02 April 2008

New Theme

For the regular visitors, you will immediately notice that we've made some changes around the place. I originally slapped together the site using an ordinary Blogger template, choosing the rather predictable blue and gold for colors. But, I wanted something that would still convey a naval theme immediately while connecting us with the past.

For those of you that don't immediately recognize it, the banner is made from a photo of Arleigh Burke (reading), then still a Captain and Commodore of Destroyer Squadron 23, the "Little Beavers". The ship is his flagship, USS CHARLES AUSBURNE (DD-570), and the photo was taken some time between 1941 and 1943 during the Solomon Islands Campaign.

Your comments and feedback are invited.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Destroyermen work on (relatively) small ships that go everywhere, move very quickly and are armed to the teeth. They have a reason to seem cocky.

Then, and now.

cat said...

Mr. XO-
It's great! I like the new (Old?) look, although the previous template wasn't half bad, either. Go Navy! :)
Was Burger Day today? If it was, hope you all had fun.
Cat

Cmdr. Chris van Avery, U.S. Navy said...

Oh yes, we had our burgers.

David Axe said...

Site looks good. More posts! Can you get some of your enlisted crew to do little posts about their jobs on the ship? Nothing fancy, just: "Hi, my name is Joe, I do blah blah blah and it's really fun. Go America!" Plus a pic or two for each. It'd be great to get a peek inside the day-to-day lives of younger sailors.

Mike said...

I concur with cat...prior template wasn't bad, but this one is pretty sweet. You can't go wrong with Arleigh Burke. (And that coming from a zoomie!)

Anonymous said...

was there bacon too? LOL it is so nice hearin something from the ship everyday! Like the new page too!! Is there a was you can post more pics fromt he Russell? Like candid photos of the work? Maybe prove that this deployment isn't just a cruise? LOL best wishes to everyone on board!

Cmdr. Chris van Avery, U.S. Navy said...

There are a couple of points to make here:

1) Thanks for the feedback on the theme. I thought you would like it.

2) More picture? Can do.

3) More Sailors participating? Much more difficult. Here's my position: I've put out two invitations to all hands to participate already and gotten a few to play along. As second-in-command, though, if I continue pressing the issue, the Sailors may start thinking I'm tasking them to write. That's definitely not where we want to go. And,

4) Can I put up more posts? Maybe. After all, I've got a warship to run and it's currently a fourteen-hours-per-day, six-days-a-week job.

Anonymous said...

14 hours a day? Turn To, XO! LOL

vet66 said...

Blue water rocks! Permission to come aboard, Sir!

Anonymous said...

C-dore Burke did one hell of a job during the Solomons (which I personally thought was the pivotal campaign of the Pacific War, and not Midway...yeah, heresy).

XO, I'm happy as can be just to get a glimpse into life underway on a USN man o' war, I'll be tickled to take what I can get.

You get 8 hours off? Really? That much ;)?

Byron

BostonMaggie said...

Another thumbs up on the new banner.

As far as having some of the Sailors write, that may well resolve itself, don't you think? As they see the feedback in the blog it may spark more input.

Frederick Paul Kiesche III said...

The new picture is excellent.

I've been reading the site with an eye towards nifty things I can ste...errr...borrow for that Great SF novel I'll write (eventually).

(And it is always nice to see how the other branches--I'm ex-Army--eat!)

Anonymous said...

I like the new theme better.
The other one was ok but this seems somehow more authentic.
How much can you discuss ships movement? Back in the day a westpac cruise was the Indian Ocean, South China Sea, Japan, PI, Hong Kong,Bangkok, etc. Has that changed and/or expanded to include the ME with the increased ops going on there? IIRC, that AO belongs to the Sixth Fleet. I understand the need for OPSEC so if I've asked what shouldn't be I would expect this to be deleted.

LargeBill said...

XO,

Like the new look. Keep the pics coming.

Pass on to the Goat Locker that I can't believe they have nothing to say. I haven't met many Chiefs who were shy about voicing their opinions.

Bill
CMDCM(SW), USN(ret)

Anonymous said...

Much better...
Oh, and apropos your response to anon the other day about .mil sites, some of us use the site to try and educate our, shall we say, "joint challenged" brethren in a certain DoD agency...

- SJS

Cmdr. Chris van Avery, U.S. Navy said...

14 hours a day? Turn To, XO! LOL

As it turns out, I just had 45 evaluations dropped on my desk that need to be done now, now, now! So, I think I'm back to 18-hour days for a while.

How much can you discuss ships movement?

As the news media reports, we're en route the Middle East. It takes quite a while to get from Hawai'i to that side of the world, and since we're transiting the Pacific to get there, we'll participate in a number of engagement events while we're in the WESTPAC.

As for specifics, I can't discuss anything in advance for obvious reasons, and after action reports will be posted on a case-by-case basis.

Unknown said...

Burke was a great guy. Cool look.