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usnatarchives · 7 months

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The WAVES of Change: Women's Valiant Service in World War II 🌊

When the tides of World War II swelled, an unprecedented wave of women stepped forward to serve their country, becoming an integral part of the U.S. Navy through the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) program. This initiative not only marked a pivotal moment in military history but also set the stage for the transformation of women's roles in the armed forces and society at large. The WAVES program, initiated in 1942, was a beacon of change, showcasing the strength, skill, and patriotism of American women during a time of global turmoil.

The inception of WAVES was a response to the urgent need for additional military personnel during World War II. With many American men deployed overseas, the United States faced a shortage of skilled workers to support naval operations on the home front. The WAVES program was spearheaded by figures such as Lieutenant Commander Mildred H. McAfee, the first woman commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Under her leadership, WAVES members were trained in various specialties, including communications, intelligence, supply, medicine, and logistics, proving that women could perform with as much competence and dedication as their male counterparts.

The impact of the WAVES program extended far beyond the war effort. Throughout their service, WAVES members faced and overcame significant societal and institutional challenges. At the time, the idea of women serving in the military was met with skepticism and resistance; however, the exemplary service of the WAVES shattered stereotypes and demonstrated the invaluable contributions women could make in traditionally male-dominated fields. Their work during the war not only contributed significantly to the Allies' victory but also laid the groundwork for the integration of women into the regular armed forces.

The legacy of the WAVES program is a testament to the courage and determination of the women who served. Their contributions went largely unrecognized for many years, but the program's impact on military and gender norms has been profound. The WAVES paved the way for future generations of women in the military, demonstrating that service and sacrifice know no gender. Today, women serve in all branches of the U.S. military, in roles ranging from combat positions to high-ranking officers, thanks in no small part to the trail blazed by the WAVES.

The WAVES program was more than just a wartime necessity; it was a watershed moment in the history of women's rights and military service. The women of WAVES not only supported the United States during a critical period but also propelled forward the conversation about gender equality in the armed forces and beyond. Their legacy is a reminder of the strength and resilience of women who rise to the challenge, breaking barriers and making waves in pursuit of a better world.

Read more: https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2023/11/06/historic-staff-spotlight-eunice-whyte-navy-veteran-of-both-world-wars/

#WAVES #Women’s History Month #Veterans #Women’s History #Military #U.S. Military #World War II

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cameoamalthea · 2 months

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Dumb Post about Senator Mark Kelly

Usually I make Dumb Posts about animals, BUT Election 2024 is important and Harris is going to pick her VP soon so I want you to know about Mark Kelly.

The coolest, most meme-worthy politician ever, through shear awesomeness

Mark Kelly is the result of a cloning project to create the coolest VP candidate ever

Ok - that's not true, he's just an identical twin whose brother is also an astronaut (and yes, he's an astronaut, but that's not all)

SCIENTIST, PILOT, WAR HERO

He received a Bachelor of Science in marine engineering and nautical science from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, graduating with highest honors in 1986. In 1994, he received a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.

As a Navy Aviator he flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm.

Kelly has received two Defense Superior Service Medals; one Legion of Merit; two Distinguished Flying Crosses; four Air Medals (two individual/two strike flight) with Combat "V"; two Navy Commendation Medals, (one with combat "V"); one Navy Achievement Medal; two Southwest Asia Service Medals; one Navy Expeditionary Medal; two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons; a NASA Distinguished Service Medal; and an Overseas Service Ribbon.

Distinguished Flying Crosses are a BIG DEAL. You pretty much only get those for doing something's that’s worth making into a movie scene and he has TWO!

ASTRONAUT

Mark Kelly has logged over 54 days in space.

His Twin brother spent a YEAR IN SPACE (that's his brother on the cover - probably - but you get the idea that he also looked cool as an astronaut - and if you're wondering why he wasn't in space for a year, I'll get to that but the cool thing is cause he was retired while his brother was in space for a year he was the control in a twin study on the effects of being in space for a year)

That's probably also his brother, it's hard to google pictures when you have two identical twin brothers in space.

That's also Mark's twin brother Scott, because Mark smuggled a whole ass Gorilla Costume onto the International Space Station so his brother could go on a Gorilla rampage as a prank.

OK here he is

That's Mark Kelly!

My point is he's an astronaut, he's been to space, and the reason he left all that behind will bring you to tears and make you love him.

He's Mr. Gabby Giffords

Gabby Giffords served as a Congresswoman from Tucson, Arizona. When Giffords was sworn in on January 3, 2007, she was the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to serve in the U.S. Congress and was a Democrat elected in a very Republican district.

When I met her she was very Mom Shaped. She took care of the community and cared about her constituents. To the point that she would fly to Arizona from Washington DC to do events where she would just be out on a street corner where you could go talk to her.

On January 8, 2011, at a “Congress On Your Corner” constituent event in Tucson, Gabby was shot in the head by a gunman who killed six people and injured 12 others.

At the time Mark Kelly was Cammander of the STS-134 he penultimate mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the 25th and last spaceflight of Space Shuttle Endeavour.

