Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon just completed a 24-hour embark aboard the carrier Harry S Truman. This is the play-by-play. ABCS (AW/SW) Ernest Taylor (left) gives Scoop Deck a full tour of the flight deck during flight ops (Photos by Lance M. Bacon) 1445 Scoop Deck has hooked up with ABCS (AW/SW) Ernest Taylor, the safety LCPO. We spend the next 45 minutes traversing the flight deck – 4.5 acres of controlled chaos.
Browsing: Life at Sea
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.
Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon just completed a 24-hour embark aboard the carrier Harry S Truman. This is the play-by-play. 1200 We’re boarding the C2-A Greyhound COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) that will take us to the ship. Flight time will be about an hour. Last week, Scoop Deck wrote about the first-class treatment inherent to flights with the Chief of Naval Operations. This isn’t quite the same. The cabin is hot, cramped and wreaks of hydraulic fuel and exhaust. And I love it.
The 11th semi-annual Fleet Diversity Council will be held April 7 in sunny San Diego. The event is part of the Navy’s diversity initiatives. It is open for all interested military government personnel, with a strong emphasis on regional naval bases such as Point Loma, San Diego, Coronado, NAS North Island and Balboa medical center. Command managed equal opportunity officers and equal opportunity advisors are strongly encouraged to attend. And here’s the best part: Command funded travel from other areas is authorized and encouraged, according to NavAdmin 089/10. The day will include two identical sessions. The first runs from 8…
If it seems like U.S. ship builders are spitting out subs at breakneck speed, it is with good reason. They are. Lawmakers put the Navy on a 60-month construction span by the end of the Block II contract, which calls for two $2 billion submarines each year starting in 2011. Basically, they want subs better and cheaper … and delivered yesterday. India seems to be taking a slightly different approach. The country is planning a 10-year lease of a Russian nuke, the Nerpa. Not sure if that lease has an option to buy. For the crew’s sake, I hope not.…
Looks like the Navy has coined a new term. I heard it for the first time a couple of months ago when I was out on the Truman and talking to Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, the strike group’s commander. He was explaining how they would remain ready despite a six-month gap between the JTFX and an actual deployment. Driscoll said the strike group would probably go out for another large-scale excersise. “The Navy loves acronyms, so we’ll probably call it ‘sustain-ex’ or something like that,” Driscoll said casually. Looks like that term Driscoll was trying out has been formalized. A…
The Drug Buster could be a moniker for the San Diego-based frigate McClusky, which has nearly cornered the market among the gray hulled fleet over the years during deployments while cruising off the coasts of South and Central America. The ship’s crew is preparing to depart for yet another counter-drug deployment on Oct. 5, taking along some SH-60B Seahawk helicopters and a law enforcement team from the Coast Guard, who largely lead the take-down, chase-down, maritime interdiction missions at sea. The “Mighty Mac” has collected its share of drug busts when it heads to sea on such deployments to support…
