#aviation boatswain's mate

[dangerousthingobservation]

flickr.com

Black Knight

PACIFIC OCEAN (Jan. 8, 2022) Senior Chief Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) Wilmarie Torres, from Orocovis, Puerto Rico, directs an F-35C Lightning II assigned to the "Black Knights" of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, led by Carrier Strike Group 3, deployed from San Diego on Jan. 3 in support of global maritime security operations. An integral part of U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. 3rd Fleet operates naval forces in the Indo-Pacific and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary to flawlessly execute our Navy��s role across the full spectrum of military operations — from combat operations to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. U.S. 3rd Fleet works together with our allies and partners to advance freedom of navigation, the rule of law, and other principles that underpin security for the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Michael Singley)

[aviationgeek71]

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Launch/Recovery (Equipment) 1st Class Jared K. Midgett (AW), from Killeen, Texas, assigned to V-2 division in air department launches a T-45 Goshawk on Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) in the Atlantic Ocean, Jan. 23, 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class August Clawson)

[usafphantom2]

The F/A-18 Super Hornet that pulled off the US’s first air-to-air kill in 18 years still has the war paint to prove it

The Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet shot down a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22 fighter-bomber in the U.S. military's first air-to-air kill since 1999.

Jared KellerPublished Sep 13, 2020 1:05 AM EDT

navy syria shootdown f/a-18 super hornet

Sailors stand by an F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to the “Golden Warriors” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 87 before starting flight operations on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) while participating in Exercise Northern Edge 2019. (U.S. Navy photo).

Editor’s note: a version of this post first appeared in November 2019.

When Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael “Mob” Tremel took on an air-support mission on June 18, 2017, he didn’t realize that he’d end up shooting down a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22 fighter-bomber in the U.S. military’s first air-to-air kill since 1999.

“The whole mission out there that day was to go defeat ISIS and annihilate ISIS,” Tremel recalled of the incident during a September 2017 Tailhook Association symposium. “If at any point in time that day it had escalated, that would have been fine by us.”

Tremel may carry the memory of that day with him everywhere, and now so will his aircraft: According to recent Pentagon photos, the F/A-18E Super Hornet from VFA-87 that Tremel flew into battle clearly carries a fresh victory marking — a scalp for one of the squadron’s “Golden Warriors.”

According to The Aviationist, which first noted the new marking, Tremel’s Hornet originally picked up fresh war paint just below the left side of its canopy as early as August 2017, less than two months after the shootdown occurred. The tomahawks represent successful aerial strikes, while the Syrian flag and silhouette of a fighter jet represent the Su-22 that Tremel nailed with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile.

Fighter Aircraft photo

Lt. Cdr. Michael Tremel stands next to his F/A 18 Super Hornet on board the USS George W. Bush in July 2018. (U.S. Navy photo)

At some point in recent years, the aircraft received a fresh paint job, likely to transition its Modex from 302 to 402 as part of the squadron’s new assignment to USS Theodore Roosevelt’s Carrier Air Wing 11 sometime in 2018. Luckily, the victory marking was simply moved from the left side of the airframe to the right, set just below and ahead of its cockpit.

Fighter Aircraft photo

Sailors stand by an F/A-18 Super Hornet assigned to the “Golden Warriors” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 87 before starting flight operations on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) while participating in Exercise Northern Edge 2019 on May 15, 2019 (U.S. Navy photo)

It’s worth noting in the above photo that while the Super Hornet is no longer operated by Tremble — Navy Cmdr. J.A. Calby’s name is printed directly below the canopy — the aircraft still bears his name and the date of the shootdown, as well as the tell-tale Syrian flag.

“It’s not just Tremel’s plane,” a Navy official told Task & Purpose of the kill marking. “It applies to the aircraft.”

