Terrorism

MILITARY CONTRACTS December 10, 2008

NAVY

 

Navistar Defense LLC, Warrenville, Ill., is being awarded a $362,283,452firm fixed priced delivery order #0010 under previously awarded indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract (M67854-07-D-5032) for the procurement of Category I Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) vehicles with Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) upgrades for enhanced maneuverability with greater armor protection. This delivery order will procure 400 Category I MRAP MaxxPro DASH vehicles to provide protection for U.S. Military personnel currently in theater. The MRAP vehicles are armored vehicles with blast resistant underbodies designed to protect the crew from mine blasts, fragmentary, and direct fire weapons. Work will be performed in WestPoint, Miss., and work is expected to be completed by the end of May 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  This contract was competitively procured. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.

 

CBZG Design Builders, LLC, (Clark, Blinderman, M+W Zander, and Graef, Anhalt, Schloemer) Chicago, Ill., is being awarded a $48,230,067 modification under a previously awarded firm fixed price contract (N40083-06-C-4017) to exercise option #0004 which provides for the last phase of the Camp Porter Barracks and infrastructure project at the Recruit Training Command, Naval Station Great Lakes. The work to be performed under this option provides for the design and construction of a Special Recruit Barracks as well as the demolition of two buildings on-site. The award of this option will be the final and third barracks building under this contract to complete the barracks complex. The total contract amount after exercise of this option will be $201,850,341. Work will be performed in Great Lakes, Ill., and is expected to be completed by September 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Midwest, Great Lakes, Ill., is the contracting activity.

 

Solpac Construction Inc., dba Soltek Pacific Construction Co., San Diego, Calif., is being awarded a $23,076,612 modification under a previously awarded multiple award construction contract (N62473-08-D-8615) firm fixed price task order to exercise options 0005 and 0007 which provides for the design and construction of a Hardware in the Loop and Flight Tables at the Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake. The work to be performed provides for design and construction of a new high bay building enclosing three different anechoic chambers, control rooms, shielded target generation rooms, and preparation laboratory spaces, and equipment room. The total task order amount after exercise of these two options will be $40,385,259. Work will be performed in China Lake, Calif., and is expected to be completed by September 2010. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.

 

Agilent Technologies, Inc., Englewood, Calif., was awarded a $15,279,350 firm fixed price requirements contract on Dec. 9, 2008, to manufacture synthesized sweep generators to support the General Purpose Electronic Test Equipment Weapons System. Work will be performed in Singapore, and work is expected to be completed by December 2013. Contract funds will not expire before the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured, with ten proposals solicited and four offers received. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity (N00104-09-D-D002).

 

McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded an $11,988,449 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-05-G-0026) for research and development services in support of the Technology Development phase of an InfraRed Search and Track (IRST) system for the F/A-18E/F.  Work will be performed in St. Louis, Mo. (50 percent) and Orlando, Fla. (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in October 2009. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

 

Stauder Technologies*, St. Peters, Mo., is being awarded a $5,949,359 modification to previously awarded contract (M67854-07-C-2062) for additional StrikeLink Systems/spares through the Tactical Location Designation Hand-off System Program. Work will be performed in St. Peters, Mo., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2010. Contract funds in the amount of $55,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.

 

Air Force

 

The Air Force is awarding a firm fixed price contract to McDonnell Douglas Corporation, St. Louis, Mo. for $110,224,001. This contract action will exercise the Lot 5 Option for Small Diameter Bomb, Increment I Production for munitions, carriages, and technical and logistical support. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. 681 ARSS/PK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. is the contracting activity (FA8672-09-C-0047).

 

The Air Force is awarding a contract to Latrobe Specialty Steel Company, Latrobe, Penn. for $44,126,211. This action is for the Phase I OSD Title III Program to improve domestic access to multiple grades of low-alloy, iron-based Vacuum Induction Melting Vacuum Arc Re-melting steels. At this time, $16,606,000 has been obligated. Detachment 1 AFRL/PKMD, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting activity (FA8650-09-2-5506).

 

The Air Force is modifying a contract with Raytheon Company, Tucson, Ariz. for $7,924,403.   This action is for the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile Air Intercept Missile – Greece Offset Administration. This action is a modification to the Production Lot 21 contract. At this time the entire amount has been obligated. 695 ARSS, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. is the contracting activity (FA8675-07-C-0055, modification P00020).

