Today, 4 June, is generally recognized as the anniversary of the Battle of Midway. This year marks the 74th anniversary of this pivotal battle. What I didn’t realize until a few weeks ago is that the Navy conduces an official memorial ceremony for the battle at the Navy Memorial in downtown Washington, DC (across the street from the National Archives). This year, the ceremony was held on Friday morning. A mass email went out to those of us stationed at the Pentagon, asking for volunteers to support the ceremony. I gave an affirmative reply immediately, as the Battle of Midway is a topic I have been fascinated with most of my life. I was lucky enough to be selected as the escort for one of the 5 veterans of the battle that attended the ceremony. Specifically, I escorted Captain Jack Crawford, USN (Ret), USNA Class of 1942.

Here is a picture of me with CAPT Crawford following the ceremony.

He, along with the rest of the class of ’42, were graduated a year early due to the outbreak of war. He was present on the USS Yorktown (CV-5) as an Ensign when she was sunk during the battle. Later, he was assigned to an escort carrier and a cruiser in the Atlantic. After the war, he was selected to be a part of the Naval Nuclear Power program, serving as the project officer overseeing the installation of the nuclear reactors on the USS Enterprise (CVN-65). To say that he had a few interesting stories to

Hello again! It’s been a while since I’ve updated here. I’ve been spending my limited internet content generating time updating the MBS blog; I did a whole series of articles on my experience at Adepticon, for example.

One of the things that prompted me to write this post is that I got news yesterday that I did not screen for submarine XO. This takes me off of the “due course” path to commanding a submarine, but it does not necessarily mean the end of my career in the Navy. I’ve got two basic options going forward; I can either stay in the submarine community, where I will be able to do a variety of assignments in support of the service. Alternatively, I can apply to “laterally transfer” to a different community within the Navy, such as Engineering Duty or Intel. Of course, there is also the option to get out of the Navy entirely, but I’m not quite ready to take that step. At the very least, I plan on finishing my current orders, which last until 2018.

Hello all! I’m hoping that the snow we got here in Virginia on Friday will be the last we see. This week we are supposed to break into the 70’s, and peak Cherry Blossom season won’t be too far behind!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a general status update, so there is a bit to talk about. As far as my new assignment is concerned, things are going pretty well! I’m continuing to learning a lot about the DoD’s budgeting and programming processes, which means I’m getting steadily less confused about what it is I’m supposed to be doing from day to day.

Gwen and the boys are doing well. William and James are now teething in earnest, with their lower front teeth being the first to emerge. Naturally, this has made them a bit crankier than they have been previously, but we’ve been able to keep it mostly under control for them with teething rings and topical anesthetics (and no, that is not a code name for whiskey!). We are going to be getting them baptized soon, as well, probably on Easter Sunday at Immanuel Anglican Church, where Gwen and I have been attending services since moving to Virginia.

For hobbies, I’ve mostly been working on getting models painted for Adepticon, playing tabletop games once or twice a month, and playing the odd video game when the time permits. I’ve found that after all is said and done, and the boys are settled down for the evening, I generally have time to do one activity. Here lately, that activity has been modeling for my miniatures gaming hobby. I’ll probably be shifting back towards video games in the near future, though. I’m feeling the itch to play more World of Warships, plus there is a new Battlefleet Gothic video game on the horizon

I think that about does it for now! Coming up shortly, you can expect at least one more Star Trek-related post, as well as a few more Adepticon related posts. The show is only a few weeks away, and I’m getting really excited about it!

Proceeding deep…