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HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) -- Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command scientists are working to identify an Airman who was found Oct. 16 on Mount Mendel in Kings Canyon National Park, Calif. The unidentified Airman arrived at JPAC Oct. 24 still wearing a World War II-era parachute, with a comb, various coins and other personal effects in his pockets. Investigators at JPAC searched the records of men lost during World War II and found that between 25 and 30 military planes crashed on training missions in California during these years. They have narrowed the list of possible Airmen to four who disappeared during a training mission on Nov. 18, 1942. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Derrick C. Goode)


HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) -- Dr. Robert Mann begins identifying an Airman whose remains were found Oct. 16 on Mount Mendel in Kings Canyon National Park, Calif. The unidentified Airman arrived at JPAC Oct. 24 still wearing a World War II-era parachute, with a comb, various coins and other personal effects in his pockets. Investigators at JPAC searched the records of men lost during World War II and found that between 25 and 30 military planes crashed on training missions in California during these years. They have narrowed the list of possible Airmen to four who disappeared during a training mission on Nov. 18, 1942. Dr. Mann is the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command deputy scientific director. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Derrick C. Goode)


HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) -- Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command scientists are working to identify an Airman who was found Oct. 16 on Mount Mendel in Kings Canyon National Park, Calif. The unidentified Airman arrived at JPAC Oct. 24 still wearing a World War II-era parachute, with a comb, various coins and other personal effects in his pockets. Investigators at JPAC searched the records of men lost during World War II and found that between 25 and 30 military planes crashed on training missions in California during these years. They have narrowed the list of possible Airmen to four who disappeared during a training mission on Nov. 18, 1942. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Derrick C. Goode)

An MB-2 hits its target, the obsolete battleship USS Alabama during tests. On Sep. 27, 1921, still operating with Mitchell’s provisional air brigade, the group’s MB-2 aircraft bombed and sank the ex-U.S. Navy battleship Alabama (BB-08) in Tangier Bay, Chesapeake Bay, Md.

As you know, the Army-Navy football game is this weekend. The game may have to wait a few days, but the rivalry's been in place for years...

December 1, 2005
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Chet Gladchuk said the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy would be there for the taking by a confident Army team when it faces Navy on Saturday in Philadelphia. For about 48 hours, the Naval Academy's athletic director wasn't so sure.

The trophy, awarded each season to the winner of the football competition among the three major service academies, was stolen from the team's locker room Monday and recovered last night. It was found in a storage room inside Bancroft Hall, the campus dormitory at the Naval Academy.

The trophy had been on display the past two years in Bancroft. It was moved to the locker room in Ricketts Hall at the request of the coaches, who wanted their players to see what they are competing for in their 106th meeting with Army.

In place of the 170-pound trophy, officials found a note that read, "Before we win the football game on Saturday, we thought we would take the trophy. By the time you read this, it will be halfway to West Point."

"If it was West Point, it probably took three or four of them to carry it," Navy coach Paul Johnson said jokingly.
When asked how it was moved from Bancroft to Ricketts, Johnson replied, "I think one Marine took it in there."

Heh.

Hat tip to Seamus

An HH-60H Seahawk helicopter discharges countermeasure flares alongside the conventionally powered aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63).
U.S. Navy photo

On this day in 1941, the Civil Air Patrol was founded, owing its origins largely to NJ aviation advocate Gill Robb Wilson. NY mayor Fiorello LaGuardia (for whom the airport is named) was also instrumental.

The Civil Air Patrol is a Nonprofit, 501(c)(3) corporation; the Auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. There are more than 58,000 members, including approximately 27,000 cadets ages 12- 21. It has 52 wings, and 1,700 units.

Headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, the Civil Air Patrol boasts the world’s largest fleet of single-engine, piston aircraft (550 of them), one of the nation's most extensive communications networks, and 1,000 emergency services vehicles.

Initially designed for liaison and reconnaissance flying, the CAP quickly expanded to play a vital role in searching for German submarines off the American East Coast. CAP planes carried bombs and depth charges to assist in the effort to protect the U.S. Its coastal patrols flew 24 million miles, attacking more nearly 60 submarines (it found more than 170). It hit ten, and sank two. The CAP became an auxiliary of the Army Air Force in 1943, and when the Air Force became an independent service, it became that branch's official auxiliary.