 

 

Army

 

BL Harbert International, Birmingham, Ala., was awarded on Dec 9, 2008 a, $53,848,000 indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity firm fixed price contract for Advanced Individual Training, and Basic Training Barracks, as well as Warrior-in-Transition Facilities. Work will be performed in Fort Jackson, S.C., with an estimated completion date of Dec 8, 2011.   Bids solicited were via Phase 2-5 Offerors and bids received were via Phase 2-5 Offerors.   US Army Engineer District, Fort Worth, Texas, is the contracting activity (W9126G-09-D-0017).

 

Shavers- Whittle Construction, LLC, Covington, La., was awarded on Dec. 8, 2008, a $32,010,875 firm fixed price contract for west banks and vicinity, New Orleans, Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project, west of Algiers Canal, Contracts 3b, Hero Pumping Station to Algiers Canal east of Harvey Canal Floodwall, Jefferson and Plaquemines Parishes, Louisiana. Work will be performed in Jefferson Parrish, La., with an estimated completion date of Feb 2, 2010. Bids solicited were via FedBizOpps and eight bids were received. USA Corp of Engineers, New Orleans, La., is the contracting activity (W912P8-09-C-0008).

 

RAND Enterprises, Inc, Newport News, Va., was awarded on Dec. 8, 2008 a, $14,964,759 firm fixed price contract for design/build dining facilities, Leonard Wood, Missouri. The project shall include site work, building, food service equipment and furnishings. Work will be performed in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., with an estimated completion date of Aug 30, 2010. Bids solicited were via the FedBizOpps and four bids were received. USACE Norfolk District, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity (W91236-09-D-0014).

Contractor Answers Nation's Call for Mine-Resistant Vehicles

By John J. Kruzel

American Forces Press Service

 

Nov. 21, 2008 - Conventional military wisdom holds that enemies have a vote in combat. But manufacturers of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle have worked to disenfranchise them. When the Defense Department in July 2007 requested nearly $1.2 billion from Congress and asked for an influx of MRAPs for troops in Iraq, BAE Systems was one contractor that answered the call, a response that culminated at the facility here this week.

 

"The question was how many can you build and how fast can you build them?" said Paul Mann, the MRAP joint program manager at BAE, which capped off its end of production with a retrospective feting yesterday.

 

The MRAP's unique V-shaped hull diffuses blasts away from the vehicle's underbelly, which has proven an effective countermeasure against the roadside bombs that have killed and injured scores of troops since operations began in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Invoking Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' plea to industry for an additional 2,650 MRAPs, Mann said that when the Defense Department made force protection its No. 1 acquisition priority, it spurred workers here into action.

 

BAE responded by kicking into high gear, more than doubling its production from about 15 Caiman trucks per day to roughly 35. In total, it has produced more than 5,000 MRAP vehicles -- 2,868 Caimans and 2,182 RG33s -- under Army and Marine Corps contracts over the past 22 months.

 

"The quality and quantity of your commitment to this mission will never be forgotten by the armed services," Mann told the Sealy plant workers gathered in a facility room for the day's event.

 

A news report in June cited roadside bomb attacks and fatalities in Iraq as decreasing by almost 90 percent since June 2007, according to Pentagon records and interviews with military leaders.

 

Dennis M. Dellinger, BAE's president of mobility and protection systems, spoke from an unarmored 5-ton medium tactical vehicle that doubled as a stage in a facility warehouse.

 

"Today's celebration is about the fact that there are scores of soldiers that will be able to come home in one piece because of the work you've done," he said.

 

Dellinger said it's "no coincidence" that the MRAP program led to a decline in combat casualties.

 

"A number of factors went into that, but one certainly was putting the right kind of protection into the vehicles that they traveled around in," he said. "It was an amoeba if you will, in that we kept adjusting as the threat adjusted."

 

Praising the people involved in the push -- from the concept and design teams, to the manufacturers, testers, and government assessment personnel -- Dellinger said everybody who contributed to the process should be proud.

 

"[This] was something that probably was not matched anywhere else in military production history since at least World War II," he said of the speed of production that met time and cost requirements.

 

Chris Chambers, the vice president of medium/heavy vehicles department of mobility and protection systems, described the encouraging track record of the Caiman vehicle, the last of which rolled off the Sealy lot this week.

