Good Saturday Morning 3 July
I hope that you all have a great 4th of July weekend
Skip
This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
July 3
1898 During the Spanish American War, when Rear Adm. Cerveras Spanish fleet attempts to flee from the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, but the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Squadron successfully pursues, attacks, and systematically destroys the Spanish vessels.
1942 A PBY 5A aircraft successfully fires the first airborne retro-rocket at Goldstone Lake, Calif.
1943 Submarine chaser USS (SC 1048) rescues survivors of a U-boat attack who had been sighted by a Navy blimp in the North Atlantic Ocean. The survivors are from the tanker Bloody Marsh, which was previously torpedoed July 2 and sunk by German submarine (U 66), which during its career sinks 37 Allied vessels until sunk by aircraft from USS Block Island (CVE 21) and USS Buckley 51) nearly a year later.
1944 USS Frost (DE 144) and USS Inch (DE 146) sink German submarine (U 154) off Madiera.
1950 USS Valley Forge (CV 45) and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean War. VF 51 aircraft from Valley Forge shoot down two North Korean aircraft. The action is also the first combat test of F9F Panther and AD Skyraider.
Today in History July 3
1775 | George Washington takes command of the Continental Army. | |
1790 | In Paris, the Marquis de Condorcet proposes granting civil rights to women. | |
1844 | American ambassador Caleb Cushing successfully negotiates a commercial treaty with China. | |
1863 | Confederate forces attack the center of the Union line at Gettysburg, but fail to break it. | |
1878 | John Wise flies the first dirigible in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. | |
1901 | The Wild Bunch, led by Butch Cassidy, commits its last American robbery near Wagner, Montana, taking $65,000 from a Great Northern train. | |
1903 | The first cable across the Pacific Ocean is spliced between Honolulu, Midway, Guam and Manila. | |
1944 | The U.S. First Army opens a general offensive to break out of the hedgerow area of Normandy, France. | |
1945 | U.S. troops land at Balikpapan and take Sepinggan airfield on Borneo in the Pacific. | |
1950 | U.S. carrier-based planes attack airfields in the Pyongyang-Chinnampo area of North Korea in the first air-strike of the Korean War. | |
1954 | Food rationing ends in Great Britain almost nine years after the end of World War II. | |
1962 | Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. | |
1967 | North Vietnamese soldiers attack South Vietnam's only producing coal mine at Nong Son. |
1863 |
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Thanks to Santa
Skip,
Slight bit of misinformation in the list for Thursday. Mobile CIty Fathers did not cancel the Trump rally at the USS Alabama park. "The park commissioners were concerned that Trump's appearance on Saturday "was going to be a partisan political event, rather than just a patriotic event planned for that evening," Bill Tunnell, chairman of the park commission, told NBC 15."
Santa
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BTW as I watched and listened to her sing this morning I got a chill and the screen went out of focus for a bit.
It is that time of year again and I think this will bring back a few memories for many of you...I don't know why but hearing Kate Smith sing this today really struck a chord with me. Happy 4th of July tomorrow and God Bless America
This was the era just before TV when radio shows were huge, and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith.
Kate was also large -- plus size, as we now say, and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her: "It ain't over till the fat lady sings."
Kate was also patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring. She had hope for America and faith in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up. So she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (who also wrote "White Christmas") and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country. When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her. He went to his files and found a song that he had written but never published, 22 years before in 1917. He gave it to her, and she worked on it with her studio orchestra. She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any profits from God Bless America. Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America. Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of dollars in royalties from this song.
This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time and starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, "You're In the Army Now." At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it's Ronald Reagan.
To this day, "God Bless America" stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country. Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt whether she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry -- and for many generations of Americans to follow. Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you'll enjoy it and treasure it even more.
Many people don't know there's a lead in to the song since it usually starts with "God Bless America."
https://www.youtube.com/embed/TnQDW-NMaRs?rel=0
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My apologies to the Bear for not getting yesterday's Rolling Thunder updated. Here it is with today's following
ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
LOOKING BACK 55-YEARS to the Vietnam Air War— ... … For The List for Friday, 2 July 2021… Bear 🇺🇸⚓️🐻…
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 2 July 1966… Sweet Land of Liberty …
(…then hit "Previous Post" at bottom of the post for 2 July for a grand celebration of the 4th as composed by RTR's Mighty Thunder)…
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
LOOKING BACK 55-YEARS to the Vietnam Air War— ... … For The List for Saturday, 3 July 2021… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻…
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 3 July 1966… "Let martial note in triumph float…"
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
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This Day in US Military History
July 3
1863 – Troops under Confederate General George Pickett begin a massive attack against the center of the Union lines at Gettysburg on the climactic third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest engagement of the war. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia encountered George Meade's Army of the Potomac in Pennsylvania and battered the Yankees for two days. The day before Pickett's charge, the Confederates had hammered each flank of the Union line but could not break through. Now, on July 3, Lee decided to attack the Union center, stationed on Cemetery Ridge, after making another unsuccessful attempt on the Union right flank at Culp's Hill in the morning. The majority of the force consisted of Pickett's division, but there were other units represented among the 15,000 attackers. After a long Confederate artillery bombardment, the Rebel force moved through the open field and up the slight rise of Cemetery Ridge. But by the time they reached the Union line, the attack had been broken into many small units, and they were unable to penetrate the Yankee center. The failed attack effectively ended the battle of Gettysburg. On July 4, Lee began to withdraw his forces to Virginia. The casualties for both armies were staggering. Lee lost 28,000 of his 75,000 soldiers, and Union losses stood at over 22,000. It was the last time Lee threatened Northern territory.
