XBradTC

So, about that video of the A-6’s flying Ky out to the Enterprise. My sister emailed me asking why I suspected Dad was flying 504 when I’d sent her a perfectly lovely picture of 501 with his name clearly painted on the canopy rail.

Well, let’s talk about that. First, the basic carrier air wing on board the big deck carriers of those days had 2 squadrons of F-4 Phantoms, two squadrons of A-4 Skyhawks (or, later, A-7 Corsair II’s), an A-6 Intruder squadron, an E-2 Hawkeye squadron, an RA-5C Vigilante squadron, and a detachment of KA-3B Skywarriors and a helo detachment for Search and Rescue.

While each plane in the Navy has a Bureau Number, kinda like a serial number that stays with it throughout its lifetime, it’s a little awkward to try to memorize all the BuNos. So each plane within the airwing also has what is known as the MODEX, a three digit number painted on the front part of the aircraft. Now, MODEX’s run in a very defined sequence. The senior fighter squadron has all its MODEX numbers in the 100 series, starting with 100. Given that most Phantom squadrons had 12 aircraft assigned, that would give a range of 100 to 111. The second Phantom squadron would similarly have a range from 200 to 211; the Skyhawks 300 to 311 and 400 to 411.  When VA-35 deployed as part of Carrier Air Wing 9 in 1966-1967, they only had 9 aircraft assigned, and so their MODEX sequence was 500 to 508. Traditionally, the X00 numbered aircraft is known as the CAG’s* bird, and the X01 is the squadron skipper’s bird.

The X02-X08 or X11 birds bear the names of other aircrew in the squadron in descending order of seniority.  There’s generally 1.5 aircrews per aircraft assigned in each squadron. That means each twelve plane Phantom squadron would ideally have 18 crews, and the 9 plane Intruder squadron would have 12, maybe 13 two man crews.

And while everyone who has seen Top Gun knows that Naval Aviators have cool personal call signs like Maverick and Viper,** those are generally only used within a four ship flight, or during normal social interactions. Around the big grey boat, a more formal system is used. While VA-35 was named The Black Panthers, it, like every  other squadron had a tactical call sign. For VA-35, it was “Raygun.” For their sister squadron, VF-96, it was “Showtime.” Calling back to the ship (“Mother”) one would combine the squadron tactical call sign with the MODEX number of the aircraft. So, if Dad was flying 501, his call sign for that flight would be “Raygun 501.” Similarly, when Cunningham and Driscoll downed three MiGs in one day to become the only Navy aces of the Vietnam War, they were mounted in Showtime 100.

Now, being the Skipper, Dad didn’t fly quite as often as most of the aircrew. Sure, he flew his fair share,  particularly of the tough ones. But he also had to run the squadron. Just as importantly, as an attack squadron skipper, he spent a lot of time planning Alpha Strikes with the Air Wing staff, and prepping to lead them, a duty shared among the fighter and attack squadron skippers as well as the CAG.

But with only 9 airframes, and 12 crews, that meant the operations officer and the schedules officer couldn’t afford to just leave Raygun 501 idle while waiting for the Skipper to fly a mission. Plus, the A-6 was something of a maintenance nightmare, with various aircraft suffering from system failures at a rather horrendous rate. So the maintenance department struggled mightily just to provide enough “up” birds to meet the mission schedules. And that meant that aircrews took whatever jets were available. And so, on any given day, 501 might be flown by the most junior aircrew in the squadron, and and Dad and his B/N would take out, say, Raygun 507. Or, in the case of the video I linked last night, Raygun 504.

*Despite being renamed from Carrier Air Groups to Carrier Air Wings, the traditional name for the Wing commander has remained CAG to this day, as it rolls off the tongue a lot better than calling him the CAW.

**Not really. Some call signs are virtually automatic. If you’re last name is Rhoades, you’re tagged with Dusty. If your last name is Gibson, you’re Hoot. If your last name is Bright or Swift, you better get used to Notso. But most call signs are a bit more obscure in their origin. I’d love to know the back story on Dad getting tagged with Pedro. And then there’s Enya.

Let’s take a brief look at the light infantry division of the late 1980s.

The light infantry division had just over 10,000 troops. It was designed to be very strategically mobile- the entire division and all its organic equipment could be moved by 500 C-141 sorties.