 

The vehicle, which holds up to 10 troops, has been targeted in hundreds of attacks -- everything from small-arms fire to smaller roadside bombs -- including significant attacks that involved large makeshift explosives, he said.

 

"They've done very well," he said of the vehicles' resilience to attacks. "They're very reliable."

 

Providing an eyewitness account of the Caiman's durability under fire was William Thibaux Jr., an equipment operator who serves as a petty officer 2nd class in the Navy Reserve. While serving in Iraq last year, Thibaux said, he saw the effects on a convoy of Marine MRAPs hit by a makeshift bomb.

 

"Of the seven that were in that vehicle, only one walked away with a broken leg," he recalled. "If you would have seen the vehicle, you would have thought everyone would have died, ... but everyone survived."

 

Besides its contribution to force protection, BAE has other ties to the military. It is a recipient of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve award, a Defense Department honor that highlights employers who convey exceptional levels of support to National Guard and Reserve forces on their payrolls.

 

The company also employs retired servicemembers like Bob German, an inventory control supervisor here. German, a retired Marine Corps corporal, has a son who recently enlisted in the Army and is likely to deploy within the next year, he said.

 

"Knowing that lives actually do depend on the vehicles we build here, and that we are actually saving lives, is phenomenal," German said. "I get a knot in my throat every time I think about it. You never know if the vehicle we build could be carrying my son or friends of my son's or kids I watched grow up."

Coalition Forces, Iraqi Forces Capture Terrorists, Seize Weapons

American Forces Press Service

June 15, 2008 - Coalition and Iraqi forces captured suspected terrorists and seized several weapons caches across Iraq during the past three days, military officials said.

In operations today:

–- Iraqi soldiers discovered a large weapons cache in the Rashid district of Baghdad. The cache consisted of scores of 122 mm rockets with fuses, components to make several hundred explosively formed projectiles, blocks of C-4 explosives, and sticks of TNT.

During operations yesterday:

–- Iraqi soldiers discovered a large explosives cache after an intelligence-driven raid on the western side of Mosul. The cache consisted of 80 mm mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades, RPG launchers, a 60 mm mortar tube with stand and various other munitions. The cache was found in a hotspot of indirect fires against the Iraqi security and coalition forces.

-- Other Iraqi soldiers of the discovered a huge cache in Baghdad's West Rashid district. The cache contained 90 rockets, nine mortars, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, 13 improvised mines, eight grenades, 16 rolls of detonation cord, 11 half-pound blocks of TNT, 32 blocks of C-4 explosive.

In addition the cache contained five complete EFP improvised explosive devices, 213 EFP bodies, an unmanned aerial vehicle, six electronic timers, two passive infrared switches, 500 pounds of ball bearings, 100 toggle switches, 88 fuses, nine 12-volt batteries, 10 camera flashes, eight digital timers with magnets, 200 CDs, 100 flyers, two mortar aiming stakes, 12 digital timers, and an odometer.

"Taking such an enormous amount of weapons and munitions out of the hands of militants and extremists severely degrades their ability to harm the citizens of Iraq and the Iraqi Security and Coalition Forces," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Stover, spokesman, Multi-National Division - Baghdad and the 4th Infantry Division.

Earlier in the day, Iraqi soldiers confiscated 14 AK-47 assault rifles, a Siminov sniper rifle, and a heavy machine gun in the Kadhamiyah district of Baghdad.

The same day, an Iraqi civilian turned over a weapons cache to soldiers of the 25th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade. The cache consisted of 17 mortar rounds of Soviet origin and in serviceable condition.

The "Sons of Iraq" citizens security group turned in a complete 82mm mortar system in West Rashid to soldiers of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, at approximately 6:50 p.m. June 14. The system was in operable condition and believed to have been used for indirect fire attacks against Coalition Forces and the Iraqi populace.

-- Iraqi National Police and coalition soldiers of Multi-National Division – Baghdad seized weapons caches throughout Baghdad in separate operations.

Soldiers of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team found four buried improvised explosive devices in the Kadamiya district of Baghdad.

U.S. Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, seized three rocket propelled grenades and 30 pounds of homemade explosive in the Baghdad's West Rashid district. Meanwhile, Iraqi police officers seized 27 AK-47's, three assault rifles, a Mauser rifle and a 60 mm tube with bipod north of Baghdad.