1890 – Idaho, the last of the 50 states to be explored by whites, is admitted to the union. Exploration of the North American continent mostly proceeded inward from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and northward from Spanish Mexico. Therefore, the rugged territory that would become Idaho long remained untouched by Spanish, French, British, and American trappers and explorers. Even as late as 1805, Idaho Indians like the Shoshone had never encountered a white man. That changed with the arrival of the American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in the summer of 1805. Searching for a route over the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, Lewis and Clark traveled through Idaho with the aid of the Shoshone Indians and their horses. British fur traders and trappers followed a few years later, as did missionaries and a few hardy settlers. As with many remote western states, large-scale settlement began only after gold was discovered. Thousands of miners rushed into Idaho when word of a major gold strike came in September 1860. Merchants and farmers followed, eager to make their fortunes "mining the miners." By 1880, Idaho boasted a population of 32,610. In the southern section of the territory, many settlers were Mormons who had been dispatched from Salt Lake City to found new colonies. Increasingly, Idaho territory became divided between a Mormon-dominated south and an anti-Mormon north. In the mid-1880s, anti-Mormon Republicans used widespread public antipathy toward the Mormon practice of polygamy to pass legislation denying the predominantly Democratic Mormons the vote. With the Democratic Mormon vote disarmed, Idaho became a Republican-dominated territory. National Republicans eager to increase their influence in the U.S. Congress began to push for Idaho statehood in 1888. The following year, the Idaho territorial legislature approved a strongly anti-Mormon constitution. The U.S. Congress approved the document on this day in 1890, and Idaho became the 43rd state in the Union
1950 – USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean Conflict. VF-51 aircraft (Valley Forge) shoot down 2 North Korean aircraft. The action is first combat test of F9F Panther and AD Skyraider.
1950 – Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Leonard H. Plog, flying a F9F Panther jet fighter, shot down a Yak-9P, claiming the first U.S. Navy aerial victory of the Korean War.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
CUSHING, ALONZO H.
Rank and Organization: 1st Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Battery A, 4th US Artillery, II Corps, Army of the Potomac. Place and Date: Gettysburg, PA, July 3rd, 1863. Entered Service At: Fredonia, New York. Born: 19 January 1841, at Delafield, Wisconsin. Departed: Yes (07/03/1863). G.O. Number: . Date of Issue: 11/06/2014. Citation: First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing distinguished himself by acts of bravery above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an artillery commander in Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 3rd, 1863 during the American Civil War. That morning, Confederate forces led by General Robert E. Lee began cannonading First Lieutenant Cushing's position on Cemetery Ridge. Using field glasses, First Lieutenant Cushing directed fire for his own artillery battery. He refused to leave the battlefield after being struck in the shoulder by a shell fragment. As he continued to direct fire, he was struck again – this time suffering grievous damage to his abdomen. Still refusing to abandon his command, he boldly stood tall in the face of Major General George E. Pickett's charge and continued to direct devastating fire into oncoming forces. As the Confederate forces closed in, First Lieutenant Cushing was struck in the mouth by an enemy bullet and fell dead beside his gun. His gallant stand and fearless leadership inflicted severe casualties upon Confederate forces and opened wide gaps in their lines, directly impacting the Union force's ability to repel Pickett's charge. First Lieutenant Cushing's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty at the cost of his own life are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, Army of the Potomac, and the United States Army.
HINCKS, WILLIAM B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 14th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Bridgeport, Conn. Birth: Bucksport, Me. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: During the highwater mark of Pickett's charge on 3 July 1863 the colors of the 14th Tenn. Inf. C.S.A. were planted 50 yards in front of the center of Sgt. Maj. Hincks' regiment. There were no Confederates standing near it but several were Iying down around it. Upon a call for volunteers by Maj. Ellis, commanding, to capture this flag, this soldier and 2 others leaped the wall. One companion was instantly shot. Sgt. Maj. Hincks outran his remaining companion running straight and swift for the colors amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to his lines. The 14th Tenn. carried 12 battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty shown by Sgt. Maj. Hlncks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle.
WINANS, ROSWELL
Rank and organization: Brigadier General (then First Sergeant), U.S. Marine Corps. Place and date: Guayacanas, Dominican Republic, 3 July 1916. Entered service at: Washington. Born. 9 December 1887, Brookville, Ind. G.O. No.: 244, 30 October 1916. Citation: During an engagement at Guavacanas on 3 July 1916, 1st Sgt. Winans participated in action against a considerable force of rebels on the line of march. During a running fight of 1,200 yards, our forces reached the enemy entrenchments and Cpl. Joseph A. Gowin, U.S.M.C., placed the machinegun, of which he had charge, behind a large log across the road and immediately opened fire on the trenches. He was struck once but continued firing his gun, but a moment later he was again struck and had to be dragged out of the position into cover. 1st Sgt. Winans, U.S.M.C., then arrived with a Colt's gun which he placed in a most exposed position, coolly opened fire on the trenches and when the gun jammed, stood up and repaired it under fire. All the time Glowin and Winans were handling their guns they were exposed to a very heavy fire which was striking into the logs and around the men, 7 men being wounded and 1 killed within 20 feet. 1st Sgt. Winans continued flring his gun until the enemy had abandoned the trenches.
