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The May 31st, 1916  encounter between the Royal Navy and the Kaiser’s Grand Fleet of Jutland may well be the single most analyzed naval battle in history. For certain, it influenced the thinking of tacticians and strategists in Great Britain, Germany, and not least in the US Navy.

To commemorate the centennial of the largest naval battle of World War I, the US Naval War College yesterday recreated the battle using wargaming techniques used in the period between World War I and II.

NEWPORT, R.I. – A U.S. Naval War College (NWC) wargame based on a real World War I battle that had been studied intensely by World War II military leaders, such as Fleet Admirals Chester W. Nimitz, Ernest J. King and William F. Halsey, was reenacted at the school, May 10.
The game employed the same methods and technology used a century ago to understand the maritime strategy and tactics in the 1916 World War I maritime encounter known as, the Battle of Jutland.
The Battle of Jutland was fought between Great Britain and Germany off the coast of Denmark and was the largest maritime engagement of World War I. The encounter was studied closely during the time between the two world wars at NWC and was the basis for much of the naval strategy used in World War II.
“The idea here was to put together a memorial event that would commemorate the centenary of Jutland but at the same time highlight what that battle meant to the Naval War College and our education efforts,” said Rear Adm. P. Gardner Howe III, president NWC. “It created an experience that tied us to our past while getting us to think about our future. It exceeded my expectations.”

(U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist James E. Foehl/Released)

Video of the wargame will be released on May 31, the 100th anniversary of the battle at the Naval War College’s Facebook page.

In The Two Ocean War, Samuel Elliot Morrison talks quite a bit about how the NWC in the interwar era transformed from a sleepy little school where not much of anything of consequence was done, to an intellectual powerhouse that fundamentally helped shape the US Navy’s strategy in World War II, particularly in the Pacific theater.

The prime tool NWC used was wargaming. First, future fleet leaders would wargame a battle from the past, learning in the process how and why leaders often made the decisions they did. Building on that experience, the school could then construct scenarios that the fleet was likely to encounter in the future, and explore possible courses of action, gleaning the strengths and weaknesses of the various plans.

After the war, one admiral remarked that nothing happened in the Pacific that hadn’t been gamed out to some degree before the war, with the exception of the Kamikaze attacks of the last year of the war.

SLEP stands for Service Life Extension Program.

There’s quite a few countries that bought the M60A3 Patton tank, and it is still in use in significant numbers worldwide.  But while its mobility, firepower and protection were reasonable for the 1970s, it is a bit outdated today. But buying entirely new tanks to replace them is expensive, and Raytheon is hoping that its private venture to field an upgrade will appeal to operators of the tank that want an improved fleet, but can’t afford to buy new armor.

Just how effective is the upgrade? Well, the powerplant upgrade is likely to be pretty successful. There have been great improvements in diesel power over the last 40 years. And while upgrades to the fire control system should be rather straightforward, actually integrating new systems into an older turret (with all the space restrictions) might be a challenge. And given the problems Chrysler had fitting the 120mm M256 to the M1 tank, we have to wonder how well upgunning the M60 will work out. And last, but certainly not least, there’s only so much you can do to improve the armor of an M60 .

So, there’s a kerfuffle about black cadets at West Point posing with their fists raised in celebration of their graduation.

I was a little surprised to see calls from a host of people (virtually none of whom had any connection to West Point, the Army, or the military in general) calling for the immediate dismissal of all the cadets involved.

Really?

Four years of successful academic achievement and military instruction completed, but a simple picture means they should be cashiered?

Do you understand that there is a long, long history of small groups of cadets posing for graduation pictures such as this?

Listen, not everything is an outrage.

And I’ll let you in on a little secret. Being black in America is tough. And being black and striving to achieve high academic standards is tough. And completing a difficult course of instruction while under the stringent standards of a military lifestyle is tough.

So, absent genuine evidence that the cadets involved are unwilling or unable to serve as leaders for all their soldiers, regardless of color or ethnicity, I can understand a bit of pride on their part.