Fighter Aircraft photo

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 3rd Class Connor Akey, from Mobile, Ala., directs an F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the “Golden Warriors” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 87, on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) on July 5, 2019 (U.S. Navy photo)

On the day of the shootdown, Tremel and his wingman, Lt. Cmdr. Jeff “Jo Jo” Krueger, were conducting a close-air support sortie over Syria when they spotted the Syrian Su-22 approaching ground forces with ordnance at the ready. As Tremel recalled back in 2017, repeated radio calls to the aircraft went unheeded, as did the multiple flares he launched.

After the Su-22 released its ordnance near the U.S.-backed forces on the ground, Tremel fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder at the aircraft in line with the rules of engagement, only to have the advanced missile drawn away by the Sukhoi’s own flares. The AIM-120 AMRAAM, however, did the trick, striking the aircraft. The pilot ejected and the burning aircraft quickly plummeted toward the ground.

“I know I was just operating on brainstem power,” Tremel recalled during the Tailhook symposium before adding that, despite achieving the first U.S. air-to-air kill in nearly two decades, his CO immediately reminded him of his responsibilities of air-wing duty safety officer that day: “The show goes on.”

@TaskandPurpose via X

[sledgeley]

USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) conducts flight operations in the Baltic Sea. by Official U.S. Navy Page Via Flickr: BALTIC SEA (Aug. 24, 2022) A U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier attached to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) flies past U.S. Navy Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handler) 1st Class Tu N. Chau during flight operations aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), Aug. 24, 2022. The Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group and embarked 22nd MEU, under the command and control of Task Force 61/2, is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by U.S. 6th Fleet to defend U.S., allied and partner interests. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Taylor Parker) 220824-N-TP544-1083

[georgemcginn]

Face of Defense: Oh Brother! Ford Siblings Share the Sailor's Life

View Online Face of Defense: Oh Brother! Ford Siblings Share the Sailor’s Life July 3, 2023 | By Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Aaron Arroyo Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Darion Thornton and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Jered Thornton Job Title: Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Equipment) 3rd Class (Darion) and Intelligence Specialist 1st Class (Jered) Hometown: Charleston, S.C. Stationed: USS Gerald R.…

[j-r-macready]

210825-N-IO312-1094 by U.S. Pacific Fleet Via Flickr: PHILIPPINE SEA (Aug. 25, 2021) Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class Devin Call, from Winchester, Virginia, assigned to forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6), directs an F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) on the ship’s flight deck during flight operations. America and the 31st MEU's air combat element maintain a strategic ready deck for a variety of missions. America, flagship of the America Expeditionary Strike Group, along with the 31st MEU, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Matthew Cavenaile)

[nicholassabalos]

Acreage at sea….

ATLANTIC OCEAN (November 9, 2020) -- The vast size of the flight deck aboard the United States Navy’s newest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), is evident....

....as an Aviation Boatswain's Mate directs an E-2C Hawkeye into position for an electromagnetic catapult launch.

The flight deck on the new Gerald R. Ford-class carriers covers 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares)....or, 196,000 square feet (18,200 square meters)....or, space for 65 large (3,000 square foot / 279 square meter) suburban homes.

                                   USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)

                                       _____________________

>>Top photo: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan Seelbach, USN

[historieofbeafts]

What about some of the weirder and underappreciated sea monsters?

I’m going to level with you, this took forever because whenever I see the words “underappreciated sea monsters” a part of my brain statics out & starts chanting ALL👏 OF👏 THEM

but since I can’t figure out how to turn a beam of concentrated enthusiasm for every sea monster ever to exist into a tumblr post, here’s an attempt to cover some greatest hits:

Serra/Sawfish

Underappreciated really only applies in modern times, since the sawfish had a wildly successful career as a medieval ocean menace & is one of the few marine creatures to regularly appear in bestiaries

Isidore of Seville describes it as having a serrated back that it uses to cut through the bottom of boats (clearly based on Pliny the Elder’s account of swordfish stabbing passing vessels)

But in its most popular iteration the sawfish is more irritating than lethal. Standard operating procedure is to force any ship it sees into a race, only to get bored and tired partway through and plunge back into the depths out of frustration                         

