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I sure hope you are just quoting a public relations person and that in no way did you write that
Yep, that's what the quote marks were for :)
“He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”
From USS America (LHA 6) Public Affairs
SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- Sailors and Marines on board the newest amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) held an all-hands call in the ship's hangar bay during a visit from Pearl Harbor survivor, Lauren Bruner, 93, Oct. 23.
Bruner was serving on naval battleship USS Arizona when Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941. As Bruner shared his stories of being a young 21-year-old fire control rangefinder on Arizona, and earning his Purple Heart for his heroism, America's crew listened in awe. His body was 70 percent burned from the flames he encountered during his escape that day. According to many of Bruner's doctors, it is a miracle that he is still alive and able to share his remarkable story.
"It's a real pleasure to come and see what the Navy is doing now as opposed to when I was in 70 years ago," said Bruner. "Good to see you young fellas doing it right, especially seeing girls on board. We didn't have that when I was in."
Surviving an event like the bombing of Pearl Harbor gives Bruner more initiative to share his story with Sailors currently serving in today's Navy.
"It was a privilege hearing from him," said Airman Allen Freeman. "His story made me realize just how much our veterans sacrificed for us, and how special the camaraderie is between our shipmates."
Bruner is only one of 10 Arizona survivors left, which made his visit to America that much more significant.
During the ceremony, Capt. Robert A. Hall Jr., commanding officer of America, thanked Bruner for his service to the country and for the opportunity to hear his personal account on the infamous day in our country's history.
Following the all-hands call, Bruner signed photos and took pictures with members of the crew, and toured the ship's flight deck.
"Hearing his stories about what he did and what he accomplished is truly special," said Electronics Technician 3rd Class Cameron Weisenberger. "You can read books or watch movies about what happened, but to have someone who was there tell you about it really puts it into perspective. You can feel what they went through."
America is the fourth ship bearing the name, but is the first of its class, replacing the Tarawa-class of amphibious assault ships. As the next-generation "big-deck," America is optimized for aviation, capable of supporting current and future aircraft such as the tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey and F-35B Joint Strike Fighter.
Oh, and another news article mentioned that the ship's crew is 1/3 women. I wonder how that might impact damage control? Isn't that a pet peeve of one of our members ;)
Excellent article about the America and her first major "real world" trials (albeit during RIMPAC).
Apparently she's not the disaster that's been predicted. Turns out having all that aviation capacity makes for some fast troop movements.
I found it interesting that she carries a whopping 4x the jet fuel as the other big decks!
“He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”
Excellent article about the America and her first major "real world" trials (albeit during RIMPAC).
Apparently she's not the disaster that's been predicted. Turns out having all that aviation capacity makes for some fast troop movements.
I found it interesting that she carries a whopping 4x the jet fuel as the other big decks!
Is the reason they're only building the first two ships without a well deck to see how they work operationally and compared to the LHDs before committing to more of them?
Is the reason they're only building the first two ships without a well deck to see how they work operationally and compared to the LHDs before committing to more of them?
I think more like they got cold feet over the lack of a well deck and reverted back to previous LHD/LHA layout.
“He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”
I think more like they got cold feet over the lack of a well deck and reverted back to previous LHD/LHA layout.
I anticipate that operating Americas along with well deck ships will prove quite synergistic. The article you posted had a very good point that putting forces directly on the target rather than staging on the beach prior to moving inland is a game changer.
I wouldn't be surprised to see America mk2s being built in about a decade once the Navy gets some play time with the two current ships.
With all the talk the past couple years of the LHA-6 class as being dead end ships, it may be in fact that the LHA-8 type may be the dead end. Earlier in this thread, I heard echoes of what I said, coming from the mouth of the current USS America's Captain in the video attached to the USNI article in that the LPD and LSD's to be the land connector while the LHA's will remain far out to sea inserting Marines with the CH-53's and MV-22's.
With the LHA's enlarging the combat zone inland, it may help make the beachheads a more permissive environment.
I anticipate that operating Americas along with well deck ships will prove quite synergistic. The article you posted had a very good point that putting forces directly on the target rather than staging on the beach prior to moving inland is a game changer.
You end up going in very very light by helo, basically with what you have on your back. Yes, the helos can supply beans, bullets and bandaids, but you're not getting the heavy stuff needed to defend an air-head from a determined opponent. No heavy armor, limited arty, very few vehicles. Once on the deck you are pretty much limited to being foot mobile and any extras that the helos bring in just makes you that much slower. You can reposition forces via helo, but that's slow and takes away from logistics and the build-up of the air-head.
All the heavy stuff comes in over the beach and a MEU(SOC) has a lot of vehicles - the USMC is a lot heavier than we like to advertise. I did a float on the old LHA-1 TARAWA and we had a LOT of vehicles in her holds. On board we had the Battalion helo company and the arty battery. I believe the rest of the embarked Marines were the MEU command and logistics elements. It took awhile to move everything ashore over the beach. I'd be curious to see what MEU elements LHA-6 holds and what has to be left in CONUS if there is not enough room for all the rolling stock.
If you want an aviation ship, call it a light attack carrier and be done with it. Taking up two precious amphib platform slots just further erodes our ability to accomplish the amphibious assault mission.
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