1.
Dominican Republic
–
The Dominican Republic is a sovereign state occupying the eastern two-thirds of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western one-third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, christopher Columbus landed on the Western part of Hispaniola, in what is now Haiti, on December 6,1492. The island became the first seat of the Spanish colonial rule in the New World, the Dominican people declared independence in November 1821 but were forcefully annexed by their more powerful neighbor Haiti in February 1822. After the 1844 victory in the Dominican War of Independence against Haitian rule the country again under Spanish colonial rule until the Dominican War of Restoration of 1865. The Dominican Republic experienced mostly internal strife until 1916, a civil war in 1965, the countrys last, was ended by another U. S. military occupation and was followed by the authoritarian rule of Joaquín Balaguer, 1966–1978. Since then, the Dominican Republic has moved toward representative democracy and has been led by Leonel Fernández for most of the time since 1996. Danilo Medina, the Dominican Republics current president, succeeded Fernandez in 2012, the Dominican Republic has the ninth-largest economy in Latin America and is the largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region. Though long known for agriculture and mining, the economy is now dominated by services. Over the last two decades, the Dominican Republic have been standing out as one of the economies in the Americas – with an average real GDP growth rate of 5. 4% between 1992 and 2014. GDP growth in 2014 and 2015 reached 7.3 and 7. 0%, respectively, in the first half of 2016 the Dominican economy grew 7. 4% continuing its trend of rapid economic growth. Recent growth has been driven by construction, manufacturing and tourism, private consumption has been strong, as a result of low inflation, job creation, as well as high level of remittances. The Dominican Republic has a market, Bolsa de Valores de la Republica Dominicana. and advanced telecommunication system. Nevertheless, unemployment, government corruption, and inconsistent electric service remain major Dominican problems, the country also has marked income inequality. International migration affects the Dominican Republic greatly, as it receives, mass illegal Haitian immigration and the integration of Dominicans of Haitian descent are major issues. A large Dominican diaspora exists, mostly in the United States, contributes to development, the Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. The year-round golf courses are major attractions, the island has an average temperature of 26 °C and great climatic and biological diversity. The country is also the site of the first cathedral, castle, monastery, and fortress built in all of the Americas, located in Santo Domingos Colonial Zone, a World Heritage Site. Music and sport are of importance in the Dominican culture, with Merengue and Bachata as the national dance and music
2.
Dominican War of Independence
–
The Dominican Independence War gave the Dominican Republic autonomy from Haiti on February 27,1844. Previously known as the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo, the class within the country overthrew the Spanish crown in 1821 before unifying with Haiti a year later. Since then, Dominican-Haitian relations have been unstable, at the beginning of the 1800s, the colony of Santo Domingo, which had once been the headquarters of Spanish power in the New World was in its worst decline. Spain during this time was embroiled in the Peninsular War in Europe, with Spains resources spread among its global interest, Santo Domingo became neglected. This period is referred to as the España Boba era, the population of the Spanish colony stood at approximately 80,000 with the vast majority being European descendants and free people of color. During this period in time the Spanish crown wielded little to no influence in the colony of Santo Domingo, some wealthy cattle ranchers had become leaders, and sought to bring control and order in the southeast of the colony where the law of machete ruled the land. Haiti had been by far the richest colony in the hemisphere and was known as the Pearl of the Antilles. The population of Haiti had a ratio of 8,1 compared to the Dominican population of 1822. On February 9,1822, Boyer formally entered the city, Santo Domingo. Boyer then proclaimed, I have not come into this city as a conqueror, the island was thus united from Cape Tiburon to Cape Samana in possession of one government. Eventually the Haitian government became extremely unpopular throughout the country, the Dominican population grew increasingly impatient with Haitis poor management and perceived incompetence, and the heavy taxation that was imposed on their side. The country was hit with an economic crisis after having been forced to pay a huge indemnity to France. A debt was accrued by Haiti in order to pay for their own independence from the European nation, in 1838 Juan Pablo Duarte, an educated nationalist, founded a resistance movement called La Trinitaria along with Matías Ramón Mella and Francisco del Rosario Sánchez. It was so named because its nine members had organized themselves into cells of three. Many recruits quickly came to the group, but it was discovered and forced to change its name to La Filantrópica, in 1843 the revolution made a breakthrough, they worked with a liberal Haitian party that overthrew President Jean-Pierre Boyer. However, the Trinitarios work in the overthrow gained the attention of Boyers replacement, Rivière-Hérard imprisoned some Trinitarios and forced Duarte to leave the island. While gone, Duarte searched for support in Colombia and Venezuela, in December 1843 the rebels told Duarte to return since they had to act quickly because they were afraid the Haitians had learned of their insurrection plans. On February 27,1844, thereafter celebrated as Dominican Independence Day, the Haitian garrison, taken by surprise and apparently betrayed by at least one of its sentries, retreated in disarray
3.
Dominican Civil War
–
The Dominican Civil War took place between April 24,1965, and September 3,1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of constitutionally elected former President Juan Bosch overthrew acting President Donald Reid Cabral, allegations of foreign support for the rebels led to a US military intervention in the conflict, which later transformed into an Organization of American States occupation of the country. Elections were held in 1966, in the aftermath of which Joaquín Balaguer was elected into the presidential seat, later in the same year international troops departed from the country. On 19 November 1911, General Luis Tejera led a group of conspirators in an ambush on the carriage of Dominican President Ramón Cáceres. During the shootout, Cáceres was killed and Tejera wounded in the leg, in the ensuing power vacuum, General Alfredo Victoria, commander of the army, seized control and forced the Congress to elect his uncle, Eladio Victoria, as the new president. The general was widely suspected of bribing the Congress, and his uncle, the former president Horacio Vásquez soon returned from exile to lead his followers, the horacistas, in a popular uprising against the new government. The result was several years of political instability and civil war. U. S. mediation by the William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson administrations achieved only a short respite each time, a political deadlock in 1914 was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson telling Dominicans to choose a president or see the U. S. impose one. A provisional president was chosen, and later the same year relatively free elections put former president Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra back in power, to achieve a more broadly supported government, Jimenes named opposition individuals to his Cabinet. But this brought no peace and, with his former Secretary of War Desiderio Arias maneuvering to depose him and despite a U. S. offer of military aid against Arias, Wilson thus ordered the U. S. occupation of the Dominican Republic. Marines landed on May 16,1916, and had control of the two months later. The occupation regime kept most Dominican laws and institutions and largely pacified the general population, vigorous opposition to the occupation continued, nevertheless, and after World War I it increased in the U. S. as well. There, President Warren G. Harding, Wilsons successor, worked to put an end to the occupation, the U. S. governments rule ended in October 1922, and elections were held in March 1924. The victor was former president Horacio Vásquez Lajara, who had cooperated with the U. S and he was inaugurated on July 13, and the last U. S. forces left in September. Vásquez gave the six years of stable governance, in which political and civil rights were respected. A rebellion against President Horacio Vásquez broke out in February 1930 in Santiago, Rafael Trujillo secretly cut a deal with rebel leader Rafael Estrella Ureña, in return for Trujillo letting Estrella take power, Estrella would allow Trujillo to run for president in new elections. As the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo, Vásquez ordered Trujillo to suppress them, however, feigning neutrality, Trujillo kept his men in barracks, allowing Estrellas rebels to take the capital virtually unopposed. On March 3, Estrella was proclaimed acting president, with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police, as per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of the newly formed Patriotic Coalition of Citizens, with Estrella as his running mate
4.
Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic
–
The president is the commander in chief for the military. The primary missions are to defend the nation and protect the integrity of the country. The Dominican Republics military is second in size to Cubas in the Caribbean, the Air Force operates two main bases, one in southern region near Santo Domingo and one in the northern region of the country, the air force operates approximately 40 aircraft including helicopters. The Navy maintains three aging vessels which were donated from the United States, around 25 patrol crafts and interceptor boats, there is a counter-terrorist group formed by members of the three branches. This group is highly trained in counter-terrorism missions, the armed forces participate fully in counter-illegal drug trade efforts, for this task there is a taskforce known as DEPROSER 24/7. They also are active in efforts to control contraband and illegal immigration from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, the requisition taken, the schooner Maria Luisa,3 guns, the schooner March 30,3 guns, and the schooner Hope,3 guns. These men were skilled in handling machete and spear and his deputy commander was Brigadier General Antonio Duvergé. The other expeditionary army was the Northern Borders created to defend these borders, Dominican forces come to reach a great level of organization and efficiency. This body, purely police function disappears in 1917, leading to the creation of a National Guard,631 of Rear Admiral Thomas Snowden, who was at that time the military governor of Santo Domingo. After the US military occupation in 1924, Horacio Vásquez wins the elections of that same year. Among his first decisions, decrees the change of the Dominican National Police in National Brigade, a situation that continues until 17 May 1928, when new turn changes the name of the Army by Law No. 928, but basically inheriting a structure Police, who obeyed schemes imposition of public order demanded by the country at that time, over the years and already existing National Police created by decree No
5.
Dominican Army
–
The Army of the Dominican Republic or Ejército de República Dominicana, is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, together with the Navy and the Air Force. The army is twice as large as the services, consisting of approximately 20,000 active duty personnel. It includes six infantry brigades, a support brigade, a combat service support brigade. Stationed near Santo Domingo, the first brigade has traditionally been the most powerful of the brigades, by virtue of its location, the First Brigade had five infantry battalions and a battalion of engineers. The Second Brigade and the Third Brigade are based at Santiago and Barahona and their assets are spread throughout the country, and their units are mainly focused on local issues. The Fourth Brigade, also called Armed Forces Training Center because of their training mission is at San Isidro. The Fourth Brigade controls the armored battalion and three infantry battalions, the Fourth Brigade also provided basic, advanced and specialized training. Also at San Isidro is the battalion of the army. Another independent and very powerful organization is the Combat Support Command, since 1989, assets include fourteen armored light tanks, twenty armored vehicles, and ten armored vehicles. The artillery is equipped with twenty-two 105mm Auril howitzers, organization units under the general command of the army CGE Fortress CESFRONT at Comendador, Elías Piña Province 1st GRAL Presidential Guards Regiment. 2 Infantry Battalion Francisco del Rosario Sánchez,3 Infantry Battalion MATIAS RAMON MELLA. Exploration and Recognition - equipped with soft skin vehicles, including SUVs, heavy Mortars battery - equipped with four M304.2 inch mortars. 2nd Infantry Brigade - CG santiago Infantry Battalion 5 Infantry Battalion 7, Exploration Platoon - Equipped with soft skin vehicles, including SUVs. Howitzer Battery - Equipped with four M-101 105mm howitzers, 3rd Infantry Brigade - CG San Juan de la Maguana Infantry Battalion 12. Fortaleza March 19, headquarters of Infantry Battalion 12 Azua Infantry Battalion 13, Exploration Platoon - equipped with soft skin vehicles, including SUVs. Heavy Mortars battery - ECIA equipped with four 120 mm Mortars, 4th Infantry Brigade - CG Mao Macheteros Infantry Battalion 9. Exploration Platoon - Equipped with soft skin vehicles, including SUVs, heavy Mortars battery - - ECIA equipped with four 120 mm mortars. 5th Infantry Brigade - CG Barahona 15 Infantry Battalion, Exploration Platoon - equipped with soft skin vehicles, including SUVs
6.