He stayed by his Wife's side for a month, when it was clear she was making progress in her recovery he announced on February 4, 2011, that he would remain commander of the mission. This would be his final mission.

He sent a love song to his wife from the International Space Station in the form of dedicating a song:

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On June 21, 2011, Kelly announced that he would leave NASA's astronaut corps and the U.S. Navy effective October 1, to be with his wife and support her through her recovery:

Kelly became an outspoken advocate for gun control following the attempted assassination of his wife.

Still he dreamed of returning to space and worked out to keep his body mission ready.

"Kelly eventually compares everything to his time with NASA. As commander, he managed a small team of astronauts and worked within a sprawling bureaucracy. Every day pointed toward the same goal. There were checkpoints and to-do lists. The mission offered a clear dividing line between success and failure.

“It’s a very well-defined criteria of success,” Kelly said"

In 2020 he began a new mission serving as Senator for Arizona. A Moderate, he won twice in a swing state and would like draw some Republican voters who don't love Donald Trump over to the Harris ticket, should she choose him as VP.

#kamala harris #Mark Kelly #election 2024 #Donald Trump #J.D. Vance #Youtube

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47burlm · 4 months

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D- Day

D-Day was the name given to the June 6, 1944, invasion of the beaches at Normandy in northern France by troops from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries during World War II. France at the time was occupied by the armies of Nazi Germany, and the amphibious assault—code-named Operation Overlord—landed some 156,000 Allied soldiers on the beaches of Normandy by the end of the day.

Despite their success, some 4,000 Allied troops were killed by German soldiers defending the beaches. At the time, the D-Day invasion was the largest naval, air and land operation in history, and within a few days about 326,000 troops, more than 50,000 vehicles and some 100,000 tons of equipment had landed. By August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and in spring of 1945 the Allies had defeated the Germans. Historians often refer to D-Day as the beginning of the end of World War II.

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#war is real #Youtube

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usafphantom2 · 6 months

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IMAGES: USAF sends B-52 bombers to Indian Ocean base

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 03/26/2024 - 16:00 in Military, War Zones

U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortresses bombers were deployed on March 22 at the Diego Garcia Naval Support Center in the Indian Ocean.

The Bomber Task Force deployment offers the U.S. Air Force Global Attack Command a presence in the Indo-Pacific, with relatively easy access to the Middle East as well.

The B-52s fled to Diego Garcia from Barksdale Air Base, Louisiana, after a 30-hour direct flight. This is the first time that USAF announces a Bomber Task Force for Diego Garcia - a small island that is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory that serves as a fundamental base for the U.S. and UK military, which has hosted American troops since the 1970s. The B-1 landed there in 2021, and the last time a B-52 landed there was in 2020.

"This deployment aims to improve the readiness and training needed to respond to any potential crisis or challenge around the world, demonstrating the credibility of our forces to face a global security environment that is more diverse and uncertain than at any other time in recent history," the Pacific Air Forces Command (PACAF) said in a statement.

Although the island is in the area of responsibility of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the U.S. Air Force used the island in the past as a base to send bombers to the U.S. Central Command's area of operations.

This latest deployment of PACAF bombers follows in the footsteps of the B-52 of Minot Air Base, North Dakota, deployed in Guam at the end of January and operating there until March 6.

Tags: Military AviationBoeing B-52H StratofortressBTFUSAF - United States Air Force / U.S. Air ForceWar Zones - Indo-Asia-Pacific

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Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

Further Reading:

Taiwan FAQ

Political Status of Taiwan on Wikipedia

Acronyms explained (PRC/ROC)

#taiwan #taiwan faq #臺灣

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darkmaga-retard · 7 days

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Cynthia Chung

Oct 11, 2022

[This is a chapter from my newly released book ‘The Empire on Which the Black Sun Never Set: the Birth of International Fascism and Anglo-American Foreign Policy.’ For further details on different formats and how to purchase click here.] The audio version of this chapter is available here.

“The merger of European and American fascism was toasted in Miami.”

-Henrik Kruger’s The Great Heroin Coup

Operation Underworld & the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)

Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano (1897-1962) was the most powerful and successful gangster in American history. He is regarded as the father of modern organized crime in the United States for having established ‘The Commission’[1] in 1931. In 1936 Luciano was convicted for compulsory prostitution and running a prostitution racket. He was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison, but during the Second World War, the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) made him an offer. Luciano was promised eventual liberty in return for delivering the Southern Italian Mafia as the fifth column backing the Allied cause against Mussolini. This would be the seed that would generate the powerful Mafia families of Southern Italy, assigned by the United States to act as praetorian guards within the stay-behind armies. Meyer Lansky, head of the Jewish mob, became the liaison between Luciano and ONI and Operation Underworld was born.

