university of wisconsin naval rotc alumni...

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN NAVAL ROTC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

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BADGER SHIPMATEVol. XXV, No. 1, January, 2013

CAPT Jean O’Brien ’88 is the commanding officer of the military sealift command, European and African Theater Headquarters Unit. Her responsibilities include cargo planes, tankers, logistics, salvage divers, and more. She earned her wings in

1991 and flew for sixteen years,

LT Britta Christianson USN ’04 receives her Submarine Supply Corps badge, 22 June 2012CAPT Jean O’Brien USNR ’88 flies

the P-3 Orion

In this issue . . .

Orientation Party . . 3USMC Aviation . . . 4Camp Bastion . . . . 5Mailbag . . . . . . . . . 6Recent Deaths . . . . 6 Wall of Honor . . . . 6 Commissioning . . . 7

Badger Women Achieve

Cont’d on p. 2

LT Britta Christianson ’04 is the Gold Crew supply officer assigned to USS Ohio SSGN-726. She was presented her Submarine Supply Corps “dolphins” by her commanding officer CAPT Rodney Mills.

MV-22 Osprey 2012240 kts. $69.3 million

Cont’d on p. 2

Vought VE-7106 mph 1922


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logging 3,400 hours of military air time. She and her husband Craig, a Naval Academy graduate, reside in Raritan Township, New Jersey, with their son, Joe, 9. Her missions have involved patrolling the Caribbean for drug smugglers, who used either small aircraft without registration numbers or forty-foot

speedboats; monitoring missiles and troops in Bosnia in 1996-97; and counting refugees for the U.N. during the Rwanda civil war of 1996. CAPT O’Brien was one of only three women in a sixty-member P-3 squadron, which presented challenges. Fortunately, she likes bombing range practice, especially feeling the concussions when flying low and slow. “Some guys would bluntly tell you to go home,” she said. She became accepted, though, “once they realized I knew what I was doing.” Managing two naval careers while maintaining a stable home environment for their son was demanding, but the family found a solution. Both parents left active duty, with Jean transferring to the Reserves and Craig accepting a position with J. P. Morgan. She’s now on active duty 6-8 weeks a year, mainly in the Baltimore/Washington area. There are still conflicts, but they’re more manageable. What’s it like for a boy to have a Mom who’s a Navy Captain? “[Sometimes] when you come home you’re still in that Navy mindset,” Jean admits. “And nine year-olds don’t necessarily handle the chain of command quite as well.” Echoing thoughts that will be familiar to most military officers who have raised young children, Jean observes, “Joe is a good kid, but you don’t get backtalk in uniform, and you do get backtalk with a kid.”

O’Brien, cont’d from p. 1

Christianson, cont’d from p.1

LT Christianson, a native of Chippewa Falls, graduated from Chippewa Falls Senior High in 2000. She received a B.A. in political science and international relations with an emphasis on Southeast Asia in 2004. She has served in Afghanistan. She joined the Gold Crew of the USS Ohio SSGN-726 in 2011 while the Ohio was deployed. She is the first female submarine supply officer in the U.S. Navy to receive the Supply Dolphin. In order to receive this badge, an officer must demonstrate basic knowledge of submarine operations and engineering systems and also qualify as a diving officer of the watch (DOOW). She is one of thirteen women who have been trained for submarine duty, four supply officers and nine submarine line officers. All are graduates of the Submarine Basic Officer Course in Groton, Connecticut, and will join submarines Ohio, Wyoming, Georgia, and Maine. There are three women on each crew, two on their first assignments and a more experienced supply officer. LT Christianson had already qualified as a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) and as a surface supply officer. A NFO is a commissioned officer who specializes in airborne weapons and sensors systems. While they are not pilots, they may perform many co-pilot functions, depending on the aircraft. She flew aboard the E-2C Hawkeye with VAW-123. This is the largest and heaviest aircraft to fly off a carrier.

