II talked about this at the last meeting. I believe it bears repeating here.

Late call-ins for luncheon reservations and walk-in's without reservations are again causing problems. Specifically, this causes a last minute hassle; extra tables must be set up, and the Elks Club chef is suddenly faced with breaking out and preparing more food, all the while endeavoring to put out a quality meal for us.

As emphasized in each Op-Plan, it's vital that luncheon reservations be called in not later than 1000 the Monday before the Thursday luncheon.

That's when we tell the Elks Club the number of attendees, and they purchase the food to feed this number and set up the room accordingly. Late call-ins or simply walking into the luncheon without a reservation, cause an unneeded hassle for the staff of both the Elks Club and GPS.

Please make your luncheon reservations before 1000 on the Monday before the Thursday luncheon!!!

We do recognize that on rare occasion a member may have a last minute change in schedule and can attend a luncheon. We always want to have GPS members participate, so please come anyway and we will try to have a seat and meal for you, but it may happen that we can't provide either. The best option is to make a reservation before 1000 on the Monday before the Thursday luncheon.

After much debate and consideration the staff agreed to a $2.00 surcharge for late call-ins and walk-ins. This not to punish anyone, it is to help us to have a smoother more efficient meeting and to retain the good will of the Elks Club Management. We really enjoy having a large participation at the Squadron meeting, the more the merrier!
So please come and do call-in early!

VISIT THE GRAMPAW PETTIBONE STAFF AT WORK.
When: First Thursday of each and every month.
Where: Los Alamitos Golf Course, Time: NOON, Length: ± 1 hour

I invite and welcome any member to join us and see what the staff does. I believe you will enjoy watching the staff at work for you and the Squadron. Please! Come! One caveat; you must buy your own lunch as all staff members must. Lunch is very inexpensive and the clubs food is excellent.
Look forward to seeing you in May.

GPS CO,

Jim Menees

It was disappointing to have had to cancel the May 4 Field Trip to the Palm Springs Air Museum but we had insufficient sign-ups to cover costs. I did get feedback that some have been there recently and weren't quite ready to make the trek again.

Several people have expressed an interest in visiting the Midway in San Diego after it opens to the public in June. I am tracking the progress of that museum effort and if they have sufficient displays by then we can see if there is enough interest to justify chartering a bus sometime this summer.

Bud Kretsinger is working on two other potential outings to San Diego. The new carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, will be home ported in San Diego and he is working on getting us a walk-aboard tour. If that materializes, we could possibly combine that with a tour of the Midway - one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

Bud continues to work on getting us a day's sailing trip on one of the large carriers. Family days are perfect for they are set-up for allowing people on deck while they conduct flight operations. They put on quite a show!

Of course, these opportunities do not occur often as they are one day events preceding a 6 month deployment, but hopefully, such an opportunity will occur within a year.

Our speaker for June will be MGen Jon A. Gallinetti, USMC, CG MCAS Miramar and Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area, that includes Miramar, Yuma and Camp Pendleton. MGen Gallinetti has recently returned from Iraq where he served as Deputy to General Sanchez who heads up the Coalition Forces in Iraq. He should be able to give us an accurate and interesting accounting of recent events.

GPS OPS

Andy Gilcrest

Guest Speaker - Captain Harold "Digger" Daigh, USMC (Ret)

By Ray LeCompte, Assistant PAO

The only daylight propeller vs. propeller aerial combat during the Korean War was between YAKs and Corsairs and was recounted first hand by Captain USMC (Ret) Harold "Digger" Daigh with the aid of slides of his historical photographs.

Digger was a WWII Air to Air gunnery instructor with no combat experience who was recalled in 1950 for the Korean Police Action. VMF 312 "checkerboard" squadron formed up at El Toro and soon thereafter was operating in an about the Seoul and Wonsan regions of Korea, mainly conducting close air support with both the 1st Marine Division and the 1st Marine Air Wing. Then, in early 1951, Checkerboard came aboard the aircraft carrier Bataan, a CVL built upon a cruiser hull.

