It seems the work of CDR Hesham Islam, USN (Ret), has been undone. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is good news.

The Congresswoman has been investigating the reported firing (see here, here, here) of Major Stephen Coughlin (USAR) by the Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Staff.

First and foremost, Rep. Myrick confirms that Major Coughlin will now be retained by the DOD, and “…associated with another office program within the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he will continue to spread his message.”

The Congresswoman, one of the handful of stalwart individuals on jihadism in either the House or Senate, also highlights in her statement, the seriousness of what she terms, “…the nature of the radical Islamist enemy that we face today and how they are seeking to infiltrate all elements of our society.”

Rep. Myrick further lavishes deserving praise upon Major Coughlin’s thesis, “Major Coughlin’s thesis must be read by everyone responsible for ensuring the safety of America,” for which we now learn he has been retained, and arguably even promoted, within the DOD.
[…]

Score one for common sense and BZ to Representative Myrick for keeping DoD’s feet to the fire on this issue.

Lex is discussing an article by Ralph Peters regarding the old and new worlds.

One of Lex’s commenters, John, says those who want to get involved should have “experience” in the real ejection seat, before being in charge of the UAVs:

Insist that anyone above the video game player level for UAVs have recent seat time as an attack, FAC, ANGLICO to keep the focus and urgency on supporting the guys [and gals] in the mud.

Good comment, but the opportunities to have this sort of experience to execute oversite diminish quickly as the UAVs are brought online. In the beginning, there will be lots of “old hands” with the time in the saddle, given the current global unpleasantness, but once that settles down, they will work their way up the ranks, and have less time in the cockpit, and more holding a pen of pounding a keyboard.

It’s the next big challenge.

I began to comment, but, suffering from a little bit of blogger’s cramp, thought it might work over here, to get another post on the board.

Granted, my “stuff” was really low speed, high drag in comparison, yet, it’s all about the mindset. Some of the transitions in how we, as the Surface Warfare community had to rethink the “world:”

Moving from “conventional CICs” to the NTDS world was another. The data link surely put more info in the hands of “higher,” that had previously been the domain of the all knowing, on scene commander. I was around for that transition, to some degree, when the bulk of the destroyer fleet became so enabled with the introduction of the 963s. Blogged a few of the observations of the beginning and 5 years later conditions, too.

I was an “early adopter” of the over-the-horizon capability as a LTJG with the control of 8 RGM-84 HARPOONs, too. I went from that job, where it was all shiny and new, where we got litlle more instruction on how to point and shoot, to a training command where I saw some really innovative tools developed (the “Harpoon Interactive Tactical Simulator” (HITS)) that helped us wrap our brains around a moving search pattern, that couls also be static, even with the .85 mach “sensor platform” underway to the vicinity of the target. Years later, with improvements suggested to us (and paid for) by the Brits, the B models added to our ability to get 500 lb warheads on target. The came fancy tools like the AN/SWG-1A to interface with the seekers. Now we could engage with simultaneous precision, from one platform.

Not so fancy? Well, before that was 5″/38s and /54s at not much more than the horizon visual ranges. Now we were out in the 60+ mile realm and we needed off ship “eyeballs” to help out. A transition.

I was part of a staff sent to sea to figure out BBBG tactics with Tomahawk, when doing “OTH-T” with mountains of national sensor data coming in via hard copy from Radio was the order of the day - oh, and the info was then plotted on paper charts. That had been good for the old gunnery days, but wholly unsatisfactory for the missile age. As a result, a magic computer came from behind the Green Door to help out: POST. Now we had to teach ourselves really technical stuff about emitters, so operators could set the right filters to locate and engage targets. A transition. Along the way, then LCDR Harry Harris, now of GTMO fame, made an interesting remark when I finished my briefing to ADM Jerimiah.

After the Gulf War, pilots had an entirely new appreciation for the TLAM variant of the Tomahawk cruise missile, the thing that, before that war, couldn’t possibly do the job TACAIR was there for. A transisiton (and more pilots coming home).

