Aboard USS Gunston Hall
Marines assigned to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force for Africa Partnership Station West enter the well deck of USS Gunston Hall aboard an amphibious assault vehicle. The Marines provided humanitarian and relief aid to the Haitian community. Gunston Hall, a Whidbey Island-class dock-landing ship, was originally scheduled for a deployment to Africa in support of APS West, but was diverted to help Haitian relief operations as part of Operation Unified Response. APS West is an international initiative developed by Naval Forces Europe and Naval Forces Africa that aims to improve maritime safety and security in West and Central Africa. (US Navy Photo/ Petty Officer 2nd Class John Stratton)
In: Images, Military · Tagged with: Operation Unified Response, US Marine Corps, US Navy, USS Gunston Hall
Military Milestones from Shay’s Rebellion to Looking Glass
From W. Thomas Smith, Jr.‘s “This Week in American Military History”:
Jan. 31, 1974: The first of three U.S. Army Ranger battalions since World War II is activated.
Yes, there were post-war Rangers and Ranger units of varying sizes, but the modern battalion-organization is launched in 1974 by Gen. Creighton Abrams, who proclaims: “The Ranger battalion is to be an elite, light and [the] most proficient infantry battalion in the world; a battalion that can do things with its hands and weapons better than anyone. The battalion will contain no hoodlums or brigands, and if the battalion is formed of such persons it will be disbanded. Wherever the battalion goes it will be apparent that it is the best.”
Feb. 1, 1800: The frigate USS Constellation (the first of four so-named American warships) under the command of Capt. Thomas Truxtun defeats the French frigate La Vengeance under Capt. F.M. Pitot in a night battle lasting several hours. The engagement, fought during America’s Quasi War with France, is — according to Truxtun — “as sharp an action as ever was fought between two frigates.”
Feb. 1, 1862: Julia Ward Howe’s poem “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” which begins “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,” is published in the Atlantic Monthly. It will become a Union Army ballad. Today, the ballad is a martial hymn sung in American military chapels worldwide and by descendents of Union and Confederate soldiers alike.
Feb. 1, 1961: The Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) — the first three-staged, solid-fueled ICBM — is launched for the first time in a successful “all systems” test.
Minuteman I is the first missile in the still-operational Minuteman family. Minuteman IIIs are still deployed. The name “Minuteman” comes from the famous “minutemen” of America’s colonial militia.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Army Rangers, Capt. John Paul Jones, US Air Force, US Navy, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Navy SEALs Face Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist
The "alleged" terrorist's handiwork: two of the four American contractors who were mutilated and burned in Fallujah, 2004.
Can you believe the world we live in?
NavyTimes.com reports that three SEALs are facing charges of alleged mishandling of a high-value target. The SEALS captured Ahmed Hashim Abed – who allegedly was the mastermind of the 2004 ambush in Fallujah that resulted in the deaths and subsequent mutilation of four Blackwater employees – one a former SEAL himself, two former Rangers, and a former Army Night Stalker. The SEALs refused non-judicial punishment and opted for the court-martial.
One defense attorney said they had refused to accept nonjudicial punishment, administrative actions that some in the military may consider as a admission of guilt.
Neal Puckett, a defense attorney who is representing McCabe, said the SEALs are being essentially charged for allegedly giving the detainee “a punch in the gut.”
The “alleged” terrorist claims to have a fat lip. How much more FUBAR is our military going to become? For crying out loud: Even the French military is attacking the pirate terrorists off the coast of Somalia, while our Navy can only do so after finding a loophole in the Obama administration’s legal gauntlet.
In: Military, Politics · Tagged with: Army Rangers, Blackwater, Iraq, Navy SEALs, Night Stalkers, Obama administration, US Navy
Military Milestones from Tippecanoe to Roosevelt’s Patrol
By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.
This Week in American Military History:
Nov. 1, 1904: The new U.S. Army War College opens its doors to three majors and six captains, among them Capt. (future General of the Armies) John J. “Black Jack” Pershing.
