Front Burner

by Kirk S. Lippold

  and Front Burner Report

  investigation of (see Command investigation; FBI/NCIS criminal investigation; USS Cole Commission investigation)

  and kamikaze terrorists

  and OPREP-3, Pinnacle, Front Burner Report

  and rapid response security team

  and refueling (see Refueling in Aden, Yemen)

  and rules of engagement

  U.S. government response to

  See also Damage; Damage assessment; Damage control efforts

  USS Cole Commission investigation (aka Defense Department investigation)

  and Lippold’s nomination for promotion

  See also Command investigation; FBI/NCIS criminal investigation

  USS Cole Commission Report

  release of

  See also Command Investigation Report

  USS Cole crew members

  and awards ceremony

  and convalescent leave

  and crew retirements

  duties of

  and farewell ceremony

  interview with

  and port visits

  and stress (see Stress recovery)

  and Veterans Day reception at White House

  See also Killed in action; Missing; Wounded

  USS Cole crew members, and return voyage

  aboard USS Tarawa

  and Germany, flight to

  and the media

  at Norfolk Naval Air Station

  and “steel beach” picnic

  USS Cole Fund

  USS Cole Memorial

  USS Cole, reconstruction of

  and damage assessment, completion of

  and dry docking at Ingalls Shipbuilding

  and offload plan

  and repair period and manning decision

  USS Cole, and transport to U.S.

  and commander’s return with crew

  and departure date

  and emergency destruction plan

  and offload plan

  and return route

  and tow to Motor Vessel Blue Marlin (see also Motor Vessel Blue Marlin)

  USS Coral Sea

  USS Donald Cook

  assistance of

  and command investigation

  and damage control efforts

  and USS Cole crew members awards ceremony

  USS Duluth

  USS Enterprise Battle Group

  USS Fairfax County

  USS George Washington

  and command investigation

  and USS Cole crew members awards ceremony

  USS Gettysburg

  USS Hawes

  assistance of

  and command investigation

  and damage control efforts

  and Navy birthday celebration, cake for

  and USS Cole crew members awards ceremony

  USS Indianapolis

  USS Laffey

  USS Liberty

  USS Normandy

  USS Pittsburgh

  USS Pueblo

  USS Saratoga

  USS Seattle

  USS Shiloh

  USS Simpson

  USS Tarawa

  and follow-on attack, warning of

  and food delivery, problem with

  and patches, theft of

  and USS Cole crew members return voyage

  USS Underhill

  USS Yorktown

  Van Foeken, Jason

  Van Hook, Gordon

  Veterans Day reception, at White House

  Veterans of Foreign Wars

  Vial-Mir, François

  Walker, Jonathan

  Wall, Bob

  Walsh, Richard F. “Dick,”

  Warner, John

  and letter to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Myers

  and Lippold’s nomination for promotion

  and McVay’s nomination for promotion

  and U.S. Constitution

  Webb, Andrew

  Wheeler, Kristen

  White House Commission on Remembrance

  White House Military Office

  Whitworth, Mark

  Wibberley, Craig

  Wibberley, Tom

  Winnefeld, James “Sandy,”

  Winter, Donald

  Wolfowitz, Paul

  Woodfin, Denise

  World War II

  and kamikazee attacks

  Wounded (USS Cole crew members)

  and blood donors

  and boats to take wounded to shore

  and Bouffard French military hospital (Djibouti)

  and Critical Care Air Transport Teams (CCATTs)

  and discharge from hospital

  and family members, notification of

  and Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (Germany)

  medical evacuation of

  and medical treatment area, damage to

  and muster report

  and Ramstein Air Base, Germany

  and U.S. Air Force

  and Yemeni hospitals

  See also Killed in action; Missing

  Yemeni customs authorities, and diplomatic clearance

  Yemeni government

  and al Qaeda operatives, capture and conviction of

  Yemeni government (continued)

  and cooperation, lack of

  and crew safety, lack of commitment to

  and criminal investigation

  and terrorists, attitude regarding

  Yemeni hospitals

  Zinni, Anthony C.

  Commander Kirk S. Lippold was the commanding officer of the USS Cole during Al Qaeda’s attack in October 2000. Lippold’s personal awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon, among others. He retired from the Navy in 2007, and serves as president of Base to Peak, LLC, a strategic planning and leadership development firm.

  PublicAffairs is a publishing house founded in 1997. It is a tribute to the standards, values, and flair of three persons who have served as mentors to countless reporters, writers, editors, and book people of all kinds, including me.

  I. F. STONE, proprietor of I. F. Stone’s Weekly, combined a commitment to the First Amendment with entrepreneurial zeal and reporting skill and became one of the great independent journalists in American history. At the age of eighty, Izzy published The Trial of Socrates, which was a national bestseller. He wrote the book after he taught himself ancient Greek.

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  Peter Osnos, Founder and Editor-at-Large

  Copyright © 2012 by Kirk S. Lippold.

  Published in the United States by PublicAffairs™,

  a Member of the Perseus Books Group

  All rights reserved.

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  Typeset in 12 point Adobe Garamond Pro by the Perseus Books Group

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

  Lippold, Kirk S.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  eISBN : 978-1-610-39125-2

  (e-book) 1. USS Cole Bombing Incident, Aden, Yemen, 2000. 2. Cole (Ship). 3. Qaida (Organization) 4. Terrorism—Yemen (Republic) 5. Terrorism—United States. 6. Yemen (Republic)—Foreign relations—United States. 7. United States—Foreign relations—Yemen (Republic) I. Title.

  VA65.C57L56 2012

  363.325’93598354—dc23

  2011049048