Dominican Air Force
–
The Air Force of the Dominican Republic or Fuerza Aérea de República Dominicana, is one of the three branches of the Military of the Dominican Republic, together with the Army and the Navy. In 1932 the El Arma de Aviación del Ejército Nacional was formed as part of the Dominican Army, until 1942 only about a dozen aircraft were purchased. The service was renamed Compañia de Aviación del Ejército Nacional on October 26,1942, whilst granting base facilities to the United States during World War II the Dominican Republic received limited quantities of Lend-Lease military equipment. In 1947 a group of Dominican Republic exiles from Cuba tried to invade the country, but agents of the president managed to buy some Beaufighter and Mosquito aircraft from the United Kingdom. After signing the Rio Treaty 1947 the Dominican Republic received large quantities of aircraft, with this influx of aircraft the Compañia de Aviación expanded and became an independent service on January 15,1948, and was renamed Cuerpo de Aviación Militar Dominicana. It moved its headquarters to Base Aérea Presidente Trujillo, in the suburb of San Isidro. The Air Force underwent several changes during the 1950s, being known as the Dominican Military Aviation during 1952-55 and 1957–62. In 1962 it again became known as the Dominican Air Force, in 1952,25 Vampires and 32 North American P-51D were bought from Sweden but similar purchases from Canada and Japan were again blocked by the United States. By 1956 the Fuerza Aérea Dominicana had about 240 aircraft, during the next years most of the post-war equipment was at the end of its useful life. After the assassination of President Trujillo in 1961 funds for the Air Force decreased, during the next 15 years the number of aircraft in the Air Force declined again and only second-line material, such as training aircraft or helicopters, were acquired. In the early 1980s the Fuerza Aérea Dominicana had about 80 aircraft in five operational squadrons with most of the aircraft and helicopters operating out of San Isidro Air Base in Santo Domingo. On the 22nd of September 1998 Hurricane George struck San Isidro the main FAD base and destroyed one hangar and severely damaged another, destroying the aircraft in both hangars. The natural disaster saw the FAD new aircraft enter service such as eight ENAER T-35 Pilláns that were delivered in two batches, the first in November 1999 and the second in January 2000, during the same period three CASA 212-400 transport planes were ordered. In 2007 the Dominican Air Force announced that it will purchase 8 Embraer EMB314 Super Tucano aircraft from Brazil, by the end of 2008 the purchase was approved and the first two aircraft were delivered in 2009. The Dominican Air force recently acquired an EL/M-2106NG - Air Defense Search Radar - ADSR from Israel, in January 2015 the president of the Anti-narcotics agency announced that a Tecnam MMA will be acquired for maritime surveillance. Previous combat aircraft operated by the Air Force consisted of the P-51D Mustang, de Havilland Mosquito, PBY Catalina, B-17, A-37 Dragonfly, other retired training aircraft and helicopters were the BT-13 Valiant, T-6 Texan, Alouette II/III, Sikorsky H-19, and the Hughes OH-6. This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook document 2003 edition, World Aircraft information files Brightstar publishing London File 342 Sheet 1 Fuerza Aérea Dominicana
7.
Santo Domingo
–
Santo Domingo, officially Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic and the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. In 2010, its population was counted as 965,040, the city is coterminous with the boundaries of the Distrito Nacional, itself bordered on three sides by Santo Domingo Province. Santo Domingo is the site of the first university, cathedral, castle, monastery, the citys Colonial Zone was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Santo Domingo was called Ciudad Trujillo, from 1936 to 1961, after the Dominican Republics dictator, Rafael Trujillo, following his assassination, the city resumed its original designation. Santo Domingo is the cultural, financial, political, commercial and industrial center of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo also serves as the chief seaport of the country. The citys harbor at the mouth of the Ozama River accommodates the largest vessels, temperatures are high year round, with a cool breeze around winter time. At the time, the territory consisted of five chiefdoms, Marién, Maguá, Maguana, Jaragua. These were ruled respectively by caciques Guacanagarix, Guarionex, Caonabo, Bohechío, dating from 1496, when the Spanish settled on the island, and officially from 5 August 1498, Santo Domingo became the oldest European city in the Americas. Bartholomew Columbus founded the settlement and named it La Nueva Isabela, in 1495 it was renamed Santo Domingo, in honor of Saint Dominic. Santo Domingo came to be known as the Gateway to the Caribbean, in June 1502, Santo Domingo was destroyed by a major hurricane, and the new Governor Nicolás de Ovando had it rebuilt on a different site on the other side of the Ozama River. The original layout of the city and a portion of its defensive wall can still be appreciated today throughout the Colonial Zone. Diego Colon arrived in 1509, assuming the powers of Viceroy, in 1512, Ferdinand established a Real Audiencia with Juan Ortiz de Matienzo, Marcelo de Villalobos, and Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon appointed as judges of appeal. In 1514, Pedro Ibanez de Ibarra arrived with the Laws of Burgos, rodrigo de Alburquerque was named repartidor de indios and soon named visitadores to enforce the laws. In 1586, Francis Drake captured the city and held it for ransom, an expedition sent by Oliver Cromwell in 1655 attacked the city of Santo Domingo, but was defeated. The English troops withdrew and took the less guarded colony of Jamaica, in 1697, the Treaty of Ryswick included the acknowledgement by Spain of Frances dominion over the Western third of the island, now Haiti. From 1795 to 1822 the city changed several times along with the colony it headed. The city was ceded to France in 1795 after years of struggles, it was captured by Haitian rebels in 1801, recovered by France in 1802. In 1821 Santo Domingo became the capital of an independent nation after the Criollo bourgeois within the country, led by José Núñez de Cáceres, the nation was unified with Haiti just two months later
8.
Haiti
–
Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti and formerly called Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, the region was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people. Spain discovered the island on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic, when Columbus initially landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found India or Asia. On Christmas Day 1492, Columbus flagship the Santa Maria ran aground north of what is now Limonade, the island was named La Española and claimed by Spain, which ruled until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements by the French led to the portion of the island being ceded to France. The development of plantations, worked by slaves brought from Africa. Upon his death in a prison in France, he was succeeded by his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the Haitian Revolution lasted just over a dozen years, and apart from Alexandre Pétion, the first President of the Republic, all the first leaders of government were former slaves. The Citadelle Laferrière is the largest fortress in the Americas, Henri Christophe – former slave and first king of Haiti, Henri I – built it to withstand a possible foreign attack. It has the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas, most recently, in February 2004, a coup détat originating in the north of the country forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, the name Haïti comes from the indigenous Taíno language which was the native name given to the entire island of Hispaniola to mean, land of high mountains. The h is silent in French and the ï in Haïti, is a mark used to show that the second vowel is pronounced separately. In English, this rule for the pronunciation is often disregarded, the name Haïti was restored by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, as a tribute to the Amerindian predecessors. The Taíno name for the island was Haiti. The people had migrated over centuries into the Caribbean islands from South America, genetic studies show they were related to the Yanomami of the Amazon Basin. They also originated in Central and South America, after migrating to Caribbean islands, in the 15th century, the Taíno were pushed into the northeast Caribbean islands by the Caribs. In the Taíno societies of the Caribbean islands, the largest unit of organization was led by a cacique, or chief. The caciquedoms were tributary kingdoms, with payment consisting of harvests, Taíno cultural artifacts include cave paintings in several locations in the country. These have become symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions
9.
Schooner
–
A schooner /ˈskuːnər/ is a type of sailing vessel with fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts, the foremast being shorter than the main and no taller than the mizzen if there is one. While the schooner was originally gaff-rigged, modern schooners typically carry a Bermuda rig, such vessels were first used by the Dutch in the 16th or 17th century. They were further developed in North America from the early 18th century, the most common type, with two masts, were popular in trades requiring speed and windward ability, such as slaving, privateering, blockade running, and offshore fishing. In the Chesapeake Bay area several distinctive schooner types evolved, including the Baltimore clipper, bugeye, schooners were also popular among pirates in the West Indies during the Golden Age of Piracy, for their speed and agility. They could also sail in shallow waters, and while being smaller than other ships of the time period. Schooners first evolved in the late 17th century from a variety of small two-masted gaff-rigged vessels used in the coast, most were working craft but some pleasure yachts with schooner rigs were built for wealthy merchants and Dutch nobility. Following the arrival of the Dutch monarch William of Orange on the British throne and this vessel, captured in a detailed Admiralty model, is the earliest fully documented schooner. Royal Transport was quickly noted for its speed and ease of handling, North American shipbuilders quickly developed a variety of schooner forms for trading, fishing and privateering. According to the language scholar Walter William Skeat, the term comes from scoon. The Dutch word schoone means nice, good looking, robinson replied, A schooner let her be. The launch is variously described as being in 1713 or 1745, naval architects such as Howard Chapelle have dismissed this invention story as a childish fable, but some language scholars feel that the legend may support a Gloucester origin of the word. Other sources state the etymology as unknown and uncertain, the first detailed definition of a schooner, describing the vessel as two-masted vessel with fore and aft gaff-rigged sails appeared in 1769 in William Falconers, Universal Dictionary of the Marine. Although a schooner may have up to four masts, the schooner has only two, with the foremast shorter than the mainmast. There may be a bowsprit to help balance the rig, the principal issue with a schooner sail plan is how to fill the space between the two masts most effectively. Traditional schooners were rigged, and the trapezoid shape of the foresail occupied the inter-mast space to good effect, with a useful sail area. A Bermuda rigged schooner typically has four sails, a mainsail, a main staysail abaft the foremast, plus a forestaysail. An advantage of the schooner is that it is easily handled and reefed by a small crew. The main staysail will not overlap the mainsail, and so little to prepare the wind for the mainsail
10.
Ship commissioning
–
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its countrys military forces, the ceremonies involved are often rooted in centuries old naval tradition. Ship naming and launching endow a ship hull with her identity, the engineering plant, weapon and electronic systems, galley, and multitudinous other equipment required to transform the new hull into an operating and habitable warship are installed and tested. The prospective commanding officer, ships officers, the petty officers, prior to commissioning, the new ship undergoes sea trials to identify any deficiencies needing correction. USS Monitor, of American Civil War fame, was commissioned less than three weeks after launch, regardless of the type of ship in question, a vessels journey towards commissioning in its nations navy begins with process known as sea trials. Sea trials begin when the ship in question is floated out of its dry dock, after a ship has successfully cleared its sea trial period, it will officially be accepted into service with its nations navy. At this point, the ship in question will undergo a process of degaussing and/or deperming, once a ships sea trials are successfully completed plans for the actual commissioning ceremony will take shape. If the ships ceremony is an affair the Captain may make a speech to the audience. Religious ceremonies, such as blessing the ship or the singing of hymns or songs. Once a ship has been commissioned its final step toward becoming a unit of the navy it now serves is to report to its home port. To decommission a ship is to terminate its career in service in the forces of a nation. Decommissioning of the vessel may also occur due to treaty agreements or for safety reasons, vessels preserved in this manner typically do not relinquish their names to other, more modern ships that may be in the design, planning, or construction phase of the parent nations navy. Prior to its decommissioning, the ship in question will begin the process of decommissioning by going through a preliminary step called inactivation or deactivation. The removed material from a ship usually ends up either rotating to another ship in the class with similar weapons and/or capabilities, or in storage pending a decision on equipments fate. During this time a crew may be thinned out via transfers. When a ship finishes its inactivation, it is then formally decommissioned, often, but not always, ships that are decommissioned end up spending the next few years in a reserve fleet before their ultimate fate is decided. Commissioning in the early United States Navy under sail was attended by no ceremony, thus, the ship was placed in commission. Commissionings were not public affairs, and unlike christening-and-launching ceremonies, were not recorded by newspapers, the first specific reference to commissioning located in naval records is a letter of November 6,1863, from Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to all navy yards and stations
11.