There was a small division headquarters, three infantry brigades each with three light infantry battalions, a division artillery headquarters with three 105mm artillery battalions and on 155mm arty battalion, a Cavalry squadron with two ground troops and two aviation troops, and various combat support and combat service support battalions such is Engineers, Military Intelligence, a Support and Transportation Battalion, and an aviation brigade with attack and assault helicopter battalions and a Chinook heavy lift company.

It was, while somewhat light on firepower, a balanced organization, and a reasonably well integrated combined arms. It was designed so that the division commander could, on the field of battle, emphasize the use of his combat support and combat service support troops to the brigade that made up the main effort.

The problem was, the division very rarely deployed. Like most divisions of the day, the three main maneuver brigades each cycled through a readiness cycle of training up, deployability, and recovery/support. And the brigades tended to be each in a different phase during these cycles. Further, deployments tended to not be division sized, but rather brigade sized.

Now, understand, when one of the infantry brigades did deploy, it didn’t go with just its three Infantry battalions. Infantry of course never goes without its supporting artillery battalion. And as a rule of thumb, they’d usually take a battery of 155mm along as well for counterbattery work. Nor could an infantry brigade sustain itself, so elements of the Division support command would have to deploy as well. And of course, part of the Engineer battalion would provide sapper support. And the Air Defense Artillery would provide a company to the support the brigade. The Aviation brigade would chop parts of the assault and attack helicopter battalions to provide fires and lift.  The Military Intelligence battalion would send a team to provide collection and analysis beyond the brigade S-2 capability.  The Signal battalion would send along a team to make sure the brigade could phone home. And the medical battalion would provide a treatment team for care above that of the Infantry battalions medical aid stations.

The training cycle in the Army is rather timeless. After a period of readiness and recovery, unit training begins with individual tasks. No matter how long you’ve been in the Army, you’ll be trained and tested on such skills as disassemble and reassemble the rifle, personal camouflage,  and individual movement techniques. Then the training moves to squad, then platoon, then company level tasks, such as attack, defense, and movement to contact. At the battalion level, the training shifts to combined arms, with support from artillery and the various other arms and services.  Those other arms and services tended to habitually assign the same elements of their commands to support the same battalions and brigades as in past training cycles. Hence the term “habitual relationship.” For instance, the MI battalion would have an element designed to support the division headquarters, but they’d also have a combined collection and EW/GSR company that teamed with each of the maneuver brigades. Alpha Company would tend to always support the 1st Brigade.

All these elements of divisional support chopped to support a brigade came to be known as the “divisional slice” as in they got their slice of the pie from higher headquarters.

By the late 1990s, when it was clear that the future would see far more brigade level deployments than division sized, it started to make some sense that the brigade commander should simply own those elements of the divisional slice. When the slice was under control at division level, the supported brigade commander had no control over the training of those elements that would eventually support him. For instance, the 105mm artillery battalion that would always end up supporting him reported to the DivArty commander, who might have significantly different views on the role of artillery in support of the Infantry. Which, well, that’s all well and good, but ultimately, the supported commander should have  a vote on the matter, don’t you think?

And so, at the turn of the century, the Army pulled the trigger, and shifted from division sized organization to a brigade level organization. Now, rather the being a headquarters with no troops permanently assigned (theoretically) as under the old Army of Excellence TO&E, each brigade would become a Brigade Combat Team, with  a fixed organization, and with the various supporting elements assigned as organic assets of the BCT. Two or three maneuver battalions, a cavalry squadron, an artillery battalion, engineers, Military Intelligence, and various odds and ends of the supporting arms would belong to the BCT commander. He would train them as he saw fit, and go forth knowing exactly what his supporting services would look like.

Mind you, the organization of the three main types of BCT (Armor, Stryker, Infantry) has been tinkered with almost from day one, but in general, the concept has held for over a decade now. And likely will for some time to come.

Interestingly, both the Russians and the Chinese have toyed with the idea of a shift to a brigade level organization, though there is evidence that the Russians are abandoning the brigade and shifting back to a divisional organization.

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Ash Carter wants to clarify the role of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, see service chiefs have a greater hand in acquisition, and winnow the number of four-star billets, all part of a major reform effort to the rules that govern the Pentagon.

