Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Lex,
Any chance of letting me know the Master Chief’s name?
Oyster
Best of luck, Lex.
Hope the uniform has unshrunken itself since the last time…
As a professional civilian I’ve always loved the Navy’s “whites” uniform – both officers and enlisted. Probably because I’ve never had to keep one of them clean!
Wow. (This is an outsider’s reaction to the uniform, to the Master Chief’s accomplishment, to the honor he’s paying you and you’re paying him.) Best of luck, sir.
They wear whites in Feb in San Dog?……….
I thought one wore blues. Then again the retiree gets to pick the uniform…….
Lex – good luck, though I’m sure you won’t need it. Your erudition will likely reveal itself, and then some.
And will we get pics, you know, of you….in the dress whites…..speaking………
Forgive me…..:D
Sir,
Congrats to you and the Master Chief. We all know who really worked for whom. I can think of no greater honor than the leader you most admire asking you to speak at his retirement.
Are you going to post your comments for us to see?
You do know I have been filing them in the “gouge” folder, next to the old fitreps folder.
B2
Skip – The OSCM wouldn’t do a ceremony, without it being in whites. Region Southwest said, “OK.”
Kris – I can’t promise pictures.
And B2, I’ll post the speech. At which point the world will understand that I’ve really only got one speech, that I kind of touch up a bit, depending upon the occasion…
Point of Order Sir, As a retired Air Traffic Controller (AC), is the OSCM not an Air INTERCEPT Controller (AIC)? As you know, we have opposite jobs, we keep the birds apart, he runs them together LOL. Congrats to the Master Chief may he have fair winds and following seas!
Good luck CAPT Lex! Uniform looking spiffy. Care to share the stories behind your medals one time?
Speaking of which, I see the Legion of Merit and the GWOT (correct?) as well as a few others I identify, but what’s the one right before the Legion of Merit? Don’t mean to be too nosy, just looking for some sea stories!
Oh yes, please – the medals…..gotta be some great stories built into all that breast plating…
don’t forget your hat this time!
Hey! I was inside last time. We don’t wear “hats” or even “covers” inside, Army
Lex,
Forgive me, but Dan’s post got me interested to look at the pic. Big jump from NCM to LOM!
Might be a sea story there or did the “Hobbit” wire your chokers!
B2
Oh, I’m missing a couple I couldn’t lay my hands on. Had an MSM (with gold star for?Ǭ
Oh, I’m missing a couple I couldn’t lay my hands on. Had an MSM (with gold star for second) and an air medal with gold star (strike and strike/flight) I couldn’t lay my hands on last night. Even though I know they were there last week. Ugh.
As for the LOM, no real story behind that. Just one of those things they give captains on the way out the door to the next place. Prouder of the sea service ribbon with a silver star and a bronze star, actually. And that’s way down there on the pecking order.
Well – share the stories! Including the Air Medal! That had to have some story! I’m excited!
They’re mostly no big deal, Dan. Most of them are for doing a good job and a pat on your back on the way out the door. The strike flight air medal you get for 20 combat missions, the individual action one you get for, well: An indivdual action. I got mine for doing a thing that had to be done, but “bad” guys on the wrong end paid for it with their lives, and it’s not a story I tell. Sorry.
Hey Lex,
Your whatsit photo on Flickr is an SU-100, a Soviet clone of the Valkyrie.
Have fun on the Midway, it’s not too greasy…your whites will survive. Be sure to grab a gift in the Jet Shop or get a snack at the Fan Tail Cafe…those of us that are members appreciate your business.
I also spoke at my Master Chief’s retirement…in the CNAP auditorium a few years back. A great honor to be enjoyed. Look forward to the photos on Flickr.
As FbL pointed out to me last night… WHERE ARE YOUR PANTS?!?!!!
I see a jacket.
I see a hat.
I see a sword (or scabard, or whatever you call that long pointed knife-thingy these days)
I do not see pants.
Sounds like a ceremony I’d like to attend… *growl*
In self-defense, I must mention that I merely pointed out that she had been scarce around here recently and thus missed a primo opportunity to cause the the trouble for which she is so well-known.
Well, it’s like throwing meat to the wolves, FbL – one should be careful. Savagery ain’t in it…