According to Samuel J. Newland writing for Parameters, during the college’s formative years, “the instructional methodology … was reminiscent of the Prussian system of training general staff officers.”
Nov. 2, 1783: Gen. George Washington delivers his “Farewell Address to the Army” near Princeton, N.J., in which he refers to the Continental Army as “one patriotic band of brothers.”
Of his soldiers, whom he says displayed “invincible fortitude in action,” Washington offers his “prayers to the God of Armies,” adding that “may the choicest of Heaven’s favors both here and hereafter attend those, who under the divine auspices have secured innumerable blessings for others.”
Nov. 5, 1915: Nearly five years to the day after aviation pioneer Eugene B. Ely makes the first airplane takeoff from a ship, Lt. Commander (future Capt.) Henry Mustin becomes the first American to make a catapult launch from a ship underway. Mustin is catapulted from USS North Carolina (the second of six so-named American warships, including one submarine and one Confederate ironclad) in a Curtiss AB-2 flying boat.
Mustin, considered in some circles to be the “father of Naval aviation,” is also the grand patriarch of the Mustin Naval dynasty.
Of that dynasty, Capt. Louis Colbus (U.S. Navy, Ret.) former commander of Destroyer Squadron Two and the former chief of staff for Carrier Battle Group Eight, says, “Mustin flag-officers and others have led our Navy for nearly a century from aviation firsts to shipbuilding design and concepts to nuclear testing at the South Pole to battle-group tactics at sea, and at the same time inspiring generations of American sailors.”
In: Military History · Tagged with: Civil War, US Army, US Navy, W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Tommy Norris interview
The Pritzker Military Library hosted Medal of Honor recipient Thomas R. Norris earlier this year.
In the video, Norris tells his story of his Naval Special Warfare training and his daring rescue of American pilots behind enemy lines in Vietnam. The video and podcast are available here.
In addition, Ben Stein, the writer and economist, graduated in the same high school class as Norris, and recently wrote a very heartfelt piece at The American Spectator honoring his friend.
Now, many people say America is finished, that it does not have the spirit that it once had, that its best days are behind. I beg to differ, and I offer as Exhibit A, my childhood friend and classmate and neighbor in North Idaho, Tom Norris, a man of total fearlessness and total modesty, Blair class of 1962. If our school had produced him and not one other person, it would still be a place of honor.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Navy SEALs, SEAL Team 1, Thomas R. Norris, US Navy, Vietnam War
Michael Thornton appearing in Chicago
Michael Thornton
Medal of Honor recipient Michael Thornton will be appearing at the Pritzker Military Library in Chicago on November 19.
Thornton appeared along with fellow SEAL and Medal of Honor recipient Tom Norris (who pulled off one of the military’s most daring rescues, and whose life Thornton saved in 1972) appeared together at a similar event in 2006. Video and audio of the 2006 event are available from the library’s site, which I highly recommend that everyone watch.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Medal of Honor, Michael E. Thornton, Navy SEALs, SEAL Team 1, Thomas R. Norris, US Navy, Vietnam War
Military Milestones from Humphrey’s Solo to Thornton’s Swim
In his “This Week in American Military History” series at Human Events this week, W. Thomas Smith Jr. mentions the anniversary of Navy SEAL Michael Thornton’s amazing battle with the North Vietnamese Army:
Oct. 31, 1972: U.S. Navy SEAL Petty Officer (future lieutenant) Michael E. Thornton; his commanding officer, Lt. Thomas R. Norris; and three South Vietnamese Naval commandos are conducting an intelligence-collection and prisoner-snatch operation deep behind enemy lines when they are discovered by a force that outnumbers them at least 10 to one.
Fierce, close fighting ensues. Thornton and Norris are both wounded, Norris badly.
As the team begins a fighting withdrawal toward the beach, Thornton learns that Norris is down, perhaps dead.