Flagship
–
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the first, largest, fastest, most heavily armed. In common naval use, the flagship is fundamentally a temporary designation. Historically, only larger ships could accommodate such requirements, the term was also used by commercial fleets, when the distinction between a nations navy and merchant fleet was not clear. In the age of sailing ships, the flagship was typically a first-rate, non-first rates could serve as flagships, however, the USS Constitution, a frigate, served as flagship for parts of the United States Navy during the early 19th century. In the 20th century, ships became large enough that the types, cruisers and up, could accommodate a commander. Some larger ships may have a flag bridge for use by the admiral. Because its primary function is to coordinate a fleet, a flagship is not necessarily more heavily armed or armored than other ships, during World War II admirals often preferred a faster ship over the largest one. Modern flagships are designed primarily for command and control rather than for fighting, as with many other naval terms, flagship has crossed over into general usage, where it means the most important or leading member of a group, as in the flagship station of a broadcast network. Is used as both a noun and adjective describing the most prominent or highly touted product, brand, location, derivations include the flagship brand or flagship product of a manufacturing company, flagship store of a retail chain, or flagship service of a hospitality or transportation concern. The term flagship may have applications, Auto companies may have a flagship in the form of their leading or highest-priced car. Electronics companies may have a series of products considered to be their flagship, for example, the Samsung Galaxy S series consists of several flagship smartphones that are released on a yearly basis. In rail transport, a service is either the fastest or most luxurious. Often it is also a train or service. In some cases, special service or a class above first class may be available in the service while it is not offered in normal services. Flagship services are used to present the company in advertising or abroad. Most states in the United States provide public university education through one or more university systems, the phrase flagship institution or flagship university may be applied to an individual school or campus within each state system. These schools are often land-grant, sea-grant, or space-grant research universities, the use of the term is seen by some as elitist and boastful
12.
Dominican Navy
–
The Navy of the Dominican Republic or Armada de Republica Dominicana, is one of the three branches of the Military of the Dominican Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force. After the Dominican Republic gained its independence from Haiti on February 27,1844, three schooners were commissioned for this, the Separación Dominicana, the María Chica and the Leonor. Even though, the three schooners had been in action since April 15 at the Battle of Tortuguero, where they were led by Adm. Juan Bautista Cambiaso and sank 6 Haitian ships. On the other side of the conflict, The Elite Navy Force Hombres Ranas under Commander Ramon Montes Arache, the other navy commanders were afraid of Hombres Ranas taking control over Las Calderas Naval Base. Base Naval de Las Calderas, located in Peravia Province, is the largest Naval Base, the Bahia Las Calderas Naval Shipyard is located here. This shipyard is responsible for the maintenance of naval units of the fleet, Military and civilian vessels, such as tugs, boats, barges, pilot boats have also been built at this site. Notes, The Dominican Navy has other vessels of less draft, in the Dominican Navy, the ranks are organized in Admirals Officers, Senior Officers, Junior Officers and Enlisted. The Dominican Naval Auxiliary Corps is a force that possesses its own resources to assist in search operations, rescue. This organization was created by the Executive by Decree 887-09 and it is composed of a group of business, the organization operates private boats, barges and aircraft made available to the Navy, in order to assist with non-military activities or public order and safety at sea. The Dominican Naval Auxiliary has a presence in the north, northeast, east, south, the Naval Commandos are the Special Operations component of the Dominican Navy and are only employed in emergency situations. The Naval Commandos are capable of undertaking unconventional warfare, hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, VBSS and are experts in handling explosives and they are also trained in parachuting, hand-to-hand combat, CQC and other key skills. The teams armament includes the M16 rifle with the M203 grenade launcher, the Colt M4A1, M14 rifle, Mossberg 500 shotgun, the team operates inflated zodiac boats, RHIBs, and night vision goggles, among other equipment. Some team members first saw action during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Dominican troops, comprising a battalion of special components of the Dominican Armed forces, were under constant mortar attacks but suffered no casualties. While in Iraq, the troops were serving in the Plus Ultra Brigade, raised in 2008 the MIC serves as the youngest arm of service in the Dominican Navy, which is tasked for amphibious and landing operations. One Marine Battalion is of service as of the present. It also the youngest Marine unit in all of Latin America, the Navy plans to build a ship called a Multipurpose Platform, which will be between 164 and 190 feet long. Its construction will be in Bahia de Las Calderas, at the Astilleros Navales Bahia de Las Calderas shipyard, there are also plans for the construction of a new building in Santo Domingo that will house the Chief of Staff. Military of the Dominican Republic Marina de Guerra Dominicana
13.
Congress of the Dominican Republic
–
The Congress of the Dominican Republic is the bicameral legislature of the government of the Dominican Republic, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Both senators and deputies are chosen through direct election, there are no term limits for either chamber. As provided by the Dominican Constitution, each of the 178 members of the Chamber of Deputies represents a district, Chamber seats are apportioned among the states by population. The 32 Senators serve staggered four-year terms, each province has one senator, regardless of population. The Constitution vests all legislative power in the Congress, the Chamber and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process, however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate is empowered to approve treaties and presidential appointments, revenue-raising bills must originate in the Chamber of Deputies, which also has the sole power of impeachment, while the Senate has the sole power to try impeachment cases. The Congress meets in the Palace of Congress in Santo Domingo, the term Congress actually refers to a particular meeting of the national legislature, reckoned according to the terms of representatives. Congressional elections are held in even numbered years not divisible by four, suffrage is universal and compulsory for all Dominican citizens aged over 18 or under that age if married. The Congress of the Dominican Republic was founded after the drafting of the Constitution, on 6 November 1844, in the chapter 2 of this Constitution is mentioned how the Legislature would be divided into two legislative bodies called Tribunat and Conservative Council. Earlier, deputies and senators were elected by indirect and based on census vote, in 1854, the Constitution was amended to change the name of the Conservative Senate Council. The bicameral system was replaced in November 1865 after the Restoration of the Republic, separating the Congress in a House of Representatives. The Senate reappeared as house of Congress in the Constitution of 1908, during the first US intervention, Congress was dissolved not before elected president Francisco Henriquez y Carvajal. After the restoration of sovereignty, Congress was again restored. With the rise of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo to power, the Congress became a cover for his political ambitions. In 1935, Trujillo was appointed by the Congress president for life, instituted on January 11 of each year as the Day of the Benefactor, in 1941, Congress recognized the civil rights of women, allowing women to vote in the country. After Trujillos death, and after deposition of the government of Juan Bosch in 1963. However, President Urena had to resign two days later and applied for asylum, at this, the Congress appointed provisional president Francisco Alberto Caamaño Deñó, who took office on May 4 in front of a crowd at Independence Park. This Constitution was amended in 1994 to prohibit presidential re-election and separate congressional and presidential elections with 2 years apart, Congress passed a constitutional amendment in May 2002, to restore limited to 2 consecutive reelection
14.
Battle of Tortuguero
–
The Battle of Tortuguero was the first naval battle of the Dominican War of Independence and was fought on April 15,1844 at Tortuguero, Azua Province. A force of 3 Dominican schooners led by Commander Juan Bautista Cambiaso, though it was a minor naval battle engagement, it determined the naval supremacy of the Dominican Republic over Haiti until the end of the war. He recommended President Tomás de Bobadilla y Briones of the Junta Central Gubernativa, conscripts for the new navy gathered at Puerta de la Misericordia, among them were Juan Alejandro Acosta, José Antonio Sanabia, Joaquín Orta, Teodoro Ariza, Pedro Tomás Garrido y Fermín González. Juan Alejandro Acosta together with fellow merchants, armed two schooners. Both schooners set sail in early April to Aguas de la Estancia, Baní to meet there with Commander Juan Bautista Cambiaso, on April 13, three schooners led by Commander Juan Bautista Cambiaso set sail from Aguas de la Estancia. Cambiaso leading the schooner Separación Dominicana, the Captain Juan Bautista Maggiolo led the María Chica, two days later, on April 15, Commander Cambiaso sighted three vessels off shore bombarding Tortuguero, Azua. The three vessels were the Pandora, La Mouche and Le Signifie, Cambiaso quickly decided to engage the fleet and after a combination of manoeuvres the enemy succumbed. All three enemy vessels were sunk, almost all sailors died in the battle and there is no record of any survivor from the sinkings. Haitian presence at sea vanished after this engagement, which ensured naval supremacy for the newborn nation, Battle of Cabeza de Las Marías Battle of March 19 Battle of March 30 Battle of El Memiso Battle of Estrelleta Battle of Beler Battle of El Número Battle of Las Carreras
15.
Frigate
–
A frigate /ˈfrɪɡᵻt/ is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries. In the 17th century, this term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability and these could be warships carrying their principal batteries of carriage-mounted guns on a single deck or on two decks. The term was used for ships too small to stand in the line of battle. In the late 19th century, the frigate was a type of ironclad warship that for a time was the most powerful type of vessel afloat. The term frigate was used because such ships still mounted their principal armaments on a continuous upper deck. Ship classes dubbed frigates have more closely resembled corvettes, destroyers, cruisers. The rank frigate captain derives from the name of type of ship. The term frigate originated in the Mediterranean in the late 15th century, referring to a lighter galleass type ship with oars, sails and a light armament, built for speed and maneuverability. The etymology of the word is unknown, although it may have originated as a corruption of aphractus, aphractus was, in turn, derived from the Ancient Greek phrase ἄφρακτος ναῦς, or undefended ship. In 1583, during the Eighty Years War, Habsburg Spain recovered the Southern Netherlands from the rebellious Dutch and this soon led to the occupied ports being used as bases for privateers, the Dunkirkers, to attack the shipping of the Dutch and their allies. To achieve this they developed small, maneuverable, sailing vessels that came to be referred to as frigates, in French, the term frigate became a verb, meaning to build long and low, and an adjective, adding further confusion. Even the huge English Sovereign of the Seas could be described as a frigate by a contemporary after her upper decks were reduced in 1651. The navy of the Dutch Republic was the first navy to build the larger ocean-going frigates, the first two tasks required speed, shallowness of draft for the shallow waters around the Netherlands, and the ability to carry sufficient supplies to maintain a blockade. The third task required heavy armament, sufficient to fight against the Spanish fleet, the first of these larger battle-capable frigates were built around 1600 at Hoorn in Holland. The effectiveness of the Dutch frigates became most visible in the Battle of the Downs in 1639, encouraging most other navies, especially the English, to adopt similar designs. The fleets built by the Commonwealth of England in the 1650s generally consisted of ships described as frigates, the largest of which were two-decker great frigates of the third rate. Carrying 60 guns, these vessels were as big and capable as great ships of the time, however, most other frigates at the time were used as cruisers, independent fast ships. The term frigate implied a long hull design, which relates directly to speed and also, in turn, in Danish, the word fregat is often applied to warships carrying as few as 16 guns, such as HMS Falcon which the British classified as a sloop
16.
HMCS Carlplace (K664)
–
HMCS Carlplace was a River-class frigate that served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. She served primarily as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. After the war, she was sold to the Dominican Republic and renamed Presidente Trujillo and in 1962, Carlplace was named for Carleton Place, Ontario, a town located in Eastern Ontario. The towns name was considered too long and was shortened, Carlplace was ordered 1 February 1943 as part of the 1943–1944 River-class building program. She was laid down on 30 November 1943 by Davie Shipbuilding & Repairing Co. Ltd. at Lauzon and she was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 13 December 1944 at Quebec City. The River-class frigate was designed by William Reed of Smiths Dock Company of South Bank-on-Tees, originally called a twin-screw corvette, its purpose was to improve on the convoy escort classes in service with the Royal Navy at the time, including the Flower-class corvette. The first orders were placed by the Royal Navy in 1940, in Canada they were named for towns and cities though they kept the same designation. The name frigate was suggested by Vice-Admiral Percy Nelles of the Royal Canadian Navy and was adopted later that year, improvements over the corvette design included improved accommodation which was markedly better. The twin engines gave only three more knots of speed but extended the range of the ship to double that of a corvette at 7,200 nautical miles at 12 knots. Among other lessons applied to the design was an armament package better designed to combat U-boats including a twin 4-inch mount forward and 12-pounder aft. 15 Canadian frigates were fitted with a single 4-inch gun forward but with the exception of the HMCS Valleyfield. For underwater targets, the River-class frigate was equipped with a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar and depth charge rails aft, River-class frigates were the first Royal Canadian Navy warships to carry the 147B Sword horizontal fan echo sonar transmitter in addition to the irregular ASDIC. This allowed the ship to maintain contact with targets even while firing unless a target was struck, improved radar and direction-finding equipment improved the RCNs ability to find and track enemy submarines over the previous classes. Canada originally ordered the construction of 33 frigates in October 1941, the design was too big for the shipyards on the Great Lakes so all the frigates built in Canada were built in dockyards along the west coast or along the St. Lawrence River. In all Canada ordered the construction of 60 frigates including ten for the Royal Navy that transferred two to the United States Navy. Making her way to Halifax, Nova Scotia after her commissioning, Carlplace was seriously damaged by ice and took weeks to repair at Halifax and eventually. After repairing she proceeded to work up at Bermuda and upon her return was assigned to escort group EG16 based out of Derry, en route to joining her group in Europe, Carplace escorted a Royal Navy submarine. She arrived in the United Kingdom in April and escorted two convoys to Gibraltar, in May she returned to Canada to undergo a tropicalization refit in preparation for service in the Pacific Ocean
17.
