This ain’t no Love Boat
October 2nd, 2009 | Life at Sea Maritime operations Navy Ships | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Guided missile frigate McClusky at sea in this 2003 photo. // MC2 Michael D. Kennedy/Navy
The Drug Buster could be a moniker for the San Diego-based frigate McClusky, which has nearly cornered the market among the gray hulled fleet over the years during deployments while cruising off the coasts of South and Central America. The ship’s crew is preparing to depart for yet another counter-drug deployment on Oct. 5, taking along some SH-60B Seahawk helicopters and a law enforcement team from the Coast Guard, who largely lead the take-down, chase-down, maritime interdiction missions at sea.
The “Mighty Mac” has collected its share of drug busts when it heads to sea on such deployments to support U.S. SouthCom’s Joint Interagency Task Force-South, the Key West, Fla.-based command that heads the military’s drug-busting arm for the past 20 years. During last year’s deployment, McClusky helped nab more than eight tons of cocaine headed to the United States. Just during a three-month deployment in 2007, the ship’s crew helped seized about 12 tons of cocaine, worth a reportedly $306 million.
In October 2005, the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate hauled in about 5,800 pounds of cocaine aboard the fishing vessel Jose Antonio and helped, along with an embarked team of gun-toting Coast Guardsmen, to detain 16 suspected drug traffickers. Just weeks earlier, McClusky interdicted a high-speed boat and found it carried three and a half tons of cocaine, worth almost $100 million.
Since 2000, according to Navy officials, McClusky has made more than 20 drug seizures during deployments to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. Last year, it earned a prestigious honor – the U.S. Interdiction Coordinator Award – given by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for “superior operational expertise and outstanding teamwork.” The award noted 11 operations in the U.S. Southern Command region that collected $300 million worth of cocaine.
But going out to sea isn’t all about countering the drug trade. In 2004, McClusky’s crew helped save 169 Ecuadoran migrants stranded for two weeks on two boats and, in the summer of 2002, rescued a Los Angeles man adrift on his sailboat in the Pacific for nearly four months after his mast broken in half. The crew passed around the cap and gathered a collection, handing the mariner $800 to help him on his way.
What lurks beneath?
July 21st, 2009 | Aviation Carriers Diving Historical | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
SB2C-4 banks over USS Hornet in the China Sea in January 1945 . Navy photo.
Local fishermen in search of some record large-mouth bass in a San Diego-area lake last winter found something else on their electronic fish finder: A World War II carrier bomber.
A cursory look determined the airplane is a Curtiss SBC2 Helldiver, a daring dive-bomber that apparently had made an emergency landing into Lower Otay Reservoir, southeast of San Diego, during a bombing test run on May 28, 1945, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The Navy had bought more than 7,000 of the Helldiver, which joined with the better-known Douglas SBD Dauntless on bombing runs during the Pacific theater campaigns in the latter half of World War II. The Helldiver found in the lake’s depths has been identified as a Variant 4 model.
The Texas-based Commemorative Air Force maintains a restored SB2C, often flying it at air shows and demonstrations. It’s not known yet if the airplane can be safely recovered and salvaged, perhaps as a vintage museum display. A dozen Navy divers in San Diego on July 23 will take to the lake for a site survey and a closer look at the airplane, said Lt. Katherine Raia, a spokeswoman with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 1 in San Diego.
It’s take 3 for space shot
July 10th, 2009 | NASA Navy Officers SEALs Science and technology | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
It’s probably a good thing that NASA’s pool of astronauts include quite a few military officers. Who better to understand the “hurry up and wait” lifestyle that is the military?
We told you last month about preparations for the planned June 13 launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, whose seven-member crew of space sailors, including only the second Navy SEAL to ever venture into space, will do a 16-day mission that will haul parts of Japan’s Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. But hydrogen leaks in a gas vent line leading to the exterior fuel tank forced NASA officials to twice scrub the flight and delay the mission.
