WATCH: King Charles Visits Royal Marines Training Centre in Devon - YouTube - 15 NOV 2024 - The Royal Family Channel

HM King Charles III,a Royal Navy veteran, as Captain General Royal Marines visited Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Lympstone,Devon.His trip came a day after celebrating his 76th birthday.After the ceremony,he mingled with some of the Royal Marines and met some World War II veterans.

President Biden and President Macron of France Deliver Statements to Press with ASL interpretation - YouTube

Duke of Kent's final day as Colonel @ Scots Guards Annual Remembrance Day (14th April 2024) - British Army event - London Royal

HRH Edward Duke of Kent,cousin of Queen Elizabeth II,is himself a British Army veteran,serving for 21 years.In 1974,he became Colonel of the Scots Guards,serving for 50 years.He will be succeeded by HRH Prince Edward the Duke of Edinburgh.The Scots Guards have served in both World Wars,the Falklands War and Afghanistan.They are stationed at Wellington Barracks,London.

Germany sends first soldiers for permanent Lithuania force | DW News - 8 APR 2024

German Soldiers have arrived in Lithuania to shore up NATO's Eastern Flank.It opens a massive infrastructure project,including accomodations for families and schools for children,with the end state being about 5,000 troops,a full permanent brigade.It is unprecedented to permanently deploy this many Bendeswehr troops,not seen since World War II.The first 21 Soldiers will interface with the Lithuanian authorities to get the project going.

President Ford's Daughter Christens Aircraft Carrier

The Pre-Commissioning Unit Gerald R Ford,first of a new class of nuclear aircraft carrier,was christened on Saturday,November 9 at Huntington Ingalls Industries' shipyard in Newport News,Virginia.The late President Gerald R Ford's daughter and Ship's Sponsor,Susan Ford Bales,broke a bottle of champagne on the bow of the ship and named it in honour of her father,the nation's 38th president and a US Navy veteran of World War II.Mr.Ford was aware of plans for the carrier at the time of his death in December,2006 at age 93,and expressed both pride and humility that it would be named for him.
The new warship is expected to enter service in 2016.It will be followed by PCU John F Kennedy,already under construction.Carriers are intended to serve for 50 years.The Ford class features a new and repositioned island,or control tower,;a redesigned and more efficient flight deck;and three flight deck elevators instead of four.These improvements will allow a 25% increase in sorties,or missions.
The new class also has two advanced nuclear reactors and 250% more electrical capacity,as well as dual-band radar and electronic catapults for launching aircraft.The cumulative effect of the latest engineering will save the Navy a projected 4 billion dollars over the carrier's lifespan,according to Newport News Shipbuilding,the HII unit that designs and builds the Ford class.The number of valves has been reduced by over a third,for example.The greater electrical capacity ensures the ship can handle new weapons systems that come along over the next several decades.
Gerald R Ford was president from 1974-77,following his 9 months as Richard Nixon's Vice President and a long career in the House of Representatives from 1949-73,where he became known for his integrity and bipartisanship.A football player during his student days at the University of Michigan,Mr.Ford was a gunnery and training officer in the Navy from 1942-46,seeing extensive action in the Pacific theatre aboard the light carrier USS Monterey(CVL 26) and rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.He was decorated with the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 9 Battle Stars;the Phillipine Liberation Medal with 2 Bronze Stars;the American Campaign and World War II Victory Medals.After the war,he was a member of the American Legion;AMVETS;and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Susan Ford Bales,born in 1957,is the youngest of Mr.Ford's 4 children and has been deeply involved in preserving her father's legacy as a Trustee of the Gerald R Ford Presidential Foundation.As Ship's Sponsor,she participates in all the ship's milestone events.
Huntington Ingalls Industries(HII)

