Officers

Seven in Seven

By Lance Bacon on April 30, 2010 Aviation, Coast Guard, Congress, Environment, Foreign navies, Maritime operations, Morale, Navy, Officers, Personnel, Pirates, Royal Navy, Ships, Submarines, The Pacific, Washington

The Navy nabbed a lot of headlines again this week. Leading the way is news that subs are now officially open to women. In other career news, the active duty master chiefs list was released. The Coast Guard is holding its ground in the oil spill – and against critics. and the Army cancelled the Non-Line of Sight Launch System, which will likely have significant ramifications for the Littoral Combat Ship. Here’s seven stories in seven minutes from the past seven days that you may not have seen, but are worthy of notice:

North Korea’s meritorious promotion program?

By Lance Bacon on April 26, 2010 Foreign navies, North Korea, Officers, The Pacific

In January, former North Korean four-star Kim Myong Guk was seen wearing only three stars on his collar. Most analysts believed he had been held accountable for North Korea’s loss to South Korea in a naval skirmish off the west coast in November. But North Korean television footage and photographs released over the weekend find the 70-year-old fielding that fourth star once more. The JoongAng Daily, a daily paper printed in Seoul, reported Monday that the demotion-to-promotion turnaround was related to the March 26 sinking of a South Korean naval ship near the western sea border with the North. “It…

The Admiral to the end

By Lance Bacon on April 22, 2010 Historical, leadership, Navy, Officers

In the April 26 edition of Time Magazine, ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer answers 10 questions from readers regarding her decades as a journalist. Rome Ibera, of Dumont, N.J., asked “What has been your most difficult interview so far?” Sawyer answered: Admiral Hyman Rickover. He was in his 80s at the time. He’s the father of the nuclear Navy, and he famously tried to destabilize you when you were in his presence. I introduced [the segment] by saying how brilliant he was, and he said, ‘It’s not that I’m so smart. It’s that you’re so dumb.’ And that’s how…

A day aboard Truman — the Skipper

By Lance Bacon on March 30, 2010 Aviation, Carriers, Chow, leadership, Life at Sea, Maritime operations, Navy, Officers

Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon just completed a 24-hour embark aboard the carrier Harry S Truman. This is the play-by-play. 0600 Reveille, reveille! All hands heave out and trice up. Reveille! Truman’s 65-ton rudders are cutting through some choppier waters. It makes for a gentle rocking motion that invites one to remain in the rack. But Scoop Deck has claimed one of the 18,150 meals that will be prepared aboard Truman today, and we plan to enjoy it on the enlisted mess decks. There’s no way we’re going to miss that. Capt. Joe Clarkson has been at Truman’s…

A day aboard Truman — the XO

By Lance Bacon on March 30, 2010 Aviation, Carriers, leadership, Life at Sea, Navy, Officers, Personnel, The deckplates

Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon just completed a 24-hour embark aboard the carrier Harry S Truman. This is the play-by-play. Truman’s XO knows it’s the sailors who make the difference, and he has some strong initiatives to take care of them, their families and their Navy. (Photo by Lance M. Bacon) 2030 Fresh out of the metal shop, we sat down for a one-on-one with the XO, Capt. John “Oscar” Meier. Most of our discussion will be used in a forthcoming story, so keep an eye on Navy Times. But Scoop Deck can tell you this: Meier is someone…

A day aboard Truman — Pri Fly

By Lance Bacon on March 30, 2010 Aviation, Carriers, Maritime operations, Navy, Officers, Ships

Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon just completed a 24-hour embark aboard the carrier Harry S Truman. This is the play-by-play. Cmdr. William Bulis is Truman’s new Air Boss. He’s the one who keeps the chaos under control. (Photo by Lance M. Bacon) 1715 We’re one deck above the bridge, and six stories above the flight deck, in a tight space called “Pri Fly” (short for Primary Flight Control). This is the nerve center for flight ops on the carrier. From his chair the Air Boss, Cmdr. William Bulis, controls the launches, landings and patterns of aircraft flying near the…

A day aboard Truman — the CAG

By Lance Bacon on March 30, 2010 Aviation, Carriers, leadership, Life at Sea, Maritime operations, Navy, Officers, Ships

Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon just completed a 24-hour embark aboard the carrier Harry S Truman. This is the play-by-play. Capt. Jay “Spock” Bynum talks with Scoop Deck as closed circuit TV gives live feed of an F/A-18 trap over his shoulder. (Photos by Lance M. Bacon) 1630 Scoop Deck is in the office of Capt. Jay “Spock” Bynum. This is a pretty cool meeting – some 20 years ago, Spock and I were aboard Independence as she kicked off Operation Desert Shield. I was with the Marine Detachment and he was a lieutenant with the VFA-113 Stingers. Small…

A day aboard Truman — Ready Room 7

By Lance Bacon on March 30, 2010 Aviation, Carriers, Life at Sea, Maritime operations, Navy, Officers

Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon just completed a 24-hour embark aboard the carrier Harry S Truman. This is the play-by-play. The view from the Mini Boss’ seat in Pri Fly as Rockhound launches from catapult 1. (Photo by Lance M. Bacon) 1400 Scoop Deck has copped a squat in Ready Room 7, home of the VFA-105 Gunslingers, based out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Va. This F/A-18E Super Hornet squadron boasts a storied history, and a number of “nuggets” – junior pilots on their first operational deployment.

Traveling with the CNO — The return home

By Lance Bacon on March 24, 2010 Historical, leadership, Maritime operations, Navy, Officers

Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon took a day trip with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead this week. This is the play-by-play report. 1915 Dinner time. CS1 Russell Allison served up a field green salad with citrus vinaigrette that opened the festivities, followed by spinach and feta stuffed chicken breast with white wine cream sauce. Wild rice and sautéed green beans accompanied, and culminated with cheesecake that could make your tongue smack your forehead. I’m beginning to think we should host a cook-off among this squadron’s culinary specialists. Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific, (right) and…

They've got mail!

By Lance Bacon on February 3, 2010 leadership, Navy, Officers, Personnel

Scoop Deck just spent an awesome week with the hard-working staff at Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tenn. You’ll be seeing the fruit of this visit in coming editions of Navy Times. In the meantime, here are a few comments that really caught our attention: “We receive and process 7 million record updates annually.” – Dwight Stanton, deputy, Personnel Info Management Department. (For the record, that’s more than 19,000 letters every day. The personnel bubbas told me this mail alone weighs in at 130,000 pounds annually. That weight is equal to 356 links of anchor chain, 52 Humvees, three pre-boneyard…

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