CAPT Speicher honors at NAS Jacksonville

I don't think CAPT Scorby would mind if I quoted in full. Note, you have to be elible for base access.

I figured that I would post it in case some of the retirees wanted to take this opportunity to pay their respects.

Shipmates,

As I'm sure most of you are aware, the return of Fallen Hero CAPT Michael "Scott" Speicher will occur this week. The latest plan is as follows: CAPT Speicher's remains will arrive at NAS Jacksonville on Thursday at 1500. The remains will then be transferred to the NAS Jacksonville All Saints Chapel where they will lay in repose until 0900 Friday. All personnel with base access will be allowed to pay their respects at the Chapel from 1630 Thursday until 0700 Friday. This will not be open to the general public. National and local media will be present throughout.

As we have done for all our Fallen Heroes, respectfully request your assistance in lining the roads to honor CAPT Speicher and his family. This one is going to be different as a result of the route and will occur on both days. On Thursday, respectfully request that you line the roads from Yorktown and then down Mustin to the Chapel. Those personnel that previously lined Yorktown WEST of Mustin (VP-30/Hangar 511, etc) are now requested to line Mustin down to the Chapel instead. On Friday,
respectfully request that you line the roads from Mustin to Yorktown towards the main gate. Those personnel that previously lined Yorktown EAST of Mustin (FRCSE/FISC/Air Ops, Etc) are now requested to line Mustin down to the Chapel instead. Bottom line is please fill in on Mustin and Yorktown as required.

This is once again an opportunity to honor a Fallen Navy Hero and show a grieving family that they are not alone and that the men and women of NAS Jacksonville stand behind them.

Once again, appropriate honors is to salute the Hearst as it drives by. Non military would place their hand over their heart. Security will also be closing all roads/parking lots throughout the route on both days as the procession departs so you may want to alert your personnel to avoid departing around the time of the procession. If there are any changes to the times or routes, I will update you. Thank you all once again for your amazing support!

V/r
CAPT Jack Scorby
CO, NAS Jacksonville

Hat tip Byron.

Ponderable of the day

“The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out
of other people’s money.”

—Margaret Thatcher

Hat tip NRO.

Better than working at SUPSHIPS, I guess ..

Good work if you can get it.

Navy Task Force Assesses Changing Luminescence
By Bob Slavewoman 

Special to American Farces Press Syndicate

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2009 - Rapidly diminishing daylight, lengthening shadows, decreasing temperatures, increased numbers of blood sucking insects -- all are possible consequences of a level of natural light that mounting evidence suggests is changing significantly.

As the scientific community works to understand the changing position of the sun and its effect on visibility, the chief of naval operations has created a task force, headed by Rear Adm. David Boobly, the Navy's senior oceanographer, to better understand and evaluate its implications for maritime security. 



"Task Force Light Change was initiated ... to assess the Navy's preparedness to respond to emerging requirements, and to develop a science-based timeline for future Navy actions regarding light change," Boobley explained in a July 28 interview on Pentagon Web Radio's audio webcast "Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military." 



"Because the Arctic light is changing faster than any other place on the planet, our first deliverable will be a strategic roadmap proposing actions for the Navy regarding the Arctic region," Boobley said. 



This may include an assessment of how maritime strategy applies to the Arctic region, potential improvements in infrastructure, and recommended investments in force structure and capabilities to prepare for the challenges presented by the changing light levels and angles of incidence, he explained. 



Boobley was interviewed while staying in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States, located 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle, where he was joining Rear Adm. Nevin Truckk, chief of naval research, for a visit to the Coast Guard Cutter Healy, an icebreaker supporting scientific research in the Arctic Ocean. The visit was intended to observe retrieval of several bottom-moored buoy sensors funded by the Office of Naval Research. 



"Observations from these buoys will give us a better science-based and fact-based understanding of what is going on in the Arctic," Boobley explained. 



Global light level change may present many challenges to national security, Boobley said. Rising insect levels from the decreasing temperatures and quieter winds are of specific interest to the Navy due to the coastal location of many of its bases. "We need to understand what it will take to protect these valuable investments," he said. 



