1.
Great Falls, Montana
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Great Falls is a city in and the county seat of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The 2015 census estimate put the population at 59,638, the population was 58,505 at the 2010 census. It is the city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area. Great Falls was the largest city in Montana from 1950 to 1970, Great Falls remained the second largest city in Montana until 2000, when it was passed by Missoula. Since then Great Falls has been the third largest city in the state, each falls sports a hydroelectric dam today, hence Great Falls is nicknamed the Electric City. Currently there are two undeveloped parts of their route, these are included within the Great Falls Portage. The city is home to the C. M, the local newspaper is the Great Falls Tribune. A Coldwell Banker Home Price Comparison Index listed Great Falls as the most affordable area of 348 markets in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. The first human beings to live in the Great Falls area were Paleo-Indians who migrated into the region between 9,500 BCE and 8,270 BCE, the earliest inhabitants of North America entered Montana east of the Continental Divide between the mountains and the Laurentide ice sheet. The area remained sparsely inhabited, however. Salish Indians would often hunt bison in the region on a seasonal basis, around 1600, Piegan Blackfeet Indians, migrating west, entered the area, pushing the Salish back into the Rocky Mountains and claiming the site now known as Great Falls as their own. The Great Falls location remained the tribal territory of the Blackfeet until long after the United States claimed the region in 1803. Meriwether Lewis was the first white person to visit the area, york, an African American slave owned by William Clark and who had participated in the Expedition, was the first black American to visit the site of the future city. Bridger and Major Andrew Henry led an expedition to the future city location in April 1823. British explorer Alexander Ross trapped around Great Falls in 1824, in 1838, a mapping expedition sent by the U. S. federal government and guided by Bridger spent four years in the area. Margaret Harkness Woodman became the first white woman to visit the Great Falls area in 1862, the first steamboat arrived at future site of the city in 1859. Politically, the site of Great Falls passed through numerous hands in the 19th century. It was part of the frontier until May 30,1854
2.
United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
3.
Admiral (United States)
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Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below fleet admiral in the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Public Health Service do not have an established grade above admiral. Admiral is equivalent to the rank of general in the uniformed services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps has never had a hold the grade of admiral. However,37 U. S. C. §201 of the U. S. Code established the grade for the NOAA Corps in the case a position is created that merits the four-star grade. The United States Navy did not have any admirals until 1862 because many felt the title too reminiscent of royalty, such as the British Royal Navy. Others saw the need for ranks above captain, among them John Paul Jones and he also felt there must be ranks above captain to avoid disputes among senior captains. Two years later Congress authorized the appointment of an admiral from among the nine rear admirals. Another bill allowed the President of the United States to appoint Farragut to admiral on July 25,1866, when Farragut died in 1870, Porter became admiral and Stephen C. Rowan was promoted to vice admiral, there was one admiral in the interim, however. In 1899, Congress recognized George Deweys accomplishments during the Spanish–American War by authorizing the President to appoint him Admiral of the Navy and he held that rank until he died in 1917. Nobody has since held that title, in 1944, Congress approved the five-star grade of fleet admiral. The first to hold it were William D. Leahy, Ernest J. King, the Senate confirmed their appointments December 15,1944. Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey got his star in December 1945. The rear admiral got his two-inch stripe and one half-inch stripe in 1866, the sleeve stripes had been more elaborate. When the rear admiral rank started in 1862 the sleeve arrangement was three stripes of three-quarter-inch lace alternating with three stripes of quarter-inch lace and it was some ten inches from top to bottom. The vice admiral, of course, had even more stripes, on their dress uniforms the admirals wore bands of gold embroidery of live oak leaves and acorns. The admirals of the 1860s wore the number of stars on their shoulders as admirals of corresponding grades do today. During the 20th century, the ranks of the modern U. S. admiralty were firmly established, an oddity that did exist was that the navy did not have a one-star rank except briefly during World War II when Congress established a temporary war rank of commodore
4.
VF-84
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Fighter Squadron 84 or VF-84 was an aviation unit of the United States Navy. Originally established on 1 May 1944, it was disestablished on 8 October 1945 and it was the first US Navy squadron to be designated as VF-84. VF-84 flew F4U Corsairs and was formed around a nucleus of veterans of VF-17, the new squadrons commanding officer was Lt. Cdr. Roger R. Hedrick, former officer of VF-17. VF-84 was assigned to the USS Bunker Hill, as part of Task Force 58, the carrier and Carrier Air Group 84 participated in the final drive across the central Pacific. Roger Hedrick was promoted to head CVG-84 on the loss of the air groups commanding officer. Raymond Ted Hill took over the fighter squadron, on 11 May 1945, while off Okinawa, two Japanese kamikazes struck the Bunker Hill in quick succession, with a bomb penetrating to the pilots ready room, killing 22 members of VF-84. Both the Bunker Hill and CAG-84 were knocked out of the war, although VF-84 was reformed in July 1945 as an F6F Hellcat squadron, the war ended while it was still in training. While in the Pacific, VF-84 was credited with 92 kills for a loss of 4 aircraft and nine of the squadrons pilots became aces. VF-84 History of the United States Navy List of inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons Jacobs, Jan, Tillman, Barrett, The Wolf Gang, A History of Carrier Air Group 84, The Hook,18, the Survivor of a WWII Navy Pilot. U. S. Navy Fighter Squadrons in World War II
5.
Carrier air wing
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A carrier air wing is an operational naval aviation organization composed of several aircraft squadrons and detachments of various types of fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. While the CVBG term is used by other nations, the CVBG in US parlance is now known as a carrier strike group. Until 1963, Carrier Air Wings were known as Carrier Air Groups, the United States Marine Corps equivalent command-level organization to a CVW is the Marine Aircraft Group. However, MAGs are shore-based and may contain any combination of aircraft squadrons, Carrier Air Wings integrate closely with their assigned aircraft carriers, forming a carrier/air wing team that trains and deploys together. There are currently ten U. S. Navy Carrier Air Wings, four based at NAS Oceana, Virginia, five based at NAS Lemoore, California, and one forward deployed to NAF Atsugi, Japan. In 2017 the air wing at NAF Atsugi began a move of its fixed wing squadrons to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. The move is expected to place over three years. The air wings helicopter squadrons will remain at NAF Atsugi and these air wings are occasionally reassigned to different aircraft carriers based on carrier maintenance schedules. A modern air wing consists of roughly 1,500 personnel, the first Carrier Air Groups were activated in 1937. From July 1937 to mid-1942, Carrier Air Groups were permanently assigned to and identified by their parent aircraft carrier, for example, the Enterprise Air Group, assigned to USS Enterprise, were all numbered 6, Fighting Squadron 6, Bombing Squadron 6, etc. From 1942, numerical designation of air groups began, the first being Carrier Air Group 9, for a while, they were given unique numbers according to their assigned carriers hull number. This numbering scheme was soon scrapped as carrier groups frequently moved from carrier to carrier. At this point, the carrier groups simply retained their number designation regardless of the carrier assigned, the first formal system for air group identification was established in January 1945. This consisted of geometric symbols that identified the parent carrier, not the air group, as there were just too many carriers and the symbols were hard to remember or to describe over the radio, a single or double letter system was introduced in July 1945. The letters, however, still identified the carrier, not the air group, due to the ongoing combat and the end of the war, a mix of identification codes was used in late 1945. Starting in late 1946, the identified the carrier air group. The use of letters was discontinued in 1957. On 15 November 1946, to correct the results of demobilization which had left squadron numbers all out of sequence, sweeping changes were made in air unit designations
6.
Chief of Naval Operations
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The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior naval officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is an adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy. The current Chief of Naval Operations is Admiral John M. Richardson, under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, the CNO also designates naval personnel and naval resources to the commanders of Unified Combatant Commands. The CNO also performs all other functions prescribed under 10 U. S. C. §5033, the CNO is typically the highest-ranking officer on active duty in the Navy unless the Chairman and/or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are naval officers. Like the other joint chiefs, the CNO is a position and has no operational command authority over United States naval forces. The Chief of Naval Operations is nominated by the President for appointment, however, the president may waive those requirements if he determines that appointing the officer is necessary for the national interest. By statute, the CNO is appointed as a four-star admiral, number One Observatory Circle, located on the northeast grounds of the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, was built in 1893 for its superintendent. The Chief of Naval Operations liked the house so much that in 1923 he took over the house as his own official residence and it remained the residence of the CNO until 1974, when Congress authorized its transformation to an official residence for the Vice President. The Chief of Naval Operations currently resides in Quarters A in the Washington Naval Yard, the position of CNO replaced the position of Aide for Naval Operations, which was a position established by regulation rather than statutory law. Lists of Commanding Officers and Senior Officials of the US Navy, archived from the original on 18 December 2007
7.
Defense Distinguished Service Medal
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The medal was created on July 9,1970 by President Richard Nixon in Executive Order 11545. It is the United Statess highest non-combat related military award and it is the highest joint service decoration, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal is awarded only while assigned to a joint activity. Whose duties bring them frequently into direct contact with the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the medal is gold in color and on the obverse it features a medium blue enameled pentagon. Superimposed on this is an American bald eagle with wings facing left grasping three crossed arrows in its talons and on its breast is a shield of the United States. The pentagon and eagle are enclosed within a gold pieced circle consisting, in the half of 13 five-pointed stars and in the lower half. At the top is a suspender of five graduated gold rays, the reverse of the medal has the inscription For Distinguished Service at the top in raised letters, and within the pentagon the inscription From The Secretary of Defense To, all in raised letters. Additional awards of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters
8.
Distinguished Service Medal (United States Navy)
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The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military decoration of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919. The medal is presented to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritorious service to the United States while serving in a duty or position of great responsibility. The award is the Navy and Marine Corps equivalent to the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal was originally senior to the Navy Cross, until August 1942 when the precedence of the two decorations was reversed. Currently, it is worn after the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, at the start of World War I, the Navy had the Medal of Honor as the only decoration with which to recognize heroism. The law made the award retroactive to 6 April 1917, the first award of the decoration was a posthumous presentation to Brigadier General Charles A. Doyen, USMC, on 13 March 1919. Originally, senior in precedence to the Navy Cross, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal assumed its current place below the Navy Cross by congressional action on 7 August 1942. To justify this decoration, exceptional performance of duty must be clearly above that normally expected, generally, the Distinguished Service Medal is awarded to officers in principal commands at sea, or in the field, whose service is of a manner to justify the award. However, this does not preclude the award of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to any individual who meets the service requirements, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a gilt bronze medallion 1.25 inches in diameter. The obverse of the medal depicts an American bald eagle in the center displaying its wings, the eagle holds an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left talons. The eagle is surrounded by an enameled ring with the words, • UNITED • STATES • OF • AMERICA • at the top. Surrounding the blue ring is a gold border of scroll waves depicted moving in a clockwise direction. The medal is surmounted by a white five-pointed star, point up, in the center of the star is a blue anchor, while gold rays radiate between the arms of the star. The reverse of the medal depicts a trident surrounded by a laurel wreath, the wreath is surrounded by a blue enamel ring containing the inscription FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE. Like the obverse, the blue ring on the reverse is surrounded by scroll waves. The medals suspension and service ribbon is blue with a single central stripe of yellow. Additional awards of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal are denoted by gold and silver 5/16 inch stars worn on the medals suspension, awards and decorations of the United States military
9.
