Author: captain1610

An object of special pride

 
“From our earliest national beginnings the Navy has always been, and deserved to be, an object of special pride to the American people. … It is well for us to have in mind that under a program of lessening naval armaments there is a greater reason for maintaining the highest efficiency, fitness and morale in this branch of the national defensive service. I know how earnest the Navy personnel are (in their devotion) to this idea and want you to be assured of my hearty concurrence.” 

President Warren G. Harding, 1922

What are you building?

“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

What are you building within your command?  How do you inspire your Sailors?  What gives you your own motivation?  What do your Sailors long for?

More validation of the value of letters …particularly this one

From Amazon.com… At the high point of a soaring career in the US Army, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Weber was tapped by General David Petraeus to serve in a high profile job within the Afghan Parliament as a military advisor. Within weeks, a routine physical revealed Stage IV intestinal cancer in the thirty-eight-year-old father of three. Over the next two years he would fight a desperate battle he wasn’t trained for, with his wife and boys as his reluctant but willing fighting force. 
When Mark realized that he was not going to survive this final tour of combat, he began to write a letter to his boys, so that as they grew up without him, they would know what his life-and-death story had taught him about courage and fear, challenge and comfort, words and actions, pride and humility, seriousness and humor, and a never-ending search for new ideas and inspiration. 
This book is that letter. And it’s not just for his sons. It’s for everyone who could use the last best advice a dying hero has to offer. 
Mark’s letter and his stories illustrate that the greatest value of a life is to spend it for something that lives after it. That in the end you become what you are through the causes to which you attach yourself — and that you’ve made your own along the way. Through his example, he teaches how to live an ordinary life in an extraordinary way.
How are you doing on the letter to your son/daughter/family?  It doesn’t write itself.
Thanks to my Shipmate, Lieutenant Commander Chris Nelson, who tipped me off to this book on his brand new blog  http://betweentheboards.blogspot.com/

Think Different – Act Different – Be Different

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do.

The Sailors, Chiefs, officers and civilians who are crazy enough to think they can change the Navy are the ones who will.

OPNAV N2/N6 is still accepting “White Papers” and welcomes your input. You know where to send them. The Commander is waiting. Your responsiveness has been outstanding and more than 100 White Papers have been submitted. Keep them coming.

Better than …

“A letter is always better than a phone call. People write things in letters they would never say in person. They permit themselves to write down feelings and observations using emotional syntax far more intimate and powerful than speech will allow.”

Alice Steinbach
Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist

38 years from female naval aviator # 1 to female CAG # 1

LTjg Barbara Allen received the wings of gold of a naval aviator on 22 February 1974. She became the first female naval aviator in history.

Allen and seven other women reported for flight training on March 2, 1973 at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. She was the first of her class to win her Gold Wings and was designated the first female Naval Aviator in history in ceremonies at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas, on February 22, 1974. She was assigned to fly C-1s in Alameda, California with a transport squadron and became the first jet qualified woman in the U. S. Navy flying the T-39.

Lt. Cmdr. Barbara Allen Rainey, the mother of two daughters, the Navy’s first female aviator was tragically the victim of a training crash in 1982. Her student was also killed.

 “Clutch” Commander Carrier Air Wing THREE

Captain Sara “Clutch” Joyner, a native of Maryland, received her commission in 1989 graduating with merit from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Oceanography. After graduation, she attended flight school and earned her Naval Aviator wings in July 1991 from VT-24 in Beeville, Texas. After completing flight training, Captain Joyner reported to VC-5, the “Checkertails,” in Cubi Point, Philippines to fly the A-4E Skyhawk. In May of 1992, due to the imminent closure of Cubi Point, she was assigned to VC-8, the “Redtails,” in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico.
Captain Joyner reported to COMSTRKFIGHTWINGPAC in Lemoore, California in November of 1994 as Assistant Operations Officer. She subsequently received a transition to the F/A-18 Hornet and reported to VFA-125, the “Rough Raiders,” for training in October of 1996.
Upon completion of her training as a Hornet Pilot, she reported to VFA-147, the “Argonauts,” in May of 1997. Remaining with VFA-147 for both her Junior Officer and Department Head tours, she completed two Western Pacific Cruises to the Arabian Gulf aboard USS NIMITZ (CVN 68) in September of 1997 and USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) in September of 1999 in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH. In November of 2001, she again deployed with VFA-147 aboard USS JOHN C. STENNIS in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. During her tour at VFA-147, she served in many capacities, including the Department Head in Maintenance, Operations, and Safety.
In January 2002, she reported to United States Joint Forces Command, Norfolk, Virginia where she served in the Current Operations Branch as Force Deployment Officer for the NORTHCOM, EUCOM, and CENTCOM Areas of Responsibility in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM. She reported to VFA-105 in November of 2006 as Executive Officer. 
In March 2007, Captain Joyner assumed command of VFA-105. On 2 November 2007, she led the Gunslingers on their combat cruise to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Under her leadership the squadron performed nearly 2,000 combat missions totaling over 4,900 flight hours and delivering 35,000 pounds of ordnance in support of coalition ground forces in Iraq. 
Captain Joyner recently completed her tour at OPNAV N88 as the Joint Strike Fighter Requirements officer responsible for bringing the next generation of carrier strike aircraft to the fleet.
Lots of AWESOMENESS in there.  All GO and not too much show.