In about two weeks, dozens of young adults from across the country will head to Naval Station Great Lakes for a muscle-punishing boot camp and a meeting with their celebrity “mentor” — NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The racing superstar may be headed to the Lake County naval base in part to express patriotism, but he’s also performing one of the duties laid out in his $800,000 speaking-appearance contract with the Navy. It hired him to be a spokesman this year with hopes of recruiting a few of NASCAR’s millions of fans.

As the Iraq War becomes increasingly less popular in the eyes of the American public and recruiting more difficult, Navy officials say this is the first time they’ve turned to a celebrity recruiter for help. Navy officials have long joked Tom Cruise in “Top Gun” was a great unofficial celebrity recruiter, but that movie came out in 1986, when many of today’s enlistees weren’t born.

As part of its separate $6.5 million racing-sponsorship deal with Earnhardt, who is named after his late racing father, the Navy named a special division after him and bought the right to paint the Navy’s name on a car now raced by an up-and-coming driver on Earnhardt’s team, Brad Keselowski.

The special divisions, like one the Navy has named after the White Sox, appeal to young people who may be tempted to join the Navy if they can find a slightly different experience, or want to express their fan support, said Lt. J.G. Andrea Ross, the Navy’s NASCAR program manager. Navy officials said the one-year contract includes at least 22 appearances at Navy-related events by Keselowski, and at least seven by Earnhardt.

“It’s largely a recruiting effort and a branding tool,” Ross said.

Earnhardt will be “mentoring” his recruits, Ross said, and will be at the base in Lake County to meet them when boot camp starts later this month.

When Tanya House enlisted in the Navy in April, the recruiter asked her if she’d be interested in joining the Dale Jr. Division.

House, 18, of Cromwell, Minn., hoped the Navy would help her get medical training for a possible career as a dental hygienist, and the question gave her pause. “I didn’t know what to think of it,” House said later. “It sounded like I’d be working on cars.”

But House said the recruiter told her the division was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and so she figured, “Why not?”

With that, House became the first member of the Dale Jr. Division. This summer, the Navy flew her and a few of the other earliest Dale Jr. enlistees to Charlotte, N.C., to watch a race and meet the star trackside.

House, who had only left Minnesota once before, skipped graduation for her 26-person senior class at Cromwell-Wright High and headed to the race.

“We were down by the action and everything, and it was really cool,” said House, who received an autographed cap from Earnhardt. “It was beyond expectations.”

Professor David Segal, director of the Center on Research on Military Organization at the University of Maryland, said the Navy’s relationship with Earnhardt says less about the Navy than it does about the way young people emulate celebrities and are influenced by celebrity endorsement. It also reflects how mainstream NASCAR has become, he said.

“It used to be a fringe sport, and now it’s gentrified. It went from redneck to middle class,” Segal said.

People who watch NASCAR already have a characteristic needed in the military, Segal said: “[The] people who are interested in it like action.”

The Navy wanted Earnhardt’s 88-person division, ideally, to be 50-50 male-female. That was a stretch, because only 15 percent of the Navy is female. As of Thursday, 77 people had signed up for the division; 22 women and 55 men.

NASCAR, a once solidly good ol’ boy sport, has changed in a way that may have helped the Navy: NASCAR officials say 40 percent of the fan base is female.

Navy officials said their decision not to continue the program next year was a strategic one.

“The recruiting market is very challenging today, and the Navy needs to remain flexible,” Naval Service Training Command Deputy Public Affairs Officer Todd Willebrand said in an e-mail. “This has nothing to do with the team relationship, the fan base or leadership of NASCAR.”

In statements released by his publicist and in other comments at news conferences, Earnhardt said he was disappointed his sponsorship by the Navy won’t continue, but he looks forward to working with the recruits.

House said she’s running and lifting weights in preparation for moving to Great Lakes in mid-August.

“I haven’t seen many other cultures,” said House. “I want to be able to see more.”

First of all, c’mon people! Do you really think a site named “Gear Adrift” is going to have the latest advancement results? Secondly, why do you think google would lead you to the right place? It’s a great search engine but if you don’t know about the results, why would google? It’s not like google is in the Navy, after all.

So, here’s my bright idea to help you fellow rate-grabbers out. I’m going to compile a tracker of exactly when the various Navy advancement results have come out.

Navy Advancement Results Tracker

• Jan 2008, CYCLE 198 Chief (E7) Advancement Results - 01 AUG 2008
• Mar 2008, CYCLE 199 (E4, E5, E6) Advancement Results - 22 MAY 2008
• Sep 2007, CYCLE 195 (E4, E5, E6) Advancement Results - 16 NOV 2007

LCS is a fast, agile, focused-mission ship designed to defeat asymmetric “anti-access” threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The 378-foot Freedom is being designed and built by a Lockheed Martin-led industry team.