Defense Superior Service Medal
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The decoration is most often presented to senior officers in the flag and general officer grades, followed by a lesser number of Colonels and USN and USCG Captains. The medal is presented in the name of the Secretary of Defense and was established by President Gerald R. Ford on February 6,1976 in Executive Order 11904 and it is analogous to the Legion of Merit, albeit awarded for service in a joint duty capacity. This service must be as part of a joint activity, the award is generally for a period of time exceeding 12 months and encompassing an entire joint assignment. Service members assigned to or attached to a Joint Task Force as individuals, not members of a specific military services unit, can be eligible for the DSSM. In these cases, the 12 month time period was considered to include the period prior to that actual space flight. Members of service units are eligible for awards of personal decorations from their parent service. The Defense Superior Service Medal is specifically intended to recognize exceptionally superior service, Joint or Department of Defense awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, may be awarded posthumously. At the time of creation of the Defense Superior Service Medal it was decided that it would be obtained at the lowest possible cost and with as little effort as possible. For these reasons, and because it would rank just below the Defense Distinguished Service Medal for similar service, the difference is that it is finished in silver rather than gold and the inscriptions on the reverse of the medal are appropriately modified. The medal is made of a silver colored metal with blue enamel,1 7/8 inches in height overall, the obverse depicts a silver American eagle superimposed over a medium blue pentagon. The eagle has outstretched wings, charged on its breast is the shield of the United States, in its talons are three crossed arrows in silver. The reverse is plain except for the inscription at the top, below in the pentagon is the inscription From The Secretary of Defense To. Subsequent awards of the Defense Superior Service Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters worn on the suspension and service ribbons of the medal
10.
Legion of Merit
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The Legion of Merit is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the seven uniformed services of the United States as well as to military and political figures of foreign governments. The Legion of Merit is one of only two United States military decorations to be issued as an order and the only United States military decoration which may be issued in award degrees. The Legion of Merit is sixth in the order of precedence of U. S. military awards and is worn after the Defense Superior Service Medal, in contemporary use in the U. S. S. However, this degree was awarded by President Roosevelt to some Allied World War II theater commanders, Commander, Equivalent of a U. S. military chief of staff or higher position, but not to a head of state. Legionnaire, All recipients not included above, when the Legion of Merit is awarded to members of the Uniformed Services of the United States, it is awarded without reference to degree. The performance must have such as to merit recognition of key individuals for service rendered in a clearly exceptional manner. Performance of duties normal to the grade, branch, specialty, or assignment, for service not related to actual war, the term key individual applies to a narrower range of positions than in time of war and requires evidence of significant achievement. In peacetime, service should be in the nature of a requirement or of an extremely difficult duty performed in an unprecedented. However, justification of the award may accrue by virtue of exceptionally meritorious service in a succession of important positions, the degrees and the design of the decoration were influenced by the French Legion of Honour. Although recommendations for creation of a Meritorious Service Medal were initiated as early as September 1937, no formal action was taken toward approval. Proposed designs prepared by Bailey, Banks and Biddle and the Office of the Quartermaster General were provided to Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel Colonel Heard) by the QMG on January 5,1942. The Assistant Chief of Staff, in a response to the QMG on April 3,1942, the design of the Legion of Merit would be ready for issue immediately after legislation authorizing it was enacted into law. The medal was announced in War Department Bulletin No, executive Order 9260, dated October 29,1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, established the rules for the Legion of Merit and required the Presidents approval for the award. The Legion of Merit is similar to the French Legion of Honor in both its design, a five armed cross, and in that it is awarded in multiple degrees, unlike the Legion of Honor, however, the Legion of Merit is only awarded to military personnel. Additionally, it is the award in the world with multiple degrees of which the higher degrees cannot be awarded to citizens of the country of the awards origin. She received the award for her service during the defense of the Philippines, LTJG Bernatitus was also the first recipient of the Legion of Merit authorized to wear a Combat V with the medal. General Eisenhower was presented the Legion of Merit by President Roosevelt, while he was en route to the Tehran Conference, in Cairo, in 1943, at the request of Army Chief of Staff General George C
11.
General Dynamics
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General Dynamics Corporation is an American aerospace and defense multinational corporation. Formed by mergers and divestitures, it is the worlds fifth-largest defense contractor based on 2012 revenues, General Dynamics is headquartered in West Falls Church, Fairfax County, Virginia. The company has changed markedly in the post–Cold War era of defense consolidation and it has four main business segments, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, Information Systems Technology, and Aerospace. General Dynamics former Fort Worth Division manufactured one of the Western worlds most-produced jet fighters, the F-16 Fighting Falcon—until 1993, in 1999, the company re-entered the airframe business with its purchase of Gulfstream Aerospace. General Dynamics traces its ancestry to John Philip Hollands Holland Torpedo Boat Company and this company was responsible for developing the U. S. Navys first submarines built at Lewis Nixons Crescent Shipyard, located in Elizabethport, New Jersey. The revolutionary submarine boat Holland VI was built there, its keel being laid down in 1896, crescents superintendent and naval architect, Arthur Leopold Busch, supervised the construction of this submarine. After being launched on 17 May 1897, it was purchased by the Navy. The Holland was officially commissioned on 12 October 1900 and became the United States Navys first submarine, the Navy placed an order for more submarines, which were developed in rapid succession and were assembled at two different locations on both coasts. These submarines were known as the A-Class or Adder Class, Holland effectively lost control of the company and found himself earning a salary of $90 a week as chief engineer, while the company that he founded was selling submarines for $300,000 each. Holland resigned from the company effective April 1904, rice became Electric Boats first President, remaining there from that time until 1915 when he stepped down just prior to his death on 2 November 1915. Electric Boat gained a reputation for unscrupulous arms dealing in 1904-05, when it sold submarines to Japans Imperial Japanese Navy and Russias Imperial Russian Navy, who were then at war. Holland submarines were sold to the British Royal Navy through the English armaments company Vickers. The new pioneering craft originally developed by the company was now legitimized as genuine naval weapons by the worlds most powerful navies. In the post-World War II wind-down, Electric Boat was cash-flush but lacking in work, hoping to diversify, president and chief executive officer John Jay Hopkins started looking for companies that would fit into Electric Boats market. Hopkins quickly found that Canadair, owned by the Canadian government, was suffering from similar post-war malaise and was up for sale, Hopkins bought the company for $10 million in 1946. Even by the Canadian governments calculations, the factory alone was more than $22 million. When Electric Boat purchased Canadair, its line and inventory systems were in disorder. Hopkins hired Canadian-born mass-production specialist H. Oliver West to take over the presidents role, as defense spending increased with the onset of the Cold War, Canadair went on to win many Canadian military contracts for the Royal Canadian Air Force, and became a major aerospace company
12.
West Salem, Wisconsin
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West Salem is a village in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, along the La Crosse River. It is part of the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area, the population was 4,799 as of the 2010 Census. West Salem was platted in 1856 and it was named Salem by a Baptist minister named Elder Card because the word meant peace in Arabic and Hebrew. The word West was added to the name when mail was confused with another town in the state named Salem, the donation of approximately ten acres of land to a railway company led to the creation of West Salem. A station was built in West Salem on the original Milwaukee and it was later taken over by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. The railway used the land to build a depot and tracks, West Salem is located at 43°53′59″N 91°5′12″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has an area of 3.44 square miles. West Salem As of the census of 2010, there were 4,799 people,1,831 households, the population density was 1,403.2 inhabitants per square mile. There were 1,869 housing units at a density of 546.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 96. 7% White,0. 4% African American,0. 6% Native American,0. 7% Asian,0. 3% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 2% of the population. 26. 9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.99. The median age in the village was 39.2 years. 26% of residents were under the age of 18,6. 3% were between the ages of 18 and 24,25. 5% were from 25 to 44,26. 3% were from 45 to 64, and 15. 9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 47. 4% male and 52. 6% female, as of the census of 2000, there were 4,541 people,1,706 households, and 1,230 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,911.2 people per square mile, there were 1,765 housing units at an average density of 743.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the village was 98. 04% White,0. 51% African American,0. 42% Native American,0. 44% Asian,0. 07% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 0. 59% of the population. 23. 6% of all households were made up of individuals and 10. 3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.09. In the village, the population was out with 30. 0% under the age of 18,6. 3% from 18 to 24,31. 9% from 25 to 44,18. 9% from 45 to 64
13.
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
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Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America. The designation Eagle Scout was founded one hundred years ago. Only four percent of Boy Scouts are granted this rank after a review process. The requirements necessary to achieve this rank take years to fulfill, since its founding, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than two million young men. Requirements include earning at least 21 merit badges, the Eagle Scout must demonstrate Scout Spirit, an ideal attitude based upon the Scout Oath and Law, service, and leadership. This includes a service project that the Scout plans, organizes, leads. Eagle Scouts are presented with a medal and a badge that visibly recognizes the accomplishments of the Scout, additional recognition can be earned through Eagle Palms, awarded for completing additional tenure, leadership, and merit badge requirements. The Boy Scouts of Americas highest award was conceived as the Wolf Scout. The August 1911 version of the handbook changed this to Eagle Scout, the medal illustrated in the handbook was a profile of an eagle in flight, but was changed to the current design before any were issued. In their original conceptions, Life Scout, Star Scout and Eagle Scout were not ranks, Eagle Scout was awarded to any First Class Scout who had earned 21 merit badges. The first Eagle Scout medal was awarded in 1912 to Arthur Rose Eldred, Eldred was notified that he was to be awarded the rank of Eagle Scout in a letter from Chief Scout Executive James West, dated August 21,1912. The design of the Eagle Scout medal had not been finalized by the National Council, so the medal was not awarded until Labor Day, Eldred was the first of three generations of Eagle Scouts, his son and grandson hold the rank as well. As of 2009, more than two million Scouts have earned the rank, in the 1960s, the Kansas City area awarded more Eagle Scout badges than any other council in the country, resulting in the creation of the Eagle Scout Memorial there in 1968. In 1982, 13-year-old Alexander Holsinger, of Normal, Illinois, was recognized as the one-millionth Eagle Scout, about 2.25 million Scouts had earned Eagle Scout through January 2014. In 2012,57,976 Eagle Scout awards were presented, four Nobel Prize laureates are known to be Eagle Scouts, Dudley R. Additionally he must plan, develop, and lead a service project—the Eagle Project—that demonstrates both leadership and a commitment to duty, after all requirements are met, he must complete an Eagle Scout board of review. He can complete the board of review after his 18th birthday as long as all other requirements are completed before his 18th birthday, Scouts with a permanent mental or physical disability may use alternate requirements based on abilities, if approved by the council. Eagle Scout may be awarded posthumously, if and only if all requirements except the board of review are completed before death, a board of review may be held and the award presented to the Scouts family
14.
