https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EypzUduBqiQ It’s an event years in the making: No, not the new Star Wars movie. The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower is out of the yards! The ship officially emerged in late August, and as it prepares for its first deployment next summer after two years in a Norfolk dry-dock, the public affairs department released an anticipation-building video parody entitled, “Sea Wars: The Ike Awakens.” The video mirrors the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” trailer, with a very startled petty officer third class on the flight deck, a rolling mop bucket beeping like R2-D2 and an F/A-18 Hornet battling an…
Browsing: Hampton Roads
Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford began testing the ship’s new electromagnetic aircraft launch system in Virginia’s James River on June 5, but before they can launch real aircraft, they have to practice. It’s not quite like a real, live flight deck, but it’s close. Gone are the cargo pants, brightly colored turtlenecks and helmets. Instead, a sailor in blueberries and a hard hat mimics the signals of a deck handler before the catapult launches a weight sled out over the river in a graceful swan dive. The slow motion impact with the water at the end is rather dramatic. EMALS testing began June 5, the latest step…
If “Top Chef” was set on the high seas, Coast Guard Food Service Specialist 2nd Class David Blonn might have a shot. The cook on the coastal patrol boat Albacore has had to do some of his cooking in 12-foot waves. His galley is only 12 feet by 8 feet, including all the equipment. The 6-foot-2 Blonn looks like a giant when cooking inside the small galley, and when the seas get rough and the boat is rocking back and forth, cooking a meal can seem like a monumental task in the tight space. While some crew members might be…
With the ABC drama “Last Resort” on life support, it appeared fans of Navy-themed television shows were stuck with Agent Gibbs and the folks at “NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “NCIS: SVU,” “NCIS: 90210,” and so on. But fear not — the young-adult-oriented CW network is saving the day. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network and the production group behind “NCIS” will partner to create a new Navy drama, dubbed “Norfolk.” The report says the show “revolves around the lives and loves of the young people at the Norfolk Naval Station.” Think of it as “Melrose Place,” only with more…
The Navy this week met with another six families who live in Lincoln Military Housing units in Hampton Roads to review mold inspection reports prepared by an independent licensed and state-certified contractor, Marine Chemist Service, Inc., according to Navy Region Mid-Atlantic. No results have yet been made public. The inspections stem from complaints by more than a dozen families in the region about mold infestations and resultant health issues in their privately managed dwellings — complaints they say did not draw an adequate response until two families went to a local TV station, which reported the issue and drew interest…