National Palace (Dominican Republic)
–
The National Palace is a building in Santo Domingo, that houses the offices of the Executive Branch of the Dominican Republic. Occupying an area of 18,000 square metres and luxuriously appointed throughout, the building stands on the grounds of the former Presidential Mansion, built during the United States military occupation of 1916-1924. Building services are located at ground level, the main floor includes the ceremonial vestibule, the Presidential and Vice-presidential offices, and the Cabinet meeting room. The third storey houses the reception rooms, the Hall of the Ambassadors, the Hall of the Caryatids, the Green Room, the Mahogany room. The dome, which rests on a drum, is 34 metres high and has a diameter of 18 m. Inside,18 columns sustain the dome, most of the marble used throughout the building is Dominican, and was extracted from quarries in Samaná and Caballero. The Palacio Nacional complex also includes the presidential Chapel of San Rafael Arcángel, the Palace and mainly the Hall of the Caryatids was used for the new years scene in The Godfather Part II where Michael confronts Fredo about his betrayal. Tour of the National Palace, http, //www. presidencia. gob. do/app/galeria. aspx
18.
Peravia Province
–
Peravia is a province of the Dominican Republic. Before January 1,2002 it was included in what is the new San José de Ocoa province and it is named after the Peravia Valley. Along the Azua Province, Peravia is characterized by its dry climate, one popular attraction is the Salinas beach, which recently has grown to be a popular tourist destination with a developed town that has shops and hotels. Urban population are living in the seats of municipalities or of municipal districts. Rural population are living in the districts and neighborhoods outside of them. For comparison with the municipalities and municipal districts of other provinces see the list of municipalities and municipal districts of the Dominican Republic
19.
USCG seagoing buoy tender
–
The U. S. Coast Guard has maintained a fleet of seagoing buoy tenders dating back to its origins in the U. S. These ships originally were designated with the classification symbol WAGL, but in 1965 the designation was changed to WLB. Two classes of the WLB cutters have been produced, the older class, the 180 ft-class cutters, were 180 feet long. Thirty-nine of these vessels were built from 1942–1944, all but one were constructed in the shipyards of Duluth, Minnesota. The 180 fleet, many of which served for more than 50 years, all of the 180s are now retired and have been replaced with the new 225-foot Juniper-class cutters. The last 180-foot cutter, USCGC Acacia, was decommissioned on 7 June 2006, the Jonquil class of 189-foot buoy tenders were U. S Army built mine planters acquired by the Coast Guard after World War II. Built around 1942, these vessels were designed for diesel engines, the new Juniper buoy tenders are designed and operated as multi-mission platforms. While the 180s also performed other Coast Guard missions, they lacked the speed, communications, navigation, six U. S. Army Mine Planters built 1917—1919 were transferred to the U. S. Light House Service during a reduction in Army in the early 1920s and these, after absorption into the U. S. Coast Guard, became that services Speedwell class, Acacia, ex USAMP Gen. John P. Story Ilex, ex USAMP Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby Lotus, ex USAMP Col. Albert Todd Lupine, ex USAMP Gen. Wallace F. Randolph Speedwell, ex USAMP Col. John V. White Spruce, ex USAMP Col. Garland N. Whistler The ships were 172 feet in length,32 feet beam with 11 feet 6 inches draft displacing 1,130 tons. Six U. S. Army built Chimo-class mine planters were transferred to the U. S. Navy and these vessels were further transferred to the U. S. Coast Guard and refitted as buoy tenders. All of these vessels were built 1942 to 1943 by Marietta Manufacturing Company, Point Pleasant, Juniper Willow Kukui Elm Walnut Spar Maple Aspen Sycamore Cypress Oak Hickory Fir Hollyhock Sequoia Alder USCG coastal buoy tender USCG inland buoy tender USCG inland construction tender
20.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
21.
United States Coast Guard
–
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the countrys seven uniformed services. This has happened twice, in 1917, during World War I, created by Congress on 4 August 1790 at the request of Alexander Hamilton as the Revenue Marine, it is the oldest continuous seagoing service of the United States. As Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton headed the Revenue Marine, by the 1860s, the service was known as the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service and the term Revenue Marine gradually fell into disuse, the modern Coast Guard was formed by a merger of the Revenue Cutter Service and the U. S. Life-Saving Service on 28 January 1915, under the U. S. Department of the Treasury. As one of the five armed services, the Coast Guard has been involved in every U. S. war from 1790 to the Iraq War. As of 2014 the Coast Guard had over 36,000 men and women on duty,7,350 reservists,29,620 auxiliarists. In terms of size, the U. S. Coast Guard by itself is the worlds 12th largest naval force. Because of its authority, the Coast Guard can conduct military operations under the U. S. Department of Defense or directly for the President in accordance with Title 14 USC 1–3. The Coast Guards enduring roles are maritime safety, security, to carry out those roles, it has 11 statutory missions as defined in 6 U. S. C. §468, which include enforcing U. S. law in the worlds largest exclusive economic zone of 3.4 million square miles, the Coast Guards motto is the Latin phrase, Semper Paratus. In a 2005 article in Time magazine following Hurricane Katrina, the author wrote, the Coast Guards most valuable contribution to may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit. Wil Milam, a swimmer from Alaska told the magazine, In the Navy. Practicing for war, training for war, in the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself. The Coast Guard carries out three basic roles, which are subdivided into eleven statutory missions. Both agencies maintain rescue coordination centers to coordinate this effort, and have responsibility for military and civilian search and rescue. The two services jointly provide instructor staff for the National Search and Rescue School that trains SAR mission planners and coordinators, previously located on Governors Island, New York, the school is now located at Coast Guard Training Center Yorktown at Yorktown, Virginia. The NRC also takes Maritime Suspicious Activity and Security Breach Reports, details on the NRC organization and specific responsibilities can be found in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. The Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement database system is managed and used by the Coast Guard for tracking pollution, the five uniformed services that make up the U. S
22.
Midshipman
–
A midshipman is an officer cadet or a commissioned officer candidate of the junior-most rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. Beginning in the 18th century, an officer candidate was rated as a midshipman. After serving at least three years as a midshipman or masters mate, he was eligible to take the examination for lieutenant, promotion to lieutenant was not automatic, and many midshipmen took positions as masters mates for an increase in pay and responsibility aboard ship. Midshipman began to mean an officer cadet at a naval college, trainees now spent around four years in a college and two years at sea prior to promotion to commissioned officer rank. Between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries, time at sea declined to less than a year as the age was increased from 12 to 18. Ranks equivalent to midshipman exist in other navies. Using US midshipman or pre-fleet board UK midshipman as the basis for comparison, using post-fleet board UK midshipman for comparison, the rank would be the most junior commissioned officer in the rank structure, and similar to a US ensign in role and responsibility. Today, these ranks all refer to cadets, but historically they were selected by the monarchy. The first published use of the term midshipman was in 1662, the word derives from an area aboard a ship, amidships, but it refers either to the location where midshipmen worked on the ship, or the location where midshipmen were berthed. By the 18th century, four types of midshipman existed, midshipman, midshipman extraordinary, midshipman, by 1794, all midshipmen were considered officer candidates, and the original rating was phased out. Beginning in 1661, boys who aspired to become officers were sent by their families to serve on ships with a letter of service from the crown, and were paid at the same rate as midshipmen. Their official rating was volunteer-per-order, but they were known as Kings letter boys. Beginning in 1677, Royal Navy regulations for promotion to lieutenant required service as a midshipman, by the Napoleonic era, the regulations required at least three years of services as a midshipman or masters mate and six years of total sea time. Sea time was earned in various ways, most boys served this period at sea in any lower rating, either as a servant of one of the ships officers, a volunteer, or a seaman. By the 1730s, the rating volunteer-per-order was phased out and replaced with a system where prospective midshipmen served as servants for officers. For example, a captain was allowed four servants for every 100 men aboard his ship, the school was unpopular in the Navy, because officers enjoyed the privilege of having servants and preferred the traditional method of training officers via apprenticeship. Volunteers were paid £6 per year, by 1816, the rating of midshipman ordinary was phased out, and all apprentice officers were rated as midshipmen
23.
M2 Browning
–
The M2 Machine Gun or Browning.50 Caliber Machine Gun is a heavy machine gun designed toward the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Brownings earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, the M2 uses the much larger and much more powerful.50 BMG cartridge, which was developed alongside and takes its name from the gun itself. It has been referred to as Ma Deuce, in reference to its M2 nomenclature, the design has had many specific designations, the official designation for the current infantry type is Browning Machine Gun, Cal.50, M2, HB, Flexible. It is effective against infantry, unarmored or lightly armored vehicles and boats, light fortifications, the M2 has been produced longer than any other machine gun. The Browning.50 caliber machine gun has been used extensively as a vehicle weapon and it was heavily used during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Falklands War, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan in the 2000s and 2010s. It is the heavy machine gun of NATO countries, and has been used by many other countries as well. The M2 has been in use longer than any firearm in U. S. inventory except the.45 ACP M1911 pistol. The current M2HB is manufactured in the U. S. by General Dynamics, Ordnance for use by the U. S. government, and for allies via Foreign Military Sales, as well as foreign manufacturers such as FN Herstal. Machine guns were used in World War I, and weapons of larger than rifle caliber were appearing. Both the British and French had large caliber machine guns, the larger rounds were needed to defeat the armor that was being introduced to the battlefield. Armor was also appearing in the skies, during World War I, the Germans introduced a heavily armored airplane, the Junkers J. I. The armor made aircraft machine guns using conventional rifle ammunition ineffective, consequently, the American Expeditionary Forces commander General John J. Pershing asked for a larger caliber machine gun. Pershing asked the Army Ordnance Department to develop a gun with a caliber of at least 0.50 inches. U. S. Col. John Henry Parker, commanding a machine gun school in France, the Army Ordnance Department ordered eight experimental Colt machine guns rechambered for the French 11 mm cartridge. The French had developed a machine gun for an even larger caliber. The French 11 mm round was found to be unsuitable because its velocity was too low, Pershing wanted a bullet of at least 670 gr and a muzzle velocity of 2,700 ft/s. Development with the French round was dropped, around July 1917, John M. Browning started redesigning his.30 caliber machine gun for a larger caliber. Winchester worked on the cartridge, which was a version of the. 30-06
24.
