MetaFilter posts tagged with Navy

Drone meets laser, end of drone.

rmhsinc — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:34:19 -0800

Navy saves $1,399,000 versus short range missle. For the patient I particularly appreciate the appearance of R2D2, with modifications, at about 2:50 minutes.

They could be talking smack about seals

filthy light thief — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:22:10 -0800

For this April the first, NPR has a touching story on the efforts to record the stories of retired Navy dolphins.

"The basic problem is that no one gets fired."

the man of twists and turns — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 08:50:53 -0800

Your Favorite Army General Actually Sucks. Tom Rick's new book The Generals focuses on professional shortcomings of high-ranking Army officers, and offers a new (old) solution: fire them. "But as far as I can tell, no general has been fired for incompetence in combat since Maj. Gen. James Baldwin was fired as commander of the Americal Division in 1971." Lose A General, Win A War

In the longer term, the Army has to return to its tradition of getting rid of leaders who are failing. The Navy has shown more fortitude; in the first two months of this year alone it fired six commanders of ships and installations. On Tuesday, it fired the skipper of the frigate John L. Hall, two months after it collided with a pier at a Black Sea port in Georgia. The Navy stated simply, as it usually does in such cases, that the officer’s superior had lost confidence in him. That is all that is needed.

General Failure

Generalship in combat is extraordinarily difficult, and many seasoned officers fail at it. During World War II, senior American commanders typically were given a few months to succeed, or they’d be replaced. Sixteen out of the 155 officers who commanded Army divisions in combat were relieved for cause, along with at least five corps commanders.

Sex is the major reason military commanders are fired. Firing Generals

But such is not the case in today’s military. Every general officer in Iraq and Afghanistan achieved his rank only after at least two decades, proving his competence and preparing for advancement at each level. Long before they were promoted to the rank of general, our combat commanders had proven themselves as company, battalion, and brigade commanders, a level at which failures are often met with relief. Even after those experiences, almost every general in line to command one of our ten combat divisions still had to serve as assistant division commander for a couple of years before being entrusted with the division. We are not, therefore, thrusting hundreds of generals or even a single general into command who has not spent his entire adult life preparing for the job.

TWS: Obama Dumps a Smart, Independently Minded General, focuses on Gen. James Mattis, USMC. The Obama Administration's Inexplicable Mishandling Of Marine General James Mattis

Pentagon insiders say that he rubbed civilian officials the wrong way -- not because he went all "mad dog," which is his public image, and the view at the White House, but rather because he pushed the civilians so hard on considering the second- and third-order consequences of military action against Iran. Some of those questions apparently were uncomfortable. Like, what do you do with Iran once the nuclear issue is resolved and it remains a foe? What do you do if Iran then develops conventional capabilities that could make it hazardous for U.S. Navy ships to operate in the Persian Gulf? He kept saying, "And then what?"

The Ouster Of Mattis: Some Follow-Up Details And A White-House Response The Most Under-appreciated General in US History: Nathaniel Greene

Routh told them “he traded his soul for a new truck”

dubold — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:29:31 -0800

Chris Kyle, former Navy Seal, killed at a Texas shooting range. Kyle's decorations include two Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars with Valor, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and one Navy and Marine Corps Commendation. Chris Kyle was the author of "American Sniper", which describes his 150+ kills over four tours of duty. Kyle and Chad Littlefield were shot by Eddie Ray Routh, who is also a veteran and suffers from PTSD. According to police records, Routh has been hospitalized twice in the last four months for threatening to kill himself and his family. Press release from FITCO Cares, a nonprofit founded by Mr. Kyle to help veterans with PTSD. Chris Kyle's last interview: “I would love for people to be able to – when they think of me - think ‘Here’s a guy who stood up for what he believed in and helped make a difference for the vets.”

Women in combat

roomthreeseventeen — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 07:05:28 -0800

Today, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will announce that the Pentagon has lifted its 19 year old ban on women serving in combat roles in the military. The announcement follows a November 29, 2012 lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of four Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. Some state that the new military policy, which will be rolled out in phases, will just really align to the reality that women have frequently found themselves in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, where more than 20,000 have served. As of last year, more than 800 women had been wounded in the two wars and more than 130 had died. Each branch of the military will have control over how the policy is applied; however, some branches, like the Marines, have been testing women for combat roles since this past summer. Women will still not, at this point, be eligible for the Selective Service draft, per a Supreme Court ruling in Rostker v. Goldberg, which states in part that "since women are excluded from combat service by statute or military policy, men and women are simply not similarly situated for purposes of a draft or registration for a draft, and Congress' decision to authorize the registration of only men therefore does not violate the Due Process Clause."

