CAMP PENDLETON, Calif (May 7, 2008) Navy Reservists Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Theo Carter, right, and Sonar Technician 1st Class Larry Arndt, left take turns shooting at a target target as Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class Steve Urban checks the target during the All Navy Rifle Match at Camp Pendleton. Teams made up of active duty, reserve and several Marine Corps units competed in the day-long event with the active duty navy team winning the overall competition. U.S. Navy photo by MC1 Michael Moriatis

NavHosp renamed to honor former San Diego congressman Bob Wilson
This week Naval Hospital San Diego was renamed Bob Wilson Naval Hospital in honor of a former local congressman. Wilson served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 28 years and retired in 1980 as the ranking Republican.
In the late 1970s Wilson led the Navy's fight against local officials and environmentalists to build the new hopital in Balboa Park, near the original 1922 hospital.
Rear Adm. Christine Hunter, was just a young doctor at the new hospital when it opened. Today, she is the commanding officer at the hospital.
The hospital serves an active-duty and retired military population of 250,000. Its medical staff of 6,200 treats 4,000 patients, performs 50 surgeries and delivers 10 babies each day. Last year, it added a ward for amputees.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (May 3, 2008) To start the annual Fleet Week activities a parade of ships was held last week. The celebration included flyovers by Navy and Coast Guard aircraft, and a Red Bull air race in the harbor. U.S. Navy photo by Mahlon K. Miller

USS Midway Museum hosts joint concert with Maritime Japanese Self-Defense Force Band
The Japanese Navy training ships Kashima, Asagiri and Umigiri will be visiting San Diego from May 8 through May 11, 2008. To mark the 25th consecutive year that the Japanese Navy has stopped in San Diego for joint training, a free concert is planned on the flight deck of the USS Midway Museum on May 10, from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
The event will feature music performed by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Band, the United States Navy Band Southwest, and traditional Japanese Taiko drummers. Admission to the USS Midway will be free from 2-4 p.m. for those attending the concert.
“In years past, the joint community outreach concert has been held in Balboa Park,” said a representative of the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles. “The change of venue is fitting because beginning in 1973, the USS Midway was the first carrier homeported in a foreign country: Yokosuka, Japan. It’s an honor to host this important event.”
The Japanese Navy brings training ships to visit San Diego once a year to conduct joint military training and strategic exercises. This year, a total of 750 Self-Defense Force members, including 180 newly graduated cadets from the Japanese Maritime Cadet School, will be present. Their purpose is to establish seamanship, international relations and friendship with the countries they visit.

Marines in Afghanistan to redeploy as scheduled, Gates says
by Donna Miles
WASHINGTON, May 8, 2008 – The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit will redeploy from Afghanistan in November as scheduled, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today.
The unit deployed from Camp Lejeune, N.C., in March. It is operating in Regional Command South under NATO’s International Security Assistance Force.
“Just to reemphasize what the secretary said, … this deployment of Marines is seven months, and they’re going to come out toward the end of the year,” Mullen said.
As the drawdown of surge forces in Iraq continues, Gates said, the time may come to consider shifting more troops into Afghanistan. Despite his repeated calls on NATO to send more combat troops, the alliance has not come through with forces in the numbers needed and without restrictions on how they can be used.
“We are still going to be looking at what the options are in terms of augmenting our presence during 2009,” Gates said. “(But) at this point, as far as I know, there’s no specific planning going on along those lines.”
Mullen conceded that the Marines “have been on a very challenging rotation,” particularly with forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Concentrating their forces in Afghanistan is viewed by some Marine Corps leaders as a way to more effectively manage force rotations.

Memorial Day admission free to military at QBG
Free admission will be offered to families bearing an active duty military ID on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26. Quail Botanical Gardens is located at 230 Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas.
With more than 35 acres of exhibits and an interactive children's garden, there is something for everyone. For more information about the Gardens, please visit www.qbgardens.org.

Camp Pendleton concert for Sailors, Marines to be broadcast
About 50,000 Marines, sailors and their family members were treated to a star-studded concert Thursday, May 8 on Del Mar Beach, which is a part of Camp Pendleton.
Entertainers who were scheduled to perform at the free event included Snoop Dogg, Janet Jackson, Ne-Yo, Jessica Simpson, Clint Black, Blind Melon, Girlicious and ZZ Top.
The concert will be broadcast on NBc at a future date not yet determined.

Kitty Hawk to make homeport Bremerton, Washington
USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) -- forward-deployed to Yokosuka, Japan -- will be homeported in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., effective July 15.
The change was announced in an April message from Vice Adm. John C. Harvey, Jr., director of the Navy staff in Washington, D.C.
Kitty Hawk will leave Yokosuka in late May to turn over duties as the Navy’s only forward deployed aircraft carrier to USS George Washington (CVN 73) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Kitty Hawk will then sail to San Diego for a three week stop, before sailing on to Bremerton where the ship will eventually be decommissioned.

KEY WEST, Fla. (April 29, 2008) A Sailor stationed at Naval Air Station Key West spots a rare rainbow halo in the skies over the air station. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the halo, which typically indicates rain is on the way, is a ring of colored or white light that encircles the sun when seen through a cloud of ice crystals. U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Timothy Cox.