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mariacallous · 9 months

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The Red Sea might just be history’s most contested body of water. It has been the site of imperial or great-power competition for at least 500 years, from the Portuguese search for the sea route to Asia all the way to the Cold War. It remains the most important trade link between Asia and Europe. The Suez Canal at its northern egress has been displaced by the Singapore Strait as the world’s most important chokepoint, but it’s still the second-most vital; 30 percent of global container ship traffic moves through that canal. Container ships are to globalization what eighteen-wheelers are to the United States—the workhorses of trade. And there are important energy flows here: 7.1 million barrels of oil and 4.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas transit the Bab el-Mandeb (the southern entrance to the Red Sea) every day, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

So attacks by Houthi forces on “Israeli” shipping in recent days have the potential for major disruption. “Israeli” is in quotes because commercial shipping ownership is complicated and opaque: Ship ownership, ship operation, and flag of registry often differ, and none necessarily has any bearing on the ownership or destination of the cargo on board or the nationality of the crew. What’s more, Houthi attacks have quickly morphed from semi-targeted at ships nominally linked to Israel to more indiscriminate. The world’s most important container shipping firms—including MSC, Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, and Cosco—have paused on sending ships through these waters for fear of loss of life or damage.

Enter a new U.S.-led task force with the somewhat on-the-nose moniker Operation Prosperity Guardian, a naval coalition to protect commercial shipping from Houthi attacks. It will operate under the aegis of a preexisting mechanism, the Combined Maritime Forces, a counterpiracy and counterterrorism naval coalition (the world’s largest, by far) that operates out of Bahrain. So far, nine countries have signed up officially (though some with very modest contributions—Canada, for example, is sending three staff officers and no ships yet); there are reports that others have quietly agreed to participate or contribute. India, which has a lot at stake here (especially in the disproportionate number of Indian nationals among the crews of major commercial lines), is not part of the coalition but is independently contributing two vessels to the effort.

The United States and France have long had bases in Djibouti to project power across the Red Sea, recently joined by Japan and China, and the European Union operates out of the French base to support Operation Atalanta, a counterpiracy task force that protects trade in the nearby Gulf of Aden (alongside the U.S.-led Combined Task Force 151, which has the same mission). But this skirmish is an astonishingly asymmetric fight. With a handful of missiles and drones, the Houthis have succeeded in placing at risk one of the most important arteries of the global economy.

The asymmetry has caused some of the debate to focus on the cost of the drones versus the cost of the missiles being used to defend the ships. It’s the wrong metric. The right calculation is cost of the missile versus cost of the target. If a drone attack succeeds, it could wreck a ship worth anywhere upwards of $50 million and carrying trade goods likely in the $500 million range—and in some cases, roughly double those amounts.

The real problem of volume is a different one. The primary ships being used for these operations—for the United States, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers; for the United Kingdom, the Daring class—sail with an arsenal of roughly 60 missiles that are useful for shooting down drones or missiles. (They carry other types of missiles as well, rounding out the complement of armaments, but not ones germane to this fight.) At the pace at which the Houthis have been conducting attacks, a single ship would expend its relevant armaments in a couple of weeks and need to be rotated out; there’s no way to replenish these missiles at sea. If the Houthis keep up the pace of attacks and have a steady supply of drones and missiles (which seems likely), the cost of maintaining a naval escort operation—including the costs of operating the ships at distance—will rapidly rise into the tens of billions of dollars.

The West faces three options, all with serious downsides.

First, reroute the shipping. For now, until the task force is assembled, shippers are switching routes between the Red Sea and the long voyage around the Cape of Good Hope off southern Africa. It’s been done before, when the Suez Canal was closed as a result of Arab-Israeli wars in the late 1960s and early ’70s. But global trade then was a fraction of global trade now. Rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope would add roughly 60 percent of the transit time (and fuel cost) from Asian ports to European ones, not just adding costs to shippers (who would pass those costs onto consumers) but more importantly gumming up the works in global just-in-time manufacturing. While this is an acceptable option for a week or two, any longer and the disruption to global sea-based supply chains would be significant.

Second, attack the missiles and drones at the source, either to eradicate the armaments or deter the attacks. Already there’s a drumbeat of criticism that U.S. President Joe Biden hasn’t yet authorized this course. Easily said but less easily achieved. It would not be too hard for Houthi forces to hide both themselves and a stockpile of drones and missiles from U.S. targeting, so any attacks—from two U.S. carrier strike groups in nearby waters—would have to be pretty wide-ranging and even then are likely to miss pockets of weaponry. Would Iran—the Houthis’ primary backers—be thus deterred? It’s unclear how or why; Iran is surely willing to allow the Houthis to sustain substantial casualties for the “win” of harassing “the West” in the Red Sea. Attacking Iran itself is the next logical step and may prove necessary, but that carries its own major risk of escalation while Israel is grappling with the missile threat from Hezbollah on its northern border with Lebanon.