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
–
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German 20 mm Becker design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employed by both Allied and Axis forces during World War II, and many still in use today. During World War I, the German Reinhold Becker developed a 20 mm caliber cannon and this used a 20x70 RB cartridge and had a cyclic rate of fire of 300 rpm. It was used on a scale as an aircraft gun on Luftstreitkräfte warplanes. Because the Treaty of Versailles banned further production of weapons in Germany. SEMAG continued development of the weapon, and in 1924 had produced the SEMAG L, the Oerlikon firm, named after the Zürich suburb where it was based, then acquired all rights to the weapon, plus the manufacturing equipment and the employees of SEMAG. In 1927 the Oerlikon S was added to the product line. This fired a larger cartridge to achieve a muzzle velocity of 830 m/s, at the cost of increased weight. The purpose of development was to improve the performance of the gun as an anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapon. An improved version known as the 1S followed in 1930, three sizes of gun with their different ammunition and barrel length, but very similar mechanisms, continued to be developed in parallel. In 1930 Oerlikon reconsidered the application of its gun in aircraft and introduced the AF and AL, designed to be used in flexible mounts, the 15-round box magazine used by earlier versions of the gun was replaced by drum magazine holding 15 or 30 rounds. In 1935 it made an important step by introducing a series of guns designed to be mounted in or on the wings of fighter aircraft, designated with FF for Flügelfest meaning wing-mounted, these weapons were again available in the three sizes, with designations FF, FFL and FFS. The FF fired a larger cartridge than the AF, 20x72RB. The FF weighed 24 kg and achieved a velocity of 550 to 600 m/s with a rate of fire of 520 rpm. The FFL of 30 kg fired a projectile at a velocity of 675 m/s with a rate of fire of 500 rpm. And the FFS, which weighed 39 kg, delivered a high velocity of 830 m/s at a rate of fire of 470 rpm. Apart from changes to the design of the guns for wing-mounting and remote control, for the FF series drum sizes of 45,60,75 and 100 rounds were available, but most users chose the 60-round drum. The 1930s were a period of global re-armament, and a number of foreign firms took licenses for the Oerlikon family of aircraft cannon
25.
Point-class cutter
–
The Point-class cutter was a class of 82-foot patrol vessels designed to replace the United States Coast Guards aging 83-foot wooden hull patrol boat being used at the time. The design utilized a mild steel hull and an aluminum superstructure, the Coast Guard Yard discontinued the building of the 95-foot Cape-class cutter in order to have the capacity to produce the 82-foot Point-class patrol boat in 1960. They served as patrol vessels used in law enforcement and search and rescue along the coasts of the United States and they were replaced by the 87-foot Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boats beginning in the late 1990s. Beginning in January 1964, the Coast Guard started naming all vessels 65 feet in length and over, the 95-foot patrol boat was originally developed as a search and rescue boat to replace the less capable 83-foot boat. Production started in early 1960 at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland and continued through late December 1963, beginning in March 1962 with 82331, all boats were equipped with two 800-horsepower Cummins diesel engines. All were equipped with twin propellers, eventually all boats were upgraded to the same 800-horsepower main engines used in the later production. In 1970, the last nine boats of the class were produced at the Yard utilizing the 800-horsepower design of the rest of the class and those boats in service in 1990 were refit with Caterpillar diesel main drive engines. The design specifications for the 82-foot cutter included a steel hull for durability, ease of operation with a small crew size was possible because of the non-manned main drive engine spaces. Controls and alarms located on the bridge allowed one-man operation of the cutter thus eliminating a live engineer watch in the engine room. Because of design, four men could operate the cutter, however, berthing spaces were provided for 13 so that requirements were met for passengers and extra wartime manning needs. The screws were designed for ease of replacement and could be changed without removing the cutter from the water, a clutch-in idle speed of three knots helped to conserve fuel on lengthy patrols and an 18-knot maximum speed could get the cutter on scene quickly. Already part of the design, crews stationed in Vietnam found the air-conditioned interior especially helpful, interior access to the deckhouse was through a watertight door on the starboard side aft of the deckhouse. The deckhouse also included an arms locker, scuttlebutt, a small desk. Access to the deck and engine room was down a ladder. At the bottom of the ladder was the galley, mess and recreation deck, a watertight door at the front of the mess bulkhead led to the main crew quarters which was 10 feet long and included six bunks that could be stowed, three bunks on each side. Forward of the bunks was the crews head complete with a sink, shower. A total of 79 Point-class cutters were used for law enforcement, the cutters were mostly co-located with Coast Guard stations along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts. Point-class cutters were phased out in the late 1990s by the introduction of the Marine Protector-class coastal patrol boat with the last Point-class cutter being decommissioned in 2003
26.
Damen Stan patrol vessel
–
The Dutch shipbuilding firm The Damen Group, designs and manufactures a wide variety of vessels, including a range of related patrol vessels known generally as the Damen Stan Patrol Vessels. The Damen Stan patrol vessel designs include a four digit code. Over a dozen nations have classes of based on the Damen Stan 4207 patrol vessel design. The United States Coast Guards Sentinel class cutters, based on the Damen Stan 4708 patrol vessel design, are 47 metres long and 8 metres wide. In the late 1990s three 41 patrol vessels were built for service in the Dutch Antilles, and experience with those vessels informed the later designs of the 4207 and 4708. Rather than design vessels that were strictly for use, the underlying Damen Stan patrol vessel designs do not include weapons. The designs have been adapted for constabulary duties, and for fishery, in recent years Damen has developed Damen Stan patrol vessels based on their Sea Axe bow design. The Stan 4207 design are 42.8 metres patrol vessels and they are 7.1 metres wide, and can travel at 22 knots. They are designed to carry a complement of approximately a dozen, the Stan 4708 are 46.8 metres long,8.11 metres wide, have a maximum speed of 23.8 knots, and carry a crew of 16-24. Vessels of this type have been supplied to, or ordered by a number of countries, as of December 2011 thirty five vessels had been built. Many of the agencies that employ these vessels have them delivered without armament and they are equipped with water cannon. Many of the agencies that employ these vessels specified they should be equipped with stern launching ramp, the vessels are equipped with a horizontal thruster in their bows, to aid maneuvering in tight conditions, such as mooring in crowded anchorages. The ship are well known for their sea handling capabilities and comfort, many are powered by Caterpillar engines. Damen Stan 2600 patrol vessel — a smaller class of vessels
27.
Forward looking infrared
–
Forward looking infrared cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. They can be used to help pilots and drivers steer their vehicles at night and in fog, the wavelength of infrared that thermal imaging cameras detect differs significantly from that of night vision, which operates in the visible light and near-infrared ranges. Infrared light falls into two ranges, long-wave and medium-wave. Long-wave infrared cameras, sometimes called far infrared, operate at 8 to 12 μm, and can see heat sources, such as hot engine parts or human body heat, a few miles away. Longer-distance viewing is more difficult with LWIR because the infrared light is absorbed, scattered. Some long-wave cameras require their detector to be cooled, typically for several minutes before use. Many thermal imagers, including some forward-looking infrared cameras are also uncooled, medium-wave cameras operate in the 3-to-5 μm range. These can see almost as well, since those frequencies are affected by water-vapor absorption. Many camera systems use image processing to improve the image quality. Infrared imaging sensor arrays often have wildly inconsistent sensitivities from pixel to pixel, to remedy this, the response of each pixel is measured at the factory, and a transform, most often linear, maps the measured input signal to an output level. Some companies offer advanced fusion technologies that blend a visible-spectrum image with an image to produce better results than a single-spectrum image alone. Thermal imaging cameras, such as the Raytheon AN/AAQ-26, are used in a variety of applications, including vessels, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters. In warfare, they have three distinct advantages over other imaging technologies, second, it sees radiation in the infrared light spectrum, which is difficult to camouflage. Third, these systems can see through smoke, fog, haze. Pushbroom systems typically have been used on aircraft and satellites, such systems cannot be used for real-time imaging, and must look perpendicular to the direction of travel. In 1972, TI invented the Common Module concept, greatly reducing cost, piloting of aircraft in low visibility conditions Pinpoint sources of ignition during firefighting operations Monitoring active volcanoes. Detecting heat in faulty electrical joints, also, older camera designs used rotating mirrors to scan the image to a small sensor. More modern cameras no longer use this method, the simplification helps reduce cost, uncooled technology available in many EVS products have reduced the costs to fractions of the price of older cooled technology, with similar performance
28.
Defender-class boat
–
The Defender-class boat, also called Response Boat – Small and Response Boat – Homeland Security, is a standard boat introduced by the United States Coast Guard in 2002. The boats serve a variety of missions, including search and rescue, port security, the design length of the hull is 25 feet and the boat is officially referred to as such. However, the length with engines mounted is approximately 29 feet. Powered by twin 225 hp outboard motors, they are capable of speeds in excess of 46 knots and have a range of 150 to 175 nautical miles, the boat requires a minimum crew of two persons, but has a carrying capacity for 10 persons. The boat is easily trailerable and can be transported by a C-130 Hercules aircraft or truck, although similar in appearance to a rigid-hulled inflatable boat, the Defender is actually an aluminum-hulled vessel, equipped with a rigid foam-filled flotation collar. The first generation of boats were built by SAFE Boats International of Bremerton, Washington, the replacement second generation was ordered in 2011 from Metal Shark Boats. The Defender class utilizes a rigid deep-V hull constructed of marine grade aluminum, while similar in appearance to the sponson of a rigid-hulled inflatable boat the Defenders collar is actually made from rigid polyethylene foam. The boat is powered by two 225 horsepower outboard engines, usually Honda four-strokes though Mercury and Johnson engines have also been used, tow bitts are fitted forward and aft which also serve as mounting points for M240B or M60 machine guns. The Defender A class or Response Boat - Homeland Security was the first version of the Defender class, some A-class boats in service with the Maritime Security Response Team have gray collars instead of the more common orange. The Defender B-class, also known as the Response Boat - Small is a development of the A class. First entering service in 2003 it has a longer cabin, additional spotter windows aft, shock mitigating cabin seats, a smaller 105 gallon fuel tank. It is the most common of the three classes, the first C-class boats were delivered to Port Security Unit 305 in May 2008 for testing and entered operational service at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2009. With the Defender-class boats nearing the end of their 10-year service life, the request called for a 25–30 foot boat, with weapon mounts, a minimum speed of 40 knots, and a range of at least 150 nautical miles. Equipment of the United States Coast Guard Response boat-medium U. S. Coast Guard, Response boat-small fact sheet Defender Class | bdmilitary. com
29.
Tugboat
–
A tug is a boat or ship that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugboats are powerful for their size and strongly built, and some are ocean-going, some tugboats serve as icebreakers or salvage boats. Early tugboats had steam engines, but today most have diesel engines, many tugboats have firefighting monitors, allowing them to assist in firefighting, especially in harbors. Seagoing tugs fall into four categories, The standard seagoing tug with model bow that tows its payload on a hawser. The notch tug which can be secured in a notch at the stern of a specially designed barge and this configuration is dangerous to use with a barge which is in ballast or in a head- or following sea. Therefore, notch tugs are usually built with a towing winch and these units stay combined under virtually any sea conditions and the tugs usually have poor sea-keeping designs for navigation without their barges attached. Vessels in this category are considered to be ships rather than tugboats. These vessels must show navigation lights compliant with those required of ships rather than required of tugboats. Articulated tug and barge units also utilize mechanical means to connect to their barges, the tug slips into a notch in the stern and is attached by a hinged connection. ATBs generally utilize Intercon and Bludworth connecting systems, aTBs are generally staffed as a large tugboat, with between seven and nine crew members. The typical American ATB operating on the east coast customarily displays navigational lights of a towing vessel pushing ahead, compared to seagoing tugboats, harbour tugboats are generally smaller and their width-to-length ratio is often higher, due to the need for a lower draught. In smaller harbours these are also termed lunch bucket boats, because they are only manned when needed and only at a minimum. The number of tugboats in a harbour varies with the harbour infrastructure, things to take into consideration includes ships with/without bow thrusters and forces like wind, current and waves and types of ship. River tugs are also referred to as towboats or pushboats and their hull designs would make open ocean operation dangerous. River tugs usually do not have any significant hawser or winch and their hulls feature a flat front or bow to line up with the rectangular stern of the barge, often with large pushing knees. Tugboat engines typically produce 500 to 2,500 kW, for safety, tugboats engines often feature two of each critical part for redundancy. A tugboats power is stated by its engines horsepower and its overall bollard pull. The largest commercial harbour tugboats in the 2000s-2010s, used for towing container ships or similar, had around 60-65 tons of bollard pull, Tugboats are highly maneuverable, and various propulsion systems have been developed to increase maneuverability and increase safety
30.
