Highlights of F-35 Flight Testing

At NAS Patuxent River, Md., NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, and Edwards AFB, Ca.

Via Theo Spark:

Liberty Belle B-17 Crash

At LAT, "Restored WWII bomber crashes."

Dakota Thunder

See Rapid City Journal, "Air show brings out young and old alike."

Malibu Organizes Shore Leave for Crew Members of USS John Paul Jones

I've mentioned numerous times my visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln in 1999. The aircraft carrier parked about a mile offshore from Santa Barbara harbor. It was anchored for four days. I saw a lot of guys dressed in their white uniforms cruising up and down State Street downtown. Local charter operators were hired to ferry tourists out to the ship. There were some sailors showing visitors around the lower deck, where aircraft are housed and maintained when not in use. But after that, I was allowed to cruise around on the flight deck. The carrier was facing west, into the sunset and I sat out on the edge of ship, just a few feet from the safety nets. It was a trip. A whole world unto itself, it seemed. And as I've noted, this was at the end of the 1990s, shortly after the U.S. airwar over Kosovo. American power was at a pinnacle and no one was talking about American decline.

Anyway, I'm reminded of that with this story at Los Angeles Times. The USS John Paul Jones is in Malibu and the organizers put together a "Navy Days" festival for sailors to spend time ashore. See, "Navy crew welcomed to Malibu for shore leave":

Surfers in Malibu are used to sharing the waves with paddleboards, sailboats and the occasional Russian billionaire's 390-foot yacht. On Friday they were startled to see a 505-foot Navy destroyer anchored off Surfrider Beach near the Malibu Pier.

The destroyer John Paul Jones was making the Navy's first-ever port call in Malibu and giving its 270-member crew shore leave there for the weekend.

The community-organized Navy Days is offering sailors free shuttle rides up and down the 26-mile-long city, beach volleyball and kayak excursions, and discounts at shops and restaurants Saturday and Sunday.

The crew and their families have been invited to a barbecue at Sharon Gee's family-owned Malibu ranch. Athletic facilities and an art museum at Pepperdine University will be open to crewmembers, and 10 university shuttle vans will offer sailors transportation to Sunday morning church services.

"Some crewmembers have signed up for museum tours at the Getty Villa," said City Councilman Jefferson "Zuma Jay" Wagner, who operates a Malibu surf shop. "This is not your same old Navy."

Locals planned the event for a year, and some said they don't expect another opportunity like this in their lifetimes. RTWT at the link.

Also, check this page for information on the USS John Paul Jones.

Britain and France to Share Aircraft Carriers

I think every American should read Tom Clancy's, Carrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier. The ships are the sine qua non of global power projection, and a key indicator of great power status. CSM just reported last month on the increasing prestige of carriers among nations, amid heightened international security demands requiring that kind of operational mobility. See, "Aircraft Carriers Gain Naval Clout." At the clip below is the USS Abraham Lincoln, which I visited in 1999. It's a Nimitz-class carrier. The last carrier from the group is the USS George H.W. Bush, commissioned in 2009. The Navy is moving to the Gerald R. Ford class carrier program, with the first two ships expected to be commissioned in 2015 and 2019. Ten carriers from that groups are expected to be deployed, guaranteeing a global U.S. ocean-going preponderance throughout most of the 21st-century.

I mention this just as news reports indicate that Britain and France are set to share aircraft carriers. See Telegraph UK, "We should share aircraft carrier, say French." I wasn't quite sure what to think of this, so checking around I found this at Reuters, "INTERVIEW-French navy boss sees Libyan military humanitarian aid":

ENTENTE CORDIALE

One area earmarked for cooperation is the use of aircraft carriers. In a sweeping review last year, Britain cut its defence budget of 36.9 billion pounds by 8 percent in real terms up to 2015, scrapping its only aircraft carrier.

While the short distance between coalition bases and Libya means an aircraft carrier is not essential, Forissier said a British carrier would have been useful to reduce air time, boost attacks and relieve the Charles de Gaulle.

Forissier would like the French flagship to return to base to replace older Super Etendard jet fighters with the latest Rafales. If it were forced to continue its operations "it would only begin to have serious problems in the autumn," he said.

A new British carrier, the Queen Elizabeth, due by 2020 will be designed so each country could fly its planes off the other's ship. The aim is to have one carrier at sea at all times.

British crew will learn on the Charles de Gaulle so that the Queen Elizabeth can enter operation once finished. One British watch officer is currently operating on the French vessel.

While similar foreign policy aims made a Franco-British alliance inevitable, national sovereignty remained, he said.

"France needs its aircraft carrier and Britain needs one to carry out its sovereignty as it wishes, but what is important is to make the planes inter-operable so that we can train on either one in periods of maintenance."

Forissier believes the two governments should consider building together a cheaper carrier to be used for training.

"If we both want to have a permanent operating presence then we'll both need two aircraft carriers and I don't think given the financial situation our governments have the means."

