tactical blueberry

half-staff

KABUL, Afghanistan — A military helicopter crashed in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops and seven Afghan commandos…

The Associated Press has learned that more than 20 Navy SEALs from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden were among those lost in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

I’m just heartbroken. And I don’t know what it is about August, but this makes it four years running when the month has brought me great change and great sorrow.

Rest in peace, brothers.

done, sir, done

This post is a few days in coming, I know. It took three days just to remember this existed, honestly, and then now another three to find my password and build up the mental capacity to sit and reflect a bit. And even now, I really ought to be studying. So how was OCS, you’re wondering. I can’t tell you everything here, but I will say that the program itself met my expectations entirely, that the people met my expectations to a great degree, and finally that there is no excuse for showing up unprepared. There’s enough gouge out there (I know because I read it) to prepare anyone for the experience. That doesn’t mean that everyone should get through in 12 weeks - the medical stuff happens, the inspections rattle people to their core. You can’t read something that will act as an elixir to a drill instructor’s negative attention. But to show up physically unprepared - which an overwhelming number of people do - is irresponsible on the part of the student and his recruiter alike. That part of the system is absolutely broken. For me, the best part of the program was Week 10 - Indoc Week. That is, the week during which the new class came on deck. I had been appointed the Indoctrination Class Commander, so the initial in-processing and training of this new class fell on my shoulders. My staff and I worked like dogs - it was like the week before election day, only on such a smaller scale that every action or inaction had magnified consequences. We were coordinating logistics, babysitting, teaching, mentoring, commanding, correcting, running around, exuding calm composure, minding the smallest of details…and we did it nonstop. 3 hours of sleep was a luxury. And at the end of the week, and when we stepped off training country as Ensigns three weeks later, the results of our efforts were plain. They’re my class. 15-11, here’s to fair winds and following seas. Now I’m at Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS) taking a three week intro course with 6 shipmates from OCS. The small class size is such an extraordinary opportunity - I feel very lucky not to be in a class of 50 right now. The speed at which information is being thrown at us is fast - what was covered over 2-3 weeks at OCS is being taught here for 2 hours in just as much detail. The hands-on learning is the most challenging and fun, though. On our first day, the The Commanding Officer (CO) of SWOS actually took us out sailing for 3 hours, so I got to mind the tiller, the main sheet, and the jib, all while answering questions about maritime right of way rules. All in all, an awesome welcome into the SWO community. When I’m done up here, I head down to just outside Norfolk, VA for two more short schools: how to be accountable for ammunition and how to launch Tomahawk missiles. When those are done, I hop on something or other to go out and meet my ship, USS FirstShip (CG —) wherever she might be at the time. It’ll be about two months until I actually get out there, which is pretty extraordinary. It feels like a lifetime from now, though I’m sure that will change fast.

final countdown

Well, we’re getting there. In four days and a wake-up I’ll hit the road for the big drive north — 25 hours of I-95, 2 overnight rest-stops, and 3 planned exits to fill up on gas and vittles at Sheetz, whose made-to-order burgerz on a pretzel roll absolutely rock my world.

Aside from spending too much time on Sheetz’s website, what else does one do in their final days of absolute freedom, you ask? Well, label socks and underwear, for one. In preparation for OCS, I’ve had the privilege of expending a ridiculous amount of time, energy, and dollars on the most basic of basics. Also, permanent fabric markers. It’s like a crazy cross between getting ready for overnight summer camp and for back-to-school. You’re welcome, Hanes & Sharpie. Drink it up.

Other special end-of-days activities: sitting by the pool, sitting on the beach, eating lots of dessert, a little bit of extra “gouge” memorization, and trying desperately to get used to waking up well before dawn.

I’ve also gotten a few letters from a friend currently at OCS, just six weeks ahead of me. Everything seems to be going according to plan for him, which is about the best news I can hope for. It tells me that I’m about as prepared as I can be (if he didn’t hit unexpected snags due to lack of preparation, it’s reasonable that I won’t either, since we did a bunch of preparation in tandem), and that takes a little pressure off. It’ll be what it’ll be, and it’ll probably be fine. Also, he said the food was great, so bonus there.

boarders ahoy!

