The Navy announced today the availability of the draft environmental impact statement/overseas environmental impact statement (EIS/OEIS) for the military buildup on Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). 

• Marine Corps: Development and construction of facilities and infrastructure to support the relocation from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam of approximately 8,600 Marines and approximately 9,000 dependents; and development and construction of facilities and infrastructure to support training and operations on Guam and Tinian for the relocated Marines.
• Navy: Construction of a new deep-draft wharf with shoreside infrastructure improvements creating the capability in Apra Harbor, Guam, to support a transient nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
• Army: Development of facilities and infrastructure on Guam to support the relocation of approximately 600 military personnel and their 900 dependents and the establishment and operation of an Army Missile Defense Task Force.

Servicemembers gathered at Barksdale Air Force Base to remember five Airmen and a physician who were killed one year ago today.

Afghan and coalition forces stopped an attempted suicide attack at a Forward Operating Base in eastern Afghanistan Tuesday morning.

The Commander of U.S. Pacific Command says preparations are being made for the day North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is no longer in charge.

Admiral Timothy Keating spoke to reporters Wednesday about the building of a new military base in Guam.

U.S. Forces in Iraq are now focusing their efforts outside the cities, seeking insurgent weapons caches and safe havens.

I have no idea what North Korea’s motivation is – but because their leader is a psychopath in my humble opinion – but they seem to again have the nuclear itch as according to reports from South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Monday, their neighbors to the north recently deployed a new version of medium-range missile that can reach the shores of northern Australia and the U.S. territory of Guam.

The report comes on the heels of the rumor that the North Koreans are on the verge of test-firing another, longer-range missile which is capable of reaching the state of Alaska.  The medium-range missile (the one that’s already deployed) can not only reach Guam and the northern tip of Australia, but also much of Russia and India as well.  The longer-range missile in question is rumored to be an advanced version of the Taepodong-2, which would have the capability of reaching the state of Alaska and perhaps as far as the U.S. west coast.

To no ones surprise – within Korea and internationally – the missile program of North Korea has a stockpile of missiles, including shorter-range missiles that can reach South Korea and Japan; North Korea’s ambitions have been a pain in the butt to both South Korea and internationally, especially when the North Koreans test-launched a Taepodong-2 back in 2006.

North Korea’s short-range missiles’ - SCUDS – likeliest destination would be South Korea as they have a range of approximately 310 miles; the North has around 1,000 missiles at their disposal.  In addition to the missile happenings, the North Koreans are beefing up their navy by bolstering their submarines and developing new ground-to-ship and ship-to-ship missiles and torpedoes with the concern being that they may want to provoke a clash near its disputed sea border.

I do not have a clue how much more diplomacy that you can bring to the table when dealing with the North Koreans as it has been proven that they break every treaty that has ever been agreed to and more of the same would happen should the U.S. decide to go the diplomacy route.  Hillary Clinton will have to get involved here, I suspect, at some point in time. And one other thing – I believe that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Mentally-Il, needs to go.

He is a mental case who is capable of anything and his mental instability is very well-known.  At the same time, I am not about to advocate how Jong-il should vanish, I am just saying that he simply needs to go.  Nothing more than that.