All told, the CAP flew more than a half a million miles in WWII, and lost 64 of its civilian heroes in the line of duty.

What does the Civil Air Patrol Do Today?
95% of the nation’s inland search and rescue missions, with 100 lives saved per year
Aerial reconnaissance for homeland security
Disaster-relief and damage assessment, including the transportation of officials to remote locations.
Transport for time-sensitive medical materials (such as blood or live tissue)
Reconnaissance, communications, and trasnportation for counterdrug missions
100 aerospace education workshops each year
Aerospace classroom materials, grades K through college
Nation’s premier annual aerospace education conference

On average, CAP members fly more than 100,000 hours in operational missions per year.

For More Information:
Civil Air Patrol - Official Site
Happy Hooligans - About Civil Air Patrol

UPDATES: (More sites to find out about the CAP):
Wikipedia: Civil Air Patrol
Global Security: The Civil Air Patrol

by Tech. Sgt. Andy Dunaway
December 1, 2005
Iraqi troops and a U.S. Soldier from the 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, conduct a joint patrol in the village of Hechel.

From WTOL:

TOLEDO -- A US Army sergeant from Toledo is on his second tour of duty in Iraq. While Sgt. Nicholas Mielke faces the challenges of war, he's now challenging his family and his city to make his Christmas wish come true. All he wants is a little help for a whole lot of Iraqi children.

"It just broke his heart," said Michell Spencer who is Mielke's aunt. She told us her nephew just couldn't take seeing so many Iraqi children without shoes and socks. So, Mielke made a Christmas wish to his family. Don't buy him a thing -- care for the kids...

Full Story here

Kudos to the folks at WTOL for running this positive story!

WAR ON TERROR SPEECH — President Bush waves to the crowd after delivering remarks on the war on terrorism at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., Nov. 30, 2005. "Victory in Iraq will demand the continued determination and resolve of the American people," said the President. White House photo by Paul Morse

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
U.S., Iraqi Forces 'Hammer' Insurgents
Bush: 'America Will Not Abandon Iraq'
Speech Garners More Criticism
Video: Hostages Identified
Iraqi rebels attack in Ramadi, seize some streets (The DoD is calling this report largely inaccurate)
Germany wants to make contact with Iraq kidnappers
House minority leader backs quick Iraq pullout (what a surprise)
Insurgents Attack U.S. Bases in Iraq
Bush Speech Draws Some Praise Overseas
Abductees from group that takes big risks
US, Iraqi troops target insurgents in western region

Operation Enduring Freedom
Deadly attacks in Afghanistan spur fears of foreign support

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Bangladesh Bomb Injures 30
Hamas Refuses New Truce with Israel, Claim Violation
Belgian police detain 14 suspected of terror links

Troops on Trial
Fort Campbell Soldier Charged in Shooting

Supreme Court
In Memo, Alito Argued for State Laws 'Mitigating' Roe

Hurricane Season
Katrina Refugees Offered Rent-Free Housing

Oddities
Ariz. teen uses 911 to return cop car
Stowaway cat on way home
Caught wee-weeing in Wis. town? Everyone's going to know

Other News of Note
U.S. Will Reply to EU Questions About Secret Prisons
Japan told to compensate residents for US jet noise

Fox News
World Observes AIDS Day
Calif. Judge Won't Block Crips Founder's Execution
Judge Bars Ind. Lawmakers from Christian Prayer
Chipmaker Samsung Pleads Guilty to Price Fixing
Judge Throws Out BlackBerry Patent-Suit Settlement
French Doctors Perform First Partial Face Transplant
Stocks to Watch: Novell

Reuters: Top News
Buyout firms eye Knight Ridder bid: WSJ
EU says will fulfil Kyoto target early, in 2010
Jordan charges four militants over US death plot
SEC charges against Scrushy dropped, for now
UN urges "exceptional response" to AIDS crisis
Mehlis slams Syria for "propaganda" in Hariri probe
Schwarzenegger names Democrat top aide
Bats may be carriers of Ebola virus: scientists
AIDS expert sees vaccine progress
Report questions Medicare drug benefit oversight
New US textbook aims to teach Bible as knowledge
Epidemic survivors stress need for mental care
Fog of numbers shrouds world trade talks
Workers in booming UAE struggle to get paid

