The Flight Deck

I have been reading through all of the comments so far in Whisper’s “Open Thread”,taking note of all the things we are saying we want to do.  To that end, I compiled some of them and organized them below.  Thought it seemed appropriate.  YMMV.

Comments appreciated.  I don’t want to see this community end.  I don’t think any of us do.

WE the undersigned; Friends, Acquaintances, Shipmates, Classmates, Regulars, and Lurkers, do hereby agree that:

WHEREAS the blog NEPTUNUS LEX has brought us all great joy over the years; AND

WHEREAS the loss of CAPT CARROLL LEFON, USN (RET) has made the world a lesser place; AND

WHEREAS in an effort to maintain his legacy, agree to the following;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by The Readership of Neptunus Lex that:

1. We the loyal readers and followers will do everything in our ability to maintain an archive of Lex’s posts, comments and links;
2. To the extent possible, join together in person in remembrance of Lex on or about March 6^th each year hence;
3. If needed, establish a financial vehicle for the collection and distribution of contributed funds as the LeFon family deems appropriate;
4. We agree to hold ourselves to the standard of integrity, honor, commitment, humility, and civility as set by Lex.

So say we all…

Knowing that I am deployed overseas as a chaplain, some few of you have offered to send me various items which might make life in the austere Kuwaiti desert somewhat more bearable.  Having given some thought about what items might fit the bill without overburdening anyone’s wallet, I’ve come up with a couple of items, one to share with others  and another for my own use – though I’ll probably share these as well.

The first item is books.  Not just any books, mind you, but good quality, worthwhile reads.  We’ve got $4.99 paperback novels coming out our ears here, and the MWR & USO tents are filled to bursting with any manner of Tom Clancy, John Grisham and Danielle Steele books.  No, what I’m looking for are some of the more classy varieties of literary works.  I’ve seen the response whenever Lex asks for reading recommendations, and that’s the sort of things I would like to have to fill the shelves of the Resiliency Center I’m in the process of putting together.  History, war, biographies, classics – you know what I’m talking about, because I’ve seen the 100+ posts in response to Lex’s queries.  Send one or several – all will be appreciated.  I may read a few myself as I find time, but my hope is to leave them here for the edification not only of my soldiers, but to those who will follow in our footsteps.

The second item is a little more personal.  I’ve recently discovered a latent affinity for decent cigars – this dreadful pastime having gone unrequited these many years due to the fact that my wife refuses to kiss me if I stink of cigar smoke.  No small motivation, that.  So, I resign myself to the occasional stogie – maybe at a military ball or someone’s wedding.  But now, with there being no one here to kiss (or to deny the same), I’ve rediscovered the joy of sitting out by the flightline a few evenings a week, watching the sun go down and burning wood scraps on our makeshift grill/fireplace while trading stories with my soldiers.  I have a buddy with a large, mostly empty humidor, who, while happy to share with his chaplain, would no doubt rather that I procure my own smokes, since we’re gonna be here for awhile.

So!  All of that to say that if you want to send something out here that will enhance the quality of life for those who are forward deployed, those are the things I would recommend at present.  Send one or t’other – or both, as the spirit moves you.  And in return – should you desire it – I will happily send you one of our unit patches, which was designed by yours truly.  For we are Task Force Liberty, and most of the unit hails from Rhode Island.  The red & white stripes represent the Sons of Liberty, and the snake and “Join or Die” motto are both pre-Revolutionary War symbols and statements.  The burning ship at the bottom represents the HMS Gaspée - a British schooner burned off the coast of Rhode Island by the Sons of Liberty in an event that led up to the American Revolution.  The hawk and bull skull at the top represent units from the 1-126th AVN Bn “Blackhawks” and the 2-147th AVN Bn “Red Bulls” who make up our Task Force.

Any and all donations can be sent to the following address:

CH(CPT) Dave Harvey

1-126th Aviation Task Force

APO AE 09330

Note:  The patches come in both full-color & subdued versions.  Please state which one you would prefer and provide a return address.  Thanks!

Come on. I double dog dare you.
Try it. Forget twenty times.
Just once. As fast as you can.

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.

I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)

Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.

But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,

Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.

Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.

And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.

GO AHEAD. FINISH IT. IF YOU DARE

So apparently what they told me in airman apprenticeship training was all wrong. But you guys probably already knew this.
How airplanes fly

I hate props – doubly so at night. I used to get the willies walking by an E-2 or C-2 in the hangar bay. Unfortunately this young woman looks to have found out all about it in the worst way. Losing a hand and hit in the head, the modeling career is over though, hopefully, she will be glad to have lived.

The article has text with a lot more explanation, but the video does a good job of explaining it as well. Sure, it’s a flat bed slow rolling down a runway but really the jump to a pitching deck isn’t that far for software, just a few more variables to handle.

On Friday, August 26th, I had the honor of attending a Navy Boot Camp, Pass-In-Review graduation ceremony in Great Lakes, Illinois.  If you’ve never been to one I highly recommend it.  The place just oozes  joy and patriotism.  

Graduation Ceremony, Great Lakes 

Read more »

Always liked Maple seeds spinning down from above as a kid. Never occurred to me to build a UAV based on the concept though. I’m going to embed the video – Here’s an article that gives some background and more info. as well as having the video.

Strangely, I find the music to be rather fitting.

I mentioned this in the comments section a few days ago, but thought I’d post it here for the benefit of those who haven’t heard yet.

I’m not much for tooting my own horn, but in the past 7 years or so that I’ve been following this blog, I’ve come to think of y’all as sort of a virtual circle of friends, some of whom I’ve even had the pleasure to meet. And, since many of you know the trials & tribulations I’ve gone through in the last several years (like a certain motorcycle accident), I thought it would be appropriate to share with you some recent news that has given us at Chez Harvey great joy:

This past Thursday I was interviewed by the accession board for the California Army National Guard and was unanimously approved for immediate accession as full-fledged Chaplain!

I have already been assigned to the “Blackjack” 1st Battalion, 160th Infantry Regiment up in LA, and am preparing to deploy with them sometime in 2012.

I want to thank y’all for all of your kind thoughts, prayers, and well wishes that you’ve sent my way over the past years – God is always faithful, or as I like to put it, ADONAI IS SEMPER FI!

If you’re so inclined, feel free to head over to my blog at http://www.adonaisemperfi.blogspot.com/ for more thoughts and news about what’s been going on with me. Who knows? You might even find something inspiring!