XBradTC

For the past few years, professor Timothy Demy and Major General John J. Salesses, USMC(ret.), have been teaching the elective the Pen and the Sword at the US Naval War College. It’s a class, Demy says, that uses the literature of war to explore the relationship between the fiction and reality, the written word and the lived experience.

 

Students study leadership, ethics, and the experience of war from the pens of those who have experienced it as well as those who have imagined it. A while back I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Demy and talk about books, poetry, and the state of reading in the military today.

via USNI Blog » Blog Archive » The Pen and the Sword: An Interview with Professor Timothy Demy on Reading Fiction and Studying War.

I don’t read too much fiction these days. Not NONE, but not as much as I used to. And even then, my tastes ran more to paperbacks at the PX than the classics.

Still, I’m not totally unlettered.

Just off the top of my head:

1. The Aubrey-Maturin series (Master & Commander to you heathens)
2. The Bolithio series
3. Clancy, of course
4. Harold Coyle
5. Leonard B. Scott
6. Stephen Coonts
7. The Horatio Hornblower series
8. Cornwell’s Sharpe’s series
9. Flashman (well, some of them. I hate to admit I don’t really enjoy them much)
10. The Honor Harrington novels

What military(ish) fiction do you read? Recommend?

As some of y’all know, Eldest is serving in the US Navy. One of the things I had to get used to was dealing with the fact that she is an adult and I have no control over her wants for a tattoo. I admit it is…. difficult to untie the apron strings, and I have managed to do so. For the most part. Oh, like *I* am the only parent who has ever gone through this???

Yeah, I thought so.

Anyway, blogger friend XBradTC has a post about a Russian nuclear sub catching fire. The first thought to pop into my head was Red October. And then my friend Mark commented about reminding him of the movie Hostile Waters. And that brought to mind a survey done by USAA long ago about the best submarine movies of all time. I have told y’all how my mind wanders from one thought to another on skewed lines. This isn’t news. And I began to recall my favorites.

via Anchors to Compasses | Sithy Things.

Sometimes, the important thing is what is not included. There’s a terrible submarine movie that is NOT on the list. Go look. And tell me you don’t agree.

Just over a year ago, I wrote a brief piece about MA2 Mark Mayo. In this guy’s opinion, he embodied everything it means to be a hero. When a depressed truck driver managed to get his rig through the gate and to the pier where Mayo’s ship was moored, Mayo placed himself between the assailant and a disarmed shipmate. Mayo knew that the term shipmate had been hijacked by those who use it as a substitute for “you are in trouble”.

His was the kind of selfless act that makes those committed to public service special. He had nothing to gain by his actions. He had everything to lose. He gave his life. He didn’t do it figuratively. He didn’t say he would do it in a speech. He just did it. I’m awfully proud to have worn the same uniform as that young man.

via More on the NS Norfolk Shooting | I don’t know; ask the skipper..

I remember when Marines stood guard at the gates of Navy installations.

Perhaps that is a waste of manpower (and who joins the Marines to stand guard at the front gate?).  And that was at a time when the perceived need for force protection was somewhat lower.

At any event, Skipper is right. Through the fault of others, MA2 Mayo found himself in an untenable position, and yet his actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the service.

A Russian nuclear submarine has caught fire at an Arctic naval shipyard, Russian media report.

Reports say that the fire on the Orel has been contained. Its reactor is not believed to have been at risk.

The blaze started at the Severodvinsk shipyard during repairs. The Oscar-II class vessel does not have weapons or nuclear fuel on board.

The sub joined the Northern Fleet in 1992, reports say, and on operations it is armed with anti-ship missiles.

via Russian nuclear submarine ‘on fire’ in Arctic dock – BBC News.

It would be tempting to poke fun of the Russians, but the USS Miami was written off because of a fire started by a lazy civilian worker trying to get off early.

A MARSOC critical skills operator will receive the Marine Corps’ second-highest award for heroism this week for bravery during a 48-hour standoff with the enemy in Afghanistan.

Gunnery Sgt. Brian Jacklin, of 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, will be presented with the Navy Cross Thursday during a ceremony at his unit’s headquarters at Camp Pendleton, California.

Jacklin earned the award for actions carried out June 14, 2012, while serving as an assistant leader of a team conducting village stability operations in the Upper Gereshk valley in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, according to his medal citation.

via MARSOC gunnery sergeant to receive Navy Cross.

BZ, GYSGT Jacklin.

WASHINGTON — The past few days have been good for a number of the US Navy’s shipbuilders. The service issued building contracts for two new destroyers, three littoral combat ships (LCS) and two new landing craft. Long-lead funding was issued for another LCS, and even the Coast Guard got in on the action, ordering another large National Security Cutter. A destroyer was launched, a new amphibious ship christened, and a high-speed catamaran vessel successfully completed sea trials.

via Flurry of Contracts Spark US Navy Shipbuilding.

We have our share of heartburn with Navy shipbuilding, but it behooves us to remember that not every program is a dumpster fire. The DDG-51 program has been well run for nigh on 40 years.  Of course, that poses a problem, as there is little room for growth left in the basic design, and the technology available to shipbuilders has changed somewhat in four decades. But other than the DDG-1000 program, and the Flight III Burkes, there appears to be little interest in what the next class of major surface combatants should look like.

Special operations units affected by a recent decision to expand assignment opportunities for women have been ordered to conduct an ambitious regimen of equal opportunity and Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention training for their soldiers.

The SHARP requirement responds to a Feb. 25 mandate from Army Secretary John McHugh to open 4,100 officer and enlisted “male only” positions in special operations units of the Regular Army, National Guard and Army Reserve to women.

via Heavy dose of SHARP training planned for Special Forces.

At a time when the SOF community is struggling to retain the quality troops it has, it’s also forcing this juvenile training down the throats of the very people it wants most to keep.

One of the great motivations for soldiers to go into the SOF community is to get away from so much of what is referred to as “chickenshit” that fills much of Big Army’s time.

These men have displayed maturity, dedication, initiative and resourcefulness throughout the selection process. Those same attributes make it very easy for them to find fulfilling employment outside the Army. There’s no sense pushing them even harder toward the door.