In the New Baghdad district of Baghdad, soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division's 4th Brigade found a weapons cache consisting of eight AK-47 magazines, an AK-47 assault riflt, a backup battery system, a rocket propelled grenade round, a grenade, an 82 mm mortar encased in concrete and body armor.

In June 13 operations:

–- Iraqi soldiers uncovered a large weapons cache in the Khadamiya district of Baghdad. The cache contained 30 sets of body armor, improvised explosive devices, explosively formed projectiles, 107 mm rockets, rocket-propelled grenades, sticks of C-4 explosives, 120 mm mortar rounds, 82 mm mortar rounds, 81 mm mortar rounds, 60 mm mortar rounds, mortar tubes, anti-personnel mines, pounds of homemade explosives, and various wires, fuses and detonation cords.

–- Local citizens' tips led Iraqi and coalition forces to sizeable weapons caches over the last two weeks in and around the city of Balad.

"The items found in these caches could have been used in future small-arms fire, indirect fire or improvised explosive device attacks," said Lt. Col. Thomas Hauerwas, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division executive officer. Anti-tank grenades, rocket-propelled grenade rounds, sniper rifles and 10,000 light machine gun rounds were among the seized weapons.

–- Iraqi Army and Multinational Division - Baghdad soldiers seized numerous weapons throughout Baghdad including nearly 500 AK-47 rifles.

–- Soldiers of the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team, acting on a tip from the "Sons of Iraq" citizen security group, seized scores of 60 mm mortars in the Rusafa district of Baghdad.

The combat team's soldiers also detained a suspected criminal leader in the Karadah security district of Baghdad. The criminal was highly sought after and suspected of leading more than 2,000 "special group" militants. Military officials said the suspect is believed to be a high-ranking member of an outlaw organization directly responsible for roadside bombs, murders, kidnappings, and rocket and mortar attacks.

(Compiled from Multinational Division and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

Iowa National Guard Troops Support Tornado-Relief Mission

American Forces Press Service

May 29, 2008 - About 175 Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen are serving on state active duty in support of tornado-relief and -recovery missions for northeastern Iowa. The servicemembers were activated the evening of May 26 and the next morning following tornadoes and severe storms in the Butler County area May 25. It is estimated the soldiers and airmen will remain on duty for the next several days.

With numerous power lines down, leakage from damaged vehicles, severed natural gas lines, debris, rubble and unstable structures, about 160 soldiers from 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry, are providing security and aiding local officials in recovery efforts at Parkersburg. The battalion headquarters is in Waterloo, with subordinate units in Dubuque, Oelwein, Charles City, and Iowa Falls.

"I'm no stranger to tornado damage, but I've never seen anything like this," said Army Spc. Erik A. Borseth, a medic with the 1st Battalion's Headquarters Company. He has been treating Guard soldiers for blisters and minor cuts, and he's been going out on night patrols with other members of the 133rd.

"It feels good to be here," Borseth said, "like we're accomplishing something for these Parkersburg people. That's our job. That's what we're here to do. That's how Iowans are."

The southern half of Parkersburg, a farming community of about 1,700, has been virtually flattened, but the northern half remains largely intact with some damage to the infrastructure, reported Rick Breitenfeldt of the National Guard Bureau.

Most National Guard personnel are performing security missions, primarily during the curfew hours of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., Breitenfeldt added. Other duties include providing power to the incident command center at a badly damaged fire station in the town and staffing a communications center for emergency personnel.

"If I could do more, I would. The damage is overwhelming and surreal," said Iowa Army Guard Maj. Jay W. Lohmann, team chief for the Guard's communications center. "Private citizens keep approaching me, asking for permission to do things. I can't give them that permission, because the Guard is supporting civilian agencies. But it tells me that the public respects and appreciates the job that the National Guard is doing."

About 15 additional soldiers and airmen from 67th Troop Command, from Iowa City; Joint Forces Headquarters and 734th Regional Support Group, from Johnston; 133rd Test Squadron, from Fort Dodge; 132nd Fighter Wing, from Des Moines; and Iowa Air National Guard Headquarters, also from Johnston, are providing communications support, transporting water, creating emergency electrical power, and providing operational support.

In addition, the Iowa National Guard armory in Waterloo is being used as an operations center for American Red Cross relief efforts.

