U.S. Navy Birthday Celebration

A few weeks ago - Oct. 13 to be precise - we celebrated the U.S. Navy's 232nd Birthday.

It was a Friday the 13, in 1775, when the Continental Congress - which had not yet declared independence, authorized the creation of a Navy for the coming struggle with England. The proclamation establishing the Navy was very short and to the point:

"Resolved, That a swift sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportionable number of swivels, with eighty men, be fitted, with all possible despatch, for a cruise of three months, and that the commander be instructed to cruize eastward, for intercepting such transports as may be laden with warlike stores and other supplies for our enemies, and for such other purposes as the Congress shall direct.

"That a Committee of three be appointed to prepare an estimate of the expence, and lay the same before the Congress, and to contract with proper persons to fit out the vessel.

"Resolved, that another vessel be fitted out for the same purposes, and that the said committee report their opinion of a proper vessel, and also an estimate of the expence."

How far the Navy has come since the days of John Paul Jones, calling out to the captain of Serapis, "I have just begun to fight!" Today, the U.S. Navy is the unparalleled master of the seas. We have 12 aircraft carriers (we had dozens in WWII) and the next biggest navy has two or three. The next biggest navy that is hostile to us...has none. Or none that aren't rust-covered amusement parks, anyway.

But we're not just a force on the ocean, and I'm the living proof. In the three and a half years I've been in the Navy, I've never once set foot on a ship. In fact, for the first time in history, there are more sailors on the ground in Operation Iraqi Freedom than there are supporting it at sea. In all, there are 30,000 sailors here in Iraq.

So, as we gathered one damp, sticky evening in the Al Faw Palace, we honored the tradition - and the future of the U.S. Navy.

A 50-foot-tall U.S. flag hangs in the rotunda of the Al Faw Palace.

It was a simple ceremony. We gathered and sang "Anchors Aweigh," joined by quite a few Army soldiers who stumbled along with a print-out of the unfamiliar words, just like Sunday morning Baptists:

Stand Navy out to sea,
Fight our Battle Cry;
We'll never change our course,
So vicious foe steer shy-y-y-y.

Roll out the TNT,
Anchors Aweigh.
Sail on to Victory
And sink their bones to Davy Jones, Hooray!

Actually, there are two sets of lyrics to the song: one for the Navy as a whole, and one for the Naval Academy. And it's not "Anchors Away!" The word "aweigh" means "to weigh" and "weighing anchor" means to pull an anchor out of the water and suspend it at the bow of a ship - which looks much like something hung from a chain on an old-fashioned scale - hence the term.

The highest-ranking officer available - in this case an admiral - addressed the gathering:

And we actually listened to him.

There was even cake to be had:

The words "Honor, courage and commitment" are from the Sailor's Creed.

The admiral and the most junior Seaman present (right) cut the cake, with a little help from another officer, and the use of a borrowed sword from the Marines.

Joining us at the event were some of our coalition partners. Here I am standing in the cake line with a sailor from the Ukranian Navy. He's a pilot by training, and started in the Air Force before switching to the Navy to fly sub-hunter aircraft. Obviously, he's on a little different duty these days.

The blue and white striped shirts - which the navy personnel from all of the Former Soviet Union wear - are a tradition from the Russian Navy that predates the Soviet Union to the time of the Czars. Soviet sailors were so proud of their blue-and-white shirts that when they were pulled off the blockaided warships and thrown into the carnage of Stalingrad as regular foot soldiers, they wore their distinctive navy shirts into battle. The Ukraine, independent since the early 1990s, nonetheless kept this tradition.

And here's a coalition partner who wouldn't have been my mortal enemy 20 years ago. This guy is from the Royal Australian Navy. Small as it is, it's probably the most professional branch of the Australian military. Although in actual wartime, they've always been a kind of backup to the English Royal Navy, they acquitted themselves well in World War I and World War II.

Pictures of the Lake

In the center of this base is a massive lake, built by Saddam Hussein at the height of his arrogant self-worshiping architectural effusion. It's surrounded by various buildings - homes and recreation facilities for Ba'ath Party officials.


They're all in use to this day - by us - and even lower-level staff folks who work in cubicles...work in cubicles with marble floors.

At the heart of the lake, of course, is the Al Faw Palace (see my earlier post): Here's a picture from the back:





Here are a few pictures of the lake:


A small causeway behind the palace leads to a small island, which was likely the dockhouse for Iraq's most rich and evil.



Not sure what this was, but I thought it looked cool. There are helicopters flying around this place all the time. Someday, I'll donate a whole post to my best helicopter photos.


I have strong suspicions that the lost gold of Iraq is sunk in here somewhere. Or maybe some WMDs. From what I've heard, there are also supposedly some bodies in here - probably folks who displeased Saddam, and were invited to take a recreational swim with concrete flippers.


At this intersection, it is recommended that you follow the stop sign. Those pretty rails don't really do the trick by themselves.


Surprise, surprise. Another helicopter!


The road in places is just a causeway between the lake and canals or ponds, like this one, near Saddam's personal mosque.

If you think this is cool, in a couple of weeks, I'll introduce you to some of the lake's inhabitants.