Increasing numbers of biting insects may compound the problem. "As the light levels fall, the activity of insects may be a significant ... and under-estimated component of iching rise," Boobley commented. 



"We are also very interested in the distribution of extreme light changing events," Boobley said, explaining that while the mean global light levels may be falling, some regions may experience extreme darkening while others are seeing greater-than-normal light levels. 



Boobley explained that changing sun position and cloud patterns may produce regional sun burns and light-green grass that could have severe consequences for stressed and poor vacationers, who have the least ability to adapt to a quickly changing environment. "This could result in an increased potential for large-scale hat-buying and Solarcaine application efforts," he noted. 



The Arctic already is experiencing dramatic changes. "Since I started checking the tables this June, we have seen a 40 percent decrease in light levels since the summer solstice," Boobley said. This decline in light, he added, is closing up the Arctic from more human activity, including resource exploration and ecotourism in the near term, and the potential for decreased commercial shipping and fishing in the decades to come – not to mention larger Alaskan mosquitoes. 



"As the light changes and the bugs wake up, the United States Navy has a role to play, working with our Coast Guard and international partners to ensure the sea lanes remain open and navigation is free for all, and free from those things that give Sailors welts when they are working in the Polar and tropical littorals" Boobley said. 



Boobley discussed the intricate dynamics of late afternoon breezes influencing mosquito mating habits. "The more I learn about the complex insect genitalia," he said, "the more I realize that we still have significant aspects of the basic Entomology to understand before we are going to be able to accurately forecast and model these interactions." 



The Navy has a long history of polar operations, Boobley noted, and the earliest indications of decreasing light were reported by Navy submarines in the 1990s when they did not see the sun for weeks on end when submerged. Since then, he added, the Navy has funded various scientific studies there in collaboration with other federal agencies and numerous partners in the world of academia and research. 



Boobley pointed out that another example of collaboration is the National Bug Center, a joint operation among the Navy, the North American Forensic Entomology Association and the Coast Guard. The center studies bugs worldwide for safety of BBQs and swimming, and their measurements have been crucial to quantifying the changes that are occurring in the Arctic, he said. 



Boobley said the Navy has many assets that can assist in understanding the changing light levels and insects. From a wide array of data-gathering sensors and platforms to super-computing facilities that process the data and create predictions, Navy assets continuously work to provide comprehensive knowledge of the light filled environment. 



"The naval oceanography program exists to provide environmental information to the operating fleet, allowing it to operate more safely and effectively," Boobley said. 



"I like to say that we are operating in nature's casino; I intend to count the cards," he quipped. 



(Bob Slavewoman works in the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy.)

Next – the Navy will study condom use.

Only slightly modified from the original....but about as meaningful science wise.

Retro Wednesday

Waikiki and downtown Honolulu.

Red Dawn reboot?

If it comes out the way the first two seasons of Battlestar Galactica did - then all will be well.

A rather thorough review of the script and video can be seen at Cinema Suicide. It will be (maybe) directed by Dan Bradley of Quantum of Solace and The Bourne Ultimatum fame - so there is hope. Can they match the casting of the first one though?

For you fans of The Long Game; one guess who the bad guys are? Sounds like a little EMP action in the script too.

If it gets a lefty Hollyweird smearing then once again, someone will have stolen a bit of my youth. That is my worry.

I would offer something free to the director. Free of charge now; I am willing to chair a "bu11sh1t check" of the script for obvious military impossibilities that ruin so many films. For a quick plug at the end of the credits for our blogs, I am sure John, Greyhawk, Matt, Lex, URR, and myself would be happy to ensure that the film isn't laughed at by those in uniform.

Oh, and can we get a cool hat or sump'n too?

Hat tip Jonah.

NWU - I told you so

Yep, back in '06.

But one junior sailor complained the NWUs were too heavy and hot to wear in the boiling waters off Africa, and another said its sleeves were uncomfortable when rolled up above the elbow, Marine-style.

You should have seen the Sailors I saw melting in 100F heat last month.