AP World News
Egyptian Police Prevent Polling in Village
Asian Countries Observe World AIDS Day
Swiss Boy Mauled to Death by Pack of Dogs
Jordan's King Abdullah II Opens Parliament
Israel to Pressure Iran on Nuke Issue
Syria Demands New Look Into Hariri Killing
Chinese River Town Shuts Down Water Supply
Japan to Submit Female Succession Bill
Gulf Nations Seek Ways to Reuse Wastewater
Emirates to Hold Limited Voting
Peres Quits Labor Party to Back Sharon
Brazil Opens Carmen Miranda Exhibition
Venezuela Alleges U.S. Role in Boycott
Syria Fighting Probe of Assassination
Mexican AG Investigating Homemade DVD
U.N. Asks Record $4.7 Billion for 2006 Aid
Chirac: TV Network to Display French Values (I'm just not gonna go there...)
Belgium Probes Iraq Suicide Bombing

The Seattle Times
Report warns of drugs' risk to elderly
Abortion-notification ruling could narrow Roe's scope
Abortion pill's risk minimal, study says
EU grows impatient on secret-prison issue
Oil executives clarify task-force contacts
Caffeine jolts memory, attention, scientists say
Giant waves off Maui bring surfing crowds, safety issues
U.S. denies role in Venezuelan election boycott
Ubiquitous qat blamed for range of ills in Yemen
Kurds go ahead with drilling, minus Iraqi government OK
Japanese spacecraft grabs asteroid samples
Kindness repaid in diamonds
Origin of a boom: Tiff evolves into bonanza
San Francisco high court won't halt execution
Peres quits Labor, endorses Sharon

Chicago Sun-Times
Segal gets 10 yrs. in scam
States moving to stop release of autopsy pics
2 are first women to win elective office in Saudi Arabia
Recent books focus on bin Laden's writings
Insugents attack; human rights inspector fired

Boston Globe: World
British leaders will explore raising retirement age to 69
Peru plans to sue Yale for artifacts
Sunni group calls for hostages' release
Chinese coal mining town mourns after latest deadly explosion

Military.com
Troops Target Insurgency
General: Few Options in Iraq
Military Unclear on 'Planted' Stories

CENTCOM: News Releases
IRAQI GOVERNMENT ASSUMES CONTROL OF BORDERS
SOLDIERS FIND WEAPONS CACHES, TERRORISTS ON ISLAND
IRAQ, U.S. FORCES CAPTURE 33 TERROR SUSPECTS
IRAQI 2ND ARMY BRIGADE READY TO TAKE OVER BABIL PROVINCE
OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM COALITION CONFERENCE: “MAINTAINING POST-ELECTION MOMENT
KIRKUK WEAPONS CACHE STILL YIELDING AMMUNITION

Department of Defense
Bush: Clear Strategy Will Ensure Victory - Story Video Remarks Photos
Bush to Troops: 'American People Stand Behind You'
Iraq Security Successes Critical to Victory, Bush Says
'Insurgent' Is Misnomer for Iraq's Terrorists - Story Video Transcript
U.S. Must Train Iraqis to Prevent Abuse
Rumsfeld: Quitting No Exit Strategy for Iraq
Pace: White Phosphorous Legitimate Military Tool
Transfer Part of March Toward Democracy - Commentary

ON THE GROUND
U.S. Soldiers Bring Food, Water to Iraqis - Story

IN IRAQ
Paratroopers' Missions Yield Mixed Results
Seabee Commander Visits Troops in Iraq

FACE OF DEFENSE
Active-duty Father Donates Kidney - Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Organization Flies High for Injured - Story
Operation Toy Drop Delivers Gifts

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
Iraqis Kill Man in Weapons Attempt
Brigade Ready for Province Duties
Cache Yields Thousands of Rounds
Bush: Withdrawal Would Be Mistake
Iraqi Security Forces Improve
Report: Strategy for Victory in 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
Police Prepare Airport for Hajj
Report: Body Burning Not War Crime
U.S. Soldier, Interpreter Killed
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Marines to Train Georgian Soldiers
Terror War Strategy About Ideology
Use of Outdated Images Questioned
NORAD Keeps Continent Secure
U.S. Helping Fight Narco-Terror
High Troop Morale Key to Success
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
DoD Announces Insurance Program
Today's Ops Build Future Military
Leaders Inform Troops of Changes
National Guard, Reserve Update