“Getting Freedom underway is a significant step in the ship’s steady progress toward entering the fleet,” said LCS Program Manager Capt. James Murdoch. “Freedom has overcome many challenges to reach this important milestone. LCS 1 will add tremendous capabilities to the fleet for our Sailors.”

Builder’s trials test the vessel’s propulsion, communications, navigation and mission systems, as well as all related support systems. Following the completion of builder’s trials, Freedom will return to Marinette Marine to prepare for acceptance trials that will be conducted by the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey.

The LCS 1 Freedom class consists of two different hullforms – a semiplaning monohull and an aluminum trimaran – designed and built by two industry teams, respectively led by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. The seaframes will be outfitted with reconfigurable payloads, called mission packages, which can be changed out quickly. These mission packages focus on three mission areas: mine counter measures, surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare.

LCS 1 is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy later this year and will be homeported in San Diego.

Changing threats at sea, including increased deployments of diesel-powered submarines by potential U.S. adversaries, drove the service’s move to end production of the futuristic DDG 1000 destroyer after just two ships, said Vice Adm. Barry McCullough, a deputy chief of naval operations.

In a House subcommittee hearing, congressional supporters of the ship countered that the Navy has not justified its new course, and they suggested that budget constraints - not military needs - are behind the change.

While the Navy puts the cost of each DDG 1000 now funded at $3.2 billion, a Congressional Budget Office analyst testified Thursday that the real price could be more than $5 billion per ship. CGX, a planned cruiser that will use many of the high-tech systems developed for DDG 1000, will be even more expensive, analyst Eric Labs said.

“This isn’t the first major ship acquisition program that has faced problems,” said Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass. “Why does so much risk and inconsistency exist” in the Navy’s threat forecasts? she asked.

Tsongas read aloud from testimony McCullough delivered in April, in which the admiral asserted that the DDG 1000’s power to provide surface fire support and defeat missile threats exceeds that of today’s Arleigh Burke class of destroyers.

But McCullough and Allison Stiller, the Navy’s top civilian shipbuilding official, said Thursday that Navy leaders now believe that building more ships of the Burke class is the best way to counter increased “blue water” threats from submarines and ballistic missiles.

The DDG 1000 was designed for a closer-to-shore mission, including providing covering fire to troops ashore, they said. The new ship is to be equipped with a long-range gun able to reach targets more than 60 miles away and has a radar-evading hull form that will make it hard for adversaries to detect.

McCullough said Thursday that the Navy believes it has enough aircraft and cruise missiles, along with the promise of an improved gun to be placed on the Burke ships, to support forces ashore. And the Burke ships can accommodate missile-defense systems that are not suited for the DDG 1000, he asserted.

Congress funded what was expected to be the last in the Burke line of ships in 2005. The Navy wants $2.2 billion to restart the line in 2009, though the proposed change has not been approved by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The new plan also has split members of Congress, though along geographic rather than partisan lines.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from New England, where some of the DDG 1000’s high-tech systems are being developed, is pushing for construction of at least one more of the ships and for more detail on how the Navy decided that just two would suffice.

Those members have a well-placed ally in Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who heads the Senate’s seapower subcommittee. The Navy appears to have an advantage in the House, however, where Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., head of the House seapower and expeditionary forces subcommittee, is a longtime proponent of the Burke class of ships.

Even before the Navy’s announcement that it now wants to move away from DDG 1000, the House voted to “pause” the program next year.

But in June, the Senate Armed Services Committee signed off continued production. Since then, key members including Virginia Sen. John Warner have warned that thousands of shipbuilder jobs are at risk if the new destroyer is abandoned.

Other lawmakers are skeptical about restarting the Burke line of ships. The House Appropriations Committee voted this week to provide $450 million next year to continue buying parts for a third DDG 1000 but included no funds for more Burke ships.

But once inside, they said, a teller put a hold on the checks for 10 days until they could be authenticated. The funeral was in five days.

The family asked the bank to check with the military and produced newspaper stories describing Navy Hospitalman Marc Retmier’s death — the 500th Californian killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. A military recruiter who knew 19-year-old Retmier also verified the story. Downey wouldn’t budge.

“I don’t understand how they could do this to a fallen hero and his family who were experiencing so much pain and still are,” Joy Retmier said.

The family eventually deposited the $50,000 checks into a local credit union and used $15,000 to pay funeral costs. They also hired well-known attorney Gloria Allred.

Allred filed a complaint Wednesday with the Office of Thrift Supervision, calling for an investigation into Downey’s actions and asking for reforms, including a hotline that could verify similar checks in less than 30 minutes.

