USS New York...Just Commissioned

How come they didn't make any bikes out of the WTC?

How's that, not to political for you, is it?
:lol:

 

I hear you.

But this isn't just a ship, it's a weapon of mass destruction! Politics are built right into the the subject.

 

i like turtles!

 

I don't have any problem with them using the steel in the construction of the vessel, but it seems rather odd to me that they built the steel into a SHIP to commemorate an attack that was planned and launched from a LANDLOCKED country?

 

Okay dude, its not just the big green monsters that do that job...ill stop there. Yes, I agree they should build more of these and decom the old Lu.:lol:
I was really going to get in on this politial debate, but that would be pointless! I'll just end with "I love that class of ship, and God bless America and our fighting men and women!" Now we all just need to get over our bullshit and stand behind them 100%!

 

As someone who has had experience in both OEF and OIF, I would respectfully disagree with the bolded excerpt from your note. In Iraq, we have Balad Airbase which is home to a USAF Expeditionary Air Wing complete with F-16C Fighting Falcon fighter/bombers and Predator drones that provide 24-7 CAS (The F-16s also provide CAP missions). They can be anywhere in Iraq in 10-15 minutes flight time and the F-16s can loiter on station for hours with the aid of in-flight refueling. Troops in Iraq could also call upon AC-130 Spectre gunship support from Al-Asad Air Base in neighboring Saudi Arabia. In Afghanistan, we have Bagram Air Base-- home to another USAF Expeditionary Air Wing composed of F-15E Strike Eagle fighter bombers flying CAS as well as unmanned drones. Again, they can be on station and dropping munitions anywhere in less than 15 minutes flight time. Both these bases provide rotary wing aircraft to perform the missions you stated above such as MEDEVAC AND SAR missions. Currently, I believe the Stennis battle group is deployed in the Indian Ocean with about 70 combat aircraft. Flight time for an F/A-18E Super Hornet to launch and be on station would be double to triple in my estimation. Plus, the operating tempo is diminished because Navy aircraft then have to fly all the way back to their carrier to re-arm (re-fuel can be handled by tankers and they can also bingo to an airbase). Yes, the carriers are the first line of offense/defense during the intial stages of an engagement-- and nothing beats them for mobility and speed of deployment. But once you have land based aircraft, it's been my experience that it's a) more combat/cost effective and more importantly b) less risk to flight crews (much safer/easier to land on terra firma than a pitching carrier deck).

I think everyone who has posted on this thread has made some extremely valid points. But I hope no one here questions any American's patriotism because he or she may disagree or have reservations about our military. After all, we live in a democracy where citizens are expected to have differing viewpoints. We should be questioning the actions of our government every day. The "you're with us or against us" viewpoint is something that hopefully died with the disaster of the past 8 years. Too many of our young men and women have paid the ultimate price for that "bring 'em on" attitude.

Lastly, (and I'll get off my soapbox after this)-- we should remember that vessels like the New York are also used in humanitarian aid assistance all over the world-- and not just for war. Vessels like the New York were among the first to reach hurricane victims in Southeast and South Asia (during Katrina, the Iwo Jima was deployed off the coast of New Orleans). They often provide SAR with their helos; food; medical aid and a host of other humanitarian missions before relief organizations show up.

Our military needs to learn from our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan to learn how to fight smarter, and not just thump our chests waving a big stick around. A lot of Americans have died thinking they could win using that method. Counter-insurgency warfare doesn't work that way. I hope this Administration finally gets it.

Thanks for reading.

 

:clap: Well said.

 

i have 3 oef tours and 1 oif what branch were you in? we might have bumped into each other?

i was with army 66mp co then 571 mp co and finially moved up to 1st group sf

 

It's easy to play naive behind castle walls. When Al Queda is about to decapitate you tell them "Hold it! I've moved on."

 

+1!:clap:

 

Except we were already given the horns first. Since then, we have mostly been given the bull.

I don't have a problem with using the metal for a warship. I find it amusingly peculiar actually.

But then again, the US loves the use of symbols and propaganda as much as the next country.

Our ambitions unfortunately, have been rudderless for quite a long time. Until the majority of our modes of thinking are done out of the box, not much change can or will occur.

It is time for all thinking people to do so.

 

The USS New York :bang: :clap:. Awesome ship indeed. Gator Navy all the way!!

This was the amphib. I was on, the USS Cayuga LST 1186. I spent 4 years on it as an electrician, we carried Marines and their AAV's. I am very proud to have served my country, I considered it a great honor. I come from a family that is very proud of this country and for what it stands for. I have relatives that have served going all the way back to the Revolutionary War, so for me giving 4 years was the least I could do.

 

quote.."I think everyone who has posted on this thread has made some extremely valid points. But I hope no one here questions any American's patriotism because he or she may disagree or have reservations about our military. After all, we live in a democracy where citizens are expected to have differing viewpoints. We should be questioning the actions of our government every day. The "you're with us or against us" viewpoint is something that hopefully died with the disaster of the past 8 years. Too many of our young men and women have paid the ultimate price for that "bring 'em on" attitude.

Lastly, (and I'll get off my soapbox after this)-- we should remember that vessels like the New York are also used in humanitarian aid assistance all over the world-- and not just for war. Vessels like the New York were among the first to reach hurricane victims in Southeast and South Asia (during Katrina, the Iwo Jima was deployed off the coast of New Orleans). They often provide SAR with their helos; food; medical aid and a host of other humanitarian missions before relief organizations show up.