USS Ohio (SSGN-726) leaves port in

Fremantle, Australia rr

Book NoteNo Easy Day: The Autobiography of a Navy SEAL, by Mark Owen. New York: Dutton, 2012. 299pp. $26.95

SEALS go to great lengths to conceal their identities and modus operandi, but here a long-time operative brings some of their techniques and personalities out of the shadows. Mark Owen (a pseudonym) was raised in the wilds of Alaska with a penchant for guns and outdoor living. After participating in (by his count) hundreds of clandestine operations, he became a Team Leader in the operation which took the life of Osama bin Laden (UBL) in Abbotabad, Pakistan, on May 1, 2011. Another raider shot UBL, but Owen entered the room immediately. Most of the story of how we got UBL has come out elsewhere, but this is still an absorbing account. Pages fly by as juicy tidbits appear: some SEALS napped on the flight to the target and (unlike in screen depictions) SEALS don’t race up stairways. They creep. The broad themes that led to their success come to the surface: superior intelligence and technology, augmented by courage and audacity. Above all, Owen credits unrelenting, vigorous training as the key to SEAL effectiveness. (Who can carry a heavy pack that far, a reader wonders? Who can shoot that well?) Owen hints at, but does not answer directly, another tantalizing question: who found UBL? Owen’s candidates: “a woman from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency . . . a blonde in her early thirties.” Or, “Jen” (a CIA analyst) who had to be persuaded to view UBL’s corpse. The truth may not be revealed for some time, but a movie studio offers its answer--”Maya”--in Zero Dark Thirty, a film now playing. A reviewer in the New Yorker (12/24/12) calls the film “masterly” and “without parallel as as display of force in recent movies.”


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Alumni Association Orientation Party for New Midshipmen State Street Brats, 30 August 2012

Spring Ball

Spring Review2012

Right: CAPT Russ Haas, CO, and Assn. Pres. Joe Abel present the Freshman Spirit Award to MIDN 4/C Brendan M. Page. The award honors the memory of LTJG Erdman Pankow USNR.

LT Adam Dickinson, CDR Steve Ligler (XO), Major Chris Kocab

Left: Mrs. Suzanne Arnold Redenius ’63 and Assn. Pres. Joe Abel present the CDR William T. Arnold ’63 award to MIDN 1/C A n t o n K a t a l i n i c h ’ 1 2 o f Springfield, IL. Mrs. Redenius is the sister of CDR Arnold. CAPT Russ Haas, CO, observes.


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1912: On 1 August Lt. Alfred A. Cunningham flies solo. He is designated Naval Aviator Number 5 and Marine Aviator Number 1. He qualifies after training which requires two hours, forty minutes!

1917-18: The USMC enters World War I with six qualified pilots. A “Marine Aeronautic Company” is formed and assigned to the Azores on ASW patrol. Four Marine squadrons arrive in France in 1918 with 101 officers, but without planes. Marine pilots flying with British squadrons destroy six, possibly twelve, German planes.

1921-27: In 1921 the USMC has just 43 pilots yet is the only service to see air combat between the wars. Marine pilots support expeditionary forces in Central America (the “Banana Wars”), learn dive-bombing and air-to-ground

communication. Marine seaplanes perform outpost duty on Guam; Marine bombers fly in China—the first Pacific air operations.

1933: In a decision vital to the air branch, USMC mission expands to include the seizure of advanced naval bases. Exercises show that an amphibious landing by a single Marine division will require 26 squadrons to support the attack.

1941-42: Pearl Harbor is the worst defeat ever suffered by Marine aviators. 47 of the 48 Marine aircraft are destroyed on the ground (the other was being repaired). Seven planes are destroyed on Wake Island, although four survive to shoot down seven Japanese planes (a first) and sink destroyer Kisaragi (also a first). Marine pilots fight at

Midway with obsolescent aircraft (F-2A Buffalo and SB2U Vindicator). Only 10 of 25 fighter pilots survive, half the dive-bombers are lost.

1943-45: Marine aviation swells to 145 squadrons and 125,162 personnel. Marine pilots destroy 2,355 Japanese planes and produce 121 aces, five of whom shoot down 20 or more enemy aircraft.

1950-53: Korean hostilities bring new emphasis on carrier-based operations and introduce the use of helicopters. Marine pilots fly vintage F4U Corsairs to provide close air support at the Inchon landing and the evacuation of the Chosin Reservoir. In 1953 Major John F. Bolt, a Pacific ace flying an Air Force F-86, destroys six MiG-15’s, becoming a two-war ace as well as the Marines’ only jet ace.

1965-75: Vietnam emphasizes helicopter warfare. In 1968 Marine helicopters carry an average of over 50,000 men and over 6,000 tons of cargo a month. Marine jets excel in close support of ground troops. Helicopters and fixed-wing craft struggle to adapt to monsoons, dust, and short runways.

