I was hoping for at least a glimmer of ironic humor until I came to my senses — armed forces, age of Bush. Not a chance.

At least they didn't call it "Brave Carrier Washington: Emergency Drill."

Let's get the bonafides out of the way first: 1. I'm a progressive Democrat. 2. Have bitterly opposed the war from minute one. 3. Cannot recommend military service for anyone because the idiocy/criminality of this administration (not because of the service itself). I am also a retired veteran of the U.S. Navy with 20 years service (two of them stationed in Yokosuka, Japan aboard the USS MIDWAY. I, too, am a bit put off by the inherent silliness of a manga used to allay Japanese fears of a nuclear-powered vessel in their harbors. What pisses me off a bit more is your inherently mocking tone when it comes to the depiction of the enlisted sailors aboard the GW. The "specialty pin" you think is hilarious is an Enlisted Warfare Specialty pin. It is awarded upon completion of an intensive battery of tests, watches, and study concerning all warfare, emergency, and maintenance areas aboard your ship/squadron (usually taking 2 years of intensive work to complete). You must also recertify compliance every few years. It has recently become a mandatory completion for advancement into the upper enlisted ranks.

Another knee-slapper for you was the scene of the young sailor extinguishing a fire in the ship’s laundry. I’m sure it would have also been a real hoot for three members of the USS MIDWAY’s emergency response team (Flying Squad) when they gave their lives fighting a fuel explosion and fire during the June of 1990. Fire aboard ship is a constant fear, and EVERYONE is trained to fight it.

Finally, just about every sailor I knew in Japan wanted to climb the Fooj. Personally, I was too goddamned lazy to do it.

One of the most worrisome aspects of progressives is their refusal to learn anything about the military. My service was one of the best things that ever happened to me. The military is not perfect, but it gets better from participation from all sectors of society.

Cute, but a bit long-winded.

A fire did break out on the USS Washington while at sea back in May, that's why the carrier currently stationed in Japan, the USS Kitty Hawk, will take its place in the RIMPAC 2008 exercise. The Kitty Hawk, by the way, is the last operational fossil fueled carrier in the US fleet, and once the Washington is repaired it will replace the Kitty Hawk at Yokosuka. The Kitty Hawk will be decommissioned and put in mothballs, and is unlikely to sail again.

This breaks a long precedent of the US Navy forward deploying only fossil fueled carriers to Japan. There was no problem with this until the laying down of the USS Nimitz, which initiated a carrier building program dedicated solely to nukes and insured that, eventually, all of our carriers would be nuclear powered. With that eventuality now imminent, the Navy has no choice but to station a nuke at Japan.

We do have five Wasp-class amphibious assault ships (never mind the Tarawas) that look remarkably like WW II era carriers, and they're all fossil fueled, but they are specifically designed to land and support Marines, not project Naval air power. So, at least for the foreseeable future, the Navy and Japan are stuck with the nuke.

The U.S. has been bringing nuclear weapons into Japan on U.S. vessels for decades with the Navy's maintaining the equivalent of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Japan generates at least 1/3 of its electricity with nuclear reactors. Therefore, a nuclear powered ship can hardly be much of a concern compared to the wink and nod attitude that existed all through the Cold War when every missile cruiser, destroyer and aircraft carrier was potentially armed with nuclear weapons as a matter of course.

A careful reading of Japanese law concludes that Japan is NOT actually forbidden from developing an atomic weapon. It is forbidden from developing one that would be fewer than 30 days from a complete functioning device. Also, the JDF has the second largest budget in the world, after the US, about 50 billion dollars a year. Last but not least, Japan has THE most extensive nuclear material reprocessing industry in the world.

So if you see Japan with a deploy-able nuclear force soon don't be too shocked.

So, if the Germans wanted to base an atomic-powered warship in New York harbor, would we let them??

O'Hara? The PDF clearly reads "Ohara," which is considerably more convincing as a Nikkei name.

Hey, what's up with the color. Halfway through the boring manga, the USN didn't bother to colorize it any more. If the Defense Dept want to waste tax dollars they should at least finish the job ... oops, Iraq.

ps

>>>So, if the Germans wanted to base an atomic-powered warship in New York harbor, would we let them??<<<

Depends on whether or not we had such an arrangement with Germany, which would depend on whether or not it would be considered by both parties as advantageous to maintaining a degree of military stability in the region.

Japan, geographically, is located in a very testy neighborhood. Russia and Japan are on each other's doorstep, and have current territorial disputes as well as a history of mutual belligerency. North Korea is also just a gulf hop away. And then there's China, and I couldn't begin to list the issues that roil, and indeed poison, relations between that rising superpower and The Land of the Rising Sun.

In short, Japan has sound reason by geography alone to allow a U.S. carrier and its task force to be stationed there. On the other hand, no reason exists that would make it comprehensible to have Germany station a naval task force in New York harbor.

That's right; we feel the need to dictate to these people, too. Don't we own that hemisphere as well? Well, if we don't, we just steal it. Right? That's the America I no longer feel proud of. That's why I can relate to Mrs. Obama. The America that existed through 1962 IS on balance a source of pride, though. Too bad. By the way, "otaku" means that which is someone else's; it is also a more honorific form of the pronoun for address, "you," than is "anata." Just in case the right (actually the WRONG) is listening in. No, I don't know how to say "Ku Klux Klan" in Japanese.

Some wield giant katanga, others fire extinguishers

I believe the word katana is intended here.

[end picky geek otaku rant]