Sights from the annual Herndon Monument climb
May 22nd, 2012 | Navy | Posted by Jacqueline Klimas
Here are some images from Tuesday’s Herndon climb. Midshipman 4th Class Andrew Craig, 19, of Tulsa, Okla., was this year’s top plebe.
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- Plebes struggled to not slide down the greased Herndon Monument during Tuesday’s climb. (Jacqueline Klimas / Staff)
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- Plebes fell into the crowd several times during the climb before reaching the top. (Jacqueline Klimas/Staff)
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- Plebes get stepped on during Tuesday’s climb of the greased-up Herndon Monument as competitors fight to get to the top. (Jacqueline Klimas / Staff)
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- Midshipman 4th Class Andrew Craig reaches the top of the Herndon Monument 2 hours, 10 minutes, 13 seconds, after the climb started, where he finally swapped out the “Dixie cup” for the midshipman’s cover. (Jacqueline Klimas / Staff)
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- Midshipmen 4th Class celebrate after the Herndon climb is complete, marking the end of plebe year. (Jacqueline Klimas/Staff)
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- Midshipman 4th Class Andrew Craig, right, celebrates with friends at the completion of his successful climb. “I give all the credit to my teammates,” Craig said. (Jacqueline Klimas / Staff)
Report: ‘Battleship’ numbers could sink studio’s bottom line
May 21st, 2012 | Movies Navy | Posted by Kevin Lilley
Navy Secretary (and "Battleship" star) Ray Mabus, left, and director Peter Berg attended a May 14 screening of the film in Washington. Other screenings at other theaters last weekend weren't as crowded. (Navy photo by MCC Sam Shavers)
There were special screenings for sailors stateside and promotional events abroad. There was a massive marketing campaign that involved sandwich shops and soda makers. There was a positive review from Military Times’ octoplex guru. There was a cameo by the Navy Department’s top civilian.
Despite all that, and despite an overseas box office take worth more than $220 million, movie-industry reports are pretty much unanimous: “Battleship” bombed.
Deadline Hollywood reports a $25.3 million take for the film over its debut weekend in U.S., well behind “The Avengers,” which topped $55 million in its third weekend. One analyst quoted in this Reuters report said “Battleship” needed to hit $50 million in its opening weekend if it wanted to break even on production costs that topped $200 million. The numbers are low enough to drag down profits for the movie’s studio, Universal, owned by media giant Comcast, according to the Reuters report. The studio makes back about half the money from each ticket sold and even less on overseas tickets, according to Reuters, so $245 million in sales on a $200 million release doesn’t add up to movie magic.
Box Office Mojo, which tracks ticket sales in-depth, reports “Battleship” fell short on opening weekend no matter how you measure it: It was beaten in opening-weekend take by other toy-based movies (“GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and the first “Transformers”), other alien invasion movies (“Cowboys and Aliens” and “Battle: Los Angeles”) and even other special-effects-laden disasters (“John Carter” took in $30.2 million its first week).
In other words, Navy officials hoping for a cameo in “Battleship 2: Battleship Harder” may have a long wait.
Shellback ceremony, circa 2012
May 18th, 2012 | Life at Sea Marine Corps Morale Navy Traditions | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Their ship’s maiden deployment now on the homestretch to San Diego, Calif., after duty in the 5th Fleet region, the crew aboard amphibious assault ship Makin Island took a little time to mark that long-held seagoing tradition of crossing the equator, the Shellback Ceremony.
No, it’s not exactly the casting call for the next sequel to “Pirates of the Caribbean.” But from the looks of these photos, a little fun was had by the pollywogs, even the “Boss Wog.” Not as crazy as those ceremonies of years gone by, for sure, but for the sailors aboard the ship, it gives them a chance to join in the organized ritual of lighthearted shaming and teasing and provides a much sought-out break from the constant of operations at sea.
The crew of the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which also is making its way home to San Diego, recently shared in their own fun, as you can see from photos posted in April on this online “gCaptain” blog. More are posted on Vinson’s Facebook page.
King Neptune and his court. (Navy photos on Makin Islands' Facebook page)
You want to see how the Marines, embarked on Makin Island with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, officially marked the occasion of crossing the equator? See here and here. Well, at least there’s minimal cleanup required.
