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history lessons

Naming Ships -- Here We Go Again...

IMGP1945

I have held my peace for the past 24-hours as a kind of “counting to ten” mindful of one of blogging’s first principles regarding blogging while angry.  Time’s up — I’m not angry, I’m royally POd. Still. “The selection of Gabrielle Giffords, designated LCS 10, honors the former Congresswoman from Tucson, Arizona, who is known [...] [...]

Air Warfare

Guest Post: THE U.S. NAVY’S FLEET PROBLEMS OF THE THIRTIES — A Dive Bomber Pilot’s Perspective

From 1923 to 1940, the US Navy conducted 21 “Fleet Problems” as it sought to understand, exploit and incorporate new technologies and capabilities while developing the tactics, training and procedures to employ the same should war present itself – which by the 1930s was beginning to look more and more likely to the discerning observer. [...] [...]

Air Warfare

Close Air Support Aircraft Find Renewed Interest

Skyraider-A-1

In time, one of the ongoing “lessons RE-learned” has been/continues to be the need for a tough, heavily armed aircraft that is able to perform in close coordination with ground troops, in a high intensity, small-arms fire environment.  Whether facing armored assault or insurgency attacks, through the years and myriad of conflicts, some aircraft have [...] [...]

history lessons

Remembering Midway – 68 Years Later

In every battle there is a moment when the combatants, and the world, seem to catch their breath. It is a fleeting moment, lost in the blink of an eye. But in that same blink, everything changes. Such moments are borne of desperation, of courage, of plain dumb luck. But they are pivotal – for [...] [...]

history lessons

Petition to Name a Ship After LT John W. Finn, USN

Many of us do not know how we will react when suddenly called upon to perform the extraordinary in desperate and lethal conditions.  We train and plan, but until the bullet flies or the fire burns close at hand, all we can do is speculate. On the morning of December 7th, 1941 there was no [...] [...]

Naval Aviation Centenary

On This Date in Naval Aviation History: Aviation Greens Make A Comeback

Ah, Aviation Working Greens – my absolute favorite day-to-day uniform to wear during Norfolk winters and guaranteed way to get a non-aviator’s head to explode in the pre-Lehman years. Lots of mythology and conjecture as to how we came to acquire (a) the green uniform and (b) the accompanying brown shoes, so maybe this will [...] [...]

Naval Aviation Centenary

CVN Naming – Enough With the Politics Already

It’s time to return some sanity to the way ships are named.  Why?  Because the silliness is upon us once again: 111th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 83 Expressing the sense of Congress that a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the Navy, either the aircraft carrier designated as CVN-79 or the aircraft carrier designated as [...] [...]

history lessons

This Date in Naval History: Battle of the Coral Sea – 7 & 8 May

Sixty-seven years ago… Day 1 – “Scratch One Flattop!”: The first day of the carrier battle of Coral Sea, 7 May 1942, saw the Americans searching for carriers they knew were present and the Japanese looking for ones they feared might be in the area. (more at NHHC) Day 2: We lose USS Lexington: . [...] [...]

history lessons

A Whale Returns to Sea

(NAVSTA Rota)  30 April 2009 – an EA-3B Skywarrior is loaded aboard USS Wasp (LHD 1) for transport back to the U.S.  This marks the first time in over twenty-years a Whale is chocked and chained to the flightdeck of a USN warship.  How it got to that point is an extraordinary story of one [...] [...]