Tag Archives: Navy

UAV Gets Lost, Flies to DC

According to the Navy Times, a US Navy UAV got “lost” and entered the restricted airspace around Washington, DC.

According to a Navy statement, the incident took place Aug. 2 when, about 75 minutes into a routine test flight, an MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter operating out of the Patuxent River test facilities in southern Maryland lost its control link with ground operators.

The aircraft then flew about 23 miles on a north-by-northwest course and entered the National Capital Region restricted airspace, part of the Air Defense Identification Zone surrounding Washington, D.C.

Most UAVs are programmed with “lost link” procedures that command the UAV into a preplanned flight profile if it loses contact with its ground station.  According to the article, an “anomaly” prevented this failsafe.

USAF “Above All” to be Retired

The Air Force Times notes that the US Air Force is looking for a new slogan to replace the “Above All” it came up with in 2008 (which was not without controversy, apparently).

All of the services spend a fair amount of time on marketing and recruiting (though the Marines are unique, saying you ask to join them).  Just last fall the Navy created its new “A Global Force for Good” tagline.  Each iteration from each service gets both praise and scorn, and a few years later it, too, gets replaced…

Obama Curses…er, Christens…Coast Guard Cutter

First Lady Michelle Obama christened the US Coast Guard Cutter Stratton last Friday.  There was a slight groan from the crowd when the first swing failed to break the bottle; the second was successful.  Maritime tradition considers the failure of the bottle to break on christening “bad luck.”  In one recent example, the Queen Victoria was reported to be a victim of the “Camilla curse” when a virus broke out on the cruise ship’s maiden voyage after the Duchess of Cornwall failed to break the bottle on the ship’s christening.

Maritime superstition notwithstanding, of course, it is laudable the First Lady would take the time to support the Coast Guard and the longstanding tradition of christening sea-going vessels.

Perhaps someday such celebrations will be overcome by events.  After all, ship christening has a long and historied spiritual connection, and even the term christening is ripe with religious connotation.  (See the US Navy’s official history on ship christening.)  Those who want to strip any vestige of religious association from the US military will undoubtedly claim the blessing or christening of military equipment violates the Constitution and endangers American servicemembers fighting in our nation’s wars.  Such a critique would be ridiculous, of course, but that hasn’t stopped similar ones made to date.

Civilian Ejects from Fighter Aircraft

The US Navy has reported that a pilot successfully ejected from an A-4 Skyhawk at Fallon Naval Air Station.  The A-4 was owned by Airborne Tactical Advantage Co and flown by a civilian contract pilot.  The company was apparently on contract to provide Red Air for Naval aviator training at Fallon.

While civilian organizations flying military fighter aircraft are relatively rare (and they are often owned and/or composed almost entirely of former military members), there are a surprising number of civilian “fighter pilots” flying fighter aircraft either in or in support of the US military.

“There are No Fighter Pilots in the Navy…”

The old marching tune that “there are no fighter pilots in [any of the services but the Air Force]” isn’t entirely true (though the Navy calls theirs “aviators,” since “pilots” drive the boat).  However, in the short term, the Navy is having some issues creating pilots:

With hundreds of newly commissioned officers waiting to start flight training in Pensacola, Fla., the Navy is urging potential aviators to transfer into other communities or take temporary internships in Washington.

Apparently, aircraft issues (maintenance) have reduced the number of available aircraft, thus reducing the size of the Navy’s flight school pipeline.  But that’s not the only Read more

Fleet Week Highlights Spiritual Support

Many events were sponsored by New York City and the US Navy in the 2010 Fleet Week, which ran from 26 May to 2 June.  Some may be surprised to hear about the “religious” events that were an official part of the prestigious celebration.

As noted in the 2010 New York City Navy Week schedule, Sailors served meals at a soup kitchen, housed in the landmark Church of the Holy Apostles.  There was a “blessing of the fleet,” conducted by Monsignor James Dorney of St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Read more

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