Thornton races back through a hailstorm of enemy fire to find and retrieve his commander — dead or alive.
Thornton finds Norris, kills two enemy soldiers who are standing over his wounded commander, then hoists Norris onto his shoulders and sprints back toward the beach for several hundred yards under heavy enemy fire.
When he hits the surf, Thornton ties Norris to his own body and starts swimming. When he sees one of the South Vietnamese commandos shot in the hip and unable to swim, Thornton grabs him too; swimming both men out to sea for more than two hours before they are rescued.
For his actions, Thornton will receive the Medal of Honor.
Norris will survive and receive the Medal himself for a previous action.
I did a radio show on Mike Thornton in January, and the transcript is available here.
The remainder of the article can be found at Human Events or by clicking below.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Civil War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Medal of Honor, Michael E. Thornton, Navy SEALs, SEAL Team 1, Thomas R. Norris, US Army, US Navy, USS Langley, Vietnam War, W. Thomas Smith Jr., War of 1812, World War II
“Covered Wagon” – Navy’s First Aircraft Carrier
The USS Langley off San Diego, Calif. with USS Somers in 1930
The USS Langley (CV-1) was converted from the collier USS Jupiter in 1920 and became the U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier upon being commissioned in March 1922. Naval aviators of the old “Covered Wagon” crafted carrier operation tactics that were essential to our victory in World War II.
Interestingly, Langley’s sister ships all disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle: USS Cyclops disappeared during World War I, and the Proteus and Nereus were lost on similar routes during World War II.
The Langley was scuttled on 27 February, 1942 after taking five hits from Japanese bombers.
In: Military History · Tagged with: Bermuda Triangle, US Navy, USS Langley, World War I, World War II
From the Navy’s Birthday to Black Thursday
LCdr. Virgil C. "Squash" Griffin becomes the first man to take off from an aircraft carrier in 1922.
This Week in American Military History (by W. Thomas Smith Jr.):
Oct. 12, 1862: Confederate cavalry commander Gen. James Ewell Brown “J.E.B.” Stuart completes his “second ride” around Union Gen. George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac.
Oct. 13, 1775: Happy Birthday U.S. Navy!
According to the Naval History and Heritage Command:
“…meeting in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress voted to fit out two sailing vessels, armed with ten carriage guns, as well as swivel guns, and manned by crews of eighty, and to send them out on a cruise of three months to intercept transports carrying munitions and stores to the British army in America.
“This was the original legislation out of which the Continental Navy grew and as such constitutes the birth certificate of the navy.”
Oct. 14, 1943: In what will become known as “Black Thursday,” U.S. Army Air Force B-17 Flying Fortresses – elements of the famed 8th Air Force – attack the ball-bearing plants (critical to Germany’s aviation industry) at the heavily defended Bavarian city of Schweinfurt. Though the raid is successful, scores of bombers – and more than 600 airmen – are lost.
According to Bruce Crawford writing for Aviation History magazine: “There is not much there to commemorate the carnage that took place overhead so many years ago, and that is too bad, because Schweinfurt should rank with Pickett’s Charge, Bataan, Chosin and other battlefields as an epic of American heroism. As it is, we can only look at grainy wartime pictures of the bombers going down in flames, and try to imagine what it was like for the men trapped inside.”
In: Military History · Tagged with: American Revolution, Civil War, US Air Force, US Navy, USS Langley, W. Thomas Smith Jr., World War II
The Marines have landed – in Australia
Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 10, assigned to Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 5, makes a late-afternoon run to the beach while transporting U.S. Marines and vehicles back to the amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2). Essex is participating in Talisman Saber 09, a biennial, combined exercise designed to train Australian and U.S. forces in planning and conducting combined operations. (U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Gabriel S. Weber/Released)
In: Images, Military · Tagged with: Talisman Saber 09, US Marine Corps, US Navy, USS Essex