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
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The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession, other requirements include significant accomplishment in ones career and a solid record of continued community volunteer involvement. It is one of only two BSA awards given to adults that is dependent upon the recipients having been awarded Eagle Scout as a youth, recipients of the DESA are known as Distinguished Eagle Scouts. The award consists of a gold eagle suspended from a red, white, recipients may wear a small gold eagle device on the Eagle Scout square knot on the Scout uniform. The eagles use the design as on the Eagle Scout medal. The Distinguished Eagle Scout medal is worn in place of the regular Eagle Scout medal for Eagle Scout-related ceremonies, the recipient is also presented with an engraved bronze plaque featuring a Gold Eagle. The DESA was first introduced in 1969 and is awarded by the National Eagle Scout Association and this was the only time this gold badge was awarded. The DESA does not have an order of issue like the numbers assigned to each NOESA recipient. On January 16,1969 the first ten DESAs were approved, alphabetically, Alden G. Barber is the first DESA recipient. Based upon the date of the original Eagle Scout rank, Zenon C. R. Hansen, of the nine Eagle Scouts who received the Medal of Honor for valor in combat, five were eligible for the DESA. Of those five, three have been awarded the DESA, Mitchell Paige, Leo K. Thorsness, and Thomas R. Norris, the other two died in 2007 without a DESA nomination being processed. Of the 24 men who traveled to the moon, three were Eagle Scouts, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Charles Duke, all three were awarded the DESA. Armstrong and Lovell are also among the 28 recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, of the 13 men who have served as the Chief Scout Executive, eight were Eagle Scouts. Of those eight, seven have been awarded the DESA, at least two known father/son pairs have received the DESA, as well as one pair of brothers. Through 2015, only 11 recipients of the NOESA have gone on to receive the DESA, the first was Wayne K. Stenehjem who received his NOESA in 2011 and his DESA in 2013. Additionally, Larry A. Dale is the first to both awards in the same year,2015
15.
United States Naval Academy
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The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The entire campus is a National Historic Landmark and home to historic sites, buildings. It replaced Philadelphia Naval Asylum, in Philadelphia, that served as the first United States Naval Academy from 1838 to 1845 when the Naval Academy formed in Annapolis. Candidates for admission generally must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a Member of Congress, students are officers-in-training and are referred to as midshipmen. Tuition for midshipmen is fully funded by the Navy in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation, approximately 1,200 plebes enter the Academy each summer for the rigorous Plebe Summer, but only about 1,000 midshipmen graduate. The United States Naval Academy has some of the highest paid graduates in the according to starting salary. Midshipmen are required to adhere to the academys Honor Concept, the United States Naval Academys campus is located in Annapolis, Maryland, at the confluence of the Severn River and the Chesapeake Bay. In its 2016 edition, U. S. News & World Report ranked the U. S. Naval Academy as the No.1 public liberal arts college and tied for the 9th best overall liberal arts college in the U. S. In the category of High School Counselor Rankings of National Liberal Arts Colleges, Military Academy and the U. S. Air Force Academy, and is tied for the No.5 spot for Best Undergraduate Engineering program at schools where doctorates not offered. In 2016, Forbes ranked the U. S. Naval Academy as No.24 overall in its report Americas Top Colleges, nominations may be made by members of and delegates to Congress, the President or Vice-President, the Secretary of the Navy or certain other sources. Candidates must also pass a fitness test and a thorough medical exam as part of the application process. In the 21st century, there have been about 1,200 students in each new class of plebes, the U. S. government pays for tuition, room, and board. Midshipmen receive monthly pay of $1,017.00, as of 2015, from this amount, pay is automatically deducted for the cost of uniforms, books, supplies, services, and other miscellaneous expenses. Midshipmen only receive a portion of their pay in cash while the rest is released during firstie year. Midshipmen fourth-class to midshipmen second-class receive monthly stipends of $100, $200, $300, Midshipmen first-class receive the difference between pay and outstanding expenses. Students at the academy are addressed as Midshipman, an official military rank. The same term comprises both males and females, upon graduation, most naval academy midshipmen are commissioned as ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps and serve a minimum of five years after their commissioning. If they are selected to serve as a pilot, they will serve 8–11 years minimum from their date of winging, Foreign midshipmen are commissioned into the armed forces of their native countries
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Naval aviation
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Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. In contrast, maritime aviation is the operation of aircraft in a maritime role, an exception to this is the United States Coast Guard, which is considered part of U. S. naval aviation. S. Naval aviation, whether based afloat or ashore, Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based aircraft must be enough to withstand demanding carrier operations. Early experiments on the use of kites for naval reconnaissance took place in 1903 at Woolwich Common for the Admiralty, in 1908 Prime Minister H. H. Asquith approved the formation of an Aerial Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence to investigate the potential for naval aviation. This resulted in the construction of Mayfly in 1909, the first air component of the navy to become operational, and the genesis of modern naval aviation. Two hundred applications were received, and four were accepted, Lieutenant C R Samson, Lieutenant A M Longmore, Lieutenant A Gregory and Captain E L Gerrard, RMLI. The French also established an aviation capability in 1910 with the establishment of the Service Aeronautique. U. S. naval aviation began with pioneer aviator Glenn Curtiss who contracted with the Navy to demonstrate that airplanes could take off from, one of his pilots, Eugene Ely, took off from the USS Birmingham anchored off the Virginia coast in November 1910. Two months later Ely landed aboard another cruiser, USS Pennsylvania, in San Francisco Bay, however, the platforms erected on those vessels were temporary measures. The U. S. Navy and Glenn Curtiss experienced two firsts during January 1911, $25,000 was appropriated for the Bureau of Navigation to purchase three airplanes and in the spring of 1911 four additional officers were trained as pilots by the Wright brothers and Curtiss. A camp with a landing field was established on the Severn River at Greenbury Point, near Annapolis. Mustin successfully tested the concept of the launch in August 1912. The first permanent naval air station was established at Pensacola, Florida, in January 1912, the British battleship HMS Africa took part in aircraft experiments at Sheerness. Africa then transferred her flight equipment to her sister ship Hibernia, in May 1912, with Commander Samson again flying the S.38, the first ever instance of an aircraft to take off from a ship which was underway occurred. Hibernia steamed at 10.5 knots at the Royal Fleet Review in Weymouth Bay, Hibernia then transferred her aviation equipment to battleship London. The first aircraft participation in naval manoeuvres took place in 1913 with the cruiser Hermes converted into a seaplane carrier, in 1914, naval aviation was split again, and became the Royal Naval Air Service. However, shipboard naval aviation had begun in the Royal Navy, other early operators of seaplanes were Germany, within its Marine-Fliegerabteiling naval aviation units within the Kaiserliche Marine, and Russia
17.
USS Oriskany (CV-34)
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USS Oriskany – nicknamed Mighty O, and occasionally referred to as the O-boat – was one of the few Essex-class aircraft carriers completed only after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was named for the Battle of Oriskany during the Revolutionary War, the history of Oriskany differs considerably from that of her sister ships. Originally designed as a long-hulled Essex-class ship her construction was suspended in 1946 and she eventually was commissioned in 1950 after conversion to an updated design called SCB-27, which became the template for modernization of 14 other Essex-class ships. Oriskany was the final Essex-class ship completed and she operated primarily in the Pacific into the 1970s, earning two battle stars for service in the Korean War, and five for service in the Vietnam War. In 1966 one of the worst shipboard fires since World War II broke out on Oriskany when a flare was accidentally ignited. Oriskanys post-service history also differs considerably from that of her sister ships, decommissioned in 1976, she was sold for scrap in 1995, but was repossessed in 1997 because nothing was being done. In 2004 it was decided to sink her as a reef off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. After much environmental review and remediation to remove toxic substances, she was sunk in May 2006. As of 2008, Oriskany is the largest vessel ever sunk to make a reef, Oriskany has been featured in films such as Men of the Fighting Lady and The Bridges at Toko-Ri from 1954 and What Dreams May Come. The name Oriskany was originally assigned to CV-18, but that hull was renamed Wasp when the keel was laid in 1942, cV-34 was laid down on 1 May 1944 by the New York Naval Shipyard, launched on 13 October 1945, and sponsored by Mrs. Clarence Cannon. Construction was suspended on 22 August 1946, when the ship was approximately 85% complete, Oriskany was redesigned as the prototype for the SCB-27 modernization program beginning on 8 Aug 1947, and torn down to 60% complete. To handle the new generation of aircraft, the flight deck structure was massively reinforced. Stronger elevators, more powerful catapults, and new arresting gear were installed. The island structure was rebuilt, the turrets were removed. Blistering the hull increases the area of a ships hull, thereby increasing its buoyancy. It also provides increased bunker volume, in the case of Oriskany, this would have been for aviation fuel. These features would have been crucial to a ship that had so much topside weight added after its original design, Oriskany was commissioned in the New York Naval Shipyard on 25 September 1950, Captain Percy H. Lyon in command. Oriskany departed New York on 6 December 1950, for carrier operations off Jacksonville, Florida, followed by a Christmas call at Newport
18.
Vought F-8 Crusader
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The first F-8 prototype was ready for flight in February 1955. The F-8 served principally in the Vietnam War, the Crusader was the last American fighter with guns as the primary weapon, earning it the title The Last of the Gunfighters. The RF-8 Crusader was a development and operated longer in U. S. service than any of the fighter versions. RF-8s played a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, providing essential low-level photographs impossible to acquire by other means. U. S. Naval Reserve units continued to operate the RF-8 until 1987, in September 1952, the United States Navy announced a requirement for a new fighter. It was to have a top speed of Mach 1.2 at 30,000 ft with a rate of 25,000 ft/min. Korean War experience had demonstrated that 0.50 inch machine guns were no longer sufficient, in response, the Vought team led by John Russell Clark, created the V-383. Unusual for a fighter, the aircraft had a wing which necessitated the use of a fuselage-mounted short. The Crusader was powered by a Pratt and Whitney J57 turbojet engine, the engine was equipped with an afterburner that, unlike on later engines, was either fully lit, or off. The engine produced 18,000 lb of thrust at full power, the Crusader was the first jet fighter in US service to reach 1,000 mph, U. S. Navy pilot R. W. Windsor reached 1,015 mph on a flight in 1956. The most innovative aspect of the design was the wing which pivoted by 7° out of the fuselage on takeoff. This allowed a greater angle of attack, increasing lift without compromising forward visibility and this innovation helped the F-8s development team win the Collier Trophy in 1956. Simultaneously, the lift was augmented by leading-edge slats drooping by 25°, the armament, as specified by the Navy, consisted primarily of four 20 mm autocannon, the Crusader happened to be the last U. S. fighter designed with guns as its primary weapon. They were supplemented with a tray with 32 unguided Mk 4/Mk 40 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket. Vought also presented a tactical reconnaissance version of the called the V-392. In May 1953, the Vought design was declared a winner and in June, the first prototype flew on 25 March 1955 with John Konrad at the controls. The aircraft exceeded the speed of sound during its maiden flight, the development was so trouble-free that the second prototype, along with the first production F8U-1, flew on the same day,30 September 1955. On 4 April 1956, the F8U-1 performed its first catapult launch from Forrestal, in parallel with the F8U-1s and -2s, the Crusader design team was also working on a larger aircraft with ever greater performance, internally designated as the V-401
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VF-191
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Fighter Squadron 191 was an aviation unit of the United States Navy. It was established in 1943 and disestablished in 1978, the squadron was nicknamed Satans Kittens. A second VF-191, bearing the designation and nickname was established for a short time again between 1986 and 1988. VF-191 was established as fighter squadron VF-19 on 15 August 1943, on 15 November 1946 it was re-designated VF-19A. On 24 August 1948 it was finally re-designated VF-191 and adopted the new nickname Satans Kittens and it was disestablished on 1 March 1978. VF-191 and sister squadron VF-194 were the two shortest-lived F-14 squadrons in history, the original VF-191 took part in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. During the latter conflict the squadron took part in several combat cruises, after Vietnam VF-191 continued operations with the F-8 until 1976, when they transitioned to the F-4 Phantom II. A single cruise in the F-4 followed, as VF-191 was disestablished in 1978
20.
