This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Navy

  • CPO Justin A. Wilson awarded the Navy Cross

    CPO Justin A. Wilson awarded the Navy Cross

    Justin

    Chief Petty Officer Justin A. Wilson, a corpsman with the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command was awarded the Navy Cross yesterday at Camp Pendleton. CPO Wilson is the first sailor in MARSOC’s history to be awarded the Navy Cross, according to DVIDS;

    Wilson, who was born in Beloit, Kansas, was awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary actions on Sept. 28, 2011, while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While on a patrol in Afghanistan, an improvised explosive device detonated, injuring Wilson and his teammates. Without hesitation or concern for his own injuries, Wilson moved his fallen teammates out of the kill zone before letting anyone attend to his wounds.

    […]

    “These men I served with were the embodiment of honor, courage and commitment,” Wilson said. “Some people tell me that I’m lucky to be alive, but I think I was really lucky to have served with these great men.”

    Staff Sgts. Christopher Diaz and Nicholas Sprovtsoff were posthumously awarded Bronze Stars that they earned during the same incident.

    Thanks to Terry for the link.

  • I Don’t Think This Was “Career Enhancing”

    I’m guessing a few Navy careers are now toast.

    Two US Navy Vessels Collide in the Gulf of Aden

    The two ships involved are the USNS Amerlia Earhart and USNS Walter S. Diehl. The USNS Earhart is a cargo ship; the USNS Deihl, an oiler.

    Each ship suffered only minor damage, and there were no injuries.  Both ships are continuing their respective missions.

    The Navy has indicated it will conduct an investigation of the incident.  Gee, what a surprise.

    Maybe I’m wrong, but I’m guessing this means “someone’s got some ‘splainin’ to do” – probably multiple someones, actually. And I’m also guessing quite a few people just might be beginning to revise their resumes about now, too.

  • John Paul Jones, Meet “Star Wars”

    Apparently the Navy has deployed a new, high-tech weapon system in the Persian Gulf. It’s an operational prototype of a 30-killowat laser weapon system.

    This one is more than simply a “dazzeler”, too. Though it has non-lethal modes of operation (including “dazzling” an opponent’s eyes), it’s also reportedly capable of destroying small targets.

    Bloomberg.com has a decent article on the subject. If you’re interested in either new weapons or Naval matters, IMO it’s worth a look.

  • Welcome Home Bush Battle Group

    The Bush Battle Group will come home today and tomorrow. They have been deployed for 9 months.

    Among the many thousand of Sailors and Marines setting foot on US soil again is my son.

    They have done in the last nine months what the Navy exist to do.  They have protected shipping from pirates off the coast of Africa, provided safe transit for vessels of all nationalities,   escorted a tanker that had been hijacked to its home port,  over ten thousand hours flying all types of aircraft in all weather to support the missions in Afghanistan and   Iraq. They were the point of the spear against ISIS, flying aircraft against targets as well as launching ship based Tomahawk missiles. They took fast ships in harms way to protect not only our Nation but every nation.  The Carl Vinson took the Bush’s place. The CV will continue to do what the Navy does.

    But my son is coming home. The USS Phillipine Sea pulls into port Saturday he will be one of the Sailors Manning the Rails. When he left he was an ADAN, he is now a AD3. He earned his Air Warfare wings shortly before they deployed. He earned his surface warfare while deployed. He has a sea service ribbon now,  The Global was on Terror Expeditionary Medal and one or two others. He is a better Sailor than I ever was. Hell the truth is he is a better man than I am.  I could not be any prouder of him.

    I was supposed to be on the pier when the ship pulls in. For many reasons beyond my control I wont be able to make it. But I can make sure that he and some of the other young men and women returning home see this.

    Welcome Home, Thank you for your sacrifice.  You have protected us by giving up your own liberties for a time. You have worked in all weather and lived in conditions that would not be allowed for prisoners. Every one of you volunteered to become part of the mixture of people and machines that offer our Nation greater protection than any other nation on the face of the earth has ever has enjoyed.  Each and every one of you has missed some major life event in the last nine months. Birthdays of yourselves and loves ones. Births of children. the list is endless.  As you come home others are still on the front lines and others still are preparing to pay the sacrifice that true liberty demands.

    My pride is not limited to my son, but extends to each and everyone of you. You are all the sons and daughters of this nation, Your age, race or rank does not matter, What does matter is that you are home safe.

     

    Welcome home  Zachary T. Wilson  AD3 (AW, SW)  I have missed you. I love you and will see you soon.

     

     

  • “Belligerent” knife-wielding man at Groton submarine base

    “Belligerent” knife-wielding man at Groton submarine base

    Richard sends us a link to a story about a “belligerent” knife-wielding man at the Groton submarine base last night. One guard was stabbed in the leg and another was caught in the cross-fire when they responded to the intrusion by Belligerent Guy.

    According to the Navy, a “non-compliant” man brought a knife to the main gate on Crystal Lake Road around 7 p.m. and attacked an officer, who “perceived a threat” and started shooting.

    That officer suffered a stab wound to the leg and the other officer, who was caught in a spray of bullets, were taken to the hospital to be treated for non-life threatening injuries. They were released around 10:30 p.m., according to the Navy.