A tale of two ships
May 18th, 2012 | 3rd Fleet 7th Fleet Life at Sea Maintenance Navy Ships | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Amphibious assault ship Essex approaches its pier May 17 at San Diego Naval Base, with Peleliu berthed nearby. (Gidget Fuentes/staff) Below, sailors with Bonhomme Richard join in command exercise May 8 in Sasebo, Japan. (Navy photo by MC2 William T. Jenkins)
Let’s face it: Once you step into a new car – or even a previously-owned vehicle, as used-car dealers say – it’s just not exciting to drive older wheels. Classic rebuilt cars, the exception of course. Trading down just isn’t fun.
So we can feel for the sailors and officers of amphibious assault ship Essex, who this spring took the Wasp-class big-deck Bonhomme Richard from their home in San Diego, Calif., and swapped hulls in Japan, where they exchanged ships and even the official Facebook pages with their Sasebo-based counterparts in the Navy’s latest scheduled hull swap. The San Diego-based crew returned to California May 17 aboard Essex, while the Sasebo crew took ownership of Bonhomme Richard and prepared for upcoming patrols in 7th Fleet. Essex arrived on time, but not before colliding with the oiler Yukon as the ship prepared to take on fuel. Repairs, as well as the investigation, are underway.
The BHR, as some call it, last year completed a major overhaul, a shipyard drydock period that included upgrades to berthing areas, new advanced controls for its boilers and some reworking to accommodate the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft the Marine Corps plans to base in Japan.
Essex, meanwhile, has spent the past 12 years in Japan, where duty with 7th Fleet means shorter, but more frequent, deployments than stateside ships usually have – but without the significant shipyard maintenance periods where crews and workers can really spend time and get their hands and eyes on the ship and its innards. Recent years have seen maintenance problems cropping up even as the ship has gotten underway for patrols in the region, and Essex isn’t alone in the aging fleet in suffering from fewer maintenance dollars and high operational tempo.
The Navy decided to send one of its most updated Gators, the BHR, to replace it in Japan, and give the 21-year-old Essex its much-needed rest and repairs back in the states so the ship can continue to serve in San Diego and operate with 3rd Fleet. (The Navy also has little choice, considering the shrinking size of the overall fleet, including its amphibious Gator community that Marines rely on to get them where they need to go.)
But before that happens, Essex and its crew are slated to participate in the high-visibility “Rim of the Pacific” exercises off Hawaii this summer. Essex will be the big deck among 42 ships participating. After that, the crew will get the ship – and themselves – ready for the drydock phased maintenance availability expected to run 52 weeks. In a February interview, Capt. Chuck Litchfield, Essex’s skipper and former executive officer of BHR and, briefly, Essex, lauded the San Diego crew for the work getting Bonhomme Richard through a successful yard period and sea trials ahead of leaving for Japan, “and I expect to be successful again.” The past year was focused on preparing for the hull swap and crew taking on Essex, eyes wide open. “A new ship is something that you have to learn,” he said.
Hollywood, this is a sailor, not a “soldier”
May 18th, 2012 | Navy | Posted by Joshua Stewart
Battleship director Peter Berg dropped the S-bomb. Unfortunately, he dropped the wrong one.
In a promotional clip, he twice referred to sailors as “soldiers,” a major gaff since nobody in the Navy identifies as a soldier. He said his affinity for the service created a good relationship with the Navy and got his movie the access it needed.
“They know that I love soldiers and that I respect the warrior spirit of any soldier,” Berg said in a clip clogged with both actors and sailors running around in NWUs. “As a result they opened up their doors to us.”
It’s kind of like saying you love your wife but you keep calling her by your ex-girlfriend’s name.
The problem is that “soldier” is purely an Army term. Geeze, even individual augmentees that serve and live alongside soldiers don’t call themselves soldiers – jokingly, they say they’re in the Narmy. And sailors are all proud of what they do and, of course, think that any other branch of the military is blatantly inferior (to be fair, all members of the military think that their service is the best and the others, no offense, are puddles of slime. So in this context, calling a guy running around in NWUs a “soldier” is insulting to members of the Army as well).
Watch for yourself.
USNA official says “Indian Run” offensive
May 17th, 2012 | Navy | Posted by Jacqueline Klimas
MCSN Danian Douglas/ Navy U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2015 run a squad combat training course during the sixth week of Plebe Summer.
Is the term “Indian run” offensive?
Master Chief Engineman (SW) Christopher Gary, an equal opportunity adviser at the Naval Academy, thinks so and he’s sent an email urging officers and chiefs at the academy to consider changing the name of the exercise, The Washington Free Beacon reported.
An Indian run involves midshipmen running in a single file line while the last person in line sprints to the front, which is repeated for the duration of the exercise.