Weather
Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

National Hurricane Center

Today in History
1167 - Northern Italian towns form the Lombardi League.
1626 - Pasha Muhammad ibn Farukh, tyrannical Governor of Jerusalem, is driven out.
1640 - Portugal regains independence after 60 years of Spanish rule.
1641 - Massachusetts becomes the first colony to give statutory recognition to slavery.
1742 - Empress Elisabeth orders the expulsion of all Jews from Russia.
1783 - Charles and M.N. Roberts ascend 2,000' in a hydrogen balloon.
1804 - Emperor Napoleon marries Joséphine of Martinique.
1821 - Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) proclaims its independence from Spain.
1824 - The House of Representatives begins to end the election deadlock between John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Harris Crawford and Henry Clay - Adams is eventually declared President.
1831 - The Erie Canal closes for an entire month due to cold weather.
1835 - Hans Christian Andersen publishes his first book of fairy tales.
1843 - The first chartered mutual life insurance company opens
1864 - Raid at Stoneman: Knoxville, TN to Saltville, VA; Skirmish at Millen Brutal, GA.
1868 - John D. Rockefeller begins his anti-oil war.
1878 - The first White House telephone is installed.
1887 - The Sino-Portuguese treaty recognizes Portugal's control of Macao.
1891 - James Naismith creates the game of basketball.
1896 - In New York, the first certified public accountants receive their certificates.
1903 - "The Great Train Robbery", the first Western film, is released.
1906 - In Paris, Cinema Omnia Pathe, the world's first cinema, opens.
1909 - The Carlisle Trust Company in PA is the site of the first Christmas Club payment.
1913 - In Pittsburgh, the first drive-up gasoline station opens; Ford introduces the continuous moving assembly line (it produces a car every 2 hrs 38 minutes)
1918 - The Danish parliament passes an act granting independence to Iceland; in Belgrade, the Serbian-Croatian-Slovic kingdom is proclaimed.
1919 - Lady Nancy Astor is sworn in as the first female member of the British Parliament.
1921 - The first U.S. helium-filled dirigible makes its maiden flight.
1925 - The Treaty of Locarno is signed.
1929 - Edwin S. Lowe invents the game of BINGO.
1933 - Rudolf Hess and Earnest Röhm become ministers in Hitler's government.
1936 - Bell Labs tests a coaxial cable for TV use.
1939 - SS-Führer Himmler begins the deportation of Polish Jews.
1941 - The U.S. Civil Air Patrol (CAP) organizes; the British cruiser Devonshire sinks the German sub Python; Japanese emperor Hirohito signs a declaration of war.
1942 - Gasoline is rationed in the U.S.
1943 - FDR, Churchill and Stalin agree to Operation Overlord (D-Day).
1948 - The Arabic Congress names Abdullah of Trans Jordan, King of Palestine.
1951 - The Golden Gate Bridge closes due to high winds.
1954 - Nationalist China and the U.S. sign a dike agreement.
1955 - Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus she is riding on.
1958 - In Chicago, Our Lady of Angels School burns, killing 92 students and 3 nuns.
1959 - 12 nations sign a treaty for the scientific peaceful use of Antarctica; the first color photograph of Earth is received from outer space.
1964 - Martin Luther King speaks to J. Edgar Hoover about his slander campaign.
1965 - The airlift of refugees from Cuba to the U.S.begins.
1967 - Queen Elizabeth inaugurates the 98-inch (249-cm) Isaac Newton telescope.
1969 - The U.S. government holds its first draft lottery since WWII.
1971 - The People's Republic of South Yemen renames itself the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.
1974 - A Boeing 727 crashes in Upperville VA, killing 92.
1975 - U.S. President Gerald Ford visits the People's Republic of China.
1976 - Angola is admitted to the U.N.
1978 - President Carter more than doubles the size of the national park system.
1980 - The U.S. Justice Department sues Yonkers, citing racial discrimination.
1983 - Rita Lavelle, former head of the EPA, is convicted of perjury.
1987 - Digging begins to link England and France under the English Channel (the Chunnel).
1988 - 596 are dead after ca yclone hits Bangladesh; half a million are left homeless; Benazir Bhutto is named the female PM of a Muslim country (Pakistan).
1989 - East Germany drops the communist monopoly from its constitution; U.S.S.R. President Mikhail S. Gorbachev meets Pope John Paul II at the Vatican.
1990 - British and French workers meet in the English Channel's tunnel; Iraq accepts G.H.W. Bush's offer for talks; Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia hold their first joint session.
1991 - The Ukranian people vote for independence; the U.S.' 75th manned space mission (STS-44 - Atlantis 10) lands.
1992 - Two C-141B Starlifters collide in Montana and crash, killing 13; Amy Fisher is sentenced to 5-15 years for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco.
1994 - PTL leader Jim Bakker is released from jail.
1997 - Westinghouse formally changes its name to CBS.