From History to Hollywood:Oscar Winner Was WWII Navy Vet

Ernest Borgnine,95,one of the most popular and long-lived actors in Hollywood,passed away on Sunday,July 8 at Cedars Sinai Medical Center,Los Angeles after a brief illness.He was a ten year veteran of the U.S. Navy and lifelong supporter of  fellow veterans and their families.
Borgnine,the son of Italian emigres,was born in Hamden,Connecticut,which named a street in his honor.He enlisted in the Navy in 1935 and served until 1941,but promptly re-enlisted in that year when Pearl Harbor was attacked and served an additional four years.He achieved the rank of Gunner's Mate 1st Class,serving aboard the USS Lamberton(DMS-2),a fast minesweeper that had originally been a WWI era destroyer(DD-119).Indeed,the ship continued to perform the escort duties typical of a destroyer,despite its new classification.His decorations included the Navy Good Conduct Medal;American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp;American Campaign Medal;Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal;and WWII Victory Medal.On October 4,2004,he was awarded the honorary Chief Petty Officer rating from Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry D. Scott for his support of the Navy and naval families worldwide.He had visited a number of veterans hospitals.
After the war,his mother had suggested an acting career for him,noting his exhibitionist tendencies,and he agreed.Borgnine worked in film and TV until the end of his life.He won a Best Actor Oscar in 1955 for the role of Marty in the film of that name.He also appeared in From Here To Eternity;Torpedo Run;Barnabas;The Dirty Dozen;Ice Station Zebra;The Wild Bunch;Willard;and The Poseidon Adventure-more than a hundred films in all.His TV credits include McHale's Navy;All Quiet on the Western Front;Airwolf;ER;Jesus of Nazareth;the long-running voiceover role of the Mermaid Man in SpongeBob SquarePants;and many others.
He is survived by his wife Tova;four children and six grandchildren;and his sister Evelyn.

Fifty Years Later:John Glenn,Marine and Astronaut

Astronaut John Glenn recently concluded his distinguished aviation career when he gave up his pilot's license at the age of 90.It was getting too hard for him to climb into his Beechcraft Baron.Still alert,Senator Glenn,who represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate from 1974-99,attended the fiftieth anniversary commemoration of his first orbital spaceflight by an American on 20 February at the Kennedy Space Center.
Senator Glenn's career in military aviation isn't nearly as well known as his NASA years,yet was outstanding in its own right.He flew 59 combat missions as a U.S. Marine pilot in World War II in an F49 Corsair in the South Pacific.That was followed by 63 combat missions in the Korean War in an F9F Panther jet interceptor,as well as 27 missions in an F-86F Sabre on an exchange program with the U.S. Air Force in that war,downing 3 MiG-15s near the Yalu River just before the truce that obtains to this day.
For his achievements,Senator Glenn was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Gold Stars and two Oak Leaf Clusters;an Air Medal with three Silver Stars and two Oak Leaf Clusters;and an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Bronze Star.He also received two Presidential Unit Citations,one for the United States and the other for Korea.
As well as orbiting the earth three times in a Mercury space capsule in February,1962,Senator Glenn became the oldest astronaut to fly in space when he joined the crew of the space shuttle Discovery in 1998 at age 77.On that flight,he was the subject of a biomedical evaluation of the effect of spaceflight on the elderly,with his 1962 space flight serving as a baseline for the study.Initially opposed to women being astronauts,he changed his mind about that and delivered a stirring tribute to Mission Specialist Judith Resnik,the second American woman in space,who tragically died in the space shuttle Challenger disaster on 28 January,1986.
For his storied accomplishments,Senator Glenn was also honored with the Congressional Gold Medal and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Destroyer Joins The Fleet

The granddaughter of a great World War II commander,Admiral Raymond Ames Spruance,participated in the sunset commissioning of an Arleigh Burke class destroyer,the USS Spruance(DDG 111),on Saturday 1 October in Key West,Florida.Ellen Spruance Holscher,Sponsor of the new ship,ordered the 285-member crew to man the ship and bring her to life,at which they ran up the gangways in their dress whites.Ms.Holscher had also taken part in the ship's christening on 5 June,helping to smash a bottle of champagne against the bow.
General Dynamics built the warship at its Bath Iron Works in Maine.Commander Tate Westbrook is her commanding officer.
The ship is armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles;a 5-inch gun;25mm machine gun;and torpedo tubes.It also carries two MH60-R helicopters.
Admiral Spruance led naval forces in the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
Several other of this type of destroyer are under construction or in the planning phase.

