Bring The HEAT

How I spent my summer vacation

You may have noticed I haven’t been around much.  That’s because I’ve spent the last three weeks on the road.  A goodly portion of that time was without internet access, and even when I did have internet, I was pretty much too busy to blog.

Fourth of July weekend was spent at a lake house on Lake Smith, Alabama. While the heat and humidity was ghastly, it was great being with family, and there’s no denying that the view was terrific.

Plus, there was a cat.

A quick side trip to Decatur, Alabama to visit kin (sadly, because I had no cell service, I couldn’t tell Roamy I was in her neighborhood). And if you’re gonna visit Decatur, Alabama, you simply must visit Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ.

The 4th itself was spent in Birmingham, watching fireworks over the statue of Vulcan.

I spent a little time with one of the newest members of the clan.

After that, it was off to Texas, where the incomparable Aggierican was the Hostess with the Mostess!

First item on the agenda was a mini-meetup with friends at the Facebook-famous El Arroyo.

Next up was a visit to Stinson Field, where the municipal airport (KSSF), which, this being Texas, has a great BBQ restaurant with some fantastic brisket. Nearby is a cheap, but surprisingly good museum, with an eclectic collection of displays. And cats to keep the mice away.

After 2 hours in that museum, which lacked air conditioning on a 95F/90% humidity day, it was time to spend 2 hours in the US Army Medical Corps museum at Fort Sam Houston, which, in addition to being a terrific museum, was blessedly very well air conditioned.

We were running out of time, but the railroad medical car was impressive.

Up to 27 litter patients, 6 medics, a doctor, a full galley,  restroom and shower, office space, and even a sanitizer.

Right down to the Army Medical Department crockery service.

As a World of Warships player, there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to visit the mighty USS Texas.

The old gal is over 100 years old, and she’s got some real material condition problems. Still, a goodly portion of her is open to the public.

Looking toward the San Jacinto Battlefield Monument, of which more anon.

Pretty sparse amenities in the wheelhouse.

You can’t go all the way up to the director on the tripod, but you can climb pretty far up the superstructure,  and the exposed exterior ladders are a tad daunting for those of us with a fear of heights.

Incidentally, after years of having to suffer listening to Aggierican converse casually in Spanish, German and even Hungarian with friends and family,  I relished being able to spout nautical jargon that she simply couldn’t grasp. Hah! Revenge is a dish best served on a 95F day on a ship without air conditioning (except in the ship’s Wardroom. Of course the Wardroom has AC!).

Do you know what does have air conditioning?

The San Jacinto Battlefield Monument.

The obelisk is a foot shorter than the Washington Monument. Built in 1936, commemorating the centennial of the Battle of San Jacinto that secured Texas independence from Mexico, they later added a star to  the top. Everything really is bigger in Texas.

Indeed, at the top of the monument, they were careful to add more and bigger windows to look out of.

While most of the food in Texas was fantastic, some held slightly less appeal.

Hanging out near Randolph AFB meant the skies were abuzz with the cute little T-38C Talon trainers.

All good things must come to an end, however, and finally, my trip has been concluded, and I’ve returned home to the desert, and internet access. Many thanks to Aggie and her family for their spectacular Texas hospitality.

D'OH!

 

As a Cuban band leader might say to the Dems, "You got some 'splainin' to do!"

The Russian lawyer who penetrated Donald Trump’s inner circle was initially cleared into the United States by the Justice Department under “extraordinary circumstances” before she embarked on a lobbying campaign last year that ensnared the president’s eldest son, members of Congress, journalists and State Department officials, according to court and Justice Department documents and interviews.

The Hill carries the gory details.  And not only did Get Back Loretta Lynch's Justice Department let in this lawyer with expired travel credentials, Miss Veselnitskaya bagged box seats for a House Foreign Affairs Committee session, where former Obama appointee, Russian Ambassador McFaul, testified.  

A perusal of Miss Veselnitskaya's social media shows her to be virulently anti-Trump, curious for someone supposedly willing to conspiratorially dish dirt on Trump's political opponent.

It is heartwarming, however, to see Congressional Democrats finally take an interest in the content of e-mails, and meetings that might present the appearance of wrongdoing.  The record of the previous Administration could keep them occupied for quite some time.  Decades, even.  

