Mystery Dolphin Question

I recently ran across these dolphins and couldn't believe I had never seen them before. Any guesses from the learned of the fleet?

Submariners of 9/11

Pat Murphy

Brian Moss

While we take a collective moment to remember the cowardly terrorist attacks of 9/11, let's take a special moment and remember our brother Submariners that perished that day, doing their duty.

ET1 (SS) Brian Anthony Moss USN, USS Alabama
LCDR Patrick J. Murphy USNR, USS Sand Lance, USS Daniel Webster
LCDR Ronald J. Vauk USNR, USS Glenard P. Lipscomb, USS Oklahoma City

Moss was on active duty and assigned to the Pentagon while Murphy and Vauk were both Reservists completing their AT.

Ron Vauk

Let us remember these brothers today and keep their families in our prayers.

If I missed any submariners from 9/11, please let me know and I'll update the post.

Up From The Ranks

COL Rocky Farr, SF, CM, PF, FS, etc., etc.

I saw this and just had to pass it along. Col. Rocky Farr has gone from the jungles of Viet Nam to the halls of medicine and now serves as the SOCCOM Command Surgeon. Needless to say, this Doc knows his stuff. Can you imagine a Navy Doctor with more than 40 years of service with the formative portion being in a line unit as a trigger puller?

If this guy can hold on for a few months, I will nominate him to be Surgeon General. Whenever he decides to retire, I think I may know a worthy successor from the Naval Service.

To often, very talented enlisted personnel never make rank and ultimately leave the service. But here recently, it seems like prior enlisted officers are popping up all over the place. This is a good trend as I see it and I hope it continues. Anybody that can come up as a hard way warrior has my vote of confidence.

When I first arrived at Lejeune to serve alongside Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, I saw a pattern emerge over the course of two week of Marine Corps Indoctrination Training with a group of Chaplains and RP's. We were a mixed lot with both officers and enlisted folks who were there to learn about the mission of the USMC.

Several of the Chaplains had been prior enlisted but one of them was constanlty stopped by young enlisted Marines that need someone to talk to. He had been a Force Recon Marine and had served out his enlistment, gone to college and then to Seminary, was ordained in the Southern Baptist Church and had returned as a reserve Chaplain Captain.

Once those young Marines saw the Parachutist Wings and the Dive Badge combined with the Cross, they were drawn to him. We waited quite a few times for the good chaplain to hear a request or give advice. But it proved the necessity of the Chaplains role in the modern force.

Hero Nominates Hero

Imagine my surprise when the GOP roll call of states at the convention reached Maryland and the votes for John McCain were cast by none other than Commander Everette Alvarez. Alvarez was the longest serving POW in Viet Nam having been shot down in 1964.

Alvarez flew A-4's off of the USS Constellation. When Alvarez was shot down, the North Vietnamese Communists staged a parade through the streets of Hanoi with locals shouting, "Alvarez, Alvarez, Sonovabitch!Sonovabitch!"

Alvarez has been vocal in his support of McCain, writing an article entitled, "War is Personal for McCain and Me."

Sound Off On Uniforms

Navy Times wants to hear from the Navy community (that includes vets too!) what you think about the new enlisted khakis. I touched on this a couple of weeks ago. I know change is inevitable but the US military seems to be hell bent on haggling with tailors on new uniforms while we have bigger fish to fry.

I forgot to mention the Coast Guard's recent tune up of the ODU. They call their fatigues "operational" vs. "battle" dress uniforms. The Coasties can now leave their shirttails untucked. If you're in the USCG, USCGR or the Auxiliary you can pick up the old uniforms at fire sale prices.

Not to be outdone by all of this maritime change, the Army has announced the death of the office greens. The venerable old blues will now be used in their place. Though, come to think of it, I don't ever see the doggies in green. They apparently get to wear BDU's everywhere while Marines can't stop to get gas on the way home from the base in them.

While the cover story the DoA is pushing talks about the history of the blues going back to the days of the horse cavalry and Washington's Continentals, I tend to remember the blue uniform as the one that burned down the South during the War of Northern Aggression.

The Army could use a regional variant for use in the South to avoid unearthing bad memories. The Citadel uses a nice, welcoming uniform.

Anyway, if you are interested in keeping up on the latest uniform changes, check out Military Uniform Gouge.

Calling Robert Heinlein

There are few people on this planet that have the ability to imagine and dream about possibilities better than Robert Heinlein. If you have ever read any of his stuff you are soon amazed to learn that he was predicting things back in the 1950's that were really impossible at the time.

Just like Jules Verne's predictions of submarine warfare, Heinlein, a former naval aviator, weighed in on the future of the military. In 1959 he wrote Starship Troopers, a wartime epic set in the somewhat distant future. The book details combat with alien races using powered armored suits. (Thirty years later, Japanese animation used the idea for the Robotech series.)

He also wrote about advanced prosthetics used by veterans that had lost limbs in action. Israeli inventor Amit Goffer has made science fiction science fact. His ReWalk device enables paraplegics to rise out of their wheel chairs and walk with the aid of crutches. Watch the video to see injured Israeli paratrooper Radi Kaiof walk around town and look people in the eye.

I don't know if Heinlein had a crystal ball, but for me, it was like reading DaVinci's notebook. If you have a spare moment, read the book, its fairly short. In addition to his ideas on technology, check out his vision of the government of the future. More to come on this.......

Chicom Sub Base Weakness

I don't want to talk out of turn here, but all of this chatter and hand wringing about a secret submarine cave base a la James Bond or Dr. Evil got me to thinking. The Aussies have a pretty good understanding of just what a threat the growing Red Fleet can be. This story appeared over the weekend in The Australian.

While the value of a subterranean base can be huge with regards to shielding the People's (sic) Liberation (sic) Army (?) Navy from US spy satellites just think for a minute about what might happen in the event of hostilities.

During the "Big One", bomber command hit the sub pens at Brest on a regular basis and yet the damn thing is still standing. The major difference is that, today, the arsenal includes a couple of firecrackers that can more than handle bringing down the entrance to the boat garage the Chicoms have built. After the dust clears, you have a very expensive tomb for "...up to 20 submarines..."

So, go ahead, Comrades, keep using all of that Walmart money to build things that would make Albert Speer blush. Fat man & Little Boy's grandsons are waiting. Now, just where is that Man with the Golden Gun?