On Optimism
Fly Navy
I miss optimism. Not the personal kind, I can re-kindle that with a walk in the woods. No, the societal type. See, recently, I’ve been haunting various political substacks from both the left and the right to speak truth to crazy. It’s not working. Biden supporters can't admit he’s old, and Trump supporters can't admit he’s old AND corrupt. And both sides lambast me for taking down their dude! Where is that sunny Reagan/Obama outlook? You know, the one that says, “Yeah, things are tough. There’s racism and violence and hatred. We have different viewpoints, but we’re all Americans, dammit, and working together, we can fix it! We can make it better.”
I miss that.
Let me introduce you to some incredible, optimistic, can-do Americans. Recall there is a US Navy aircraft carrier battlegroup casting a wide net over the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Gulf of Aden. CVN 69 - the USS Eisenhower - departed Norfolk, VA, last October, in company with the USS Philippine Sea (guided-missile cruiser), USS Mason, and USS Gravely (guided-missile destroyers) just in time for all hell to break loose in Israel, Gaza, and Yemen. When Houthi pirates started chucking various random warheads toward Israel and neutral international shipping, the Navy was on station to counteract the mayhem.
On a usual cruise, the Ike makes a port visit every few weeks to give the crew some R and R. On this cruise, stops in Croatia and Greece were anticipated. Instead, thanks to fanatic Houthi piracy, they have been at sea, most of it in combat conditions, for 129 days and counting.
Sophisticated jet aircraft launch from the Ike every 60 to 90 minutes around the clock. Aircrew stand 12-hour duty rotations. They anticipate the threats of cruise and ballistic missiles and airborne and surface drones and take action to eliminate them. They are in danger and combat 24/7. They exercise teamwork, judgment, and professionalism of the highest order. They are there to protect international shipping and prevent the Houthis from escalating the horror in Gaza to the rest of the Middle East. They are heroic, and they are winning. They are the best of us.
A flight might go like this:
A cat shot off the carrier (Fly Navy).
Join a strike group of Hornets and Growlers - radar intercepts indicate imminent ballistic missile launch.
Growlers roll in and launch anti-radar missiles to clear the way for the Hornets.
Hornets release air-launched cruise missiles, smart bombs, or unguided missiles to eliminate the Houthi launch site.
Return to MOM (The Ike), shoot a perfect approach in the dark, and stick the landing.
Repeat.
Commander Timothy Warburton, executive officer of VAQ 130 (The Zappers), is my nephew. His squadron flies F18 Growlers off the Ike on electronic countermeasure missions. His wife Martha and two rascally young ‘uns wait at home for him to return. Cdr Tim has been in the Navy for a while now and has experience with this sort of thing from Libya to Afghanistan to Syria. He is calm, confident, patient, and funny as hell. He deserves to be with his family, but he believes in the greater good.
From the Ike -
“We know that our purpose is a just and moral one, for we seek only peace with freedom, and we can succeed in this great endeavor only if each and every one of us is willing to give the full measure of courage, sacrifice, work, and vision, not in a divided effort but working together in pursuit of our common goal.”
Like I said…they are the best of us. Keep them in mind and in your hearts.
You should check out this YouTube channel to get a sense of what these extraordinary Americans do day in and day out working together.
https://www.youtube.com/@GrowlerJams
An Enchanted Vagabond will always be free to read and enjoy. You can support my writing habit with either a paid subscription or the tip jar below. Thanks so much for reading.
Peace.
Hey Barry- This is an interesting piece. I like your honesty about missing societal optimism. I do wonder sometimes if one of the issues is that outrage and pessimism is what sells. When the currency is getting people riled up, then there tends to be a ripple effect of inciting more outrage---which muscles out optimism as a whole. It might be part media-power, part psychology of masses. But whatever it is, nothing good comes completely out of pessimism devoid of optimism, I think.
Welp, ya got me good this time. All misty, nose running, deep non-cleansing ragged breaths. From the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Because as I watch everyone here go about their lives I truly wonder if they understand or even care. Guessing most don't because, well because they don't have a personal investment.
Me, I wake up every morning and scan my cell phone first thing, just to be sure. Just to be sure they didn't sneak one through the picketts. Just to be sure the airframe that's stressed a year beyond spec made it through one more trap. Just to be sure the GE F414 power plant didn't flame out over some God-forsaken strip of Persian sand forcing two of the best of us to hit the silk and hope like hell that a copter shows up before some 50 cal. toting Tacoma.......just to be sure.
So, I thank you. Sometimes it gets a little lonely watching and waiting
Much Love to You and Yours, Hermano