*KOELSCH, JOHN KELVIN.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant (J.G.), U.S. Navy, Navy helicopter rescue unit. Place and date: North Korea, 3 July 1951. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Birth: London, England. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with a Navy helicopter rescue unit. Although darkness was rapidly approaching when information was received that a marine aviator had been shot down and was trapped by the enemy in mountainous terrain deep in hostile territory, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch voluntarily flew a helicopter to the reported position of the downed airman in an attempt to effect a rescue. With an almost solid overcast concealing everything below the mountain peaks, he descended in his unarmed and vulnerable aircraft without the accompanying fighter escort to an extremely low altitude beneath the cloud level and began a systematic search. Despite the increasingly intense enemy fire, which struck his helicopter on 1 occasion, he persisted in his mission until he succeeded in locating the downed pilot, who was suffering from serious burns on the arms and legs. While the victim was being hoisted into the aircraft, it was struck again by an accurate burst of hostile fire and crashed on the side of the mountain. Quickly extricating his crewmen and the aviator from the wreckage, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch led them from the vicinity in an effort to escape from hostile troops, evading the enemy forces for 9 days and rendering such medical attention as possible to his severely burned companion until all were captured. Up to the time of his death while still a captive of the enemy, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch steadfastly refused to aid his captors in any manner and served to inspire his fellow prisoners by his fortitude and consideration for others. His great personal valor and heroic spirit of self-sacrifice throughout sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
*SHUCK, WILLIAM E., JR.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company G, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Korea, 3 July 1952. Entered service at: Cumberland, Md. Born. 16 August 1926, Cumberland, Md. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a squad leader of Company G, in action against enemy aggressor forces. When his platoon was subjected to a devastating barrage of enemy small-arms, grenade, artillery, and mortar fire during an assault against strongly fortified hill positions well forward of the main line of resistance, S/Sgt. Shuck, although painfully wounded, refused medical attention and continued to lead his machine gun squad in the attack. Unhesitatingly assuming command of a rifle squad when the leader became a casualty, he skillfully organized the 2 squads into an attacking force and led 2 more daring assaults upon the hostile positions. Wounded a second time, he steadfastly refused evacuation and remained in the foremost position under heavy fire until assured that all dead and wounded were evacuated. Mortally wounded by an enemy sniper bullet while voluntarily assisting in the removal of the last casualty, S/Sgt. Shuck, by his fortitude and great personal valor in the face of overwhelming odds, served to inspire all who observed him. His unyielding courage throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*BLANCHFIELD, MICHAEL R.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company A, 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade. Place and date: Binh Dinh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 3 July 1969. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 4 January 1950, Minneapolis, Minn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Blanchfield distinguished himself while serving as a rifleman in Company A on a combat patrol. The patrol surrounded a group of houses to search for suspects. During the search of 1 of the huts, a man suddenly ran out toward a nearby tree line. Sp4c. Blanchfield, who was on guard outside the hut, saw the man, shouted for him to halt, and began firing at him as the man ignored the warning and continued to run. The suspect suddenly threw a grenade toward the hut and its occupants. Although the exploding grenade severely wounded Sp4c. Blanchfield and several others, he regained his feet to continue the pursuit of the enemy. The fleeing enemy threw a second grenade which landed near Sp4c. Blanchfield and several members of his patrol. Instantly realizing the danger, he shouted a warning to his comrades. Sp4c. Blanchfield unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, threw himself on the grenade, absorbing the full and fatal impact of the explosion. By his gallant action and self-sacrifice, he was able to save the lives and prevent injury to 4 members of the patrol and several Vietnamese civilians in the immediate area. Sp4c. Blanchfield's extraordinary courage and gallantry at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 3, 2020 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
July 3
1915: Lt Byron Q. Jones became the first Army officer to deliberately loop and stall an aircraft at San Diego. (4) (24)
1936: Henry Ford bought the Wright Brothers workshop, where the Wrights built the first airplane, in Dayton for his Greenfield Village exhibit in Dearborn, Mich. (24)
1942: Lt Cmdr J. H. Hean (USN) flew a PBY-5A over Goldstone Lake, Calif., to fire the first retrorocket in flight. (24)
1949: The USAF gave the B-29 Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, to the Smithsonian Institute. (24)
