The Waterline May 24, 2012
Vol. XXIX No.21
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NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION
The tools of the Battle of Midway By Benjamin Christensen, NDW Waterline staff writer The tools of the trade for the Sailors at Midway were varied yet distinguished, and stood tall against the Imperial Japanese Navy's weapons. The Battle of Midway, which took place from June 4-8 1942, was a turning point in the PacificWar and arguably set the stage for the United States to help win the SecondWorldWar. Soldiers from all military branches played a part in the battle, but the primary burden of the engagement was shouldered by naval fleet forces. “The Navy has core values and the people who fought at Midway personify them,” said Robert Cressman, a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command. The battle is noted as being the first decisive victory by the United States in the war with Japan. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) had already made broad strokes in the Pacific, beginning with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the invasion of the Philippines, Malaya and Singapore, the Battle of Wake Island and recently a tactical victory at Coral Sea. “It was a major battle in terms of our own ability to meet the enemy and defeat him,” said Cressman. "The skill of the attacks and heroism was great on both sides.” The biggest and most obvious piece of technology that the U.S. Navy photo courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command Sailors at Midway utilized was of course the aircraft carriers, all U.S. Navy Douglas TBD-1 Devastators of Torpedo Squadron 6 (VT-6) unfolding their wings on the deck of three of which were of the Yorktown class: the Enterprise (CV 6), the Hornet (CV 8), and the Yorktown (CV 5). These massive USS Enterprise (CV 6) prior to launching for attack against four Japanese carriers on the first day of the
Battle of Midway. Following the entry of the United States into World War II, VT-6 participated in hit and run raids against the Marshalls and Wake Island. Launched on the morning of 4 June 1942, against the JapanSee Midway, Page 5 ese carrier fleet during the Battle of Midway, the squadron lost ten of fourteen aircraft during their attack.
A look at NAVFAC Washington By Benjamin Christensen, NDW Waterline staff writer, in collaboration with NAVFAC Washington Public Affairs
U.S. Navy photo
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Washington Plant Manager Larry Gray inspects equipment atop a cooling tower at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. Jan. 12.
A lot of individuals do a lot of different work at theWashington Navy Yard and beyond, but who are they and what are they really doing? Naval Facilities Engineering CommandWashington, or NAVFAC Washington, is one of the largest and most active tenant commands on location at Naval Support Activity Washington (NSAW). NAVFAC Washington provides public works services to Navy and Marine Corps installations in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Northern Virginia. Each time the lights go on, water flows, doors open and buses
run on schedule, it is because of behind the scenes efforts performed by public works employees. “Our mission is to provide efficient and effective infrastructure and base services to our supported commands,” said Capt. Kenneth Branch, commanding officer, NAVFAC Washington. “At the installations we serve, we actually succeed best if people don’t even notice us.” The role of public works in improving quality of life for Department of the Navy personnel in the National Capital Region is recognized during National PublicWorks Week, May 20-26. NAVFAC Washington’s Public Works Departments work directly for base commanding officers to provide services that range from basic utility requirements to advanced
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Around the Yard, Page 2
AFPAK Blog, Page 6
energy solutions, simple facility service calls to complex facility management services, standard transportation to heavy construction equipment, janitorial and grounds maintenance to snow and trash removal. During FiscalYear 2011, NAVFAC Washington delivered 780,000 Mega Watt Hours of electricity, 2.2 billion gallons of water and responded to more than 56,000 emergency and service calls. They also conducted work on over $1 billion worth of construction projects. NAVFACWashington, as it is now known, has a long history of serving Navy and Marine Corps commands in the National Capitol region. The Navy Bureau ofYard and Docks cre-
See NAVFAC, Page 4