“The term ‘Indian Run’ is used … at various levels here at the Academy, and it is widely used among the public,” Gary wrote in the May 14 email. “I hope all can already see the problem with this, but let me be clear, this is a form of stereotyping.”
According to The Washington Free Beacon, Gary said that he received 52 emails in response, many of which suggested alternative names such as back-to-front sprints, leap frogs or squad sprints.
Others replied to him and accused him of being the “PC police,” The Washington Free Beacon reported.
What do you think? Does Gary have a good point, or is his suggestion too PC?
Sticking to tradition
May 9th, 2012 | Carriers Congress Enterprise Gerald R. Ford Navy Navy secretary Ships Traditions | Posted by Charles Hoskinson
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus — under fire for some of his past ship-naming choices — is winning praise from even his toughest critics for the latest one: The USS Thomas Hudner, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer for which the Navy awarded a construction contract in February.
Medal of Honor recipient retired Capt. Thomas Hudner salutes while taps is played during the Centennial of Naval Aviation wreath laying ceremony at the United States Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. Navy photo.
Hudner, 87, was a Navy aviator patrolling near the Chosin Reservoir in December 1950 when his wingman, Ensign Jesse Brown, was shot down in combat. Hudner crash-landed his plane near Brown’s and tried to save his fellow sailor, the first African-American naval aviator to fly in combat. Brown died, but Hudner earned the Medal of Honor for his efforts.
“Now THIS is how you name a warship,” wrote blogger CDR Salamander, one of those who have criticized Mabus’ past choices.
Naming the latest DDG after Hudner is one in a series of apparently safe choices by Mabus in recent months after a string of decisions that have been criticized as political in nature and at odds with the Navy’s conventions for naming ships. The most recent batch of DDG names previously released were all named after past heroes in keeping with tradition, including one in honor of Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, whose case had been championed by Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), one of Mabus’ key critics on this front. Even the name chosen for the last Zumwalt-class DDG, Lyndon B. Johnson, technically met the convention because the former president had both worn the uniform and received the Silver Star during World War II.
But the controversy already had gotten so bad that it’s put at risk the centuries-old prerogative of the Navy secretary to choose ship names. Congress — at the prodding of some conservatives — in December required the Defense Department to review the service’s ship-naming practices. A report is due by this summer.
Meanwhile, among the high-profile naming opportunities coming up is the next Ford-class aircraft carrier, which by convention would be named after a former president. But there are a lot of people lobbying to transfer the name from the soon-to-be decommissioned carrier Enterprise — which politically would be a safer choice than the USS Richard M. Nixon or the USS Bill Clinton.
Let’s see how Mabus navigates that minefield.
Gay Navy veteran proposes to Marine boyfriend…and he says yes!
May 9th, 2012 | Navy | Posted by Jacqueline Klimas
Cory Huston liked it so he put it a ring on it.
Huston, a Navy veteran who was other-than-honorably discharged in 2006 after a chief found out he was gay, proposed to his boyfriend Avarice Guerrero, a Marine who just returned from Afghanistan, at Camp Pendleton according to San Diego LGBT Weekly. It was the first public proposal between two men on a military base.
“I realized we made it through [this deployment], and I just wanted to show him how much I loved him and that he was the only one I wanted to be with,” Huston told HLN TV.
Though Huston did not propose for the publicity, he and Guerrero have appeared on CNN. Now, the couple would like to use their story to inspire others to be more open.
The couple is waiting to get married until Huston finishes his bachelor’s in nursing.
Aussie Navy is hiring
May 8th, 2012 | Australia Navy | Posted by Sam Fellman
The Australian Navy is seeking former U.S. Navy sailors and officers to man new destroyers and amphibs. // RAN
Interested in sailing with the Royal Australian Navy?
The U.S. Navy may be cutting jobs, but the Australian Navy is adding new ships — and seeking former U.S. sailors and officers to crew them.
“The Royal Australian Navy welcomes enquiries from both officers and sailors who are interested in a new career and new life in Australia,” the Australian defense department said in its recruitment posting. “In the coming decade, the RAN is delivering new capabilities in amphibious warfare, air warfare and also helicopter systems.”
They’re looking for submariners, medical officers and technicians, among others. Aegis experts are needed aboard three Hobart-class destroyers. Maintainers are needed for landing craft, planners are need for amphibious operations. Eligible applicants are 44 or younger and left the Navy within the last three years, according to the job post, recently reported on by Stars and Stripes.
