US Navy Carrier Squadrons

[MightyGem]

Just recently reading about US carrier ops during the Pacific war. When did Squadrons change from being called Bombing 6, Fighting 6 etc to VF/VA XXX?

[SASless]

An article that will help explain the US Naval Aviation system.

Generally it is the same system used since about 1922....but has had variations over the years.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-1/pdfs/Appendx4.pdf

[charliegolf]

Always wondered.....:ok:

CG

[SASless]

A good film that aligns with some of this is "The Wings of Eagles" made in 1957 which tells the story of Frank "Spin" Wead a well known Navy Pilot during the early days of Naval Aviation.

Directed by John Ford and starring a wonder Actress named Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne.

Some of the flying sequences and story of Weed's recovery from a broken neck and his contributions to Naval Aviation afterwards makes the film worth viewing.

[MightyGem]

An article that will help explain the US Naval Aviation system.

Generally it is the same system used since about 1922....but has had variations over the years.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-1/pdfs/Appendx4.pdf
Thanks for that, SASless.

[SASless]

Army-Navy Game. coming up....."Go Army....Beat Navy!".

[megan]

Go Navy......Beat Army, with my history I could have a dollar each way actually SAS, whoever wins I'm a winner.

[SASless]

I too have split loyalties....and never had much time for what we called ?Nose Pickers" due to their want to display those Academy Rings that were an indicator of their membership in a not so secret society that promised retirement at the O-6 level if they stayed in and kept their noses clean and hewed to the corporate policies.

That meant Colonel/Captain rank and a very nice retirement package.

Non-Academy Grads could make it but he Nose Pickers always had an edge in the promotion process.

What is good about the annual Football game is all of the traditions it includes at both Academies.

Plebes, those in their first year at the Academy pray fervently for their team to win....as the "hazing" of Plebes by Upper Classmen is relaxed post winning. Not so for the Losers.

The entire Corps of Cadets and Midshipmen attend the Game, patriotism is on display, and at the end of the game no matter the outcome both sides join together in entertaining rituals that bring the two sides together.

Both Teams join together on the field and take turns singing each Teams Alma Mater in turn facing the two Corps of Cadets/Midshipmen....something that does not happen at other College Games.

At the Coin Toss there is an exchange of the two Hostages....one from each Corps.

Normally the Sitting US President attends and sits for half the game on each side.

Then there is the fly by of Navy and Army Aircraft which is a bit unusual as most games get use a single flyby.

Of course there is the parachute jump by one of the two Academies.

All in all it is a good show as well as a hard fought football game.

It is the only Football game that I watch each year without fail.....this time it will be in person at the stadium....my. first!

The competing spirit videos made each year can be classics.....one that I found really good was this one.....you have to endure parts that lead up to the ending.....which is great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuAs3LaJG_M

[West Coast]

From the Marine Corps: hoping for a rain out.

[BEagle]

Hasn't that juvenile 'hazing' nonsense been stamped out now?

[West Coast]

Hasn't that juvenile 'hazing' nonsense been stamped out now?

A football game?

[BEagle]

Plebes, those in their first year at the Academy pray fervently for their team to win....as the "hazing" of Plebes by Upper Classmen is relaxed post winning. Not so for the Losers.

That's what I was referring to.

In 1990, the Los Angeles Times reported:
The new class of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy this year has been spared a disciplinary ritual as old as West Point itself.

Hazing of first-year cadets, or plebes, has been abolished.

But at this 188-year-old school, hazing is a tradition that has survived reform before.

Plebes of old had to do such things as memorize how many ice cubes go in the drinks of upperclassmen. Or double-time around the barracks at 120 steps a minute, squaring corners like robots. Or study New York Times articles, ready to repeat them verbatim at the whim of older cadets.

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

Of course, those assigned to a Photographic Squadron in 1944 were not prone to brag about it in the bar.

[SASless]

Beags delights in living in the past usually and as in this case does not understand what is being talked about.

His concept of "hazing" probably comes from a public school education or from watching Hollywood movies where "hazing" involves physical violence or something along that lines.

Sorry Beags being asked questions about current events, describing the inner working of a watch, or the milk production by a Cow while sat at the Dining table eating square mills is interesting and not monitored properly can lead to abuses.

The military is full of tradition as it should be....one example is "Hitting the Wall" where Juniors make way for Seniors as they walk by indoors.....done with exaggeration at the Academy but carries over to normal duty post graduation.

At the Academies the Senior Cadets/Midshipmen supervise more Junior Cadets/Midshipmen, conduct room inspections and related functions.

If their Team wins.....that enforcement of those standards becomes more relaxed and life gets a bit easier as a result.....that is the concept you misunderstand.