October | 2015 | uss valkyrie

A MOMENT OF SILENCE…

MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER LISA NYBAEK:

“Yeoman rand is one of the reasons I like star trek. Another is Kirk. I can be Rand in the first star trek shows. Thanx to Kirk. But she was not there for long, because the producer got rid of her. It is sad that Grace Whitney is dead. I will miss her. We can still see her on the TV, and we can remember her.”

Captain’s Note: this edition of our newsletter is a bit late due to various reasons that I won’t get into here… However I would like to thank the contributors and crew for their patience. Thank you. Captain Stephen Halkovic CO USS Valkyrie NCC-2590

STARFLEETEMBLEM

Jim Lowell Takes Us to the Moon
Cmdr. Kathleen West
Chief Science Officer, U.S.S. Valkyrie

One of my favorite space flight movies of all time is Apollo 13, so naturally, any news item involving Capt. Jim Lovell, captured my attention. Astronomy Editor David J. Eicher and Senior Editor Richard Talcott recently published an interview with the 87 year old former astronaut which covers his time on the infamous Apollo 13 as well as his other missions. Scheduled to land on the moon, the Apollo 13 mission was aborted when an electrical short led to an oxygen leak that the team barely survived.

From his earlier Apollo 8 mission, Lowell explained that the moon had three different shades: sunlight, earth-shine, and nighttime. His description is detailed, ”In sunlight, it’s quite bright; in earth-shine, it looks like snow outside at nighttime here on Earth; and then there’s the part that has no earthshine, no sunshine — you don’t see a thing.” Of course, he goes on to explain that if you turn toward the sky, the brightness and vividness of the stars at night is like no other. It might be something like comparing the nighttime sky in a city to that of the nighttime sky in the middle of the desert where there are no lights to pollute to view.

While Lowell didn’t take the memorable picture of the earth rising as the ship traveled around the moon, he recalls the moment it happened very clearly in his mind. His colleague, Bill actually took the photo with his telephoto lens. This was only one of many photos taken during the flight.

As featured in the movie, Capt. Lowell kept his composure, even when he knew the crew was in trouble and their lives were at risk. Eicher and Talcott asked how he kept such a clear head and Lowell responded, “Well, if you want to get in this business, you better be optimistic.” He credits his experience as a test pilot prepared him for it as just a problem that needed to be solved. His incredible heroism is recalled in this amazing first person recount at http://www.astronomy.com/bonus/lovell.

A LOOK AT THE MAN JOHN NASH AS A CHILD…

This year we lost so many people very dear to the Star Trek community in one month that it is hard to bring them all together in one newsletter. Hopefully we will have some independent posts on our Memorial page. We will also try to get post for those who have pasted on before the launching of the USS Valkyrie 😦

However when I found out that the USS Valkyrie’s Chaplin had a story to tell about John Nash I simply had to ask…

MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER ALAINA DAMEWOOD

May 25

When I think back on stories my aunt told me about John Nash . I am reminded of the first time Aunt Joe Strasko had to watch John while his mother was working at the J C Penny’s store in Bluefield WV. Back Then john’s mother was working two jobs and my aunt and her would switch shifts to cover to be able to watch the others children in between their shifts . John Nash came over to stay the night with my cousins John Strasko and his brother on a school night . The boys decided half way through the night they wanted to try to camp out side in the the middle of summer in my aunt’s back yard. But John Nash kept saying he did not want to go outside because of the factor he would rather stay inside and read on his books. Finally the boys decided to keep John Nash company but to their surprise John sat their reading his books instead of trying to play with the other children . Finally my cousin John Strasko realized if they started talking to john about the subjects he was interested in that they could convince him to go out side with them and look at the stars. John Nash sat on a blanket under the stars with the boys talking about the constellations with my cousins. The next morning when my aunt tried to get them up to get ready for school she discovered the boys had all fallen asleep outside on the blanket and So she went to get them up but John Nash was already up and getting his papers worked on before getting in my aunts car to go to school. That afternoon when John got home he told his mother about what a wonderful time he had discussing the constellations with my cousins. His mother seemed assumed that the boys found away to get john to open up and talk about his passions for science and from that day forward any time she had to go to work my aunt Joe Strasko watched John Nash so he could spend time with my cousins.

(An introduction to STARFLEET MARINE CORP)

On the Flight Line

Greetings!

My name is Bill West, and I would like to introduce myself and the 66th Marine Strike Group, “The Fighting Fireflies”. I have been in Starfleet for the majority of years since 1994. I have served on the U.S.S. Peacekeeper in the Central Valley as the OIC of the Marine Strike Group before moving to command the U.S.S. Sierra and becoming the OIC of the 4th Brigade and becoming the creator of the Battle M.E.C.H.A. MOS for the SFMC. I currently hold the rank of Brigadier in the SFMC.

After moving down to the Inland Empire, my wife and I served on the U.S.S. Centurion and the U.S.S. William O’Darby. Our Starfleet membership lapsed for a couple of years and we became members once again with the launch of the U.S.S. Ontario, under the command of Admiral David Ryan. After his passing, I assumed command of the Ontario, until it was decommissioned in 2014. At that time we returned to the O’Darby, until our family transferred to the Valkyrie.

The 66th Marine Strike Group was an aerospace fighter squadron under my command aboard the Ontario. With the blessing of the crew (hopefully as well as the command staff of which I haven’t been able to really discuss at this writing), I will be raising the proud standard of “The Fighting Fireflies” aboard the Valkyrie. Our motto is “Ego sum a folium in ventus” or “I’m a leaf on the wind”. Our unofficial motto is “You can’t take the sky from me.” Both active and reserve marines are welcome in the 66th. While passing the exams for the Aerospace MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) is preferred, it is not necessary. Aerospace exams run from the basic course AE-100 to the final course AE-301. Marine Aerospace pilots are awarded their wings and call sign with the successful completion of the AE-295 course. All courses and materials are free for SFMC members.