BABloggee Tom Epps may hold a record: he has carried his copy of the BA book to more than 65 countries! Here he is holding it while his ship, the USNS Arctic, crossed the Suez Canal:
This begs the question: once he crossed into the red Sea, did he part with it?
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March 19th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
> once he crossed into the red Sea, did he part with it?
Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.
Ow.
March 19th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Isn’t this Part XIII?
Torchwood Institute tribute was Part XII.
It wouldn’t be important, unless you were purposely avoiding 13…
March 19th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
That’s so BAd
March 19th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
You need a real job again so you don’t have time to sit around thinking these up all day
March 19th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Hope he does part with the book.
March 19th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
so in the red sea is it E=m*sea^2.
March 19th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
That joke was all wet.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
ha ha,
a cecil b demille reference!
That canal is so cool. A group of men once dreamed of a short cut do save going all the way around Africa. Not only did they succeed,
a)they did it in 18 freaking 69!!
b)huge ships can do the traverse
c)Suez backwards is……
March 19th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
For my part, all I can do is sea red …
March 20th, 2008 at 12:50 am
I hope Arctic was transiting the canal rather than crossing it–otherwise it was going to be a short trip. Maybe less than 300 feet.
March 20th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Part with it? Heck no–the BA book is an invaluable reference out here in the battle with ship-board ignorance and foolishness! Why, just the other day one of the bridge watchstanders asked if I “believe” that men have been to the moon! (Whenever someone says the B-word in a question, it usually means they are looking for an argument…)
Regards;
Tom Epps
USNS Arctic
Persian Gulf
March 20th, 2008 at 2:00 am
I saw the Suez canal only last night while watching “Lawrence Of Arabia”. What an amazing construction project it was!
And no, it doesn’t “beg” the question. It raises it.
*
* Yes, I’m a pedant.
Q: The Pedants’ Revolt was started by…?
A: Which Tyler.
March 20th, 2008 at 3:22 am
Ahem. More than 65 would be… 66?
March 20th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Makes me regret not having a camera in my time in the service.
I could’ve provided a similar image, from the Enterprise.
Oh well.
March 20th, 2008 at 6:28 am
And it is with that photo that I suddenly realise that my son, having been part of the VERY FIRST fleet of NATO ships (USS Normandy CG-60) to circumnavigate Africa, most likely did not have his copy of BA along.
His CO sent out a presentation regarding the cruise before it occurred with the final slide saying only “Any Questions?”
I had one.
CAN I GO TOO????
JC
March 20th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Jack C;
I was in ‘Normandy’ from ‘94 to ‘96…a great ship to cruise in! Wish your son well for me.
Tom Epps
USNS Arctic
Persian Gulf
USS Moinester FF-1097 1981-85
USS Peterson DD-969 1986-91
CinCUSNaveur UK 1991-94
USS Normandy CG-60 1994-96
USS Clark FFG-11 1996-98
NAS Sigonella Sicily 2001-03
ComSecondFlt Norfolk 2003-05
USNS Arctic T-AOE 8 2005-Present…
…and the Adventure is just beginning!
March 20th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Good job Mike. Fellow pedant here. This link is good:
begthequestion.info
C’mon BA, help us stop this unstoppable language evolution! (It’s worth a try…)
March 20th, 2008 at 8:29 am
Darling, the pun was awful enough, but must you also contribute to the wanton destruction of the English language with the misuse of “begging the question?” Please!
March 20th, 2008 at 8:30 am
And I now see that I’m not the first to comment on it. Well, I hope you’ve learned your lesson.
March 20th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I was going to complain about the “begging the question …” thing too – but….
@Inertially… Will do! I can’t see any collar devices, so can’t tell what you do – but he is currently an ET and back in Norfolk now – but man, that cruise he just took was awesome – compared to mine (I am old CG-11 sailor – also ET – from way back – a CG at least!)
He missed that volcano off the coast of Yemen though – having just handed Flag over to the Brisbane. He was in Madagascar at the time.
Me – I had all westpac stuff – with my one exception being USNS Mizar on which I was able to visit England. I love England – but in the scheme of things – Big Whoop.
The Arctic is a big ship. How many military aboard? I kind of miss my MSC days.
JC
March 21st, 2008 at 6:34 am
JackC;
No collar devices or chevrons–I retired from the Navy back in 2003! Now I’m a Merchant Mariner (Able Seaman) and having a ball in my new career with MSC (they pay me to say that).
Always glad to chat with another cruiser sailor! ‘Arctic’ has a “mil det” of forty Navy and one Army (yes, he is our own “Army of One”), along with 140 Civmars–later this year the Navy gang will check-off leaving US to run the show. All part of the Nav’s re-capitalization or somesuch.
Anyway, she’s a big, stable platform–which works for me as I observe from the 01 level with my RFT!
Tom
March 21st, 2008 at 11:01 am
Tom, greetings from the EPCP of SSN 681 and SSBN627(G) – like myself, a nuc no longer in service. I’m delighted to see a sailor who loves his job. Carry on!
April 17th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
greetings, this is JackC’s son in the navy. I am indeed currently stationed on the USS Normandy and i was just wondering where the Arctic was homeported (if there is such a thing.)