Great Lakes Bulletin

   WASHINGTON – The Navy and Marine Corps are performing at top level and maintaining high morale, but the high operational tempo is seriously overtaxing equipment and vehicles, service leaders told Congress this month.

Capt. Elizabeth McAlister, commanding officer, Navy Operational Support Center Chicago (NOSC), awarded the Naval Aviation Observer Wings and citation to Capt. (Ret.) Craig Kopstain, at quarters, on Sunday, Feb. 21. His wife Judy, had the honor of pinning them on him.

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was slated to host Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barack at the Pentagon today to continue their ongoing discussions about a broad range of security issues, including Iran, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said.

The whole project originated as a gift from one coffee lover to another. BMC(SW/AW) Jose Padilla had the idea to send coffee to Individual Augmentees (IAs) serving in Iraq and the Horn of Africa.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) -- USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) departed Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., for sea trials Jan. 27 after a seven-month maintenance period.

ABOARD USS NASSAU, At Sea (NNS) -- The USS Nassau Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) with embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) departed Haiti Feb. 7, continuing on its originally scheduled deployment to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).

Six commands and units within the Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) domain earned the fiscal year 2009 Navy Total Force Retention Excellence Award.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) -- USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) departed Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., for sea trials Jan. 27 after a seven-month maintenance period.

America's Navy will come home to Chicago Aug. 7-15 to celebrate Navy Week 2010. Chicago was chosen as the host city giving area residents an opportunity to meet some of the Navy's Sailors and learn about the Navy's critical mission and its broad-ranging capabilities.

Sailors from Naval Station Great Lakes and its tenant commands have been mobilized to assist in the Haiti disaster.

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion convoy stopped, and Marines looked at each other with confused looks, knowing that there are very few reasons a convoy abruptly comes to a halt. The machine gunners swiveled in their turrets on high alert, surveying the area.

The Culinary Specialists  "A" School boasts 100 percent participation of all instructors in various higher education programs.

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Navy Safe Harbor, the Navy's program to provide assistance to seriously wounded, ill, or injured service members, is seeking Navy and Coast Guard wounded warriors to participate in the inaugural Warrior Games May 10-14, 2010.

Assisting military children, and their families, in the transition to their new school is the goal of School Liaison Officer (SLO) Anne Kondziela, who came to Great Lakes in April 2009.

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Navy Post-9/11 GI Bill experts Ann Hunter, voluntary education chief for the chief of naval personnel, and Lt. Cmdr. Raquel Gladieux, chief of navy reserve training and education policy officer, answer the most common questions received from active-duty and reserve Sailors and their families. The video series provides an additional resource, available 24/7, to assist Sailors in navigating through the process of claiming Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy officially accepted delivery of the future USS Independence (LCS 2) Dec. 18 during a short ceremony in Mobile, Ala. Independence is the second littoral combat ship delivered to the Navy, and the first LCS of the General Dynamics variant. LCS is a new breed of U.S. Navy warship with versatile warfighting capabilities, capable of open-ocean operation, but optimized for littoral, or coastal, missions.