15 April 1935–Passage of the Aviation Cadet Act created the grade of Aviation Cadet in the Naval and Marine Corps Reserves. The Act set up a new program for pilot training in which otherwise qualified college graduates between the ages of 18 and 28 would be eligible for one year of flight instruction, benefits of…
So, you’ve been procrastinating deliberative in filing taxes this year and need a break in working over the numbers? Minimize the tax program and click on the pic below to see the video, from the cockpit, of last week’s memorial flyover… …OK, break’s over – back on your heads.
Every so often one of the good reasons for working in the Nation’s capitol rises above the endless traffic jams, navel-gazing politicians and regurgitation of the police blotter on the 6 o’clock news. Occasionally, you get to step outside your office and see a sight such as this… Oh and Mike — we still say…
Pausing for a moment to acknowledge this signatory event in VAW history before returning to the discussion on the Maritime Strategy later today… -SJS 1967: VAW-11 (West coast) and VAW-12 (East coast) constitute the two largest squadrons in the Navy with some 200 officers and 800 enlisted each. Each squadrom supports 4 plane E-1B Tracer…
Fifth ship of the Essex-class CVs. Fifth ship named for Benjamin Franklin… The date – 19 March 1945. Area of operations – fifty miles off the coast of Japan. Flight ops have been underway since before dawn, beginning with a strike against Honshu and another against shipping in Kobe harbor. On…
Operation Highjump–Air operations in the Antarctic ended. From 24 December 1946, six PBM’s, based on seaplane tenders, operated in the open seas around the continent of Antarctica, and from 9 February, six R4D’s operated ashore from the airstrip at Little America. Together these aircraft logged 650 hours on photographic mapping flights covering 1,500,000 square miles…
The Background: On 8 February 1965, a change to Bureau of Personnel Instruction 1210.4C authorized a new designator and name, Naval Flight Officer (NFO). The new designator was appropriate for “an unrestricted line officer, a member of the aeronautical organization . . .who may fill any billet not requiring actual control knowledge of an aircraft.”…
The keel of the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise (CVAN 65) was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company. Enterprise under construction in slipway #11 Big E in late 1960 (USS Robert E. Lee in foreground, outbound for sea trials) Underway, October 1962 with CVW-6 embarked for the Cuban Missile…
Then:  (CIA A-12 Recce mission on 26 January) Now: Taedong River, Pyongyang, North Korea ( 38°59’27.83″N x 125°43’32.13″E) Remember: Remember: Read the story here, here or here. A clearly provactive and illegal hijacking on the high seas by the North Koreans – and compounded by inexplicably poor contingency planning on the part of US…
So it’s back in the the Luftwurst for the trip back home today via a, no doubt, wx impacted intermediate point…in the meantime, here’s a couple of tidbits to tide you over until our return to the rolling hills of Occupied Territory and the warmth of Hearth and Home – SJS 21 January 1972 –…