Third, widen the coalition. So far, Germany has not joined in, to some criticism but with good reason. There are mounting demands on Germany’s modest navy in Northern European waters, where the Russians are flexing their subsea muscles. Australia was asked to join but made the counterargument that its modest naval capacity is better deployed in the Western Pacific. Japan could contribute, especially since it has a base in Djibouti. Another potential contributor is China, which has a base nearby and a long track record of contributing to counterpiracy operations in the Indian Ocean. There’s a dilemma here for the West, though: Do the Western powers prefer to (a) pay the price of protecting global sea-based trade, of which China is the largest source and arguably primary beneficiary, or (b) help facilitate China’s growing capacity to project naval power across the high seas?

The entire episode highlights this point: There’s a deepening contradiction between the reality of globalization, heavily dependent on sea-based trade and on China, and the reality of geopolitical contest, in which naval power is rapidly emerging as a central dimension. Tensions and bad choices abound in the Red Sea—but they are also a harbinger of tougher choices and turbulent waters ahead.

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warpedia · 11 months

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USS Ranger: The Aircraft Carrier of the U.S Navy

The USS Ranger

The USS Ranger, a pioneering aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, played a crucial role in advancing naval aviation during World War II and beyond. As one of the first purpose-built carriers, the Ranger paved the way for future generations of naval aviation. In this blog post, we will explore the design, operational history, and lasting impact of the USS Ranger, highlighting its…

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#aircraft carrier #Navy #world war II #WW2 #WWII

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fatehbaz · 1 year

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The Caribbean entered modern history “as the pawn of European power politics, the cockpit of Europe, the arena of Europe’s wars hot and cold,” wrote Eric Williams almost a half century ago [...]. Indeed, Shalini Puri and Lara Putnam argue that military operations and the political culture of militarism make for the coherence of the region [...].

Certain zones -- including Guantánamo, the subject of the collection by Don E. Walicek and Jessica Adams -- have borne special, enduring burdens in this regard. [...] The Caribbean moved into the twentieth century on a major martial note. In 1898 the United States intervened into the armed Cuban anticolonial struggle against Spain, [...] and taking on the imaginary white man’s burden. For North Americans, the many consequences of this speedy and “splendid” war included the appropriation of Cuba’s Guantánamo Bay (1903) for use as the republic’s first overseas naval base. [...] Diana Coleman, for example, locates the symbolic significance of the base and prison in a deeper past, a history that goes back to the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. [...] Walicek’s essay establishes that the very embeddedness of Guantánamo in an imperial past has been erased by official discourse. He notes that even before the post-9/11 war on terror, Haitians and Cubans seeking asylum found themselves detained in Gitmo. [...] Examining visual representations, Esther Whitfield emphasizes the struggle of local artists to show Gitmo, against the cliché as a “no man’s land,” to be a place inhabited by people. [...] The greatest physical expansion of Gitmo came during World War II, a period of profound militarization across the Caribbean [...]. Also set in wartime Trinidad, Rita Pemberton’s essay plays up the paradox of food scarcity and insecurity in the midst of Yankee-sponsored prosperity. [...]

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Meanwhile twenty-first-century Caribbeans have had to deal with a nominally novel form of warfare, the U.S.-led “War on Drugs.” This campaign, Deborah Thomas recounts, pushed Jamaican security forces to invade the Kingston community of Tivoli [...]. How residents have remembered this “Tivoli Incursion” and how their memories expose doubtful feelings about sovereignty in Jamaica is Thomas’s central concern. [...]

Grace Johnson focuses on the early twentieth-century U.S. occupation of Haiti, stressing [...] the way these women played a central role in the protests that eventually led to the end of the occupation. [...]

Vieques also serves as the setting for Daniel Arbino’s piece on the violent history of the U.S. military presence and the protests that led to the demilitarization of the little island in 2004.

Don Walicek brings awareness to the landing of British paratroopers and marines in Anguilla in 1969 after leaders on the island declared “independence” from St. Kitts and Nevis. Little known outside of Anguilla, this British Invasion (“Operation Sheepskin”) reminds us that in the age of decolonization tiny Caribbean societies too were caught up in militant struggles for self-government. Unlike the case of Anguilla, the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1984 has been the subject of numerous studies [...]

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Two other essays concerned with Trinidad also center on music.

Jocelyne Guilbault insightfully links the anxiety about armed violence to the increasing use of militarized policing at the large soca “fetes” that define the island’s Carnival season.

And Louis Regis (recently passed) turns away from the insecurity of soca fetes and toward the texts of songs to examine the treatment of military issues in calypso and soca across the twentieth century. Dealing with a massive discography, Regis stresses a range of themes, showing how lyrics have moved from warning women about predatory policemen, to condemning the U.S. invasion of Grenada and pleading for peace. [...]

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Text by: Harvey R. Neptune. “A Force in the Field: Recent Interventions into the Military History of the Caribbean.” New West Indian Guide. Online publication date 3 June 2020. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

#caribbean #abolition #tidalectics #archipelagic thinking #indigenous #ecologies #geographic imaginaries #haunted

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lonestarbattleship · 2 years

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USS NEW YORK (BB-34) standing ready for action before Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima.

Note: in the distance is USS TENNESSEE (BB-43).