Carter’s proposals come under the aegis of reforming the 1986 Goldwater Nichols Act, which gave the Pentagon its modern structure. While the system worked well for a time, both members of Congress and Pentagon leaders have expressed a belief that the system needs to be reworked for the modern battlefield.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Tuesday, Carter made the case for why and how the Goldwater-Nichols legislation should be changed.

via www.defensenews.com

Carter's social engineering policies have been an utter disaster, but on this, he's right. So much of GNA is obsolete, and badly in need of reform.

Were it up to me, there would be two combatant commanders, Pacific and Atlantic, with three star subordinates for the various long term theaters, such as Europe, Central Command, and what not. As needed, theaters of operations could be opened. That wasn't how GNA envisioned things. For instance, GNA saw the Centcom commander being both the peacetime interface with local nations in the Middle East, and as the theater commander in the event of a shooting war. And that's what happened in Desert Storm. But then we found ourselves fighting concurrently in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and in essence, CENTCOM opened two theaters of operations, each with its own 4 star commander, reporting to CENTCOM.

As to procurement, so much of the inefficiency is driven by the need for a service to justify a program to DoD and the Defense Advisory Board. The perfect example of this is as GEN Milley pointed out, the ongoing effort to buy a new pistol. The requirements document is something like 350 pages.

Really?

PEO Small Arms is run by a Colonel, who should be able to invite a shootoff between a few brands, and then pick one and make the buy out of petty cash. It's a pistol, not rocket science.

And finally, yes, let's please water down the joint tour requirement for field grade officers. A large part of why staffs are so bloated is that you have to have a ton of joint billets so every field grade officer has a shot at qualifying for promotion to General.

GREAT LAKES (NNS) — The first female recruits at Recruit Training Command were issued their new enlisted white hats, or Dixie cups, as part of the Navy's efforts for uniformity in service members' uniform, April 4.

While the rest of the enlisted female E1-E6 Sailors have until Oct. 31 to begin wearing their Dixie cups, the recruits at the Navy's only boot camp have already begun to do so as per NAVADMIN 236/15.

The Navy redesigned several uniform elements for Sailors that improve uniformity across the force as well as improve the function and fit of their uniforms. The changes will eventually make uniforms and covers more gender neutral.

via www.navy.mil

I know some Sailors are unhappy with this, but I'm in favor of it.

Mae “Pogo” Barie, 83, has passed peacefully  at her home in Palm Desert, CA.

Pogo spent her childhood in Lineville, AL, enjoying the activities of her large family and many friends. She graduated from Woodlawn High School, Birmingham, AL, and received her BA from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL. Mae received her nickname “Pogo” in college, after the popular comic strip character created by Walt Kelly.

In her early career, she was an efficiency expert with the Remington Rand Corporation, and traveled around the country on special projects.

She married Lt. Arthur Harper Barie, USN in 1956, and they moved to his duty station at Naval Air Station (NAS) Olathe, KS. Her career now paralleled his, since in those days, a Naval officer’s wife had responsibilities and expectations as part of his rank and assignment. The U.S. Navy had a formal social structure, with protocols and ceremonies for all sorts of occasions, and often the wife was expected to host and entertain official visitors, special political and military guests, and local dignitaries. Pogo may not have been much of a cook at the beginning of her marriage, but she learned by experience!

While at Olathe, daughters Clary (Nov. 1957- Jan. 1958) and Viki (Oct. 1958 -) were born. On Viki’s first birthday, Pogo was travelling with the toddler to Sicily – Art’s new duty station. It was a long, multi-stop journey half-way across the world. At NAS Sigonella, Pogo experienced a completely new culture, new foods, shortage of basic material goods, and many wonderful new friends. Alice Tevelson (Mrs. Charlie) remained a life-long friend, sharing stories of their travels, eccentric characters and crazy antics, and so much more. Art and Pogo traveled in Europe during this assignment, and Pogo also traveled with other Navy wives.

While at Sigonella, they also had daughter Tania (Aug. 1960 -) in a Sicilian maternity hospital, with strict nuns mandating a long lying-in recovery that did not go over well with Pogo.

A year or so in Cambridge, MA while Art was at Harvard introduced Pogo to “Yankeeland”, and their generous neighbors, the Crams, who treated the young Barie family as their own.

