[xsysmgr]

Nobody but Hanson could (or would) draw reasonable parallels with an ancient Greek phalanx and a modern aircraft carrier.

[null and void]

ping!

[happygrl]

Victor Davis Hanson BUMP!

[Cicero]

As usual, beautifully done. We might add that not only were the members of the phalanx free men, but at least in early days they bought and owned their armor and weapons. It was a true citizen's army.

[Mat_Helm]

"152 HORNET BALL 4500 COUPLED" "TADPOLE IS CENTERED"

[Ranger]

ping

[Long Cut]

BUMP! for my next command!

[Al B.]

FYI -- and hats off to the men and women who man these carriers and also to the folks in your hometown who build these great ships.

[Plutarch]

At Stanford University...silly theme houses exist with names like...Ujama...as students are segregated by race in a balkanized and separatist landscape.

Hey, I spent a quarter in "Ujama" (its actually spelled Ujamaa). Only half the residents are African-American. It was like a carrier flight deck in one way--- it was loud!

And what does Ujuama mean? Collectivism!!

The concept of Ujamaa is an African form of collectivism in living. Explicitly, "Ujamaa" means collective economics and is from the Swahili word "Jamaa", meaning family. Only through Ujamaa - family - do we find the oneness with others like us that is necessary for us to grow to our full individual potentials. Only through Ujamaa - collectivism - will we find the strength to overcome. And only through Jamaa - family - can we find expression for our ideas, culture, and uniqueness that will endure beyond our brief passage in life.

[r9etb]

But the phalanx was more than a singularly deadly infantry unit or a psychological weapon of terror. Its dense columns also reflected the solidarity of free men, who willingly donned heavy armor under the Mediterranean sun, crowded with one another in cumbersome rows, marched in unison — and defined courage as following orders, advancing on command and in rank, and protecting one's comrade on the left.

Since when were Spartans "free men?" Able warriors, certainly. Brave, without doubt. But Spartans were about as free as the Kaiser's boys.

And as for "protecting one's comrade on the left, the reality was apparently rather different. In phalanx formation, the shield was held in the left hand. Each soldier in the line would naturally crowd right-ward to gain protection from the shield next to him, so the entire phalanx would tend to drift to the right as it advanced. According to Jon Bridgeman at the University of Washington, Greek generals had to account for this drift when they set up their formations. Guess wrong, and the advancing phalanx would miss its adversary! (Or, worse, end up with an exposed flank.)

[Junior]

Germany in its darkest hours never launched a single one.

Actually, the Germans did have one -- the Graf Spee -- it was launched but never commissioned. The Russians nabbed it at the end of the war and it hasn't been heard from or seen since.

[Junior]

Carrier alumnus:

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) -- 01 APR 87 to 25 SEP 91.

[Man of the Right]

Remember the idiot Gary "Money Business" Hartpence, who wanted to mothball our big deck carriers? We've got 12 left. If I had my way, we'd still have 15.

[bvw]

Even the Swiss or Dutch could not build a Ronald Reagan.

The Finns, Norwegians, Swedes and Dutch could ... technically, but not hardly by ability to marshall the social motives and forces to do so.

[LibKill]

Even back in the '80s one of Reagan's opponents did admit that the carrier has one cardinal virtue, "You can move it."

Try that with an airbase.

Carriers are here to stay, and I'm happy about that.

[SamAdams76]

Even at $5 billion - or even $10 billion - our aircraft carriers are one of the greatest bargains the taxpayer has ever benefitted from. They are floating pieces of U.S. territory that can deliver awesome firepower anywhere in the world within hours. Despite all the criticism of aircraft carriers as being "sitting ducks" - we haven't lost one since WW2. And even by then, we were building them faster than any enemy could hope to sink them.

My only regret was that I never had the opportunity to serve on one during my time with the Marines.

[Honcho]

Damn, I almost cried reading this. What a great article.

[SAMWolf]

Excellent read.
Thanks for the thread, xsysmgr.
Thanks for the ping, Sparta.