"The invasion beaches of Iwo Jima look bare and uninhabited during the pre-invasion bombardment."

Turrets 1 and 2 blast Iwo Jima during three day pre-invasion bombardment.

"She has just fired the left-hand 14/45 gun of Number Four turret. View looks aft, on the starboard side."

United States Navy, "The history of the U.S.S. New York, BB-34" (1945). World War Regimental Histories. 162. https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/ww_reg_his/162

"In early February NEW YORK, her speed still impaired, left Saipan and set out for Iwo Jima well ahead of the main body, which was to catch up later. On February 16 she began the pre-invasion bombardment of Iwo Jima with the others units of Task Force 54. NEW YORK bombarded for three days, the entire pre-invasion bombardment period, and then was withdrawn because of the dam age of her screw. During this three-day period she expended more ammunition than any other ship present. And she made the most colorful shot of the operation with a direct main battery hit on an ammunition storage which resulted in its destruction."

Date: February 16, 1945

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command: 2014.99, 80-G-308952

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salantami · 5 months

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As Captain James Stockdale climbed into the cockpit of his A-4 Skyhawk on September 9, 1965, he could scarcely have imagined the seven years of hell that awaited him.

Stockdale’s plane was shot down over North Vietnam that day. He ejected, breaking his back and badly dislocating a knee when he fell to earth. Soon captured, he was beaten severely then sent to the now-infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison. Over the next seven years he was submitted to brutal torture 15 times. Malnourished and denied medical attention, for four years he was kept in solitary confinement, and for two years in leg irons.

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a master’s degree from Stanford, Stockdale was the highest-ranking naval officer American POW in North Vietnam. A respected and natural leader, he organized a system of communication and support among his fellow POWs, helping to keep them unified and alive. (Meanwhile, back in the States, his wife Sybil was relentlessly lobbying the government on behalf of the POWs, eventually launching a highly effective public awareness campaign. A hero in her own right, she deserves and shall have a Dose of her own.)

When Stockdale learned in the spring of 1969 that the North Vietnamese were going to display him and other POWs to a selected group of foreign journalists, presumably as evidence of the good treatment they were receiving, he cut his scalp with a razor and beat himself in the face with a wooden stool so that he couldn’t be used for their propaganda. Denied the opportunity to parade him before the press, his captors punished him with more brutal and agonizing torture. Later, when his covert intra-POW communication network was discovered, Stockdale was singled out for another round of torture. To prove to them that he would never submit, Stockdale slashed his wrists. As his Medal of Honor citation reads: “He deliberately inflicted a near-mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated in their employment of excessive harassment and torture toward all of the Prisoners of War. By his heroic action, at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country.”

In February 1973 Stockdale was released as part of Operation Homecoming. He returned to the United States, the torture having left him barely able to walk.

Already one of the most highly decorated officers in Navy history, in 1975 Stockdale was awarded the Medal of Honor. In 1979 he retired from active duty, with the rank of vice admiral.

After the Navy, Stockdale devoted himself to academics and college administration. He was awarded 11 honorary doctoral degrees.

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thetruearchmagos · 1 year

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The Aircraft Carriers Of The UC Civil Defence Service

Hey folks! Felt bad about not releasing any Worldbuilding content recently, wanted to do something nice to get me back into the rhythm of things. Enjoy!

Tagging @lividdreamz @athenswrites @theprissythumbelina @thatndginger @the-stray-storyteller @hessdalen-globe @caxycreations @writeblrsupport

The Warp's Rescuers

For as long as the great Warp between the 12 Worlds has been plied - and that is a longer time than modern history knows - those who have sailed its depthless and endless expenses have faced death, destruction, and simple and utter disappearence as a simple risk of the mariners trade. Even the safety of the Contours is not a complete one, and it can never truly be known just how many ships have gone down with their crews in the ages past.

In the modern day, though, the business of inter-World communication and movement is a much safer one for all involved. Developments in the ships and crews themselves have certainly helped, but the creation of a truly - for the most part - international and wide reaching institution of at-sea search and rescue has saved the lives of thousands of mariners at sea. The United Commonwealth, acting primarily though its Navy and Civil Defence Service, has committed itself to this transnational endeavour with all its usual vigour, and in all its might and wealth hs provided for one capability no other state could dream of; the Rescue Carroer.

What Do You Do With A Fleet Of Spare Ships

The first trans-Warp 'Rescue Carriers' were a relatively recent development, borne out of the helpful confluenbce of two seperate events. Going into the 140s A.S., the Navy had found itself with the unprecedented luxury of having more carrier hulls than it either wanted or needed. Caught in the middle of a mass rearmament initiative on a scale not seen since the Chainbreaker War, and which would similarly find its conclusion in the 1st Great War, the Service had been inclined to retire in large numbers its previous class of 'Fleet' carrier, the Union's, in order to make room on the yards, docks, and crew and squadron rosters for the newer Valorous-class to take over. Many of the newer Union's would remain in naval service as true carriers or converted for work as amphibious vessels, but a sizeable portion of the fleet was "too old to service aircraft that weren't obsolete, too new to scrap without pissing off Parliament, too useful to consider selling to our allies, and present in too large numbers to convert". That would have left the Directorate of the Navy with quite the challenge, if an alternative and interested buyer had not made itself known.

