soldiers attack a Florida native village, beginning the Seminole War
1885 - The earliest photograph of a meteor shower is made.
1889 - The first permit is issued to drive a car through Central Park (Curtis Brady).
1895 - Alfred Nobel establishes the Nobel Prize.
1898 - The Side-wheeler Portland sinks off Cape Cod, killing 190.
1901 - The Army War College is established in Washington, DC.
1910 - NY's Penn Station opens as the world's largest railway terminal.
1912 - The Albanian National Flag is adopted; A Spanish protectorate is established in Morocco.
1926 - The restoration of Williamsburg, Virginia, begins.
1941 - The U.S.S.R. begins a counter-offensive, causing Germany to retreat.
1942 - At Toulon, the French navy scuttles ships and submarines to prevent the Nazis from seizing them.
1945 - General George C. Marshall is named special U.S. envoy to China.
1951 -In White Sands, NM, the first rocket intercepts an airplane.
1957 - The U.S. Army withdraws from Little Rock AR, after Central HS integration.
1958 - The U.S.S.R. abrogates Allied war-time agreements on the control of Germany.
1970 - Pope Paul VI is wounded in the chest during a visit to the Philippines, by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest.
1971 - The Soviets' Mars-2 becomes the first spacecraft to crash land on Mars.
1973 - The U.S. Senate votes 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as VP.
1980 - The Soyuz T-3 is launched, carrying 3 cosmonauts to the Salyut-6 space station.
1985 - The Republic of Ireland gains a consultative role in Northern Ireland.
1989 - The U.S.' 63rd manned space mission, STS-33 (Discovery 9), returns from space.
1990 - Britain's conservatives choose John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher.

Birthdays
1701 - Anders Celsius, Swedish scientist / inventor (centigrade temperature scale)
1746 - Robert Livingston, deliverer of oath of office to George Washington
1857 - Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, 1932 Nobel Laureate in Medicine and Physiology; discoverer of Sherrington's Law; coiner of the terms "neuron" and "synapse"
1874 - Chaim Weizmann, Israeli statesman (first President); Charles A. Beard, American historian (American Continentalism)
1917 - "Buffalo" Bob Smith, TV host (Howdy Doody)
1921 - Alexander Dubcek, head of Czech Communist Party (1968-69)
1932 - Benigno Aquino, Jr., Philippine opposition leader, assassinated
1942 - Jimi Hendrix, rock guitarist
1957 - Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, JFK's daughter

Passings
8 BC - Horace, Latin poet / satirist
1934 - Baby Face Nelson, shot by FBI agents
1975 - Ross McWhirter, Guinness Book of Records keeper, murdered
1978 - San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Superintendent Harvey Milk, shot by Dan White
1984 - Percy Norris, deputy high commissioner of India, shot

Reported Missing in Action
1968
Gurnsey, Earl F., US Army (CA); UH1F shot down (w/Stuifbergen), released by Sihanouk January, 1969 - deceased, May 1982

Stuifbergen, Gene Paul, US Army (MI); UH1F shot down (w/Gurnsey), KIA, body not recovered