Later, I was around when the CEC system, integrated into the NTDS networks, which was a (insert sailor adjective here) mess the first time they tried it. I was there. I had told them at the planning meeting there was going to be a problem and they needed to do some more analysis (i wasn’t nay saying, just looking for success). They told me not to worry. In the test, they told the NTDS side to shut down. It’sa ll been worked out, but it took some rethinking when a really novel system entered the arena of tactical tools for a fast paced world. Before I had been at that level for the safety of CEC, one of my project manager worked it, and I saw some incredible briefs on the technology. We, back then in the early 90s, were putting a lot of stock into computing technology to help us down high speed, sea skimming threats. Has I been on the sea going side, I’m sure I would have had some qualms about trusting Eddie Electron so much. A transition.

In another job, I had to tell ship COs that the only way they were going to save their ship from Exocets was to put NSSMS into a full auto configuration. I had some COs tell me to stuff it. I held up the TACMEMO, paid for with a lot of taxpayers money, that proved it was the only hope. I suspect we use more auto features these days. A transisiton.

My interests in computer technology tends to heavily lean towards display technology, to include virtual environments. I have a bad habit of paying more for video and sound cards for my systems as most would plunk down for a whole computer system. I had my first hands on experience with a personal VR system in the 1993 time frame. Since then, not only has the display technology improved remarkably, but the rate of data transmission and bandwidth has increased. Those are things that will make the combat UAVs (CUAVs) a reality. Challenges to overcome as to the employment, the supporting data transmission paths, and the like? Oh, yes. Can they provide the same “quality of service” to that ground pounder with and enemy looking to grab him by the belt buckle? With time, I’m sure it will happen. Along the way, there will be barriers and hurdles to clear. Along the way, some really smart young people will show up and tell us how to use them in ways our old paradigms would never allow us to see. The convergence of so many new, light-weight capabilities and materials is incredible. That will all lend itself to this next leap forward.

I suspect the technology will allow a “driver” to be immersed to such a degree, he or she will get a startlingly accurate feel for the environment, and the soldier or Marine on the ground will be happy with the results.

For years, the military and the computer gaming market have been headed for the same end game. Along the way, they have joined forces, and it was over a decade ago that that happened. Net result? Look at some of the UAV hand controllers….

The first challenge: Think how to employ this technology, not why we shouldn’t….and let our junior speak their minds, too.

Note: Don’t forget to go back in time (one day, anyhow) to catch Eagle1’s Sinking of the Albermarle Sunday Ship History entry.

Attack on Island Nr 10I can’t find a picture of him, yet two ships have gone to sea for our Navy to honor him: LT John Vincent Johnston:

ohn Vincent Johnston of Cincinnati, Ohio, entered the United States Navy in September 1861 as First Master in gunboat St. Louis. He assisted in the Union gunboat attacks that captured strategic Fort Henry on the Tennessee River 6 February 1862. The night of 1 April 1862 he was the Navy commander of a combined Army-Navy boat expedition from St. Louis, Missouri which landed and spiked the guns of Fort No. 1 above the Confederate stronghold, Island No. 10. He was promoted to Acting Volunteer Lieutenant for gallantry in this expedition. After joining in the bombardments of Vicksburg, Miss., he took command of Forest Rose to patrol the Mississippi River and its tributaries. On 15 February 1864 his gunboat repelled the attack of confederate raiders, saving the town of Waterproof, La., and its federal garrison. Lt. Johnston resigned from the naval service 23 June 1864 and died 23 April 1912 at St. Louis, Mo.

The first ship named in LT Johnston’s honor was DD-557, a unit of the FLETCHER Class. Commissioned in Seattle, WA on Oct 27th, 1943, he commissioning skipper, LCDR Earnest Evans said this:

“This is going to be a fighting ship. I intend to go in harm’s way, and anyone who doesn’t want to go along had better get off right now.”

She was. Her lifespan was was one year and two days, but left a mark the most significant battle fought by the US Navy.

