He flew low over Cuba, then visited 39 years later
November 13th, 2009 | Aviation Historical nuclear weapons | Posted by Andrew Scutro
Some of us here at Scoop Deck prefer to take our news from paper. The deliberate design of words and images on pages you can turn allows a reader to find news or information he or she might have otherwise missed by pointing and clicking.
Take obituaries. They often make good reads not because someone is dead, but because the deceased enjoyed a rewarding life, a life worth sharing with strangers. It’s for that reason that we’d like to point out the obituary of one Capt. William B. Ecker.
It turns out this Omaha-native who went to University of Maryland became a naval aviator with a no kidding role in world history. Read his story to the end. He’s got a great take on one of the world’s most famous communists.
‘Maybe you ought to surf somewhere else’
November 10th, 2009 | Sports The Pacific | Posted by Andrew Scutro
The looming U.S. military build-up in Guam has some asking how everyone will fit on the Pacific island. Surfers, as it turns out in this story, are also wondering how everyone will get along when more non-locals try to catch waves too.
San Juan and the SANDF
November 6th, 2009 | Carriers Foreign navies Historical Submarines | Posted by Andrew Scutro
Groton-based fast attack submarine San Juan arrives in South Africa for "regional security cooperation activities" and other events.//USN
In what’s becoming almost a habit, another U.S. Navy ship has stopped to visit South Africa. On Nov. 4, the fast attack submarine San Juan pulled into Simon’s Town for what 6th Fleet bills as a “first-ever, at-sea” engagement with that nation’s undersea fleet.
San Juan follows the destroyer Arleigh Burke, which arrived in Durban on July 13 for a similar visit. And last October, the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt and cruiser Monterey stopped in Cape Town, marking the first time a U.S. flattop had been to South Africa since the Franklin D. Roosevelt made a stop in 1967.
The U.S. Navy has been building ties with the South Africans steadily in recent years. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead met naval leadership there in April.
For most of the second half of the 20th century South Africa was an international pariah because of its segregation policy known as “apartheid,” which was repealed in 1991. Check out the South African military here.
The new Ford model
November 5th, 2009 | Carriers | Posted by Andrew Scutro
Northrop Grumman has announced a date for the ceremonial keel-laying of the Navy’s new class of aircraft carrier. On Nov. 14, dignitaries and media will crowd into the Newport News shipyard for a ceremonial beginning of the Gerald R. Ford, CVN 78.
The last of the Nimitz-class carriers, the George H.W. Bush, was commissioned on a bright but chilly Jan. 10 by the former president himself. President Ford’s daughter Susan Ford Bales is CVN 78’s sponsor and her initials will be welded into the ship’s steel.
Like the first President Bush, Ford served in the Navy during World War II. The first of the Ford carriers is expected to join the fleet in 2015 with a host of new technologies and design changes from the Nimitz ships.
Just don’t call ‘em desert squids
November 3rd, 2009 | The Middle East individual augmentees | Posted by Andrew Scutro
At one point in the Navy’s recent history, sailors serving ashore in Iraq and Afghanistan, often as individual augmentees in Army units, took to calling themselves “dirt sailors.” The brass didn’t like that, we learned. Maybe it was due to the implied value of “dirt.” Sailors, accustomed to being at sea and surrounded by water were merely being observant, as their usual habitat had suddenly turned dry and ah, dirty.
Today however, a new light has been cast. In remarks during a ceremony for the Stockdale Award at the Pentagon, Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, was describing the current duties of the winners, both ashore in Iraq. He said they are what he “affectionately” refers to as “sand sailors.” So, sand sailors it is.
Vectors. Found, and lost.
October 27th, 2009 | Personnel Science and technology Submarines | Posted by Andrew Scutro
Some things are just motivating, like the last few words of the Star Spangled Banner, sacks of cash, hot steak sandwiches and of course, the Five Vector Model. The Scoop Deck staff is on an eternal search for reliable sightings of the Five Vector Model and yes, we found another one, pictured above. It was in Groton. Here is one example we keep in the archive, a sighting from the Navy’s Birthday in 2006, somewhere in the Pacific. If you see a 5VM, in any form, please send in a photo. Probably the most prized example would be a “5VM” vanity license plate. Or a tattoo. That would be sweet.
Fun Fact for the kids: note the difference in vector type and amount between the above example from Groton and the one from the Essex in 2006.
Undersea update
October 23rd, 2009 | Submarines nuclear weapons | Posted by Andrew Scutro
Just in time for the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium next week here near Washington, D.C., the good news arrives that the ballistic missile submarine West Virginia successfully launched two unarmed D-5 Trident II ballistic missiles on Oct 23., likely off the Navy’s missile test facility in Port Canaveral, Fla.
Maybe more likely to come up in discussion at Sub League will be the recent honor bestowed on the crew of the fast attack submarine Hartford. They were commended on Oct. 20 for 1,000 consecutive days without any of the 140 crew involved in a drunk driving incident. What might ignite a few wisecracks during a coffee break is that Hartford has been under repair at Electric Boat in Groton because on March 20 in the Strait of Hormuz it collided with the amphib New Orleans.
Combination covers, combined
October 8th, 2009 | Foreign navies Officers Uniforms | Posted by Andrew Scutro
MC1 Tiffani Vanderwyst, Navy
When admirals from 100 different navies gather, they need a place to stack their covers. This was the pile-up outside a meeting of the International Seapower Symposium at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. on Oct. 7. Scoop Deck usually has a sharp eye for detail but this one is a tough nut. Good luck placing more than three on a map.
Is there a separate Facebook for officers?
September 22nd, 2009 | Officers leadership | Posted by Andrew Scutro
Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, has joined the millions who use social media.// MC1 Tiffini Jones Vanderwyst/ Navy
It was only a matter of time. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead has a Facebook page. He also has a Twitter account.
Paint your own cammies
September 21st, 2009 | Life at Sea Uniforms | Posted by Andrew Scutro
A sailor with paint-spattered coveralls (right) compares his trousers to the new Navy Working Uniform. //Photo by Sheila Vemmer, Navy Times
Check out this photo taken aboard the cruiser Anzio in the Middle East. Good to know that if you can’t afford the new Navy Working Uniform (which was designed to hide grease and paint), a bucket of paint and a set of blue coveralls will do the trick.
So wait … the Navy spent $226 million to field a new uniform, just to have it look like another uniform it wants to hide?