Gosport - June 06, 2014

70th anniversary of D-Day ... The Normandy D-Day invasion took place June 6, 1944. The public is invited to attend a presentation of “D-Day – The Last Great Crusade” at 10 a.m. tomorrow, June 7, at the National Naval Aviation Museum. Oz Nunn is scheduled to present the program, which is part of the museum foundation’s Discovery Saturday series. Discovery Saturday presentations are free. For more information, go to NavalAviationMuseum.org or call the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation at 453-2389.

For more about D-Day, see page 6A

Vol. 78, No. 22

VT-10 to change command

VISIT GOSPORT ONLINE: www.gosportpensacola.com

NASP marks Midway anniversary Veterans honored 72 years after historic Pacific battle

From VT-10

Cmdr. Steven “Bug” Hnatt will transfer command of Training Squadron 10 (VT-10) to Cmdr. Mark “Rowdy” Yates, during a change of command ceremony at 10 a.m. June 12 at the National Aviation Museum aboard NAS Pensacola.

After more than 15 months in the top spot, Hnatt will release the reins of the squadron to his executive officer, who helped the squadron earn

Cmdr. Mark Yates

numerous accolades during their tenure. Under Hnatt’s command, VT-10 executed more than 35,000 mishap-free flight hours and more than 23,000 sorties while training more than 1,100 Navy and Marine Corps student naval flight officers (SNFOs), flight surgeons, NASA mission specialists and international navigators.

The squadron’s award-winning record of

June 6, 2014

Story, photo

by Katelyn Barton NASP PAO Intern

More than 400 activeduty service members, veterans and local guests attended an early morning commemoration of the 72nd anniversary of World War II’s historic Battle of Midway June 4 with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Five Flags Pavilion aboard the Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP).

On June 4 1942, the Battle of Midway began changing the course of the war and world history.

Midway is an island Rear Adm. Michael S. White, commander, Naval Education and Training Command Japanese forces wanted (NETC), speaks with Charles “Chuck” Wheeler, a retired chief and Battle of Midway control over in order to use veteran, as NASP CO Capt. Keith Hoskins and other officials wait to greet Wheeler it as a military base. However, historians have said following a Battle of Midway commemoration June 4 onboard the air station.

that with confidence, bravery and commitment the United States prevailed making Midway never seriously threatened again.

Commander of the Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), Rear Adm. Michael S. White, was the guest speaker at the commemoration.

During his remarks, White spoke about the character and courage of Ens. Jewel “Jack Reid the pilot of a PBY-5A Catalina patrol aircraft that first spotted the Japanese fleet.

“This is our legacy. As I look at the faces of the new Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and

See Midway on page 2

VA plans workshops, outreach events From Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System Public Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System has announced upcoming workshops in addition to events associated with VA2VETS outreach campaign.

Two six-week living healthy workshops for veterans are scheduled to begin in early July.

The workshops are being offered during a

morning and an evening timeframe, and both are limited to 16 total participants in each session. Veterans must register for the workshops, and be enrolled to receive VA health care benefits. The workshops are scheduled for 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. July 7 and 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. July 9, and sessions continue and are once a week for six weeks. The workshops will take place in room 1A127 at

the Joint Ambulatory Care Center, 790 Veterans Way, in West Pensacola.

The workshops aim to teach veterans new skills to live an active and healthier life. Veterans will learn how to more effectively deal with arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and much more. Veterans also will learn how to manage symptoms of disease, communicate about their health with family and friends, and work with their VA health care

See VA on page 2

NHP keeps focus on preventive medicine Story, photo

by MC1 James Stenberg Assistant PAO, Naval Hospital Pensacola

O

ne of the best ways to treat a disease is to prevent patients from getting sick in the first place.

Cmdr. Steven Hnatt

accomplishments during this period of high productivity included the CNATRA Training Excellence Award (primary squadron), the SECNAV Safety Excellence Award and the Chief of Naval Operations Safety “S” Award.

Yates takes command of VT-10 after almost 18

See VT-10 on page 2

The concept of preventing a medical condition before it has a chance to affect others is at the center of what Naval Hospital Pensacola’s Preventive Medicine Department strives to achieve.

“Our job is to prevent any kind of disease or outbreak,” said HM2 Jacob Yelland, preventive medicine technician, NHP. “Every hospital has to have a Preventive Medicine Department.”

Preventive medicine is a unique medical specialty recognized by the American Board of

Medical Specialties. It focuses on the health of individuals, communities and defined populations. Its goal is to protect, promote and maintain health and well-being as well as to prevent disease, disability and death, according to the American College of Preventive Medicine.

History has shown that the environment can be just as deadly in a conflict as the enemy.

“During the world wars, more people died because of disease and infection than in actual combat,” said Yelland. “People died

HM2 Jacob Yelland, a preventive medicine technician at Naval Hospital Pensacola, hangs a mosquito trap in the woods. Mosquitoes are capable of carrying and transmitting viruses such as West Nile, dengue fever and malaria between humans and animals.

from malaria, yellow fever and other diseases. Preventive medicine was developed to combat things of that nature.”

Today, preventive medicine promotes or prevents health concerns like communicable diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, general food safety, pest management, safe drinking and recreational waters and the influenza season to name a few.

“We work in the background,” said Yelland. “Most corpsmen work at hospitals, ships or on the front lines with the Marines. With preventive medicine, we do things like water testing to see if it’s compatible for human consumption or inspecting food facilities to make sure no one gets sick.”

See Prevention on page 2

Published by Ballinger Publishing, a private firm in no way connected with the Department of the Navy. Opinions contained herein are not official expressions of the Department of the Navy nor do the advertisements constitute Department of the Navy, NAS Pensacola or Ballinger Publishing’s endorsement of products or services advertised.

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June 6, 2014

GOSPORT

Some applications to be out during contingency tests

By Ed Barker NETC PAO

As a continuation of the Naval Education and Training Professional Development Technology Center’s (NETPDTC) annual Contingency of Operations Plan (COOP) test for the Saufley Data Center, two large Navy-wide applications will be unavailable tomorrow morning, June 7, and the morning of June 21.

The outages will happen as systems transfer to and from their alternate COOP location onboard the Naval Service Training Command in Great lakes, Ill. “We regularly exercise the Naval EduMidway from page 1

Coast Guardsmen here today, I see the same light that must have been in the eyes of those young men at Midway – in the eyes of Ens. Jack Reid,” White said. “It is the light of freedom, and I am here to tell you that it shines brightly in our military.”

“Though at the limits of their planned flight route, Reid and his navigator, Ens. Robert Swan, decided to push their search a little farther,” White said. “Suddenly, far out to the west, Reid spotted some small specks in the distance. He asked his co-pilot, Ens. Gerald Hardeman, ‘Do you see what I see?’ Hardeman replied, ‘You’re damn right I do.’ ” Around 200 miles northwest of Midway the Japanese carrier force was launching more than 100 bombers and fighters to attack the American base. Patrol aircraft warnings prompted MidVA from page 1

team. Veterans who are normally subject to copays for VA health care will be subject to co-pays for their participation in these workshops.

Veterans can register for the workshops by calling 912-2305 or 912-2212.

In addition, Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Center staff members across the region (Biloxi,

cation and Training Command critical systems’ ability to function properly at the COOP location,” said David Schisler, director of operations and infrastructure for NETPDTC. “The outages will be fairly short as systems transfer and remain active in Great Lakes until they return operations to Saufley Data Center two weeks later.

During May, NETPDTC successfully transferred production processing of two applications, Fund Administration and Standardized Document Automation (FASTDATA) and Navy E-Learning (NeL/ETMDS) to and from their alternate

way to get all its aircraft in the air and to bring its defenses to full readiness.

“Thank you to our Midway veterans for keeping that flame lit 72 years ago, and I thank these young men and women who volunteer to keep the flame of freedom going strong today,” White said.

White and NASP CO Capt.

Keith Hoskins saluted after a wreath was placed during the event in order to honor the memories of those who lost their lives.

Honored Midway veterans who were guests at the ceremony included retired AOC Charles “Chuck” Wheeler and retired AO1 Wiley Bartlett.

After the commemoration, guests in attendance were invited to a cake-cutting reception sponsored by the Pensacola Navy League.

• For more on the Battle of Midway, see pages 4-5A

Miss., Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola and Okaloosa County in Florida) along with the Mobile Vet Center outreach vehicle, will offer free readjustment counseling services to veterans and active-duty service members during the month of June. These events are part of the Vet Centers’ VA2VETS outreach campaign. June VA2VETS events include: • June 16: Baldwin

COOP location at Great Lakes. The Corporate enterprise Training Activity Resource System (CeTARS) was also transferred at that time; however, the COOP test was deemed incomplete. This additional test is designed to complete the testing process.

According to NETC Command Information Officer Robyn Baker the COOP testing is vital for the training enterprise to function as a result of outside interruptions.

“In the event of a hurricane, disaster, or other emergency we have to be able to depend on our data center services supporting

Volunteer recognition ... Dan Moore, director of U.S. disaster relief for Operation Blessing International, shakes hands with NASP CO Capt. Keith Hoskins June 2 after presenting a plaque to reconize the outstanding response from NASP volunteers who helped with relief efforts after the April 29 flooding in Pensacola. Members of the command headquarters staff including NASP Community Outreach Coordinator LS2 (SCW) Jarrod Moore (right) gathered for the presentation. Photo by Janet Thomas

County, Ala.; Satellite Courthouse, 201 East Section St., Foley, Ala.; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• June 24: Escambia County, Ala.; American Legion Post 90, 1010 West Church St., Suite A, Atmore, Ala.; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Effective immediately, active-duty service members who served in a combat or war zone will be able to get counseling at

Vet Centers. The services offered include: • Individual, group, and family readjustment counseling to assist active-duty service members in making a successful transition from combat, to garrison, or civilian life.

• Post-traumatic stress disorder treatment and help with other related problems that affect functioning within the family, work, school or other areas

VT-10 from page 1

Prevention from page 1

years of naval service. He is a graduate of the University of Texas. Following completion of his advanced flight training in Corpus Christi, Texas, he was winged a naval aviator in 1999, and reported to VP-30 in Jacksonville for fleet replacement pilot training in the P-3C Orion. Throughout his career, Yates served tours as instructor pilot with VQ-2, instructor pilot with the VT-27, catapult and arresting gear officer onboard the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), combined theater electronic warfare test and evaluation officer at Al Udied AB, Qater, operations and maintenance officer of VQ-1, and PacFlt ISR operations officer until screening for command and departing for the VT-10.

Cmdr. Steven Goff will replace Yates as the executive officer for the squadron.

Hnatt is leaving to attend the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy in Washington, D.C. It serves as the next step for a career that began in 1984 as an aviation fire control technician.

He later graduated from Texas A&M University, was commissioned as a student naval flight officer and attended flight training at NAS Pensacola.

Testing soil, air, food, water and plant life for contaminates are just a few of the ways the Preventive Medicine Department ensures a safe working environment.

In Pensacola, pest control is a vital mission for preventive medicine. Mosquitoes can contract and carry diseases from animals or people they have bitten and then transfer the diseases to another animal or human.

“The big (disease) that we are looking for here is West Nile,” said Yelland. “We also test for dengue fever and malaria. There have been no cases here of malaria, but there can be people who have travelled from other countries to Florida who may carry the disease. If a mosquito bites them, it can transfer malaria

Vol. 78, No. 22

June 6, 2014

Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla.: A Bicentennial Defense Community Commanding Officer — Capt. Keith Hoskins Public Affairs Officer — Harry C. White The Gosport nameplate pays homage to the 100th anniversary of naval aviation in 2011: the Centennial of Naval Aviation, or CONA. The image on the left side of the nameplate depicts Eugene Ely taking off in a Curtiss pusher bi-plane from the USS Pennsylvania Jan. 18, 1911.

