(Washington Post) Craig Whitlock - The Pentagon is rushing to send a large floating base for commando teams to the Middle East by early summer as tensions rise with Iran, al-Qaeda in Yemen and Somali pirates, among other threats. The Navy is converting the USS Ponce, an amphibious transport docking ship it had planned to decommission, into a makeshift staging base. Unofficially dubbed a "mothership," the floating base could accommodate smaller high-speed boats and helicopters commonly used by Navy SEALs.
2012-01-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive