Fleet week is always made exciting first by the incredible technological power displayed by the Navy. Next comes its impressive naval crew. The men and women that serve us are absolutely amazing and the time I spent on the USS Wasp was made memorable by the conversations I had with these incredible individuals. Today I'm posting general pics I took (or swiped) to share with you. Tomorrow I'll have a few quotes and pics with some of these individuals. On Sunday I'm posting some of the Navy toys I was able to play with : )

For today though, we have a cute Lady Marine, I didn't catch her name because she was being whisked away by her own personal superhero. Every woman & man (as Harvey can attest) needs to be swept off their feet once in a while.

This wonderful pilot of this Huey was in the middle of explaining to me about some of his support missions in Iraq, when a little girl lost her footing & hung from this machine gun and in the process broke a piece off of it. I thought these were decommissioned copters. Nope, Matt corrected me as he began to fix the gun. That was "HIS" copter, which had just returned from Iraq with him only a few weeks prior. Here's an observation: he was the last pilot I met and the cutest of them all. Is there a requirement that Navy and (as Mike indicated in the comments) MARINE Pilots, like Matt, must be cute in order to be pilots?

I have no idea what this is called. But their precision, flawless passing and focus was incredible. Please feel free to give me insight in the comments.

This photo is courtesy of the US Navy. It shows USS Wasp personnel at parade rest with the Statue of Liberty in the background. I love this photo. In one image it captures the essence of the military's role in our lives: protecting our freedom.

Lt. Tayers, a medical officer with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), fires a rifle at a target during a small arms demonstration for the public. His marksmanship was impressive and the conversation he and I had memorable. When I get a chance I want to share it with a certain blogger who will definitely benefit from it.

Okay yes, I'm partial to Marines, I'll admit it! But I also have to say, I HATE the clash of colors in their multi-colored uniforms. I'd like to ask the persons responsible... "What were you thinking!" But I absolutely love the 2nd picture of the 4 guys in formal uniform. I have absolutely... NO complaints *grin*

My greatest thanks go to Marine 1st Lt. Oles who helped me gain an understanding of the aerodynamics of the Osprey and helped me understand how this aircraft supported our troops in his 3 tours of Iraq & Afghanistan.

This was a picture I couldn't resist taking from this vantage point. I was impressed with the fact that he didn't even flinch when I got close to him. I wonder what he would have done had I kept advancing?

And since we started with a lady, we'll end with one just to balance the guys out. Here's a sailor showing off her marksmanship during another demonstration. The demo gave me gun reallllll gun envy.

Posted by: Michele at 06:27 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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