Monday, April 27, 2009

What a difference a year makes

Well, it is hard to believe, but today marks the the first anniversary of my job with General Electric Aviation. One year ago today, my "retirement" ended and my career as a civilian began. It was a pretty amazing year and it seems like I started working for GE a couple of weeks ago. I have learned a lot about aviation design, and how to work within the GE system to get things done. The corporate culture of GE is very similar to the Navy's culture. That part of my transition was pretty easy. However, I had to learn a whole new language of acronyms. Here is a partial list:

PDR
CDR
JA
PSSA
FAI
BIT
AVSI
FMECA
MTBF
CALCE
HFE
SOW
HHA
HALT
RET
SDRL
HASS
SSR
CDRL

The list goes on, but I think you see my point about learning a new language. It has been an amazing year and I am looking forward to the challenges of Year Two.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Will it be a 4 game sweep?

The Wings are up 3-1 at the start of the second period against the Blue Jackets. Will the Wings eliminate Columbus tonight?

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Wings win big!

Full disclosure: I am still recovering from some sort of respiratory bug, so this posting might not be terribly coherent. I spent most of Friday in bed and I actually felt pretty good on Saturday. However, today when I work up I left awful. I decided to spend the entire day in my jammies and in bed. So far, this approach has been working. I feel a lot better, but I am still coughing a bit.

However, I am happy to report that the Wings dished out an old fashioned whooping on the Blue Jackets last night. The final score was Wings 4, Blue Jackets 0. However it could have easily be a 6 or 7 goal game for the Wings. The Blue Jackets were sloppy and disorganized. In the end, Columbus was throwing cheap shots at some of the Wings. Game 3 will be in Columbus on Tuesday. Let's hope that the Wings finish off the Blue Jackets in 4 or 5 games.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Why we should never negotiate with pirates


This political cartoon says it all.

One win in the books


The Blue Jackets played some tough hockey last night at Joe Louis Arena, but in the end, the Wings took Game 1 by a score of 4-1. 15 more wins and the Wings can once again hoist Lord Stanley's Cup, but there are 15 other teams out there with the same goal (no pun intended!). The first round of the playoffs are always crazy, and I am just happy that the Wings started out with a win.

I was surprised to see the San Jose Sharks drop Game 1 to the Anaheim Ducks. Nobody saw that one coming.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

This is not a matter of life and death...


This is a lot more important. It is the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Red Wings are playing the Blue Jackets. Say it with me, "Let's go, Red Wings!"

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Relay for Life Status

If you look to the right of this text you will see a new addition to the East of the Equator Blog. I have added a countdown timer that shows the time remaining until the 2009 East Grand Rapids Relay for Life begins at the EGR High School, as well as a current count of contributors and total donations. If you want to support this Relay for Life, please drop me a note (plkrat@gmail.com) and I will send you the instructions on how to contribute. Thanks to all who have contributed to this fight that we must win!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

I love a story with a happy ending!

We do not negotiate with pirates or terrorists. Looks like the final scorecard is Navy 3, Somali Pirates 0.

April 12, 2009

US sea captain freed in swift firefight

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY and LARA JAKES
Associated Press Writers

An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday and three of his captors were killed in a daring rescue by U.S. Navy Seals that ended a five-day standoff between the world's most powerful Navy and Somali pirates in a lifeboat far off the Horn of Africa.

Capt. Richard Phillips was in "imminent danger" of being killed before U.S. Special Operations forces shot the pirates in an operation personally approved by President Barack Obama, U.S. officials said.

Phillips' crew, who said they had escaped after he offered himself as a hostage, erupted in cheers aboard their ship docked in Mombasa, Kenya. Some waved an American flag and fired flares in celebration.

Phillips, 53, of Underhill, Vermont, was not hurt in several minutes of gunfire and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet said he was resting comfortably on a U.S. warship after receiving a medical exam.

"I'm just the byline. The real heroes are the Navy, the Seals, those who have brought me home," Phillips said by phone to Maersk Line Limited President and CEO John Reinhart, the company head told reporters. A photo released by the Navy showed Phillips unharmed and shaking hands with the commanding officer of the USS Bainbridge

Obama said Phillips had courage that was "a model for all Americans" and he was pleased about the rescue, adding that the United States needs help from other countries to deal with the threat of piracy and to hold pirates accountable.

The Navy said Phillips was freed at 7:19 p.m. local time. He was taken aboard the Norfolk, Virginia-based Bainbridge and then flown to the San Diego-based USS Boxer for the medical exam, 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Nathan Christensen said.

Christensen said Phillips was now "resting comfortably." The USS Boxer was in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia, Christensen said.

U.S. officials said a fourth pirate had surrendered and was in military custody. FBI spokesman John Miller said that would change as the situation became "more of a criminal issue than a military issue."

A spokeswoman for the Phillips family, Alison McColl, said Phillips and his wife, Andrea, spoke by phone shortly after he was freed.

"I think you can all imagine their joy and what a happy moment that was for them," McColl said outside of the Phillips home in Underhill. "They're all just so happy and relieved. Andrea wanted me to tell the nation that all of your prayers and good wishes have paid off because Capt. Phillips is safe."

When Phillips' crew heard the news aboard their ship in the port of Mombasa, they placed an American flag over the rail of the top of the Maersk Alabama and whistled and pumped their fists in the air. Crew fired two bright red flares into the sky from the ship.

"We made it!" said crewman ATM Reza, pumping his fist in the air.