---

UPDATE: FbL offers a woman's perspective.

I don't even want to tell you how many Sailors I've addressed as Marine in the last three months...

@#$*^&$@#&! Navy Service Uniform.

Yes; we do loves her.

Fun with NAVSEA

First things first, on balance I like what Asst. SECNAV Stackley & VADM McCoy have to say - well - because it brings up issues about shipbuilding that we have been talking about, what Byron and Sid, years?

That being said, we are still not where we should be as Navy professionals working in DC, but not of DC.

BT

Here we go. VADM McCoy and Asst. SECNAV Stackley's statement to the House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditinary Forces on 30 JUL has coined something new for your Bu11sh1t Bingo card.

BEHOLD!

...even our most mature programs, we have experienced cost growth as a result of performance shortfalls and quality escapes.

What in the name of all that is holy is a "quality escape?" Can't we speak a little clearer? These are Congressmen and taxpayers you are talking to - not Six Sigma power geeks.

Seriously, google it. Half the stuff is about "quality escapes" to some island vacation somewhere for beer and booty - but the Defense Contract Management Agency defines it as,

nonconforming material that has entered the supply chain

I'm sorry. In my Navy, the saved called that cr@p and everyone else calls it shi'ite, FOD, lowest bidder, or guv'munt. I am sure Byron has a few more colorful descriptions.

We also start with a mantra that everyone seems to feel a need to chant without saying how to get there.

Why don't we just get a Tibetan Buddhist wheel, Sharpie the phrase to the outside, and put it outside the Washington Navy Yard so everyone can give it a spin on the way to work?

The Chief of Naval Operations has outlined requirements for the future force, often referred to as the 313-ship Navy. In fact, the CNO has emphasized that 313 ships represents “the floor”, if we are to meet the full range of missions confronting the Navy in the next decade and beyond. Today’s Navy is a fleet of 283 battle force ships, well short of the future requirement. Inarguably the underlying challenge – indeed, the pressing requirement – before us today in shipbuilding is affordability

Yes, the testimony that keeps giving.

If I can be a bit snarky - why is it you can call something "the floor" if you are already under it? Like the guy that claims he would never sleep with a 200# woman right after he gets out of the shower with a 250# woman.

Let's have a translation contest. Do your best in comments.

Our ability to correctly predict the cost of our future shipbuilding programs has atrophied significantly over the past decade. We have been focused on projecting costs rather than developing “should cost” estimates. Projections accept and institutionalize inefficiencies while “should cost” estimates find and drive out these unnecessary costs.

I haven't seen that much spackle since I helped clean up from the last hurricane. Do your best. I am still in awe of it all.

You have to dig around, but there is some quality stuff here. One example, on page 5 is a hard truth,

Navy on-site oversight of shipbuilding is essential for the Navy to ensure shipbuilders comply with the contract requirements of vessels. This role is filled by the Supervisors of Shipbuilding in Bath, ME; Groton, CT; Newport News, VA; and on the Gulf Coast. From 1990 to 2006, the Supervisors of Shipbuilding experienced a 54-percent decrease in manning. By the end of fiscal year 2007, the Supervisors of Shipbuilding were funded to a level of manning significantly lower than both the (then) current workforce size and the requirement, and facing a 10 percent shortfall to current staffing over the next five years.

Perfect, I have a solution for you. Billets/BA/NMP are something we can change and prioritize. Let's make shipbuilding and aircraft our #1 priority. I know of a lot of do-nothing, make-work billets in the Navy's Diversity Enterprise that we can recode as fast as you can say "Room 222."

These are CAPT, CDR, LCDR, Senior Chief and Master Chief billets --- with a few CWO and LDO thrown in, that are begging to address real issues and real problems. OK, don't take them all, take 50% and give them to SUPSHIPS. Sure, I tease NAVSEA and SUPSHIPS a lot, but there are good people over there trying very hard to do a good job in a tough waterfront. Make it happen, or stop complaining. We have the billets - it just isn't a priority.

I have the PDF of the testimony if you can't find it online. If you want the whole thing, email me and I will send it to you.