UC-CDS Goes Inter-Global

As part of a more general bonanza towards the expansion of UC foreign policy and influence abroad, a number of schemes had been trickling in that saw the domestically minded Civil Defence Service see its purview expand well beyond Commonwealth soil. The Police Service had been in the business of overseas deployments for a century by then - and in existence for about that much longer than the CDS - but it would pose a massive challenge to the already behemoth institution to grow its reach so far. At home, CDS covered everything from the ambulance service to firefighting, and had indeed already provided assistance in a limited capacity to disaster relief operations beyond Commonwealth border. This new initiative, however, would see a far greater expansion of the CDS's resources and mandate than that, from providing full scale vaccination, medical, and firefighting services to foreign nations which lacked those services, to participating in the training of foreign recruits on UC-pattern exported equipment for their own use. It was quite a tall order, but bar one it would have been manageable.

Treaties

That 'one' was Article XXI of the Conference on Maritime Conduct. A triumph of UC statecraft, among a bevy of other treaties, Article XXI forced an absolute commitment by all signatory states to do all in their power to save a stricken vessel and its crew of any nationality or background in time of need. To meet this commitment, the rest of the government decided to dump the job onto the backs of the CDS, which had a long-running obligation to do the same for vessels nearer to UC waters as a coast guard. This would be different, however, as the treaty and the UC's chosen interpretation of its requirements meant that the CDS would need to provide coverage as much as possible to the waters of foreign states where it had never before operated as well as almost the entirety of the open oceans, and most daunting of all, the the vast and unknowable expanses of the Warp, so large that only the UC Navy itself could come close to being able to claim the ability to project assets and activity across it.

Clearly, CDS would need their help.

Old Ships Learn new Tricks

At sea SAR operations were an intensive, expensive process, and to cover the vast stretches of both the oceans pf the 12 Worlds and the surface of the Warp it was believed that only aircraft would suffice. Able to patrol vast stretches of open waves from high up and move quickly to respond to ships in need, CDS had already retained a sizeable ground-based aviation fleet larger than some state's air forces before its new mission had been shoved onto its lap. While a slight expansion of that terrestrial force could suffice to aid in near-shore overseas missions to provide maritime SAR, in the open ocean and the Warp sea based aviation would be required. Aeroships flying off the decks of CDS cutters were useful, but mostly lacked the range, endurance, or speed needed, though their ability to stay stationary while airborne at low altitudes meant they could be useful. For the issue of long-range patrolling, however, they would have to approach the masters of finding small things in a big sea with aircraft.

Smelling a potential publicity bonanza for the Service, in addition to all the actual strategic benefits behind a partnership when it came to the foreign policy of the UC, the Directorate of the Navy and Directorate-Generale of Defence quickly agreed to the proposal put forwards by the CDS. Two middle-aged Unions were first selected, the former UCS Dynamic and Dauntless who'd already had a fair decade under each of their belts. These would serve as initial training and experimentation ships, meant to allow the CDS to get some experience in the field of non-combat related carrier operations. A suite of demilitarised, and quite obsolete, aircraft was also provided to see which of them would make good patrol birds or which might fill some other useful role, such as aerial tankers or controllers. These initial tests would conclude in 145 A.S., and quite satisfactorily for all involved. It was eventually decided that a total of twenty Unions would be provided, with modification costs to be shouldered by a special Parliamentary allowance, with the ships themselves to be based in adapted civilian ports and serviced in civilian yards to take pressure off the needs of the Fleet. The first ship of this new breed, UCS Umbrage, would conclude these works in early 147, and the last, UCS Marvel, at the turn of the decade.

In addition to the ships themselves, entire new wings of the Civil Defence Academy would be created for the purposes of training the new skills these operations called for, and the Navy itself would have to impart skills and doctrines created over generations and adapted to the CDS's needs to the organisation on a wide scale. From the deadly dance of open-ocean underway refueling to the near-mystical intricacies of Warp navigation, it is a testament to their cooperation and professionalism of both organisations that in the first three years of CDS carrier operations, only fifteen major accidents occured a backdrop of near continuous and frenetic activity, none of them fatal for CDS personnel or those they were rescuing.

Good Service

The fruits of this investment, as great as it was, would quickly make themselves known. Four ships operating on the Warp's 'Layer 5' in 148 A.S., the industry preferred and officially mandated Layer for merchant commerce, would conduct an average of sixteen major missions every month each. Ranging from collisions to the wrath of an errent Warp Storm, such incidents in the past had proven easily fatal, but thanks to the timely arrival of rescue professionals guided by the flying eyes of the CDS's new carrier pilots these sailors more often than not made it out alive. Over a hundred sailors would be rescued directly by aircraft and aeroships flying from the three carriers' decks by years end, and the over two thousand saved across the Warp by the CDS and third-party ships providing assistance owed much of their survival to the crucial air provided by CDS patrol aircraft even if the carriers were not directly taking part.