Our military needs to learn from our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan to learn how to fight smarter, and not just thump our chests waving a big stick around. A lot of Americans have died thinking they could win using that method. Counter-insurgency warfare doesn't work that way. I hope this Administration finally gets it."

Thanks for that insight. I really appreciate it!
As for being anti American because I believe a war ship is a weird way to remember the victims and their families,
my thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.
If someone I loved died in 9/11, my first choice would not be putting steel into a war ship.

On the other hand, maybe they saved money because it was donated. :?:
As for those dogs of war. Another great decision by the military:

• 1941-1945 - The Soviet Union used dogs strapped with explosives to destroy invading German tanks.
• 1943-1945 - The United States Marine Corps used dogs, donated by their American owners, in the Pacific theater to help take take islands back from Japanese occupying forces. During this period the Doberman Pinscher became the official dog of the U.S.M.C.; however, all breeds of dogs were eligible to train to be 'war dogs of the Pacific'. These dogs were to be returned to their original owners after WWII ended, however, if the dogs could not be 'de-militarized' or re-trained to be companion animals again, they were destroyed.
• 1966-1973 - Approximately 5,000 US War Dogs served in the Vietnam War (the US Army did not retain records prior to 1968); About 10,000 US servicemen served as dog-handlers during the war, and the K9 units are estimated to have saved over 10,000 human lives. 43 military working dogs and 73 US servicemen working as "dog handlers" were killed in action during the war. US military regulations required destruction or transfer of military working dogs in combat zones, and no known Vietnam War dogs returned home (US).[citation needed]
• 1979-1988 - The Soviet Union again uses dogs, this time in the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

My point of this is that the dogs were abandoned and left to die in Vietnam even after all the lives they saved. Sad.
:?:

 

Don't sink my battleship?

I don't care about the symbolism, that ship is cooler than China's. I'm glad to think tax dollars built something like this domestically and employs lots of sailors in it's care and guidance.

For once I'll refrain from politics and the mandatory service debate and simply say that's a rad new boat and I'd like to play with it in the tub.

 

all this political rhetoric??? am i the only one who sees big b00bies

niiiiice one (err, two) USA!!!

 

why do we keep building weapons that destroy human compassion. Build it bigger, faster, and more destructive. War is peace!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fear is being a patriot. Not thinking is noble to the cause. Ah never mind my babel.

 

I too have served time protecting this country but going around blowing everything up is not the answer. Most of the time we are creating more terrorists by the way we go about things instead of getting rid of them. If we want to make sure they don't continue to exist we could stop supporting them in the first place. The two current wars are results of us propping up the wrong people.

We backed Osama and the Taliban so they would fight USSR in Afghanistan. We gave chemical weapons to Saddam to use against Iran and then called him a terrorist and claimed he gassed his own people. I have no problem with the people defending this country or the pride we feel for living in such a great place but we need to keep in mind how we got here. I do not want to see my comrades fighting wars that we could have avoided by not making bad decisions in the first place. I spent months floating around on a ship in the Gulf during the first war so I know first hand what it means to be in the firing line.

 

Oh boy, now you just opened another can of worm! 100% agree with your statement. Force should be used as last resort but without having a force we would not have the option. I'll be the first one to say US foreign policies and officials are just as about dim as it gets and as arrogant as it gets. Made us a whole lot of enemies and lost a whole lot of allies.

Guess no one in our government ever studied history and read a book. All the things US were doing wrong are all written in ONE BOOK: the art of war.

If only people just read once in a while. :lol:

 

Misinformed pacifism at it's finest.

 

My service was in another nation's military many, many years ago (I'm a naturalized US citizen-- raised and educated in the States) but we cross-trained and deployed with US forces on numerous occasions (including some 1st group guys on TDY from Okinawa).

My experience with OEF and OIF was as an embedded journalist with coalition forces. I was up in Northern Afghanistan in late Sept. 2001 "embeded" with the Northern Alliance (ran into a 5th group ODA up there-- could spot 'em a mile away even in their beards) then embedded with Brit Royal Marines and 10th MTN during the siege of Tora Bora. During OIF, I was embedded with elements of 3rd ID, 101 ABN for the "liberation" of Baghdad and then 4th ID for the capture of Saddam Hussein. Spent numerous Thanksgivings and Christmases at various FOBs (I loved the DFACs and miss the MREs). Then I went back to embed with the Marines for the siege of Fallujah. During the first Iraqi national elections I was was with the British Prince of Wales Battle Group down in Basra and then back up to Ramadi with 2-5 Marines. That doesn't count my time in the West Bank and Gaza dodging between the IDF, Fatah and Hamas. I also went aboard the Stennis in the Indian Ocean to report on life aboard a carrier and an F-14 squadron flying CAPs over Afghanistan. My last assignment in Iraq was in 2005 when I was embedded with the 332nd Expeditionary Air Wing reporting on the air campaign in Iraq and then with elements of 7th group training Iraqi special forces. All told, 13 hops to Iraq... 2 hops to Afghanistan.

In all that time, I saw humanity at its worst and its most magnificent. Thank you for your service.