Applications sent now will be considered in July and August, the defense department said.
After delay, Mercy leaves fired up for a mission of help
May 4th, 2012 | Community relations Deployment Disaster response Medical Navy Pacific Partnership | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
With the “global force for good” in mind, some 400 military service members, many of them trained and skilled in the medical and health professions, boarded the hospital ship Mercy at San Diego Naval Base, Calif, on the morning of May 1 for a mission to Southeast Asia. Joining them that day were scores of civilians, volunteers of all ages from universities, nongovernmental organizations and charities who embarked on the ship for “Pacific Partnership 2012,” the seventh iteration of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s humanitarian and civic action program that grew from the widespread disaster of the 2004 tsunami that struck South Asia. The atmosphere on the pier was one of excitement, as if a cruise ship was heading out to sea. In the coming week or two, nearly 1,000 will board the ship for missions in Indonesia, one of four countries Mercy will visit on this deployment, along with the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Sailors manned the rails for the departure through San Diego Bay, a string of white uniforms interrupted by an occasional Air Force blue dress uniform or Army beret. But just as Mercy was preparing to leave her berth, and crews readied to lift the brow and toss the lines, trouble came with a faulty valve in the forward propulsion section. The crowd waited on the pier. It wasn’t long before the ship’s radar went still, and two super tugs waiting to nudge the former tanker-turned-hospital ship from the pier veered away and headed back to their berth nearby. It would be two days before Mercy, with repairs done, would get underway.
The hiccup probably did little to quash the excitement for the mission. “This does energize you,” said Command Master Chief (SW/FMF) Thomas Twigg, Mercy’s command master chief and a 21-year veteran. “Going to Vietnam is going to be a great opportunity, and the chance to visit some of the remote islands in Indonesia.” Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (AW) Amirah Roman volunteered for the mission, a break from her regular duties at Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. She described herself as “a jack-of-all-trades corpsman,” and expects to dabble in everything from patient administration to patient care and medical education during the deployment. She’s been teaching herself a little Tagalog but can’t wait to see Cambodia. “It’s going to be amazing,” she said. “These are all new countries to me.”
Life on the 894-foot-long ship will have a different feel than her previous sea tour aboard the carrier Abraham Lincoln. “It’s smaller but it’s more comfortable,” she said of the berthing spaces and lounges. “They’ve got a Fit Boss, and they even have a Fun Boss.” “It’s kind of like a cruise ship atmosphere,” she added. “You can go see things that you’ve never seen before.” There’s even a nutritionist aboard, she said. Actually, there may even be more than one. Deploying and joining her over the four months will be a wide range of health, medical, dental and even veterinarian experts with the Military Treatment Facility, along with engineers and scores of civilian volunteers, many who will go ashore for civic, humanitarian and disaster relief missions and training. Others will treat patients aboard the ship, which has up to 1,000 beds, vast medical and patient spaces including surgery, radiology and optometry lab. The ship produces its own water, even oxygen, and can hold up to 5,000 units of blood.
The $20 million humanitarian mission will start with Indonesia at the end of May, then onto the other countries for missions lasting two weeks each before the ship returns, probably sometime in September. The mission is about building relationships as much as mending broken bones, fixing teeth and teaching local providers and residents about good health, said Rear Adm. C. Forrest Faison III, who commands Navy Medicine West in San Diego. “We learned that from our experience in Indonesia,” after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami.
Nearly two dozen nongovernmental organizations, from Project Handclasp and World Vets to the University of California-San Diego Pre-Dental Society, will participate. “It’s an opportunity to serve our country in ways others can’t,” said retired Army Lt. Col. Mike Hughes, a physician’s assistant and LDS Charities volunteer who joined his wife Shari, a nurse and veteran of “PP 2010.” This larger presence of volunteers, many who will go ashore to work with military teams and train with local first-responders and NGOs, is noticeable on the ship, crewed by 70 civilian-mariners. “Our people brought a spirit to the ship,” said Dr. Irv Silverstein, the Dental Society’s director and advisor and veteran of previous Pacific Partnerships. “At first, there was a lot of skepticism. By having the civilian engagement concept, there’s less of a feeling that it was a military mission.” Cultural exchanges and training help as well. “It’s not us telling them how to do things,” he said. You can track PP ’12’s own blog here.
Hospital ship Mercy deployed Thursday from San Diego, bound for Southeast Asia and "Pacific Partnership" humanitarian and civic missions. (MC2 Eve-Maria Ramsaran/Navy)