Diplomatically, the knowledge that thousands of families across the 12 Worlds owed their loved-ones lives to the efforts of the United Commonwealth was quite the boon, and more broadly symbolised the UC's commitment to 'good-faith acting on the international stage' in a manner no other polity could match. The public credibility of the UC more broadly in the period was mostly on the uptick across the decade, with the exception of a few crises, and such visible policies as this were key in maintaining that credibility on the world stage.

In conclusion, it was with good reason that Foreign Commissioner Konrad Krantz, the United Commonwealth's senior diplomat across almost forty years, the architect of almost the entirety of the UC's modern insitution of statecraft, and the victor of three Great Wars, would refer to this particular piece of almost spontaneous policy as "one of the best things the Commonwealth had ever done for itself, and the rest of the 12 Worlds too I'd imagine."

#worldbuilding #writeblr #writeblr stuff #my worldbuilding #writing #my wips #my writing #original writing #HOLY SHIT this got a lot longer than I thought!#The past... Hours??? have passed like nothing!#This was fun #Time for dinner!

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4ft10tvlandfangirl · 9 months

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Did you know?

The U.S. bombing of Laos (1964-1973) was part of a covert attempt by the CIA to wrest power from the communist Pathet Lao, a group allied with North Vietnam and the Soviet Union during the Vietnam War.

The officially neutral country became a battleground in the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union, with American bombers dropping over two million tons of cluster bombs over Laos—more than all the bombs dropped during WWII combined. Today, Laos is the most heavily bombed nation in history.

I honestly didn't know about the 'Secret War' in Laos before now. While I've done deep dives into many historical wars, I admit western media has affected my perception of the modern ones (anything post WWII) so I haven't always looked into them beyond surface level. Some events are just not talked about or taught at all. Once again the more I try to learn about Palestine is the more I come across other things that lead me on different tangents.

The fact that an estimated 80 million unexploded bombs (unexploded ordnance or UXO) are littered throughout Laos today is insane & difficult to imagine.

Over 30 percent of the bombs dropped did not explode upon impact. The most common and deadly UXO in Laos are anti-personnel cluster bomb munitions which are about the size of a tennis ball but extremely dangerous. Forty percent of UXO victims are children who pick up the bombs, usually thinking they are toys. The vast majority (almost 80 percent) of Lao people are subsistence farmers. This means making the decision to risk your life farming is a daily reality for many in Laos.

Cambodia was also bombed during the Vietnam War under Operation Menu (who comes up with these?) and there are elements of the operation that I think sound similar to Israel's current attack on Gaza.

It became clear that bombing alone would not save Cambodia. Nixon asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a course of action. He got a range of options, including a naval quarantine of the Cambodian coast, more U.S. and South Vietnamese airstrikes, and a ground invasion along the lines of Abrams’ suggestion. The president chose a combined American-South Vietnamese ground attack in Cambodia to relieve the pressure on Nol’s troops, eradicate communist sanctuaries and destroy the headquarters of COSVN, the Central Office for South Vietnam, which coordinated communist political and military activities in lower South Vietnam and Cambodia. COSVN was thought to be somewhere in eastern Cambodia.

Nixon was obsessed with finding the COSVN headquarters. They never found it.

He recognised bombing all over wasn't going to succeed in getting rid of the communist entities. Didn't stop the bombing and A LOT of civilians were killed.

There were large protests in the US in opposition to the war with violent spill overs on university campuses and clashes with police.

A lot of war crimes were later revealed to have taken place during the war like the My Lai Massacre which was reported but dismissed multiple times. There were even claims it was all just propaganda by the other side (in this case the so called Viet Cong).

Does this script not sound familiar?

One can debate whether those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it or if history simply repeats itself anyway but to me it seems some amount of intention must also be involved. The US appears to intentionally do things the same way (No one is really holding them accountable so why not?). The lessons they claim to have learned since the Vietnam War didn't seem to change their approach when they invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Searching for shit they never found, indiscriminate bombing, carrying out massacres and other war crimes (Abu Ghraib for example). Talk about same script different day.

Israel is an extension of the US (if it quacks...), so really current events are par for the course. And what it's going to take to actually change all of this, when we talk about meaningful change and revolution, it's not going to be easy. The 'powers that be' (US, UK, France, all of them) have been doing this for centuries so it's going to take a lot to dismantle these systems/imperialist states and change society for the better. Continuing to educate ourselves, speaking with one voice, solidarity across the global community, sacrifice (your following, some friendships/relationships, even your job), actively pushing back against the algorithms & our governments who continue to try to silence us and more. I wonder how many of us are actually prepared to keep all that up long term?

Also, any Laotians, Cambodians and Vietnamese who might care to shed more light on this history from your perspective?

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usafphantom2 · 9 months

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How the advances of the 'Jet Age' helped five military planes break aviation records

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 12/18/2023 - 00:16in History, Military

The post-war era saw tens of thousands of fighters and bombers produced around the world. These five were revolutionaries.