1950: KOREAN WAR. Gen Hoyt S. Vandenberg ordered the 22d Bombardment Group and 92d Bombardment Group to deploy with their B-29s to the Far East for conventional bombing operations against North Korea. FEAF continued to airlift US Army troops to Korea, but substituted smaller C-46s and C-47s for C-54s, which damaged Pusan's runways. Four F-80s completed the first mission with external rockets. Carrier F9F Pantherjets went into action in Korea with strikes in and around Pyongyong. This day also marked the first Navy kills in air combat as Lt Leonard H. Plog and Ensign E. W. Brown each shot down a Yak-9. (1) (28)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Brig Gen Chester E. McCarty, 315th AD commander, flew the 374th Troop Carrier Wing's first operational C-124 Globemaster from Japan to Korea. Additionally, in 13 sorties over enemy territory, C-47s dropped more than 22 million leaflets, over one-sixth of all dropped during the month. (28)
1958: A Boeing 707 Stratoliner set a commercial speed record by flying 1,550 miles from Mexico City to Los Angeles in 3 hours 9 minutes. (24)
1970: Through 13 July, MAC's first C-5A "Galaxy," assigned to the 437 MAW, left Charleston AFB on its first mission outside the CONUS. The Galaxy made a 10-day tour of PACAF bases to provide a first-hand explanation of its unique capabilities to MAC officers and airmen. The C5A stopped at Hickam AFB, Andersen AB, Clark AB, Cam Ranh Bay, Kadena and Yokota ABs in Japan, and Elmendorf AFB, before returning to Charleston on 13 July. In the states, the C-5 also visited Dover and Travis AFBs, on its 21,500-nautical-mile tour. (17)
1992: Operation PROVIDE PROMISE. The US European Command launched the operation to send C-130s, C-141s, C-5s, and C-9s to airlift relief supplies to Bosnia-Herzegovina on a regular basis. (16) (26)
1996: Majors Gavin L. Ketchen and Richard Vanderburgh from the 509 BW flew the twelfth operational B-2 Spirit from the Northrop Grumman plant at Palmdale, Calif., to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. (AFNEWS, 9 Jul 96)
2001: Lockheed Martin ferried the X-35B Joint Strike Fighter to Edwards AFB. (3)
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Thanks to Hawk
The passing of Captain Richard "Dick" Scharff, USN, Retired
It is my sad duty to inform the Bubbas that we have lost the Navy's, and perhaps the World's Greatest Supply Officer of all times,---
- Captain Richard "Dick" Scharff, USN, Retired! According to his wife, Sharon, and daughter Alison who were both with him when he passed on Tuesday, 29 June @ 1210 PM; Dick was in a coma and in no pain.
Sharon is not accepting calls at this time, however, I would encourage sending cards to Sharon and/or Alison Craig to the following address:
- 119 Huffner Hill Circle; St. Augustine, FL 32092.
Sharon and Allison are currently in the throes of arranging all aspects of internment at The Miramar National Cemetery, including cremation, and transportation of Remains between Florida and CA.
Will pass more information as it becomes available.
Those fortunate enough to have known or served with Dick were energized by his enthusiasm for the Navy Carrier Force, and his "Make it Happen" approach to doing everything, every single day for his 26 years in the Navy. Thereafter, he worked 30 additional years in Finance in the San Diego area before he retired. Last, but certainly not least, Dick Volunteered as a Docent of The USS Midway Museum in down town San Diego.
To say "He will be missed" is a deliberate understatement.
My Best as always;
Hawk
The reason that you were able to fly the F-14 in the late 70's and early 80's with all the supply problems was because of Dick and a few others that turned that program around.
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Thanks to Tom
View the Latest Edition of "This Week @NASA" (Published June 25, 2021)
Folks –
Prepping for a little time off…..so this week…you are on your own!
Enjoy!!
Tom
AGENCYWIDE MESSAGE TO ALL NASA EMPLOYEES
Points of Contact: Jim Wilson, jim.wilson@nasa.gov and Andre Valentine, andre.valentine-1@nasa.gov, Office of Communications, NASA Headquarters
------------------------------------------------------------------------
View the Latest Edition of "This Week @NASA" (Published June 25, 2021)
View the latest "This Week @NASA" produced by NASA Television for features on agency news and activities. Stories in this program include:
· Spacewalks Continue to Install New Station Solar Arrays
· Melroy Sworn in as NASA Deputy Administrator
· Next Element for Artemis I Moon Rocket Gets Stacked
· Ocean-Observing Satellite Starts Providing Science Data
· Funds Awarded to Minority-Serving Institutions for Ocean Research
To watch this edition of "This Week @NASA" dated June 25, 2021, click on the image below:
Watch the Video
To access this edition of "This Week @NASA," you may also visit:
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This notice is being sent agencywide to all employees by NASA INC in the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters.
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Thanks to Dutch
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Has The Military Lost Middle America?
Hockstein/Pool/ABACAPRESS.COM
July 01, 202110:19 AM ET
Traditionalist and conservative America once was the U.S. military's greatest defender.
Bipartisan conservatives in Congress ensured generous Pentagon budgets. When generals, active or retired, became controversial, conservative America usually could be counted on to stick with them.
Flyover country supported marquee officers such as Gen. Michael Hayden, Gen. James Mattis, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Gen. David Petraeus and a host of others when the media went after them for alleged unethical conduct, financial improprieties, spats with the Obama administration, or accusations of using undue force or hiding torture.
When Democrats railed in Congress about the "revolving door" of generals and admirals leaving the Pentagon to land lucrative board memberships with corporate defense contractors, Middle America, rightly or wrongly, mostly yawned.
