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The FReeper Foxhole - Military Related News in Review - June 23rd, 2003
various
Posted on 06/23/2003 3:02:05 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Michael D. Fay
Combat Illustrator Draws On Marine Life
Staff Sgt. Michael D. Fay, a combat artist with the Marine Corps History Division, does a preliminary pencil sketch of a group of humvees,which will later be transformed into a watercolor painting. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Samuel A. Soza
Staff Sgt. Michael D. Fay, a combat artist with the Marine Corps Historical Division, sketches a humvee, subject of a watercolor drawing. U.S. Army photo bySpc. Melissa Walthe
CAMP BABYLON, Iraq -- Three Marines, weighed down with combat gear, walk in the dry heat of the day along their usual patrol route. Their eyes are open to protect against the hazardous terrain, when a booted footfall freezes, the swirling dust stops, and a tick in time is captured in ink.
An individual whose job is to tell a thousand words with a drawing, Marine Staff Sgt. Michael D. Fay, 49, a reservist from Fredricksburg, Va., can be best described as one of a kind. Classified as a combat illustrator, he is the only one in the Marine Corps Reserves with his occupation.
Fay is serving in Iraq, and carrying on the long linage of modern combat illustrators, beginning with artist Winslow Homer, who captured the intensity of the Civil War on canvas.
He expressed that his goal in Operation Iraqi Freedom is, "to provide art that first and foremost stands alone as art."
Fay enjoys doing this unique job for the Marine Corps. He enjoys his job more when he is out in the field with the troops.
"As an artist, (if you) put aside the pistol and dirt and stuff, this is great," said Fay, who earned his bachelor's degree in art education from Penn State University.
Different from a combat artist who is assigned what he draws, Fay has total freedom to portray whatever subject he wants.
"Art is art," Fay said. "Sometimes you don't know ahead of time what you're going to do."
However, within this freedom Fay has tied his subjects to a single theme: the life of the Marines.
When working in the field, Fay does mainly watercolor and ink drawings. By adding careful detail to such colorless sites as a fuel point blackened with oil or a dusty airstrip, he can create a watercolor drawing to convey the gritty conditions of his surroundings.
However, since his watercolor drawings are completed in only a few hours, they do not require the technical detail that more intricate pieces boast. These drawings involve the rough shape of the object.
Trying to draw all the parts of the Humvee, for example, and how they go together "would drive an artist crazy," Fay said.
Fay explained that his technique for drawing intricate objects such as vehicles is to simply lift his glasses onto his forehead. Since he is nearsighted this causes subjects far away to be blurred so he can focus on just simple shapes and not the technical aspects.
When Fay begins a detailed piece, his technique is to photograph his subject and then reproduce it on canvas.
In September the Marine Corps magazine, Leatherneck, had planned to have its cover page feature Fay's charcoal drawing of a Marine coming off a patrol in Afghanistan. Snapping a photograph of the exhausted Marine after he had just taken off his rucksack and helmet, Fay later was able to capture on paper the bone-numbing effort that was routine there.
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To: All
Special Tribute Honors Unsung Women Heroes Story
To: snippy_about_it
Come on out of there!
Have a cup a joe -
Read some Recent News - 
Stretch your legs a while and welcome to Monday at The FReeper Foxhole!
Please post any news you'd like to share and send us any ideas you would like to see us cover.
Have a Good Monday and enjoy your day.
To: All
To: New Zealander; Pukin Dog; Coleus; Colonel_Flagg; w_over_w; hardhead; 4.1O dana super trac pak; ...
.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!
.......Good Morning Everyone!
If you would like added or removed from our ping list let me know.
To: snippy_about_it
Good Morning, Snippy How's it going.
BTW, Folks I'm going to having guests this week. My brother and his family are coming up here and my nephew from the family uses the computer for games quite a bit so I'll be in and out of the computer but I'll still try ot be around when I can.:-D
7
posted on
06/23/2003 3:38:51 AM PDT
by
E.G.C.
To: E.G.C.
Good Morning.
Check in when you can. Enjoy your guests. :)
Suns out, cool this morning and as I was about to head out the door I remembered I had today off. lol. Yeah.