This is supposed to teach a moral lesson about persistence, but it mostly seems like a fun random encounter

The real delight is that, because no description other than “serration” and occasionally “wings” is really offered, artists were free to draw whatever they thought a commitment-phobic sea nuisance should look like

Is it a bird? A dog? A fish? Unimportant! It’s here to cause problems 

[Bibliothèque nationale de France , Latin 10448, fol. 119v]

[The Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.81, fol. 69r]

[British Library, Sloane MS 278, fol. 51r]

[British Library, Sloane MS 3544, fol. 42v]

[Det Kongelige Bibliotek, GKS 3466 8º, fol. 44]

Flying Turtle

This implausible little guy’s first recorded appearance is on a 1558 edition of a map of Northern Europe by Dutch mapmaker Cornelis Anthonisz

It was quickly copied by many of the biggest names in 16th c. cartography, including Abraham Ortelius & Gerard Mercator (of Mercator projection fame/infamy)

In Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps Chet Van Duzer suggests that, since Anthonisz’ publisher printed under the sign of the turtle, it’s possible this was a piece of branded content that got mistaken for a real creature

That’s both great marketing and a great origin for a cryptid. Modern publishing houses take note

“According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a turtle should be able to fly...”

[Michele Tramezzino,  Septentrionalium regionum, Suetiae, Gothiae, Norwegiae, Daniae et terrarum adjacentium recens exactaq. descriptio.]

[Urbano Monte’s 60 sheet manuscript map of 1587, fully digitized and assembled into a planisphere @ the David Rumsey Map Collection]

[Mercator, Tabulae geographicae Cl. Ptolemaei ad mentem auctoris restitutis ac emendatis.]

The Sea Pig of 1537

Blatant favouritism because this is both my icon and the only thing on this list I’ve written about semi-seriously, but it’s forbidden pet time!

In 1537 a pamphlet was printed in Rome briefly describing a monster found in the North Sea and much less briefly explaining how it was a sign of moral decline

Sample interpretations: extra eyes to signify lust & gluttony, a moon on the back of the head to signify turning away from truth, four dragon feet to signify malice from all four corners of the earth

*slaps the roof of sea pig* this bad boy can fit so many allegories for sin in it

Was this propaganda related to growing tensions between Catholics and Protestants? Probably! Was it also cutting edge marine biology? Yup, and it was a breakout hit, making its way into the works of Olaus Magnus, who calls it “ominous in every feature,” and Conrad Gesner, who reclassifies it as a kind of hyena

[The 1537 pamphlet, Monstrum in oceano Germanico a piscatoribus nuper captum & eius partium omnium subtilis ac theologica interpretatio, available in a bad scan from google books here]

[Conrad Gesner, Historia animalium liber IV, digitally available @ the Biodiversity Heritage Library]

Honourable Mention: Whatever This Is

I genuinely don’t know

It shows up off the coast of Sardinia in the 1584 Mercator edition of Ptolemy's Geographia & the monsters in that are mostly derivative, but I can’t think of any source with this much hair, so here are some other possibilities:

Timetravelling wookie

Bigfoot’s No Good, Very Bad Beach Vacation

Lost dog

[ Mercator, Tabulae geographicae Cl. Ptolemaei ad mentem auctoris restitutis ac emendatis ]

Dishonourable Mention: This Guy

Only appears in two sources that I know of, for which I’m eternally grateful

Those sources are 16th c. world maps by Giacomo Gastaldi and Urbano Monte, men who owe everyone an apology for what they’ve unleashed upon the world

Here’s Chet Van Duzer’s translation of Monte’s description: “ …in the ocean here there often appear some fish in human form of such strangeness, that raising themselves above the water they surpass the highest masts of ships, so that, screaming horribly and making some valleys in the water, they move themselves with their arms which they have in the shape of great tree trunks twenty-five palms long, and there is no boatswain’s mate so brave that he would not be terrified by their monstrosity.”