Firing on Air Force Kind of a Drag on Navy Career

kjars — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 09:36:19 -0800

The U.S. Senate has declined to promote Captain Timothy W. Dorsey to the rank of rear admiral (lower half). Dorsey, currently serving as Navy Reserve inspector general, was involved in one of the more bizarre friendly fire incidents in U.S. Military History, intentionally shooting down a U.S. Air Force jet during military exercises some 25 years ago. On September 22, 1987, then Lieutenant Dorsey intentionally fired on and destroyed a U.S. Air Force RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft, forcing the two Air Force pilots to eject. While a subsequent investigation found Doresy guilty of committing an "illogical act" and the Navy banned him from flying, he continued to enjoy a long career in military intelligence. He was nominated for promotion on Febuary 9, 2012. The Department of Defense claims the Navy did not provide full information about Dorsey's past. Despite this recent hang-up in his career path, Dorsey looks forward to being confirmed by the Senate when his nomination is resubmitted.

This place is such a dive.

cthuljew — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:04:47 -0800

What's life like aboard a nuclear submarine? For starters, here's over eight hours of C-SPAN 2, as they took their cameras aboard the USS Wyoming SSBN back in 2000, co-hosted by Rear Admiral Malcolm Fages and writer Robert Holzer. More about some of the topics covered in the program: 1. SSGNs: The conversion of four Ohio-class nuclear submarines to carry guided missiles was completed as planned. 2. Schedules: The submarine works on a 6-on/12-off schedule. This “is operationally valuable because it allows 24 hour coverage with only 3 watches. This is required by the space limitations on submarines. The schedule also limits the duration of each watch to 6hr. The shorter watches are considered necessary to assure maintenance of alertness during sometimes monotonous work performed at all hours of the day.” (pdf, p.7, with thanks to MuffinMan) And, hey, it could be worse (fifth paragraph down). A little background: “Since the 13th century, maritime workers have utilized a 4 hours on, 8 hours off (4/8) watch schedule that continued into the Polaris submarine patrols of the early 1960s. However, because modern Submariners must also train, qualify, and conduct drills when not on watch, the 4/8 schedule prevented them from obtaining sufficient sleep during their off-watch periods. During prolonged patrols, Submariners suffered from progressive sleep debt. To remedy this, the 6 hours on, 12 hours off (6/12) schedule was adopted.” (pdf, p.1) More recently, though, the Navy has been looking into changing to a schedule more in line with the natural human circadian rhythm, based in part on reports like the ones quoted above. Sailors weigh in in the comments on the ever-enlightening blog, The Stupid Shall Be Punished. 3. Food: The submarine forces reportedly get the best food in the Navy, although not everyone agrees. Here's an extremely '70s clip discussing the effect of food on morale. 4. Women: Since the program aired, the Navy's long-running goal of placing qualified women aboard submarines has been achieved, and the first female officers earned their "unrestricted line" Dolphins just this week. Unsurprisingly, one must be wary of the comments on articles such as these. More: HowStuffWorks discusses life aboard a ballistic missile submarine, while Helium provides a look at life on a fast attack submarine. War Is Boring gives us a look inside the USS Toledo. Mefites talk about their experiences in the Nuclear Power program. British submarine life previously.

Go to War. Do Art. (II)

zarq — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:22:15 -0800

The permanent collection of the (US) National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago contains more than 2,500 pieces of art by 250 artists, all of which can be seen at NVAM Collection Online. The site includes biographical material on the artists who created the work. Featured Artwork. A small selection. (Via. Images at links in this post may be nsfw, and/or disturbing to some viewers.)

"The reason they joined the Navy was because Starfleet Command wasn't hiring."

the man of twists and turns — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 04:24:06 -0800

Aircraft Carriers in Space: Naval analyst Chris Weuve talks to Foreign Policy about what Battlestar Galactica gets right about space warfare.

Life on board a British nuclear submarine

EndsOfInvention — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 06:21:07 -0800

"One evening, I wander into the control room at about midnight. The watch officer and sonar operators are discussing an important philosophical question: would it be more painful to be struck by a whole tuna or a tin of tuna? This is never resolved. These epistemological issues can be sustained over weeks." Guardian journalist Stephen Moss spends a week aboard HMS Triumph, a nuclear-powered Royal Navy fast-attack submarine, and picks up some slang while he's there. Photographer Gary Calton was also there to document life aboard the boat.