The next duty station was NAS Oceana, where Pogo made a home on Harton Road, Virginia Beach, VA. The neighborhood was full of other military families (Dick and Mary Belle Bordone), and was full of kids too! It was a pretty intense time for Art, including a tour in Vietnam, which meant that Pogo had to support the wives and families of missing and killed men, as part of her squadron and A-6 community role. Right before Art shipped out to Vietnam, they welcomed their son Arthur Harper Barie, Jr. (Oct. 1966 -). In labor, Pogo drove herself to the hospital, since Art was flying the squadron out to San Francisco to meet the ship.

Pogo loved living in Virginia Beach – many good friends, near the white sandy beaches, close enough to her sisters and in-laws living in the South for extensive visiting, lots of historical places to tour, and 8 years living in the same house – a rarity for many military families. Pogo had a special relationship with Margie, her housekeeper/nanny/factotum, who looked after Pogo as much as she did all the other things! During these years, Pogo was also busy with Daisy and Girl Scouts, including activities, trips, and camping, as well as volunteering at Thalia Presbyterian Church.

Pogo’s next home front was Alexandria, VA, while Art was assigned to the Pentagon; his office was actually in Chrystal City. These were the tumultuous times of anti-war riots, Watergate hearings, and Nixon’s China trip. But family memories are mostly about the weekend trips to the various Smithsonian museums on the Mall, touring Embassy Row and the White House, and all the cultural activities we experienced. Pogo really enjoyed attending plays, concerts, performances, and touring historic Revolutionary War and Civil War sites, and driving to the Shenandoah Valley. She continued her leadership with the Girl Scouts, and there were several memorable camping trips to the Maryland shore.

From Washington, D.C. to Washington State: Pogo made her home in the Commanding Officer’s Quarters at NAS Whidbey Island, on the Seaplane Base. The house was on Maylor’s Point; looking out the kitchen window, one could see Puget Sound, punctuated by Mt. Rainier to the southeast; looking out the front door, beyond the huge lilac bushes, one could see Mt. Baker to the northeast; looking out from the garage, one could see the Olympic Mountains to the west. Pogo was very busy hosting official functions, getting to know the station and squadron people, and learning about Oak Harbor – a small town on a somewhat remote island in the far northwest corner of the nation.

At first, she mourned the loss of the cultural and artistic opportunities of Washington, D.C., but learned to enjoy the new possibilities: Vancouver and Victoria, B.C., and Seattle, WA, the North Cascades, the Olympic Peninsula, Coupeville, Langley, Chuckanut Drive, Hovander Homestead, Deming Logging Show, Methow Valley, Ocean Shores, Port Townsend, eating dim sum at Gastown, camping at Jim Creek, shopping at the Nordstrom store in downtown Seattle….

When Art’s duty assignment changed, the family moved next door to the Chief of Staff’s Quarters! Pogo’s role changed as well, and she began to sink deep roots into Whidbey Island – with birthday club, Sandy Carrothers, Steve and Shirley Stone at the Capt. Whidbey Inn, Peg and Greer Moore, Viv and Brig Kidd, Doc and Gloria Wampler, MaryAnne and Wally Funk, Roberta Hager, Herb and Muriel Pickard, and many more friends.

After Art retired, they moved to Shamrock Lane, near the Whidbey Island Golf Club, just outside of Oak Harbor. Pogo and Art lived in this home for the next 27 years, being blessed with the best neighbors ever, Mel and Dee Elvebak, Ariana and Ryan, plus Shadow. Tennis and gardening and volunteering and travelling filled their days. Pogo swam every day, and did her water aerobics. Wonderful parties, hoe-downs, lawn bowling, picnics, and dinners with dozens of friends filled their social calendar. Ever the organizer, Pogo worked with Kathryn Johnson on dance extravaganzas, with others to help glean orchards and gardens to provide food to Help House, and of course, with many local organizations to raise money for civic and social service needs. Pogo was always active with charities on Whidbey Island, particularly with the United Way, Help House,
NAS Hospital, American Cancer Society, and Island County Museum.

Truly, Pogo’s happiest days were those spent walking on West Beach, looking for agates, enjoying the spectacular scenery of the Olympic Mountains and San Juan Islands, but most of all, being with her best friend, Art.