Grumman F-14 Tomcat
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The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navys Naval Fighter Experimental program after the collapse of the F-111B project, the F-14 was the first of the American teen-series fighters, which were designed incorporating air combat experience against MiG fighters during the Vietnam War. The F-14 first flew in December 1970 and made its first deployment in 1974 with the U. S. Navy aboard USS Enterprise, replacing the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. The F-14 served as the U. S. Navys primary maritime air superiority fighter, fleet defense interceptor, the Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night pod system were added in the 1990s and the Tomcat began performing precision ground-attack missions. In the 1980s F-14s were used as land-based interceptors by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War, where they saw combat against Iraqi warplanes. Iranian F-14s reportedly shot down at least 160 Iraqi aircraft during the war, while only 12 to 16 Tomcats were lost, the Tomcat was retired from the U. S. Navys active fleet on 22 September 2006, having been supplanted by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The F-14 remains in service with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, the U. S. Navy needed a Fleet Air Defense aircraft with a more powerful radar and longer range missiles than the F-4 Phantom II carried to intercept both enemy bombers and missiles. The Navy was directed to participate in the Tactical Fighter Experimental program with the U. S. Air Force by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. The Navy strenuously opposed the TFX as it feared compromises necessary for the Air Forces need for an attack aircraft would adversely impact the aircrafts performance as a fighter. Weight and performance issues plagued the U. S. Navy F-111B variant for TFX, the F-111 manufacturer General Dynamics partnered with Grumman on the Navy F-111B. With the F-111B program in distress, Grumman began studying improvements, in 1966, the Navy awarded Grumman a contract to begin studying advanced fighter designs. Grumman narrowed down these designs to its 303 design, the Navy studied the need for VFAX, an additional fighter that was agiler than the F-4 Phantom for air-combat and ground-attack roles. Grumman continued work on its 303 design and offered it to the Navy in 1967, the company continued to refine the design into 1968. In July 1968, the Naval Air Systems Command issued a request for proposals for the Naval Fighter Experimental program, VFX called for a tandem two-seat, twin-engined air-to-air fighter with a maximum speed of Mach 2.2. It would also have a built-in M61 Vulcan cannon and a close air support role. The VFXs air-to-air missiles would be either six AIM-54 Phoenix or a combination of six AIM-7 Sparrow, bids were received from General Dynamics, Grumman, Ling-Temco-Vought, McDonnell Douglas and North American Rockwell, four bids incorporated variable-geometry wings. McDonnell Douglas and Grumman were selected as finalists in December 1968, Grumman was selected for the contract award in January 1969. Upon winning the contract for the F-14, Grumman greatly expanded its Calverton, Long Island, much of the testing, including the first of many compressor stalls and multiple ejections, took place over Long Island Sound
21.
VF-142
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VF-142 Ghostriders was a US Navy fighter squadron established on 24 August 1948 as VF-193, it was redesignated VF-142 on 15 October 1963, and disestablished on 30 April 1995. Fighter Squadron 193 was commissioned on 24 August 1948 and assigned to Carrier Air Group Nineteen, the squadron was equipped with the Vought F4U-4 Corsair. It made two deployments to Korea during the Korean War between 1950 and 1952 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Princeton, in 1953 the squadron transitioned to the McDonnell F2H-3 Banshee. CVG-19 then made two deployments to the Western Pacific aboard the USS Oriskany Alan B. Shepard Jr, later of NASA was the executive officer, in 1953-54 and 1955 and one on the USS Yorktown in 1957. In 1958 the squadron transitioned to the supersonic McDonnell F3H-2 Demon fighter. VF-193 then made four tours with CVG-19 aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard, in 1963, VF-193 transitioned to the McDonnell F-4B Phantom II. On 15 October 1963 the squadron was re-designated VF-142, from 1953 to 1962 there had been another fighter squadron VF-142. This squadron had been established as United States Naval Reserve squadron VF-791 Fighting Falcons and was redesignated VF-142 after becoming a squadron on 4 February 1953. It was again re-designated VF-96 on 1 June 1962, between May 1964 and May 1968, the Ghostriders made four deployments to the Pacific on board the USS Ranger and the three other deployments with the USS Constellation. Prior to that, success with Sparrow III missiles had not been good, VF142 was also awarded a Battle Efficiency at that time. In 1969 they transitioned from the F-4B to the F-4J and headed out for a new cruise with the Constellation on August 11,1969, VF-142 was awarded the Naval Aviation Safety Award for 1969-1970. In June 1971, VF-142 deployed with the USS Enterprise for their sixth deployment to Vietnam. In September 1972 VF-142 deployed for their seventh and last combat deployment to Asia, missions were flown in support for the first B-52 strikes into the heart of North Vietnam prior to the cease fire. VF-142 downed their fifth aircraft, a MiG-21, making VF-142 the Navy’s first ace squadron of the war. In 1974, the Ghostriders deployed to the Mediterranean with the USS America, on April 1,1975, the squadron changed their home base from Miramar to NAS Oceana, leaving Carrier Air Wing 14 for Carrier Air Wing 6. In April 1976 VF-142 deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and conducting the first F-14 intercept of a Soviet Tu-95 Bear bomber on April 23,1976, the Ghostriders were awarded the Battle E for their outstanding performance prior to and during the cruise. In 1978, the Ghostriders changed both ship and air wing as Carrier Air Wing 7 and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower became their new home, in January 1979 they deployed for Eisenhower’s first Mediterranean deployment. They returned to NAS Oceana on July 16,1979, in 1980 they began workups before heading to the Indian Ocean on April 16,1980
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VFA-101
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Fighter Squadron 101, also known as the Grim Reapers, was a United States Navy Fleet Replacement Squadron based at NAS Oceana in Virginia. After the West Coast FRS for the F-14 Tomcat, VF-124, was disestablished in the mid-1990s, with the retirement of the F-14, VF-101 was deactivated in 2005. Two distinct squadrons have called the Grim Reapers, VF-10 and later VF-101. Officially, the US Navy does not recognize a lineage with disestablished squadrons if a new squadron is formed with the same designation or nickname. Often, the new squadron will assume the nickname, insignia, on 1 May 1952, VF-101 was commissioned at NAS Cecil Field, Florida. This new squadron assumed the nickname and traditions of the previous Grim Reapers, later in 1952, VF-101 received the jet-powered F2H-2 Banshee. The squadron was assigned to Carrier Air Group 1 aboard the USS Midway, in 1956, VF-101 transitioned to the F4D-1 Skyray, their first radar-equipped aircraft. The squadron was only deployed for a short time during NATO Operation Strikeback from 3 September to 22 October 1957. In April 1958, VF-101 was merged with the Fleet All Weather Training Unit Atlantic, in becoming part of the training structure, VF-101 became part of Readiness Attack Carrier Air Wing 4 and ceased to be a deployable unit. In June 1960, VF-101 established “Detachment A” at NAS Oceana which operated the F4H-1 Phantom II, by the end of 1962, the Skyray and the Demon had been phased out in favor of the F-4. Detachment A was disestablished and F-4 training moved to NAS Key West, the Key West unit concentrated on air-to-air combat, missile firing and radar intercept techniques. In August 1967, VF-101 received the F-4J, vF-101’s administrative command, Readiness Attack Carrier Air Wing 4, was disestablished on 1 June 1970, with VF-101 shifting control of Command to Fleet Air Key West. This moved lasted only a year, and the squadron moved from NAS Key West to NAS Oceana under the command of Commander Fighter Wing One, a detachment remained at Key West until the 2000s. From 6 July to 16 December 1971, VF-101 Det.66 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 8 aboard the USS America for a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, in January 1976, VF-101 began operating and instructing aircrews and maintainers in the F-14 Tomcat. In 1975 and 1976 the squadron was awarded the CNO Aviation Safety Award, VF-101 continued to train F-14 crews. In 1986, VF-101 had completed 3 years of accident free operations earning them another Safety Citation, the new fuel economy gave the F-14B one third more time on-station and sixty percent more range. Following a year of dedicated efforts, led primarily by VF-24 at NAS Miramar, California. Following that, on 12 September 1990, a VF-101 Tomcat dropped bombs from an aircraft for the first time on the east coast
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United States Sixth Fleet
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The Sixth Fleet is the United States Navys operational fleet and staff of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy, the commander of the Sixth Fleet is Vice Admiral Christopher W. Grady. The Sixth Fleet was established in February 1950 by redesignation of the former Sixth Task Fleet, since that time, it has been continually engaged in world affairs around the Mediterranean, and, on occasion, further afield. It was involved in numerous NATO maritime exercises, the U. S, most recently it launched airstrikes on Libya again during the Libyan Civil War of 2011. The earliest unit was the Mediterranean Squadron, on 1 February 1946, U. S. Naval Forces, Northwest African Waters, was redesignated U. S. Naval Forces, Mediterranean. The force was responsible to U. S. Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean in London, in 1946, President Truman dispatched the battleship Missouri to the Eastern Mediterranean, ostensibly to return the body of Münir Ertegün, former Turkish Ambassador to Washington, back to Istanbul. However, perhaps a much stronger motive was to demonstrate U. S. power in view of Soviet threats to Turkey, the cruiser Dayton relieved the tender Shenandoah as flagship and began operating with the fleet. In June 1946 Fargo, flying the flag of Vice Admiral Bernhard Bieri, Commander, USS Randolph, escorted by USS Fargo and USS Perry, visited Greece in December 1946. The title of Naval Forces Mediterranean was changed to Commander Sixth Task Fleet and then, in 1950, Commander, Sixth Fleets NATO guise was the principal player in Exercise Longstep during November 1952. In 1957, an exercise, Operation Deep Water, took place within the Allied Forces Southern Europe area of responsibility. It was conducted by Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe, commanded by Vice Admiral Charles R. Brown, USN, STRIKEFORSOUTH was effectively the NATO designation for the U. S. Sixth Fleet supported American land forces during Operation Blue Bat in Lebanon in 1958, during the Cold War, the Sixth Fleet had several confrontations with the Soviet Navys 5th Operational Squadron, notably during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. During the Yom Kippur War Elmo Zumwalt describes part of the Sixth Fleet buildup as follows, On 25 October JCS directed TG20.1, John F. Kennedy and escorts, ComSixthFleet as TG60.3 and proceed to join TG60 south of Crete. Additionally, Franklin D. Roosevelt and escorts and TF61/62 were directed to join TG60.1 south of Crete, TG100.1 were ordered to proceed to the Mediterranean and chop to ComSixthFleet. Captain J. Huntly Boyd, the Navys Supervisor of Salvage, was sent to the Canal Zone as Commander and he supervised the actual salvage clearing operation which was carried out by the Murphy Pacific Marine Salvage Company of New York. A total of ten ships blocked the canal,200 civilian specialists worked from May to December 1974 to complete the operation, the canal reopened on 5 June 1975, with the Sixth Fleet flagship Little Rock in attendance. In 1999, changes to CINCUSNAVEURs area of responsibility were announced, the United States Atlantic Command areas that had included the waters off Europe and the west coast of Africa were to be transferred to European Command. European Command already had responsibility for all U. S. land and air military planning in Europe, the change gave EUCOM, and NAVEUR, the responsibility for maritime planning in the same general area of operations
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Bureau of Naval Personnel
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The United States Navys Bureau of Naval Personnel is similar to the human resources department of a corporation. The bureau provides administrative leadership and policy planning for the U. S. Navy, as of 2009, the office of the Bureau of Naval Personnel serves as a parent command to the Navy Personnel Command. The duties of NPC are nearly identical to the office of BUPERS. BUPERS is also the authority for Navy Recruiting Command. Most of the BUPERS offices are located in the cities Millington, Tennessee and Arlington, Naval personnel matters were originally handled by the Secretary of War until the establishment of the Navy Department on April 30,1798. It was not until 1815 that the Secretary of the Navy took control of personnel matters, the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting was concurrently established to handle enlisted recruiting and service record maintenance. The Bureau of Navigation was established in 1862 and three later the Office of Detail was placed under it. In 1889, the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting transferred its enlisted personnel activities to the Bureau of Navigation as well, on May 13,1942, the commands name changed to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, and in 1982 it changed to Naval Military Personnel Command. In 1991, the name changed back to the Bureau of Naval Personnel or BUPERS for short, BUPERS is led by the Chief of Naval Personnel. Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda, 25th Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, the current Chief of Naval Personnel is Vice Admiral William F. Bill Moran
25.