Sink the Vandenberg!

the man of twists and turns — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 20:13:25 -0800

At 522 feet, the USS Vandenberg is the largest artificial reef in the Florida Keys. Beginning life as the USS General Harry Taylor, an Army transport, she was commissioned in 1944 at Richmond, CA. She was eventually transferred to the Air Force and redesignated as the USS Generaly Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a missile-tracking ship. She was decommissioned in 1993, and became the set for (and star of) the movie Virus in 1998. By 1999, the Vandenberg was past the end of her service life, and proposals were made to turn her into an artificial reef. A committee formed in Key West to place the ship 7 miles offshore, to provide an attraction for SCUBA divers and marine life. On 27 May 2009, the Vandenberg was towed off of Key West Harbor, and scuttled. Today, the Vandenberg is the largest artifical reef in the Florida Keys, and the second-largest in the United States, after the USS Oriskany. Spanish Fly, with Jose Wejebe (since deceased), did a feature on the Vandenberg's transformation into fishing and diving attraction. Sink The Vandenberg! has several videos they captured before, during, and after the sinking. Sinking of the Vandenberg As Key West is home to many artists, so the Vandenberg served as an art gallery. Defend the Vandenberg!

"If you believe in a principle, never damage it with a poor impression. You must go all the way." Charles Parsons

justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:41:59 -0800

Unusual marketing technique: an inventor offered a demonstration of his custom-built speedboat design by speeding past security and crashing the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It was 1897, the sixtieth year of Queen Victoria’s reign. Charles Algernon Parsons was bent on making steampunk mad science out of his rather practical discovery, the modern reaction turbine. Background: turbines produce torque by extracting energy from a continuous fluid flow. The idea of powering a machine with a continuous jet of steam is very old. ( Hero of Alexandria ’s aeolipile) The first reaction turbine seems to have been the steam-jack developed by Taqi al-Din (1526–1585AD). It fired a jet of steam from a boiler through a nozzle at the vanes of a small windmill. One problem with firing high pressure steam at the blades of a turbine is “the well-known cutting action on metal of steam at high velocity.” Parsons’ innovation in 1884 was “to split up the fall in pressure of the steam into small fractional expansions over a large number of turbines in series, so that the velocity of the steam nowhere should be great.” (Parsons, in a 1911 lecture). This remains the most energy efficient way to get torque from pressurized steam. The most important application Parsons found for his steam turbine was electric power generation. The design of his 7.4 kW prototype generator was bought up by George Westinghouse and scaled up from there. In 1900 an industrial scale 1.5 MW power plant built around a Parsons turbine went into operation. However, at the time it would have seemed that turbines for ship propulsion were an even more important development. Up to that point, steamships were powered by reciprocating engines - pistons. Steam turbines have a higher power-to-weight ratio, are more compact and produce less vibration than reciprocating engines. Most importantly from the perspective of the British navy, turbines are more fuel efficient than reciprocating engines. The need to control a worldwide empire linked together by a thin chain of coaling stations made fuel economy a priority for the Royal Navy, enough so that many British ships were combination steam/sail powered right up until the turn of the 20th century. The last British battleship built to carry sails (Inflexible) remained in service until 1897. For that reason, the British Admiralty was keeping an eye on Parsons when the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company launched Turbinia, in 1894. Turbinia’s initial performance was uninspiring. As Parsons soon discovered, the problem was that its propeller was spinning so fast as to produce cavitation. Parsons solved the problem in a somewhat Rube Goldberg fashion by redesigning Turbinia to have nine propellers each rotating at a mere 2500 RPM. The ship was ready for its first public demonstration: an uninvited appearance at the Navy Review for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee at Spithead on June 26th, 1897. Here is what she looked like, 104 feet long, 9 feet wide, clipping along with her bow lifted out of the water. At her top speed of 34 knots (60 kph), observers saw only “a bow emerging from a huge wave and a flame from the funnel flickering into the air.” Flames literally burned the paint off the ship’s funnel on every run. The noise of the turbines half deafened the crew. Turbinia slipped into the review, speeding between larger ships, at times literally running circles around the patrol boats that were supposed to be maintaining security. Turbinia was simply too fast to be caught. Parsons did minor damage to one of the ships in the review; Turbinia had been towing a small boat, but the tow-line parted while Turbinia was making a tight turn, causing the boat to collide with a French yacht. Nevertheless, for the most part, a good time was had by all. The British Government punished Parsons by giving him a contract to build turbines for the Royal Navy’s first turbine powered warships, the Torpedo Boat Destroyers HMS Cobra and HMS Viper. In 1905 the Royal Navy announced that all future warships would be turbine powered. The steam turbine is half of the story of why the construction of the battleship Dreadnought in 1906 kicked off an arms race at the turn of the 20th century. Dreadnought was both the first all-big-gun battleship and the first turbine powered battleship. The all-big-gun design gave it roughly triple the firepower of a similar sized pre-dreadnought in a long range gun duel. The turbine engine made it faster by far than any battleship then afloat, gave it longer range due to fuel efficiency and, due to its light weight, made it possible for the ship to do all that while also being incrementally better armored. Unfortunately Victoria was not present to witness Turbinia’s run, being too ill to attend the review. She had a rather better time downing grog at the 1842 Grand Review. ^{Previously: credit to cenoxo, who talked about Turbinia in a comment to a 2006 post about Hero of Alexandria's aeolipile.}