Enroute this day with destiny, the USS JOHNSTON (DD-557) got right into the thick of things. From the Ship’s Wikipedia entry:

During the Marshall Islands campaign 3 months later, Johnston bombarded the beaches at Kwajalein 1 February 1944, and made a 5-day bombardment of Eniwetok 17–22 February. She gave direct support to invasion troops there, destroying several pillboxes and taking revetments along the beach under fire. En route to patrol duty in the Solomons 28 March 1944, she bombarded Kapingamarangi Atoll in the Carolines. An observation tower, several blockhouses, pillboxes and dugouts along the beach were shelled. Two days later she came into the mouth of the Maririca River, southeast of Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, Solomon Islands. After laying a heavy barrage into that area, she took up antisubmarine patrol off Bougainville. During this duty 15 May 1944, she depth charged and sank the Japanese submarine I-176.

After 3 months of patrol in the Solomons, Johnston sailed to the Marshall Islands to prepare for the invasion and capture of Guam in the Marianas. On 21 July 1944 she teamed up with that Pearl Harbor “ghost”, the battleship Pennsylvania, to bombard Guam. The destroyer had sent in more than 4,000 rounds of shells by 29 July. Her accurate gunfire shattered the enemy 4 inch battery installations, numerous pillboxes and buildings. Johnston next helped protect escort carriers providing air support for the invasion and capture of the Palau Islands.

Following those operations, USS JOHNSTON prepared to support the landing at Leyte Gulf of Genearl MacArthur.

On Oct 25th, 1944, the USS JOHNSTON (DD-557), as part of the “Taffy 3″ task force, would make her indelible mark on history:

For the first 20 minutes, Johnston was helpless as the enemy cruisers and battleships had her in range. But the destroyer’s 5 inch guns could not yet reach them. Not waiting for orders, Commander Ernest E. Evans breaks defensive formation, and goes on the offensive by ordering Johnston to speed directly towards the enemy—first a line of seven destroyers, next one light and three heavy cruisers, then the four battleships. To the east appeared three other cruisers and several destroyers. Amazingly, the enemy gunners could not score a hit on Johnston.

And from the Battle off Samar entry:

Concerned about the splashes of incoming fire, Lieutenant Commander Ernest E. Evans, skipper of the destroyer USS Johnston, which was the closest to the attackers, suddenly took the initiative to order his ship to “flank speed, full left rudder,” ordering Johnston to directly attack the greatly superior oncoming Japanese ships on his own in what would appear to be a suicidal mission.

The Johnston was a relatively small and unarmored destroyer, completely unequipped to fight Japanese battleships and cruisers. Designed to fight other destroyers and torpedo boats, she was armed with only five 5 inch (127 mm) guns and multiple anti-aircraft weapons which were ineffective against an armored battleship. Only the Johnston’s 10 Mark-15 torpedoes could be effective, but they had to be launched well within range of enemy gunfire.

Weaving to avoid shells, and steering towards splashes, the Johnston approached the Japanese heavy cruiser Kumano for a torpedo run. When Johnston was 10 miles (17 km) from Kumano, her 5 inch (127 mm) guns rained shells on Kumano’s bridge and deck (where they could do some damage - the shells would simply bounce off the enemy ship’s armored hull). Johnston closed to within torpedo range and fired a salvo, which blew the bow off the cruiser squadron flagship Kumano and also took the cruiser Suzuya out of the fight as she stopped to assist.

From seven miles (11 km) away, the battleship Kongo sent a 14 inch shell through the Johnston’s deck and engine room. Johnston’s speed was cut in half to only 14 knots (26 km/h), while the aft gun turrets lost all electrical power. Then three 6-inch shells, possibly from Yamato’s secondary batteries, struck Johnston’s bridge, killing many and wounding Comdr. Evans. The bridge was abandoned, and Evans steered the ship from the aft steering column. Evans nursed his ship back towards the fleet, when he saw the other destroyers attacking as well. Emboldened by the Johnston’s attack, Sprague gave the order “small boys attack”, sending the rest of Taffy 3’s destroyers on the assault. Even in her heavily damaged state, damage-control teams restored power to 2 of the 3 aft turrets, and Evans turned the Johnston around and re-entered the fight.