Joint Forces Staff College
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The Joint Forces Staff College located in Norfolk, Virginia, was established as the Armed Forces Staff College in 1946 and incorporated into the National Defense University in August 1981. It educates and acculturates joint and multinational warfighters to plan and lead at the operational level, military operations increasingly require the Armed Services to work jointly and JFSC provides students the tools to operate in a joint environment. JFSC is composed of four schools, each with different student populations, the demands of World War II brought out the urgent need for joint action by ground, sea, and air forces. To alleviate the friction and misunderstanding resulting from lack of joint experience, ANSCOL conducted a four-month course that was successful in training officers for joint command and staff duties. ANSCOL, which had established to meet the immediate needs of war, was discontinued upon its conclusion. A joint committee was appointed to prepare a directive for a new school and this directive, which was approved by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 28 June 1946, established the Armed Forces Staff College. Responsibility for the operation and maintenance of its facilities was charged to the Chief of Naval Operations, following a temporary residence in Washington, D. C. AFSC was established in Norfolk, Virginia, on August 13,1946, the site, formerly a U. S. Naval Receiving Station, was selected by the Secretaries of War and Navy because of its immediate availability and its proximity to varied high-level military activities. There were 150 students from all Services in the first class and they assembled in converted administration buildings on February 3,1947 to be greeted by the first commandant, Air Force Lieutenant General Delos C. The faculty officers came from joint assignments in all theaters of World War II, with the construction of Normandy Hall in 1962, AFSC completed its transition from a temporary to a permanent institution. AFSC was assigned to the National Defense University on 12 August 1981, on 30 October 2000, the President Bill Clinton signed the Defense Authorization Bill renaming Armed Forces Staff College to the Joint Forces Staff College. The staff, faculty, and students are assigned by each Service to foster a joint atmosphere. This 10-week satellite program course with equal air, land, and sea service is offered by JFSC and this model reflects input from the combatant commands, which preferred the 10-week, full-time option rather than a longer-term, after-hours option that was originally proposed. In the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress authorized a five-year test of non-resident JPME II at no more than two combatant command headquarters. S, although most of the students come from USCENTCOM and USSOCOM, one international fellow and one interagency student also attend each class. Congress requires the Secretary of Defense to report on the value of the program in 2015, pending congressional approval, the satellite option may be offered to other combatant commands as soon as 2016. The satellite program complements the existing JPME II course offered on-site at JFSC in Norfolk, being identical in length, the only academic difference is in the lessons on the elements of operational design, which use locally relevant case studies. Each year, about a students graduate from the 10-week Joint. The course had been taught since 2004. S, Congress, since the Department of Defense had already initiated an investigative inquiry
26.
The Pentagon
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The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D. C. As a symbol of the U. S. military, The Pentagon is often used metonymically to refer to the U. S. Department of Defense, the Pentagon was designed by American architect George Bergstrom, and built by general contractor John McShain of Philadelphia. Ground was broken for construction on September 11,1941, General Brehon Somervell provided the major motive power behind the project, Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the U. S. Army. The Pentagon is one of the worlds largest office buildings, with about 6,500,000 sq ft, approximately 23,000 military and civilian employees and about 3,000 non-defense support personnel work in the Pentagon. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5 mi of corridors. It was the first significant foreign attack on Washingtons governmental facilities since the city was burned by the British, when World War II broke out in Europe, the War Department rapidly expanded in anticipation that the United States would be drawn into the conflict. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson found the situation unacceptable, with the Munitions Building overcrowded, Stimson told U. S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in May 1941 that the War Department needed additional space. On July 17,1941, a hearing took place, organized by Virginia congressman Clifton Woodrum. Reybold agreed to back to the congressman within five days. The War Department called upon its construction chief, General Brehon Somervell, Government officials agreed that the War Department building, officially designated Federal Office Building No 1, should be constructed across the Potomac River, in Arlington County, Virginia. Requirements for the new building were that it be no more than four stories tall, the requirements meant that, instead of rising vertically, the building would be sprawling over a large area. Possible sites for the building included the Department of Agricultures Arlington Experimental Farm, adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery, the site originally chosen was Arlington Farms which had a roughly pentagonal shape, so the building was planned accordingly as an irregular pentagon. Concerned that the new building could obstruct the view of Washington, D. C. from Arlington Cemetery, the building retained its pentagonal layout because a major redesign at that stage would have been costly, and Roosevelt liked the design. Freed of the constraints of the asymmetric Arlington Farms site, it was modified into a pentagon which resembled the star forts of the gunpowder age. While the project went through the process in late July 1941, Somervell selected the contractors, including John McShain, Inc. and Doyle and Russell. In addition to the Hoover Airport site and other government-owned land, construction of the Pentagon required an additional 287 acres, which were acquired at a cost of $2.2 million. The Hells Bottom neighborhood, a slum with numerous pawnshops, factories, approximately 150 homes, Later 300 acres of land were transferred to Arlington National Cemetery and to Fort Myer, leaving 280 acres for the Pentagon. Contracts totaling $31,100,000 were finalized with McShain and the contractors on September 11
27.
Flag officer
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A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nations armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. In some countries, such as Bangladesh, the United States, Pakistan and India, it may apply to all armed forces and this means generals can also be considered flag officers. In most Arab armies, liwa, which can be translated as flag officer, is a specific rank, however, ensign is debatably a more exact translation of the word. In principle, a flag officer commands several units called flags, Flag officer corresponds to the generic terms general officer and air officer. A flag officer sometimes is an officer, called a flag lieutenant or flag adjutant. In the Canadian Forces, an officer is an admiral, vice-admiral, rear-admiral, or commodore. Base commanders, usually full colonels, also have a pennant that flies from the mast or flagpole on the base, since the unification of the Canadian Forces in 1968, a flag officers dress tunic had a single broad stripe on the sleeve and epaulettes. There are no epaulettes on the exterior of the tunic, in India, it is applied to brigadiers, major generals, lieutenant generals and generals in the Army. The equivalents are commodore, rear admiral, vice admiral and admiral in the Navy and air commodore, air marshal, air marshal. Each of these category of officers is designated with a specific flag. Indias honorary ranks are field marshal in the Army, marshal of the Indian Air Force in the Air Force, in the Royal Navy, there is a distinction between flag officer and officer of flag rank. Formerly all officers promoted to flag rank were considered to be flag officers, of the 39 officers of flag rank in the Royal Navy in 2006, very few were flag officers with entitlement to fly a flag. List of fleets and major commands of the Royal Navy lists most admirals who were flag officers, a flag officers junior officer is often known as Flags. The rank of flag officer was bestowed on senior Navy captains who were assigned to lead a squadron of vessels in addition to command of their own ship, during the American Civil War, the Confederate States Navy also used the term. S. Navy or Coast Guard serving in or having the grade of admiral, vice admiral, rear admiral, or rear admiral, in 1862 Congress authorized American use of the title admiral. In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, brigadier general, or pay grade O-7, and above. However, as a matter of law, Title 10 of the United States Code makes a distinction between officers and flag officers. Non-naval officers usually fly their flags from their headquarters, vessels, or vehicles, in the United States all flag and general officers must be nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, each subsequent promotion requires renomination and re-approval
28.