“Joy Retmier was literally crying in the bank,” Allred said. “Not only did she lose her child, now how is she going to afford to bury him? When Marc’s grandfather went to the bank to show the newspaper article, he gets told to leave. I am shocked that this was handled so insensitively.”

She said that the parents were treated “like criminals” and that at least one other family had faced a similar battle with its bank.

“This is not the intent of the government when they issue these checks; the checks are designed to help comfort the family, not add stress and worry,” she said. “We want an investigation, and if this is a policy, we want to change it or make an exception so parents can cash these checks in 30 minutes.”

Downey issued a statement Thursday calling Retmier “a brave soldier from our local community” but said the check hold policy “conforms with federal banking standards and industry practices.” The bank said the funds would have been released as soon as they were verified.

According to regulations from the Office of Thrift Supervision, U.S. Treasury checks like those issued the Retmiers “must receive next-day availability,” though the regulations allow extended holds under certain circumstances.

William Ruberry, spokesman for the office, said officials were still gathering the facts.

“I am sure every institution has their own procedures, but they have to abide by the regulations,” he said.

Retmier died June 18 after his vehicle was hit by a rocket in Paktia province in Afghanistan. As the 500th Californian to die, he served as a grim milestone and testimony to the toll that the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has taken locally. He was also the seventh to die from Hemet to die.

The complaint against Downey includes notes from such family members as Dale Powers, Retmier’s grandfather, who was a baby-sitter to the boy for years.

“I felt the bank’s refusal to cash the bereavement check showed disrespect to my grandson and my family,” wrote Powers, a Korean War veteran. “Even though I showed them a photo from the newspaper of my daughter, Marc’s mother, crying over his loss, they still refused to cash it before the funeral. I hope they will never make anyone else suffer what we had to endure because of their insensitivity to us.”

Retmier, who loved the ocean, was buried June 25 beside his uncle in a plot overlooking the sea in Corona del Mar.

First-line leadership, rating expertise, professionalism, communication, loyalty and heritage are all mentioned in the CPO precepts, the governing document each selection board uses as they deliberate and select Sailors whose records appear in front of a board. “Those expectations are the things we expect our first classes to be doing. We expect them to generate deckplate results. The most important factor I want you to consider is leadership – what they’re doing for those they lead. No one should be wearing an anchor on their collar if they can’t lead Sailors,” Campa said. Language taken straight from the guidance, “Expectations of the First Class Petty Officer,” has been inserted into the selection board’s precepts.

Those Sailors who live up to them have the best chance of putting on anchors Sept. 16. Campa introduced the Expectations in December 2007, and reinforced a number of characteristics effective first class petty officers have always demonstrated. Just seven months later, those expectations have been formally recognized as the most significant indicators of a candidate’s potential to lead as a chief. Campa followed a similar formula after he introduced the Chief Petty Officer’s Mission, Vision and Guiding Principles.

Within a year of their creation, they were inserted into senior and master chief selection board precepts. “It’s one thing to talk about what we expect from our leaders, it’s a whole other matter to drive performance based on those expectations. That’s what we do when we place the Guiding Principles or the Expectations into precepts. “We’re telling our Sailors that if they want to be advanced, the success of those they lead is what the board is going to look at,” said Campa. The results of the MCPON’s message will be felt by the entire fleet when CPO results are released later this summer.

Educational transcripts and records need to be submitted to the Navy College Office by September 1, as announced in NAVADMIN 301/07. Sailors competing for advancement to pay grades E- 4 through E-6 will be awarded two points for an accredited associate’s degree, and four points for an accredited baccalaureate degree or above. Education points will be awarded for the highest degree held, and will increase the overall final multiple score (FMS) points with no reduction in points from other factors.

“The implementation of these points, and the emphasis on education in precept language, reflect the importance of critical thinking skills required for a more efficient, more technically capable future force,” said Jennie Humes, deputy director of Voluntary Education (VOLED) for the Navy.

Sailors must ensure transcripts with degree information are forwarded directly from their academic institution to the Navy College Center at:

Navy College Center, N211 VOLED Detachment, CPPD
6490 Saufley Field Road
Pensacola, FL 32509-5204

Any questions call: (877) 253-7122 or (850) 452-1828/DSN 922

Sailors are strongly encouraged to verify degrees are documented in their Sailor Marine American Council on Education Registry Transcript (SMART) by visiting https:// smart.navy.mil. To allow sufficient time for the Navy College Center to process all documents, transcripts for Sailors competing for advancement to E-4 to E-6 must be received no later than Sept. 1, 2008.