    Belligerent Guy went to the hospital, too, even though he wasn’t injured and he’s in the custody of NCIS. I’m guessing that Special Agent Gibbs is slapping the shit out of the back of Belligerent Guy’s head as we speak. Fox News said in their broadcast of the news says that it’s not being considered a terrorist act, but who knows what a terrorist act is these days.

  • “So there I was…”

    I was standing naked as the day I was born. The Navy had taken away the last remnants of my civilian life but had not yet seen fit to let me put on the clothes I had been issued.  I was one of a group of 86 young men that were the just formed Recruit Training Company of 86-261, Recruit training Command San Diego.

    Like most of the guys around me it had been a couple of days of first, the first time I had left home, the first time I had flown on a jet, the first time my best efforts were not good enough. Standing in a group of naked men was the low point for me. I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. We has stenciled our names onto one pair of underwear and one plain white tshirt. The Company Commander was reminding us how stupid we were and then Someone called Attention on Deck.

    The Company Commander introduced us to the Chaplin. He said a short prayer and then gave us a talk. I don’t remember everything he said but a part of that talk has always stuck with me.

    He told us to look around at the other men in the room.  That this was one of the only moments in our lives that we would be absolutely equal to everyone around us. That how much money our parents had or didn’t have made no difference.  He said that  our success or failure in the Navy was completely up to us. He said that every part of our training had a meaning, that no time was wasted.

    That was 28 years ago this week. I have often thought about what that Chaplin said. I don’t think there has been any other time in my life that I have had a truly blank slate.

    In the coming weeks I will be talking to Don Shipley about his story, I hope to talk to other Veterans about theirs. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to be a part of this project.

     

    Wesley AKA Enigma4you

     

     

     

  • Nice Sidestep, Mr. SECNAV. Nice Backbone, Mr. SECDEF.

    Remember those recent allegations that the military records of the outgoing Commandant of the Marine Corps – Gen James Amos – were not exactly 100% “kosher”? You know, that little “oopsie” where somehow a signed official bio submitted for Senate confirmation seemed to claim that Gen Amos went to USMC’s “The Basic School” in 1972 when in truth he actually received credit for completing it via correspondence in 1977?

    Well, you’ll be pleased to hear that – in the words of Gertrude Stein – “there is no there there”. The SECDEF has determined that the error in Gen Amos’ bio was due to a “data entry error” on the part of the person preparing the resume, and that claims Gen Amos padded his resume were “not . . . credible.” He also further determined that Gen Amos did not engage in misconduct in terms of unlawful command influence two other matters – the famous “urination video” and “Heritage Brief” incidents.

    Bottom line:  “Nothing to see here, folks; move along.”  Gen Amos will retire with 4 stars.

    Well – isn’t that special. “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

    Frankly, the fact that Gen Amos will retire as a 4-star isn’t the part that bothers me the most. I indeed have a hard time believing that Gen Amos didn’t adequately and thoroughly review the bio submitted to Congress over his signature.  However, since someone else actually prepared the bio that claim is at least plausible (if IMO pretty damned unlikely).

    And while I have my own personal opinions about the other two incidents, I wasn’t there – so I don’t really know the “real deal” on those, either. The DoD IG apparently did clear him of outright misconduct in the “urination video” case.  Regarding the “Heritage Brief” issue, precisely when a public statement does and does not constitute improper command influence in a Court-Martial is IMO a fairly murky area.  And besides, even if Gen Amos “fornicated Fido”* in one or both of those cases I’m not sure that rises to the level of misconduct invalidating “successful service”.

    What bothers me more is the way this was handled by the SECNAV and SECDEF. The SECNAV could have handled this himself.  He didn’t; he punted it to the SECDEF.  And the SECDEF’s statement here IMO gives the distinct impression of obfuscating through dwelling on irrelevant trivia – perhaps in order to bolster a predetermined conclusion – vice making a decision based on his own evaluation of the pertinent facts.

    I mean really, Secretary Mabus:  you couldn’t review the facts and make the determination yourself whether Gen Amos was truthful when he submitted a signed bio to Congress that was incorrect? And really, Secretary Hagel:  blaming the submission of a clearly erroneous but signed document on a “data entry error”? Really?

    Bottom line: I’d expect a SECNAV to be more decisive than that.  And I’d expect both a SECNAV and SECDEF to actually, you know, face and make hard decisions head-on – particularly since the each is a member of the chain-of-command (administrative in the case of the SECNAV; both administrative and operational in the case of the SECDEF).

    One day, perhaps we’ll see that kind of decisive leadership again at senior levels.  But based on this, I guess we won’t see it any time soon.

     

    * – PC-speak for “screwed the pooch”.  Used here for the benefit of any of our sheltered-from-reality “liberal brethren” who might chance across this article and be offended by non-PC language.

  • F-35 does what aircraft have been doing since 1910

    F-35 does what aircraft have been doing since 1910

    Somehow, because it cost a gazillion dollars, landing an F35 Joint Strike Fighter on the USS Nimitz, it’s called “landmark” according to AFP;

    “Today is a landmark event in the development of the F-35C,” said test pilot Commander Tony Wilson.

    The landing is part of flight testing at sea that will last for about two weeks, and will help pave the way to deploy the aircraft in the naval fleet by 2018, officials said.

    “We plan on learning a lot during this developmental test and will use that knowledge to make the naval variant of the F-35 an even more effective weapons platform,” Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, head of the F-35 program, said in a statement.

    Watch the landmark moment at the link above.

    Thanks to David for the link.