Dredging
–
Dredging is an excavation activity usually carried out underwater, in shallow seas or freshwater areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location. This technique is used to keep waterways navigable. It is also used as a way to replenish sand on some public beaches, fishing dredges are used as a technique for catching certain species of edible clams and crabs. Capital, dredging carried out to create a new harbor, berth or waterway, preparatory, work and excavation for future bridges, piers or docks/wharves, often connected with foundation work. This is often carried out with a trailing suction hopper dredge, most dredging is for this purpose, and it may also be done to maintain the holding capacity of reservoirs or lakes. Land reclamation, dredging to mine sand, clay or rock from the seabed and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. The material may also be used for flood or erosion control, beach nourishment, mining sand offshore and placing on a beach to replace sand eroded by storms or wave action. This is done to enhance the recreational and protective function of the beaches and this is typically performed by a cutter-suction dredge or trailing suction hopper dredge. Harvesting materials, dredging sediment for elements like gold, diamonds or other valuable trace substances, seabed mining, a possible future use, recovering natural metal ore nodules from the seas abyssal plains. Construction materials, dredging sand and gravels from offshore licensed areas for use in construction industry, very specialist industry focused in NW Europe using specialized trailing suction hopper dredgers self discharging dry cargo ashore. Anti-eutrophication, Dredging is an option for the remediation of eutrophied water bodies. Contaminant remediation, to areas affected by chemical spills, storm water surges. Disposal becomes a large factor in these operations. Removing trash and debris, often done in combination with maintenance dredging, flood prevention, this can help to increase channel depth and therefore increase a channels capacity for carrying water. This tradition has now more or less obsolete and the tools used to do this have also changed significantly. Oyster dredging or harvesting, in Louisiana and other states with salt water estuaries that can sustain bottom oyster beds. A heavy metal rectangular scoop device is towed astern of a boat with a chain bridle attached to a cable. The device is periodically hauled aboard and the oysters in it are sorted and bagged for shipment to a processing facility
31.
Barge
–
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and must be towed or pushed by towboats, Barge is attested from 1300, from Old French barge, from Vulgar Latin barga. The word originally could refer to any small boat, the modern meaning arose around 1480, bark small ship is attested from 1420, from Old French barque, from Vulgar Latin barca. The more precise meaning three-masted ship arose in the 17th century, both are probably derived from the Latin barica, from Greek, βάρις, translit. Egyptian boat, from Coptic, ⲃⲁⲁⲣⲉ bāri small boat, hieroglyphic Egyptian, by extension, the term embark literally means to board the kind of boat called a barque. The long pole used to maneuver or propel a barge has given rise to the saying I wouldnt touch that with a barge pole. On the British canal system, the barge is used to describe a boat wider than a narrowboat. In the United States, deckhands perform the labor and are supervised by a leadman or the mate, the captain and pilot steer the towboat, which pushes one or more barges held together with rigging, collectively called the tow. The crew live aboard the towboat as it travels along the river system or the intracoastal waterways. These towboats travel between ports and are also called line-haul boats, poles are used on barges to fend off the barge as it nears other vessels or a wharf. These are often called pike poles, barges are used today for low-value bulk items, as the cost of hauling goods by barge is very low. Barges are also used for heavy or bulky items, a typical American barge measures 195 by 35 feet. The most common European barge measures 76.5 by 11.4 metres, as an example, on June 26,2006, a 565-short-ton catalytic cracking unit reactor was shipped by barge from the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in Oklahoma to a refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Extremely large objects are normally shipped in sections and assembled onsite, of the reactors 700-mile journey, only about 40 miles were traveled overland, from the final port to the refinery. Canal barges are made for the particular canal in which they will operate. Many barges, primarily Dutch barges, which were designed for carrying cargo along the canals of Europe, are no longer large enough to compete in this industry with larger newer vessels. Many of these barges have been renovated and are now used as hotel barges carrying holidaymakers along the same canals on which they once carried grain or coal. This holds true today, for areas of the world
32.
Landing Craft Utility
–
The Landing Craft Utility is a type of boat used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops to the shore. They are capable of transporting tracked or wheeled vehicles and troops from amphibious ships to beachheads or piers. The Engin de débarquement amphibie rapide landing catamaran or L-CAT, entered service in January 2011 and they can carry a main battle tank like other European LCUs but are capable of much higher speeds, up to 30 knots. Germany has two Barbe-class utility landing craft, dating from the mid-1960s, which remain in service under the SEK-M Naval Special Forces command, germany is looking to acquire more such crafts. Five Barbe landing crafts were transferred to Greece at the end of the Cold War, india currently has six LCUs of the Mk III class and four LCUs of the Mk IV class. The first Mk III class LCU was commissioned on 18 July 1986, with the launch of the amphibious transport ship HNLMS Rotterdam in 1998 there was a need for LCUs. The Dutch LCUs are similar to the British LCU Mk.10 with the bridge being set to one allowing for a roll-on roll-off design. Until 2005 the Netherlands Marine Corps used the LCU Mark I, in 2005 and 2006 the five vessels were modernized to the type Mark II. The vessels have been stretched by 9 meters to decrease their draft, in addition they were fitted with a strengthened bow ramp, and they can now accommodate the Royal Netherlands Army Leopard 2 A6 main battle tank. Because of the lengthening of the Mark II, the Rotterdam can take two LCUs in its dock, the dock of Rotterdams sister ship, HNLMS Johan de Witt, has the capacity to transport two LCUs, but carries four LCVPs in davits. The LCU Mk.9 was built for use on the LPDs Fearless, each ship carried four LCUs and four davit mounted LCVPs. The Mk.9 was to see many changes and upgrades during its service including a move from propeller to jet in many cases. The Mk.9 was capable of traveling as an ocean-going vessel, the crew had full living quarters aboard with galley and heads. The opinion that the successful British amphibious operations during the Falklands War were only possible because of the two LPDs and their craft is well documented. The Mk.9, like the LPDs, served longer than ever anticipated, three Mk. 9s, pennant numbers 701,705, and 709, remained in service by 2012. However, by 2014, they had all withdrawn from service. The LCU Mk.10 class vessels are operated by the Royal Marines and they are intended for use on board the new assault ships Albion and Bulwark and can use the Bay class landing ships. Deliveries of the class started from 1998 and the fleet consists of ten vessels
33.
Draft (hull)
–
Draft determines the minimum depth of water a ship or boat can safely navigate. The draft can also be used to determine the weight of the cargo on board by calculating the displacement of water. A table made by the shows the water displacement for each draft. The density of the water and the content of the bunkers has to be taken into account. The closely related term trim is defined as the difference between the forward and aft drafts, the draft aft is measured in the perpendicular of the stern. The draft forward is measured in the perpendicular of the bow, the scale may use traditional English units or metric units. If the English system is used, the bottom of each marking is the draft in feet, in metric marking schemes, the bottom of each draft mark is the draft in decimeters and each mark is one decimeter high. Larger ships try to maintain a water draft when they are light, in order to make a better sea crossing. In order to achieve this they use sailing ballasts to stabilize the ship, the water draft of a large ship has little direct link with its stability because stability depends solely on the respective positions of the metacenter of the hull and the center of gravity. It is also however, that a light ship has quite high stability which can lead to implying too much rolling of the ship. A fully laden ship can have either a strong or weak stability, the draft of ships can be increased when the ship is in motion in shallow water, a phenomenon known as squat. Draft is a significant factor limiting navigable waterways, especially for large vessels, of course this includes many shallow coastal waters and reefs, but also some major shipping lanes. Panamax class ships—the largest ships able to transit the Panama Canal—do have a limit but are usually limited by beam, or sometimes length overall. However, in the much wider Suez Canal, the factor for Suezmax ships is draft. Some supertankers are able to transit the Suez Canal when unladen or partially laden, canals are not the only draft-limited shipping lanes. A Malaccamax ship has the deepest draft able to transit the very busy, there are only a few ships of this size. A small draft allows pleasure boats to navigate through shallower water and this makes it possible for these boats to access smaller ports, to travel along rivers and even to beach the boat. A large draft ensures a level of stability in strong wind
34.
Admiral
–
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually abbreviated to Adm or ADM, in the Commonwealth and the U. S. a full admiral is equivalent to a full general in the army, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet. In NATO, admirals have a code of OF-9 as a four-star rank. The word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral, commander, from Medieval Latin admiralis and these themselves come from Arabic amīr, or amīr al-, commander of, as in amīr al-baḥr, commander of the sea. The term was in use for the Greco-Arab naval leaders of Norman Sicily, the Norman Roger II of Sicily, employed a Greek Christian known as George of Antioch, who previously had served as a naval commander for several North African Muslim rulers. Roger styled George in Abbasid fashion as Amir of Amirs, i. e. Commander of Commanders, the Sicilians and later Genoese took the first two parts of the term and used them as one word, amiral, from their Aragon opponents. The French and Spanish gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese the word changed to almirante, the word admiral has today come to be almost exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the worlds navies, equivalent to the army rank of general. However, this wasnt always the case, for example, in some European countries prior to the end of World War II, admiral was the third highest naval rank after general admiral and grand admiral. The rank of admiral has also been subdivided into various grades, the Royal Navy used colours to indicate seniority of its admirals until 1864, for example, Horatio Nelsons highest rank was vice admiral of the white. The generic term for these naval equivalents of army generals is flag officer, some navies have also used army-type titles for them, such as the Cromwellian general at sea. Admiral is a German Navy OF-9 four-star flag officer rank, equivalent to the German Army, see also Post-WWII rank is Bakurocho or Chief of Staff, Joint Staff 幕僚長 with limited function as an advisory staff to Minister of Defense, compared to Gensui during 1872–1873 and 1898–1945. Admiral of Castile was a post with a long and important history in Spain
35.
Vice admiral
–
Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to an admiral and junior to an admiral. The rank insignia for a vice admiral often involves three stars, but this is not always the case, in the navy of Iraq, vice admiral insignia involves one star. Vice admiral is the equivalent of air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force, in the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of vice-admiral is equivalent to lieutenant-general of the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force. A vice-admiral is an officer, the naval equivalent of a general officer. A vice-admiral is senior to a rear-admiral and major general, two rows of gold oak leaves are located on the black visor of the white service cap. Vice-admirals are addressed by rank and name, thereafter by subordinates as Sir or Maam, vice-admirals are normally entitled to a staff car, the car will normally bear a flag, dark blue with three gold maple leaves arranged one over two. A vice-admiral generally holds only the most senior command or administrative appointments, barring only Chief of Defence Staff, charles, Prince of Wales holds the honorary rank of vice admiral in the Royal Canadian Navy. The vice-amiral rank used to be an OF-8 rank in NATO charts, the rank of vice-amiral descadre equals a NATO OF-8 rank. In the ancien régime Navy, between 1669 and 1791, the office of Vice-Admiral of France was the highest rank, the supreme office of Admiral of France being purely ceremonial. Distinct offices were, 1669-1791 Vice-admiral of the West, 1778-1791 Vice-admiral of the Asian and American Seas. 1784-1788 Vice-admiral of the Indian Seas, vizeadmiral is an OF-8 three-star rank equivalent to the German Heer and Luftwaffe rank of Generalleutnant. In India, vice admiral is a three star admiral, in Italy, the equivalent to vice admiral is the ammiraglio di squadra or squadron admiral. In the Philippines, the vice admiral is the highest-ranking official of the Philippine Navy. He is recognized as the flag officer in-charge of the Navy, the rank vice-admiral in the Philippines, has the same ranking in the U. S Navy. In Vietnam, the equivalent to vice admiral is the phó đô đốc
36.