100 Years of Marine Corps Aviation, 1912-2012

USMC roundelWWI

above: F2A-3 Buffalo “Flying Coffin” - 1942

KC-130 HerculesKhe Sanh, January 1968

CH-53D Sea StallionIntroduced in 1969, makes its final flight

with HMH-362Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 9 August

2012

1990-91: In Operation Desert Storm/Shield Marines face Iraqi air force with modern Soviet and French aircraft and air defense

system. Marines deploy 16,000 aviation personnel in six fixed wing squadrons (four F/A-18C Hornet. two AV-8B Harrier, two A-6E Intruder). Helicopter units fly CH-46E Sea Knight, CH-53E Sea Stallion, AH-1W Super Cobra and UH-1N Huey to counter Iraqi armor. Transportation to the Persian Gulf requires the largest ever “tanker bridge” of KC-130’s. Night operation improves with forward-looking infrared radar, weaponry with Hellfire and TOW missiles.

F4U-4 CorsairVMA-312

Korea, 1950

F/A-18C Hornet RQ-7B Shadow UAV

2002-12: In the Global War on Terror, 3dMAW deploys 435 aircraft and 15,451 personnel in two primary bases in Kuwait and 15 forward operating bases. Expends 6 million pounds of ordnance in invasion of Iraq. Two squadrons are formed to deploy unarmed aerial vehicles (UAV). Operate MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor and six types of helicopters, plus Hornets, Harriers, and EA-6B Prowler.

below: F4F Wildcat - Guadalcanal 1943


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VMA-211, known as the “Wake Island Avengers,” has a distinguished combat record stretching from 1937 through the recent fighting in Afghanistan. On Friday, September 14, at 10:15 PM (local time), the squadron was attacked by insurgents at Camp Bastion, in Helmand province, southwestern Afghanistan. The raid caused the greatest one-day air loss since the Vietnam war as well as the heaviest damage sustained by VMA-211 since December 8, 1941. Neither the extent of the damage nor the gallantry of the Marines’ counterattack has been fully aired. A Wisconsin NROTC alumnus, Captain Brett Ackerbauer USMC ’05 is assigned to VMA-211 as a pilot flying the AV-8B Harrier. He witnessed the attack and here shares his experience with Shipmate readers. [Captain Ackerbauer USMC will be well known to his classmates, while others are familiar with his father, Captain Kris Ackerbauer USN (ret.), who was the CO of the unit 1997-2000 and is presently the secretary of the association.] Fifteen Taliban armed with rocket-propelled grenades, crew-served machine guns, mortars, and suicide vests followed a network of dry river beds, then cut through a fence designed to protect the flight line. The intruders blew up a Harrier, causing a massive explosion which demolished the plane’s canvas hanger. The squadron’s CO, LtCol Chris “Otis” Raible USMC, sighted the fireball from his barracks and sped to the scene in his personal vehicle. Finding the airfield under attack, LtCol Raible took charge of the defense. Only a few mechanics from the night crew were on duty. They were equipped with M-16 rifles but had no body armor on hand. They had been issued only 25 rounds of ammunition. “We were outgunned,” Captain Ackerbauer observes (with considerable understatement). Taking the initiative, the mechanics broke out their weapons, defined a

defensive perimeter, and sealed their position. A chaotic firefight commenced. The Taliban held a position between the Marines, mostly mechanics, and the aircraft. Conditions were confused as the enemy were dressed in U.S. Army uniforms. Beards and training shoes were give-aways, but in the darkness the intruders were difficult to identify. The lightly armed Marines managed to pin them down but not until six Harriers were demolished and two more heavily damaged. When the smoke settled, only two of VMA-211’s ten jump-jets remained in operational condition. Equipment losses totaled more than $200 million. LtCol Raible, carrying only his service pistol, was organizing a counterattack when he was struck by shrapnel and killed. (A second Marine, Sgt. Bradley Atwell of MALS-13.was killed in a separate skirmish during the attack.) The acting squadron XO, Major McDonald, assumed command and requested assistance from a nearby light attack helicopter squadron, HMLA-469. This unit was able to get two AH-1 Cobras and UH-1 Hueys airborne quickly. The Marines of VMA-211 killed at least two of the insurgents with their rifles, but the Cobras and Hueys were able to maneuver around the insurgents and

