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I don't make the habit of posting message traffic, but when I get a few emailed to me - well - it makes me think that things may be of interest. This is a few weeks old - but let's drag it out.Sailor. Sailors. Shipmate. Shipmates. Shiiiiiip-Mate!Sigh. We are a nation at war. Look at the USMC and Army - heck, look at out IAs, PRT, Seabee, and Riverine forces.Master Chief, you OK?R 231752Z OCT 07
FM COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
TO PACADMIN
INFO COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
BT
UNCLAS //N05060//
PACADMIN 015/07
MSGID/GENADMIN/COMPACFLT//
SUBJ/CONTEST TO REDEFINE "SHIPMATE"//
RMKS/1. COMMANDER, U.S. PACIFIC FLEET MASTER CHIEF(SW/AW) TOM HOWARD INVITES ALL SAILORS THROUGHOUT THE NAVY TO ENTER A WRITING CONTEST TO REDEFINE THE TERM "SHIPMATE" IN TODAY'S FLEET.
2. FLEET MASTER CHIEF HOWARD WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNER IN EARLY 2008. THE SAILOR WHOSE DEFINITION IS SELECTED WILL BE PRESENTED A RENDITION OF THE WINNING ENTRY BY COMMANDER, U.S. PACIFIC FLEET, ADM. ROBERT F. WILLARD. THE WINNING ENTRY WILL ALSO BE PUBLISHED IN ALL HANDS MAGAZINE, ON NAVY NEWSSTAND (WWW.NAVY.MIL), AND ON THE PACIFIC FLEET WEB SITE (WWW.CPF.NAVY.MIL).
3. THE THEME OF THE SPECIAL EVENT IS "WHAT BEING A SHIPMATE MEANS TO ME" AS WRITTEN THROUGH THE EYES OF TODAY'S SAILORS.
4. THE CONTEST CARRIES ON THE RICH TRADITIONS OF THE NAVY AS IT WILL TELL THE STORY OF TODAY'S SHIPMATE AND AT THE SAME TIME HONOR THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE NAVY THROUGHOUT THE PAST 232 YEARS AS WELL AS THOSE WHO HAVE YET TO SERVE. A. "SAILORS WILL BE FOREVER IDENTIFIED BY THEIR COURAGE IN THE FACE OF DANGER AND THE MORAL CONVICTION TO STAND UP FOR WHAT'S RIGHT," WROTE MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER OF THE NAVY (SW/FMF) JOE R. CAMPA JR. IN HIS BIRTHDAY MESSAGE TO THE FLEET. "THE TERM 'SHIP, SHIPMATE, SELF' WAS CREATED AT SEA. TO A UNITED STATES SAILOR, THERE IS NO BETTER DESCRIPTION OF OUR CULTURE AND OUR CHARACTER."
5. FLEET HOWARD JOINS THE U.S. PACIFIC FLEET CHIEF PETTY OFFICER MESS AND NAVY LEAGUE OF HAWAII IN SPONSORING THE WRITING CONTEST TO HONOR SAILORS PAST AND PRESENT. IN EARLY OCTOBER, FLEET HOWARD SPONSORED A SENIOR ENLISTED LEADERSHIP OF THE PACIFIC SYMPOSIUM IN HAWAII. DURING THE WEEK, THE SENIOR ENLISTED LEADERS TALKED ABOUT TODAY'S SAILOR AND WHAT BEING A SHIPMATE MEANS. REALIZING THAT IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO LISTEN TO OUR SAILORS AND TO PROVIDE ADVICE TO NAVY LEADERSHIP, THE SENIOR ENLISTED LEADERSHIP DECIDED TO ALLOW OUR SAILORS TO DEFINE WHAT BEING A SHIPMATE MEANS. IN AN ALL-VOLUNTEER FORCE, IT'S THE PERSONAL SACRIFICES OF TODAY'S SAILORS WHO MAKE THE DECISION EVERY DAY TO FIGHT FOR THE FREEDOMS OF NOT ONLY OUR OWN COUNTRY, BUT ALSO THOSE COUNTRIES THAT MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO FIGHT FOR THEMSELVES.
6. IN 75 WORDS OR LESS, SAILORS ARE ENCOURAGED TO EXPLAIN THEIR PERSONAL DEFINITION OF SHIPMATE AND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SHIPMATE IN TODAY'S NAVY. THE CONTEST IS OPEN TO ALL SAILORS, FROM E-1 TO O-10. ALL WORK MUST BE ORIGINAL AND UNPUBLISHED. THE WORD "SHIPMATE" MUST BE CAPITALIZED IN ALL ENTRIES.
7. PLEASE SEND E-MAIL ENTRIES TO CPF.FLEETFEEDBACK@NAVY.MIL.
SUBJECT LINE SHOULD READ "WHAT BEING A SHIPMATE MEANS TO ME". MAIL-IN SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO: WHAT BEING A SHIPMATE MEANS TO ME COMMANDER, U.S. PACIFIC FLEET C/O FLTCM (SW/AW) TOM HOWARD 250 MAKALAPA DRIVE PEARL HARBOR HI 96860-3131
8. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE POSTMARKED BY MIDNIGHT 16 DEC. ENTRIES NOT RECEIVED BY 31 DEC WILL NOT BE JUDGED. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONTEST SHOULD BE SENT TO CPF.FLEETFEEDBACK@NAVY.MIL.