There were many sidebar events to Diggers reminiscent recantings–too numerous to relate--that spanned his boyhood up through his 118 missions in Korea. Borrowing one of Diggers account preambles, "To make a short story long . . ," I'll confine my reporting to his 90th mission in theater which was his 25th mission off of the carrier Bataan—the YAK ATTACK occurrence.

Having launched with a full up combat load on their F4U-4B Corsairs and while on station sauntering at 160 Kts airspeed at 2000 foot altitude, from out of the sun came 4 YAKS which resemble Mustangs. Sighting these, Digger then alerted the flight by commenting, "Four Mustangs will probably shoot us down." A wingman's reply came back, "I've already been hit. I'm doing a split-S and heading for the ground."

FULL COMBAT LOAD FROM 2000 FEET—A SPLIT-S?!

But he made it! Thankfully.

The YAK's had about a 3000 foot advantage to conduct the engagement making the Corsairs sitting ducks being heavy, at slow airspeed and low to the ground. "We were caught by surprise." Digger said.

His wingman had a cockpit full of open maps attempting to keep up with their location. All the while, Digger was relaxing enjoying a cigarette with his feet hanging down in the well, his armament not turned ON or his guns charged. "I was just along for the ride!" he said.

With the onset of the surprise YAK Attack, he did manage to charge the guns and get rid of the cigarette as a YAK with excess airspeed overran his slower-flying Corsair. Now positioned behind the YAK, Digger nailed the YAK. He saw a wing come off which he said was "sort of nice." Then while chasing anther YAK, a voice said, "One's on your tail. Break left." He did and that YAK too overran him which his wingman "smoked." There were now only two YAK's left.

The remaining YAK's tried to slowdown to our 160 Kt's airspeed, however, they still overran our heavy loaded Corsairs. Digger got one more "smoking" while the remaining YAK was on his tail—which his wingman "smoked." "Evidently, that YAK had enough and headed for home plate," Digger said.

Meanwhile, Digger's wingman fired two rockets at the remaining smoking YAK. Apparently that was enough for that YAK pilot as the hatch opened, maps etc. flew out, and then the pilot bailed out. Digger followed the parachute down and observed the pilot to be OK, but after the entering the water, he never came back to the surface.

On the way back to the Bataan, the Corsairs dumped their entire ordinance and landed safely aboard. Digger ended his luncheon speech by commenting, "I think I've said enough."

GRAMPS SHINY SHIP'S BELL.

In a special presentation at the April 8th luncheon, Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach Master-at-Arms Miguel Diaz and James Barr returned to C.O. Jim Menees GPS's now very shiny ships bell. This was the culmination of an observation made at the march 11th luncheon by one of the Sailor-of-the-Quarter/Year being honored who noted that Gramps "Ship's Bell" was really tarnished.

In the ensuing conversations the long existing Navy tradition that "A shiny ship's bell is the responsibility of the ship's cook" was noted, yet all agreed that GPS didn't have any "ship's cooks". Senior Chief Petty Officer James Beffa asked if he could take the bell and shine it up, noting that while the Weapons Station didn't have any "ships cooks" either, he was confident he could find a sailor's rating that could substitute.

Of the presenters, it turns out that MASN Barr was the prime "shiner", with MA1 Diaz commenting that he had shined many ships bell's in his previous rating of Mess Management Specialist. Added to the bell's wood stand was a small brass plaque that reads: "In Sincere Appreciation For Your Support of NWS Seal Beach Sailors - March 2004 " The bell had years of tarnish on it, and when Jim received the shiny one he exclaimed, "Is this a new bell?" Really looks great - so a great big GRAMPS "Thank You" goes to MACS Beffa, MA1 Diaz, and MASN Barr, and their shipmates!

And now a little U.S. Navy history: Long ago the "ship's cook" became the "Commissaryman" rating. In the 1970's the rating became "Mess Management Specialist", and in the past year it has changed to "Culinary Specialist"!

Submitted by Bob Olds, ANA Trustee.