At the end of the morning, the USS JOHNSTON was lost, but the Japanese knew they had had a worthy opponent in LCDR Evans and his crew. The ship received a Presidential Unit Citation and six battle stars in her short time at sea.

The second ship to be named for Lt Johnston was the USS JOHNSTON (DD-821) of the GEARING Class. She was commissioned in Aug, 1946. This USS JOHNSTON served in the Atlantic Fleet, and was strkien from US Navy records in 1981 and finally transferred to the Republic of China’s Navy.

Snooping around the web drummed up this: What a combat medic figured out:

Why We Serve: Combat Medic Saves Lives Using New Evacuation System
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2007 – A veteran Air Force combat medic helped to transform the way wounded troops are treated and evacuated during a recent deployment to Afghanistan.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Mark A. DeCorte is participating in the Defense Department’s “Why We Serve” public-outreach program.  Tech Sgt. Mark A. DeCorte recalled the previous practice when unarmed battlefield medics were flown in to treat and evacuate injured servicemembers usually after an area had been cleared of the enemy.

However, DeCorte emphasized, “When you have a wounded soldier on the ground, they need help now.”
[…]

He took a little lead from previous wars and todays technology, to bring more detailed lifesaving techniques closer to the wounded…in fact, right on the field of combat, and on the way to the first hospital.

[…]
The concept of treating and evacuating injured servicemembers during the din of battle was tested during DeCorte’s tour of duty in Afghanistan from February to June 2006, the 13-year military veteran said.

The Army had requested Air Force assistance to improve its air-ambulance capabilities in Afghanistan’s austere, mountainous terrain, DeCorte explained.

Previous doctrine was to send in medical-evacuation helicopters after the fighting had stopped, he noted, but this practice meant that some troops wouldn’t survive the trip to the hospital. That procedure would change.

In Afghanistan, DeCorte was one of several military medics embedded with aerial combat-support units. Instead of using traditional rotary- or fixed-wing aircraft marked with red crosses, the new wave combat medics carried arms as they flew directly into the maelstrom aboard armored helicopter gunships.

The idea, DeCorte explained, was to treat the wounded as quickly as possible. And, when the concept was tested on the battlefield, it contributed to achieving a previously unimagined wounded-survivability rate of 90 percent, he said.

“We can now go in embedded (with combat units) and part of the operation,” DeCorte said.
[…]

Riding to the rescue in HH-60G armed Pave Hawks:

[…]
A servicemember’s odds of surviving battlefield-inflicted wounds go way up if he or she can be evacuated to a treatment center within an hour of being injured, DeCorte pointed out. In medical parlance that period of time is known as “the golden hour,” he said.

“If I can get you to surgery within an hour you most likely have a chance to survive,” DeCorte said.

The Minot, N.D.-born noncommissioned officer saved 36 lives during his 63 combat sorties in southern Afghanistan. “It’s very bad in that area,” DeCorte observed, adding that two of his fellow combat medics on other air-evacuation flights saved another 102 lives between them.
[…]

BZ, Tech Sgt Decorte!

Fair game to post your trackbacks….but the title says that…

So, the last few weeks, I have been discussing the war games suffered through while a student at the Naval War College.

In amongst all the “work” to plan and execute the extraction of non-combatant Americans from Pakistan, we, not being the dry and humorous lot many might assume, decided to dress up for the occasion. We didn’t wear uniforms at War College, unless we had events with outside guests. Otherwise, sport coats and ties were the uniform of the day. Something about taking rank out of the equation while debating, lecturing, etc, on topics that may get passions up. We still all knew, but it psychologically removed some barriers to the free exchange of ideas.

So…were actually went to “war” on business attire for the civilian world…however (translated: ignore all said before here) one of those days we did get in a uniform.