Noted Actor Was Navy Vet

Tony Curtis,the critically acclaimed actor who was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II,died September 29.He was 85.
Mr.Curtis,born Bernard Schwartz in the Bronx,New York,peaked as a film actor in the 1950s and 60s.In later years,he made a number of T.V. appearances.Among his most highly regarded films were Houdini(1953),The Defiant Ones(1958)and The Boston Strangler(1968).
Tony Curtis was a submariner from 1942-1945.He served aboard the USS Proteus(AS-19)in the Pacific Fleet.In September 1945,he witnessed the surrender of Japanese forces in Tokyo Bay.
Attaining the rank of SM3,Mr.Curtis was an ardent supporter of the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C. after the war,lending his celebrity to the Memorial on a number of occasions.Survived by his wife Jill,he was married five times,including to actress Janet Leigh.
Actor Ernest Borgnine also served in the Navy in World War II,and comedian Bill Cosby was a Navy corpsman in the 1950s.

Navy Flying Ace Dies

Captain Ralph John Rosen,U.S. Navy Retired,died on 11 May in McClean,Virginia.He was 90 years of age.A native of Chicago,Captain Rosen attended the University of Chicago until Pearl Harbor was attacked,then enlisted in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program,beginning his flying career in 1943 from aircraft carriers in the Pacific theater of World War II.A member of Squadron VF-8,he flew Hellcat fighters off the USS Bunker Hill(CV-17).The veteran of many combat missions downed six Japanese aircraft,earning the "ace" designation in consequence.For his superior record,Captain Rosen was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses;nine Air Medals;and a Purple Heart.
Following the war,Captain Rosen commanded three fighter squadrons and served as a naval attache in Spain and Turkey.He was also Air Operations Officer on the USS Saratoga(CV-60).Retiring in 1973,he entered politics and was elected to the New Hampshire state legislature,where he served eight terms until 2006.
Captain Rosen is remembered by his wife of sixty-six years Joan,three children,six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.He will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

Guadalcanal Veteran Dies

Captain Benjamin R. Eggeman,Jr.,U.S. Navy Retired,a veteran of major Pacific theater operations of World War II,died 7 April.Born in 1918 in Grand Haven,Michigan,Captain Eggeman graduated from Yale in 1941,receiving his commission from Yale naval ROTC.He served in the Pacific as an amphibious landing officer,participating in the battles of Guadalcanal,Iwo Jima,Leyte Gulf,Saipan,Bougainville and Luzon.He went on to serve in the Atlantic Fleet aboard cruisers and destroyers,as well as command the USS Putnam(DD-757),USS Denebola(AD-12) and Destroyer Squadron Two.
Captain Eggeman also served in several capacities in the Plans and Policy field,rising to a position on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon.A graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces,he additionally earned a Masters in Business from George Washngton University.He was awarded several decorations,including the Legion of Merit,a Bronze Star with V,a Navy Unit Citation,a Phillipines Presidential Unit Citattion,Phillipines Liberation Medal and World War II Victory Medal.
After retiring,Captain Eggeman served in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and on land use panels in Fairfax County,Virginia.Survived by his wife Jeanne,three sons and six grandsons,he will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