Rear admiral
–
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the admiral ranks, in many navies it is referred to as a two-star rank. It originated from the days of naval sailing squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy, each naval squadron would be assigned an admiral as its head, who would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice admiral and this has survived into the modern age, with the rank of rear admiral the most-junior of the admiralty ranks of many navies. In some European navies, and in the Canadian Forces French rank translations, in the German Navy the rank is known as Konteradmiral, superior to the flotilla admiral. In the Royal Netherlands Navy, this rank is known as schout-bij-nacht, denoting the role junior to the squadron admiral, the Royal Australian Navy maintains a rank of rear admiral, refer to Australian Defence Force ranks and insignia. Since the mid-1990s, the insignia of a Royal Australian Navy rear admiral is the Crown of St. Edward above a crossed sword and baton, like the Royal Navy version, the sword is a traditional naval cutlass. The stars have eight points, unlike the four pointed Order of the Bath stars used by the army, prior to 1995, the RAN shoulder board was identical to the Royal Navy shoulder board. The Royal Navy shoulder board changed again in 2001 and the Australian, rear Admiral Robyn Walker AM, RAN became the first female admiral in the Royal Australian Navy when she was appointed Surgeon-General of the Australian Defence Force on 16 December 2011. In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank of rear-admiral is the Navy rank equivalent to major-general of the Army, a rear-admiral is a flag officer, the naval equivalent of a general officer. A rear-admiral is senior to a commodore and brigadier-general, and junior to a vice-admiral and lieutenant-general, the service dress features a wide strip of gold braid around the cuff and, since June 2010, above it a narrower strip of gold braid embellished with the executive curl. On the visor of the cap are two rows of gold oak leaves. Konteradmiral is an OF-7 two-star rank equivalent to the Generalmajor in the German Army, see also The Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard is the naval component of the Military of Guyana. As such, the ranks of the Coast Guard are naval ranks similar to the practice in the respective Coast Guards of Jamaica and Trinidad, the rank of rear admiral was first awarded to chief of staff commodore Gary Best on August 19,2013. The rank insignia consists of two silver pips with green highlights, beneath a crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by the gold-colored Caciques crown with red, the Indian Navy also maintains a rear admiral rank senior to commodore and captain ranks and junior to vice admiral ranks. The rank insignia for a rear-admiral is two stars beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by Emblem of India, worn on shoulder boards, before Islamic Revolution The Iranian Imperial Navy. After Islamic Revolution The Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, also known as the Iranian Navy, a rear admiral in the Pakistani Navy is a senior and two-star rank naval officer, appointed in higher naval commands. Like most Commonwealth navies, the rear admiral rank is superior to commodore, however, the rank is junior to the three-star rank vice-admiral and four-star rank admiral, who is generally a Chief of Naval Staff of the Navy
37.
Captain (naval)
–
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the rank of colonel. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ship-of-the-line captain, captain of sea and war, captain at sea, the NATO rank code is OF-5, although the United States of America uses the code O-6 for the equivalent rank. O. The naval rank should not be confused with the army, air force, or marine ranks of captain, on large US ships, the executive officer may be a captain in rank, in which case it would be proper to address him by rank. Often the XO prefers to be called XO to avoid confusion with the CO, who is also a captain in rank and the captain of the ship. Captains with sea commands generally command ships of size or larger, the more senior the officer, the larger the ship. Even when an officer who is in the ships captains chain of command is present. The following articles deal with the rank of captain as it is used in various navies, Captain Captain Captain Capitaine de vaisseau Kapitän zur See Komandor Kapitan of the 1st rank Sea captain Post captain
38.
Commander
–
Commander is a common naval and air force officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organisations, Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, for example platoon commander, brigade commander and squadron commander. In the police, terms such as commander and incident commander are used. Commander is a used in navies but is very rarely used as a rank in armies. In practice, these were usually unrated sloops-of-war of no more than 20 guns, the Royal Navy shortened master and commander to commander in 1794, however, the term master and commander remained in common parlance for several years. The equivalent American rank master commandant remained in use changed to commander in 1838. A corresponding rank in some navies is frigate captain, in the 20th and 21st centuries, the rank has been assigned the NATO rank code of OF-4. Various functions of commanding officers were also styled Commandeur, in the navy of the Dutch Republic, anyone who commanded a ship or a fleet without having an appropriate rank to do so, could be called a Commandeur. This included ad hoc fleet Commanders and acting Captains, in the fleet of the Admiralty of Zealand however, commandeur was a formal rank, the equivalent of Schout-bij-nacht in the other Dutch admiralties. The Dutch use of the title as a rank lives on in the Royal Netherlands Navy, in the Royal Netherlands Air Force, however, this rank is known by the English spelling of Commodore which is the Dutch equivalent of the British Air Commodore. The rank of commander in the Royal Australian Navy is identical in description to that of a commander in the British Royal Navy, RAN chaplains who are in Division 1,2 and 3 have the equivalent rank standing of commanders. This means that to officers and NCOs below the rank of commander, or wing commander, the chaplain is a superior. To those officers ranked higher than commander, the chaplain is subordinate, although this equivalency exists, RAN chaplains who are in Division 1,2 and 3 do not actually wear the rank of commander, and they hold no command privilege. In France, the rank of commander exists as capitaine de frégate and it is senior to capitaine de corvette, and junior to capitaine de vaisseau. The rank of commander was used in the Imperial Japanese Navy, though the modern rank is translated as commander in English, its literal translation is captain second rank. The rank is equivalent to that of a commander in the U. S. Navy, Commander is a rank in the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, and is denoted by the post-nominal letters CLJ. The corresponding rank in the Polish Navy is komandor porucznik, in the Russian Navy the equivalent rank to commander is captain of the second rank. The rank was introduced in Russia by Peter the Great in 1722, from the introduction of the Russian Table of Ranks to its abolition in 1917, captain of the second rank was equal to a court councillor, at the sixth level out of 14 ranks
39.
Lieutenant commander
–
Lieutenant commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander, the corresponding rank in most armies and air forces is major, and in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces is squadron leader. The NATO rank code is mostly OF-3, a lieutenant commander is a senior department officer or the executive officer on many warships and smaller shore installation, or the commanding officer of a smaller ship/installation. They are also senior department officers in naval aviation squadrons, most Commonwealth and other navies address lieutenant commanders by their full rank or the positions they occupy. The United States Navy, however, addresses officers by their rank or the higher grade of the rank. For example, oral communications in formal and informal situations, a Lieutenant is abbreviated as Lieutenant, Lieutenants were commonly put in command of smaller vessels not warranting a commander or captain. Such a lieutenant was called a lieutenant commanding or lieutenant commandant in the United States Navy, the USN settled on lieutenant commander in 1862 and made it a distinct rank. The RN followed suit in March 1914, the insignia worn by a Royal Navy lieutenant commander is two medium gold braid stripes with one thin gold stripe running in between, placed upon a navy blue/black background. The top stripe has the ubiquitous loop used in all RN officer rank insignia, the RAF follows this pattern with its equivalent rank of squadron leader. This distinction was abolished when the rank of lieutenant commander was introduced, throughout much of its existence, the British Royal Observer Corps maintained a rank of observer lieutenant commander. The ROC wore a Royal Air Force uniform and their rank insignia appeared similar to that of an RAF squadron leader except that the stripes were shown entirely in black, prior to the renaming, the rank had been known as observer lieutenant. In the Royal Canadian Navy, the rank is the naval rank equal to Major in the army or air force and is the first senior officer rank, Lieutenant Commanders are senior to Lieutenants and to army and air force Captains, and are junior to Commanders and Lieutenant Colonels. There are two insignia used by USN and USCG Lieutenant Commanders, in all dress uniforms, they wear sleeve braid or shoulder boards bearing a single gold quarter-inch stripe between two gold half-inch strips. Above or inboard of the stripes, they wear their speciality insignia and this rank is also used on in Pakistan Navy. The rank of lieutenant commander is used in the Irish Naval Service. The majority of commanders in the Irish Naval Service hold the rank of lieutenant commander, with a commander being a senior. The corresponding rank in the German Navy, Italian Navy, Argentine Navy, Brazilian Navy, French Navy, Spanish Navy and most other French and Spanish-speaking countries is corvette captain. The insignia of kapteeniluutnantti, the rank immediately below the former, is one thin stripe between two wider ones, which could cause confusion among the naval personnel of other nations
40.
Lieutenant
–
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations armed forces, fire service or police. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different military formations, but is often subdivided into senior and junior ranks, in navies it is often equivalent to the army rank of captain, it may also indicate a particular post rather than a rank. The rank is used in fire services, emergency medical services, security services. Lieutenant may also appear as part of a used in various other organisations with a codified command structure. It often designates someone who is second-in-command, and as such, for example, a lieutenant master is likely to be second-in-command to the master in an organisation using both ranks. Political uses include lieutenant governor in various governments, and Quebec lieutenant in Canadian politics, in the United Kingdom, a lord lieutenant is the sovereigns representative in a county or lieutenancy area, while a deputy lieutenant is one of the lord lieutenants deputies. However, their efforts failed, and the French word is used, along with its many variations. The early history of the pronunciation is unclear, Middle English spellings suggest that the /luː-/ and /lɛf-/ pronunciations may have existed even then. The rare Old French variant spelling luef for Modern French lieu supports the suggestion that a final of the Old French word was in certain environments perceived as an, in Royal Naval tradition—and other English-speaking navies outside the United States—a reduced pronunciation /ləˈtɛnənt/ is used. This is not recognised as current by recent editions of the OED, conventionally, armies and other services or branches which use army-style rank titles have two grades of lieutenant, but a few also use a third, more junior, rank. Where more junior officers were employed as deputies to the lieutenant, they went by names, including second lieutenant, sub-lieutenant, ensign. The senior grade of lieutenant is known as first lieutenant in the United States, and as lieutenant in the United Kingdom, in countries which do not speak English, the rank title usually translates as lieutenant, but may also translate as first lieutenant or senior lieutenant. The Israel Defense Forces rank segen literally translates as deputy, which is equivalent to a lieutenant, there is great variation in the insignia used worldwide. In most English-speaking and Arabic-speaking countries, as well as a number of European and South American nations, an example of an exception is the United States, whose armed forces distinguish their lieutenant ranks with one silver bar for first lieutenant and one gold bar for second lieutenant. Second lieutenant is usually the most junior grade of commissioned officer, in non-English-speaking countries, the equivalent rank title may translate as second lieutenant, lieutenant, sub-lieutenant or junior lieutenant. Non-English terms include alferes, alférez, fänrik, ensign, Leutnant, letnan, poručík, a few non-English-speaking militaries maintain a lower rank, frequently translated as third lieutenant OF1c. The rank title may translate as second lieutenant, junior lieutenant, sub-lieutenant or ensign. Warsaw Pact countries standardised their ranking systems on the Soviet system, some of the former Soviet and Warsaw Pact nations have now discarded the third rank while many retain it like Bulgaria
41.
Lieutenant (junior grade)
–
The rank is also used in the United States Maritime Service. The NOAA Corpss predecessors, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, promotion to LTJG is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980. DOPMA guidelines suggest all fully qualified ensigns should be promoted to LTJG, the time for promotion to LTJG is a minimum of two years after commissioning in the Navy or 18 months in the Coast Guard. Lieutenants, junior grade typically lead petty officers and non-rated personnel, a LTJGs usual shipboard billet is as a division officer. Lieutenant, junior grade is referred to colloquially as JG. Prior to March 3,1883, this rank was known in the Navy as Master, solid Snake was disguised as this U. S. Navy SEAL. S
42.