But, wouldn't it be just an incredible coincidence if this meeting with a candidate's son was used as justification for surveillance by the intelligence community?  You know, the kind that John Abdul Akbar Al-Hammed Brennan assured us in sworn testimony never happened?  

Just a thought...

URR here.

US Marine Corps KC-130 Crash in Mississippi, 16 Dead

A tragic incident yesterday afternoon in Mississippi,  A USMC KC-130 "corkscrewed" into the ground from 20,000 feet after suffering a "structural failure".    Fox News has the story.  Why the FBI would investigate unless there was some evidence or reason to believe there was criminal conduct is unclear to me.  

Prayers for the families of those Marines and anyone else lost in this tragedy.   Like the USS Fitzgerald collision, it is a stark reminder that service to country in the cause of freedom is a dangerous occupation, even in peacetime.  

Meltdown

The barrel is trashed as well. You'll never get an accurate burst out of it again.

Vacation minimalist posting

Hits and Cits continued

Found a few more clips!

 

World of Warships- Hits and Cits

I've had no internet access the last few days. And for a while there, not even phone service!

 

80 JDAMS

 

 

TAC on Target

The AH-56 Cheyenne.

Here’s a great documentary on the development of the Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne attack helicopter- with a lot of footage I’ve never seen before.

Splodey

The AGM-158 Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM, had a very troubled development, but is now in service, in its original and extended range form, and is being developed as the next generation of air launched anti-ship missile. A further development program is underway to field it as a surface to surface anti-ship missile. One would hardly be surprised if a land attack surface launched variant emerged as well.

The JASSM is very stealthy, and you’ll notice in the video, a lot of the target arrays simulate air defense systems such as   the S-300/400.

MegaFood

I’ve never been on a cruise ship, but I hear the food is pretty good. This is quite long, but also an interesting look at the challenge of feeding several thousand people three gourmet meals a day. While they have some advantages over, say, the galley of a carrier, they also face the some of the same issues, such as managing storage space and time constraints.

On Quitting

I just finished Carol Reardon’s “Launch The Intruders,” a history of VA-75’s 1972 deployment to the Vietnam War.

During the course of the cruise, two or three crewmen turned in their wings. Here’s the thing.  Flight duty is strictly voluntary. No one can make you climb into the plane. You can turn in your wings, and that’s that. When the crewman turned in their wings, the squadron would strive to get them off the boat as quickly as possible, and sent back home. 

What’s interesting is why the pilots turned in their wings.  One guy, while scared, admitted that dying would be bad, but worse would be killing his bombadier navigator sitting next to him. The B/N is just along for the ride, so to speak, as he doesn’t have any flight controls.

Reaction from the rest of the squadron was interesting. As long as the guy turning in his wings wasn’t displaying abject cowardice, they tended to be fairly understanding, and didn’t utterly shun them.

In the Infantry, a guy that didn’t pull his weight was shunned. Hard. Falling out on a road march absent severe symptoms of heat exhaustion, whining about your load, not wanting to take your turn at the hard tasks… those things will cost you a great deal. And the Infantry is a very social organization. Losing your standing there will make your life miserable.

In early 1991, your humble scribe was deployed in a mechanized Infantry company with the 1st Armored Division as a part of Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

Sometime after the air war started,  but before the ground offensive began, one of our troops suddenly decided he was a conscientious objector, and could not find it in himself to fight. There were a handful of incidents similar to this in units stateside facing deployment. And in our ranks, they were met with universal scorn. How contemptible to back out of an obligation freely assumed.

But in the case of our sudden conscientious objector, things were a little different. He didn’t want to go home. He didn’t want to avoid the battle. He just didn’t want to shoot at anyone.

Rather than involve the massive bureaucracy of the Army, involving written statements, interviews, the Judge Advocate General, and who knows what else, the company commander simply said, “Fine.”  Our man handed his weapon over to the supply sergeant, and spent the rest of the deployment riding in the CO’s Humvee, a vehicle who’s armor consisted of canvas doors. He never once tried to get out of a work detail, or secure a position of greater safety or comfort.

I was at first annoyed with the man. But eventually, while I never fully understood his motives, decided I could not shun him.

No real point to this. Just thought I’d share.

Splodey!

The F-35A at the Paris Air Show

Not bad. Interesting to watch the control surfaces during the high alpha pass.