Platoon Commander and Scholar

Colonel William Joseph Davis,U.S. Marine Corps Retired,PhD,was recently interred in Arlington National Cemetery,having died just before Christmas.Colonel Davis,86,was a veteran of three wars,beginning his service as a Navy enlisted man in World War II.After the war,he earned a BA from Penn State University and joined the Marines as a 2nd Lieutenant.He was a platoon commander in the 1st Battalion/7th Marines during the Korean War,and became Commanding Officer of that unit in the Vietnam War.Colonel Davis was decorated for valor several times,receiving two Silver Stars,a Legion of Merit with Combat V,and the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat V.
Colonel Davis earned his MA at the University of Pennsylvania,where he was a Professor of Naval Science.He also studied at the Air War College in Montgomery,Alabama and was Commanding Officer at The Basic School in Quantico,Virginia. Upon retiring from the service in 1976,he earned a PhD and taught for Pepperdine University at several military bases across the country.The author and publisher of military books,Colonel Davis was known for his swimming and golfing.He is survived by his wife of 63 years,Isabel Anne,a daughter and son-in-law,a grandaughter and two step-grandaughters.

Oldest Naval Aviator Dies

Captain Pliny G. Holt,U.S. Navy Retired,MBE,who was believed to have been the oldest naval aviator at age 99,died on 4 January in Potomac,Maryland.A native of Stockton,California,Captain Holt earned his wings from Pensacola Naval Air Station with his brother Frank-the first brothers to do so-in December 1936.Trained as an engineer and mechanic at Stanford University and the Boeing School of Aeronautics,he developed instrumentation for naval aircraft such as gyroscope autopilots,as well as crucial night bombing navigation systems for the Royal Air Force,for which he was awarded membership in the Order of the British Empire by King George VI.Near the end of World War II,Captain Holt flew combat missions in the Pacific theater.Over the course of his career,he flew in over 100 aircraft types.
After the war,Captain Holt continued his engineering activities,heading the Navy's Guided Missile Division,Advanced Project Section,designing and building the first airborne inertial navigation system.His mechanical genius was attested to by the fact that he was awarded several dozen patents for his discoveries.Retiring in 1968,Captain Holt was awarded the Legion of Merit for over three decades of major achievements for his service and his nation.He coninued his aviation work as a consultant to IBM on avionics and aviation systems.
An accomplished golfer,Captain Holt played rounds with the likes of Admiral Ernest J. King,Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gerald R. Ford,among other notables.His other hobbies included model railroading and ship model building,at both of which he distinguished himself.Captain Holt was preceded in death by his wife,Elyse Law Holt.He leaves behind his nieces and nephews to admire his voluminous legacy.

Squadron Leader Succumbs

Captain George E. Ford,U.S. Navy Retired,who was awarded the Navy Cross in World War II,has died at 90 years old.Captain Ford was a dive bomber squadron leader in the Pacific theater.He received the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism in the battle of Leyte Gulf,the Philippine's.
After the war,Captain Ford was Commander,Naval Air Station Point Mugu,California.He retired from the Navy in 1971 and began a career in real estate,home building and marketing,becoming Vice President of Marketing at the Wills and Van Metre Company.
Captain Ford is survived by his wife Patricia,as well as three children,eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.He will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Distinguished Aviator Dies

Captain Allard Guy Russell,U.S. Navy Retired,88,an aviator whose encyclopedic career spanned more than 40 years,has died in Sarasota,Florida.He joined the Navy in 1940 after studying at the University of Washington.Captain Russell flew combat missions off of carriers in World War II and Korea.He flew a dive-bomber in support of the First Marine Division on Guadalcanal.When the USS Saratoga was torpedoed,he flew missions from a Guadalcanal airstrip,living among the Marines.He always considered himself a Marine,as well as Navy,after that experience.
After the wars,Captain Russell became a Navy test pilot,flying 125 different aircraft.He specialized in night flight operations,racking up about 6500 total hours of military flight time.A pioneer in computer-aided carrier landing in all-weather,Captain Russell also accepted exchange assignments with the Royal Navy.He received two Distinguished Flying Crosses,five Air Medals and a Presidential Unit Citation.
After retiring,Captain Russell worked as an administrator for Bell Aircraft,Hughes Aircraft and Boeing.He flew many mercy missions in his later years.A father of four,he was married to Edith Russell for more than 67 years.He was a member of the Navy League and the 1st Marine Division Association of SW Florida.