To: snippy_about_it
Reporting as ordered, ma'am.
9
posted on
06/23/2003 4:27:55 AM PDT
by
CholeraJoe
(White Devils for Sharpton. We're bad. We're Nationwide)
To: CholeraJoe
GOOD MORNING!
I'm not missing you today! I'm paying attention. :)
To: snippy_about_it
Is paying attention today your priority today?
To: Do the Dew
LOL. I was specifically waiting on CholeraJoe to fall in.
That was my priority.
Now that is taken care of and paying attention is probably not on the top of my list now. ;)
Future threadwork will be my priority today.
btw-I'll probably have a different priority list each day...and no, I'm not reporting it everyday either. lol.
To: snippy_about_it
Well, now the pressure is off on your 'priority' today.
To: All
Navy Accepts Delivery of Ronald Reagan
Story Number: NNS030620-23
Release Date: 6/20/2003 2:47:00 PM
From Program Executive Office for Aircraft Carriers Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy accepted delivery of the newest aircraft carrier, PCU Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), June 20. The ship design and construction was executed under a contract awarded to Northrop Grumman Newport News (NGNN) in December 1994.
Reagan’s first deployment is scheduled for 2005 from her San Diego homeport, which is home to two other U.S. aircraft carriers.
Reagan is the ninth of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. Expected to be in service for 50 years, Reagan will carry out our nation’s tasking in both peacetime and in times of crisis. Its nuclear propulsion plant will power the ship for more than 20 years without refueling, providing virtually unlimited range and endurance, and a top speed in excess of 30 knots.
Reagan towers 20 stories above the waterline, and at 1,092 feet long, is nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall. The ship displaces approximately 97,000 tons of water and has a 4.5-acre flight deck. The carrier will serve as home to approximately 6,000 Sailors and 80 plus combat aircraft.
The ship's four catapults and three arresting gear engines enable rapid and simultaneous launch and recovery of aircraft. Catapults thrust 60,000 pound aircraft 300 feet, from zero to 165 miles per hour in two seconds, while arresting cables are able to bring a planes traveling in at 150 mile per hour to a complete stop in about 320 feet. The ship will carry approximately three million gallons of fuel for its aircraft and escorts, and enough weapons and stores for extended operations without replenishment.
Design improvements include a completely redesigned island, integrated ship systems with increased capacity to support future upgrades and improved facilities for female personnel. In addition, Reagan has extensive repair capabilities, including a fully equipped Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department, a micro-miniature electronics repair shop and numerous ship repair shops. The ship is equipped with a fiber optic based network for improved communication and machinery monitoring.
CVN 76 was christened March 4, 2001, by its sponsor, Nancy Reagan. Vice President Dick Cheney will join Mrs. Reagan in the commissioning of Ronald Reagan July 12.
For related news, visit the Naval Sea Systems Command Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/navsea.
To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; *all
Good morning snippy, Sam, everyone!
To: snippy_about_it
Good Morning, Snippy, and All Here -
I'm off today too, it's great for a change.
A suggestion for biography days is Dan Daly. Another is Alvin York. I could do an essay on York, I've done some work on his story.
Speaking of young GIs doing excessive police work in Afganistan and Iraq, it is necessary to get local forces doing this sort of thing, under very firm American control, as soon as possible. America has never organized things like this before, but the English experience with Gurkas and the German in German South East Africa (von Lettow-Vorbeck and all that) are good examples. So is the German effort in France, 1940-44. The Russian work in Chechenya is also worth careful study. The Israeli pacification work is also very interesting, mostly as an example of how NOT to do things. Probably the lesson of history is that cultivated men are required to run things of this sort. Boy, that leaves Congress out, and Rumsfeld's group, and Foggy Bottom! Dr. Rice is cool, though.
16
posted on
06/23/2003 5:53:00 AM PDT
by
Iris7
To: bentfeather
Good morning feather.
To: snippy_about_it
The new RONALD REAGAN is one lethal piece of hardware.
18
posted on
06/23/2003 5:57:18 AM PDT
by
Iris7
To: Iris7; SAMWolf
Thank you for the suggestion of these two men, both awarded the Medal of Honor. We will certainly put them on our list.
To: Iris7
She's a beauty!
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