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)
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USS Theodore Roosevelt is the fourth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. Her radio call sign is Rough Rider, the name of President Theodore Roosevelts volunteer cavalry unit during the Spanish–American War and she was launched in 1984, saw her first action during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Initially, U. S. President Gerald Ford cancelled the order for CVN-71 in 1976 and this capability to operate conventional aircraft proved important as the hoped-for supersonic V/STOL fighters did not come to fruition at the time. In any case, construction of the proposed CVV medium-sized carrier never took place. S, because of the international crisis that required the increased deployment of U. S. S. The official ships daily newspaper is called the Rough Rider and is distributed on the mess decks each morning as well as other locations. The official paper was replaced by the underground rag, and many people didnt typically realize which version they were reading at first glance and this has been widely covered up and hidden by the ships command. Roosevelt and those Nimitz-class vessels completed after her have slight differences from the earlier carriers. Theodore Roosevelts history began on 30 September 1980, when a contract was awarded for Hull 624D to Newport News Shipbuilding and her keel was laid down on 31 October 1981, with Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger initiating the first weld. On 3 November 1981, Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman announced that the carrier would be named for the 26th President of the United States, the vessels Pre-Commissioning Unit was formed in February 1984, with Captain Paul W. Parcells named the Commanding Officer. On 27 October 1984, the ship was christened by Mrs. Barbara Lehman. On 25 October 1986, Theodore Roosevelt was commissioned to service at Newport News. The ship patrolled the Mediterranean Sea prior to returning on 30 June 1989, Theodore Roosevelt was awarded the 1989 Battle E from Commander, Naval Air Force U. S. Atlantic Fleet on 20 March 1990, on 28 December 1990, Theodore Roosevelt and CVW-8 deployed for Operation Desert Shield, arriving in the Persian Gulf on 16 January 1991. When Iraqi forces turned on the Kurds, Theodore Roosevelt and CVW-8 were among the first coalition forces in Operation Provide Comfort, after a 189-day deployment, with 176 days at sea, Theodore Roosevelt returned to Norfolk on 28 June 1991. On 14 February 1992, the ship won her second Battle E and this was followed by the award of the Battenberg Cup for 1991 as the Atlantic Fleets premier ship. Theodore Roosevelt began her deployment on 11 March 1993, again with CVW-8 embarked. Also embarked was a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force, in a test the concept of embarking a multi-purpose Marine force in a carrier. While the ship was still in the Virginia Capes operating area, Theodore Roosevelt operated in the Adriatic as CVW-8 planes enforced Operation Deny Flight in the U. S. no-fly zone over Bosnia
29.
Carrier battle group
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A carrier battle group consists of an aircraft carrier and its large number of escorts, together defining the group. The first naval task forces built around carriers appeared just prior to, the Imperial Japanese Navy, IJN, was the first to assemble a large number of carriers into a single task force, known as Kido Butai. This task force was used with devastating effect in the Imperial Japanese Navys Attack on Pearl Harbor, Kido Butai operated as the IJNs main carrier battle group until four of its carriers were sunk at the Battle of Midway. In contrast, the United States Navy deployed its large carriers in separate formations and these single-carrier formations would often be paired or grouped together for certain assignments, most notably the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway. By 1943, however, large numbers of fleet and light became available. These groups eventually formed the Fast Carrier Task Force, which became the primary unit of the U. S. With the construction of the large carriers of the Cold War era. Because the Soviet Union had no large carriers of its own, however, a primary mission of the Soviet Navys attack submarines was to track every allied battle group and, on the outbreak of hostilities, sink the carriers. Understanding this threat, the CVBG expended enormous resources in its own anti-submarine warfare mission, British and French carrier battle groups were involved in the 1956 Suez Crisis. During the Cold War, an important battle scenario was an attack against a CVBG using a number of antiship missiles. The first attempted use of missiles against a carrier battle group was part of Argentinas efforts against British Armed Forces during the Falklands War. This was the last conflict so far in which two belligerents employed aircraft carriers, although Argentina made little use of its carrier, originally built in the United Kingdom. During the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971 India used its carrier strike group centered on INS Vikrant to impose a naval blockade upon East Pakistan, air strikes were carried out initially on shipping in the Chittagong and Coxs Bazar harbours, sinking or incapacitating most ships there. Further strikes were carried out on Coxs Bazar from 60 nautical miles offshore, on the evening of 4 December, the air group struck Chittagong Harbour. Later strikes targeted Khulna and the Port of Mongla, air strikes continued until 10 December 1971. The United States Sixth Fleet assembled a force of three battle groups and a battleship during the Lebanese Civil War in 1983. Daily reconnaissance flights were flown over the Bekaa Valley and a strike was flown against targets in the resulting in loss of an A-6 Intruder. During the 1986 clashes, three battle groups deployed to the Gulf of Sidra and ultimately two of them conducted strikes against Libya in Operation El Dorado Canyon
30.
United States Second Fleet
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The United States Second Fleet was a numbered fleet in the United States Navy from 1950 until its disestablishment in September 2011. Second Fleets West Coast counterpart was United States First Fleet, prior to disestablishment, Second Fleet oversaw approximately 126 ships,4500 aircraft, and 90,000 personnel homeported at U. S. Navy installations along the East Coast. As of 2008, the Commander, Second Fleet, under the Commander, Fleet Forces Command, was also designated as Commander, Task Force 20. CTF-20 planned for, and when directed, conducted battle force operations in the Atlantic command in support of designated unified or allied commanders, until 2005, COMSECONDFLT had a permanent assignment with NATOs Supreme Allied Commander Atlantics chain-of-command, as the Commander Striking Fleet Atlantic. COMSTRIKFLTLANT commanded a force whose primary mission was to deter aggression. Striking Fleet Atlantic was tasked with ensuring the integrity of NATOs sea lines of communication, during its existence, Second Fleet was responsible for training and certifying Atlantic Fleet units for forward deployment to other numbered fleets, primarily U. S. Second Fleet’s main training and certification venues were the Composite Unit Training Exercise and Joint Training Fleet Exercise and these exercises served as a ready-for-deployment certification events for Carrier Strike Groups, Amphibious Ready Groups, as well as independently deploying units. In times of crisis and during certain exercises, Second Fleet became the Commander, when activated, Joint Task Force 120 was tasked to execute a variety of contingency missions. As CTF-20, Second Fleet oversaw several subordinate task forces, which were activated as needed, in January 1947, Eighth Fleet was renamed Second Task Fleet. Three years later, in February 1950, the command was redesignated U. S. Second Fleet, Second Fleet’s area of responsibility included the Atlantic coast of South America and part of the west coast of Central America. In October 1962, President John F. Kennedy called on Second Fleet to establish quarantine during the Cuban Missile Crisis, for more than a month, Second Fleet units operated northeast of the island, intercepting and inspecting dozens of ships for contraband. The operational control of the force was assigned to the Commander of the Second Fleet, Vice Admiral Alfred G. Ward. Task Force 136 included the support carrier USS Essex, effective deployment constituted a mammoth task to be accomplished in minimum time. To prevent future difficulties, plans had to be developed, ship captains briefed, supply ships dispatched, other Navy and Marine forces faced similar tough schedules. Marines, if not already engaged in landing exercises, were loaded on amphibious ships, at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, dependents were evacuated to the United States on 22 October, and Marine units were shipped by air and sea to reinforce the base. Task Force 135, including the carrier USS Enterprise, was sent to the south of Cuba, the carrier USS Independence and the supporting ships of Carrier Division Six stood by to provide additional support. Antisubmarine forces were redeployed to cover the quarantine operations, major exercises the fleet participated in during the Cold War included Exercise Mariner, Operation Strikeback in 1957, the maritime component of Exercise Reforger, and Northern Wedding. From February 9-12,1978, Task Group 21.6 visited Monrovia in Liberia, in 1983, President Ronald Reagan ordered the Second Fleet to the Caribbean to lead the invasion of Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury
31.
Vice Chief of Naval Operations
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The current VCNO is Admiral William F. Moran. The senior leadership of the U. S, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations is the principal deputy of the Chief of Naval Operations. The VCNO may also perform other delegated duties that either the Secretary of the Navy or the CNO assigns to him or her, in the event that the CNO is absent or is unable to perform their duties, the VCNO assumes the duties and responsibilities of the CNO. Within the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, while there are several Deputy Chiefs of Naval Operations of either three and two star rank, there is only one VCNO. The VCNO is appointed by the President of the United States, while there is not a fixed term nor a term limit in the statute, the historical precedent is that a Vice Chief of Naval Operations serves for a tenure of two to three years. The equivalent of the current VCNO position was called Assistant for Operations in 1915, in 1942 the title became Vice Chief of Naval Operations
32.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
33.
Jeremy Michael Boorda
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Jeremy Michael Boorda was a United States Navy admiral who served as the 25th Chief of Naval Operations. Boorda is notable for being the first American sailor to have risen through the ranks to become the Chief of Naval Operations. Boorda, a Vietnam War veteran, died in May 1996, at the age of 56, Boorda had earned the two medals during the war represented by the ribbons, but there were questions about whether the two devices on the decorations were authorized. Boorda was born in South Bend, Indiana to Jewish parents, Gertrude and his family moved to Momence, Illinois, where his father had a dress shop. His grandparents had immigrated from Ukraine, when he was nineteen, Boorda married Bettie Moran. Their first son David was born with severe disabilities and they had two more sons, Edward and Robert, and a daughter named Anna. Boorda and his Christian wife raised their children as Protestants, Boorda dropped out of high school to enlist in the United States Navy in 1956 at the age of 17, it provided a structure he at first disliked but came to appreciate. He finished high school while in the Navy and attained the rate of Personnelman First Class, Boorda served a variety of commands, primarily in aviation. His last two enlisted assignments were in Attack Squadron 144 and Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 11, Boorda was selected for potential commissioning under the Integration Program in 1962, by which enlisted sailors were admitted to the navys Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. Boorda was commissioned as an ensign upon graduating in August 1962 and he first served aboard USS Porterfield as combat information center officer at the rank of lieutenant junior grade. In 1964, he attended the Naval Destroyer School in Newport, in October 1964, Boorda was assigned as weapons officer aboard the destroyer, the USS John R. Craig. The destroyer deployed to Vietnam in March 1965 and participated in missions and operations off the coast of Vietnam until it departed for San Diego on August 11. On August 15, Boorda was recommended for the Navy Commendation Medal by his officer on the John R. Craig. On August 28, the Commander in Chief, U. S Pacific Fleet, approved a lesser award, the Secretary of the Navy Commendation for Achievement. The citation read, for service while serving as Weapons Officer in USS JOHN R. CRAIG while operating in combat missions supporting the Republic of Vietnam from 10 April to 10 August 1965. After the destroyer arrived in San Diego in September, Boorda served as commander of USS Parrot and his first shore tour was as a weapons instructor at Naval Destroyer School in Newport. In October 1972 the Seventh Fleet, including Boordas ship departed for Vietnam, his tour began in November 1972. On April 8, the officer of the Brooke recommended Boorda for the Navy Commendation Medal. C
34.
