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Remembering Closeout 602 – 20 Years Later
A common thread about life at sea and flying from/working on an aircraft carrier is ‘hurry-up-and-wait;’ mostly because your time, your life is run by others. Whether it is Marshall trying to get everyone checked in for the last night recovery (only to wait until the ship finally turned into the wind) or stopping by…
Fleet Forces Command Joins the Blogging ‘Verse
Frequent visitors to the USNI blog and others in the Navy blogging ‘verse (take your bow Maggie, high priestess of the Navy blogsphere) know VADM Harvey’s straight-up engagement on a number of fronts in the comments sections. With his assumption of command at Fleet Forces Command comes a new blog (and add’l star…) – the…
A Golden Anniversary: The Hawkeye At 50
By any measure, fifty years is remarkable. Birthdays, reunions, wedding anniversaries – in all of these the marker set at fifty years is justifiably prominent and noteworthy. For aircraft — especially those in carrier aviation, it is signatory. This month the E-2 Hawkeye will celebrate 50 years, starting with the first flight of the prototype,…
Midway 70 Years Later: USN Carrier-based Air Order of Battle
Task Force 17 – Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher in Yorktown Task Group 17.5 Carrier Group – CAPT Elliott Buckmaster USS Yorktown (CV-5)CAPT Buckmaster CVG-5 – LCDR Oscar Pederson VS-5LT Wallace Clark Short, Jr.19 (17) x SBD-3 VF-3LCDR John Smith Thach27 (25) x F4F-4 VB-3LCDR Maxwell Franklin Leslie 18 (17) x SBD-3 VT-3LCDR Lance Edward…
IAMD Acquisition Updates: E-2D Advanced Hawkeye and SM-3 Blk IIB
Couple of developments in the last week with regards to major systems in our Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) plans for the coming decades: Item: The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has awarded concept definition contracts to three teams competing for the SM-3 Block IIB advanced interceptor (aka: Next Generation Aegis Missile (NGAM)). Designed to…
PTDO Alert: Calling All Steeljaws
Initial planning is underway for a reunion of all Steeljaws next year, most likely in the Norfolk area. Open to anyone who was a part of the Figthin’ Bitin’ Steeljaws from 1967-1996 (and I think we’ll even welcome SteelBats as well — and if you have to ask, you weren’t one 😉 ). More info…