Don’t care for that at all

Joking dislike aside, this resembles a water spirit of the kind more commonly found in bogs, fens, marshes, ponds or streams, and it upsets my sense of order to see it out of its natural habitat & in the open ocean

[Again, you can find Monte’s fully-assembled 60 sheet map at the David Rumsey Map Collection, and it truly is a work of art despite containing this man]

[planesawesome]

An Aviation Boatswain’s Mate signals to an AV-8B Harrier on the flight deck of U.S. Navy amphibious warship USS Essex (LHD 2).

[airmanisr]

221006-N-LI114-2022 by U.S. Pacific Fleet Via Flickr: SEA OF JAPAN (Oct. 6, 2022) Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Alston Adams, from Columbia, S.C., directs an EA-18G Growler, attached to the "Shadowhawks" of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 141, on the flight deck of the Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), in the Sea of Japan. The primary role of EA-18G Growlers is to disrupt the ability to communicate between units in combat through the use of electronic warfare. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the United States, and supports alliances, partnerships and collective maritime interests in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael B. Jarmiolowski)

[dangerousthingobservation]

USS America (LHA 6) Conducts Flight Operations

PHILIPPINE SEA (April 2, 2024) Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 2nd Class Robert Miller, from Palatka, Florida, assigned to the forward-deployed amphibious assault carrier USS America (LHA 6) guides an MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 262, to take off from the flight deck while conducting routine operations in the Philippine Sea, April 2. America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cole Pursley)

[dathomir-tourism-board]

Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) Airman Julian Fernando, from Yonkers, N.Y., directs an E-2D Hawkeye, assigned to the "Wallbangers" of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron (VAW) 117, on the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

[karagin22]

U.S. Navy aviation boatswain's mate (handling) coordinates the arrival and landing of U.S. Army AH-64E Apache helicopters on the USS Lewis B. Puller during a deck landing qualification training exercise in the Persian Gulf, Nov. 10, 2022. Air crews of two U.S. Army UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters from 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment, Assault Helicopter Battalion, and two AH-64E Apache helicopters from 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, Attack Helicopter Battalion, attached to the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, conducted deck landing qualifications to learn the operating procedures of the U.S. Navy. 36th CAB, mobilized as Task Force Mustang, currently supports the Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve mission across the Middle East. (U.S. Army photo by 2nd Lt. Tiffany Paruolo, 3-142nd AHB Public Affairs Representative)

[todaysdocument]

US Navy (USN) CHIEF Aviation Boatswain's Mate (CABM) Jimmy Candelaria, directs aircraft on the flight deck on the aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65), 3/14/2006

Series: Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files, 1982 - 2007

Record Group 330: Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, 1921 - 2008

Image description: Candelaria is standing on a flight deck, wearing ear protection, goggles, and a bright yellow sweatshirt, vest, and helmet. He has one hand at his hip and the other pointing at about 2 o’clock.

[j-r-macready]

An MV-22B Osprey takes off from USS America (LHA 6). by Official U.S. Navy Page Via Flickr: PHILIPPINE SEA (June 2, 2021) An MV-22B Osprey from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) takes off from the flight deck of the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6). America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Walter Estrada) 210602-N-NJ919-1163

[nicholassabalos]

Down in the clouds....

PHILIPPINE SEA (May 26, 2020) -- Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) Airman Thomas McLaughlin, USN (”yellow shirt”) directs an F/A-18E Super Hornet amidst steam swirling from the catapults on the flight deck of United States Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).

It’s one of the most dangerous jobs in the world....but done by the young men and women known as “yellow shirts” with the utmost professionalism and class!

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) on station in the Philippine Sea right now. (The aircraft director (yellow shirt) pictured in the photo at the top is standing roughly in the area circled in yellow here.)

                                        __________________________

>>CLICK the top photo to jump into the steamy scene....

>>Top photo: Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Erica Bechard, USN