Military
Veterans Day
Nov 11th
Today is Veterans Day. Please remember all of those that have served our great country to protect our freedoms and allow us to be here today. Regardless of opinion on any particular conflict, the men and women of America’s Armed Forces have sacrificed tremendously so that we can hold our own opinions. We owe everything to them. Please pray for them and keep them in your thoughts every day. 
God Bless America.
Good Navy News
Nov 3rd
For example, if you were not in an agency participating in the program or had not read the flagship, would you have known the the Navy had a program it calls i-ENCON, or the Incentivized Energy Conservation program? Even if you had heard of it, would you have known that through this program, the Navy saved 1.36 million barrels of oil FY 2009? That is equivalent to taking over 53,000 cars off of the road.
Another story: The Navy’s new Macon Island amphibious assault ship was designed with fuel efficiency in mind as well. It is estimated that it will save $250 million in fuel cost over its lifetime.
Who knew the Navy was so committed to saving fuel? These savings will surely be good on the environment and fuel prices closer to home. Last thing I found out in the Flagship that was neglected in the Pilot: The Navy’s new ship, the New York was not only docked in Norfolk on Thursday but it will actually be home-ported here. for those who do not know, the New York was built with recycled steel from the World Trade Center after September 11th.
Money for Highways
Oct 27th
Most would also agree that the region’s highways are also important to the local military facilities including Camp Peary, Yorktown Weapons Station, Fort Eustis, Langley AFB, Norfolk NAS, Little Creek Amphib Base, Fort Story, Oceana NAS, and Dam Neck. I’m sure I missed something, but regardless, everyone has seen how much traffic is lessened by a holiday where the Navy does not have to report. Completely ignoring the toll that military traffic takes on our highways, my point is that if something happened to some aspect of our system, the Navy would be crippled. I’m not talking about an attack or something like that, I’m talking about a severe traffic accident. Or perhaps a hurricane. I know that during a hurricane evacuation all lanes of traffic are directed away from the area. How are the military supposed to get to the base to take the ships out of harbor?
Do you see my point? I think that the continuing neglect of our highways has even greater national security complications than any other threat you can think of. What good is a top-notch Defense Department if they can’t get to their bases? The “National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956)” renamed the highway system to the “National System of Interstate and Defense Highways.” Eisenhower even announced it as the “National Defense Highway System.” In fact the “National Interstate and Defense Highways Act (1956)” specifically states that the System’s “primary importance [is] to the national defense.” With all this in mind, I think that it is fair to say that, with such a National Security importance, Hampton Roads has been cheated out of the funds necessary to maintain the acceptable level of service that is required to maintain a quality Highway.
The Navy was opposed to a bridge being used as part of an expanded HRBT because they were afraid it might be destroyed in an act of terrorism and would leave all the ships stuck in the harbor. What good is a clear exit if the personnel required to operate the ships are stuck in traffic? Not only as Hampton Roads or Virginia residents, but as United States citizens, we should require Congress to bring our National Security up to par by fixing our highways. China, which is technically a ‘developing country,’ is using American highway and traffic engineers to design a world-class highway system. Meanwhile, America is utilizing Chinese … cheap crap, drywall, and substandard steel to effectively undo our position as a world power.
NOTE TO CONGRESS: FIX IT