While Paris has hardly touched its military budget, Forissier said he was "stunned" by the Royal Navy cuts, at a time when it has had costly operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The Royal Navy, which was always an example for us, is in a tough situation," he said. "It makes me wonder whether we'll also have to go through this in the future."

Part of avoiding that has been the closer cooperation.

"I know in Great Britain you pay tribute to Nelson and here we pay tribute to Napoleon, but really we have good reasons to work together," he said, looking at a painting celebrating a French naval victory over the Royal Navy in 1781.

Now, go check out James Fallows, who suggests we not belittle China's efforts to deploy an aircraft carrier fleet, "Please Read This Article About the Chinese Navy." And whether one agrees with Fallows or not, the key to remember is that at one point Britain's navy was the unrivaled master of the seas. Today the U.S. fills that role. Britain and France are now both struggling to maintain a single operational aircraft carrier, while in the U.S. our outgoing secretary of defense has recommended military downsizing. It all relates in the rise and fall of nations. Quite an interesting set of interrelated developments.

Congressman Allen West: Political Correctness Biggest Threat Facing America Today

At the Heritage Foundation:

Memorial Day Tribute — United States Navy

Via Terri Green, on Facebook:

In lieu of our weekly multimedia production, we felt it appropriate to honor our fallen shipmates. We remember their sacrifice this and every day.

Memorial Day 2011

At Michelle's: "Memorial Day 2011: Honoring the fallen." (Via Director Blue.)

And at Gallup, "U.S. Military Personnel, Veterans Give Obama Lower Marks." (Via Memeorandum.)

Blue Angels Low Altitude

Background is here: "Blue Angels Commander Steps Down After Stunt." (Via Google.)

And Theo's news roundup with video: "Blues commander relieved of duty," and "Change of command for the Blue Angels."

And at Neptunux Lex, "Going Out Gracefully."

And at New York Times, "Adding Thrills When Flying Upside Down Just Isn’t Enough."

BONUS: Also at Theo's, a really inspired "pic dump" over there as well this morning.

Osama Bin Laden Planned 9/11 Anniversary Train Attack

At New York Times, "Data From Raid Links Bin Laden to Newer Terror Plots":

WASHINGTON — After reviewing computer files and documents seized at the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed, American intelligence analysts have concluded that the chief of Al Qaeda played a direct role for years in plotting terror attacks from his hide-out in Abbottabad, Pakistan, United States officials said Thursday.

The C.I.A. had Bin Laden’s compound under surveillance for months before American commandos killed him in an assault on Monday, watching and photographing residents and visitors from a rented house nearby, according to several officials briefed on the operation.

The documents taken at the Abbottabad compound, according to American officials, show that Bin Laden was in touch regularly with the terror network he created. With his whereabouts and activities a mystery in recent years, many intelligence analysts and terrorism experts had concluded that he had been relegated to an inspirational figure with little role in current and future Qaeda operations.

A rushed examination of the trove of materials from the compound in Pakistan prompted Obama administration officials on Thursday to issue a warning that Al Qaeda last year had considered attacks on American railroads.

The documents include a handwritten notebook from February 2010 that discusses tampering with tracks to derail a train on a bridge, possibly on Christmas, New Year’s Day, the day of the State of the Union address or the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, officials said. But they said there was no evidence of a specific plot.

More at the link above, and at Los Angeles Times, "Al Qaeda had U.S. trains in its sights, U.S. officials say."

Added: From ABC News, "Osama Bin Laden Evidence: Al Qaeda Considered 9/11 Anniversary Attack":

Details on Operation Neptune Spear

WaPo has some background, "Operation Neptune Spear: Code name for killing Osama bin Laden."

And check Barbara Starr's report:

Also, at NYT, "In Bin Laden’s Compound, Seals’ All-Star Team."

Camp Pendleton Memorial for Fallen Marines

At Los Angeles Times, "Tribute is paid to 25 'Dark Horse' troops who died and more than 200 others who were wounded while routing the Taliban from the Sangin district of Afghanistan's Helmand province":

"These Marines did what Marines always do," Lt. Col. Jason Morris, the battalion commander, told the gathering. "They took the fight to the enemy and they won."

When the Marines of the 3/5 arrived in the Sangin district of Helmand province in late September, Taliban flags flew boldly throughout the region, the schools were closed by Taliban order and the marketplace was virtually abandoned.

Seven months later, after hundreds of firefights and the discovery of hundreds of roadside bombs, Sangin is a different place. The Taliban flags are gone; the schools, including those for girls, are open; and the marketplace is flourishing.

The long-term future of Sangin, indeed all of Afghanistan, is yet to be determined, but for the moment, the Afghan government has a chance to establish itself in a region that has long been a stronghold of the Taliban, the narcotics cartel and their allies in neighboring Pakistan.

In those seven months, 25 Marines from the 3/5 were killed in combat and more than 200 were wounded — more dead and wounded than from any Marine battalion in the 10-year war in Afghanistan.