United States Naval Aviator
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A Naval Aviator is a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a pilot in the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps or United States Coast Guard. In the U. S. AEDOs are frequently test pilot school graduates and retain their flying status, an even smaller number of Naval Aviators are in the U. S. Navy Medical Corps, primarily as Naval Flight Surgeons. The vast majority of Naval Flight Surgeons, although they are on flight status, are not dual designated and are not Naval Aviators, Marine Corps does not have restricted line officers or staff corps officers, as does the U. S. Navy. All current USMC naval aviators and naval officers are unrestricted line officers. Until 1981, the U. S. Navy and U. S. Marine Corps also had a number of senior enlisted personnel trained as pilots. Such individuals were referred to as naval aviation pilots, colloquially NAPs or APs, the naval aviation pilot wings worn by NAPs were identical in design to the naval aviator insignia worn by commissioned officers. The Silver Eagle title was a reflection that the badge on their uniform had a silver eagle. The U. S. Navy still has an number of senior officers on active duty in the Regular Navy or serving in the Navy Reserve who were originally accessed as NAVCADs. These individuals entered service via the NAVCAD program during the mid/late 1980s, after completion of their initial operational flying tour, they would receive an assignment to complete their bachelors degree. NAVCADs who failed to complete flight training were contractually obligated to enter fleet service as undesignated enlisted personnel. To become an aviator, non-prior service personnel must be between the ages of 19 and 27 when entering flight training. A smaller number were previously commissioned via the Navys limited duty officer or chief warrant officer programs, graduates of these programs are commissioned as Navy ensigns in the U. S. Navy or U. S. Coast Guard, or as second lieutenants in the Marine Corps. The longest of these pipelines is the E-2 or C-2A pipeline, All pipelines include ground and flight training at numerous locations. S. Air Forces 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, IFS is the first step to becoming a naval aviator. After passing a medical screening, all new flight school students are enrolled in one of five civilian flight schools near NAS Pensacola, for those students requiring IFS, they will complete 2 weeks of ground training and approximately 14 hours of flight training in single-engine general aviation aircraft. Coast Guard Students complete 25 hours of flight training, a student must solo and pass the FAA private pilot knowledge test. Notable dramatization of API/AOCS, in media, An Officer and a Gentleman All SNAs start at the Cradle of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola, Florida. API classes consist of Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard SNAs, student naval flight officers, flight surgeons, Students receive four weeks of classroom instruction in aerodynamics, aircraft engines and systems, meteorology, air navigation, and flight rules and regulations
35.
5/16 inch star
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A gold star indicates one additional award, while a silver star is worn in lieu of five gold stars. A 5⁄16 inch silver star is not to be confused with representing a Silver Star medal, 5⁄16 inch stars are worn on a medal suspension and service ribbon with one point of the star pointing up. Up to five stars can be worn on a ribbon, there are no higher degrees of 5⁄16 inch stars authorized after five silver 5⁄16 inch stars. On miniature medals, a special 1⁄8 inch star is worn on the suspension ribbon in lieu of a 5⁄16 inch star. If the number of authorized 5⁄16 inch stars exceeds five, a service ribbon is worn after the first service ribbon. The second service ribbon counts as one additional award, after which more stars may be added to the second ribbon. The US Army and US Air Force uses an oak leaf cluster to indicate a subsequent decoration, a bronze oak leaf cluster is equivalent to a gold 5⁄16 inch star and a silver oak leaf cluster is equivalent to a silver 5⁄16 inch star. Awards and decorations of the United States military United States military award devices Oak leaf cluster Service star Campaign star Battle star Army Awards, archived from the original on June 4,2004
36.
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
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The Defense Meritorious Service Medal is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, the medal is not the same as the Meritorious Service Medal, which is a separate federal military decoration. The medal was first created on 3 November 1977 by President Jimmy Carter under Executive Order 12019 to recognize non-combat meritorious achievement or service while serving in a joint assignment. The recognized service is typically for a period of greater than 12 months, encompassing a recipients entire joint assignment. The required achievement or service, is of a degree than that required for award of the Defense Superior Service Medal. Service members assigned to or attached to a Joint Task Force as individuals, not members of a specific military services unit, members of service specific units are eligible for awards of personal decorations from their parent service. The Defense Meritorious Service Medal is made of bronze and is 1 1⁄2 inches in diameter, the obverse design consists of a circular wreath of laurel leaves tied with a ribbon at base. In the center is a shape which slightly overlaps the wreath. Superimposed over the pentagon is an eagle with wings upraised standing at the base of the pentagon, the eagle is symbolic of the United States while the pentagon shape alludes to the Department of Defense, and the laurel wreath represents achievement. The reverse of the bears the inscription, Defense Meritorious Service in three horizontal lines while around the bottom are the words, United States of America. In between the inscriptions is space for engraving the name of the recipient, the colors, crimson and white, are duplicates of the colors of the Legion of Merit ribbon. The stripes of blue is the associated with the Department of Defense. Additional awards of the Defense Meritorious Service Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters. As a joint award, oak leaf clusters traditionally associated with Army and Air Force awards are used for multiple awards of the DMSM to Navy, Marine Corps. These oak leaf clusters are attached to the suspension and service ribbons, awards and decorations of the United States military
37.
Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
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Normally, the acts or services rendered must be comparable to that required for the Legion of Merit but in a duty of lesser, though considerable, responsibility. Within the U. S. Army, according to AR 600-8-22, Paragraph 3-16, in the Army, an MSM recommendation that is downgraded will be approved as an Army Commendation Medal. In the U. S. Army and U. S, the U. S. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps and U. S. In the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard, the authority for the MSM must be either a Flag Officer or General Officer holding the pay grade of O-7 or above. It is most common for Navy and Coast Guard Master Chief Petty Officers, to receive this medal the individual must exhibit exceptionally meritorious service at that level of responsibility. The Meritorious Service Medal is a medal,1. The reverse has the encircled inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and MERITORIOUS SERVICE. The suspension ribbon is 1 3/8 inches wide and consists of the stripes, 1/8 inch Crimson 67112, 1/4 inch White 67101, center 5/8 inch Crimson, 1/4 inch White. Additional awards of the Meritorious Service Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters in the U. S. Army and U. S. Air Force. And gold 5/16 inch stars in the U. S. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps and these devices are also authorized for wear on the suspension and service ribbon of the medal. In certain instances, the U. S. Coast Guard also authorizes an Operational Distinguishing Device for the medal, an ad hoc committee was formed by the Secretary of Defense to select a name. On November 8,1968, the unanimously approved the name Meritorious Service Medal. President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Meritorious Service Medal per Executive Order 11448, the Executive Order was amended by President Ronald Reagan per Executive Order 12312, dated July 2,1981, to authorize award to members of the armed forces of friendly foreign nations. The medal was designed by Mr. Jay Morris of the Institute of Heraldry, the ribbon design purposely follows the colors used for the Legion of Merit to reflect the parallel between the two medals. The eagle, symbol of the United States, stands on laurel branches denoting achievement, the star is used to represent the military service and the rays emanating therefrom denote the constant efforts of individuals to achieve through excellent and meritorious service. Meritorious Civilian Service Award – a comparable award given to employees of the United States Departments of Defense. US Army Institute of Heraldry, Meritorious Service Medal
38.
Air Medal
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The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States military. The medal was created in 1942 and is awarded for achievement while participating in aerial flight. The Air Medal was established by Executive Order 9158, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Air Medal was awarded retroactive to 8 September 1939. The original award criteria set by an Army Policy Letter was for one award of the Air Medal. per each naval vessel or three aircraft in flight confirmed destroyed. Per twenty-five operational flights during which exposure to fire is probable. Per one-hundred operational flights during which exposure to fire is not expected. These criteria were altered by the commanding generals of each numbered Air Force to fit the conditions of their theater of operations. The Distinguished Flying Cross would usually be awarded for roughly twice to five times the requirements of the Air Medal, on 5 August 1943 score card awards for completing a set number of operational flights were officially abolished by a Headquarters Army Air Forces Awards Board memorandum. This was due to the embarrassment when airmen who had received the Air Medal for score carding five missions or more being later removed from flying duties for lack of moral fibre. Commanders could still issue the awards on those grounds, but the recipient must perform exceptional or meritorious service as well, during World War II the medals award criteria varied widely depending on the theater of operations, the aircraft flown, and the missions accomplished. In Europe the airspace was considered completely controlled by the enemy, elsewhere in the Pacific and CBI the pilots and crews flew mostly over uncontrolled or contested airspace for long hours and lighter air defenses were encountered, so much higher criteria were used. The Air Medal may be awarded to either single acts of merit or gallantry in combat or for meritorious service in a combat zone. These individuals must make a contribution to the operational land combat mission or to the mission of the aircraft in flight. Examples would be transport performing supporting Dustoff Medevac or resupply operations, Awards will not be made to individuals who use air transportation solely for the purpose of moving from point to point in a combat zone. The Army may award the Air Medal for peacetime service, the Air Force does not award the Air Medal for peace-time sustained operational activities and flights. Non-combat meritorious service is instead awarded the Aerial Achievement Medal, instituted in 1988, the Air Force uses the aircraft sortie designation as a tool, but uses Oak Leaf Clusters rather than Strike / Flight Numerals to indicate additional awards. A members individual flight management records will list the sorties that are eligible for the award and these sorties are designated Combat, Combat Support, or Operational. Only the first sortie of the day counts, armed aircraft crews require ten sorties for each award, while all others require twenty sorties
39.
Commendation Medal
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The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration which is presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. The Commendation Medal was originally only a ribbon and was first awarded by the U. S. Navy. An Army Commendation Ribbon followed in 1945, and in 1949, the Navy, Coast Guard, by 1960, the Commendation Ribbons had been authorized as full medals and were subsequently referred to as Commendation Medals. Additional awards of the Army and Air Force Commendation Medals are denoted by bronze, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and Coast Guard Commendation Medal are authorized gold and silver 5/16 inch stars to denote additional awards. The Operational Distinguishing Device is authorized for wear on the Coast Guard Commendation Medal upon approval of the awarding authority, order of Precedence is following the Bronze Star Medal but before the Prisoner of War Medal and all campaign medals. Each of the services also awards separate Achievement Medals which are below the Commendation Medals in precedence. This award is intended for service on a joint military staff and is senior in precedence to service-specific Commendation Medals. As such, it is worn above the service Commendation Medals on a military uniform. S, Army after December 6,1941, distinguished themselves by heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service. Approval of the award must be made by an officer in the grade of Colonel or higher, the medallion of the Army Commendation Medal is a bronze hexagon, 1 3⁄8 inches wide. On the medallion is an American bald eagle with wings spread horizontally, on its breast is a shield paly of thirteen pieces and a chief. The reverse bears a panel for naming between the words FOR MILITARY above and MERIT below, all placed above a laurel sprig, the ribbon is 1 3⁄8 inches wide primarily of myrtle green. It is edged in white and in the center are five thin white stripes spaced equally apart, devices Oak leaf cluster and V Device The U. S. Air Force began issuing its own Air Force Commendation Medal in 1958 with additional awards denoted by oak leaf clusters. Prior to this time, USAF recipients received the Army Commendation Medal and it was not until 1996 that the V device was authorized on the Air Force Commendation Medal, prior to 1996, there was not a valor distinction in effect for the Air Force Commendation Medal. For USAF enlisted personnel, the Air Force Commendation Medal is worth three points under the Air Force enlisted promotion system, approval of the award must be made by an officer in the grade of Colonel or higher. The Air Force Commendation Medal is a bronze hexagonal medallion, on the medallion is a shield surmounted by an eagle superimposed over clouds. On the shield bears a pair of wings and a vertical baton with an eagles claw at either end, behind the shield are eight lightning bolts. The design on the shield is derived from the Seal of the Department of the Air Force, the ribbon of the Air Force Commendation Medal is golden yellow with blue edges. In the center are three bands of blue, the stripes are thin with the center stripe being wider
40.