Yep, by unanimous decision, we came outfitted one day to fight the war in our Mess Dress Blues. Yes, it turned some gazes our direction, but we were fighting for the cause and we wanted to look sharp while being about our virtually serious endeavors.

One other fighting day, which was designated as most flamboyant tie day, paled in comparison…

John, the MilBlogs man of many arms has details of this year’s most anticipated competition to put laptops into the lives of those who have served us by their sacrifices.Read this post.There is prep work to be done and all hands (that’s a naval term meaning everyone) can join in. The USMC and Air Force seems “headless” this year to date, but I’m sure they have dark horses in the wings to come out and work towards the $240K (Yes, Twenty Four Thousand dollars - because we all had too much success last year) we’re looking to raise for my favorite project (as well as for many others): ValOUR-IT.Roll up your sleeves and come along for the ride from 10/28 thru 11/13/2007. It will be two weeks of thrills, spills, chills and possible carpel tunnel syndrome. All sorts of snarks flying while teams race to get their hands on The Most Exhaulted GoldEn Notebook (MEGEN) at the 2008 MilBlogs Conference, while filling the account to purchase laptops for those who need them.

I have cobbled together a phpBB set up as a bulletin board for general and team specific use. Register there and send me an email (see “contact us”) to let me know your team affiliation and I’ll set your permissions to the area you’ll need to chatter in.

The ValOUR-IT Bulletin Board is here.

Team leaders will have an area to cross talk. If leaders want a few moderators set to help manage traffic flow, pass that along so I can set those users in play. I have that set for anyone designated as a monitor to have full access there.

Each team will have Coordination, Marketing, Auctions, and Ideas forums to bat things around in.

A general forum is in place to list items actually put up for auction, which will be viewable by your family and friends and associates (hint: when things show up there, pass it along!).

A top level “H&I Fires” forum will be open game for issuing and responding to challenges or questions of family lineage of other teams.

I made a command decision to join the United States Coast Guard effort with that of the Navy’s. Watch for emails.

Suggestions welcome.

Oh, and for you non-USN/USCG types, this one’s for you (Click for a 8.5″ x 11″ sized printout image!):

Last week I got a trackback…so the trend is in the positive region of the chart!

Anyhow, this is effectively Part III of warfare and war games at the Naval War College. Short one today, as I am prepping highly classified plans for the next big event. A few will get “briefed in” later this week with new, sink the Army technology that is now in my hands…

The story actually begins in 1985, at Christmas time to be more precise. I was in Singapore, and, took advantage of the wonderful pricing on a variety of cassettes. The music, in the days before iTunes and CDs took up more volume per song, as did the playing devices, so the collection for listening wasn’t too large or varied. I picked up three tapes to add to the Staff collection, one of which was the soundtrack to “Beverly Hills Cop.” One of the songs was used as a “morale booster” over the battle group circuits in the mockups, in that red brick building SSW of the main War College one.

When we were engaged with the mass raids of TU-95D Bears and TU-160 Backfires, who had been marshalling over Indian territory, where our ROE disallowed our presence, with threat of direct military action by Indian forces if we penetrated their airspace, it turned out my “AW” (Group Anti-Air Warfare Commander) had been quite effective, once the Soviets headed to sea and went “feet wet.”

I was I a good mood, as was the rest of the friendly forces and staffs, having had the foresight to plan and now execute a solid battle plan. I figured, now that the war was in full auto for the moment and our F-14s were splashing bandits like shooting fish in a barrel, I’d play some music: “The Heat is On” followed by “The Neutron Dance.”

Back in the day, when we could neither confirm nor deny some bits of information, struck with some sort of military amnesia, this had some not so subtle undertones.

For some reason, the game controllers got a mite upset with our frivolity and asked us to secure the music. I exercised my command position to tell them “no.”

Next week: The attire for staff during conflict….

Last week netted two trackbacks….and also I left off a sea story about War Gaming at War College.