"He managed to be in a 120-degree oven for days, it's amazing," said another of about a dozen crew members who came out to talk to reporters. He said the crew found out the captain was released because one of the sailors had been talking to his wife on the phone.

Crew members said their ordeal had begun Wednesday with the Somali pirates hauling themselves up from a small boat bobbing on the surface of the Indian Ocean far below.

As the pirates shot in the air, Phillips told his crew to lock themselves in a cabin and surrendered himself to safeguard his men, crew members said.

Phillips was then held hostage in an enclosed lifeboat that was closely watched by U.S. warships and a helicopter in an increasingly tense standoff. The pirates were believed armed with pistols and AK-47 assault rifles. On Friday, the French navy freed a sailboat seized off Somalia last week by other pirates, but one of the five hostages was killed.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, the father of second-in-command Shane Murphy, thanked Phillips for his bravery.

"Our prayers have been answered on this Easter Sunday," Murphy said. "If not for his incredible personal sacrifice, this kidnapping and act of terror could have turned out much worse."

Murphy said both his family and Phillips' "can now celebrate a joyous Easter together."

"This was an incredible team effort, and I am extremely proud of the tireless efforts of all the men and women who made this rescue possible" Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, said in a statement.

He called Phillips and his crew "heroic."

Talks to free Phillips began Thursday with the captain of the USS Bainbridge talking to the pirates under instruction from FBI hostage negotiators on board the U.S. destroyer. The pirates had threatened to kill Phillips if attacked.

A government official and others in Somalia with knowledge of the situation had reported hours earlier that negotiations for Phillips' release had broken down.

Three U.S. warships were within easy reach of the lifeboat on Saturday. The U.S. Navy had assumed the pirates would try to get their hostage to shore, where they could have hidden him on Somalia's lawless soil and been in a stronger position to negotiate a ransom.

"The Somali government wanted the drama to end in a peaceful way, but any one who is involved in this latest case had the choice to use violence or other means," Abdulkhadir Walayo, the prime minister's spokesman, told The Associated Press. "Any way, we see it will be a good lesson for the pirates or any one else involved in this dirty business."

Jamac Habeb, a 30-year-old pirate, said that the killing of the three pirates was "a painful experience."

"This is unfortunate action and our friends should have done more to kill the captain before they were killed. This will be a good lesson for us," Habeb told the AP from one of Somalia's piracy hubs, Eyl.

Residents of Harardhere, another port and pirate stronghold, were gathering in the streets after news of the captain's release, saying they fear pirates may now retaliate against some of the 200 hostages they still hold.

"We fear more that any revenge taken by the pirates against foreign nationals could bring more attacks from the foreign navies, perhaps on our villages," Abdullahi Haji Jama, who owns a clothes store in Harardhere, told the AP by telephone.

Phillips jumped out of the lifeboat Friday and tried to swim for his freedom but was recaptured when a pirate fired an automatic weapon at or near him, according to U.S. Defense Department officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk about the unfolding operations.

Early Saturday, the pirates holding Phillips in the lifeboat fired a few shots at a small U.S. Navy vessel that had approached, a U.S. military official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The official said the U.S. sailors did not return fire, the Navy vessel turned away and no one was hurt. He said the vessel had not been attempting a rescue.

The district commissioner of the central Mudug region said talks on freeing Phillips had gone on all day Saturday, with clan elders from his area talking by satellite telephone and through a translator with Americans, but collapsed late Saturday night.

Phillips' crew of 19 American sailors reached safe harbor in Kenya's northeast port of Mombasa about the same time under guard of U.S. Navy Seals, exhilarated by their freedom but mourning the absence of Phillips.

Pirates are holding about a dozen ships with more than 200 crew members, according to the Malaysia-based piracy watchdog International Maritime Bureau. Hostages are from Bulgaria, China, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, the Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, Tuvalu and Ukraine, among other countries.

___

Jakes reported from Washington. Associated Press writers who contributed to this report include Mohamed Olad Hassan and Mohamed Sheikh Nor in Mogadishu, Somalia; Michelle Faul and Tom Maliti in Nairobi, Kenya; Matt Apuzzo in Washington and John Curran in Underhill, Vermont;

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

2009 East Grand Rapids Relay for Life

I am pleased and proud to tell you that for the past few months I have been involved with the
American Cancer Society and the planning committee for the 2009 East Grand Rapids Relay for Life. I am the Logistics Coordinator for the Relay for Life which will be held at the East Grand Rapids High School track from 3PM Friday, 15 May until 3PM Saturday, 16 May. During these 24 hours, relay teams will be walking the track continuously, raising money for the American Cancer Society. For more information about the Relay click on the link below:

www.relayforlife.org/eastgrandrapidsmi

While I have never been diagnosed with cancer, it is affecting the lives of those I love
today and taken the lives of friends and family members I have loved. Each year, the
American Cancer Society works to raise money for research to fight this disease. With
your financial help, we can help the American Cancer Society raise the money it needs
to continue its research to cure cancer.

One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. The American
Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that brings together more than
3.5 million people across the country each year to celebrate the lives of those who
have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against a disease that takes too much.

What I need from you is simple: your money. I am not leading a team as I will be working
the logistics from the start to the finish of the Relay, but what I can do is accept your
donations to the American Cancer Society. No amount is too small or too large to support
the fight against cancer.

The 2009 East Grand Rapids Relay is a little more than 5 weeks away, so there is plenty
of time for you to crack open your check book and send me a check. Again, no donation is
too big or too small. If you can help, please send me an e-mail (plkrat@gmail.com) and I will give you the instructions
on how you can donate to this worthy cause.