P-3 SHORTAGE SPELLS END OF OVER-LAND MISSIONS
By David Brown
and Glenn W. Goodman Jr.
Navy Times 03/29/04

Looks like it's back to flying over water and sniffing for submarines for the P-3 Orion fleet.
After spending the past few years flying combat missions over Afghanistan and Iraq - conducting surveillance for troops on the ground and in some cases firing off missiles - the mission of the P-3s is being "re-centered" back to maritime surveillance and antisubmarine warfare, said Vice Adm. John Nathman head of warfare requirements and assessments for the Navy.

"That is clearly not the role, or why we bought that particular airplane," Nathman told members of the House Armed Services Committee during a March 11 hearing. "We are trying to bring back the current force to a more maritime focus."

The 10 P-3s of Patrol Squadron 9's Golden Eagles, for example, flew 100 combat missions and logged 3,000 hours over Afghanistan from October to December 2001. Since the war on terror began, P-3s have flown night and day reconnaissance missions, pinpointed targets for attack aircraft, performed battle-damage assessments, downlinked surveillance information to Marines and fired Standoff Land-Attack Missiles at Taliban and Iraqi forces.

Nathman said the planes flew over land at the request of Central Command, which needed surveillance on the ground for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. "We put them as far forward as we could because in that fight, our commanders wanted that platform" said Marine Lt. Gen. Edward Hanton head of Marine Corps Combat Development Command. "It might very well be that because of the terrain that we had in Afghanistan and Iraq, it really optimized that particular platform."

Land surveillance is a nontraditional role for the P-3, Nathman said. "This is interesting to me as an individual who has spent a great amount of his time in air warfare, that we would put a very large, poorly maneuvering (compared to a fighter) plane, without a whole lot of electronic protection, over certain battle spaces," he said. "We would not have done that a long time ago, but that is because our commanders knew an awful lot about the battle space they were flying in".

But the P-3s are being overused, Nathman said, so the Navy needs to eliminate this extra mission to keep the aircraft flying until its successors arrive several years from now. "(The) high usage rate has now put us in (the position) of having to limit the way we fly these airplanes to ensure that the force can transition to its follow-on capability," Nathman said. Cmdr. Mike Hewitt, P-3/Multimission Maritime Aircraft requirements officer, said the Navy is asking Central Command to ease up on the P-3 requirements.

"We don't tell them how to utilize their maritime patrol aircraft," he said last month in an Interview. "What we're telling them is that we need to protect the core competency, which is ASW, because if we continue to fly them the way we do today in all of these other mission areas, we won't be able to sustain a viable force until (the) replacement! gets here."

Last spring, after officials assessed the wear-and-tear on the aircraft, which entered the fleet in 1969, the Navy cut its number of P-3s from 227 to 148 and began a sustainment program for its remaining aircraft.

The P-3 mission will be replaced by a combination of a Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft and an unmanned Broad Area Maritime Surveillance vehicle. The MMA either will be a modernized P-3 variant offered by Lockheed Martin or a modified Boeing 737 jet, and is expected to enter the fleet in 2012.

In the meantime, the Navy's acquisition chief said contractors from several companies will be allowed to compete to build the BAMS UAV. The decision, announced March 16, meant the Navy was sidestepping an Air Force plea to skip the competition and buy into one of its existing UAV programs to save money.

Top Air Force officials sent letters to the Navy secretary and chief of naval operations in February, urging them to go with Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk as their answer to BAMS. The Air Force plans to buy 51 of the large unmanned aerial vehicles. John Young, assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition, said in a statement released March 16 that the program will be competed instead.

'The Navy will get the best value solution through a competitive process," Young wrote. "This decision was reviewed carefully by the acquisition team working in collaboration with the requirements sponsor. Our competitive acquisition strategy will leverage prior (Defense Department) investments and continue our pursuit of joint procurement opportunities."' Besides the Global Hawk, other possible contenders for the BAMS UAV are General Atomics . and Lockheed Martin; which are working together to build a larger version of the Predator UAV, and General Dynamics' Gulfstream, which is working on an unmanned version of its G550 business jet.