Birthdays
1671 - Francesco Stradivari, Italian violin maker
1726 - Oliver Wolcott, judge / signer of the Declaration of Independence
1826 - William Mahone, Confederate Major General
1832 - Archibald Gracie, Jr., Confederate Brigadier-General
1835 - Micah Jenkins, Confederate Brigadier-General (Led Hoods Division at Chickamauga)
1844 - Alexandra, Danish princess/Queen of Great Britain & Ireland
1873 - Charles JM Ruys de Beerenbrouck premier of Netherlands (1918-25, 29-33)
1878 - Arthur B. Spingarn, NAACP chairman (1940-65)
1899 - Robert Welch, founder of the John Birch Society
1912 - Minoru Yamasaki, architect (World Trade Center, New York)
1919 - Anne Cox Chambers , U.S. ambassador to Belgium (1977-81)
1923 - Stansfield Turner, CIA director
1932 - Robert T. Herres, USAF / astronaut
1935 - Woody Allen, a.k.a.Allen Stuart Konigsberg, actor (Annie Hall)
1940 - Richard Pryor, comedian/actor (Lady Sings the Blues, Stir Crazy)
1942 - Peter Kalikow Queens NY, real estate developer/publisher (New York Post)
1945 - Bette Midler, singer (Wind Beneath My Wings) / actress (Beaches, First Wives Club)
1951 - Alexander Panayotov Aleksandrov, cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-5)

Passings
0660 - Eligius/Eloy, French bishop of Tournay-Noyon/saint
1135 - King Henry I of England (first king that could read)
1374 - Magnus Eriksson, kKing of Norway/Sweden
1417 - Walraven I. van Brederode, viceroy of Holland
1515 - Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (el Gran Capitán), Spanish general
1521 - Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici), Pope (1513-21)
1530 - Margaretha of Austria, governess of the Netherlands
1633 - Isabella of Austria, infante of Spain/governess in Holland
1797 - Oliver Wolcott, U.S. judge / signer of the Declaration of Independence
1825 - Aleksandr I. P. Romanov, czar of Russia (1801-25)
1842 - Philip Spencer, first U.S. naval officer condemned for mutiny, hanged
1887 - Albertus J. Duymaer van Twist, Governor-General of the Dutch-Indies
1934 - Sergei M. Kirov, Josef Stalin's collaborator, assassinated in Leningrad
1939 - Max Fiedler, composer
1947 - Aleister Edward S. Crowley, British occultist
1971 - Arthur B. Springarn, NAACP chairman (1940-65)
1972 - Antonio Segni, Italian PM/President (1955-57, 59-60, 62-64)
1973 - David Ben-Gurion, founding father of Israel
1974 - Stephen Gill Spottswood, U.S. bishop / NAACP chairman
1987 - Donn Fulton Eisele, Colonel USAF/astronaut
1991 - George Joseph Stigler, U.S. economist (Nobel 1982)
1996 - Barbak Karmal, politician

Reported Missing in Action
1965
McCormick, John V., USN (MI); A4C shot down, remains returned April, 1988

Reitman, Thomas Edward, USAF (MN); F105D crashed

1966
Nicotera, Carl, US Army ; PRG says DIC December, 1966 (discrepancies in record)

1969
Rogers, Billie Lee, USN (IN); CVA-61, drowned