And I stress that there is no evidence that they cannot provide that leadership to their troops.

Again, not everything is an outrage.

To the cadets, I’ll just say this- West Point was the easy part. Becoming a successful leader of soldiers will be the true test of your mettle. And you’ve already learned there are potential pitfalls for what you thought was innocuous behavior. You must strive to be beyond reproach.

Good luck.

I don’t normally post Co-op battles, but then again , I don’t normally rack up 154,000 damage on the enemy either.

In thinking of Mother's Day we are reminded of the unique challenges that face military Moms. This is a story told by the husband of one special military Mom about how she braved the near-loss of their son and helped him cope with seeing their boy come home gravely wounded.

Their son, Marine veteran Kyle Carpenter, was awarded the Medal of Honor for smothering a live grenade tossed by enemy forces to save a buddy during combat in 2010 in Afghanistan. He suffered severe injuries throughout his body, including his face and right arm. He lost his right eye. His father, Jim Carpenter, provided an audience at a recent charity event for the Fisher House Foundation with a glimpse at how loved ones endure such a terrible trial. His wife, Robin, was at his side as he spoke of seeing his son, in a coma, for the first time after he was wounded. And he told of how it was a mother’s love that provided healing strength for Kyle — and for him.

via www.armytimes.com

Grab a hanky. It got dusty in here.

In keeping with the theme of nautical videos this weekend, here’s CNN’s Brooke Baldwin interviewing her childhood friend aboard the USS Anzio, an Aegis cruiser.

Leon Cooper can't forget those who didn't return from World War II.

Cooper, 96, is a Chicago native who lives in Malibu, Calif., and an advocate for the repatriation of the remains of thousands of U.S. soldiers who are buried on the Pacific islands where they fought and died.

"(They) literally lie where they fell in unmarked graves," Cooper said. "The real hurt here is to the survivors, the next of kin who know nothing whatsoever about their loved ones, not even the circumstances of his death."

Cooper has returned to Chicago to be recognized Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field as the White Sox's Hero of the Game. He will also be given five military medals he never claimed, said White Sox spokeswoman Christine O'Reilly.

via www.chicagotribune.com

Finding remains after all this time is quite difficult. And many simply will never be recovered.

Those members who were recovered in the immediate aftermath of battle were typically buried in a temporary division cemetery.

After the war, around 1947, the US government offered to repatriate the remains of the fallen either to a national cemetery here in the US, or in one of several overseas battlefield monuments.

So, annually, the Maneuver Center of Excellence holds a tank gunnery competition to promote excellence in the Armor community. The cup and competition is named in honor of retired General Gordon Sullivan, the former Chief of Staff of the Army.

And yesterday saw the conclusion of this year’s competition.

Congratulations to 1-252 Armor, North Carolina National Guard.

Sadly, the Figs are all gone now. But for over thirty years, the Oliver Hazzard Perry guided missile frigates provided stalwart service to the Navy and the nation as the low end of the warship spectrum. With relatively small crews (compared to other combatants) it was inevitable that the crews would become tight knit, and as close as family.

For sure, I know several readers here have experience on frigates.

This is quite long, so grab a cup of coffee.

January 23, 1925 – April 26, 2016

Commander Harry H. Ferrier lost his final battle on April 26, 2016. He was 91.

Harry was born on January 23, 1925 in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father died when he was thirteen years old. After three turbulent years, he left school and convinced his mother to falsify his birth certificate so that he could enlist in the Navy at the age of sixteen.

He enlisted on January 28, 1941. This was the beginning of an amazing military career of 30 years. His first combat action came at the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942 as a member of Torpedo Squadron Eight. Their six TBF-1 Avengers took off from Midway Atoll that morning his plane was the only one of the six planes that survived he was 17 years old. He received his first temporary commission as an Ensign in January 1945 while on his third combat tour. He requested to revert back to Chief Petty Officer so that he could return to flying.

via www.legacy.com

In addition to his remarkable military and political career, Harry was a good friend of the family, and a frequent guest in our home.