Being president means having technology at your fingertips, something President Obama was eager to show off to comedian Jerry Seinfeld in a video posted this week. Seinfeld, who posts an occasional series online called “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” this week invited President Obama along for a ride in his 1963 Stingray Corvette. After the Secret Service stops them from leaving the White House grounds, Obama brings Seinfeld into his ride: the five-ton, bulletproof presidential vehicle known as “The Beast.” “I could call a nuclear submarine from this, right here,” Obama told the comedian, motioning to the phone console next…
Author David Larter
ABOARD THE LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP MILWAUKEE, VIRGINIA CAPES – The littoral combat ship Milwaukee, the Navy’s newest ship, broke down Dec. 11 and had to be towed more than 40 nautical miles to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Virginia. The ship suffered an engineering casualty while transiting from Halifax, Canada, to Mayport, Florida, and ultimately its home port of San Diego. The cause is being evaluated by ship’s crew and technical consultants. Initial indications are that fine metal debris collected in the lube oil filter caused the system to shut down, according to a Navy statement provided to Navy Times. The…
The hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985 at the hands of Hezbollah militants turned a routine flight from Greece to Italy into a Navy tragedy when Steelworker 2nd Class Robert “Bobby” Stethem was singled out, brutally beaten and murdered for being a service member. Divers in 1985 Lebanon hijacking receive POW medals Stethem, a Seabee diver, was identified by his Navy ID card along with shipmate Clint Suggs. There were several other sailors on board the flight, but most initially avoided being singled out by hiding their IDs. They were later discovered and taken into captivity in Beirut, Lebanon.…
The crew of the destroyer Ross had a bit of fun Tuesday, shooting off an interceptor missile from its forward launcher and achieving the first ballistic missile target intercept in a European exercise. “That was bright!” one watch-stander can be be heard saying in the background, over laughs and high-fives. The SM-3 Block IA launch took place in the North Atlantic, aimed at a Terrier Orion ballistic missile target — a 2,800-lb two-stage rocket — launched from Great Britain’s Hebrides range, located off the northwest coast of Scotland. The SM-3 was intercepted in space, according to a 6th Fleet release. The launch was…
In a message to the fleet, the outgoing chief of naval operations thanked sailors for their hard work and efforts during his tour. “I want to thank you for your inspiring efforts that ensured the Navy operated where it mattered, when it mattered – while laying the foundation of our future fleet,” he wrote. He also assured sailors they were in good hands with Richardson. See Greenert’s farewell here. Greenert discussed uniforms, optempo and more in his final interview as CNO with Navy Times.
Sept. 11, 2001 was a day when thousands of Americans — firefighters, police, troops and everyday people — became heroes. But one story of heroism got little attention until a short documentary was created for the 10th Anniversary of 9/11. Released by Eyepop Productions and narrated by famed actor and veterans advocate Tom Hanks, the 12-minute video tells the story of how the U.S. Coast Guard, supported by the people who worked on the New York and New Jersey waterfront, pulled off the greatest mass waterborne evacuation in history. (The half million evacuated makes it even bigger than the famed 1940 Allied evacuation of Dunkirk in…
The sailors of dock landing ship Comstock’s deck department think their cruise video is better than the cruiser Normandy’s. On Tuesday, we posted a video made by the sailors on Normandy that included go-pro video of small boat ops, a sweet F-18 flyby and 5-inch gun blasts. Two sailors from Comstock wrote in with links to their own deployment video, pieced together by the seamen and boatswain’s mates of OD Division, claiming superiority. The Comstock returned to San Diego in late February from a 7-month cruise. We checked it out and it definitely gives the Normandy a run for its money. V-22s,…
Five-inch guns, crew-served weapons, Go-Pro small boat ops, MH-60 and fighter flybys: all set to dramatic music. The cruiser Normandy wants the folks back home to know they’ve got things covered in the Gulf. The video, posted on the command’s Facebook page, offers a glimpse into Navy life while deployed to the Middle East, minus the seemingly endless freshwater wash-downs. The ship is deployed with the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group and is slated to return this fall. The Normandy will left Norfolk this Spring escorting the carrier Theodore Roosevelt to San Diego by way of the Middle East. Then the cruiser will continue on through…
The spacesuit worn by distinguished naval aviator and famed astronaut Neil Armstrong during the first moon landing is in rough shape, and the National Air and Space Museum is asking the public for help. The museum launched a Kickstarter campaign, seeking to raise $500,000 to fully restore and create a 3-D digital scan of the suit for display and to create replicas in the future. NASA says the suit is being preserved but shouldn’t be displayed until its refurbished, hence the fundraiser. “You may be surprised to learn that spacesuits are among the most fragile artifacts in the Museum’s collection,” the website…
A movie about one of the great maritime disasters of World War II had a little disaster of its own. A WWII-era Navy sea plane broke up during shooting for an upcoming movie about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis near the end of WWII. A PBY aircraft used to stage the rescue of survivors was being used for the shoot started leaking as it was floating on the surface of the water, said Elizabeth Wolfe, spokeswoman for the film “USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage.” The film crew had to evacuate the plane for safety reasons. The crew attempted to…