Steeljaw Scribe

…And it is an interesting read, informing the potential rationale behind some recent decisions, such as the Navy stepping away from the DDG-1000:

Future Challenges Risk
An underlying assumption in our understanding of the strategic environment is that the predominant near-term challenges to the United States will come from state and non-state actors using irregular and catastrophic [...]

Deterrence. Preventing war is preferable to fighting wars. Deterring aggression must be viewed in global, regional, and transnational terms via conventional, unconventional, and nuclear means. Effective Theater Security Cooperation activities are a form of extended deterrence, creating security and removing conditions for conflict. Maritime ballistic missile defense will enhance deterrence by providing an umbrella of [...]

As a Student NFO back in the late 70’s (OK, 1978) in P-cola, we tended to spend a certain amount of our free time over at the (then) new-ish Naval Aviation Museum (the ‘National’ appellation still some several years off) and while our attention was drawn to some of the indoor exhibits, nicely finished and [...]

…no, not those  .
First up — Hustler Love:
Over in the comments section for the Flightdeck Friday we did some time back (for VALOUR-IT)  , one of our visitors (blog author of Mostly Flying  ) left this very interesting commentary:

As a young lieutenant in 1967 I had control of SAGE air defence radars across Washington, Montana, [...]

It is late 1960 in America - 13 December to be exact. Across the country the mood is reflective and restive. The prosperity of the fifties had netted Americans a bewildering array of choices in everything from products for the home to the cars they drove and sealed American dominion across the globe. [...]

Eighty feet & 7 inches wingtip to wingtip;
700 sqft of wing surface;
Controls linked by a conglomerate of torque-tubes, hydraulics and cables (old school fly-by wire)

and a propensity for interesting excursions in the “burble” which can manifest at the ramp:

So Nose - how would you grade it?
Oh, and don’t forget the Ronco ® slice-’n’-dice, or else:

(all [...]

One of the all time great things about writing a blog is the mail one gets offline - some genuinely interesting stuff comes our way that we may have missed out on in the comings and goings of a standard day.  The Flightdeck Fridays in particular generate more than their fair share of folks sharing [...]

So, um Scribe — been a little lax in posting this past few weeks, eh? What gives?
Well, a little bit of:
 
Mix in a lot of:

And of course, all from the AO viewpoint:

 So yea, been a bit busy with the necessary stuff, but that said have been scribbling offline in the wee hours and will [...]

Update 19 July 2008
Come to find out a few new bits of information - like the fact that Capt. Mauldin was a graduate of The Citadel (Class of ‘44).

The tribute to Air Force Capt. William K. Mauldin came 56 years late. But that Friday’s moving funeral service here came at all is a testament [...]

One week, several decades and many milestones - some significant, some quite obscure.  A look at the week of July 13-19 and Naval Aviation across the decades:

14 July 1940 – The initial meeting of what became the National Defense Research Committee’s Division 14, or Radar Division, was attended by Alfred L. Loomis, Ralph Bowen, E. [...]