While Ely had taken off from the USS Birmingham two months earlier after his plane had been loaded on the ship, the USS Pennsylvania event was the first time a plane landed on and then took off from a U.S. warship.

NETC training around the world,” Baker said. “These annual tests verify that the systems will function properly at the COOP location; we’ve minimized the impact to our customers by scheduling the transfers on weekends.”

Applications which will be unavailable during the switchover include: • Corporate enterprise Training Activity Resource System (CeTARS).

• Corporate Automated Resource Information System (CARIS).

For more information about NETDTC, go to https://www.netc.navy.mil/netc/netpdtc/. For more information about NETC, go to https://www.netc.navy.mil.

The image on the right side is the Navy’s most modern fighter aircraft, the F-18 Super Hornet.

Established in 1921 as the Air Station News, the name Gosport was adopted in 1936. A gosport was a voice tube used by flight instructors in the early days of naval aviation to give instructions and directions to their students. The name “Gosport” was derived from Gosport, England (originally God’s Port), where the voice tube was invented.

Gosport is an authorized newspaper published every Friday by Ballinger Publishing,

of everyday life.

• Military sexual trauma counseling for active-duty service members of both genders.

Service members will be required to provide documentation by their third visit indicating they have served in a combat or war zone to continue counseling. These services are also available to family members of active-duty combat service members.

to another person and start an outbreak. That’s why we test for it.”

Preventive medicine is not just practiced here in the states. The health and safety of forward deployed servicemembers is of high importance as well.

“When I deployed to Afghanistan, my main role was to make sure troops did not get ill,” Yelland said. “If troops were going to a particular area, I would check for environmental risks or diseases for those troops going there. If we didn’t have the data, I would test the water, air, soil and everything around there to make sure the environmental health factors were low for the troops. I would also be the one to educate them on what they should avoid.”

Whether performing inspections of food service facilities, berthing spaces, child care facilities, recre-

The Rhodes Building, 41 North Jefferson Street, Suite 402, Pensacola, FL 32504, in the interest of military and civilian personnel and their families aboard the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Saufley Field and Corry Station.

Editorial and news material is compiled by the Public Affairs Office, 150 Hase Road, Ste.-A, NAS Pensacola, FL 32508-1051.

All news releases and related materials should be mailed to that address, e-mailed to scott.hallford@navy.mil.

National news sources are American Forces Press Service (AFPS), Navy News Service (NNS), Air Force News Service (AFNS), News USA and North American Precis Syndicate (NAPS).

Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the Department of Defense, United States Navy, officials of the Naval Air Station Pensacola, or Ballinger Publishing.

All advertising, including classified ads, is arranged through Ballinger Publishing. Minimum weekly circulation is 25,000. Everything advertised in this publication must be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to rank, rate, race, creed, color, national origin or sex of the purchaser, user or patron.

A confirmed rejection of this policy of equal opportunities by an advertiser will result in the refusal of future advertising from that source.

For more information on Vet Center services or hours in the Gulf Coast region, call the Vet Center in your area (Pensacola Vet Center, 456-5886; Okaloosa County Vet Center, 651-1000).

Learn more about VA Vet Centers at www.vetcenter.va.gov. Veterans can speak confidentially with a Vet Center counselor at any time by calling 1 (877) WAR-VETS (927-8387).

ational facilities, swimming pools or surveying potable water systems, solid waste and waste water disposal sites, the Preventive Medicine Department is always working to make the area safe for servicemembers, their families and the community. Unfortunately they go mostly unnoticed because the only way to tell if they are not doing a good job is if there is an outbreak or someone gets sick.

“Preventive Medicine is one of those things where if everything is going as it should, no one is aware of us,” said HMC Jason Williams, leading chief petty officer Preventive Medicine Department, NHP. “I have every confidence in the world in my team and their ability to do their jobs, so I know the entire population of military, retirees and their family members are in good hands when visiting the Pensacola area.”

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Gosport Editor

Scott Hallford 452-4466 scott.hallford@navy.mil Gosport Associate Editor

Mike O’Connor 452-2165 michael.f.oʼconnor.ctr@navy.mil Gosport Staff Writer

Janet Thomas 452-4419 janet.thomas.ctr@navy.mil

June 6, 2014

GOSPORT

COMMENTARY

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It’s time to give carbohydrates a goodbye kiss

By Lisa Smith Molinari Military Spouse Columnist

W

e used to be so good together.

You comforted me. You made me happy. I loved you ...

But after all these years, I have become too dependent. I want you too much, and I now realize, it’s just not healthy.

I need to strike out on my own and try new things.

It’s not you, it’s me.

Carbohydrates, I’m breaking up with you.

In the early days, I could not foresee how addicting our relationship would become. I did not fear our love affair, because I believed the science of the 1990s, which decreed that low-fat carbs were healthy fuel for my body.

I was so naive, ignorantly indulging in second helpings of sticky rice, snacking on crackers, and adding a hunk of ciabatta bread alongside my pasta. Oh, the ciabatta bread.

When I gained weight, I never blamed you.

I thought cheese, meat, butter, cream and nuts were my enemies. As long as I did not put mayo or cheese on my sandwich, it was health food.

As long as I ladled red sauce

How to submit a commentary

on my spaghetti, it was good for me. As long as I used skim milk – a bowl of cereal, a glass of juice and a butterless slice of toast was the perfect breakfast. What a fool I was.

When I married a Navy man, you did not leave me. In fact, our threesome was quite happy in an open relationship.

Together, you and I won my new husband’s heart, and his stomach, too.

While stationed in Monterey, Calif., you introduced us to the wiles of sourdough – we felt so naughty as we loaded chowder into your bread bowls.

While stationed in England, you never told us that the baked beans the English dollop on their breakfast plates, pour over their toast, and glob on their baked potatoes were as bad as the scones, biscuits and puddings.

Excess glucose surged through our blood while we were stationed in Germany, as we washed pretzels, noodles

About the columnist Lisa Smith Molinari, mother of three, has been a military spouse for 20 years (and running). She also writes columns for Military Spouse magazine and a blog at www.themeat andpotatoesoflife.com.

She and her family are stationed at Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island. and potatoes down with wheaty beers and sweet wines.

In the South, we were so busy avoiding fried chicken,

sausage gravy and bacon fat, we did not notice that you were secretly feeding our addiction with sweet tea, sticky barbecue sauce and starchy corn bread.

Worst of all, I could never seem to resist the chocolate with which you regularly seduced me.

How could you smugly stand by while I wallowed in guilt over the fat content? Little did I know, your sugar was the culprit all along.

You betrayed me, and as hard as it is for me to say this, it’s over.

Sure, you will always be a part of my life, but I’m ready to explore the rest of the food pyramid.

The rotisserie chickens with their crisp skins, t h e

creamy camemberts, the olive oils, the avocados and the bacon ... the glorious bacon. I don’t mean to hurt you, but there are a lot more fish (like salmon with a generous slathering of creamy dill sauce) in the sea.

When we do run into each other, I hope we can be civil. I won’t rudely turn away from you on special occasions (especially if you come in the form of homemade macaroni and cheese with buttered breadcrumbs on top), but let’s keep our contact to a minimum.

Of course, the children will still want to have you around, but during scheduled visitations, please keep your high fructose corn syrup to yourself.

One last thing before you go.

If, by chance, I should have a moment of weakness over, let’s say, a bag of Hershey Kisses with almonds during a hormone spike, I can tell you right now that it will be a nothing more than a meaningless fling.

So long, carbohydrates. It has been nice knowing you.

Commentaries are the opinion of the writer and should not be interpreted as official government, Navy or command policy statements. Reader submissions are welcome but should not exceed 800 words.

Submissions must be bylined and include a daytime phone number or e-mail contact for the writer. All submissions are subject to editing to comply with policy and standards. Send commentary submissions to Janet.Thomas.ctr@navy.mil.

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June 6, 2014

72th anniversary of the

Battle of T U R N I N G

GOSPORT GOSPORT

June 6, 2014

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MIDWAY

P O I N T

I N

T H E

P A C I F I C

“By the evening of June 7, 1942, the tide of the war in the Pacific had shifted. The Battle of Midway underscored the remarkable teamwork of naval forces and highlighted in particular the value of naval aviation in projecting power from the sea. This incredible victory shifted the paradigm of naval warfare, and it continues to inspire us today.” – Vice Adm. Al Myers, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Integration of Capabilities and Responses (N8)

Midway’s strategic lessons From Naval History and Heritage Command

W

e are actively preparing to greet our expected visitors with the kind of reception they deserve,” Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, commander in chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, wrote to Adm. Ernest J. King, the commander in chief, U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations, May 29, 1942, “and we will do the best we can with what we have.” “

U.S. Navy Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers fly over the burning Japanese cruiser Mikuma June 6, 1942. U.S. National Archives

Pivotal Midway battle reversed Japan’s victory spree, turned course of war U.S. Navy Rhumb Lines

Regarded as the turning point in the Pacific during World War II, U.S. Navy carrier strike forces, augmented by shore-based bombers and torpedo planes, decisively defeated an Imperial Japanese Navy carrier task force during the Battle of Midway, June 4-7, 1942. These actions prevented Japanese forces from capturing Midway Atoll and marked the dawn of the U.S. Navy’s global prominence and the coming of age of carrier aviation.

Midway’s place in history • America needed to win – Just six months after the attack at Pearl Harbor, Midway stood between the enemy and Hawaii, home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The Japanese were poised to press their advantage, intent on destroying the Pacific Fleet and threatening the West Coast of the United States.

• Midway was a dramatic victory – Facing Japan’s 11 battleships and four carriers, the U.S. Navy fought with no battleships and just three carriers: USS Enterprise (CV 6), USS Hornet (CV 8) and USS Yorktown (CV 5).

• During the battle, Japan lost four carriers, a heavy cruiser and 256 planes.

The United States lost Yorktown, a destroyer and 145 planes. Japan’s losses, both at Midway and at the Battle of Coral Sea, shifted the balance of naval power in the Pacific, and Japan was never able to recover from its losses.

• The Battle of Midway cemented the need for carrier aviation, showcasing carrier aviation’s ability to deliver credible combat power – an enduring value today.

Code breaking, carriers and courage • Thanks to American code breakers, judicious aircraft carrier tactics and providential timing, the U.S. Navy inflicted a devastating defeat on the Japanese navy at Midway.

• American courage, determination, heroic sacrifice and training proved equal to the task of drawing the Japanese carriers into battle and destroying them.

The Battle of Midway buys time • In a larger strategic sense, the Japanese offensive in the Pacific was derailed and its plan to advance on New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa was postponed.

• The Japanese opportunity for victory was forever lost, buying time for the Allies to execute what was termed the “grand strategy,” which gave top priority to defeating Nazi Germany before applying the full force of the war effort to defeat Japan.

Key messages • The lessons of the Battle of Midway endure – we are a maritime nation, and our security will always be tied to the sea.

• The U.S. Navy’s three available aircraft carriers were strategically positioned to meet the numerically superior enemy force and destroy its carriers.

• The Battle of Midway applied joint service resources in a calculated effort to meet the enemy and destroy its most potent form of naval power.

Facts and figures • The Japanese lost four large carriers, more than 100 pilots and more than 700 aircraft mechanics during the Battle of Midway.

• Battle of Midway commemoration ceremonies will be held around the world, to include wreath-laying ceremonies at all Navy regions and at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. • For Battle of Midway resources, visit www.navy. mil/midway/ resources. html and Naval History and Heritage Command.

How did Nimitz plan to fight the Battle of Midway? His opposing fleet commander, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander in chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Combined Fleet, had formulated his strategy for Operation MI, the reduction of Midway to entice Nimitz to expose his few aircraft carriers to destruction. The Japanese plan proved incredibly complex.