More Marines Ship Out

President Obama has just ordered 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan.They include a frontline force of 8,000 U.S. Marines and 4,000 Army,as well as 5,000 support troops.The President hopes this will inspire other NATO countries to send more troops as well.He is visiting Canada this week and will no doubt discuss the matter with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.Canadian forces have served with distinction in Afghanistan,despite their limited combat experience since World War II.Meanwhile,Pakistan has reached the latest in a series of agreements with militants in its Northwest frontier.All of the previous ones have been violated.The militants have continued to use the region as a base for attacking NATO and Afghan forces,as well as Pakistan itself.U.S. commanders in Afghanistan had requested 30,000 more troops,on top of the 33,000 who are already there.

The Pacific Fleet Today

The U.S. Pacific Fleet epitomizes the Navy's combat power.Its 180 ships and their aircraft patrol more than half of the planet.Admiral Robert F. Willard is Commander of the Fleet's more than 125,000 personnel,including sailors,Marines and civilians,who make it one of the most exceptional military groups in the world.The Pacific Fleet is based at Pearl Harbor,Hawaii,even as it was during World War II.Now as then,USPACFLT is a shield for democracy and its free markets.San Diego,California and Sasebo,Japan are also centers of the Fleet's operations.Admiral Timothy J. Keating is Commander,U.S. Pacific Command,one of the unified combatant commands,which oversees all U.S. forces in the vast region.

Three-War Marine Dies

Lt.General Victor H. Krulak,who led U.S. Marines through three major conflicts,has died in San Diego.In poor health for some time,he was 95.General Krulak won the Navy Cross for his actions in World War II.Leading a diversionary raid in the Pacific theater to mask the Bougainville invasion,he declined evacuation despite being badly wounded.In Korea,he was chief of staff to the 1st Marine Division.During the Vietnam War,he was commander of Fleet Marine Force Pacific,championing the cause of small unit tactics to win hearts and minds.He could thus be seen as a precursor to General David Petraeus,whose surge approach bases troops in Iraqi neighborhoods.His son,General Charles Krulak,served as Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995-99.Lt.General Krulak's book "First to Fight" is considered a classic of Marine Corps literature.

Intrepid Rededicated

The USS Intrepid(CV11) was rededicated on Tuesday,Veterans Day,following extensive repairs.The old aircraft carrier has been a floating museum in New York harbor since 1982.She saw service in both World War II and Vietnam.She was even pressed back into service on 9-11,when she was used as a landing pad for helicopters responding to the attack,President Bush noted at the rededication ceremony.Also among the thousands attending were General James T. Conway,Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps,wounded service members,veterans of the Intrepid,Navy,Marine and Coast Guard officers and enlisted,as well as Gold Star families who lost members in Operation Iraqi Freedom.Anchored alongside the Intrepid was the USS Bataan(LHD5),an amphibious assault ship homeported in Norfolk,Virginia.At next year's Veterans Day ceremony,the USS New York(LPD21),an amphibious transport dock,will be commissioned,said David Paterson,Governor of New York.

Navy Hero Dies

A World War II Medal of Honor recipient has died in Little Rock,Arkansas.Nathan Green Gordon,92,who served as Lieutenant Governor of the state after the war,received the medal for rescuing downed aviators in the South Pacific.Though under fire,he made three water landings and rescued 15 aviators in rough seas and rain.He flew a large seaplane,the Consolidated PBY Catalina,which was also called a flying boat.Immediately he received the medal in 1944,Mr.Gordon flew a 15- hour patrol.He was Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas from 1947-67,then practiced law in his hometown of Morrilton,Arkansas.