So I was the Ops Boss for planning. We did that in the few intervening days. How to approach Pakistan during “heightened tensions” in order to pull US citizens out of danger ashore, while not losing our combat power. Rules of engagement were pretty restrictive, as you might expect.

Sometime in the next few days, I was told by Danny that I was going to the be the Big Kahuna for the war game execution. There you go. My low grade in the class, but wearing black shoes and a SWO pin. Never did think of it until now, but possibly the airdales had convincingly dodged the bullet and I was left to take the scepter unknowingly.

Off we went, one morning to the red brick building a few blocks from the main building, where our command centers would be. We were given a current intelligence briefing for the area, and I distinctly recall that a Soviet Charlie II sub was out to the west, underway and, as part of the Soviet platforms in theater, a potential threat to the battle group. The complication of this presence was that India, a neutral party in the current raised tensions, had leased a C-II from the Evil Empire. Intel showed had same sub inport at an Indian Naval Base in the last 24 hours. Having come from the sub chasing world not but a few months before, I mentally cataloged the info as significant. Partly because my recent experience tuned me to it, but also because off all the beginning locations, the issue of the Charlie seemed to have the opportunity to come into play very early on in the games.Off we went, armed with pseudo factoids presented by the “and then the exact opposite of this briefing cannot be discounted disclaimer crowd (Yep, intel weenies), to our assigned warfare commander “modules” to fight the war with paper charts, hand written radio logs and plexiglass edge lighted status boards.

Within an hour or so, an S-3A (no B birds in the fleet yet), played by one of the game controllers (a
shoe LCDR), sent to the west to conduct ASW sweeps, sure enough got a solid sniff on a nuke boat, high probability that it was also the not located very recently Charlie II. The ASWC calls on the radio for direction and I issue a “take” order on the contact. Roger, Out!

Then ASWC calls and tells me the “pilot” said he couldn’t do that, because it might be the Indian leased C-II. I, once more, say “take the subsurface track.” Pilot continues to stall, argue. I get on the net and say words to the affect: “When I order you to engage, you put weapons in the water!” Response: “Lost contact!” AW1 Tim and company knows there is always a handy-dandy gouge for executing a “time late” attack, yet this “combat pilot” seemed to have all sorts of excuses as to how not to take out the threat, for which we had the ROE to support the engagement in our hands.

At that point the ramp up to war was stilling in run, so I/we went back to work, foiled once more by “playing to real.”

The next morning, at the new day’s intel brief, my peer in real rank insignia, yet not in the world of the war game, began to lecture during the putting forth of info, something about not starting a war with a friendly nation. Some part of his upbringing had not exposed him to the skillful tutelage of CAPT W.E. Jordan, Jr, in the finer points of physics a as a viable life application in decision making, specifically the parts about Time/Speed/Distance, the immutable factors of vehicle movement we learned to live by off the coasts of many lands.

I dispensed with the niceties of providing a full tutorial for the errant war game staff officer, but did provide a Reader’s Digest version, telling him the Indian sub couldn’t have made it from their last known location inport on the west coast of India to the vicinity of the PROBSUB contact of the S-3, unless it grew wings and engines like a really big airplane, so he should have put MK46s in to take the Soviet sub out to the picture right then. He wasn’t happy, so I told him the next time I directed and engagement, all I wanted to hear was “Bloodhound Away!” I didn’t do the next part as well as Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men,” but I did directly ask for his complete understanding, which I got.

Back to the modules we went, to begin a new day of evaluating ROEs and looking forward to making war, not love, within the confines of such political-military constraints.

Yes, later the C-II did somehow manage to arrive, undetected, in our neighborhood, and it spewed forth a few SSN-9s to get our blood flowing. If he only would have listened…but then, if they had crafted their game force layout better, they could have put the Indian C-II at sea, close enough to require some in depth soul searching before I cold be so cavalier with the taxpayers’ torpedoes.

Next week: More “War Games.”

Batteries released. Post your trackbacks here!