When one compares the convoluted nature of Yamamoto’s plan to Nimitz’s, the latter emerges as simple and economical. Aware of the nature of the Japanese operation that ranged from the Aleutians to Midway, and involved aircraft carriers in both areas, Nimitz concentrated his forces at the most critical location, poised to attack the enemy when long-range flying boats operating from Midway would locate him. The actual sighting of the Japanese, June 3, heading for Midway, vindicated Nimitz’s trust in the intelligence information he possessed, information that had been vital to the formulation of his strategy.

Yamamoto, by contrast, could only hazard a guess where his opponent was: the American placement of ships at French Frigate Shoals and other islets in the Hawaiian chain, in addition to a swift exit of carrier task forces (Task Force 16 under Rear Adm. Raymond A. Spruance and Task Force 17 under Rear Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher) from Pearl Harbor, meant that (1) Japanese submarine-supported flying boat reconnaissance could not originate at French Frigate Shoals and (2) the

submarines deployed to watch for American sorties arrived on station too late.

Knowing Japanese intentions and the forces involved, Nimitz maintained the emphasis on the central Pacific, and sent cursory forces, sans aircraft carriers, to the Aleutians. The Pacific Fleet’s battleships, on the West Coast of the United States, played no role in the drama, because Nimitz’s primary goal was the same of his opponent: sink the enemy aircraft carriers. While the Japanese hoped to draw the U.S. carriers, that had operated out of range through most of early 1942, so too Nimitz desired to bring the Japanese carriers, that had operated in much the same fashion from Pearl Harbor through the Indian Ocean (and thus well beyond reach) to the same end: destruction.

Nimitz’s strategy was direct and to the point; the Japanese’ involved operations that were to divert American strength from the main battle. Nimitz’s knowledge of the Japanese intentions and deployment of forces, however, meant that he had no need to employ diversions to keep the enemy guessing.

Nimitz knew where the enemy was to be and employed what forces he had to be there to meet him; he had faith in his commanders: Fletcher, victor of Coral Sea, enjoyed his confidence, and Spruance had come highly recommended by Vice Adm. William F. Halsey Jr., his commander during the early Eastern Pacific raids. When Lt.Col. Harold F. Shannon, commanding the Marine garrison at Midway, declared he would hold Midway, Nimitz

A Dauntless SBD dive bomber lands onboard USS Yorktown (CV 5) after attacking the Japanese carrier Kaga, June 4, 1942. Note battle damage to the tail. Naval History and Heritage Command photo

sent him what reinforcements he could, and provided them to Cmdr. Cyril T. Simard, who commanded the overall defense forces at Midway.

Popular legend has made much of the Japanese having four carriers and the U.S. Navy three. Midway itself proved to be the equalizer, serving as base for long-ranged aircraft that could not be taken to sea – four-engined heavy bombers (B-17) and flying boats in sufficient quantity for reconnaissance and attack. Nimitz gave Midway “all the strengthening it could take,” exigencies of war dictating the numbers and types of planes employed.

Additionally, Yamamoto opted to go to sea to exercise direct control over Operation MI, embarking in the battleship Yamato. Nimitz, by contrast, exercised what control he did from Pearl Harbor, from his shore headquarters at the submarine base. Nimitz quite rightly chose to exercise

command and control from an unsinkable flagship, and boasted far better communication and intelligence facilities than one could find at sea. Such an idea was, however, not novel; his predecessor, Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, had moved his headquarters ashore in the spring of 1941, as had Adm. Thomas C. Hart, Commander in Chief, U.S. Asiatic Fleet, at Manila, Philippine Islands, around the same time.

Nimitz clearly possessed tremendous faith in his subordinates, who were nevertheless guided by very clear instructions. His principle of calculated risk is, perhaps, his most brilliant contribution to the battle, in that it precisely and economically conveyed his intentions to his task force commanders.

There was no doubt about what they were supposed to do, how they were supposed to do it, and what level of risk was acceptable. Nimitz’s opera-

tions plan for the defense of Midway is a model for effective macro-management, spelling out essential tasks in general terms, with a minimum of detailspecific requirements. Nimitz’s plan for the Battle of Midway avoided long-range micro-management and allowed the commanders on the battlefield to make key operational and tactical decisions.

One can contrast the simplicity of Nimitz’s OpPlan with the voluminous orders Yamamoto produced prior to the battle, many of which served little purpose in the final analysis. Nimitz, arguably a better strategist, possessed a clear vision of what he wanted to do – basically, to bring the Japan’s Combined Fleet to battle and to destroy it – and he clearly communicated those intentions to his operational commanders. Good strategy, however, is useless without quality operational commanders who thoroughly understand the plan and are able to put that strategy into action.

Although Naval War College analysts believed that plans needed to be formed in light of enemy capabilities and not intentions, something for which they castigated Yamamoto, Nimitz’s battle planning benefited enormously from having a very good notion of enemy intentions derived from excellent radio intelligence. Such precise and economic employment of forces could not have occurred unless he possessed the ability to gather strategic intelligence on the enemy. Indeed, one can argue that the battle would never have taken place at all had Japanese intentions been cloaked in mystery.

Nimitz’s active preparations for the Battle of Midway indeed provided a momentous reception for the enemy, and once he had issued his operations orders, he entrusted the fighting of the battle to subordinates. Knowing your enemy is coming is one thing, but meeting him on the battlefield and defeating him, is altogether another. In the actions of June 4-7, 1942, those subordinates, from flag officer to fighter pilot, more than justified his faith in them. They had written, Nimitz declared afterward, “a glorious page in our history.”

Area Midway vet recalls battle’s moments from service on USS Enterprise

By Mike O’Connor Gosport Associate Editor As ceremonies to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Midway kick off throughout the Navy and the nation, Charles “Chuck” Wheeler, a former chief aviation ordnanceman onboard USS Enterprise (CV 6), shared his thoughts in 2011 on the anniversary of the battle.

Wheeler, who has volunteered as a tour guide at National Naval Aviation Museum aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, has vivid recollections of the events of June 4-7, 1942, from his viewpoint on Enterprise.

“There have been a million words and articles written about the Battle of Midway,” Wheeler said, “and whenever I talk about the battle, I want to make sure that the people realize that the good old American Navy was the only military powerful enough to put a stop to the Japanese aggression. They could have taken the British navy, the French navy, the Italian navy and the Russian navy and put them all together – and the Japanese would have wiped them out. No doubt about it.

“The Japanese were extremely skillful and the only reason we did so well at the Battle of Midway is the fact that we had the determination; we had broken the Imperial Japanese Navy secret codes; we knew what they were talking about before they did it,” he said. “And of course, we had our guys. You might say, we knew that if we didn’t do it (stop the Japanese), nobody would be able to do it and America would have been in deep trouble.”

Wheeler paused for a moment. “I could tell you that if I ever did anything I was proud of in my entire life – and I don’t talk about myself very much when I do interviews or presentations – I think the proudest days of my life were when I served aboard

Battle of Midway veteran Charles “Chuck” Wheeler recalls a moment onboard USS Enterprise at an exhibit dedicated to the ship at the National Naval Aviation Museum. File photo by Emily Benner

the carrier USS Enterprise and I had the opportunity to help load the bombs on our dive bombers that sank every Japanese ship during the battle. And that was four aircraft carriers, a heavy cruiser and a (damaged) destroyer.

“At Pearl Harbor, the Japanese killed about 2,400 of our people. But at the Battle of Midway, the low end of the estimate of Japanese casualties were pretty close to 3,800. And I’ve had people ask me over the years, ‘how did you feel about doing it?’ I always tell them, ‘I thought it was the greatest thing in the world that

we wiped out the Japanese navy at Midway,’ and how lucky we were.”

Wheeler believes at Midway, there were no specific heroes – only heroic deeds. But one group he singled out for their efforts was USS Hornet’s (CV 8) Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT 8).

“We had three aircraft carriers to go against the four Japanese carriers ... Yorktown (CV 5), the Enterprise and the Hornet. One of our air groups, VT 8, aboard the Hornet, everybody knows that they were sacrificed, so to speak, at Midway ... The Japanese concentrated on shooting down these torpedo-dropping aircraft and they shot them all down,” he said.

All 15 planes were lost and 29 of 30 men killed. The only survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8 was Ens. George H. Gay, who was wounded in action during the mission.

“However, on the carriers Yorktown and Enterprise, our dive bombers, SBDs, dived on the four Japanese carriers,” he recalled.

“It’s hard to believe, but we had three pilots off the Enterprise that, in the morning (of June 4), on the first run over the (enemy) bombed the flagship Akagi then in the afternoon, those same three guys got over the Hiryu. One was shot down and the other two (bombed) the Hiryu.

“So the heroic deed was two Navy pilots in one day bombed three Japanese carriers. And it will never, never, in the history of the United States Navy, be repeated.”

Wheeler also touched upon one of the great riddles of the Battle of Midway: how the Enterprise dive bomber group located the Japanese fleet in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean when “intel” failed – and one man’s intuition took over.

“There was another incident that has been talked about many times but has never really been related 100 percent correct as far as I’m concerned,” Wheeler said, “and that was ‘the McClusky

Turn.’

“What they’re talking about is Lt. Cmdr. Wade McClusky was our air group commander at Midway. He was a real honorable man and whenever we had an Enterprise reunion, we’d ask him, ‘tell us how you found the Japanese carriers again.’ And this is his story,” Wheeler said.

When McClusky left the carrier Enterprise, he had with him about 25 SBD dive bombers, which had come off of the Yorktown and the Enterprise. He had been given a positioning report, which listed what type of enemy ships, how many, longitude and latitude, and speed.

“When he got to where they were supposed to be, over the open sea – there was nothing there. So what does he do?”

Wheeler asked.

With gas gauges fluttering downward toward empty – and the nagging fear that he could lose his own ship to a Japanese attack through his own inaction, McClusky was in a quandary.

“And then he said he heard a voice in his ear,” Wheeler said.

“You can call it ‘divine intervention,’ or you can call it ‘luck of the Irish,’ but he said, that little voice told him, ‘turn to the right.

And he didn’t pay much attention to it. However, it came on again and this time it was loud and clear. So he turned to the right.

“After turning to the right and running for about 15 or 20 minutes, he thought, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ Then, he said, ‘what’s that down there?’ And it was a ship, and he knew that it had to be a Japanese ship.”

McClusky followed the ship’s direction and after a few minutes – far ahead, there was the Japanese fleet.

The dive bombing attack that followed heavily damaged and left sinking the Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga and Soryu.

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June 6, 2014

72th anniversary of the

Battle of T U R N I N G

GOSPORT GOSPORT

June 6, 2014

PA G E

5

MIDWAY

P O I N T

I N

T H E

P A C I F I C

“By the evening of June 7, 1942, the tide of the war in the Pacific had shifted. The Battle of Midway underscored the remarkable teamwork of naval forces and highlighted in particular the value of naval aviation in projecting power from the sea. This incredible victory shifted the paradigm of naval warfare, and it continues to inspire us today.” – Vice Adm. Al Myers, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, Integration of Capabilities and Responses (N8)

Midway’s strategic lessons From Naval History and Heritage Command

W

e are actively preparing to greet our expected visitors with the kind of reception they deserve,” Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, commander in chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, wrote to Adm. Ernest J. King, the commander in chief, U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations, May 29, 1942, “and we will do the best we can with what we have.” “

U.S. Navy Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers fly over the burning Japanese cruiser Mikuma June 6, 1942. U.S. National Archives

Pivotal Midway battle reversed Japan’s victory spree, turned course of war U.S. Navy Rhumb Lines

Regarded as the turning point in the Pacific during World War II, U.S. Navy carrier strike forces, augmented by shore-based bombers and torpedo planes, decisively defeated an Imperial Japanese Navy carrier task force during the Battle of Midway, June 4-7, 1942. These actions prevented Japanese forces from capturing Midway Atoll and marked the dawn of the U.S. Navy’s global prominence and the coming of age of carrier aviation.