Lt. Commander Wesley Brown, April 3, 1927 -- May 22, 2012

Rangeboy — Fri, 25 May 2012 07:55:29 -0800

Wesley Brown, the first black man to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, has died. He was 85 years old. Born in Baltimore, Brown was appointed to the academy in 1945, and graduated in 1949. He was the sixth black student to attend the school, but the first to graduate. During his time there, he was harassed by white students and given excessive demerits. One of the few classmates who encouraged him to stay the course was his fellow track team member Jimmy Carter. After graduation, Brown entered the Navy's Civil Engineer Corps and served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He retired from the Navy in 1969. In 2008, the Naval Academy dedicated the Wesley Brown Field House, a $50 million, 140,000-square foot recreational facility. In 2005, Brown was honored by the Veterans' History Project of the Library of Congress. Brown also discussed his experiences at the Navy academy with author Robert J. Schneller Jr., for his book Breaking the Color Barrier: The U.S. Naval Academy's First Black Midshipmen and the Struggle for Racial Equality. While acknowledging the prejudice he experienced, Brown said he chose not to focus on it. "The more years that go by I remember the good stuff and not any bad stuff at all."

"The biennial exposition, said to be the largest in Asia"

the man of twists and turns — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:39:12 -0800

India's DEFEXPO 2012, is 'not a carnival in the truest sense', but rather ' the seventh in the series of biennial Land, Naval and Internal Security Systems Exhibition . . . clearly steering the path of steady growth . . . receiving overwhelming and unprecedented international response.' As for arms dealers? 'On arms dealers, the minister [India’s Defence Minister AK Antony] insisted, “There are none I am aware of.”' The Times of India has more, with coverage from The International News on India's increased defense spending. But India is not alone in South Asia.

Merry early Christmas, equality fans

phearlez — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:46:51 -0800

The Navy's first kiss tradition enters the post Don't Ask, Don't Tell era If you're like me you may never have heard of the Navy's first kiss tradition. But it's not unusual for a ship returning from deployment to run a contest or raffle which gives the winner the first kiss with their sweetie on the dock; you can find wikipedia media showing past events. After tonight's news broadcasts pretty much everyone in the country will have heard of it because you can be sure, whether it's portrayed as a step forward or a sign of the end times, every broadcast is going to lead with the first same-sex Navy first kiss between disembarking Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta and her girlfriend, Petty Officer 3rd Class Citlalic Snell of Los Angeles.

Department of DEFENSE DEFENSE DEFENSE!

obscurator — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:44:32 -0800

The U.S.S. Carl Vinson, which has provided relief in Haiti after an earthquake, launched air strikes in the Middle East after 9/11 and, most recently, dumped Osama bin Laden’s body out at sea hosted an uncharacteristically maritime event this evening: a basketball game on the flight deck. Time-lapse video of court assembly (YT)

Meet the natives of England and America

Blasdelb — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:22:51 -0800

Not content to keep funding expeditions of Westerners to learn about Tanna, in 2007 the National Geographic funded an expedition of five men from Tanna's Prince Philip movement cargo cult to visit England, stay with families, and eventually meet Prince Philip himself whom they revere as the son of their God. Jimmy, who was a member of the expedition and the narrator for the film has posted the video on his youtube account. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In 2009 the Travel Channel aired Meet the Natives: USA, which brought five men from another group from Tanna to the United States. Their tribe within Tanna reveres Tom Navy, an American World War II sailor who generations ago had taught the inhabitants to live in peace. The Tanna ambassadors were taken across, visiting five states, and eventually meeting former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell and verifying with him that the spirit of peace taught by Tom Navy lives on in the current U.S. President, Barack Obama. While visiting with a family on Fort Stewart, a US Army Major-General conferred a World War II Victory Medal and an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal upon the chief in representation of the contribution the people of Tanna in World War II. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Be sure to look for Jimmy's responses to questions in the mercifully uncharacteristic youtube comments Tanna has been featured previously and much previouslier, while the concept has gained traction and generated a newer show on a tribe from Papua New Guinea featured previously

LA vets demand housing at giant VA campus

reenum — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:52:48 -0800

There are an increasing number of homeless military vets living in Los Angeles. The VA in Los Angeles has a 400 acre parcel of land meant to house vets. Slight problem: the VA has decided to lease the property to various area businesses instead of using the land for its intended purpose.