The Navy will send out requests for proposals in early summer, and expects to award a System Development and Demonstration contract in the second quarter of fiscal 2005. The Navy estimates the cost to develop and buy Low Rate Initial Production systems will be roughly $1.3 billion. The aircraft is expected to reach the fleet in 2010.

LETTER FROM THE CG FIRST MARINE DIVISION TO THE MEN OF THE DIVISION
Submitted by GPS Member Paula Pieri

The First Marine Division recently returned to Iraq. This is a letter from the Commanding General of the division to the men of the First Marine Division.

Letter to All Hands,

We are going back in to the brawl. We will be relieving the magnificent Soldiers fighting under the 82nd Airborne Division, whose hard won successes in the Sunni Triangle have opened opportunities for us to exploit. For the last year, the 82nd Airborne has been operating against the heart of the enemy's resistance. It's appropriate that we relieve them: When it's time to move a piano, Marines don't pick up the piano bench - we move the piano. So this is the right place for Marines in this fight, where we can carry on the legacy of Chesty Puller in the Banana Wars in the same sort of complex environment that he knew in his early years. Shoulder to shoulder with our comrades in the Army, Coalition Forces and maturing Iraqi Security Forces, we are going to destroy the enemy with precise firepower while diminishing the conditions that create adversarial
relationships between us and the Iraqi people.

This is going to be hard, dangerous work. It is going to require patient, persistent presence. Using our individual initiative, courage, moral judgment and battle skills, we will build on the 82nd Airborne's victories. Our country is counting on us even as our enemies watch and calculate, hoping that America does not have warriors strong enough to withstand discomfort and danger. You, my fine young men, are going to prove the enemy wrong - dead wrong. You will demonstrate the same uncompromising spirit that has always caused the enemy to fear America's Marines.

The enemy will try to manipulate you into hating all Iraqis. Do not allow the enemy that victory. With strong discipline, solid faith, unwavering alertness, and undiminished chivalry to the innocent, we will carry out this mission. Remember, I have added, "First, do no harm" to our passwords of "No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy." Keep your honor clean as we gain information about the enemy from the Iraqi people. Then, armed with that information and working in conjunction with fledgling Iraqi Security Forces, we will move precisely against the enemy elements and crush them without harming the innocent.

This is our test-our Guadalcanal, our Chosin Reservoir, our Hue City. Fight with a happy heart and keep faith in your comrades and your unit. We must be under no illusions about the nature of the enemy and the dangers that lie ahead. Stay alert, take it all in stride, remain sturdy, and share your courage with each other and the world. You are going to write history, my fine young Sailors and Marines, so write it well.

Semper Fidelis, J.N. Mattis Major General, U. S. Marines

AVIATION-ONLY FOR NEW AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP
By Jason Sherman
Navy Times 04/12/04

Don't expect radical changes in the appearance of the next amphibious assault ship.
Instead, look for construction to begin as soon as 2006 on a near-replica of the most recent Wasp-class big-deck warships, with one key difference: The ship will be an aviation-only vessel, built without a well deck for hovercraft and amphibious vehicles.
The Navy is looking to build the ship, dubbed the LHA(R)(AV), two years earlier than planned to prevent layoffs at shipyards that build surface combatant and big-deck amphibious ships. Navy acquisition executive John Young told a House subcommittee that unless Northrop Grumman Ship Systems gets an order to begin building an amphibious ship in 2006, the company's Ingalls shipyard in Mississippi will be forced to dismiss as many as 4,000 skilled workers. A Northrop Grumman executive put the number of jobs at risk at between 1,000 and 4,000.

"We have looked hard as to whether there are budget opportunities or procurement mechanisms to pull that ship forward," Young told the House Armed Services projection force subcommittee. He said the LHA(R)(AV) may be the contract that determines "whether they have to go through a drop and recovery or whether they can work stably and move forward."

The new ship, which represents Flight 0 of the Navy's LHA(R) program to replace its amphibious assault ships, won't have everything the Marine Corps wants, such as a longer and wider hull, Pentagon officials said. Instead, the ship is being called a stepping stone to a capable vessel, built to handle all aspects of amphibious assault.

