Saturday, October 25, 2014

I will call this "The Circle of Life"

This will seem random at first, but trust me, there is a point...

When I was a kid, and into my young adult life, my dad served in the U.S. Navy. If there is one thing in my life I regret it's that I didn't serve, but that's a long story and will probably be included in my book. Dad was a Radioman and I was always fascinated by the patch on his uniform sleeve. In fact, I think I may make one of the lightening bolts a tattoo soon in honor of dad's service!

 
Fast forward to the present day...most of you know I design fire sprinkler systems. One of the components of special hazard type systems is high expansion foam. Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) is used in suppression of petroleum fueled fires. OK, to make it simple, hangars, tarmacs and aircraft carriers (among other uses). I have done estimated on hangars, but haven't yet gotten a contract to do the actual design.
 
ANYwho, while catching up on NCIS, which if you didn't know is a TV show based on the Navy's Criminal Investigative Service, I decided to look up one of the ships on which my dad served...the USS America, CVA66, and found a lot of information.
The USS America was commissioned in January 1965. It served mostly in the Mediterranean, but did a couple tours in Vietnam, Desert Storm and the Persian Gulf until it's decommissioning in 1996.
One of the articles I found talks about the use of AFFF aboard the ship.
 
 
See now why I called this post "The Circle of Life"? It makes sense to me...but I'm sure it's still random to some...I still wish I had served.
 
God Bless America (the country, the ship, those who served on her) AND OUR TROOPS!!!
 

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