Midway’s place in history • America needed to win – Just six months after the attack at Pearl Harbor, Midway stood between the enemy and Hawaii, home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The Japanese were poised to press their advantage, intent on destroying the Pacific Fleet and threatening the West Coast of the United States.

• Midway was a dramatic victory – Facing Japan’s 11 battleships and four carriers, the U.S. Navy fought with no battleships and just three carriers: USS Enterprise (CV 6), USS Hornet (CV 8) and USS Yorktown (CV 5).

• During the battle, Japan lost four carriers, a heavy cruiser and 256 planes.

The United States lost Yorktown, a destroyer and 145 planes. Japan’s losses, both at Midway and at the Battle of Coral Sea, shifted the balance of naval power in the Pacific, and Japan was never able to recover from its losses.

• The Battle of Midway cemented the need for carrier aviation, showcasing carrier aviation’s ability to deliver credible combat power – an enduring value today.

Code breaking, carriers and courage • Thanks to American code breakers, judicious aircraft carrier tactics and providential timing, the U.S. Navy inflicted a devastating defeat on the Japanese navy at Midway.

• American courage, determination, heroic sacrifice and training proved equal to the task of drawing the Japanese carriers into battle and destroying them.

The Battle of Midway buys time • In a larger strategic sense, the Japanese offensive in the Pacific was derailed and its plan to advance on New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa was postponed.

• The Japanese opportunity for victory was forever lost, buying time for the Allies to execute what was termed the “grand strategy,” which gave top priority to defeating Nazi Germany before applying the full force of the war effort to defeat Japan.

Key messages • The lessons of the Battle of Midway endure – we are a maritime nation, and our security will always be tied to the sea.

• The U.S. Navy’s three available aircraft carriers were strategically positioned to meet the numerically superior enemy force and destroy its carriers.

• The Battle of Midway applied joint service resources in a calculated effort to meet the enemy and destroy its most potent form of naval power.

Facts and figures • The Japanese lost four large carriers, more than 100 pilots and more than 700 aircraft mechanics during the Battle of Midway.

• Battle of Midway commemoration ceremonies will be held around the world, to include wreath-laying ceremonies at all Navy regions and at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. • For Battle of Midway resources, visit www.navy. mil/midway/ resources. html and Naval History and Heritage Command.

How did Nimitz plan to fight the Battle of Midway? His opposing fleet commander, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander in chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Combined Fleet, had formulated his strategy for Operation MI, the reduction of Midway to entice Nimitz to expose his few aircraft carriers to destruction. The Japanese plan proved incredibly complex.

When one compares the convoluted nature of Yamamoto’s plan to Nimitz’s, the latter emerges as simple and economical. Aware of the nature of the Japanese operation that ranged from the Aleutians to Midway, and involved aircraft carriers in both areas, Nimitz concentrated his forces at the most critical location, poised to attack the enemy when long-range flying boats operating from Midway would locate him. The actual sighting of the Japanese, June 3, heading for Midway, vindicated Nimitz’s trust in the intelligence information he possessed, information that had been vital to the formulation of his strategy.

Yamamoto, by contrast, could only hazard a guess where his opponent was: the American placement of ships at French Frigate Shoals and other islets in the Hawaiian chain, in addition to a swift exit of carrier task forces (Task Force 16 under Rear Adm. Raymond A. Spruance and Task Force 17 under Rear Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher) from Pearl Harbor, meant that (1) Japanese submarine-supported flying boat reconnaissance could not originate at French Frigate Shoals and (2) the

submarines deployed to watch for American sorties arrived on station too late.

Knowing Japanese intentions and the forces involved, Nimitz maintained the emphasis on the central Pacific, and sent cursory forces, sans aircraft carriers, to the Aleutians. The Pacific Fleet’s battleships, on the West Coast of the United States, played no role in the drama, because Nimitz’s primary goal was the same of his opponent: sink the enemy aircraft carriers. While the Japanese hoped to draw the U.S. carriers, that had operated out of range through most of early 1942, so too Nimitz desired to bring the Japanese carriers, that had operated in much the same fashion from Pearl Harbor through the Indian Ocean (and thus well beyond reach) to the same end: destruction.

Nimitz’s strategy was direct and to the point; the Japanese’ involved operations that were to divert American strength from the main battle. Nimitz’s knowledge of the Japanese intentions and deployment of forces, however, meant that he had no need to employ diversions to keep the enemy guessing.

Nimitz knew where the enemy was to be and employed what forces he had to be there to meet him; he had faith in his commanders: Fletcher, victor of Coral Sea, enjoyed his confidence, and Spruance had come highly recommended by Vice Adm. William F. Halsey Jr., his commander during the early Eastern Pacific raids. When Lt.Col. Harold F. Shannon, commanding the Marine garrison at Midway, declared he would hold Midway, Nimitz

A Dauntless SBD dive bomber lands onboard USS Yorktown (CV 5) after attacking the Japanese carrier Kaga, June 4, 1942. Note battle damage to the tail. Naval History and Heritage Command photo

sent him what reinforcements he could, and provided them to Cmdr. Cyril T. Simard, who commanded the overall defense forces at Midway.

Popular legend has made much of the Japanese having four carriers and the U.S. Navy three. Midway itself proved to be the equalizer, serving as base for long-ranged aircraft that could not be taken to sea – four-engined heavy bombers (B-17) and flying boats in sufficient quantity for reconnaissance and attack. Nimitz gave Midway “all the strengthening it could take,” exigencies of war dictating the numbers and types of planes employed.

Additionally, Yamamoto opted to go to sea to exercise direct control over Operation MI, embarking in the battleship Yamato. Nimitz, by contrast, exercised what control he did from Pearl Harbor, from his shore headquarters at the submarine base. Nimitz quite rightly chose to exercise

command and control from an unsinkable flagship, and boasted far better communication and intelligence facilities than one could find at sea. Such an idea was, however, not novel; his predecessor, Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, had moved his headquarters ashore in the spring of 1941, as had Adm. Thomas C. Hart, Commander in Chief, U.S. Asiatic Fleet, at Manila, Philippine Islands, around the same time.

Nimitz clearly possessed tremendous faith in his subordinates, who were nevertheless guided by very clear instructions. His principle of calculated risk is, perhaps, his most brilliant contribution to the battle, in that it precisely and economically conveyed his intentions to his task force commanders.

There was no doubt about what they were supposed to do, how they were supposed to do it, and what level of risk was acceptable. Nimitz’s opera-

tions plan for the defense of Midway is a model for effective macro-management, spelling out essential tasks in general terms, with a minimum of detailspecific requirements. Nimitz’s plan for the Battle of Midway avoided long-range micro-management and allowed the commanders on the battlefield to make key operational and tactical decisions.

One can contrast the simplicity of Nimitz’s OpPlan with the voluminous orders Yamamoto produced prior to the battle, many of which served little purpose in the final analysis. Nimitz, arguably a better strategist, possessed a clear vision of what he wanted to do – basically, to bring the Japan’s Combined Fleet to battle and to destroy it – and he clearly communicated those intentions to his operational commanders. Good strategy, however, is useless without quality operational commanders who thoroughly understand the plan and are able to put that strategy into action.

Although Naval War College analysts believed that plans needed to be formed in light of enemy capabilities and not intentions, something for which they castigated Yamamoto, Nimitz’s battle planning benefited enormously from having a very good notion of enemy intentions derived from excellent radio intelligence. Such precise and economic employment of forces could not have occurred unless he possessed the ability to gather strategic intelligence on the enemy. Indeed, one can argue that the battle would never have taken place at all had Japanese intentions been cloaked in mystery.

Nimitz’s active preparations for the Battle of Midway indeed provided a momentous reception for the enemy, and once he had issued his operations orders, he entrusted the fighting of the battle to subordinates. Knowing your enemy is coming is one thing, but meeting him on the battlefield and defeating him, is altogether another. In the actions of June 4-7, 1942, those subordinates, from flag officer to fighter pilot, more than justified his faith in them. They had written, Nimitz declared afterward, “a glorious page in our history.”

Area Midway vet recalls battle’s moments from service on USS Enterprise

By Mike O’Connor Gosport Associate Editor As ceremonies to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Midway kick off throughout the Navy and the nation, Charles “Chuck” Wheeler, a former chief aviation ordnanceman onboard USS Enterprise (CV 6), shared his thoughts in 2011 on the anniversary of the battle.

Wheeler, who has volunteered as a tour guide at National Naval Aviation Museum aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola, has vivid recollections of the events of June 4-7, 1942, from his viewpoint on Enterprise.

“There have been a million words and articles written about the Battle of Midway,” Wheeler said, “and whenever I talk about the battle, I want to make sure that the people realize that the good old American Navy was the only military powerful enough to put a stop to the Japanese aggression. They could have taken the British navy, the French navy, the Italian navy and the Russian navy and put them all together – and the Japanese would have wiped them out. No doubt about it.

“The Japanese were extremely skillful and the only reason we did so well at the Battle of Midway is the fact that we had the determination; we had broken the Imperial Japanese Navy secret codes; we knew what they were talking about before they did it,” he said. “And of course, we had our guys. You might say, we knew that if we didn’t do it (stop the Japanese), nobody would be able to do it and America would have been in deep trouble.”

Wheeler paused for a moment. “I could tell you that if I ever did anything I was proud of in my entire life – and I don’t talk about myself very much when I do interviews or presentations – I think the proudest days of my life were when I served aboard

Battle of Midway veteran Charles “Chuck” Wheeler recalls a moment onboard USS Enterprise at an exhibit dedicated to the ship at the National Naval Aviation Museum. File photo by Emily Benner

the carrier USS Enterprise and I had the opportunity to help load the bombs on our dive bombers that sank every Japanese ship during the battle. And that was four aircraft carriers, a heavy cruiser and a (damaged) destroyer.

“At Pearl Harbor, the Japanese killed about 2,400 of our people. But at the Battle of Midway, the low end of the estimate of Japanese casualties were pretty close to 3,800. And I’ve had people ask me over the years, ‘how did you feel about doing it?’ I always tell them, ‘I thought it was the greatest thing in the world that

we wiped out the Japanese navy at Midway,’ and how lucky we were.”

Wheeler believes at Midway, there were no specific heroes – only heroic deeds. But one group he singled out for their efforts was USS Hornet’s (CV 8) Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT 8).

“We had three aircraft carriers to go against the four Japanese carriers ... Yorktown (CV 5), the Enterprise and the Hornet. One of our air groups, VT 8, aboard the Hornet, everybody knows that they were sacrificed, so to speak, at Midway ... The Japanese concentrated on shooting down these torpedo-dropping aircraft and they shot them all down,” he said.

All 15 planes were lost and 29 of 30 men killed. The only survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8 was Ens. George H. Gay, who was wounded in action during the mission.

“However, on the carriers Yorktown and Enterprise, our dive bombers, SBDs, dived on the four Japanese carriers,” he recalled.

“It’s hard to believe, but we had three pilots off the Enterprise that, in the morning (of June 4), on the first run over the (enemy) bombed the flagship Akagi then in the afternoon, those same three guys got over the Hiryu. One was shot down and the other two (bombed) the Hiryu.

“So the heroic deed was two Navy pilots in one day bombed three Japanese carriers. And it will never, never, in the history of the United States Navy, be repeated.”

Wheeler also touched upon one of the great riddles of the Battle of Midway: how the Enterprise dive bomber group located the Japanese fleet in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean when “intel” failed – and one man’s intuition took over.

“There was another incident that has been talked about many times but has never really been related 100 percent correct as far as I’m concerned,” Wheeler said, “and that was ‘the McClusky

Turn.’

“What they’re talking about is Lt. Cmdr. Wade McClusky was our air group commander at Midway. He was a real honorable man and whenever we had an Enterprise reunion, we’d ask him, ‘tell us how you found the Japanese carriers again.’ And this is his story,” Wheeler said.