Yet traditional America also assumed its military leaders largely stayed out of politics. Brilliant World War II commanders Curtis LeMay, Douglas MacArthur and George S. Patton did not fare well when they clumsily waded through the minefields of partisan national politics.
No longer.
The Pentagon's current and past top echelon is seen as politically weaponized — and both careerist and opportunist. Generals and admirals are currently scanning enlistments for mythical white supremacists, in fear of left-wing pressure following the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. These military officials apparently have no commensurate concern about whether there are antifa-affiliated service members with records of past violence.
We are learning that much of what was reported about that unfortunate Capitol riot was untrue. There were no "armed" insurrectionists with guns, led by conspiracist kingpins. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was not "murdered." Medical examiner Francisco J. Diaz said the autopsy showed no evidence of internal or external injuries. The only violent death was that of an unarmed female military veteran who was shot by a mysteriously unnamed law enforcement officer while climbing through a window.
The tenure of highly decorated Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has proved a veritable train wreck of late. Under pressure from the left, last summer he renounced a photo appearance with then-President Donald Trump as unduly politicizing his service.
OK, but every recent chairman of the Joint Chiefs has routinely appeared with the president in photo ops, if sometimes reluctantly.
Milley was timidly reacting to media claims that Trump sicced federal law enforcement on disruptive protesters with tear gas to ensure calm for his photo op. The inspector general of the Department of the Interior recently exposed such reporting as a fable.
Equally untrue were complaints from Milley and a host of retired officers about Trump tyrannically using federal troops to maintain civic order. Such action has happened repeatedly in our history. For example, Gen. Colin Powell, former head of the Joints Chiefs, commanded the troops sent into Los Angeles in 1992 to quell the rioting that followed the acquittal of L.A. police officers charged in the beating of Rodney King.
Neither Milley nor any of the previously vocal top brass objected to the Biden administration's militarization of Washington, D.C., after Jan. 6. There was not a word about miles of barbed wire and fencing. There was utter silence about the omnipresence of thousands of armed troops throughout the city. Such mobilization was the very scenario they had said would pose an existential threat to democracy.
Gen. Milley was incoherent and paradoxical when pressed about critical race theory — the belief that racial bias has been encoded in society — during congressional testimony last week. He bragged that he had read insurrectionary texts by Karl Marx and Mao Zedong to acquaint his open mind with supposed enemies — as if his inquisitive approach to those subversive authors was analogous to the teaching of critical race theory in the military.
Our top officers reveal inconsistent views on recommended readings, ideological indoctrination and the use of federal troops during domestic crises. They are selective and partisan in their shrill criticism of particular presidents. Some blast political opponents with inflammatory comparisons to Nazis and fascists.
The military's alienation of Middle America could not happen at a worse time. China, Russia, Iran and North Korea watch in glee at our self-created discord, which threatens to tear apart the most lethal military in the world.
The military is not yet a revolutionary people's army overseen by commissars. But it is getting there with politicized agendas that split the country in half and abandon the military's traditional role of unifying in common purpose to defend America.
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The F8J
Thanks to YP .and Jack..
I remember reading a message that the initial F-8J failed carrier suit;
skip
For those who give a chit:
Thank Grong I never had to fly this POS! Most of my time was in the F-8H, best of the lot.
The VF-201 Crusader chaps that flew the J-Bird had a shoulder patch that read "In God we trust—WE NEED THRUST!"
As if the Crusader wasn't dangerous enough around the boat (ten foot hook to ramp clearance for a 3-wire on -27 Charlies; WESTPAC default was four ramp strikes during a deployment), going low on the ball and full power not helping, then hearing about the Pulse Wave Off just to get the plane over the ramp gave me a case of the woosey pusses.
They finally figgered things out, but there were lots of gray hairs until then.
YP
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Thanks to Dutch
CHINA on the rise - they are already dominate in the South China Sea - and we are ill-prepared -and bumblingbiden is no match for Xi, so Xi will take advantage of the weak
Xi Issues a Warning to the World: China's Rise Can't Be Stopped
A century after the Communist Party's founding, China's leader said foreign powers would "crack their heads and spill blood" if they tried to stop its rise.
(NEW YORK TIMES 02 JUL 21) ... Chris Buckley and Keith Bradsher
China's rise is unstoppable, Xi Jinping declared. The country will not be lectured. And those who try to block its ascent will hit a "Great Wall of steel."
Mr. Xi, the most powerful Chinese leader in generations, delivered the defiant message in a speech in Beijing on Thursday that celebrated 100 years of the Chinese Communist Party.
The speech was laden with symbols intended to show that China and its ruling party would not tolerate foreign obstruction on the country's path to becoming a superpower. The event's pageantry symbolized a powerful nation firmly, yet comfortably, in control: A crowd of 70,000 people waved flags, sang and cheered in unison. Troops marched and jets flew overhead in perfect formations. And each time Mr. Xi made a pugnacious comment, the crowd applauded and roared approval.
At times, Mr. Xi's strident words seemed aimed as much at Washington as at the hundreds of millions of Chinese who watched on their televisions. The biggest applause from the handpicked, Covid-screened audience on Tiananmen Square came when he declared that China would not be pushed around.
