Good night SAM.
Thanks again for remembering flowers even while the IL's are
Clic on the beautiful flowers for music.
Posted on 06/09/2003 6:02:15 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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A Dad's Parade
 Longs Peak VFW Post 2601 Color Guard marches down Main Street in Longmont, Colo. during the welcoming parade for returning servicemen and servicewomen. Photo by Liz Calzolari  Participants get ready for the parade. Left side, Air Force band members, Pete Reynolds, and wife Karen Reynolds. Photo by Paul Rock  The U.S. Air Force Band of the Rockies marches down Main Street. Photo by Liz Calzolari.  A motorcycle group, led by the Vietnam Survivors parades down Main Street. In the lead are Paul Rock and Karen Reynolds. Paul Rock estimated 55 motorcyclists rode in the parade. Photo by Liz Calzolari.  From L to R: Denise Benavides with husband, Staff Sgt. Jaime Benavides, Lance Corporal Zachary Rock and Angela Hannon. Benavides recruited Rock for the Marine Corps. The women are holding bouquets of red, white, and blue flowers in honor of the 12 Colorado soldiers who died in Iraq. The flowers were donated by Longmont Florist. Photo by Liz Calzolari  Valerie Rock drives a vehicle displaying one of the eight banners in support of the troops signed by the community. Also riding with Mrs. Rock is her 8-year-old and 6-year-old daughter, as well as their babysitter, Megan Rayman. Photo by Paul Rock  Paul Rock (left), a Vietnam veteran, organized a parade in Longmont. Colo., for his son, 19-year-old Zachar, a U.S. Marine lance corporal who served in Iraq. Photo by Paul Rock  From L to R: Pete Reynolds, Mike Smith, and Jim Coker. Photo by Paul Rock
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Just got the June 2003 Proceedings
Cover: The Virginia (SSN-774), under construction in Groton, Connecticut, is the lead ship in a new class of attack submarines being built by Electric Boat and Northrop Grumman Newport News. (General Dynamics Electric Boat).
Representing a revolution in advanced design and construction techniques and mission flexibility, Virginia-class submarines will provide the U.S. Navy with the capabilities it requires to maintain undersea superiority well into the 21st century.
The Virginia class will satisfy the full range of mission requirements in the post-Cold War era. Optimized for maximum technological and operational flexibility, these submarines will play a key role in the nation's defense with their stealth, firepower and unlimited endurance.
Under the terms of a $4.2 billion contract awarded by the Navy in 1998, Electric Boat is sharing construction of the first four ships of the class with its teammate, Northrop Grumman Newport News. When Electric Boat delivers the lead ship Virginia (SSN774) in 2004, it will embody an ongoing and uncompromising effort to balance military capability with affordability.
Ship statistics
Displacement: 7,700 tons (submerged)
Length: 377 feet
Hull Diameter: 34 feet
Speed: 25+ knots
Diving Depth: 800+ feet
Weapons: Mark 48 advanced capability torpedoes, Tomahawk land attack missiles, Mark 60 CAPTOR mines, advanced mobile mines and unmanned underwater vehicles
History Channel did Sink the Bismarck last night. Hitler had assured Rader that he'd have til 1945 to prepare--or not.
Sam, you indicated Doenitz wanted some 300 U-Boats.
Thanks to Hitler's micromismanaging everything for Speer and Rommel and the professionals, he blowed up real good.
Brits tried to rescue the 400 survivors of the Bismarck but were ordered off as U-Boats approached.
War's hell--don't start.
Great to see the progress in Iraq--only the failure will be reported on the "mainstream" media: hence said media is tanking.
We report. You decide.
Former Sasebo skippers now command carriers
By Greg Tyler and Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Tuesday, June 10, 2003
SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — The USS Kitty Hawk skipper fondly recalls his Sasebo tour as an amphibious assault ship skipper.
“Turbo” — Kitty Hawk boss Capt. Tom Parker — still likes to stay in touch via e-mail with former Sasebo commanders “Fozzie” and “Harv.”