When McClusky left the carrier Enterprise, he had with him about 25 SBD dive bombers, which had come off of the Yorktown and the Enterprise. He had been given a positioning report, which listed what type of enemy ships, how many, longitude and latitude, and speed.

“When he got to where they were supposed to be, over the open sea – there was nothing there. So what does he do?”

Wheeler asked.

With gas gauges fluttering downward toward empty – and the nagging fear that he could lose his own ship to a Japanese attack through his own inaction, McClusky was in a quandary.

“And then he said he heard a voice in his ear,” Wheeler said.

“You can call it ‘divine intervention,’ or you can call it ‘luck of the Irish,’ but he said, that little voice told him, ‘turn to the right.

And he didn’t pay much attention to it. However, it came on again and this time it was loud and clear. So he turned to the right.

“After turning to the right and running for about 15 or 20 minutes, he thought, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ Then, he said, ‘what’s that down there?’ And it was a ship, and he knew that it had to be a Japanese ship.”

McClusky followed the ship’s direction and after a few minutes – far ahead, there was the Japanese fleet.

The dive bombing attack that followed heavily damaged and left sinking the Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga and Soryu.

PA G E

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June 6, 2014

GOSPORT

70th anniversary of the great crusade to free Europe

Operation Overlord: Invasion of Normandy From Naval History and Heritage Command

O

peration Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, is considered the decisive battle of the war in Western Europe. Before this battle, the German army still firmly occupied France and the Low Countries, the Nazi government still had access to the raw materials and industrial capacity of Western Europe, and local resistance to Nazi rule was disorganized and not very effective. After the successful invasion of France and the expansion of the initial beachheads, the Allied armies moved over to the offensive. Overlord proved a psychological and physical blow to German military fortunes from which they would never recover.

Background to the invasion of Normandy Although planning for the operation began in the summer of 1942, the powerful offensive capability of German ground forces in Western Europe, the need to contain the U-boat threat to the Atlantic convoy routes, the strategic decision to divert troops and amphibious craft to the Mediterranean, and the ensuing difficulties of building up offensive forces in Britain, all combined to prevent an invasion of France in the following year. By late 1943, however, detailed planning for the invasion had taken place and significant forces and material had been gathered in Britain.

The naval component of the operation, code named Operation Neptune, comprised large numbers of warships, auxiliaries and landing craft.

In all, Britain, Canada, and the United States, as well as the navies-in-exile of France, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and

Greece, supplied 1,213 warships for the invasion.

Their main task was to provide shore bombardment firepower for the troops going ashore, to guard the transports, and to conduct minesweeping and antisubmarine patrols on the flanks of the invasion corridor. The same navies also provided 4,126 amphibious craft, including a variety specialized landing craft, such as LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank), LCIs (Landing Craft, Infantry), and LCTs (Landing Craft, Tank).

More than 3,500 of these landing craft were actually used during the Normandy Invasion. These amphibious craft would provide the crucial troop-carrying capacity to land the thousands of men, vehicles, and artillery along the 50mile wide target area in the Bay of the Seine.

The initial assault from landing ships and craft was on a five-division front between the Orne River and the Cotentin Peninsula. The region was divided into five landing

beaches, code named (from west to east) Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The first two beaches were assigned to the largely Americanmanned Western Task Force and the other three were the responsibility of the British-dominated Eastern Task Force.

Although the Allies faced impressive German defenses, which were heavily fortified with concrete, wire, and other outworks, they knew from experience that an initial lodgment was impossible to prevent. The overall battle itself, however, would be decided by the ability of the Allies to reinforce their initially-weak beachhead by sea as compared to the easier movement of German reinforcements by land.

The Allies believed they would have the advantage in such a race since they enjoyed superior concentration of force on the beaches – provided by the guns of the mobile warships – and virtually dominated the air over

Army troops wade ashore on Omaha Beach during the D-Day landings, June 6, 1944. They were brought to the beach by a Coast Guard manned LCVP. Photograph from the U.S. Coast Guard Collection in the U.S. National Archives

northern France.

The battle On June 5, 1944, the thousands of ships and craft taking part in Operation Neptune put to sea and began gathering in assembly areas southeast of the Isle of Wight. From there, many passed through the channels swept through the German defensive minefields and moved into their respective waiting areas before dawn June 6. Hundreds of antisubmarine escorts and patrol planes protected the flanks of these assault convoys. Between 5:30 and 5:50 a.m., the Allied gunfire support task groups began bombarding prearranged targets along the beaches.

In the American sector, the landing at Utah beach began at 6:30 a.m. and – despite occurring slightly south of the target area – proceeded according to plan as the U.S. 4th division advanced rapidly toward its initial objectives.

At Omaha beach, where the landings began at 6:35 a.m., underwater obstacles bottled up many of the amphibious craft and the congestion provided easy Wounded men of the 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, re- targets for German gunceive cigarettes and food after storming Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Pho- ners. The landing bogged down and it took a combitograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives

nation of short-range destroyer gunnery support, aerial bombardment and desperate infantry assaults to break the German defenses. It was not until noon that the U.S. 1st and 29th divisions crossed the beach line in force.

The British sector proceeded more smoothly.

Despite rougher seas and higher-than-expected tides, which hindered the clearance of beach obstacles, excellent naval gunfire support kept German defensive fire suppressed at Sword and Juno beaches. The landings there, which began at 7:30 and 7:35 a.m. respectively, proceeded apace and the British 3d and Canadian 3d divisions moved inland by early afternoon. At Gold beach, where the 50th division landed at 7:25 a.m., the beach obstacles were more numerous than expected and many landing craft were lost.

This hindered the buildup of forces ashore and it wasn’t until nightfall that the beach was secured.

Aftermath and significance of the battle After overrunning the German beach defenses, the Allies rapidly expanded the individual beachheads, and the work-

horse amphibious craft quickly reinforced the lodgment with new troops, munitions and supplies.

Superior Allied naval and shore-based artillery then helped defeat the initial German counter-attacks at the same time that Allied dominance of the air hindered the transportation of German reinforcements to the region. By July 25, the Allies were strong enough to launch Operation Cobra and begin the liberation of France.

In a larger strategic sense, the successful Allied landing in France was a psychological blow to the German occupation of Europe. It called into question the German Army’s ability to control western Europe, dramatically increased partisan activity against enemy occupation, and heartened the spirits of all those fighting against Nazi tyranny. The balance of power on the continent, already weakened by Soviet offensives into Poland, was decisively tipped into Allied favor.

From that point on, the Allies would begin the drive into Germany that ultimately destroyed the Nazi regime May 7, 1945.

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June 6, 2014

PA G E

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GOSPORT

Sailboats to be racing at Yacht Club

The Navy Yacht Club is marking its 83rd birthday along with the 51st year of hosting the “Navy Cup,” a sailboat competition. The club is also commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Naval Air Station Pensacola (NASP) with a Cradle of Naval Aviation Cup Centennial Regatta.

Races will begin today, June 6, and continue through June 8 in Bayou Grande and in Pensacola Bay with onshore activities at the Navy Yacht Club facility at the Bayou Grande Marina. Sailboats from the local area yacht clubs will compete.

Early registration check-in and skipper’s meeting for the Navy Cup event will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today, June 6. Race day registration for the spinnaker and non-spinnaker classes will be 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, June 7, with the first race starting at noon. June 8 registration will be from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. for the One Design Fleet with a noon race start. The centennial regatta registration will be from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., with a skipper’s briefing at 11:30 a.m. and a 1 p.m. start. Races are expected to be over by 4 p.m. each day. Trophies will be presented June 8 after the last race.

For more information, contact Jim Parsons, fleet captain, Navy Yacht Club, at 384-4575 or by e-mail at jimparsons@bellsouth.net. Race information is also available at www.navypnsyc.org.

Coin show happening at fairgrounds

The Pensacola Numismatic Society will be presenting its 39th annual Coin & Currency Show from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow, June 7, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 8, at the Pensacola Interstate Fairgrounds, Bldg. 1, 6655 West Mobile Highway.

Buy, sell, trade coins, currency, stamps, sports cards, jewelry, watches, tokens and other collectibles. Food and drinks will be available. Admission is $1 for the public and free for children and club members with club ID card. Parking is free.

For more information, contact George Grant at 932-4252 or Danny Hayes at 206-3592. You can also go to www.pensacolacoinclub.com.

Antarctic explorers group to gather

The Gulf Coast group chapter of the Old Antarctic Explorers Association (OAEA) will meet at noon tomorrow, June 7, at the Shrimp Basket Restaurant, 709 North Navy Blvd. All interested parties are welcome. For more information, call 456-3556.

DFC Society meeting to be June 12

The Pensacola chapter of the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) Society will meet at Franco’s restaurant, 523 East Gregory St., at 11:30 a.m. June 12.

Partyline submissions You can submit information for possible publication in Partyline by sending an e-mail to Janet.Thomas.ctr@navy.mil. Submissions must include the organization’s name and details about events including times, dates, locations and any costs involved. Contact information also is required. All submissions are subject to editing to comply with established standards. Items should be submitted at least one week in advance. The deadline is noon Friday for the next week’s publication.

The military award of the DFC is made to aviators and crew members of all services and civilians for heroism and achievement during aerial flight.

Meetings are open to members, active duty and retired, spouses, significant others and those interested. Meetings are the second Thursday of every other month. For more information, call Joe Brewer at 453-9291 or go to www.dfcsociety.net.

County bus goes from NASP to beach

Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT) has expanded service to Pensacola Naval Air Station.

Route 64, also known as the Beach Jumper, operates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It stops at the USO office at Pensacola NAS and continues to the downtown transfer center before continuing on to Pensacola Beach.

For more information, call 595-3228 or go to www.goecat.com.

Rugby players can try out for team

Navy and Marine Corps service members have been invited to participate in the Commonwealth Navies Rugby Cup’s new Four Nation’s Maritime Cup Tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, Sept.

18 to Oct. 5. All-Navy Sports is seeking applications for tryouts to be held at Camp Pendleton, Calif., beginning Aug. 18.

Applications are due to All-Navy Sports no later than June 15 and can be found at: http://www.navyfitness.org/all-navy_sports.

Register to play in Golf for Heroes

Early registration is under way for the third annual Golf for Heroes Tournament scheduled for June 13 at Osceola Municipal Golf Course. Space is limited for the four-person scramble tournament with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. All proceeds will benefit USO programs and services in Northwest Florida. Regis-

tration fees are $75 per person ($70 for active-duty) and include a continental breakfast, greens fee, range balls, cart, goodie bag and post-tournament lunch. The deadline to register is today, June 6.

To register online, go to www.golfforheroes.com.

For more information, contact USO Operations Manager Dana Cervantes at dcervantes@uso.org or 455-8280, option 4.

Chaplain’s programs being offered

The Command Chaplain’s Office for Naval Air Station Pensacola is offering some special programs.

A marriage enrichment retreat (MER) is scheduled for July 25-July 27. For information or to register for the retreat, call 452-2341, ext. 5, and ask for AOAR Emily Saladine.

A suicide-alertness training session – safeTalk (Suicide Awareness for Everyone) – is scheduled for June 26 and an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) session is scheduled for June 24 and 25. For more information or to register, call 4522341.

Alligator Trot scheduled for June 21

The 19th annual 5K Alligator Trot is scheduled for 8 a.m. June 21 at Florala State Park in Florala, Ala. The course, which winds around historic Lake Jackson, also takes runners across the state line into Florida. Runners and walkers are welcome. Registration is $25 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. You will not be guaranteed a T-shirt on race day if you do not preregister Online registration is at active.com. To print a race application, go to www.alligatortrot.com or e-mail an application request to alligatortrot@yahoo.com.

For more information, call or text Karen Johnson, the race director, at 951-5385.