"The Chinese people will never allow foreign forces to bully, oppress or enslave us," he said, clad in a Mao suit. "Whoever nurses delusions of doing that will crack their heads and spill blood on the Great Wall of steel built from the flesh and blood of 1.4 billion Chinese people."
Mr. Xi's address was one of the most anticipated of his nearly nine years in power and was all the more significant because he seeks to extend his rule. The celebration was Mr. Xi's chance to cement a place, at least implicitly, on a dais of era-defining Chinese leaders, above all Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.
Mr. Xi has sought to portray himself as a transformative leader guiding China into a new era of global strength and rejuvenated one-party rule. And the stagecraft was focused on conveying a modern, powerful nation largely at ease while much of the world still struggles with the pandemic.
He trumpeted the party's success in tamping down Covid-19, reducing poverty and firmly quashing dissent in Hong Kong, the former British colony. With splashes of bellicose rhetoric, he dismissed challenges from abroad, asserting that Beijing had little appetite for what it saw as sanctimonious preaching.
"We'll never accept insufferably arrogant lecturing from those 'master teachers!'" Mr. Xi said, drawing a roar from the seated crowd of party members, schoolchildren and veterans. Rumbles of distant thunder punctuated Mr. Xi's remarks, and dozens of large, red Chinese flags hoisted around the square flapped noisily in the wind.
As is customary in such speeches, Mr. Xi did not explicitly cite China's tensions with the United States and other rivals. But his effort to portray unity carried an unmistakable meaning as Beijing faces new challenges abroad.
The Biden administration has cast the United States as leading a global struggle to defend democratic ideals against the spread of China's model of authoritarianism. President Biden has worked quickly to rally Western allies to press China over human rights and tensions in the South China Sea. Beijing has been especially incensed by Western sanctions over Hong Kong and the western region of Xinjiang, two places where Mr. Xi has tightened the party's control with draconian measures.
"His speech clearly hinted at the United States, the audience in China won't miss that," Deng Yuwen, a former editor of a Communist Party newspaper who now lives in the United States, said by telephone. "His other message that stood out was that the party is the representative of the people's and the whole country's interests — nobody can try to split the party from the nation; they're a unified whole."
The theme of a party and nation united behind Mr. Xi will remain prominent in the lead-up to a Communist Party congress late next year, at which he is expected to gain a third five-year term as the party's leader. That step would break with the expectation, set by his predecessor, Hu Jintao, that Chinese leaders stay in power for two terms. Mr. Xi's speech will now be studied and acclaimed by party officials as part of the rituals that ensure they stay obedient.
"This was not a speech by a leader who is planning on stepping down from power anytime soon," said Jude Blanchette, who holds the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The extraordinary pomp and circumstance was designed to say: The Chinese Communist Party is strong, unified, and it isn't going anywhere."
For months, the party has flooded the country's airwaves and plastered its newspapers with anniversary propaganda. Mr. Xi and other officials have traveled to historic sites to pay homage to the party's revolutionary leaders. It has tightened security around the country, confining dissidents and stationing police officers and neighborhood volunteers to keep watch across the capital for weeks.
Alleys and overpasses in Beijing have been decked in red party banners. Chinese state television is scheduled to show more than a hundred television dramas celebrating the party, many of them depictions of revolutionary heroes. A light show on the riverfront in Shanghai has flashed the slogan, "There would be no new China without the Communist Party." Another light display shone the Communist hammer and sickle onto clouds over Shenzhen, a flashily commercial city in the south.
Beijing's intensive preparations for this anniversary pointed to how crucial controlling public memory is to China's leaders, perhaps above all Mr. Xi, a leader who has cited his family roots in the party's revolutionary heritage and his disdain for liberal values. Predictably, he made no mention in his speech of China's setbacks over the decades of Communist Party rule, such as Mao's Cultural Revolution and the deadly crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
In Mr. Xi's depiction, only the Communist Party — formed by revolutionaries gathered in a colonial quarter of Shanghai — had the ideas and organization that could rescue the country from imperialists and domestic exploitation.
Mr. Xi paid respects to Mao, Deng and other past leaders, but the real focus of his speech was clear. He highlighted the country's achievements since he took office in 2012: eradicating poverty, achieving greater economic prosperity and building a strong military. He used his longtime catchphrase, "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," 21 times.
"He didn't mention himself, but his strong implication is that he himself is responsible for much of these achievements," said Willy Wo-Lap Lam, an adjunct professor at the Center for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "It's almost like a stump speech, arguing why he should remain the supreme leader and commander for, perhaps at least, the coming 10 years."
In his ambitions, Mr. Xi has been likened to another authoritarian leader, Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. But Mr. Xi's power is much more closely wedded to the vast party organization that he leads, and in his speech he called for obedience and sacrifice from its members.
The 95 million members of the Communist Party of China are found in every corner of society, from one of the country's richest men, Jack Ma, to virtually every village. And Mr. Xi swiped at critics who have said that the party and the Chinese people should not be treated as a united whole.
"Anyone who wants to try to divide the Chinese Communist Party from the Chinese people will never get their way," Mr. Xi said.
