There was a lot going on there & no doubt more senior officers should be held accountable. But as usual with any floating unit ~ under staffed & over worked ~ these are the hallmarks of those jobs.
Veterans...Get the hell in here now!
- Thread starter 6ohMax
- Start date
Thank you
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
Chief Master Sgt. Chris Grove, a combat controller assigned to the 720th Special Tactics Group, faces the crowd after receiving a Silver Star Medal during a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla, on Nov. 15, 2019
By JOHN VANDIVER | STARS AND STRIPES Published: November 19, 2019
An airman who stepped into the line of fire in Afghanistan to call in airstrikes after his unit was ambushed by the Taliban 12 years ago has been awarded the Silver Star, America’s third-highest medal for valor.
Then-Tech Sgt. Chris Grove and his special operations teammates were on patrol in Afghanistan in November 2007 when the Taliban ambushed them with mortars, grenades and machine guns.
With the men heavily outnumbered and the enemy closing in, Grove set up an observation post while under fire and called in airstrikes.
“While under continuous, accurate fire from the enemy, Grove valiantly controlled airstrikes from F-15 Strike Eagles, coordinating multiple 25mm strafes and six 500-pound bombs, decimating advancing enemy forces,” a statement by the 24th Special Operations Wing said.
Chief Master Sgt. Chris Grove, a combat controller assigned to the 720th Special Tactics Group, faces the crowd after receiving a Silver Star Medal during a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla, on Nov. 15, 2019.
At one point during the battle, Grove’s ground force commander was trapped inside a building of the compound as insurgents advanced. The “chances of being overrun were rising by the minute,” the statement said.
Grove called in a “complex danger-close airstrike,” which enabled his team to battle back against an enemy that had moved to within 65 feet of their isolated position, and allowed the ground force commander to escape, the statement said.
Grove’s efforts also allowed his team to recover a fallen teammate so that no troops were left behind.
Grove was “the right airman at the right place, at the right time, who rose to the occasion brilliantly,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, was quoted as saying as he awarded the medal to Grove in a ceremony Friday, at Air Force Special Operations Command headquarters at Hurlburt Field, Fla.
Since 9/11, ST Airmen have received one Medal of Honor, 11 Air Force Crosses and 48 Silver Star Medals
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Military History
Battle of Tarawa ends 23 November 1943
The Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific Theater of World War II was fought on 20–23 November 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll.
The fight for the tiny atoll halfway between Hawaii and Australia was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was the U.S. military’s first major amphibious assault and also the first time in the Pacific War that the United States had faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance, but on Tarawa the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The losses on Tarawa were incurred within 76 hours.
Victory gave the U.S. control of a critical airfield it used to launch planes to bomb new Japanese targets and spy on Japanese positions. It also taught the Navy and Marine Corps crucial lessons in amphibious warfare that would help the U.S. take island after island as it pushed west across the Pacific to defeat Japan and end the war.
Four Medals of Honor were earned at Tarawa, one of them posthumously. Thirty-four Navy Crosses, the Navy’s second-highest award for valor, were issued along with some 250 Silver Stars.
www.usni.org
Battle of Tarawa ends 23 November 1943
The Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific Theater of World War II was fought on 20–23 November 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll.
The fight for the tiny atoll halfway between Hawaii and Australia was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was the U.S. military’s first major amphibious assault and also the first time in the Pacific War that the United States had faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance, but on Tarawa the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The losses on Tarawa were incurred within 76 hours.
Victory gave the U.S. control of a critical airfield it used to launch planes to bomb new Japanese targets and spy on Japanese positions. It also taught the Navy and Marine Corps crucial lessons in amphibious warfare that would help the U.S. take island after island as it pushed west across the Pacific to defeat Japan and end the war.
Four Medals of Honor were earned at Tarawa, one of them posthumously. Thirty-four Navy Crosses, the Navy’s second-highest award for valor, were issued along with some 250 Silver Stars.