On this past Monday, I told some of the story of Gustavus Conyngham in Monday Maritime Matters. left a comment, telling the woeful tale of a finely tuned mind in a Tactical Action Officer course deciding to act upon “hostile intent.” Not in those words, exactly, but that’s what he said he did, and, for risking a mock courts martial, he was relegated to the DDG-2 CF ADAMS Class mock up in Taylor Hall for the rest of the exercise.

I, too, have some stories about war games, decision making and injecting a little frivolity into an otherwise serious place. I will tell pieces of each week for several Wednesday Ropeyarns, just to provide material.

At the Naval War College for Command and Staff (aka the “junior course”), there were three
trimesters” of study. I took them in the order of Strategy and Policy, followed by Maritime Operations, and finally taking Defense Decision Making in the final trimester of study. In the Maritime Operations session, we were required to plan and execute a virtual maritime operation at the end of the studies. Along the way, I, and one other officer, and “Electric” EA-6B Naval Flight Officer named Eddy, were the only students of the junior course who had actually been present at the Operations in the Vicinity of Libya from Jan to May, 1986. Much of the course material, as we in the military are wont to do, reactively had adopted that real world operation as a foundation for the study of “Jointness.” Given the most jointed we got were the FB-111s flying from bases in England over the Atlantic (Thanks, France!), we pretty much had a Navy only show going, but, Eddy and I had “real world, hands on time.” I dissected and retold of my involvement in “A Journey Into History” series (link to Part I) , in case you didn’t catch the posts last year.

Anyhow, the odd thing, was Eddy and I consistently had some of the lowest grades in the class, with our section having a faculty member who was a P-3 Naval Flight Officer, an O-6, as he thought we didn’t fully comprehend the answers we gave to questions, coz they didn’t mimic the “party line” about jointness, with a bias to always make sure the Naval person was the top of the heap. I was the one SWO in the room, with lots of F-14 back seaters and helo guys getting re-tooled for upward mobility outside of their professional fields, as they didn’t have slots with their community anymore. We had a Coastie and a Defense Mapping guy, and then a two USAF and a few Marines.

Eddy and I didn’t have to think a lot sometimes, because of the basis that formed the questions. We had seen the practical application of the process for this very “case study.” Frustrated, yes, and it was fun messing with an O-6 who had been in the classroom too long. One time, I was asked to go the chalkboard and layout the operational command structure. I had the first few boxes drawn when I heard from the back “That’s not in accordance with doctrine.” I turned and looked back at the Captain and said: “That’s how Admiral Jeremiah did it” and went back to drawing the organizational relationships for the provided force structure. No further comments came my way…On the other hand, Paul the resident Supply Officer, being a smart man, but with no operational background, could spit out what doctrine said. Not because he was a stooge of the system, but it was all he had to go on. He got the best grades in Maritime Ops…go figure.

Major Danny Troutman, a helo driving Marine and one of the smartest people I ever met, was assigned to as the Chief of Staff for the upcoming war game. The plan was one person would hold that position for both the planning and the execution parts of the war game. Everyone else would get shuffled. The operation: A non-combatant evacuation from Pakistan of American citizens. My job for planning: Operations Officer. I got to head up drafting the plan for the ops for approval. I asked Danny why me, I was getting the lowest grades. Response: They wanted it done right….

Next week: Going to virtual war at Naval War College

Marines coming ashore at Agat Beach on Guam July 21st, 1944: A joint operation landed both Army and Marines on two different beach heads, one to the north of Orote Point at Asan, the other to the south at Agat, both on the west coast of the island. The landing forces cut straight across the island to divide the Japanese, then headed north and south to complete the liberation. From the 60th Anniversary Celebration website, a little background:

[..]
The first European ship to arrive here was under the command of Ferdinand Magellan, who discovered the island of Guam and this quiet bay in 1521.

His arrival led to Spanish colonial rule, which lasted until 1898. At the end of the Spanish-American War, Guam – along with Puerto Rico and the Philippines – became an American territory.