Navy Unit Commendation
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The Navy Unit Commendation is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. Normal performance of duty or participation in a number of combat missions does not, in itself. An award will not be made to a unit for actions of one or more of its component parts, unless the unit performed uniformly as a team, the NUC may be conferred upon the armed forces of friendly foreign nations serving with the U. S. Armed Forces, provided such units meet the established for Navy. Additional awards of the Navy Unit Commendation are denoted by 3⁄16 inch bronze stars, Military awards of the United States Armed Forces Military awards of the United States Department of the Navy An official Navy Unit Commendation, 2004-2005
41.
Meritorious Unit Commendation
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The Meritorious Unit Commendation is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. Army Meritorious Unit Commendation The Army MUC emblem worn to represent award of the MUC is 1 7⁄16 inches wide, the emblem consists of a 1⁄16 inch wide gold frame with laurel leaves which encloses a scarlet 67111 ribbon. The previously authorized emblem was a gold color embroidered laurel wreath,1 5⁄8 inches in diameter on a 2 inches square of olive drab cloth, Service in a combat zone is not required, but must be directly related to the combat effort. Units based in CONUS are excluded from this award, as are other units outside the area of operation, the unit must display such outstanding devotion and superior performance of exceptionally difficult tasks as to set it apart and above other units with similar missions. The degree of achievement required is the same as that which would warrant award of the Legion of Merit to an individual, recommendations for units larger than a brigade will not be submitted. For services performed during World War II, awards will be only to service units. Such service is interpreted to relate to combat service support type activities and not to the type of activities performed by senior headquarters, combat, all members of the unit cited for the award are approved to wear the emblem of the MUC. The emblem is thought of as a decoration for those in connection with the cited acts and is approved to be worn if they continue as members with the unit or not. Other personnel serving with the unit are approved to wear the emblem to show that the unit is a recipient of the MUC, the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation is worn after the Valorous Unit Award and before the Superior Unit Award. Additional awards of the Army MUC are denoted by oak leaf clusters. The Meritorious Service Unit Plaque was originally established by War Department Circular 345 on 23 August 1944, the circular provided units which received the Plaque were entitled to wear on their right sleeves of their service coat and shirt the Meritorious Service Unit Insignia. A gold star placed on the plaque represented additional awards until War Department Circular No,54,1946, provided that additional awards would be shown by placing a gold numeral on the inside of the wreath. In December 1946, the Meritorious Service Unit Plaque was eliminated, replaced with the issue of the Meritorious Unit Commendation, a new design of the Meritorious Service Unit Emblem was approved in April 1947. This replaced the sleeve insignia and was to be effective 1 January 1949, on 11 April 1949, TAG advised D/PA that the stock position was such that it would not be exhausted prior to 1959. However, the level was still so high that it was not introduced into the supply system until 14 July 1966. This award may also be conferred upon units of the branches of the U. S. Armed Forces, and the forces of friendly foreign nations serving with U. S. Armed Forces, provided such units meet the established for Navy
42.
Service star
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The service star may also be referred to as a campaign star or battle star depending on which award is authorized the star and the manner in which the device is used for the award. Service stars, Campaign stars, and Battle stars are worn with one point of the star pointing up on the ribbon of a medal. A silver star is worn instead of five bronze stars, a service star is sometimes mistaken for a Bronze Star or Silver Star. The service star is similar to the gold and silver 5⁄16 Inch Stars which may be authorized to be worn on specific individual decorations of certain services to denote additional decorations. Service stars are authorized for the following United States expeditionary medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal, Service stars are also authorized for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal effective February 9,2015 retroactive to September,11,2001. Each star represents a deployment in support of an approved GWOT operation, only one GWOT-EM is awarded for each operation. The five GWOT-EM approved operations by inclusive dates are, Enduring Freedom,11,2001 - TBD Iraqi Freedom, Mar.19,2003 - Aug.31, 2010Nomad Shadow, Nov.05,2007 - TBD New Dawn, Sep. 01,2010 - Dec.31,2011 Inherent Resolve, the bronze service star is also authorized for certain unit awards such as the Presidential Unit Citation to denote a second and subsequent award. The service ribbon itself indicates the first award, with a service star being added to indicate the second. If ever applicable, a service star is worn instead of five bronze stars. As a result, at least one star will be worn on the ribbon. However, though authorized for wear, no battle stars have been approved for wear, only a combatant commander can initiate a request for a battle star. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the approving authority, only one award of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and one award of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal may be authorized for any individual. The specific manner of wear and symbolism of the stars varied from medal to medal, for example, an American Campaign Medal with a bronze service star indicated the service member had participated in an antisubmarine campaign. On other medals, bronze service stars were used on the service ribbon for those recipients of medals in possession of authorized campaign claps for those medals. Similarly, during the Vietnam War and afterwards, the Battle Effectiveness Award took the place of receiving battle stars for superior battle efficiency in place of combat operations. Awards and decorations of the United States military United States military award devices 5/16 inch star Oak leaf cluster United States award regulations for World War II
43.
Navy Expeditionary Medal
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The Navy Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was established in August 1936. The Navy Expeditionary Medal is retroactively authorized to February 12,1874, the medal was designed by A. A. Weinman and features a sailor beaching a craft carrying Marines, an officer, and a US flag with the word Expeditions above. The eagle is grasping sprigs of laurel, which extend beyond the anchor in both directions, above the eagle are the words UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS or UNITED STATES NAVY presented as an arch. Above the laurel are the words FOR SERVICE presented horizontally, the eagle is the American bald eagle and represents the United States, the anchor alludes to Marine Corps or Navy service, and the laurel is symbolic of victory and achievement. Both awards may not be bestowed simultaneously for the same action, additional awards of the Navy Expeditionary Medal are denoted by service stars. The Wake Island Device is authorized for service members who were awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal through the defense of Wake Island. As the vast majority of the defenders of Wake Island were U. S. Marines and it has been widely reported that L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, fraudulently claimed being awarded the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal. The issuance of military awards is available via a public records search and from lists of authorized recipients available online
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National Defense Service Medal
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The National Defense Service Medal is a service medal of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It may also be issued to military members for any other period that the Secretary of Defense designates. Currently, the National Defense Service Medal is the oldest service medal in use by the United States Armed Forces, the oldest continuously issued combat medal is the Medal of Honor. For service in the Global War on Terrorism, Selected Reserve and National Guard members need only to have been in good standing to receive the NDSM, inactive Ready Reserve and Retired Reserve are not eligible to be awarded the NDSM unless called to active duty. S. The NDSM ranks eleventh out of twenty-nine in the order of precedence of service medals and this accounts for the medals omission from a large number of uncharacterized and entry level separation documents. Veterans who have this medal so omitted may apply to the service departments to have the NDSM added to records via a DD Form 215. A second award of the medal is not granted for reenlisting during the time period or transferring between branches of service. Korean Service Medal Vietnam Service Medal Southwest Asia Service Medal Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Media related to National Defense Service Medal at Wikimedia Commons
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Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
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The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U. S. Armed Forces who, after July 1,1958, participated in U. S. military operations, U. S. operations in support of the United Nations. The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is issued as a bronze medal, on the reverse side of the medal is the shield from the United States Coat of Arms above two laurel branches separated by a bullet, all within the circumscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Ribbon devices The bronze service star is authorized for participation in subsequent U. S, military operations authorized for award of the AFEM. A silver service star is worn in lieu of five bronze service stars, the arrowhead device is authorized for United States Army personnel who are awarded the medal through participation in an airborne or amphibious assault. The Fleet Marine Force combat operation insignia is authorized for U. S. Navy service members assigned to Marine Corps units that participate in combat during the assignment. The medal shall be awarded only for operations for which no other U. S. campaign medal is approved, since its original conception in 1961, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal has been awarded for United States participation in over forty five designated military campaigns. The first campaign of the AFEM was the Cuban Missile Crisis, during the early years of the Vietnam War, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was issued for initial operations in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was intended to replace the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, in 1965, with the creation of the Vietnam Service Medal, the AFEM was discontinued for Vietnam War service. Because of these awards during the Vietnam war period, some personnel have been awarded both the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal & the Vietnam Service Medal. In 2003, with the creation of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the AFEM was discontinued for Iraq, Saudi Arabia, after 18 March 2003, some personnel became eligible for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, as well as the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Beginning in 1992 an effort was begun to phase out the AFEM in favor of campaign specific medals, the primary difference between the two is that the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is normally awarded for combat operations and combat support missions. After the close of the Vietnam War, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was issued for military operations in Panama, Grenada. The medal is authorized for several United Nations actions, such as peacekeeping efforts in Somalia. The medal is authorized for NATO peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Croatia. The AFEM has been issued for numerous operations in the Persian Gulf, most notably Operation Earnest Will, similar awards of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Similar in nature to the AFEM, the GWOTEM is awarded for deploying abroad on or after Sept.11,2001, Service stars are also authorized for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal effective February 9,2015 retroactive to September,11,2001
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Vietnam Service Medal
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The Vietnam Service Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces established on 8 July 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The medal is awarded to service during the Vietnam War by all members of the United States Armed Forces provided they meet the award requirements. The distinctive design has been attributed to both sculptor Thomas Hudson Jones, an employee of the Army Institute of Heraldry and Mercedes Lee who created the design. The Vietnam Service Medal was awarded to all members of the United States Armed Forces serving in Vietnam, be attached to or regularly serve for 1 or more days aboard a U. S. naval vessel directly supporting military operations. Actually participating as a crewmember in one or more flights into airspace above Vietnam. No person will be entitled to more than one award of the VSM, individuals qualified for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for reason of service in Vietnam between 1 July 1958 and 3 July 1965 will remain qualified for that medal. Upon request any such individual may be awarded the VSM instead of the AFEM, in such instances, the AFEM will be deleted from the list of authorized medals in personnel records. No person will be entitled to awards for Vietnam service. Service members who earned the AFEM for Operation Frequent Wind between 29 and 30 April 1975, may elect to receive the VSM instead of the AFEM, no service member may be issued both medals for service in Vietnam. The VSM may be awarded posthumously, one 3⁄16 inch bronze service star is authorized for each campaign under the following conditions,1. Assigned or attached to and present for duty with a unit during the period in which it participated in combat, under orders in a combat zone and in addition meets any of the following requirements, a. Furnished a certificate by a Commanding General of a corps, higher unit, served at a normal post of duty. Aboard a vessel other than in a status and furnished a certificate by the home port commander of the vessel that he or she served in the combat zone. Was an evadee or escapee in the zone or recovered from a POW status in the combat zone during the time limitations of the campaign. POWs will not be accorded credit for the spent in confinement or while otherwise in restraint under enemy control. Though the Mayaguez incident is referred to as the last battle of the Vietnam War. Instead of the VSM, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is authorized for members who participated in that battle. A congressional bill was introduced in 2016 to award veterans of the Mayaguez battle the VSM, South Vietnam also issued its own service medal for the Vietnam War, known as the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
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