The US Navy bagged a Fitter today.

Army Plans 'Dad Bod' Physical Standards For Males With Dependents

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The Army is running a pilot program testing modified physical fitness and body composition standards for men of any age with dependents.

“In past decades we’ve adjusted for gender and age, and now we’re looking at other factors,” said Army spokesman Maj. Rod Larson, while clicking through a BuzzFeed slideshow including pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio and Adam Sandler at the beach. “Meet the Dependent Authorized-Duty Body, or ‘DADBOD’ for short.”

The modified standards allow for an unlimited waist size and slower running speeds, but still require enough upper-body strength to whoop a younger man’s ass.

“Just look at Gen. Odierno. Totally rocking a sweet dad bod,” Larson announced to the nodded approval of an all-male press wearing khakis with tucked-in polo shirts.

“The change promotes family values, through the image of the family man. You could say it’s a different men-tality. Get it? Men? Mentality?” came Larson’s inevitable lame dad joke.

via www.duffelblog.com

Fighting to Save the Ship

Thanks to URR for his updates on the USS Fitzgerald.

The Burke class ships were built with survivability in mind. They were designed to take a hit. 

When a ship is damaged, via combat or other hazards, the crew springs into damage control efforts. But what exactly does that entail?

Two recent examples of the effort required to save the ship are the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf, and the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen.

The US Naval Academy in 2014 hosted the commanding officers of both those ships for a discussion of the  leadership, training, and teamwork that led to successful damage control efforts for these ships. Both were so badly damaged they probably should have sunk. Instead, both were saved and returned to the fleet.

When you look at USS Fitzgerald dockside in Yokuska, understand that the topside damage is almost superficial. It’s the damage below that waterline that is critical. She’s not only listing, she’s very much down by the bow. And I have no doubt that every minute since the collision has seen her crew working feverishly to repair, dewater, supply power, and stop flooding.

As this editorial by retired Rear Admiral Kirby notes, we don’t know yet what led to this collision, and personally, it’s far too early to speculate. But whatever faults CDR Benson may or may not have, clearly his crew knew their DC responsibilities.

Bodies of Seven US Sailors Found in Flooded Compartments on Fitzgerald After Collision

URR here with an update on the collision and report of the missing sailors.  Fitzgerald was struck near midships on the starboard side, the bow of the Philippine-flagged container ship doing a great deal of topside and underwater damage.   The damage below the waterline was severe, and the picture above (from MSNBC) shows Fitzgerald in Yokosuka, with a very pronounced list to starboard.  Most of the flooded compartments appear to be berthing spaces.  The seven sailors were found in those flooded compartments.  

Commander 7th Fleet VADM Joe Aucoin called the efforts of the crew to control the flooding and save the ship "heroic", while TF 70 Commander RADM Charles Williams praised the "extraordinary courage" of the sailors.   This should be a reminder to everyone that service at sea is a very dangerous occupation, and there are a hundred ways to get killed on any given day aboard ship, even in peacetime.  Kipling called the sea "the old gray widow maker" (through the mouth of  Danish sailor's wife), as true a description as there ever has been.   Prayers to the families of those sailors, and to their shipmates.  And to everyone who plies the world's oceans in gray hulls for the defense of liberty.

Eternal Father, strong to save,

Whose arms hath bound the restless wave,

Who bidst the mighty ocean deep, 

Its own appointed limits keep.

O, hear us when we cry to thee,

For those in peril on the sea.

 

USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) Collides with Merchantman off Japan

Not good.  Initial reports were of injuries.  And there is discussion of flooded compartments.  Word from CBS was that Fitzgerald was dead in the water.  But USNI's Sam Legrone updated the story about half an hour ago and stated no injuries are reported on the US destroyer, and a 7th Fleet spokesman said Fitzgerald is making 3 knots en route to Yokosuka.  Let's hope those latest reports prove true.   

LOTS of damage on the starboard side, though.   Reuters reporting the collision was with a Philippine-flagged container ship.  If that is the case, which seems likely, the DDG was on the wrong end of a tonnage disparity.  I would not hazard a guess as to which vessel (or both, perhaps?) was in the wrong, but investigators will eventually piece it together.  Those are some busy waters out there.  

URR here.