I lost a friend today. We have lost a friend, a father, husband — a comrade in arms. Fellow aviator and blogger-at-arms, Neptunus Lex, was killed earlier today when the F-21 Kfir he was flying in support of Top Gun’s adversary squadron crashed at NAS Fallon. No word on the cause as yet. …
Every now and then I get a chance to reach escape velocity from my day job and do something really fun or different. Recently that entailed presenting a BMD overview to a couple of classes that were part of the Naval War College’s Non-Resident Seminar program (of which YHS is a graduate). And like any…
Arriving in the mail today — the E-2D IOT&E patch. IOT&E (Initial Operational Test & Evaluation) is a critical milestone event for the E-2D program. Conducted by VX-1, operating out of Pax River, IOT&E provides an opportunity to test the aircraft and weapons system in a more dynamic environment than what was present for developmental…
Earlier this week we celebrated the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s orbital flight, marking our full entry into the space race with the Soviets. Signatory of the mission was our first use of an ICBM to launch Glenn into orbit — the previous missions had been suborbital and used the Redstone missile, itself an SRBM…
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…
Easy folks — completely SFW here 😉 So Scribe — what exactly do they mean by a “Commander’s Moon” ? Well, strictly defined, a “commander’s moon” is: “A night lighting condition with clear skies and a large (late phase) moon, to provide optimum lighting condition for night flights, and especially night traps. Favored by, and…
Have you submitted your ballot yet? Vote online at www.associationvoting.com/usni or make sure your paper ballot is postmarked by 12 March. Why vote? Some reasons (and recommendations) may be found here — and yes, I am a candidate for the Board of Directors. Come on folks, let’s get out the vote – w/r, SJS
When all else fails – and your butt is on the line with a major PR catastrophe looming, it is best to man-up, square your shoulders and do your duty as organizational lead by assuming responsibility before The Big Guy…unless you are the head of Russia’s ROSKOSMOS space agency. Then you can hint darkly about…
It is January and this month’s issue of Proceedings and Naval History will include the ballot for the next Board of Directors. In contrast, I think, to years past there is a wide selection of candidates to chose from who come from a number of paths – aviators, SWOs, submariners; Navy, Marines and Coast Guard,…
From Navy Times: When an E-2C Hawkeye snagged the arresting cable on the carrier John C. Stennis on Dec. 18, it marked the official end of naval air missions of the Iraq War. The Hawkeye, from Airborne Early Warning Squadron 112, the “Golden Hawks,†was shot off Stennis at 7:32 a.m. and provided early warning…