they dispatched the others. Royal Air Force helicopters supported the counterattack, and an RAF quick reaction force fought “quite admirably.” “Air power decided the outcome,” Captain Ackerbauer notes. (LtCol Raible, a distinguished officer highly respected by his men, is survived by his wife, Donnella, and their three children.) The squadron’s barracks were just a few hundred yards from the fence line, but the pilots and other personnel were spared from direct fire as the attack focused on their aircraft. When he first heard firing, Captain Ackerbauer was surprised, thinking that maybe “it was a little late” for controlled detonations, which were a common occurrence on the base. But when he and his comrades were told that they were actually under attack, they grabbed M-16’s and passed the word that “we’re going to secure this position.” Tracer fire lighted the sky and a few rounds struck their barracks, but in the moonless night “there was no way of knowing where the enemy were.” The squadron’s Sergeant Major, an experienced infantry Marine, helped to coordinate the defense, and since all Marines receive infantry training, “we knew what to do.” How the enemy managed to sneak through the wire so easily or why the defenders were armed so lightly are issues which are being resolved. Nonetheless, a mark of military excellence is the ability to adapt under adverse conditions and return fire effectively. At Camp Bastion the men of VMA-211 showed their mettle. They held their position, improvised a defense, counterattacked, devastated their enemy, and kept their personnel loss to just a single man. Their performance honored the memory of their forebears, the pilots and mechanics of VMA-211 who while posted on desolate Wake Island in 1941 were victimized by a sneak attack, were left with little with which to fight, and yet defended their island gallantly. “Remember Wake, Remember Bastion!”

Every Marine a Rifleman: A Badger Harrier Pilot Recalls Taliban Attack

AV-8B Harrier, Camp Bastion, two weeks before the attack


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Don Kneepkens ’55 had several interesting assignments during his forty months of active service. “I think one assignment would be the envy of every Badger who knows Wisconsin winters. I served on USS Coral Sea CVA-43, which was the last carrier commissioned without a canted deck. In February, 1957, after a busy seven-month stint in the Med (think the British/French/Israeli/Egyptian war over the Suez Canal and the Hungarian Revolution), we returned to Norfolk, where all aircraft, all aviation personnel, and all ammunition were unloaded. With a skeleton crew we embarked on about a 20,000-mile cruise to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard near Bremerton, WA, to have the ship retrofitted with a canted deck. We crossed the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and the Equator in the South Atlantic and again in the South Pacific. With liberty ports in Sao Paulo, Santiago, and the Panama Canal we could forget the ugly weather around Cape Horn. It was nice receiving LTJG pay for a 70-day cruise that would cost most people $$$$$$. Thank you Admiral Holloway!”

Ron Schmaedick ’58 enjoyed the article by Skip Muth ’52 in which Skip described his service on USS Moale DD-693. By coincidence Ron served on the Moale during his freshman cruise in 1955. Ron sends Skip the greetings of a shipmate. Ron lives in Eugene, OR.

Tom Mackie ’69 completed USMC Basic School and then Field Artillery School in Fort Sill, OK. He then did a tour in Vietnam as a Battery Fire Direction Officer and later as a Platoon Commander with three 175mm guns (which were tracked vehicles) “in support of the guys doing the real work.” “I then returned home by ship and ran into a classmate, and on his advice when we stopped in Okinawa we managed to get ashore to purchase some ‘refreshments’ for the voyage home (if we had to travel home by ship we were not going to stay dry!). Problem, we underestimated our consumption rate and did dry out by the time we reached Long Beach.” After spending time in 29 Palms, CA, and on recruiting duty in Chicago, Ron returned to the civilian world in 1973. He spent the next 32 years with Parker Hannifin Corporation, a diversified industrial company. He lived in Ohio, Michigan, and England before retiring as Group President, Corporate Operating VP in 2005. Tom and Cheryle, his wife of 43 years (whom he married while in Basic School), now reside in Vero Beach, FL, “playing a little golf and boating around beautiful southern Florida.”

Jerry Hines ’71 retired as a Captain USNR in 2000 and as a Captain at Delta Air Lines in 2005. “I am presently engaged in my third (and last) career. This one takes me back to my Wisconsin roots. I am now crop farming in Pierce County, WI. The nucleus of my farm is land that my great-grandfather, an immigrant from what is now the Czech Republic, purchased and cleared in the 1880’s. “I visited the Unit last summer en route to a Navy reunion (VP-60) at Great Lakes. I had not been inside 1610 University Ave. since my commissioning ceremony in Jan. 1971. In 40+ years there have been few changes, but for me it’s a different story--lots more gray hair and several more pounds! “It was surely an emotional trip down memory lane.” Jerry and wife Kitty live in San Jose, CA.