Students can audition for workshop

Pensacola State College will be holding auditions for the 2014 Summer High School Onstage Workshop (SHOW) production of “Big: The Musical” from 8 a.m. to noon June 9-10 at the Ashmore Fine Arts Auditorium, Bldg. 8, on the Pensacola campus.

The workshop, which is scheduled for June 1621, is open to students who will be in grades 9-12 in the 2014-2015 school year, as well as May graduates. Auditions include singing and dancing. Students should bring sheet music or a background tape and wear comfortable clothing and shoes.

“Big: The Musical,” an adaptation of the movie “Big” starring Tom Hanks, is scheduled to be on stage July 25-27 and Aug. 1-3.

For more information, call 484-1809 or go to http://www.pensacolastate.edu/sites/mt/.

Free consultations. Call 456-5779 PAYING ATTENTION TO CLIENT EXPECTATIONS Have you read enough advertisements that are all fluff and buzz words? Maybe they all read alike because they are all written by Marketing Gurus.

I, Steven W. Bowden, a lawyer with 30 years of experience, wrote the contents of the webpage. Almost all of that experience involves depositions, trials, hearings or representing clients in court. This firm represents clients throughout Florida with client contact in person or by email.

If you are in the Military, there are particular things you must know if involved in a court in Florida. This firm has the knowledge and experience required to address the special needs of its Military clients. We have many Military clients since we are located one mile outside of Corry Station entrance off New Warrington Road and near NAS Pensacola.

The firm has also represented service members and spouses stationed on NAS Pensacola, Hurlburt Field, Fort Walton Beach and Eglin Air Force Base among others.

My firm’s practice areas are listed at the bottom of this page. The information included on each one is intended to give you a start as to what you need to know regarding each subject matter.

Maybe it will help you get through the night or weekend, or save you from making a mistake. It is written for you.

If you need more information, call or make a free appointment to discuss your situation with me.

If you come in, I will discuss your problem with you and give you experienced advice regarding the issue and the expectations of what is going to happen next. I won’t tell you “what you want to hear" or offer a low price just to get your business. You may not like what you are told, but it will be realistic and what you need to hear. You will get my best effort, expertise and experience with aggression and maybe a little attitude!

My staff will treat you like your Grandmother might. They will listen to you and help you get through tough times in The Law Firm of Steven W. Bowden a comforting manner. We make a good team to represent you.

4502 Twin Oaks Drive If you need help after reading our practice area content, call or come in. It is free for the initial consultation.

Pensacola, FL 32506 Respectfully Yours, Phone: Steven W. Bowden, Esq. (850) 456-5779

PRACTICE AREAS Divorce Alimony

Child Support Military Divorce Criminal Defense DUI

Military Divorce Active Duty or Retired

We are located near Corry Station and NAS Pensacola. As a result, for 30 years we have handled problems that are unique to active duty and retired military service members.

We are able to handle most issues where Florida has jurisdiction, which may include Initial Divorce proceedings, Spousal Support, Child Support, Modification, Visitation or Custody issues Contempt, E-mail or Teleconferencing. In cases of deployment, regarding court appearances, many occasions relevant to these issues (pursuant to the other sides agreement when necessary), you can testify by telephone and never have to physically be in Florida for the proceeding.

Set forth below are a few of the issues that you may question regarding, whether you are active

Sexual Assault Domestic Violence Injunction Drug Trafficking

duty, retired or the spouse of active duty or retire military.

Child Support In calculating Child Support, in addition to your regular or retirement pay, the following pay is included: 1. Housing Allowance 2. Sea or Flight Pay 3. Retirement Pay 4. Social Security 5. V.A. Benefits (Yes, despite what others have told you, VA pay is included in child support calculations. Some of you will argue this point. Make an appointment and I will show you why it is included).

You will still be governed by the child support requirements under the general Divorce/Child Support for the state of Florida. FYI: Based on the child support formula, it is almost always cheaper, if possible, to use day care.

E-mail: sbowdenlaw@gmail.com For more information about Steven Bowden’s areas of practice, go to http:// pensacola-lawyer.com

A major problem which can affect both the payor and recipient of child support is when the support should begin. If you are involved in the initial Divorce proceeding the payor’s obligation begins, at the minimum, when the divorce is filed and/or you no longer live together with the child/children. The separation date may predate the filing of the divorce petition. You need an attorney’s advice to ascertain your obligation. If you wait until the final hearing, you may have to pay ongoing child support plus a court ordered amount each month to satisfy an arrearage plus interest.

If you are active duty military, the JAG manual (navy page) will specify what you must pay to continue to support your family until further court order. A temporary hearing could reduce the amount of child support that you have been direct to may pay military orders or rules.

If you are the spouse of an active duty military member, reservist or retiree, see Spouse/Military

or call for an appointment regarding the questions you may have.

Retirement Alimony/Spousal Support In Florida, military retirement funds are an asset which is treated differently than other income related to Alimony/Spousal Support. The spouse of retired military personnel receives a pro rata share of the retirement funds. If the spouse remarries, the awarded share is still paid. If the military retiree dies, and an SBP is elected, it is still paid. You must make sure your lawyer uses the correct formula in order to establish the amount owed. DFAS has particular guidelines that must be met in order to accomplish the correct payment of spousal support.

For more information on these and other issues handled by the Steven Bowden Law Firm, go to http://pensacola-lawyer.com.

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June 6, 2014

GOSPORT

SECTION

LIFE

B

June 6, 2014

Pensacola brothers selected for master chief; See page B2 Spotlight

GOSPORT

Old Glory’s

Flag Day

Flag Day honors American ideals, sacrifices

By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service

O

n June 14, the United States observes National Flag Day, an annual tribute to the American flag, the ideals it stands for and the sacrifices made to preserve them.

President Woodrow Wilson recognized during his first Flag Day address in 1915 that the freedoms the U.S. flag stands for weren’t and never would be free.

“The lines of red are lines of blood, nobly and unselfishly shed by men who loved the liberty of their fellowship more than they loved their own lives and fortunes,” he said. “God forbid that we should have to use the blood of America to freshen the color of the flag.”

But American blood has spilled time and time again to preserve American liberties, most recently in the war against violent extremism.

Three current or retired service members have shared their personal perspectives about how the flag has inspired them through their proudest as well as darkest days as a symbol of patriotism, strength and resilience.

Army Capt. Joe Minning – 9/11 terror attacks Few Americans will forget the image of three firefighters raising an American flag over the World Trade Center ruins in New York just hours after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But for Army Capt. Joe Minning and his fellow New York National Guard Soldiers, many of them New York City firefighters and police officers, the “Ground Zero” flag took on a very personal significance as they desperately sifted through the rubble looking for survivors.

“Seeing the flag raised above all of the rubble and ruins of the World Trade Center instilled a new sense of pride in me for our country,” he said. “No matter what happens to the United States – on foreign ground, on U.S. soil – we, the American people, will always continue to move forward, rebuild and face any challenges that lie ahead.”

Three years later, Minning and the “Fighting 69th” Brigade

Combat Team would take that inspiration with them to Iraq, where they lost 19 Soldiers securing Route Irish and its surrounding Baghdad neighborhoods during their yearlong deployment.

Among those killed was Army Staff Sgt. Christian Engledrum, a New York firefighter who, like Minning, worked amid the dust and smoke immediately following the World Trade Center attack. Engledrum, the first New York City employee to die serving in Iraq, became a symbol of the unit that went from Ground Zero to Iraq’s Sunni Triangle, and after his death, to the mountains of Afghanistan.

The flag and what it represents continue to motivate unit members during their deployment to Afghanistan as embedded trainers for the Afghan National Army, he said.

Minning said he recognizes when he saw Old Glory flying at his tiny forward operating base there that he and his fellow Soldiers were following in the footsteps of the earliest U.S. patriots and defending the same values they fought for.

“The flag is a symbol of everything the United States stands for – from our Founding Fathers up until now, all that we have accomplished, and the hurtles our country has overcome,” he said.

As a Soldier, Minning said, he and his fellow Soldiers recognized that it’s up to them to continue carrying the torch forward.

“It is the American Soldier who keeps the country moving forward and will never let it be taken down by any adversity. It is what we fight for and, if we fall in battle, what our coffins are draped with,” he said. “And it’s what we are committed to protecting and defending, no matter what the price.”

Word Search ‘Flying free’ E C N E D N E P E D N I A N L

T K N O I S I V A G X B U W T

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EQUALITY FREEDOM INDEPENDENCE JUSTICE LIBERTY

X P D L E I A B A A T S M Z K

L W L U D S P L P R V Q H I W

S I O T O Q I E U L P V E E N

X T B B M T E T R S T E X P Q

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P R V Z I T Y F C K L D A M C

PATRIOT RIGHTS SIGNERS TRUTHS VISION

R T F F X R Y D L S Z B Y J X

J U S T I C E I P U F Q I F S

The Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia, Pa. According to legend, in 1776, George Washington commissioned Philadelphia seamstress Ross to create a flag for the new nation. Scholars debate this legend, but agree that Ross most likely knew Washington and sewed flags. Photo by Mike O’Connor

Marine CWO Charles W. Henderson – Beirut embassy bombing Back in April 1983, rescue workers picking through the rubble of what had been the U.S. Embassy in Beirut following a terrorist attack uncovered the body of 21-year-old Marine Cpl. Robert V. McMaugh. Beside his body lay the tattered remains of the U.S. flag that had once stood proudly beside his guard post in the embassy’s main lobby.

McMaugh’s fellow Marine security guards draped their fallen comrade in a fresh American flag and carried him away on a stretcher. A squad of Marines snapped to attention and saluted.

“It was a poignant moment,” recalled retired CWO Charles W. “Bill” Henderson, a spokesman attached to 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit in Lebanon at the time of the bombing. “Everyone had been digging and digging, then suddenly, everything stopped. Not a word was said. Seeing the body of a fellow Marine covered with the American flag … it was an electrifying moment,” he said.

While stationed in Beirut, Henderson said, he came to appreciate the flag, not just as a piece of material, but as a symbol of courage. “Each Marine (in Lebanon) wore an American flag on his shirt,” he said. “It did

more than show that we were Americans. It showed that we were representing this country and what it stands for: freedom for all people.”

Henderson said terrorist attacks that followed that initial salvo and the thousands of Americans who have died as a result have only deepened the flag’s symbolism.

“What’s behind it are the blood and tears of hundreds of thousands of Soldiers who have sacrificed. The symbolism behind the flag is this long tradition of sacrifice to preserve liberty,” he said.

“Yes, it is just a piece of cloth,” he said. “But what it represents are the lives of thousands of Americans who have given everything for this nation – who ask nothing in return but felt an obligation of duty to their country.”

Henderson said he doesn’t take disrespect for the flag lightly. “When you insult our flag, you insult the lives and the sacrifices of all the men and women who have served this country,” he said.

On the other hand, honoring the flag is showing respect and appreciation for all they have done. “You are honoring everything that we, as a nation, have accomplished, what America has done and what America represents to the world,” he said.

Air Force Col. David M.

Roeder – Iranian hostage crisis Now-retired Col. David M. Roeder remembers living without the freedoms he had worked to protect when he and more than 50 other Americans were taken hostage for 444 days in Iran in November 1979.

Roeder, assistant Air Force attache to the U.S. embassy in Tehran at the time, watched helplessly as U.S. flag burnings became almost daily media events. His captors taunted the hostages by carrying garbage from one area of the embassy compound to another, wrapped in the American flag.

Through it all, Roeder said, he never lost faith in his country or the flag that symbolizes its ideals.

“When you talk about a flag, whether it’s standing in a place of honor at a ceremony or draped over a casket or waving from someone’s house, you’re talking about a symbol,” he said.

“But the importance of that symbolism is monumental. It represents what we are, wherever we are in the world,” he said. “And no matter what anyone else says about it or does to it, the flag never loses dignity. It only gains dignity, because when someone attacks the American flag, it’s because they recognize all that it represents and the greatness of this country.”