Across the Reef: The Assault on Betio
During 76 hours of vicious fighting the 2d Marine Division wrested control of Tarawas Betio Island from an enemy that fought virtually to the last man.
too larry
Well-Known Member
It's been a long time since we fought an army and navy on par with our forces. Not sure Americans today could or would make the sacrifices our parents did.Today in Military History
View attachment 4425341
Battle of Tarawa ends 23 November 1943
The Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific Theater of World War II was fought on 20–23 November 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll.
The fight for the tiny atoll halfway between Hawaii and Australia was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was the U.S. military’s first major amphibious assault and also the first time in the Pacific War that the United States had faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance, but on Tarawa the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The losses on Tarawa were incurred within 76 hours.
Victory gave the U.S. control of a critical airfield it used to launch planes to bomb new Japanese targets and spy on Japanese positions. It also taught the Navy and Marine Corps crucial lessons in amphibious warfare that would help the U.S. take island after island as it pushed west across the Pacific to defeat Japan and end the war.
Four Medals of Honor were earned at Tarawa, one of them posthumously. Thirty-four Navy Crosses, the Navy’s second-highest award for valor, were issued along with some 250 Silver Stars.
Across the Reef: The Assault on Betio
During 76 hours of vicious fighting the 2d Marine Division wrested control of Tarawas Betio Island from an enemy that fought virtually to the last man.
haight
Well-Known Member
They will.
too larry
Well-Known Member
Hope we don't find out anytime soon.
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Military History
1964 December 05 The first Medal of Honor awarded to a U.S. serviceman for action in Vietnam is presented to Capt. Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York, for his heroic action earlier in the year.
Captain Donlon and his Special Forces team were manning Camp Nam Dong, a mountain outpost near the borders of Laos and North Vietnam. Just before two o’clock in the morning on July 6, 1964, hordes of Viet Cong attacked the camp. He was shot in the stomach, but Donlon stuffed a handkerchief into the wound, cinched up his belt, and kept fighting. He was wounded three more times, but he continued fighting–manning a mortar, throwing grenades at the enemy, and refusing medical attention.
The battle ended in early morning; 154 Viet Cong were killed during the battle. Two Americans died and seven were wounded. Over 50 South Vietnamese soldiers and Nung mercenaries were also killed during the action. Once the battle was over, Donlon allowed himself to be evacuated to a hospital in Saigon. He spent over a month there before rejoining the surviving members of his Special Forces team; they completed their six-month tour in Vietnam in November and flew home together. In a White House ceremony, with Donlon’s nine surviving team members watching, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented him with the Medal of Honor for “conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty.” Donlon, justifiably proud of his team, told the president, “The medal belongs to them, too.”
1964 December 05 The first Medal of Honor awarded to a U.S. serviceman for action in Vietnam is presented to Capt. Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York, for his heroic action earlier in the year.
Captain Donlon and his Special Forces team were manning Camp Nam Dong, a mountain outpost near the borders of Laos and North Vietnam. Just before two o’clock in the morning on July 6, 1964, hordes of Viet Cong attacked the camp. He was shot in the stomach, but Donlon stuffed a handkerchief into the wound, cinched up his belt, and kept fighting. He was wounded three more times, but he continued fighting–manning a mortar, throwing grenades at the enemy, and refusing medical attention.
The battle ended in early morning; 154 Viet Cong were killed during the battle. Two Americans died and seven were wounded. Over 50 South Vietnamese soldiers and Nung mercenaries were also killed during the action. Once the battle was over, Donlon allowed himself to be evacuated to a hospital in Saigon. He spent over a month there before rejoining the surviving members of his Special Forces team; they completed their six-month tour in Vietnam in November and flew home together. In a White House ceremony, with Donlon’s nine surviving team members watching, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented him with the Medal of Honor for “conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty.” Donlon, justifiably proud of his team, told the president, “The medal belongs to them, too.”
WOW, I didn't know flying swords were even a thing.