MAILBAG 2012

Dr. Thomas S. Amlie ’46, of Bethesda, Maryland, died on January 2, 2012.Paul Grier Andrus ’46 died on January 26, 2012. He had resided in Powell, Ohio.Robert Ellis Perlewitz V-12 ’46, a resident of Dubuque, Iowa, died on January 14, 2007.Richard L. Allen ’47, died on January 1, 2012, in Waukesha.Charles R. Dunfee ’47, died in Tampa, Florida, on April 18, 2012. Volney Nelson Moote V-12 ’47, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, died on July 1, 2012.Richard Cox Thompson ’48 died July 17, 2009.William George Catlin ’53, a resident of La Mesa, California, died August 17, 2012.John Neilson Lees ’59, died November 9, 2012. He was living in Sister Bay.Edward Louis Christensen ’62, a chemistry major, died on April 10, 2011. He was a resident of Clinton, MD.Russell Reddoch ’64 of Little Rock, Arkansas, died on January 11, 2012, at the age of 69. He earned a Master of Science at UW and retired after 26 years of service as a Commander, USN, specializing in nuclear power.Joseph Martelle ’65 died on March 2, 2012. An accounting major, he lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.Wilbur Allen Sundt, an English major, died on June 6, 2012, in Fort Atkinson.

Recent Deaths

Wall of Honor to add LT Plotz, ENS Strole The alumni association recognizes officers who lost their lives while serving on active duty. Plaques are displayed in the foyer of the Naval ROTC building. The most recent inductee is Captain John M. Pagel ‘72 of Janesville, who was killed in a helicopter accident in Spain. His widow, Holly, their children, and several family members attended the ceremony. The next induction is scheduled for Saturday, April 20, 2013. Lieutenant Steven Plotz ’62 and Ensign Michael Strole ’74 will be honored. The ceremony will be open to the public. Some pre-1960 graduates (or possibly others from the later period) may have died while on active duty but have not received this recognition. If you have any information in respect to an officer who may deserve inclusion, please contact CAPT Joseph Abel, USNR (ret.), at 301 Natchez Trace, Madison, WI 53705, or [email protected]

Michael A. Fox, LTJG USN ’58 Walter G. Updike, LT USN ’55 John S. Lyman, LCDR USN ’53 D. N. “Nick” Norris LTJG USN ’61 Charles D. Collins Jr, LTJG USN ’64 William T. Arnold, CDR USN ’63 Lawrence P. Beam, LT USN ’63 John T. Chapman, CPT USMC ’65 Norman K. Billipp, MAJOR USMC ’66 John M. Pagel, CPT USMC ’72 (2012)David J. Lueder, CPT USMC ’79Duane J. Hofhine II, ENS USN ’87 Dennis A. Dogs, MAJOR USMC ‘85

Inductees, Wall of Honor


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Spring Commissioning

2012


Dues Time! Please pay your dues! Keep the Shipmate afloat! You may send your check (still just $25/year) to the address below. In addition, we offer two great deals:

5-year membership= $100Life membership= $300

UW NROTC Alumni AssociationP.O. Box 5205

Madison, WI 53705-0205 We may be reached by email at this address:

[email protected]

We are also available on Facebook at:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wisconsin-Nrotc-Alumni-Association/196068847093082

TContributors to the Trust Fund 2012James G. BurkeRonald D. DeanJohn W. GraveenJerome H. HinesJames C. Key, jr.Philip M. PalmerMark L. PankowJack J. Parrino

Montie & Suzanne RedeniusRonald Scott

Jon W. “Jack”Winder

In a forthcoming issue . . .A profile of Frank Ellis Sublett, a former University of Wisconsin student who became one of the Golden Thirteen, the first African-Americans to become commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy. Ensign Sublett was commissioned in 1944, nearly three years before Jackie Robinson played his first inning for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

December CommissioningAnton Katalinich, Mechanical Engineering, Springfield, IL (Naval Aviator)

Andrew Butler, Mechanical Engineering, Green Bay (Submariner)Michael Wojdyla, History, Fence, WI (Surface Warfare)

Michael Hagensick, Political Science, Prairie du Chien (Naval Aviator)Logan Baisden, Scandinavian Studies, Savanna, IL (USMC The Basic School)

Ryan Nowak, Economics, Chicago, IL (USMC The Basic School)

Can you identify this badge? Answer below.Hint: the award was established in 2010

Above: Information Dominance Warfare Officer

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wisconsin-Nrotc-Alumni-Association/196068847093082




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