Gosling Games

Jokes & Groaners

Color Me ‘These colors don’t run’

Only in America ... can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

Only in America ...

Only in America ... are there handicapped parking places in front of our skating rinks.

Only in America ... do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Only in America ... do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Only in America ... do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

Only in America ... do drugstores have the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions, while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America ... do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a diet soda.

PA G E

B2 GOSPORT

SPOTLIGHT

June 6, 2014

Pensacola brothers selected for master chief share third advancement together

By MCC Ahron Arendes Submarine Group Nine Public Affairs

B

ANGOR, Wash. (NNS) – When siblings join the Navy, many go on separate career paths only to see each other during the holidays. Two brothers stationed in Pacific Northwest submarine force, however, have shared several milestones in their careers including pinning on the rank of master chief together recently.

MMCM(SS/DV) Chris Konopka, the elder of the two, is the engineering department master chief onboard USS Kentucky (SSBN 737), and ETCM(SS) Jeremy Konopka is the USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN 730) Blue Crew chief of the boat (COB). In a ceremony at Deterrent Park, Bangor, Wash., they pinned on the rank, and it was the third such time they’ve been able to share in a new rank.

“I can’t even describe it.

It was just awesome to see us both on the list,” said Jeremy. “We were both up for it last year and neither of us made it. I’m so happy everything worked out the

way it did. It’s probably one of the best moments, I think, brothers can have.”

Chris and Jeremy, whose mother was a chief hospital corpsman, grew up together moving frequently due to permanent change of station (PCS) moves. The one place they both consider home though, is Pensacola.

Both joined the Navy in 1995. Jeremy, having joined 11 months prior to Chris, convinced his bother to join the submarine force and they ended up being stationed together at their first duty station, USS Boston (SSN 703).

During their tour, they both advanced to E-5 on the same advancement

cycle.

In 2009, Chris and Jeremy were both chiefs stationed at different locations, and when the senior chief advancement results came out Jeremy saw he and his brother made rank together a second time. Only this time, Chris was in the middle of a PCS move and didn’t have access to the selection board results. Jeremy gave him a call to tell him they made it, but just as a brother would, he teased him with the results.

“Jeremy calls me up to tell me he made it, so I asked him if I made it.

Then he asks me, ‘Are you sure you want to know?

Are you really, sure you

For information on advertising in this paper, call Simone Sands at 433-1166 ext. 21

ETCM Jeremy Konopka, right, Blue Crew chief of the boat aboard the ballistic missile submarine USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN 730), and his brother, MMCM Chris Konopka, assigned to the ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska (SSBN 739), pin master chief anchors on each other during a ceremony in Bangor, Wash. Photo

by CMC Rusty Staub

want to know? –Yeah, you made it.’ Then, my wife and I were doing the happy dance.”

Eventually, the Konopka brothers ended up being stationed in the same geographical area, serving on ballistic missile submarines, and when the master chief selection board results came out May 1, history had repeated itself yet again for them. This time, they wanted to do something special so during the ceremony they decided to pin an anchor on each other at

the same time.

“This is only the second time our career paths have crossed since both of us joined,” said Jeremy.

“We’ve followed each other in our careers, and it’s great to be stationed close to him, but this is just the icing on the cake – that we could be pinned together.”

When the brothers joined the Navy, they had said their goodbyes to each other and never expected to see each other in the fleet, much less be able to share three important career milestones.

“I never would have thought looking back when we were both on our first boat together that we would be putting on master chief at the same time, much less pinning each other,” said Jeremy.

For Chris, he feels very lucky to have had things work out the way they did.

“It’s just awesome,” said Chris. “We not only got to make second class, senior chief and master chief at the same time, but neither of us was at sea when the results came out. I should buy a lottery ticket.”

GOSPORT

May 23, 2014

Your City, Your Magazine

PA G E

B3

PA G E

OFF DUTY

B4

GOSPORT

June 6, 2014

Morale, Welfare and Recreation

Country star Billy Currington is scheduled to perform during the Shindig in the Sand, a three-day festival of music at the Flora-Bama Lounge on Perdido Key. His hits include “Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer, “That’s How Country Boys Roll” and “People Are Crazy.”

From Perdido Key Area Chamber of Commerce

Summer is in full swing on Perdido Key, where the second annual Shindig in the Sand starts today.

The Flora-Bama Lounge, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, is presenting three days of music from local and national performers.

Country music star Billy Currington is scheduled to play at a beach concert behind the Flora-Bama at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow, June 7.

Other performers scheduled to perform over the three days include Wayne Toups, the Modern Eldorados, Sugarcane Jane, Melissa Joiner, Lucky Doggs, Heritage Band, Hotel Oscar, Cowboy Johnson, John Joiner & Nick Branch, Shawna P & the Earthfunk Tribe, Timberhawk, Gove Scrivenor,

Bubba & Them, Hung Jury and Lea Anne Creswell. Proceeds will benefit a fund established to help provide health care for local musicians.

Tickets are available in the Flora-Bama gift shop and online at www.florabama.com.

If you want to have fun on the water, you can sign up for your choice of two fishing tournaments for the Father’s Day weekend, June 13-15.

Both the Hargreaves Fishing Tournament and the FloraBama Fishing Rodeo offer prizes, low entry fees and free admission for children 12 and younger.

Grand Lagoon Yacht Club is holding the Hargreaves Fishing Tournament for more than 200 junior anglers. For more information, call Grand Lagoon Yacht Club at 607-7569 or go to www.billhargreavesfishingrodeo.com/portfolio/.

The Flora-Bama Fishing Rodeo is a new tournament on the Gulf Coast.

Tickets are $35 per angler, with categories ranging from catfish to billfish and everything in between. Anglers will compete in 30 categories, with more than $130,000 in prizes.

The tournament will be based at the Flora-Bama Yacht Club, 17350 Perdido Key Drive. For more information, go to w w w. f l o r a b a m a f i s h i n g rodeo.com/.

Even if you’re not a fan of music or fishing, there are plenty of other activities to enjoy on Perdido Key. More than half the land on the 16mile-long barrier island is set aside for public parks, offering miles of pristine coastline along the Gulf of Mexico.

For more information and a calendar of events, go to www.visitperdido.com.

At the movies FRIDAY

“Mom’s Night Out,” PG, 5 p.m.; “The Amazing Spiderman 2” (3D), PG-13, 7:30 p.m.; “Neighbors,” R, 5:30 p.m., 8 p.m.

SATURDAY

“Brick Mansions,” PG-13, 3 p.m.; “The Amazing Spiderman 2” (3D), PG-13, 5:30 p.m.; “The Other Woman,” PG-13, 8:30 p.m.; “Mom’s Night Out,” 1 p.m.; “The Amazing Spiderman 2” (2D), PG-13, 3:30 p.m.; “Neighbors,” R, 6:30 p.m., 9 p.m.

SUNDAY

“The Amazing Spiderman 2” (3D), PG-13, 1 p.m., 4 p.m.; “The Amazing Spiderman 2” (2D), PG-13, 7 p.m.; “Mom’s Night Out,” PG, noon; “The Other Woman,” PG-13, 2:30 p.m.; “Neighbors,” R, 5 p.m., 7:30 p.m.

MONDAY

“A Haunted House 2,” R, 5 p.m.; “The Amazing Spiderman 2” (3D), PG-13, 7 p.m.; “Brick Mansions,” PG-13, 3 p.m.; “Transcendence,” PG-13, 7:30 p.m.

TUESDAY

“The Quiet Ones,” PG-13, 5 p.m.; “The Amazing Spiderman 2” (2D), PG-13, 7:10 p.m.; “The Other Woman,” PG-13, 5:10 p.m.; “Neighbors,” R, 7:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

“Mom’s Night Out,” PG, noon, 3 p.m. (free admission); “Heaven is for Real,” PG, 1 p.m., 4 p.m. (free admission); “The Amazing Spiderman 2” (3D), PG-13, 6 p.m.; “The Amazing Spiderman 2” (2D), PG-13, 7 p.m.

THURSDAY

“Brick Mansions,” PG-13, 5 p.m.; “The Amazing Spiderman 2” (3D), PG-13, 7 p.m.; “A Haunted House 2,” R, 5:30 p.m.; “Neighbors,” R, 7:30 p.m.

COST Regular: $3 adults, $1.50 children ages 6-11, free for 5 and younger 3D shows: $5 adults, $3 children ages 6-11, free for 5 and younger

Details: 452-3522 or www.naspensacola-mwr.com

PUT YOUR AD HERE AND BE SEEN BY OVER 25,000 POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS Call Simone Sands at 433-1166 ext. 21

The NASP Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) department has a number of upcoming events and activities. For more information, call 452-3806, ext. 3100, or go to the MWR website at www.naspensacola-mwr.com.

• Ridiculous Skills Basketball Competition: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 11 at Radford Fitness Center. Teams of two compete in three-point shooting, cone drills, free throw shooting, layups, jump shots and a fastpaced lightning challenge with a twist. No cost to compete. Sign up at Radford front desk or call 452-9845.

• Summer aquatics: Mustin Beach Pool, Bldg. 3201 and Mustin Beach are open for the season. The Corry Station pool is closed for repairs. Swimming lessons and aquatic camps are scheduled. For details, go to http://naspensacola-mwr.com/water/aquatics.html or call 452-9429.

• Voluntary pre-kindergarten: Corry Station Child Development Center has space for free voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) beginning Sept 2. Program offers high-quality education with qualified teachers for children 4 or older on or before Sept 1. For information, call 458-6588.

• Navy Operational Fitness and Fueling: Register for NOFFS performance training.

One-day course will teach you how to execute NOFFS exercises. Classes 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 10, Aug. 7 and Oct. 2 at Radford Fitness Center. To register, e-mail Brian Hannah at brian.hannah@navy.mil. For more information, call 452-6198.

• Free tennis clinic: The Pensacola Sports Association is offering a free tennis clinic at NAS Pensacola June 23. Register at www.pensacolasports.com or get a registration form at any MWR fitness facility at NASP or NASP Corry Station. For more information, call 434-2800.

• NASP Youth Center Summer Day Camps: Through Aug. 15. Registration required. For information, call 452-2417.

• Summer Reading Program: The “Paws to Read” summer reading program is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday from June 10 through Aug. 7 at the NASP Library, Bldg. 634. For more information or to register, call 452-4362.

• Wellness Center Patriot Recognition Day: 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 13, Navy Wellness Center, Bldg. 3712, NASP Corry Station. In advance of Flag Day, June 14, come show your pride, meet new people and share artifacts and stories from your military career.

For more information, call 452-6802.

• Movies on the Lawn: “The Smurfs 2” (rated PG) is scheduled for June 14. Family movies are shown at dusk (about 7:45 p.m.) the second and fourth Saturday of each month through August in front of Portside Gym, Bldg.

627, at NAS Pensacola. There will be door prizes for children. Admission is free. For more information, call 452-3806, ext. 3140.

• Summer Beach Bash Spin: 11:15 a.m.

June 19 at Radford Fitness Center. Chaos Spin will have a beach party theme. Workout will incorporate beach ball and beach towel exercises m su designed to get you fit for the mer. For more information, call 452-9845.

Liberty activities Liberty program events target young, unaccompanied active-duty military. New hours are 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Monday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Regular events are scheduled at the main Liberty Center in the Portside Entertainment Complex. You must sign up in advance for off-base trips. For more information, call 452-2372 or go to http://naspensacolamwr.com/singsail/liberty.htm.

June 6, 2014

COMMAND LINES

PA G E

B5

GOSPORT SAPR

Help for victims of sexual assault in the DoD community is a call, click or text away. The SafeHelpline provides live crisis support and information by trained staff. Call (877) 9955247; go to www.SafeHelpline. org; or text: 55-247 CONUS; (202) 470-5546 OCONUS (may be additional charges for OCONUS).

The Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) program provides prevention, intervention and a 24/7/365 response. Activeduty and adult family member sexual assault victims have a choice of reporting options, unrestricted and restricted.

To access an unrestricted report, the victim can report to his/her chain-of-command, security/law enforcement, NCIS, SAPR Victim Advocate (VA), SARC, and his/her CO shall commence an investigation.

To access restricted reporting, the victim can disclose his/her sexual assault only to the SARC, a current SAPR VA, a health care provider and/or a chaplain.

To contact the NASP 24/7 VA, call 449-9231/2. To contact the SARC during working hours, call 452-5990, ext. 0; during and after working hours, call the SARC cell phone number at 554-5606.

Fleet and Family Support Center The NASP Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC), 151 Ellyson Ave., Bldg. 625, is offering the following: • Couponing 101: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. June 12.

Come have fun, ask questions, share your ideas and learn how coupons can save you money. Find out where to find coupons and how to use them. Reservations required. For more information or to sign up, call 452-5609.

• Infant Massage Class: 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

June 13. For infants ages 2 to 6 months. Class is sponsored by the New Parent Support Home Visitors Program. Bring a baby blanket and an item that will soothe baby. Cass limited to 10 families, so call 452-5609 to reserve space.

• Stress management: 10 a.m. to

noon June 19. Stress can damage your physical and mental health. Learn how to recognize stress and become more productive, happier and healthier. Class explores different stress management tips and techniques.

Classes are scheduled for first and third Thursday of each month. For details or to register, call 452-5609.

• Disaster Preparedness: 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. June 26. Hurricane season is here. Emergencies come in many forms, and they may require anything from a brief absence from your home to permanent evacuation.

Each type of disaster requires different measures to keep you, your family and your pets safe. The best thing you can do for yourself is to be prepared. For more information or to register for the workshop, call 452-5609.

Community Outreach NASP Community Outreach has volunteer opportunities including: • Special Olympics: This group provides year-round sports training and competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for local individuals with intellectual disabilities. Coaches are needed for aquatics, golf, tennis and sailing.

• Pensacola Habitat For Humanity: Building, painting, framing and some clerical needs. Group assists lower income and/or disabled people by building and restoring homes.

• Pensacola Lighthouse and Museum: There are numerous opportu-

nities such as helping with events and maintenance and grounds upkeep of the quarters.

• Pensacola Humane Society: 5 North Q Street. Groom and exercise cats and dogs, clean cages and dog runs, process adoptions, feed the animals, launder towels and bedding and with office tasks. Single volunteers can volunteer at any time, groups will need to set up a time.

The NASP Community Outreach office tracks volunteer hours. Report any volunteer hours to receive due recognition. For more information on volunteer activities, call 452-2532.

Worship schedule NAS Pensacola Protestant • Communion service, 8 a.m.

Sunday, All Faiths Chapel.

• Sunday School, all ages, 9 a.m. Sunday, Bldg. 634, back classrooms.

• Worship service, 10:15 a.m.

Sunday, Naval Aviation Memorial Chapel, Bldg. 1982.

• Chapel choir, 12:30 p.m. Sunday, All Faiths Chapel.

• Contemporary service, 6 p.m.

Sunday, All Faiths Chapel.

• Womenʼs Bible study, 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Bldg. 634, back classrooms.

• Training Air Wing Six Bible Study, 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, Griffith Hall student lounge, second deck.

• Bible study (for all), 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Bldg. 634, back classrooms.

• Bible study, 5 p.m. Wednesday, J.B. McKamey Center.

Roman Catholic • Sunday Mass, 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Naval Aviation Memorial Chapel, Bldg. 1982.

• Daily Mass, 11:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the All Faiths Chapel.

• Confessions: Scheduled 30 minutes before services.

Jewish • Bʼnai Israel Synagogue, 1829 North Ninth Ave., conducts services at 7 p.m. Friday and

9:30 a.m. Saturday and military personnel are welcome. For more information, call 433-7311.

Latter Day Saints • Service, 10:30 a.m. Sunday, All Faiths Chapel.

For NAS Pensacola worship information, call 452-2341.

NASP Corry Station Protestant • Adult Bible study, 9 a.m. Sunday, chapel conference room.

• Chapel choir, 9 a.m. Sunday, sanctuary.

• Worship service, 10 a.m. Sunday.

• Fellowship, 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

• Praise and worship, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday.

• Bible study and dinner, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, fellowship hall.

Roman Catholic • Mass, noon Sunday and 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

For NASP Corry Station worship information, call 452-6376.

NAS Whiting Field Chapel Roman Catholic • Mass, 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Friday.

Protestant • Bible study, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

• Weekly chapel service, 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

For NASP Whiting Field worship information, call 623-7212.

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Ads placed by the Military are FREE

To place an ad go online at www.gosportpensacola.com or call 433-1166 ext.24.

Marketplace

★ Motor ★ Merchandise ★ Employment ★ Real Estate ★ and more

★ Publication date every Friday except Christmas and New Years.

★ Deadline to place an ad is 4:00 pm Friday, one week prior to publication date.

★ Place your ad online at www.gosportpensacola.com

★ Place your ad by phone at 850-433-1166 Ext. 24 Monday-Friday 8:30 am5:00 pm

Motor

Merchandise Employment

Bulletin Board Bulletin Board Employment Wanted. Trinitas Christian School: is seeking a fulltime Sexton-includes janitorial, lawn care and light maintenance. www.trinitaschristian.org/e mployment for application or fax resume to 4843590 Escambia County Board of County Commissioners Maintenance Te c h n i c i a n (HVAC)Needed with a minimum of one year of work experience in heating, ventilation and air condition equipment.

To apply, please visit wwww.my escambia.com.

EOE Catering at the University of West Florida is looking to hire a Banquet Captain.

The Banquet Captain is responsible for supervising and assisting with the set-up, service and cleanup of all assigned banquet functions. Prior experience is required for consideration.

Please send resume to catering@uwf.edu.

Dining Services at the University of West Florida is seeking a qualified candidate for a Lead Cook.

Ability to work well in a group and must be able to perform in fastpaced college environment. 3+ years of hands on cooking experience and culinary certificate/degree desired.

Full background check will be completed. Please apply in person in the UWF Dining Services office, building 22 room 133.

Garage sales

Merchandise Entertainment c a b i n e t (32x38x16), glass doors, holds TV, DVDs/Player/C Ds, dark wood, new condition, $135, 492-8907

4821 Huron Dr. in Perdido Key Country Club, sale between 9-3 pm Saturday.

Furniture, clothes, odds and ends, lots of nice items. 492-0025 B&S Elite portable generaR e d e e m e r tor, used, $100.

L u t h e r a n 932-3467 Church, 333 Commerce St., Furniture for W a r r i n g t o n , sale: couch, rehuge indoor cliner, dresser, rummage sale, chest drawer, June 6-7 from 8 twin mattress am to 2 pm. set, end & coffee Lunch and baked tables, male goods both days. bike. 455-2966 380-5263 Rolltop desk Merchandise (32x45x45), Articles for sale w/swivel chair on casters, medSelling Body dark wood, good Shop (Jillian condition, $140, Michaels) exer- 492-8907 cise machine— almost new! $75 C r a f t s m a n obo. 478-8704 or w o r k b e n c h , 291-5756 steel, 5 drawer, Hot tub seats 5, golf clubs, bags, shoes, fishing boat pelican.

4 5 5 - 2 9 6 6 or 291-0891 Numark DJ setup; 2 Numark Axis 8 CD players, Numark mixer, case, headphones, interface. Asking $400 obo. (251) 272-9773 or Christopher.D.Lo ve@us.army.mil Eight offshore Penn rod and reel combos, varying styles, 113H, 114H, etc. $150 each or $1,000 for all.

501-0412 Maytag appliance, excellent condition, clean Fridge $250 dishwasher $150 range $200. All 3 $500. Hood $40.

944-5305

Motors Autos for sale 2009 Toyota Camry LE with only 74,000 miles. 2.4L (4 cylinder), 5 speed auto, ABS brakes, remote keyless entry. 4wheel disc brakes, 6 speakers, CD player, dual front impact airbags, Dual front side impact airbags. $13,400. 4182951 Trucks/Vans /SUV’s

2001 Chevy Tahoe. White exterior, beautiful gray fabric interior.

Well maintained every 3,000 miles. One time owner. 150,000 mi., 23,000 miles on newly rebuilt transmission. 516-9197. $7,500

54x20x34, $100. 2004 Lexus RX 330 SUV, pearl 492-8907 white exterior, Big time fishing, tan leather seats, Marlin, Tuna, all wheel drive, all electric, good Wahoo, Swordtires—Excellent fish, internacondition-Sertional rods and viced every reels, lures, fly- 3,500 miles/ just ing gaffes, etc. serviced May 8. $1,000 for all. Garage kept.

497-1167 Beautiful car, must see!

Speargun, teak- 122,300 miles. wood, 3 band, $13,990. 516like new, JBL 9197 professional, long range, Motorcycles Oriskany origiHonda nal $175. 497- 2006 CVR 600 RR, 1167 garage kept, 4,281 original Black powder miles, very good rifle, CVA Opcondition, asktima, stainless ing $5,500 obo. with world fa- 607-5367. Will mous Bergara send pictures barrel, 50 cal- upon request. iber, inline igni- Black and ortion, finger ange tiger stripe screw, new in paint scheme. the box, never Call fired, $175. 454433-1166 9486 ext.

24 and Call this spot could 433-1166 be yours. ext. 24

Motors 2 0 1 3 H D / F LT R X Road Glide Custom. 4K in upgrades, including upgraded LED lighting. 3,800 miles. Always garaged. Firm $19,500 oneyear warranty or $21,500 full warranty. 6376275

Real Estate

Real Estate room/kitchen & bath. Two balconies that face Bayou Chico W/fishing dock. $750 + deposit.

492-7078.

Room for rent, close to front gate, for male or female.

Nice neighborhood, protected parking, kitchen in2004 Kawasaki c l u d e d .

Vulcan 750 mo- $ 5 5 0 / m o n t h . torcycle. Runs 572-6166 great. Garage kept.

Wind- Pilot/students. shield, foot pegs, 3/2 MH 14 mi running bds, Whiting. Listed leather saddle- @ A H R N . bags, Only $ 7 0 0 / m o n t h .

14,000 miles. Nice quiet. 983255-0144.

2904

Real Estate Homes for rent

Furnished condo located 4 miles from NAS. Condo has 1 bedroom/living

3/2 furnished house. bay meadows subdiv i s i o n , $1,000/month.

455-2966 or 291-0891

Real Estate Roommates

2 bedroom apartment at Crystal lake on 98 May - Sep 14. $300. 917-9716647 Homes for sale

MLS# 457678 3/2 2-car garage.

The cleanest house on the market in this price range.

Quiet neighborhood close to schools and Interstate. Home warranty included; price recently reduced.

See it on the Pensacola MLS High and dry: 3/2 full bath.

Open concept, large corner lot: Perdido bay Oaks II. $155,000. 251961-1266

★ Ads placed by the Military are FREE

Real Estate 3314 Meghans Way, Pace, 3/2 house, approx.

1400 sq/ft, large corner lot, large storage building, close to Whiting Field, built 2005, by owner, $140,000. 6374717 2600 sq ft featuring large kitchen with breakfast nook, pantry, foyer, living room, sunken family room, dining room, breakfast room, 2 car garage, 180 foot circular red river rock driveway, privacy fence, large screened porch, wood deck patio. $210,000. 4531924 or 4536488.

Real Estate Lots Beautiful 3-acre lot off Hwy 89.

Can be subdivided. Peaceful area - adjacent to Grand Oak Lane.

Call 994-0324 or szimm4@mchsi. com for more details.

Put your classified ad here and be seen by over 25,000 potential customers

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never be bored

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