“By planning ahead and remaining diligent, Sailors can verify paperwork is processed promptly, reduce delays between completion and awarding of a degree, and ensure timely receipt of the transcript by the Navy College Center,” said Humes. For more information about the Navy College Program visit https://www.navycollege.navy. mil/

While an independent Pentagon estimate is 14 percent, or $878 million, cost growth for the first ships in a new class historically has averaged 27 percent, or, in this case, $1.7 billion, according to figures in a Government Accountability Office report.

The amount would be added to the $6.3 billion the Navy projects for the ships being built by General Dynamics Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. under a program that initially called for seven ships.

The Navy announced last week it was cutting the program and instead will propose building eight more of the existing DDG-51 class destroyers. This proposal would be in its six-year budget that begins in 2010. The Pentagon said more analysis is needed.

The GAO said that, in the Zumwalt program, “the risk of cost growth is high in part because of the potential for late delivery of key systems and software and difficulties in constructing and integrating sections of the ship.”

In addition, “the full costs of constructing the two lead ships have not been entirely recognized or funded” by Congress, the GAO said in a report to be released tomorrow.

Remaining funds of $560 million “may not be sufficient to buy key components and pay for other work not yet under contract,” the GAO said in its report for Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy that was obtained by Bloomberg News. Kennedy is chairman of the Senate Armed Services seapower panel.

Navy spokesman Lieutenant Clay Doss said the service would not comment until the report is officially released.

WASHINGTON–The Navy’s Pacific commander fired the top two officers on the aircraft carrier George Washington on Wednesday after investigators concluded that a $70 million fire that damaged the ship in May probably was triggered by crew members sneaking a smoke.

Capt. David C. Dykhoff, skipper of the carrier, was relieved “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command and his failure to meet mission requirements and readiness standards,” the service said. His executive officer, Capt. David M. Dober, was sacked “for substandard performance.”

Both actions were ordered by Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the Pacific Fleet. A Navy spokesman said each man will get an as-yet-unannounced assignment ashore. The disciplinary action almost certainly ends their careers, however.

Sailors who may have been directly involved in starting the fire could be subject to administrative action later, said Lt. Cmdr. Charles Brown, a spokesman for the commander of the Navy’s air forces.

The fire occurred May 22 as the George Washington was headed from its former home in Norfolk to Yokosuka, Japan, where it will replace the carrier Kitty Hawk, which is being retired.

While the full report of the Judge Adjutant General investigation was not released, the Navy said it concluded that the fire likely was caused by “unauthorized smoking that ignited flammable liquids and other combustible material improperly stored in an adjacent space.”

The fire and its intensity “were the result of a series of human acts that could have been prevented,” the Navy summary added. It cited “the storage of 90 gallons of refrigerant compressor oil in an unauthorized space” as a factor in the fire’s severity.

The summary said the fire began in a boiler exhaust and supply area and spread quickly because of a “chimney effect” in nearby spaces and duct work. The 12-hour battle to extinguish the fire injured 37 sailors, one of whom received first- and second-degree burns.

The fire was the worst of 13 reported aboard Navy ships this year.

The George Washington has been undergoing repairs near San Diego since shortly after the blaze. It is to depart on Aug. 21 and arrive in Yokosuka sometime in September.

About 2,800 sailors have had to live on board the ship since it entered the shipyard in late May. They don’t have cars or off-ship housing because most of their families and household goods are headed to or already in Japan.

Helping with the repairs has helped maintain morale, said Lt. Cmdr. Bill Urban, a ship spokesman. Many sailors also have taken short vacations to visit family or sight-see; others have been bused to San Diego parks, concerts, Padres baseball games and comedy clubs, he said.

The fire forced the Navy to slightly delay the Kitty Hawk’s retirement and instead send that ship to participate in an annual Rim of the Pacific Exercise in the George Washington’s place. Urban said some George Washington sailors joined the Kitty Hawk’s crew for the exercise.

Wednesday’s actions marked the sixth time this year the Navy has relieved one of its commanding officers and the fourth time the discipline involved command at sea. Earlier this week, the skipper of the Pearl Harbor, an amphibious transport, was fired after the ship ran aground in the Persian Gulf.

Dykhoff, a West Virginia native, had been in command of the George Washington since December 2006. He is a former F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18 Hornet pilot and squadron commander and a former executive officer of the carrier Nimitz.

Dober, a native New Yorker, also is a former F/A-18 pilot and squadron commander. He had been executive officer of the George Washington since March 2007.

To replace Dykhoff and Dober, the Navy tapped Capt. J.R. Haley to be the George Washington’s skipper and Capt. Karl O. Thomas to serve as executive officer.

Both men have ties to Hampton Roads from their service on carriers based in Norfolk. Haley commanded the Theodore Roosevelt from 2005 until last January. Thomas had been serving as executive officer of the Dwight D. Eisenhower.