Pogo travelled all over the world — with Art, on her own, with friends, and really enjoyed being on the road. Her first trip was at age 16, to visit her brother Buck. For then, there was no stopping her! In the 1960s Pogo went white water canoeing in the Philippines, shopped in Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Athens and Istanbul, and went down the wooden slide at SalzZeitReise near Berchtesgaden, Germany. In 1965, Pogo, Frankie and Joyce made an epic tour of the USA, to celebrate Joyce’s college graduation; the kids stayed with Jody in Memphis! In the 1970s, Pogo and Art traveled to South America, and the Spanish islands of Majorca and Minorca (some of her favorite places), and visited the Purdy Jordan family in Mexico City. In the mid-1980s, they went on a three-week cruise down the West Coast, through the Panama Canal, and over to the Caribbean, fulfilling one of Pogo’s top trip wishes.

She loved New Zealand (fresh kiwi! Alpine scenery!) so much, we were afraid she might not come home. She did not like Fiji. Outside Melbourne, she watched the tiny penguins waddle out of the sea at dusk. With Art, she made many trips to Kelowna, B. C. and the Okanagan country, as well as many wonderful resort trips to Georgia with his high school reunions. They wintered in Palm Desert for some 35 years, and criss-crossed the USA many times. Some of her serendipitous travel occasions were being on Parliament Hill when Pierre Trudeau was installed as Canada’s Prime Minister, following Queen Elizabeth II up the California coast during the 1983 El Nino, visiting Coloma on the very day of the 150^th anniversary of the Marshall/Sutter gold find, and getting caught up in the Giro d’Italia bicycle race in 1961!

Pogo’s interests were mostly history related: reading biographies and popular histories, visiting places she had read about, and particularly anything to do with the White House, Presidents and Founding Fathers, and First Ladies. She also liked true crime stories by Ann Rule (a form of puzzle), novels (and films thereof) by Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Avonlea), Fannie Flagg, Maeve Binchy, and others. One of her favorite films was Blazing Saddles, but she had a very low tolerance for most silliness and slapstick. Her favorite TV shows were Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Antiques Roadshow (UK and US versions), Flea Market Flip and Mysteries at the Museum.

Pogo and Art moved permanently to Palm Desert in 2004 in order to be closer to their children. Pogo continued with her daily water aerobics, some tennis and plenty of social activities. Art died on March 29, 2007, and the bright spark went out of Pogo.

In the last 10 years, she was an active volunteer at the Southwest Thrift Store, and participated in the Red Hat Society, as well as keeping up with her friends Joanne Starling, Dick and Dottie Shelley, and many more. After a serious bout of pneumonia in February 2014, Pogo slowed down in most things, except talking on the phone. She loved to keep in touch with family and friends, so since she did not do email, facebook or other social media, nor even paper media much, she kept the telephone lines humming!
Pogo was preceded in death by her parents David and Ada New Humphries; her husband Capt. Arthur H. Barie (USN, Ret.), brothers David and Bill Humphries and sisters Dorothy Ringgold and Joyce Blanton; and daughter Clary.
She is survived by her children, granddaughter Jamie (Jed VanDen Bosch) and 3 great-grandchildren; dearly loved sisters Frances Sudderth, Margaret Bell, Jody Speer, Reba Barnes, and sister-in-law Mildred Barie; dozens of nieces and nephews and cousins; and friends all over the country.
Remembrances may be made to Island County Museum at 908 NW Alexander St. PO BOX 305 Coupeville, WA 98239. 360.678.3310 or http://wp.islandhistory.org/

A private inurnment will be in Midway Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Powder Springs, GA. Memorial services are pending.

Text by Viki Barie

Including what the Aviationist notes is pretty much the first use of the Kamov Ka-52 helicopter providing Close Air Support.

World War II was high adventure for Henry Klein.

He was a 17-year-old sailor who had learned how to cook at Luby’s Cafeteria in downtown Lubbock, and he was tall.

He remembers that he was, in fact, the biggest sailor on LST 803.

In retrospect — after 70 years has softened some of the sharp edges of war — Klein shares his memories with an ability to see lighter moments in the context of mortal conflict with a determined enemy. They are the memories of a wide-eyed sailor witnessing scenes that he can still see at age 90.

via lubbockonline.com

The US built about 1000 LSTs during World War II, and each one required a crew of about 115 men. Coupled with the vast numbers of other ships built, that meant a heck of a lot of the fleet would be manned by very young men who had never so much as seen salt water before. They were worlds away from the Old Salts of the interwar years. But while they may not have been quite as steeped in the traditions of the service as the battleship sailors, they performed sterling service in very trying circumstances.