Just over a year ago, retired Vice Adm. Mike Miller collected $100 each from the chief of naval operations and the Navy secretary as he handed over command of the Naval Academy. In his remarks, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus told the crowd at Alumni Hall that he and Adm. Jon Greenert had made a bet four years earlier with Miller — a ’74 academy grad — that he wouldn’t last a second tour at the Naval Academy without getting in trouble. “… I think the main thing we share is the astonishment of his classmates and my shipmates from long ago…
Browsing: Ray Mabus
Eric Dane isn’t a SWO. He just plays one on TV. But his late father, William Melvin, was an aviation boatswain’s mate in the Vietnam War era. To honor his service, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus presented Dane with a shadow box of his awards June 12 at the season 2 premiere “The Last Ship” in Washington, D.C., attended by sailors in the area. On the show, Dane plays Cmdr. Tom Chandler, skipper of the destroyer Nathan James and more or less humanity’s last hope of survival against an apocalyptic virus. “I’m here because I love Washington, I love the Navy and…
[HTML1] Navy Secretary Ray Mabus spent about five minutes with Stephen Colbert on Thursday, but the two entertainment icons — one’s taking over for David Letterman next year, the other had a role in “Battleship” — packed a lot of big issues into one quick interview. A sampling: Post-service careers: Colbert asked Mabus, who left uniformed Navy service as a lieutenant junior grade, whether he ever wished he could go back in time to his former self and say, “Hang in their, buddy — you get to boss these people around later.” Recruiting and retention: Mabus offered his favorite recruiting poster…
The push for unisex uniforms is moving forward and led from the top — Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. Mabus believes it’s time for female sailors — and Marines — to wear the same uniforms as their shipmates so as to better blend into today’s Navy, where women serve in fleet units and shouldn’t wear different covers and uniforms in formation. “When we look out, we shouldn’t see male sailors or female sailors,” Mabus told Navy Times. “We ought to see sailors.” Intended as a step to reduce discrimination against females in the Navy, the effort could also spell big changes…
There were special screenings for sailors stateside and promotional events abroad. There was a massive marketing campaign that involved sandwich shops and soda makers. There was a positive review from Military Times’ octoplex guru. There was a cameo by the Navy Department’s top civilian. Despite all that, and despite an overseas box office take worth more than $220 million, movie-industry reports are pretty much unanimous: “Battleship” bombed. Deadline Hollywood reports a $25.3 million take for the film over its debut weekend in U.S., well behind “The Avengers,” which topped $55 million in its third weekend. One analyst quoted in this…
Above, you see the destroyer Jason Dunham. It’s named after Cpl. Jason Dunham, who covered a grenade with his helmet on April 14, 2004, in an attempt to shield the blast from fellow Marines. He died eight days later, and received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroism on Jan. 11, 2007. No human being in their right mind would question the naming of the ship. It’s a logical, sensible case in which a class of ship frequently used to honor war heroes memorialized one of the greatest heroes of the Iraq war. It’s no secret that the Navy…