Chrysler Blue from World War II

zarq — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:44:14 -0800

"Tanks Are Mighty Fine Things!" And Other Tales Of Truthiness... At the end of World War II, Chrysler sent small hardbound books to shareholders chronicling ways the company had contributed to the war effort. Two have now been placed online at the Chrysler Imperial Club's website: "Tanks are Mighty Fine Things" and "A War Job 'Thought Impossible' (The story of the Chrysler-Sperry Gyro-Compass)" (Via) Additional Chrysler publications from the same time period: * Radar: The Great Detective * Great Engines and Great Planes * Secret: Chrysler's Contribution to the Atomic Bomb * Engineering: Mobilized * Bullets by the Billion For more, Imperial has an extensive literature archive that includes a section for ads, brochures and Chrysler Imperial owners' manuals, broken down by year.

Minter's Ring

Horace Rumpole — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:52:47 -0800

Smithsonian Magazine's new blog Past Imperfect has already told some interesting stories in its first weeks, but none more compelling than that of Lt. Commander Minter Dial's Annapolis class ring.

The Eccentric Philosophers vs. The Warrior Engineers

stoneweaver — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 12:00:47 -0800

It's not surprising that a college like St. John's College isn't big on intramural sports (Where I learned To Read, Where Plato is Your ProfessorTutor). What may be surprising is that the small college has bested the Naval Academy in 24 of the last 29 championships for the sport it does participate in. The match is a major spectacle, drawing thousands of spectators every year all decked out in their finest. The match starts with the Naval Academy Trident Brass Band and some swing dancing. There's plenty of booze at the Annapolis event, but "the [middies], for their part, perennially vow to remain sober throughout the five-game match; they sometimes keep that pledge well into the second game." For your viewing pleasure: A retrospective: 27 years of pictures from the match Middie Meets Johnnie Watch the crowd form and the grass get destroyed - 12 hours condensed into just under 3 minutes. (no sound)

U-853

AugieAugustus — Fri, 06 May 2011 09:02:28 -0800

"ALL U-BOATS. ATTENTION ALL U-BOATS. CEASE-FIRE AT ONCE. STOP ALL HOSTILE ACTION AGAINST ALLIED SHIPPING. DÖNITZ." "The order was to become effective at 0800 the following morning. However, of the 49 boats then at sea, several were submerged and would not receive the message. Among them was the U-853." Sixty-six years ago today, off the coast of Rhode Island, the last German U-boat in American waters was sunk at the Battle of Point Judith. "Built in 1943 [...] the U-853 had been a recent addition to the German Navy. [...] She was nicknamed Der Seiltaenzer (Tightrope Walker) by her crew and had reached her operating position off of New England late in the month of April 1945."

Pictures of Cats in the Sea Services

gemmy — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 10:48:59 -0800

"Sailors and cats have a special relationship that dates back thousands of years." The U.S. Naval Institute posts pictures of sailors and their cats, with photos from the 1880:s through the 1950:s.

The U.S. is Failing its Troops

dry white toast — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 09:58:56 -0800

For the second year in a row , the U.S. Military has lost more troops to suicide than it has to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Previous posts regarding PTSD) As the article notes, the numbers require some scrutiny, as different branches of the military use different standards for reporting, particularly as they relate to reservists and whether a suicide occurs while a soldier is on active duty. This week, President Obama announced several new initiatives to support soldiers and their families, with military suicides and veteran homelessness being specifically targeted. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ) had previously introduced a Bill requiring check-in phone calls to reservists returning from deployment every 90 days. However, efforts to include the bill in the 2010 Defense spending appropriation bill were blocked by Sen. John McCain (AZ).

Call the wahmbulance?

fixedgear — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 04:37:33 -0800

The ambulance that was used to carry the body of John F. Kennedy from Andrews Air Force Base to Bethesda Naval Hospital was sold at auction last night for $120,000. Or was it? Members of the professional car society who collect and restore ambulances, hearses and flower cars helped to solve this mystery, which had accusations of forgery, FOIA requests, photoshopped pictures and Kennedy family intervention.