Tailhook Daily Briefing

Memorial Day 2010

"...gather around their sacred remains and garland the passionless mounds above them with choicest flowers of springtime....let us in this solemn presence renew our pledges to aid and assist those whom they have left among us as sacred charges upon the Nation's gratitude,--the soldier's and sailor's widow and orphan." --General John Logan, General Order No. 11, 5 May 1868

 

Today is the day we set aside to remember all of those who gave all, in the name of Duty, Honor, Love and Country. 

15:00 Local is officially designated as the time of honor for our fallen heroes.  Please take a moment, and recognize the sacrifice paid by our Brothers and Sisters. 

The Tailhook Community will especially remember the heroic actions of Lt. Miroslav Steven Zilberman who personified in his selfless actions of 30 March 2010, what a “Calling Greater than One’s Self” truly is.

The Ukrainian-born junior officer had distinguished himself  during three years with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 121. He knew the plane - and its training manual - inside and out.

So after one engine lost oil pressure and then failed completely; after one propeller couldn't be adjusted to balance the plane; after it was clear that there was no way to safely land, Zilberman ordered his crew to bail out.

He manually kept the Hawkeye stable as it plummeted toward the water, which allowed the three other men to escape.

Time ran out before he could follow.

Zilberman, 31, was declared dead three days later.

There are many more worthy of our respect this day.

Thank you all, and God Bless.

Fleet Week New York City... A 'How To' Guide of a Different Sort

There is pretty much an instruction book/blog post for everything these days.  And I ran across an interesting article today on Gawker titled: Nabbing a Fleet Week Sailor: A How-To Guide

No kidding, it outlines a number of best (?) recommendations on how to conquer one of our boys in white with passages like,

There's just something about one of these military men that's so appealing. They're usually young, in shape, clean, neat, and, most importantly, shipping out in a few days. This is not the man you're going to marry, just a fun little fling. He's a knight that comes in his own shining armor. In fact, that all-white get-up is so shining, it's often blinding, making one sailor hard to tell from the next. And that's fine. You don't need to be picky. Just about any sailor will do.

Uh... "Will do" what?

Be a Lady: We hate to break it to the gay guys, but most of the sailors are going to be of the heterosexual persuasion. It's still kind of against the rules for gay men to serve openly and it's just the law of averages that the majority will be hunting for lady tail (and for those that are heteroflexible, they've been beating off with bunk mates for months, so it's time to flex their hetero muscles). Yes, the ladies definitely make out in this equation. For the single sailor who has been out at sea without a real live woman to look at for months, it's going to be like a starving man at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Basically all you have to do is show up with the right parts and you should be good.

And that is the tip of the Iceberg, the rest is entertaining reading if nothing else... Personally I think she is working too hard at this... usually DRINK + GIRL works just fine no?

Super Hornets to the Rescue! Again!

Finally some reason...

The Department of the Navy told Congress on Friday it plans to use the "multiyear authority" it was given if it could show that buying many planes together over several years would lower their costs. So the Pentagon will begin bargaining with Boeing to buy
the rest of the F/A-18 Super Hornets and E/A-18G Growlers in its program of record - some 124 aircraft - which guarantees work for Boeing until 2015.

The arrangement could mean the Navy pays about $500 million less for the planes than if it had continued buying batches every year on its current schedule, which calls for ordering sets of new fighters until fiscal year 2013...

..."The Department of Defense is taking essential steps toward a multi-year [contract] for 124 F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G aircraft," two top Pentagon officials wrote in a letter Friday to the Senate. "The Navy is in receipt of a viable offer from the F/A-18 prime contractor and is actively pursing award of the [F/A-18 multiyear contract] to achieve substantial savings."

Tom Harkin was thrilled with the decision made by the Navy enabled by his bill.

I commend Secretary Gates and (Navy) Secretary Mabus for seeing the light and moving forward with a multiyear contract.  A multiyear contract for F-18s saves the Navy and taxpayers over half a billion dollars, provides stability for the workforce in St. Louis, and is an important insurance policy as the Navy faces a large strike fighter shortfall.  It is encouraging to see the Navy and DoD come to their senses on this issue, after I have spent two years arguing that a multiyear contract made sense on all fronts,” said the Missouri lawmaker.

“This multiyear is the first step toward addressing the Navy’s fighter shortfall, but more needs to be done.  Super Hornets are fantastic planes that provide amazing capabilities for our Navy and are the most affordable fighter aircraft the DoD is currently buying.  The DoD should consider using the fantastic price provided by the multiyear contract to buy additional planes to reduce the Navy’s fighter gap” said Akin.

Amazing what can happen when you address the elephant in the room... or Rhino in this case!

Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo by Lieutenant Marques Jackson

Orion Pad Abort Test Video

No Tailhook, but very cool anyway.

Orion Pad Abort 1 Video Highlights from Space City Films on Vimeo.

Pretty much an industrial strength ejection seat.