Ensign (rank)
–
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in a regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag. This rank has generally replaced in army ranks by second lieutenant. Ensigns were generally the lowest ranking commissioned officer, except where the rank of subaltern existed. In contrast, the Arab rank of ensign, لواء, liwa, derives from the command of units with an ensign, not the carrier of such a units ensign, and is today the equivalent of a major general. Ensign is enseigne in French, and chorąży in Polish, each of which derives from a term for a flag, the Spanish alférez and Portuguese alferes is a junior officer rank below lieutenant associated with carrying the flag, and so is often translated as ensign. Unlike the rank in other languages, its etymology has nothing to do with flags, in the German Landsknecht armies, the equivalent rank of a Cornet existed for those men who carried the troop standard. It is still used in the artillery and cavalry divisions of the Netherlands, the NATO rank code is OF-1. In Argentina, the rank of ensign is used by both the air force and the gendarmerie and it is, however, used differently in the two services. The air force uses the rank for newly qualified officers, while the gendarmerie uses ensign ranks as an equivalent for the armys lieutenant ranks, the other armed forces of Argentina have ranks equivalent to ensign, subteniente in the army and guardiamarina in the navy. In the army, the most junior sublieutenant in a regiment is also the flag carrier, during the Ancien Régime in France, as in other countries, the ensign was the banner of an infantry regiment. As in other countries, the name began to be used for the officers who carried the ensign and it was renamed sub-lieutenant at the end of the 18th century. The Navy used a rank of ensign, which was the first officer rank. It was briefly renamed ship-of-the-line sub-lieutenant in the end of the 18th century, nowadays, the rank is still used in the Marine Nationale, Ship-of-the-line ensign is the name of the two lowest officer ranks Both ranks of ensign use the style lieutenant. However, French-Canadian sub-lieutenants use the form of enseigne instead of lieutenant. The rank ensign is used to refer to second lieutenants in household regiments of the Canadian Army. Fähnrich which has a parallel etymology to ensign, containing the corresponding German word stem of flag in it, is a German, the word Fähnrich comes from an older German military title, Fahnenträger, and first became a distinct military rank on 1 January 1899. The German Fähnrich is a non-commissioned officer promoted from the rank of Fahnenjunker or Seekadett, Fähnrich is equivalent to Feldwebel, but with additional responsibilities as an officer cadet
43.
Cadet
–
The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries, the term is also used in civilian contexts and as a general attributive, for example in its original sense of a branch of a ruling house which is not currently in the direct line of succession. The term comes from the French term cadet for younger sons of a noble family, in Commonwealth countries, including the United Kingdom, a cadet is a member of one of the cadet forces. In the United Kingdom these are the Combined Cadet Force, the Sea/Royal Marine Cadets, Army Cadets, Military officers in training are called officer cadets. In Canada, the term refers to an officer in training, with the official rank names as Officer Cadet for the Air Force and Army. It also refers to any member of the Royal Canadian Army Cadets and these three organizations are volunteer youth groups administered by the Department of National Defence. In Germany, the rank Cadet only exists in the German Navy for officers in training, in the Army and the Luftwaffe, officers in training usually have the rank of a Fahnenjunker or Ensign before they are promoted into the rank of a Lieutenant. Graduates of PMMA are given reserve officer status in the Philippine Navy, the term cadet is also applicable to the enrollees of Citizens Army Training and Reserve Officer Training Corps. Service academy cadets are thought to be between the NCO and Officers ranks, and NCO consider cadets as rank higher to them, in Ireland, a Cadet is a pupil of the Military College, which carries out officer training for the Air Corps, Army and Naval Service. Training takes two years and the Cadets are split into Senior and Junior Grades and Classes, in Norway, a cadet is a pupil of either of the three Krigsskolen, which educate commanding officers for either the Army, the Navy or to the Air Force. In the United States, cadet refers to a college student who is concurrently in training to become a commissioned officer of the armed forces. Some state-sponsored military colleges, including The Citadel, Virginia Military Institute and private college, Norwich University. In Australia Cadet also refers to an officer in training, the official rank is Officer Cadet however OCDTs in the Royal Military College—Duntroon are referred to as Staff Cadet for historical reasons. In the British and Commonwealth as well as Russian service, these groups of boys or youths are organized, armed and trained on volunteer military lines, the Antigua and Barbuda Cadet Corps consists of students between the ages of 12 and 19. It Is a voluntary organization, sponsored by the government. The main objective is to training and personal development to the youths through paramilitary activities. The training is geared to young men and woman to become model citizens. Emphasis during training is based on discipline, loyalty, leadership
44.
Chief petty officer
–
A chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Chief petty officer refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy, in spoken references, chief petty officers may be addressed as chief but are never addressed as sir. Chief Petty Officer is the second highest non-commissioned rank in the Royal Australian Navy, fleet chief petty officer is a commissioned and gazetted rank in Pakistan Navy above chief petty officer and below master chief petty officer. It is equivalent to the Pakistan Air Force warrant officer and the Pakistan Army subedar, in the Royal Navy, the rank of chief petty officer comes above that of petty officer and below that of warrant officer class 2, which is being phased out. It is the equivalent of sergeant in the Royal Marines, staff sergeant in the Army. Chief petty officer is the enlisted rate in the U. S. Navy and U. S. Coast Guard, just above petty officer first class. Chief petty officers are classified as senior non-commissioned officers, the grade of chief petty officer was established on April 1,1893 for the U. S. Navy. The U. S. Congress first authorized the U. S. Coast Guard to use the promotion to petty officer on 18 May 1920. A chief petty officer can only advance after review by a board of serving master chief petty officers, in effect choosing their own
45.
Petty officer, 1st class
–
Petty officer, 1st class, AKA PO1, is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of petty officer 2nd-class and its equivalents and its Army and Air Force equivalent is warrant officer. The French form of the rank is maître de 1re classe, the rank insignia of the PO1 is a crown worn on both forearms of the Service Dress tunic, and on slip-ons on both shoulders of other uniforms. PO1s are generally addressed as Petty Officer Bloggins or PO Bloggins. PO1s generally mess and billet with chief petty officers and other petty officers and their mess on a naval base or installation is generally named the Chiefs and POs Mess. Non-commissioned member Petty Officer Non-commissioned officer
46.
Petty officer, 2nd class
–
Petty officer, 2nd class, AKA PO2, is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. It is senior to the rank of seaman and its equivalents. Its Army and Air Force equivalent is sergeant, together, Sgts, the rank insignia of the PO2 is three gold chevrons, point down, surmounted by a gold maple leaf. However, Petty Officer 2nd-Class with less than 3 years seniority are considered OR-5, PO2s generally mess and billet with chief petty officers and other petty officers, and their army and air-force equivalents, warrant officers and sergeant. Their mess on naval bases or installations is generally named the Chiefs, Non-commissioned member Petty Officer Non-commissioned officer
47.
Enlisted rank
–
An enlisted rank is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. In most cases, enlisted service personnel perform jobs specific to their own occupational specialty, the term enlistment refers solely to a military commitment whereas the terms taken of strength and struck off strength refer to a servicemember being carried on a given units roll. In the Canadian Forces, the term non-commissioned member is used, for the ranks used by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, non-commissioned ranks are coded OR1–OR9, OR being an abbreviation for Other Ranks. The five branches of the U. S, armed Forces all use the same E- designation for enlisted pay grades, with service-specific names applied to each. Each branch incorporates it as part of a service members job specialty designator
48.
M16 rifle
–
The M16 rifle, officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16, is a United States military adaptation of the Armalite AR-15 rifle. The original M16 was a select-fire,5. 56×45mm rifle with a 20-round magazine, in 1964, the M16 entered American military service and the following year was deployed for jungle warfare operations during the Vietnam War. In 1969, the M16A1 replaced the M14 rifle to become the U. S. militarys standard service rifle, the M16A1 improvements include a bolt-assist, chrome plated bore and a new 30-round magazine. In 1983, the USMC adopted the M16A2 rifle and the U. S. Army adopted it in 1986, the M16A2 fires the improved 5. Adopted in 1998, the M16A4 is the generation of the M16 series. It is equipped with a carrying handle and Picatinny rail for mounting optics. The M16 has also widely adopted by other militaries around the world. Total worldwide production of M16s has been approximately 8 million, making it the most-produced firearm of its 5.56 mm caliber. The U. S. Army has largely replaced the M16 in combat units with the shorter and lighter M4 carbine, however, early experiments with select-fire versions of the M1 Garand proved disappointing. During the Korean War, the select-fire M2 carbine largely replaced the gun in US service. However, combat experience suggested that the.30 Carbine round was under-powered, American weapons designers concluded that an intermediate round was necessary, and recommended a small-caliber, high-velocity cartridge. This culminated in the development of the 7. 62×51mm NATO cartridge, the US also adopted the M60 general purpose machine gun. Its NATO partners adopted the FN FAL and HK G3 rifles, as well as the FN MAG, the first confrontations between the AK-47 and the M14 came in the early part of the Vietnam War. Battlefield reports indicated that the M14 was uncontrollable in full-auto and that soldiers could not carry enough ammo to maintain fire superiority over the AK-47, and, while the M2 carbine offered a high rate of fire, it was under-powered and ultimately outclassed by the AK-47. A replacement was needed, a medium between the traditional preference for high-powered rifles such as the M14, and the firepower of the M2 Carbine. As a result, the Army was forced to reconsider a 1957 request by General Willard G. Wyman, continental Army Command to develop a.223 caliber select-fire rifle weighing 6 lb when loaded with a 20-round magazine. This request ultimately resulted in the development of a version of the Armalite AR-10. However, despite overwhelming evidence that the AR-15 could bring more firepower to bear than the M14, in January 1963, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara concluded that the AR-15 was the superior weapon system and ordered a halt to M14 production
49.
M203 grenade launcher
–
The M203 is a single-shot 40 mm under-barrel grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older stand-alone M79 break-action grenade launcher, quite versatile, and compatible with many rifle models, the M203 was originally designed for the U. S. M16 and its variant, the M4 Carbine. The launcher can also be mounted onto a C7, a Canadian version of the M16 rifle, however, stand-alone variants of the M203 exist, as do versions designed specifically for many other rifles. The device attaches under the barrel, the trigger being in the rear of the launcher. The rifle magazine functions as a grip when firing the M203. A separate sighting system is added to rifles fitted with the M203, the version fitted to the Canadian C7 has a sight attached to the side of the launcher, either on the left or right depending on the users needs. The M203 was the part of the armys Special Purpose Individual Weapon project to go into production. The M203 has been in service since 1969 and was introduced to U. S. military forces during the early 1970s, replacing the older M79 grenade launcher and the conceptually similar Colt XM148 design. However, while the M79 was a weapon, the M203 was designed as an under-barrel device attached to an existing rifle. A new grenade launcher, the M320, will replace the M203 in the United States Army. The United States Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, the M320 features an advanced day/night sight, a double-action firing mechanism as well as other benefits, such as an unobstructed side-loading breech. The M203 grenade launcher is intended to be used as fire support against point. Its primary purpose is to enemies in dead space that cannot be reached by direct fire. A well-trained M203 gunner can use his weapon to suppress the enemy, based on movement, in addition, the M203 can be used as a crowd control weapon when equipped with the M651 Tactical CS grenade. Classified as a weapon, the M203 is not intended to be used against armored or heavy vehicles. The M203 is able to fire a variety of different rounds for many purposes, ARMY FIELD MANUAL FM 3-22.31 40-MM GRENADE LAUNCHER, M203, there are 8 different rounds for the M203, High-Explosive. The HEDP round has an olive drab aluminum skirt with a cup attached, white markings. The HE round has an olive drab aluminum skirt with a projectile attached, gold markings
United States
Dominican Republic
.jpg)