Some of the comments on the article are pretty witty as well.
news.yahoo.com
Some of the comments on the article are pretty witty as well.
US forces kill jihadist leader in Syria with precision 'ninja' missile that chops up targets with blades
US forces are thought to have killed a senior jihadist leader in northern Syria using a rarely deployed “Ninja” missile which attacks targets with precision sword-like blades. The Hellfire missile, or AGM-114R9X, which has a set of six folding blades instead of a warhead for minimum collateral...
too larry
Well-Known Member
Second shooting on a base this week. This one not one of our own.
www.cnn.com
Saudi national who shot 11 people at Pensacola Naval Air Station was taking aviation classes
The gunman in a deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida was a second lieutenant in the Saudi Arabian military involved in flight training at the station, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Friday.
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
I loled at the question if the blades were Damascus steel ...WOW, I didn't know flying swords were even a thing.
Some of the comments on the article are pretty witty as well.
US forces kill jihadist leader in Syria with precision 'ninja' missile that chops up targets with blades
US forces are thought to have killed a senior jihadist leader in northern Syria using a rarely deployed “Ninja” missile which attacks targets with precision sword-like blades. The Hellfire missile, or AGM-114R9X, which has a set of six folding blades instead of a warhead for minimum collateral...
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
When the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, sailor Lauren Bruner was the second-to-last person to get off the USS Arizona alive.
Bruner and five others were stranded on the doomed ship when a sailor on a repair ship spotted them and threw them a line. Even though Bruner was badly burned and had been shot twice, the 21-year-old managed to climb to safety.
He died in September at the age of 98, and on Saturday, December 7, 2019, his remains will return to the USS Arizona. He is expected to be the final USS Arizona survivor to be interred on the sunken warship.
There are three remaining survivors and they have expressed other wishes for their remains. According to the USS Arizona Memorial, Don Stratton, Lou Conter, and Ken Potts "are the only former crewmen remaining from the 337 men who survived the attack on the battleship."
Burner said he wanted to return to his ship because few people go to cemeteries, while more than 1 million people visit the Arizona each year. He also saw it as a way to join old friends who never made it off the warship. "I thought, well, all my buddies are right here. And there are a lot of people who come to see the ship,” Bruner told The Associated Press in an interview in 2016, three years before he died in his sleep in September. Bruner traveled from his La Mirada, California, home to attend Pearl Harbor anniversary events many times
Bruner's family will hold a funeral at the USS Arizona Memorial on Saturday evening. A team of National Park Service and military divers will then receive the urn of his ashes and place it in the hull of the USS Arizona wreckage. Blount says that 43 other survivors of the attack have been interred on the ship in the same location since the Navy started the rare unique ritual in 1982. The wrecks of only two vessels remain in the harbor — the Arizona and USS Utah — so survivors of those ships are the only ones who have the option to be laid to rest this way. Neither underwater archaeologists at the Navy History and Heritage Command or those who handle burials for the Navy Personnel Command were aware of any interments conducted on sunken Navy vessels elsewhere.
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."
Matthew 26:52 King James Version (KJV)
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
-Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, Student, Naval Aviation Schools Command, 23, from Coffee, Alabama
-Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham, Student, Naval Aviation Schools Command, 19, from St. Petersburg, Florida
-Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, Student, Naval Aviation Schools Command, 21, from Richmond Hill, Georgia
from ONCI
Last edited:
Hydrotech364
Well-Known Member
Fair Winds....
cannabineer
Ursus marijanus
please ‘splain the praying duck
BarnBuster
Virtually Unknown Member
NAS Pensacola has prided themselves as the "Cradle of Naval Aviation", training young Naval pilots since the early years of the 20th century. New designs of aircraft also arrived at the base for evaluation. The base insignia (the duck is actually called Jay Gosling) was designed in the 1930's by cartoonist Eddie Collins and depicts a duck wearing a early years flight helmet attempting a water takeoff. bb
Last edited:
The gosling is fledging.