Friends occasionally tease Capt. John Miller — who commands the aircraft carrier USS Constellation — about similarities to the Muppets character Fozzie Bear. And Harvard graduate Harv, Capt. Ronald Henderson, commands the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy.
Among the Navy’s 12 active carriers, their ships are the only three powered by fossil fuel. And each is commanded by an officer who commanded an amphibious ship in Sasebo.
Coincidence? Not really.
Miller and Henderson formerly commanded the USS Juneau; Parker steered the USS Belleau Wood and USS Essex. Miller was the first to move to a carrier command. He also tutored Parker, the newest carrier commander of the three, from September 2002 through January 2003 on the Constellation.
It is a coincidence, Parker explained, that none of the three opted for acquiring the qualifications required to command a nuclear-powered carrier. “I’m sure that Harv and Fozzie would agree,” the Virginia Military Institute graduate quipped. “There’s nothing as cool as a conventional carrier.”
In part, Parker attributes some of his professional growth to the high operational tempo among Sasebo’s amphibious force ships.
“The hallmark of the FDNF (Forward Deployed Naval Force) is that we operate anywhere from 180 to 215 days a year underway. You get to be really good at what you do, because you are constantly doing it at sea,” he said.
Forward deployed ships have to be at “a higher state of readiness,” he added. “What the Kitty Hawk did in the Gulf will become the model for what other carriers do in the future. The Kitty Hawk went through a major surge to get out there, fight for three or four months, then come back. You have to be ready.”
Miller, too, credited the operational tempo. “Sasebo is a great place to have deep draft command. The ships homeported there are extremely busy and spend a great deal of time at sea, so experience comes quickly,” he said.
“Deep draft” refers to a ship’s underwater depth. Carriers have deep drafts — and maneuvering them takes practiced skill.
“Both of the ships in Sasebo that are O6 commands,” or skippered by someone of captain’s rank, “are ‘deep draft’ ships, meaning the people who command them are eligible for, and tracking toward, carrier command,” Miller said.
Affectionately known as “America’s Flagship,” the Constellation weighs 88,000 tons, carries 72 combat and support aircraft and is home to 5,000 sailors and Marines.
“Ninety percent of command is about people,” Miller said. “In that regard, this job is very much the same as command of the Juneau. But this job is bigger in scope … more people, bigger ship, more missions.
“The fundamentals of good seamanship and airmanship remain the same, but there are more balls to keep in the air here,” he added. “Carriers are also a little less personal — sort of like the difference between small town living and big city living.”
Henderson, who followed Miller as Juneau commander, said, “By U.S. law, the COs of aircraft carriers must be naval aviators or naval flight officers. To gain large-ship command experience, a potential carrier CO serves as the captain of a smaller yet still large deck.” Sasebo is homeport for two such ships, the Juneau and the Essex.
Amphibious warfare exercises also provide essential carrier training. “Working with embarked Marine forces,” Henderson explained, “is good experience for the carrier challenge of working as a team with an embarked air wing.”
The main difference is “the sheer size and depth of responsibility that comes with command of an aircraft carrier,” he said. “The difference is not one of character, but of magnitude.”
LOL.
Thank you Phil. This is exactly what we'd like to see here on Monday's News Thread, news from our readers and posters.
Thank you also for the link to the magazine, very interesting.
As I just posted to PhilDragoo regarding his post of news about the Virginia (SSN-774) from the "Proceedings" magazine, this is just what we'd like to see here on Mondays. News from our readers and posters.
Of course anytime is fine with us but I appreciate the participation and sharing of News on Mondays as we try to make a place of reference for Military related News at the Foxhole.
There is always so much going on and so much news to share we appreciate it when you add your own.
Now, from your news;
From Capt. Parker who says “There’s nothing as cool as a conventional carrier.”.. I wonder if Gator Navy agrees or prefers the amphibious big decks?
Also, "The hallmark of the FDNF (Forward Deployed Naval Force) is that we operate anywhere from 180 to 215 days a year underway"...Do you occassionally miss being out to sea since you're on shore duty now?
Thanks again for posting this news and information and Good Morning.
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