Lots of chatter about the net, so I left this alone, as I have posted my thoughts in comment sections.

However..to add some unbearable lightness to the insane naming situation, Rich Casebolt needs to be credited with these brilliant one liners, found in the comments section at Milblogs, on a post by Bublehead:

I can already hear the commentary about having Ford-class carriers in the fleet …

“You can have it any color, as long as it’s gray …”

“Fix Or Repair Daily …”

“Found On Rocks, Damaged …”

“Have you sailed on a Ford, lately?”

“Ford … a Better Idea?”

Would enlisted men on these carriers, who move up to become officers, now be known as Ford Mustangs?

Would the ships of the Battle Groups formed around these carriers now be referred to as Ford Escorts?

Would the Lefties criticize the building of these carriers by referring to them as Ford LTD’s — Long Term Debts?

And finally, I now see the truck ads, featuring these carriers behind the truck (or launched off its catapults) to show that the trucks are “built Ford tough.”

If you need more “gouge” on the USS FORD, Lex’s post, replete with raging commentary is here, and Bubblehead has the “long form” version here,

Well, at least I’m a fighter and not a C-5A!

See what kind of Military aircraft you are!

H/T: SteelJaw Scribe.

“Work is for people who don’t know how to fish.”

I found this posted on Sea Witch’s blog, and since my version of WordPress has and “issue” with YouTube, just head over to her place and see how two brave West Point wanna be officers display their finest special ops intel collection skills in order to win the game this weekend….

Oh, yeah..BEAT ARMY!

Another opportunity to place your blogging in the eyeballs of my few readers…..Take a shot, who knows, you might get famous!

Sea stories….A short one. It’s about people, but it’s about signs.

Ships, quite necessarily, have bulkheads and doors and hatches for the purposes of preventing the spread of fire and flooding. Modern day warships also have a wonderful thing called “air conditioning.’ Basically, while the average reader understands “AC” as a creature comfort, yet aboard ship, that machinery is there primarily to keep the electronics cool, so the operating life is long. If you are able to gain some creature comfort as a result of being where the AC is, then it’s a bonus. Modify that with the ships built in the post-Vietnam era allowed for the crew living spaces to be air conditioned, to be nice to the crews.

Toss in that the AC you encounter in such spaces as Radio Central, the data processing center, transmitter rooms, and Combat Information Centers (CIC) is set to almost arctic condition levels, because the “twidget” maintainers believe the colder it is, the longer the equipment lives, and ergo, it’s longer between casualties, which then requires lots of work to fix the finicky items. If you read persona accounts of life on ships in the modern era, you will most likely come across accounts of sailors, while deployed to such wonderful vacation spots as the Persian Gulf and the equatorial Indian Ocean regions will add a top layer of a “Pea Coat” or a foul weather jacket on top of their dungarees to go and stand/sit their watch in Radio, SONAR, or CIC related spaces.

So, to the story. In order to “save” the cool, you need to maintain the “Air Conditioning boundaries,” where there are doors and hatches to the outside world, or the below decks engineering spaces. When ships are built, or overhauled, there are usually engraved bakelite plaques, mounted at eye level stating “Air Conditioning boundary – Keep Closed” (or words to that effect). Of course, some of the doors are on well traveled paths within the ship and in many cases, it makes sense, like loading stores, or bringing the stuff back from the SERVMART run, to hook or prop the doors open while carrying boxes, etc through the passageway.

Curious how this ends? Click here —> Read the rest of this entry »

Go forth, have fun, make many graphics!

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

H/T: Counsel-at-Arms

Today, In honor of the 231st Birthday, I’m posting the donation button for Team Marines.

We Navy guys have been hauling them all over the world to get to “the office,” all the while as they are eating all the ice cream and bitching complaining that they’ve seen all the movies.

Once more, it looks like the Marines could use a lift to get to where they can then be successful, and here it is:

Warning to you Grunts: I have no ice cream, the weight room is the pay for gym down the street and where I live and sleep won’t rock you to sleep, but I can offer “support” for your cause.

VC, how about spread the word: Donation Button for TEAM USMC, no waiting line!

First of all, mea culpa for not getting this up as the sun went past the yard arm. My apologies. Hammer up those great trackbacks and get some readership from my small stable of transient visitors!

During most weeks, I load up the old mental VHS tapes and surf thru them and see which story tickles my fancy (and hoping it will do the same for your fancy), but I was a little preoccupied.

Just at this moment, I recalled the end of a Combined Federal Campaign on my second ship. There’s a story here about sacrificial giving that fits the theme:

It was the last day and the goal wasn’t met, but it was not much more than propbaly $100 away from a successful mark in my “Fitness Report” (FITREP). Back in those days, such things were “challenges” to be faced and defeated, where,. later in life, I have come to understand it’s about us actually considering much more about the comfort of our fellow man.

AS I stood up on the bridge (we were inport), one of the operations specialist’s came up the centerline ladeer from Combat Information Center (CIC). I knew he was one who’s name wasn’t on the division’s envelope, so I asked him if his “division representative” (the division’s chief petty officer in his case) had given him the chance to donate. He started tap dancing, and I knew the Chief was anyting but a supporter of the CFC campaign and had grudginly taken the assignment, but I could tell he didn’t really want to give anything because of something the Chief had said. I was crest fallen, so near, yet so far from a third campaign of my career going in the “Collected 100%” column on the next FITREP. Then he asked a question:

“Does the money go where you write on the card?” “Yes, Didn’t the Chief tell you that?” “No, he said they let you do that to feel good, but they send it where they want to.”

I assured him the money went as designated. I said it with a false confidence then, but found out later I was correct.

He took a card and filled it out, indicating a pretty good sized dollar amount, particularly for an E3. He turned the contribution card over and wrote one charity for the approved listing, and handed it to me. I met goal. He put his money to something he knew was a good place. Win (Command looked good), win (I looked good), win (for his conscience) and for the charity and those it served, a win, too.

I’m not going to pull up a bunch of links, for much of my post is commonly known information.

Premises:

Liberals don’t like the military
Liberals think military members are too stupid to get a job “in the real world”
Liberals don’t want the Military recruiting on college campuses
Military recruiting goals continue to be met (which drives liberals crazy)

My analysis:

jfk (for he is not worthy of large letters like the man of stature with those initials who preceded him) last week on a college campus was just out there, using a different tactic to knock back recruiting numbers.

I guess he’s never head of “blowback.”

I’ve commented many times, the Democrats are chasing off the very people who would comprehend strategy and tactics…but, hey, they won’t take my advice.

If you want some real recruiter gouge, check out Station Commando, especially this post! It’s a hoot!

BTW, SC got a hat tip from Chris Muir, the author of the comic strip “Day by Day,” for getting the “Stuck in IraK” picture.