NATO has developed a video game. In this game, you’re doing counter-piracy ops. You’re boarding vessels, searching them, and questioning those on board. But one prominent military blogger notes, theres “not even a parrot” featured in the training scenario, and that makes it less-than-swashbuckling.

Read over the possible things-to-say in the screenshot above…there’s something about them being things you click at CGI pirates from the safety of your computer that makes them hilariously stilted. I mean, “We must search you”?

That said, obviously I’d jump at a chance to play. And one day to do the real thing?

sworn in!

Well, it’s official, folks. I woke up this morning and headed up to Navy Officer Recruiting Station (NORS) Hyattsville. There, I signed three copies of my enlistment contract, three copies of my service agreement, and about an inch of other assorted paperwork. And so as of about three hours ago, I am a United States Sailor. Feels damned good.

pumped

So, I’m totally pumped. In five days and a wake-up, I’m going to walk into the Hyattsville office where, 11 months ago, I first met my Officer Recruiter. I’m going to raise my hand, and swear to support and defend the Constitution. I’m going to sign my name to a piece of paper (DD-0004) that says I’m no longer a civilian, but am instead a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, subject to the regulations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

And I’m so pumped. I really can’t stop smiling. I’m driving around town with my arm out the window, soaking up the incredible Florida February sunshine, and I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

Thirty days after I enlist, I’m going to roll up to the sea wall at Naval Station Newport, and start OCS. Ninety days later, God-willing, I’ll raise my hand one more time, swear a new oath, and become a commissioned officer. Incredible.

It’s been a long 11 months, and I can already tell that this last month of waiting is going to lead to some serious restless leg syndrome (not clinically, of course). I’m trying to avoid the urge to start packing (because then what would I do in 3 weeks, when it’s actually time to start packing??), and also trying to avoid the urge to double up my gym time to pass the time, because I know that would only lead to overtraining and injury.

Time to clean the house, clearly..

continuing non-resolution

Okay. The president’s new FY12 budget is getting a lot of press these days, but all that attention is perhaps distracting folks from something very important and significantly more urgent: Congress still hasn’t passed the FY11 budget. And we’re almost out of cash.

This is bad. The Navy Times colorfully reports:

 As it stands, the Navy has less than three weeks left of a budget. No one knows what comes next. That uncertainty has left planners reconsidering yard repairs and scheduled projects on-the-fly. Already, the Navy has canceled five shipyard availabilities set for March and April, and as many as 29 are on the chopping block if Congress renews the funding extension, known as a continuing resolution, instead of passing the proposed budget.

Meanwhile, the service’s just-proposed budget for the next fiscal year, a part of the larger federal budget, seems certain to sail into gridlock in Congress. All this has left the sea service adrift, its top budget official warned.

“Right now, we are in uncharted waters,” Vice Adm. Terry Blake said Wednesday in a speech before the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Naval Academy Alumni Association. “We have three budgets in the air,” and the prospect of a year-long continuing resolution. He added, “We have never been in that situation before.”

Already fouling up the service’s finances, the cuts will get closer to the bone the longer the stopgap funding is in place. If it is extended through the year, for instance, the Navy couldn’t afford to pay sailors their final paycheck this year, Blake said.

For those of you who may be reading, and who may have sway with Congress: Please, fix this. It’s really not funny anymore.

yes, this is what they look like

superlasers

Okay, the Navy’s been in the news this week and last. First, it was bad news — the firing of another CO. Then, we got a (small) taste of the good news as a boat from USS Laboon took out a pirate skiff in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. Then, it was more bad news — a sailor tragically fell from her destroyer and was lost at sea.

But today — oh, today. Scientific breakthrough. Superlasers.

Wired’s “Danger Room” has the scoop:

But now the Navy thinks it’s broken a power threshold. Tests in December of a new injector yielded the electrons necessary to get the Free Electron Laser up to “megawatt class” beams, the Office of Naval Research said in a statement issued today, nine months ahead of schedule. One of the project’s lead researchers, Dinh Nguyen, said in the statement that he hoped to “set a world record for the average current of electrons.”

I don’t even know what that means, but I’m damned excited about it. They’re expecting these…ahem…carrier-killer-killers…to be in shipboard tests by 2018. Too cool. I guess it really finally is the 21st century.