Naval service leaders, including Young, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark and Gen. Michael Hagee, commandant of the Marine Corps, met March 29 and drafted the broad outlines of the LHA(RXAV).

"Significant steps were made in that session ... that posture us to be able to come forward and tell ... exactly what we want the ship to be," Young told reporters in a brief interview following a March 30 congressional hearing.

By closing in on a concept two years ahead of schedule, Navy leaders also hope to move planned funding for the ship from 2008 to 2006.

The slightly modified Wasp-class ship is expected to cost more than its $2 billion predecessor, but less than a proposed $3.3 billion ship that would have been larger and more capable.

The last amphibious ships to lack a well deck were 1960s-era LPH helicopter carriers. Those ships were criticized by Marines for their inability to carry and launch loaded amphibious craft, and until now all subsequent amphibious ship designs have incorporated the feature.

"Now in the eyes of some, we're walking backward," said one Pentagon official. "Why? Is it just to keep a shipyard in business?"

Going beyond LHDs

In the months leading up to the current decision, Navy and Marine leaders considered a number of options for a new amphibious assault ship.

"I absolutely do not believe that LHA( R) is just a repeat of the LHDs that we have today," Clark told lawmakers March 10. "It is going to be a much better, more capable platform that optimizes the aviation capability we are investing in" and will allow the Marines to move out in larger numbers with less notice.

One proposal envisioned a modified LHD-1 that could carry six F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, 10 MV22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and nearly 1,700 troops, according to documents prepared by Rear Adm. Charlie Hamilton, program executive officer for ships, in a November briefing to Young. The documents also said the Navy and Marines wanted a larger ship that would carry eight fighters and 12 Ospreys, have better holds, more easily survive attacks and serve longer.

Having determined the broad outlines of the LHA(R), Navy ship designers now will begin to flesh out the details of the AV version. Hamilton is working up rough design and cost options, and is expected to report on those matters later this spring.

"This is not something where you can push a button and Microsoft instantly does several thousand drawings of ships," said one naval officer involved in the decision. "So we've got a whole bunch of people burning midnight oil to see what's in the state of the possible."

FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIP OFFICER
FRAN PIERI

To belong to the Grampaw Pettibone Squadron, it is imperative that you be a member of ANA. Belonging to ANA also brings many advantages. Among them is the Wings of Gold Magazine. We are always seeking new members into the Gramps' Squadron. We need more new members folks. We have lost many of our members either by attrition or they've moved away. However; many new "prospective members" have moved into our area. I'm sure many of you may know one or two persons who are new to Orange County and are looking for an organization like ours. Ask them to come to our next luncheon as your guest or on their own. Our numbers in the squadron are down to 386. Sooo, now is the time to call your friend, NOW, so they can mark their calendar for the luncheon on Thursday, May 13th. Remember; GRAMPS welcomes all people who are interested in Naval Aviation. Keep the blue side up.

MOTHER'S DAY IS SUNDAY, 9 MAY

THE PILOT

A photographer from a well-known national magazine was assigned to cover the recent fires. The magazine wanted to show some of the heroic work of the firefighters as they battled the blaze.

When the photographer arrived, he realized that the smoke was so thick that it would seriously impede or make it impossible for him to photograph anything from ground level. He requested permission to rent a plane and take photos from the air. His request was approved, and arrangements were made. He was told to report to a nearby airport, where a single engine plane would be waiting for him.

He arrived at the airport and saw a plane warming up near the gate. He jumped in with his bag and shouted, "Let's go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind, and within minutes they were in the air.

The photographer said, "Fly over the park and make two or three low passes so I can take some pictures." Each time they made a pass and got closer, and even when they could feel the heat, the photographer said "one more and get closer" Finally when the photographer said "get down and fly in and out of the flames".

The extremely nervous pilot asked "Why?"

"Because I am a photographer for Time Magazine," he responded, "and I need some close-up shots."

The pilot was silent for a moment; finally he stammered, "So, you're telling me you're not the flight instructor?"