Space Shuttle Endeavour sat at Launch Pad 39A Friday as storm clouds loomed overhead. NASA-TV photo
On Friday morning, though, NASA gave the STS-127 mission a “go,” with a scheduled launch time of 7:39 p.m. Saturday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But at this point, NASA says, it looks like weather might be the decider on that evening launch time and date, since the forecast includes scattered thunderstorms throughout the weekend. NASA predicted a 40 percent for conditions good enough to launch on Saturday.
Endeavour’s crew for this planned flight has a strong, multi-service, “purple” representation: Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Army.
Mission specialists including Cmdr. Christopher Cassidy, a Navy SEAL and Afghanistan veteran who will ride Endeavour on his first flight into space if all goes well with the weather and barring any other delays. Again, we say hooyah! Cassidy will follow on the heels of his mentor, retired Capt. William M. Shepherd, the first Navy SEAL to ride a shuttle into space. The Air Force is represented – shuttle commander Mark Polansky is a retired test pilot and veteran of two shuttle missions, STS-98 and STS-116 while mission specialist Dave Wolf[cqgf] is a former flight surgeon. So, too, is the Army, as mission specialist Col. Tim Kopra, a helicopter test pilot, will leave on his first flight and remain on the space station as he swaps out with Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who will return to Earth with Endeavour’s crew. A Marine will be at the controls when Lt. Col. Doug Hurley, the shuttle pilot, goes on his first spaceflight.
If the weather clears up, once the shuttle takes off, you’ll be able to track each of the day’s work on an interactive site. You also can read about what favorite tokens astronauts will take with them for their space ride. Cassidy is carrying several coins and patches from SEAL units.
You can even reach them on Twitter. Polansky, the mission commander, is “Astro_127.” “We’ll have our L-1 day shuttle systems review and launch weather briefing at 2000 EDT,” he wrote Friday evening. You can track him on MySpace and YouTube.
Let’s hope the weather cooperates.
Military space geeks, take note
June 5th, 2009 | NASA Officers SEALs | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Today marks the final week counting down to the scheduled launch of space shuttle Endeavour, whose seven-member crew of space sailors is yet another “purple” multi-service representation, including a Navy SEAL. Endeavour is scheduled for a 7:17 a.m. EDT liftoff on Saturday, June 13, from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The 16-day mission of STS-127 marks the final flight hauling parts of Japan’s Kibo Laboratory to the International Space Station.
One of the mission specialists is Navy Cmdr. Christopher Cassidy(below), a SEAL and decorated Afghanistan veteran who will ride Endeavour on his first flight into space. Hooyah! Cassidy will be the second SEAL to go into space, a feat previously done by his mentor, retired Navy Capt. William M. Shepherd, who was the international space station’s first commander.
Endeavour’s shuttle commander, Mark Polansky, is a retired Air Force test pilot who’s done two shuttle missions, STS-98 and STS-116. Veteran mission specialist Dave Wolf is a former Air Force flight surgeon. The shuttle pilot is Marine Lt. Col. Doug Hurley, going on his first space flight. Army Col. Tim Kopra, a mission specialist also on his first flight, is a helicopter test pilot who will stay aboard the space station while Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will hitch a ride back to Earth.
The shuttle crew will be quarantined at the Johnson Space Center in Houston starting tomorrow until they return to Florida Tuesday to prepare for the flight. NASA officials gave the mission a “go,” although bad weather could delay the launch. Space buffs can track the mission online or on NASA-TV. There’s also a cool interactive site to track each day’s work.
You can even reach them on Twitter. The mission commander is “Astro_127.” Twittering won’t end when Endeavour reaches orbit. Folks can query the crew via video tweets — they must be less than 30 seconds — posted on YouTube, with the video link sent to his Twitter account. NASA will pick questions for him to answer live on NASA-TV. We’ll have to wait for his reponse to this question already posted: “What would happen if you fly into a black hole?” Let’s hope we won’t find out.