He won more applause when he reiterated the party's claim over Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy of over 20 million people. China wants peaceful unification, Mr. Xi said, but its patience should not be tested. "Nobody should underestimate the staunch determination, firm will and powerful capacity of the Chinese people to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Despite Mr. Xi's warnings to potential adversaries, the centenary celebrations on Thursday did not feature a military parade. A senior officer had said earlier that military personnel would stay at their posts to "safeguard the peace and security of the motherland." Still, squadrons of helicopters flew over Tiananmen Square, carrying red banners and forming the figure 100, followed by fighter jets in a perfect array. Mr. Xi repeatedly stressed his determination to build up China's military.
"A strong power needs a strong military, and only a strong military can bring a secure country," he said.
Mr. Xi has been building on a rise of public confidence since China suppressed the coronavirus relatively quickly last year while the United States, Britain and other democracies suffered waves of deaths. But the country must tackle challenges, such as an aging population that could slow growth. Mr. Xi suggested that the solution to any problem demanded staying with the party.
"Long live the Chinese Communist Party, great, glorious and correct," he said at the end of his speech. "Long live the Chinese people, great, glorious and heroic."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/world/asia/xi-china-communist-party-anniversary.html
U.S. Calls Build-Up Of China's Nuclear Arsenal 'Concerning'
(REUTERS 01 JUL 21) ... David Brunnstrom and Daphne Psaledakis
WASHINGTON - The United States said on Thursday China's rapid build-up of its nuclear forces was concerning and called on Beijing to engage with it "on practical measures to reduce the risks of destabilizing arms races."
The build up had become more difficult for China to hide and it appeared it was deviating from decades of nuclear strategy based around minimal deterrence, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a regular news briefing.
Price was responding to a question about a report in the Washington Post that said China had begun constructing more than 100 new missile silos in a desert area in the western part of the country.
"These reports and other developments suggest that the PRC's nuclear arsenal will grow more quickly, and to a higher level than perhaps previously anticipated," Price said using the acronym for the People's Republic of China.
"This buildup is concerning. It raises questions about the PRC's intent. And for us, it reinforces the importance of pursuing practical measures to reduce nuclear risks," he said.
"We encourage Beijing to engage with us on practical measures to reduce the risks of destabilizing arms races - potentially destabilizing tensions."
Price added that this was why President Joe Biden had prioritized strategic stability in his engagement with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and added: "The same rationale would apply to engagement with another nuclear power, the PRC."
Price also said that Washington had "taken note" of remarks by Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party on Thursday, but was "not going to comment on the specifics."
In his address, Xi warned that foreign forces attempting to bully China would "get their heads bashed" and pledged to build up its military. He also committed to the "reunification" of Taiwan and said social stability would be ensured in Hong Kong while protecting China's security and sovereignty.
The Washington Post report cited commercial satellite images and analysis from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California.
It said the 119 nearly identical construction sites contained features that mirrored existing launch facilities for China's existing arsenal of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.
In a 2020 report to Congress, the Pentagon estimated China's nuclear warhead stockpile in "the low 200s" and said it was projected to at least double in size as Beijing expands and modernizes its forces. Analysts say the United States has around 3,800 warheads, and according to a State Department factsheet, 1,357 of those were deployed as of March 1.
Washington has repeatedly called on China to join it and Russia in a new arms control treaty and the U.S. disarmament ambassador said in May that Beijing was resisting this despite a "dramatic" buildup in its arsenal.
Beijing says its arsenal is dwarfed by those of the United States and Russia and it is ready to conduct bilateral dialogues on strategic security "on the basis of equality and mutual respect."
Non-proliferation experts said this year China's push to develop fuel for a new generation of nuclear power reactors will produce large amounts of materials that could be diverted to making nuclear weapons.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-says-chinas-nuclear-buildup-concerning-2021-07-01/
China's J-35 Carrier Fighter Appears; Step To 'Most Powerful Navy'?
"The J-35 may well represent another significant milestone in the Chinese long-term pursuit of a blue-water carrier based naval aviation capability", said retired US naval intelligence officer, Capt. James Fanell.
(BREAKING DEFENSE 01 JUL 21) ... Reuben Johnson
KYIV – China's Navy has taken another step toward eliminating the last advantages that the US Navy enjoys, in the form of the new, stealthy carrier fighter aircraft known as the J-35.
What has caught the attention of US defense policy makers is the J-35's appearance at the aircraft carrier building in Wuhan, Hubei Province that performs research for PLAN naval aviation operations. The photo is the latest of images taken of the Wuhan facility over the years by Chinese aviation enthusiasts and then posted anonymously on various PRC-based websites. Many times these photos are deleted as they constitute violations of Beijing's pathologically secretive and pervasive military security guidelines.
"The J-35 may well represent another significant milestone in the Chinese long-term pursuit of a blue-water carrier based naval aviation capability", said retired US naval intelligence officer, Capt. James Fanell. Looking back over a long career as the most-senior retired analyst in charge of PLAN assessments, he says "we are seeing the goals of [now retired] Admiral Wu Shengli coming to fruition as the PLAN continues its transformation into the most powerful navy on the planet."
The Shenyang Aircraft Corporation aircraft has existed as an actual flying platform since 2011, after which it progressed through three major design iterations and several designators (F-60/J-31/FC-31), until appearing as the J-35 aircraft with a re-configured wing and an elongated fuselage optimised for a lower radar cross section (RCS).