Many of the Guard soldiers are veterans of the war in Iraq and other aspects of the global war on terrorism. "Now we're helping the people in our own state. That feels good," said one soldier who was satisfied to be serving at home.

(From a National Guard Bureau news release.)

Navy Contract Ship Fires Warning Shots Near Suez Canal

American Forces Press Service

March 25, 2008 - A ship on short-term charter to the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command fired warning shots at a small boat approaching the ship as it was preparing to transit the Suez Canal last night, military officials reported. There were no reports of casualties from the ship, the Global Patriot.

Officials said several boats approached the Global Patriot while it was preparing to transit the Suez Canal. The boats were hailed and warned by a native Arabic speaker on the Global Patriot to advise them to turn away. Other warning steps, including a signal flare, were used to caution the boats.

One small boat continued to approach the ship and received two sets of warning shots 20 to 30 meters in front of the boat's bow. All shots were accounted for as they entered the water, officials said.

The incident is under investigations. The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet command is cooperating with Egyptian authorities, including the Suez Canal Authorities, through the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

(From a U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet news release.)

Afghan Villagers Get Medical, Dental Care

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 11, 2008 - Afghan national security forces and coalition forces yesterday wrapped up a two-day operation that provided free medical and dental services to villagers in remote sections of the Nahr Surkh district in Afghanistan's Helmand province. The combined medical team treated more than 80 patients from the village of Gereshk and the surrounding area.

While many patients sought treatment for minor ailments associated with winter illnesses, such as colds and flu symptoms, other patients received much-needed dental care. Villagers in need also received food items such as rice and beans, as well as other sundry items.

With the recent winter weather dumping snow and rain on Afghanistan, travelling to the clinic was an ordeal for villagers. However, the Gereshk residents who made the trip were grateful for the assistance.

"God bless you for helping the Afghan people," said an Afghan woman who received medicine after her checkup.

"The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is committed to meeting the needs of the Afghan people throughout the winter," said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman. "We are happy to work alongside the Afghan government to provide medical services to villagers in remote areas of the country."

(From a Combined Joint Task Force 82 news release.)

Why We Serve: Army Major Wants to Share Her Success Story

By Gerry J. Gilmore

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 11, 2008 - Army Maj. Lisa L. Carter, a two-time Iraq veteran, wants to share her life's success story with the American public. Carter recalled her days as a single mother working at a post office in Atlanta while caring for her 2-year-old daughter a few years after her 1984 graduation from Fulton High School there.

"I met a lot of retired military personnel" at the post office, Carter said, noting the veterans encouraged her to join the Army Reserve as a way to improve her life.

Today, Carter is an active-duty Army officer. She also is among 12 servicemembers participating in the sixth quarterly iteration of the Defense Department's "Why We Serve" public-outreach program. Carter will tell her story to community, business and veterans group audiences, and at other gatherings.

Carter said she enjoys her career as an Army officer and wants the public to know military people have the same dreams and aspirations as their civilian counterparts. "We are human beings just as they are," Carter observed.

And although wartime deployments may be hard on servicemembers' personal lives, military members remain dedicated to their pledge to defend the nation, she said.

"It is stressful to be deployed. It is stressful to be away from your family. But servicemembers know that this is their job and responsibility -- to serve," Carter said.

Following the advice of her post office co-workers, Carter enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1987 as an administrative specialist. During her initial training at Fort Jackson, S.C., she said, she experienced a revelation that jolted her mind.

"I saw a black female officer," Carter recalled. "I looked at her and thought: 'If she can do it, surely I can do it.'"

Then and there, Carter set a personal goal to obtain a college degree and a commission. In 1996, she graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor's degree in social work and earned an Army lieutenant's gold bars through the school's ROTC program.

Her quest to obtain a degree and a commission as a single parent "was a long process," Carter acknowledged, citing the effort and time required to balance work, school, and caring for her daughter.

In 1997, Carter, then a junior Quartermaster Corps officer, took her daughter along on a three-year duty tour in Hanau, Germany. "It was a great experience," Carter said of her service in Germany, noting her daughter learned German while overseas.

In the spring of 2003, Carter was a captain and the commander of a maintenance company in Iraq that supported a Patriot missile unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. She earned the Bronze Star Medal for her wartime service.

Carter said all commanders carry responsibility not only in wartime, but also during periods of peace.