During the Spanish period, a small village emerged along the bay, and today Umatac remains a serene community accented by the spire of the local church honoring San Dionisio. Nearby is the Magellan Memorial, commemorating the discovery that changed the course of Guam’s history.

The island’s first inhabitants were the Chamorros, expert navigators and adventurous seafarers who had left Southeast Asia and crossed the sea in open canoes. No one is certain exactly when the Chamorros arrived on Guam, but scientists estimate their first landfall to have been about 5,000 years ago.

From Magellan’s arrival until today, Guam’s location in the Western Pacific has made it strategically important. Part of the Marianas group, it lies 3,800 miles west of Hawaii and 1,500 miles south of Japan. From north to south, the island measures about 32 miles in length four to eight miles in width.

Guam’s strategic importance was dramatized on December 10, 1941 – just after Pearl Harbor – when Japanese forces overpowered the U.S. garrison and took control of the island.

It remained under Japanese occupation until July 21, 1944, when U.S. Marines and Army troops, supported by Navy and Coast Guard vessels, carrier-based aircraft and special units such as the Navy Seabees, began the battle to liberate the island.
[…]
When organized resistance was declared at an end by U.S. military commanders on August 10, the operation had resulted in nearly 7,400 U.S. casualties, of which almost 1,800 were killed.

Runways were built as soon as the island was liberated, and almost immediately long-range B-29 bombers were taking the war directly to the Japanese homeland.
[…]

Some extra details come from the 50th Anniversary website:

The Liberation
The American air raid on February 23, 1944, signaled the return of the Americans on Guam.1 [a number at end of sentence refers to the endnotes] This sign was what the Guamanians had been waiting for. The Japanese Americans, but the Japanese insisted to the Guamanians that the Americans would not come back. The Japanese also told the Guamanians that the Japanese were actually winning the war. July 21, 1944 marks the day the liberation forces landed on Asan and Agat beaches to free Guam from the more than two years of Japanese occupation. Three hundred planes dropped 124 tons of bombs over the 14-mile coastline from Agana to Bangi Point. 2 The island was burning from one end to the other, and the flames were non-stop. The invasion of Guam was the most symbolic step yet taken in the Central Pacific campaign up to this date; it was also the largest land they had yet set out to conquer. 3 Guam’s recapture was significant because it would return an important possession to American hands and provide a forward supply base for future operations in the Pacific.4 The Americans also felt a moral obligation because of their earlier hold on Guam and the Guamanian loyalty towards them.
[…]

Of note on the 50th Anniversary website is a discussion of the half century plus disagreement over the control of Guamanian land. It has been an important issue all these years, and I’m sure hasn’t been completely resolved.

Four men won the Congressional Medal of Honor in this operation:

• Pfc LEONARD MASON, USMCR
• Pfc FRANK PETER WITEK, USMC
• Pfc LUTHER SKAGGS, JR., USMCR
• Captain LOUIS HUGH WILSON, JR., USMC

The “Liberation - Guam Remembers” website has some very compact, yet interesting items, discussing the occupation life, and the liberation/post-liberation people and situations on Guam. One of the historical “nuggets” of information I just gleaned was that Guam was the site of the War Crimes trials.

One of the long standing stories of surviving behind enemy lines is that of RM1 George Tweed, USN, who escaped the Japanese wand was safeguarded, with much danger to, the Guamanian people, who heroically sheltered him until he was rescued by the USS McCall on July 10th, 1944. “Robinson Crusoe, U.S.N.” is George’s autobiographical report of his time avoiding captivity.

I spent 3 1/2 years on Guam. I have dived off the beaches, found left over artifacts of the battles, including some live ordnance (the largest being an 8″ projectile laying in the jungle laying on a slope on the perimeter of the Orote Point airfield while on a Boy Scout camp out), and hiked the interior of the island. The island has become an even more prominent base in our strategic siting of military power since the closing of the US Bases in the Philippines. My post from yesterday describes my conflicted view of this day in history as a result.

Guam - Where America’s day begins, was witnessing a new beginning this day in 1944.