The post-war era saw technological advances that made warplanes exponentially more powerful than before. Jet engines, radars and guided missiles made individual planes faster, more capable and more lethal than a squadron or more of its wartime equivalents. These advances in the "Jet Age" have led to some record advances - and breaking records.

Here are five military aircraft that have reached new heights in the areas of air combat, engine power, payload, resistance and large number built.

Air-Air Combat Champion

Just 20 years after the end of World War II, the Vietnam War produced many surprises for the United States. The poor performance of third-generation fighters, such as the F-4 Phantom II and the F-105 Thunderchief, in air-to-air combat, against a smaller military power equipped with inferior aircraft, led engineers who designed fourth-generation fighters to again emphasize maneuverability rather than speed.

The F-15 Eagle was designed purely as an aerial superiority fighter, with the design team operating under the principle of "not a kilo for air-to-ground", which meant that the plane was designed entirely for air-to-air combat, not to drop bombs. As a result, the F-15 has an incredible record of 104-0 in air combat, with 104 enemy aircraft shot down and zero Eagle losses. (However, the F-15s were lost due to ground-to-air missile firing, including a 2018 incident in Yemen).

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This is probably the permanent record for a combat plane anywhere, at any time in history, in air-to-air combat. The alleged slaughter, on October 20, of a Houthi cruise missile by a Saudi fighter, probably carried out by an F-15, would indisputably be considered as another slaughter.

Climb time

Sukhoi P-42, the Su-27 nicknamed Streak Flanker.

In addition to maneuverability, one of the most useful attributes of a jet fighter is the engine power. A fast jet with high acceleration capacity can approach the enemy faster, maneuver to an advantageous position more quickly and escape faster if necessary. Above all, it can gain altitude faster, which gives the fighter pilot not only a positional advantage, but also energy to spend on maneuvers.

In the 1970s, an F-15 Eagle nicknamed "Streak Eagle" reached an altitude record of 98,425 feet in just 3 minutes and 27.8 seconds after the brake was released on takeoff.

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Even so, it had enough momentum to continue to climb to almost 103,000 feet before going down. The Streak Eagle also set a climbing record of 15,000 meters (49,212 feet) in 77.02 seconds.

In the 1980s, a modified Sukhoi Su-27 "Flanker" jet fighter, designated P-42, easily broke the record of 15,000 meters of the F-15, reaching the same altitude in 70.33 seconds.

Higher payload of bomber

After World War II, the jet engine quickly replaced the piston engines. Jet engines could provide much more thrust, allowing heavier and faster aircraft and heavier payloads. The bombers, in particular, saw the amount of bombs they could carry fire. The B-52, first flown in 1952, broke records, with a single bomber capable of carrying the same cargo as two B-17 bomber squadrons.

The B-52 is the all-time champion in bomb payloads, with the manufacturer Boeing reporting that it can carry an impressive 70,000 pounds. Of the 76 B-52 bombers in service, 36 are capable of carrying up to 36 cruise missiles with AGM-86B nuclear warhead each.

All B-52s can carry GPS-guided JDAM bombs, laser-guided Paveway pumps, conventionally armed JASSM-ER cruise missiles, LRASM anti-ship missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Quickstrike naval mines and common and unguided "durre" bombs.

Flight without longer refueling

All aircraft are restricted by distance and altitude. Factors such as payloads, climate and crew resistance can also affect the time a plane can remain in the air. Aircraft without pilots and without the life support equipment necessary to keep a pilot alive can dedicate this payload or range, giving unmanned aircraft a range advantage over manned aircraft. Therefore, it is no surprise that the military plane with a world record for non-stop flight does not even have a pilot.

In 2013, a U.S. Air Force high-altitude and long-term RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone took off from Grand Forks Air Base and remained in the air for a record 34.3 hours. The aircraft, known as "Lady Hawk", also set an aircraft record with flight crew and exclusively female support.

Most produced combat jet

If you want to look for the most produced jet fighter of all time, there are only two candidate countries: the United States and the former Soviet Union. The two countries were superpowers that led opposing blocks during the Cold War, and armed and equated not only their allies in NATO and the Warsaw Pact, but also non-allied friendly states. Although countries like France and Sweden built very good fighters, they did not even have close to the customer base ready for a superpower.

The most produced jet fighter is the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21. Known as "Fishbed" by NATO, the MiG-21 was a fighter optimized for air-to-air combat, but it was also capable of limited air-to-ground missions. The jet was elegant and similar to a dart, with short and stuffy wings and an air intake from the engine in the nose. The fighter could reach a maximum speed of Mach 2 and carry up to four short-range infrared teleguided air-to-air missiles.

According to the most detailed count available, the USSR built at least 10,158 MiG-21 jets, making it the most numerous fighter of the post-war era. The MiG-21 is also officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records in the category of largest production of military jet aircraft.

Source: Popular Mechanics

Tags: Military AviationHISTORY

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