"I came to understand the importance of making sure that you take care of soldiers, because the family members depend on you as a leader to bring their son or daughter or husband or wife back all in one piece, and that is a great responsibility upon one individual's shoulders," she said.

Carter, whose maiden name is Weems, said she enriched her personal life when she married a fellow Army officer about three years ago.

In November 2007, Carter deployed to Iraq for a second time, but that tour was cut short due to her selection to participate in the Why We Serve program. By this time, she was an Acquisition Corps officer specializing in the management of unmanned sensors used for reconnaissance and targeting purposes in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of operation.

The Why We Serve program provides unfiltered communication between military members engaged in the war on terrorism and the American public, Carter said. The program, she added, features servicemembers' thoughts and viewpoints on military life, she noted.

Carter intends to convey a key personal message at each of her Why We Serve speaking appearances: "I wear this uniform and I enjoy doing what I'm doing," she declared.

Pacific Commander to Visit China to Bolster Communication, Cooperation

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 11, 2008 - The top U.S. military officer in the Pacific is slated to travel to China to help bolster the two countries' military relationship and iron out issues, including those over China's recent port denials to U.S. Navy ships. Navy Adm. Timothy J. Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, will leave his Honolulu headquarters tomorrow for the four-day visit, his second visit to China since taking command in March. James Shinn, sworn in yesterday as the new assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, will join Keating on the trip.

While in China, Keating is slated to meet with senior officials from the Central Military Commission, the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Guangzhou Military Area Command and the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The trip also will include stops in Shanghai, China's financial hub, and Guangzhou, where Keating will visit Chinese army bases and hold a seminar with Chinese military officials, the Chinese National Defense Ministry announced.

Keating said he hopes build on groundwork laid during his visit to China in May to strengthen Sino-U.S. military ties.

The visit follows Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates' visit with Chinese leaders in early November and the U.S.-Peoples' Republic of China annual defense consultative talks, led by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric S. Edelman, in early December.

"This trip is an opportunity to meet with key leaders and build relationships that will ultimately ensure greater cooperation and collaboration across the spectrum of military-to-military relations," Keating said.

Keating said his goal is to develop and enhance a constructive relationship through increased military-to-military engagement. "We will work with our Chinese counterparts to increase understanding between our militaries, encourage cooperation on mutual security concerns, capitalize on gains we have realized and reduce chances for miscalculation."

Discussions are expected to include China's denial of a Thanksgiving port call to Hong Kong by U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk battle group, and an earlier denial to U.S. minesweepers seeking refuge from a brewing storm.

Keating told Pentagon reporters days after the Kitty Hawk incident that he's concerned by the port visit denials, calling them "perplexing and troublesome," particularly when hundreds of the sailors' family members had flown from Japan to spend the holiday with their loved ones.

By the time China reversed its decision, the U.S. ships had already turned around. "It was too late by then," Keating told reporters.

The incident came on the heels of what the admiral called an even more troublesome situation: China's refusal to admit two U.S. minesweepers into Hong Kong to seek refuge from a brewing storm.

The Patriot and Guardian were operating in international waters when fierce weather conditions drove them to seek shelter in Hong Kong, Keating said. China refused their request, forcing them to get refueled at sea so they could return to their homeport in Sasebo, Japan.

China's denial of their request violated "an unwritten rule among seamen that if someone is in need, regardless of genus, phylum or species, you let them come in -- you give them safe harbor," Keating said.

A senior defense official said this week on background that the misunderstanding that led to the port visit denials signals the potential for much more serious misunderstandings in the future that could have strategic consequences if not cleared up now.

"The whole experience showed us that we have a lot to do to better understand what the Chinese are doing and to help the Chinese understand our position on things," he said.

The bottom line, Keating told reporters in November, is that solid communication between the United States and China will help reduce the potential for misunderstanding. This will leave "less room for confusion that could lead to confrontation, to crisis," he said.

"That's our goal," he said. "To get there, we reduce the chance for misunderstanding."

In addition to discussing the decision-making process within the Chinese military and explaining the United States' own process, Keating will push for more and larger U.S.-Sino exercises and exchanges.

China recently turned down an invitation to participate as an observer in the Rim of the Pacific naval exercise this summer in Hawaii. Russia announced that it will be a first-time participant in the multinational exercise that takes place every other year in the waters off Oahu and Kauai.