FRIDAY FOTO (November 11, 2022)

INTO THE STORM.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nolan Pennington) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Sailors assigned to the newest U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, prepare for flight operations while transiting through a storm on October 18, 2022.

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group (CSG) joined six NATO allies for exercise Silent Wolverine in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean on November 8, 2022. Exercise participants include Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, as well as the United States.

“Silent Wolverine demonstrates our commitment to deepening interoperability with our allies and partners, while testing the advanced, cutting-edge warfighting capabilities of the Ford-class aircraft carrier in a highly relevant operational environment,” says Admiral Stuart Munsch, the commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa. Munsch also heads Allied Joint Force Command Naples.

The Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), the first of the eponymous Ford-class, is an advanced carrier incorporating 23 new technologies demonstrating significant advances in propulsion, power generation, ordnance handling, and aircraft launch systems. The Ford-class aircraft carrier generates an increased aircraft launch and recovery capability with a 20 percent smaller crew than the 10 Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. The Silent Wolverine deployment will test Ford’s operational readiness and future ability to support the requirements of combatant commands, like European Command (EUCOM) and Africa Command (AFRICOM).

The Ford strike group includes the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60), and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS McFaul (DDG 74), and USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116). The Ford strike group is conducting its first deployment to the U.S. European Command area of responsibility.

The U.S. Navy increased its presence in European waters late last year when Russia began massing troops on Ukraine’s border, even before the February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

VETERANS DAY/ARMISTICE DAY (November 11, 2022)

BIG FLAG, BIG CROWD, BIG DAY.

A previous Veteran’s Day Parade in New York City (Defense Department photo) Click on all of the photos to enlarge the images.

In late May, on Memorial Day, America remembers the honored dead, those who gave their lives in this country’s wars since 1775.

On Veteran’s Day every November, Americans honor the living who served or continue to serve in uniform. November 11 is the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I – the “War to End All Wars” in 1918. Unfortunately, history has proven that was an overly optimistic term for what turned out to be just the First World War.

Crowd in Philadelphia celebrates first word of peace on November 11, 1918. (Photo: Library of Philadelphia via Wikipedia)

In November 1919, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.

On May 13, 1938, Congress made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as “Armistice Day,” primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I. But veterans of World War II and the Korean War urged Congress to change the holiday’s name to recognize their service. And on June, 1954 Congress amended the 1938 law, replacing “Armistice” with “Veterans” and making November 11th a day to honor American veterans of all wars, according to the U.S. Veterans Administration.

After years of bloodshed in the 20th and early 21st centuries, we’d like to pause and remember the sacrifice of all those who serve their country in both war and peace. Even far from a combat zone, many of them have risky jobs on aircraft carrier decks, in fast moving Humvees and high flying aircraft. There is hard work, as well as danger, in airplane hangars and ships at sea. Depots and warehouses are stuffed with equipment and supplies that, improperly stored or transported, can blow up, burn, sicken or maim the humans working nearby.

It’s also a time to reflect on the sacrifices of veterans’ families who, like the people in the photos below, suffer the absence of a loved one for months — or longer.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Yvette Knoepke is greeted by family members at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, after returning from a six-month deployment, October 2, 2022. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jacquelin Frost)

 

An Air Force captain reunites with his family at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina on October 15, 2022, after an overseas deployment (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kevin Holloway)

 

A sailor assigned to the USS Harry S. Truman greets family upon returning to Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia September 12, 2022 from deployment overseas with the U.S. 5th and  6th Fleets. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nathan T. Beard)