Watch the Coast Guard take down drug smugglers
November 13th, 2009 | Coast Guard Maritime operations Ships Video | Posted by Phil Ewing
It’s been a long, cold, rainy week here at the Center of Excellence, so what better way to wrap things up than by taking a mental vacation to the warm, exotic eastern Pacific? And, since we’re transporting ourselves there anyway, why not imagine some kind of motivational at-sea operations during the trip? No need to tax your brain — check out this video from the Coast Guard.
The national security cutter Bertholf interdicted four high speed vessels suspected of transporting cocaine — or maybe those guys are just dumping fish food overboard — using its MH-65C Dolphin helicopter and its small boats. Of particular delight here on the Deck were the shots of the Bertholf itself, which, as you’ll see at about 1:36, is throwing out an enormous heat plume as it runs its diesels and gas turbine at full CODAG power. Cool.
H/T: Coast Guard Capt. Bruce Baffer, who showed this movie Thursday in a presentation at a Surface Navy Association event outside Washington.
The end of the JATO era
October 29th, 2009 | Aviation Morale Navy The greenside Video | Posted by Phil Ewing
The Blue Angels' beloved Marine-crewed C-130T, "Fat Albert," will do its last jet-assisted takeoff Nov. 14, to the dismay of males everywhere // Navy
A seldom-discussed but important rite of passage for every American boy is the first time he hears the story of “the JATO car,” the infamous station wagon whose owner augmented it with Jet Assisted Take Off rocket bottles. The cops found the wreckage of his car crashed into the side of a mountain, the story goes, clear evidence of a man who sacrificed his life to absurd speed-demonism. You can do insane, dangerous, awesome things in this world, the boy learns.
The rite is completed when that boy, perhaps by then a man, learns the story isn’t true. It never happened. And the chances it could ever happen are dwindling, because the world is running out of JATO rockets, according to this story by Scoop Deck shipmate Amy McCullough of Marine Corps Times. One of the last U.S. aircraft to regularly execute jet-assisted takeoffs — the Blue Angels’ beloved, Marine-crewed C-130T “Fat Albert” — will do its last one next month. The end of the “JATO car” legend can’t be far behind. Wrote McCullough:
“Everyone in the Fat Albert shop is really sad,” said Maj. Drew Hess, the Blue Angels’ senior C-130 pilot. “It is a significant chapter [in the team’s history] that unfortunately is being closed.”
To execute a JATO, Fat Albert uses eight solid-fuel rocket bottles, which supply enough momentum for the aircraft to leave the runway after traveling just 1,500 feet. Climbing at a 45-degree angle, it can reach 1,000 feet in just 15 seconds.
The [one-time use] fuel bottles, which weigh about 150 pounds when full, were designed to thrust C-130s skyward in austere conditions where traditional runways are unavailable, said 1st Lt. Craig Thomas, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon. But the Corps hasn’t used JATO in combat since the Vietnam War, he said, and it’s unlikely to do so again, as newer KC-130Js have engines built to exert the same thrust as C-130Ts outfitted with rocket bottles.
Cruel, inescapable progress. Kind of like growing up.
Check out this motivational video of Fat Albert doing its thing:
CNN discovers skepticism of “Global Force for Good”
October 20th, 2009 | Morale Personnel Video Washington leadership | Posted by Phil Ewing
Sailors from the dock landing ship Tortuga conducted global goodness operations in the Philippines last week. The Navy's new slogan, "Global Force For Good," has encountered some early critics // MC1 Geronimo Aquino/ Navy
How influential are Navy Times readers like you? When CNN wanted to hear what no-kidding Navy people thought about the sea service’s new recruiting slogan, “America’s Navy, a Global Force For Good,” the network quoted posts on Navy Times’ forums that showed, for the most part, today’s sailors aren’t quite captivated by it.
CNN’s Lou Dobbs program aired the piece Monday night, and you can view it here.
There’s just something about this story… even after our article appeared summarizing responses from many of the sailors we asked about “Global Force For Good,” the emails have kept pouring into the Inbox of Excellence. Just yesterday we heard from Intelligence Specialist 1st Class (SW/AW) Grant Miles, who was watching TV with his wife this weekend when he saw the ad for the first time:
“…[O]nce it was done I asked her what she thought. She said, ‘It’s a good commercial, but what is with that slogan? It makes it sound like you guys are the world’s police force or a bunch of conquerors.’ So I think the latest commercials have been great but with the changing of the slogan I don’t think people are going to join because they can do good things.”