I am at a loss for words.Hat tip held to protect the smart.
Head on over to the Fightin' 6th and check out the good work of the Marines in Fallujah. Notice what they are patrolling in? Yep, that is a desert flight suit. Flight suits have NOMEX. Unlike the "easy care for Norfolk, San Diego, and the office" poly/cotton blend combat uniforms, the aviation side of the house long ago realized that it is better to have a slightly frumpy and loose flight uniform that doesn't burn to the flesh (IED attacks have resulted in horrible burns - even through glass just due to the blast wave - only the heat needs to get to you). Every other military uniform will, in a fire or heat from a blast, burn in to your skin and will have to be scraped away, with the skin it has now fused with. Though not perfect, NOMEX won't. Many Marine units have decided that digi-cam may make you feel all "Transformational" but a NOMEX flight suit will bring me home with less disfigurement and death. BTW, next to drowning, in combat onboard Navy ships, fire, blast, steam and heat kills those the smoke doesn't get. You would think with the half a decade we have been looking at a new TFU approved uniform for shipboard use that it would have NOMEX. No, more interested in walking around with "hidden" paint stains.
Putting out an ALL SALAMANDER notice.Long time reader, commenter, fellow Navy CDR, and friend to this blog, Rotorhead - has joined the blogosphere. Take a minute to stop by and drop him a line here.The reason he started the blog is straight forward, but you have to stop by yourself to let him tell you. He is the second blog-buddy of CDR Salamander typing away from the old homeport of Hawaii - Anne of PalmTreePundit is the other - so when the weather starts to go further into the chilly zone and you start to complain - think of Rotorhead this winter.
Check out the pic with the article. More than once source (DefenseNews should know better). This simply has to be a misprint or bad copy that is spreading like a bad virus - the last A-3 of any variant came off the production line over 45 years ago. An official at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut confirmed that of the few options considered, the best available trainer was the TA-3 Skywarrior.
“About three TA-3 trainers would likely be made available to Lebanon in the near future, but we don’t really know when,” said the U.S. official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to give an interview. “We might be able to send another two or three TA-3s later on but cannot be sure at this stage.”
Huh?
This is like reading that we are going to transfer ... well ... heck I don't think we have ships this old in reserve. Then again, I don't think there are any flying TA-3s left. Wait, check the list. There is one being used for research.
This is just bad research. Heck, they could have called Lex, he would have told them. Aw heck, I'll go out on a limb and call "stupid State Dept. guy" or bad reporter notes. It would be a funny site though telling guys, "Here fly this." Imagine the average age of living Instructor Pilots for the A-3 ..... speaking of Lex...
The only reason you would want to send the three TA-3s (the only ones in storage have been in the boneyard since '90) is if it were some kind of PSYOPS operation to bankrupt, frustrate, and kill a nation's young pilots. The A-3D wasn't called "All Three Dead" for nut'n.
Oh, speaking of A-3s. I have a story about LTJG Salamander, a couple of days in the BOQ in Rota on the way places East and ..... well. Nevermind.
Hat tip The Tank.
Great start. Great commentary. Intentional or not - that band needs a beer fund.
It should give all Americans pause to consider that the "approved" Islamic scholars that the totalitarian Baathist Syrian regime of Asad allows to operate our of Damascus are such as Mohammed Habash. Via TheBrusselsJournal here.
What should give you pause is that the US Gov'munt is always touching base with the German-American Bund ... errr sorry again ... CAIR. Heck, retired Rear Admiral, now Rep. Sestak (D-PA) - takes CAIR's money, advice and hands out at their houses. Who does CAIR like to spend their time with?Unindicted co-conspirators CAIR are boasting about a meeting in their Washington DC headquarters with Palestinian Islamist cleric Tayseer al-Tamimi—who is well-known for raving about Jerusalem being an “Islamic city,” claiming that Zionist plots are afoot to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque, and attacking Pope Benedict for his statements on Islam.
...
Al-Tamimi, the Palestinian Authority’s Chief of Judges and chairman of its Islamic law high council.
He uttered these words: “Islam is escalating and cannot be resisted. I pray that Allah may tear apart America just as the Soviet Union was torn apart.”
As the chief Palestinian judge and Muslim cleric, Al-Tamimi frequently appears on Palestinian Authority Television praising homicide bombers and spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and fatwas.
In 1994, Al-Tamimi said, “The Jews are destined to be persecuted, humiliated, and tortured forever, and it is a Muslim duty to see to it that they reap their due. No petty arguments must be allowed to divide us. Where Hitler failed, we must succeed.”
In August 2003, Al-Tamimi, a personal friend of Yasser Arafat (who appointed him Chief Islamic Judge), was arrested for inciting terrorism. Al-Tamimi’s extremist sermons are well-known for urging attacks on Israel and calling upon Arab nations to wage war. In March 2000, Al-Tamimi delivered a hate speech during the Pope’s visit to Jerusalem, accusing Israel of “genocide” and “strangling Jerusalem.” He called on Christians to join Muslims in a jihad to oust Jews from all of Israel.
Hat tip LGF and Debbie.
Awhile back, someone emailed for the "Beer PQS." Well, thanks to YN3, we now have it here.