The J-35's first public appearance was as the J-31 at the 2014 Air Show China expo. This model was fitted with two underpowered Russian-made engines originally developed for the Mikoyan MiG-29. But even this earlier configuration already appeared to be a twin-engine adaptation of the US Lockheed Martin F-35's design.
Another Step On the Long March
The J-35's emergence is not just a major step in the Chinese industry's march to create a modern carrier force, but is a two-generation leap beyond the PLAN's initial choice for a carrier-capable fighter aircraft, another SAC-built aircraft, the J-15.
The J-15 was not an indigenous Chinese development but a reverse-engineered copy of the Russian Sukhoi Su-33 carrier fighter. It also draws on an early pre-production Su-27K prototype that SAC acquired from a naval aviation research centre in then-Ukraine controlled Crimea, which was used to develop many detailed aspects of the Chinese variant.
As a 1980s design made almost entirely of conventional metal alloys, the J-15 also suffers from being the heaviest carrier-based fighter in the world. (The weight factor was one reason the Russians declared their Su-33 design obsolete in 2015.) With an unassisted, non-catapult take-off, with a full fuel load, it is limited to only two tonnes of its 12-tonnes weapon capacity — two CASIC YJ-83K ASMs and two older-generation PL-8 infrared-guided AAMs.
A PLA military source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the J-15 is so overweight that, "even the US Navy's new generation C13-2 steam catapult launch engines that are installed on Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, would struggle to launch the aircraft efficiently."
This has prompted SAC to pour significant resources into the J-35, which is 22,000 lbs. lighter and carries its missiles in an internal weapons bay to maintain the aircraft's stealth signature.
More and Better Carriers
The other half of the equation is the general trend that the PLAN is becoming a progressively larger force than the US Navy. The increasing gap in numbers has been tempered by the reality that US naval aviation is still "the great equalizer," as one NATO-nation intelligence officer and PLA specialist explained. (The greater tonnage and lethality of the US fleet is also an important factor.)
"The US nuclear-powered carriers — and the nuclear submarines as well — are what gives the US Navy this technological edge and long-range strike capability. For years now, that has compensated for the increasing numerical mismatch between the two navies," he continued.
Numbers-wise the PLAN currently constitutes 400 warships and submarines. According to a recent US Naval War College assessment the PLAN – will increase to a combined force of more than 530. The pace of the PRC's shipbuilding industry is nothing short of relentless. Between 2015 and 2017 alone, China produced nearly 400,000 tonnes of naval vessels, roughly double the output of US shipyards within the same period.
In comparison to the rapidly modernising PLAN, today's US Navy is sometimes described as shrinking and over-extended; as of March it operated 296 warships and submarines.
But US defence policymakers' anxiety moved up several notches when the PLAN's first aircraft carrier, the CV-16 Liaoning, was commissioned in 2012 and declared combat-ready four years later.
The Liaoning Type 001A, sister ship to the Russian Navy's (VMF) Admiral Kuznetsov, is more than a generation behind any US carrier. It relies on a ski-ramp flight deck, instead of the catapults installed on all US-design carriers.
A second, Type 002 carrier, the CV-17 Shandong is a near-clone of the Liaoning. Commissioned in late 2019, it is undergoing its last set of sea trials. Western analysts say both these two carriers are really meant to be training platforms and will be replaced by a next generation of carriers that use catapults, designated the Type 003.
The Type 003 will be a traditional "flattop" design. With a displacement of 80,000 tonnes, it is 15,000 tonnes heavier than the CV-16 and CV-17 models It is designed to be fitted with an Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) – a next-generation catapult that the US Navy is only now just fielding.
The Chinese catapults, which will not have a nuclear reactor to power them, is reportedly backed up by integrated propulsion system (IPS) technology. This is designed to create significant increases in fuel efficiency for the ship's conventional power plant.
The question mark is just how proficient Chinese designers are with EMALS technology. It is an innovation that the US Navy has sunk billions into and is based on decades of experience with launching and retrieving aircraft back aboard deck. In late 2017 in an interview with China Central Television, Rear Adm. Yin Zhuo, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Equipment Research Centre, said China had done "hundreds of [land-based] tests" using EMALS with J-15 fighters in the past few years.
A US naval air systems contractor who spoke to Breaking Defense said tests on land and actual use at sea are still "two different realities. The US Navy's large body of [naval aviation] know-how has greatly informed the design parametres and operational concepts for an EMALS catapult. The Chinese are now attempting to jump feet first into the EMALS-generation without any operational experience, without having passed through the generation of steam-powered catapults. which may prove to be a major technical challenge."
Given these two Chinese military innovations seemingly just over the horizon, there are those calling for a re-assessment of the relations between the US military and its Chinese counterpart.
"The reason we keep being 'surprised' by developments such as J-35 and these new carriers is the complete lack of transparency from the Chinese side – despite the long-running emphasis by the US on military-to-military engagements with Beijing that is supposed to create just that," said Fanell. "It is a near one-way street, as we receive almost no openness in return for the insight we are providing the PLAN. It's well past time to re-evaluate this practice of unaccountable arrangement."
https://breakingdefense.com/2021/07/chinas-j-35-carrier-fighter-appears-step-to-most-powerful-navy/
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