It’s been a few weeks since the debut of “Global Force For Good.” Is it growing on you?
Time to decelerate your life, become a force for good
September 30th, 2009 | Personnel The deckplates Video Washington leadership | Posted by Phil Ewing
"Oh yeah, that part, where it says your life will be accelerated? Just disregard. Instead you'll be part of a global force for good." // MCC Hugh Laughlin/ Navy
If you’re thinking of joining the Navy, be advised: When you enlist, your life will proceed at the same speed at which it’s currently traveling. But on the other hand, you will go from being a neutral recruit to a global force for good. That’s right: The Navy is pulling back “Accelerate Your Life” as its advertising slogan and rolling out a new one — “America’s Navy: A Global Force For Good” — in hopes that it will appeal to today’s generation of youngsters.
When you picked up this week’s Navy Times — you did, right? — you might have seen an example of the Navy’s new print ads on page 2, right inside the cover. And here is one of the first TV spots, hosted on the Navy’s official YouTube channel:
What do you think? Will the idea of joining a “force for good” really appeal to the kids today? If you’re one of these kids today, does the new slogan make you want to join up?
Big gun: Boom
September 24th, 2009 | Photos Science and technology Ships Video | Posted by Phil Ewing
An experimental version of the destroyer Zumwalt's Advanced Gun System fired a test round Sept. 16 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah // Ken Tillges/ Navy
Remember DDG 1000? With all this talk about ballistic missile defense and littoral combat ships these days, it can be easy to lose sight of the Navy’s planned three-ship Zumwalt class, now quietly under construction (on time, on cost) up at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.
Here’s a reminder: A prototype of the Zumwalt’s 155mm Advanced Gun System fired a test round out in Utah last week, according to a Navy photograph posted Thursday. Apparently technicians were experimenting with a new coating to lengthen the life of the gun’s barrel.
Here’s another reminder. This movie about the AGS is an oldie but a goodie — and it’s “more than a simple animation. It is a real time engineering-level model:”
Achieve full military cleanliness with WASHEX 09
September 23rd, 2009 | Life at Sea Morale The deckplates Video Washington | Posted by Phil Ewing
Proper cleanliness is important, according to the Navy, from the barrel of a 5-inch gun to your own hands. A new video demonstrates how to wash them the Navy way // Navy
Navy work is dirty work. Whether you’re elbow-deep in a gas turbine or handling delicate china teacups at a black-tie embassy reception in Jakarta, it’s gonna get messy out there. That, presumably, is what spurred the creation of this video demonstrating how you should wash your hands — the Navy way. ‘Cause you’ve been doin’ it wrong, shipmate!
According to the Navy video, you should spend enough time working in the soap lather to hum “Anchors Aweigh,” and then treat every surface in the restroom like a mysophobiac: Don’t touch the faucet after you’ve rinsed! You’ll get germs! Get a paper towel, dry your hands, and then use the towel to turn off the water. Then, use the towel to open and close the door to the head. When you have exited, you are authorized to dispose of the towel.
The only problem with this technique is letting the water run during the time it takes you to obtain a paper towel, conduct hand-drying operations, and then secure the flow of water from the tap. Leaving the tap on uses at least 3 gallons of water per minute — imagine the amount of water that would be wasted if everyone in the Pentagon washed their hands this way.
And aboard a ship? That could mean everybody’s favorite words underway: Water hours.
Did the pilot paint a UFO on the side of the jet?
September 9th, 2009 | Aviation Blogs Science and technology Video | Posted by Phil Ewing
An F/A-18E Super Hornet of VFA 27, the "Royal Maces," gets set to launch from the carrier George Washington. The fighter was not equipped with plasma-ray cannons for engaging alien spacecraft. // MC3 Charles Oki
Foreign navies and foreign news sources are usually Scoop Deck’s most reliable sources for UFO-related naval gouge, from the Royal Navy destroyer that downed a flying saucer to those poor Soviet frogmen who went to Alien Davy Jones’ Outer-Space Locker after their underwater run-in with little green men.
This time, a new twist: The “encounter” was American, although it’s being reported by Britain’s eminent daily The Sun: Apparently video was “leaked” showing an F/A-18 Hornet flying in close formation with an otherworldly ship of some kind, y’know, one of those intergalactic spacecraft that burns jet fuel and leaves a clear vapor contrail under certain atmospheric conditions. The Sun, by the way, has a history of finding some really good UFO sightings.
Anyone who’s seen the documentary “Independence Day” will remember that a Hornet is easily a match for alien fighters in terms of maneuverability and combat power, so the fact that this one is keeping pace with the UFO shouldn’t be a surprise.
Scoop Deck worked some high-level sources in the Pentagon and was able to come up with the footage in question, so it’s time to put on your science-caps: What do you think this thing is?
H/T: Phib
Mids: It’s OK, Buckeyes, boo if you must
August 26th, 2009 | Life at Sea Naval Academy Video | Posted by Phil Ewing
The Naval Academy Midshipmen celebrate their victory over Army Dec. 6, 2008 in Philadelphia // MC2 Kevin O'Brien/Navy
Here’s a tip if you ever find yourself in Central Ohio: If you need to shop for groceries, get your oil changed, or do anything else for which you hate crowds and waiting in line, do it on a Saturday afternoon in the fall. From Springfield to Newark, the Columbus metropolitan area will be shut down so everyone in town can pack into the infamous “Shoe” and watch Columbus’ pro football team the Ohio State Buckeyes beat the stuffing out of some Big 10 patsy.
Only for the first game this season, the Bucks are hosting an unusual opponent: the Naval Academy Midshipmen, who face long odds going up against the Scarlet and Gray Barricade. Still, Ohio State officials don’t want the home crowd of sports patrons to give the Mids the usual High Street Welcome, a.k.a. booing and hissing. Instead, OSU is calling for Buckeye fans to politely applaud the Mids, to thank them for their service.
Don’t worry, it only looks like it’s sinking
August 21st, 2009 | Life at Sea Science and technology Ships Video | Posted by Phil Ewing
The Scripps Oceanographic Institute's Floating Resarch Platform, or FLIP, bobbed off Hawaii Aug. 17 as part of an Office of Naval Research project // Navy
The Office of Naval Research needs a lot of specialized gear to do its naval research, and there are few pieces of floating equipment as specialized as the FLoating Instrument Platform, or FLIP, a 355-foot long baseball bat-shaped rig that does its work bobbing vertically out of the ocean.
This thing is pretty cool: Ballast tanks flood at the grip-end of the bat and slowly sink it, lifting up the manned end. And that end of the platform has a bow and a conventional-looking ship’s hull, which can make the platform look like a permanently sinking ship. FLIP’s working spaces are designed to adapt seamlessly to a 90-degree change in orientation, including rotating cabinets, multiple desks, and bulkheads that become decks.
See it in action here:
FLIP is one of a few ships taking part in an ONR program studying Radiance in a DYnamic Ocean, or RaDyO, a five-year project devoted to researching the way light behaves in the ocean. Scoop Deck speculates that the study’s findings may prove useful in improving the way submarines communicate with surface ships or satellites — using lasers, perhaps. But RaDyO’s first official goal is this: “Examine time-dependent oceanic radiance distribution in relation to dynamic surface boundary layer processes.”
Which is what we meant to say.
Talk to the chairman. Just not from your work PC
August 21st, 2009 | Blogs Personnel The deckplates Video Washington | Posted by Phil Ewing
"A toast to all the people following me on Twitter!" //MC1 Chad McNeeley/Navy
Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen is all about making connections on the inter-tubes — he’s on Twitter, he’s on the new Defense.gov, he’s on Facebook – he’s the onlineiest chairman in the history of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His latest initiative is a kind of virtual all-hands call, for which he wants you — yes, YOU — to submit a video question on YouTube that’ll go into the hopper of questions he will address in his own YouTube responses.
The only problem is, if you’re at work and on the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet or many other Defense Department computer systems, you probably can’t access YouTube. It’s blocked. Maybe that’s something worth asking Mullen about.
If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the pitch for you to submit your question, complete with Mullen’s rockin’, feel-good theme:
