Midway (CV 41) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMANDING OFFICER CAPTAIN THOMAS F. BROWN III Captain Thomas F. Brown, III, was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He completed high school there and graduated from Mount Saint Mary ' s Col- lege, Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1954. He entered the U. S. Navy and upon completion of Officers Candi- date School at Newport News, Rhode Island, entered flight training. He was designated a Naval Aviator in July 1956. During the next seventeen years. Captain Brown served in numerous attack s quadrons in the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. He earned an MA degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkely in 1963. Captain Brown has commanded Attack Squadron Thirty-Seven aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-60), Carrier Air Wing Nineteen aboard USS Oriskany (CVA-34) and the replenishment ship USS Caloosa- hatchee (AO-98). He has made 950 arrested carrier landings. During three deployments to Vietnam, he flew 353 combat missions. His decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, six individual Air Medals and thirty Strike Flight Air Medals. Captain Brown graduated from the National War College in June 1974 and then served as the Aviation Commander Detailer at the Bureau of Naval Person- nel. He was the Commanding Officer, USS Caloosa- hatchee (AO-98) from August 1975 until February 1977. He then attended the Senior Officer Ships Material Readiness Course at Idaho Falls, Idaho. Captain Brown subsequently was assigned in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OPNAV- 50W) prior to reporting to the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-41) homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, as commanding officer February 1978. He is married to Martha C. Bramer of Springfield, Missouri, a former Navy nurse. They have four child- ren: Tom 19, Stephanie 18, Deidre 17, and Don 14. Upon completion of his tour of duty as midway ' s commanding officer, CAPT Brown will assume the rank of rear admiral.

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USS MIDWAY First of a Kind, One of a Kind In the early months of World War II a logical progression of American aircraft carrier development produced the design for a class of large, heavily protected, battle carriers. The lead ship of this class, ordered as CVB l on 7 August 1942, was named for the carrier battle that turned the tide of war at Midway Island. The keel of the USS Midway was laid in a graving dock on 27 October 1943 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. Launched 20 March 1945 she was the largest warship in the world through her first decade of service. She was constructed with the most advanced damage control innovations possible, including a 3-1 2 inch thick armored flight deck and extensive internal sub-division not found on any carrier or other combatant before or since. She utilized very extensive electric welding in her construc- tion as did her sisters Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42) built at the New York Navy Yard and Coral Sea (CVB-43), also a Newport News ship. M c wav 5 original length was 968 feet, which with an extreme beam at the waterline of 121 feet at a maximum draft of 34 feet gave a full load displacement of 55,000 tons. Her twelve Babcock and Wilcox boilers fed four Westinghouse geared turbines, developing a total of 212,000 shaft horsepower for a design speed of 33 knots. Originally, the class was to have included six ships, but CVB-44, 6 and 57 were cancelled by the end of the war. — Continued on Page 275 —

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EXECUTIVE OFFICER CAPTAIN D.S. STROLE Captain Strole was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1936. After graduating from Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia, in June 1957, he ejitered the Avia- tion Officer Candidate Program and was commis- sioned an Ensign on October 4, 1957. Following a 30 month tour with VP-4 in Naha, Okinawa, he was assigned briefly to the Mobile Intel- ligence Production Unit, Atlantic. Ths was followed in December 1961 by one year as a student in the General Line School Monterey, California. Subse- quently, he was assigned to Naval Flight Officer training at NAS Glynco, Georgia in January 1962. In October 1962, upon completion of the F-4 training program at VF-121, NAS Miramar, California, he was designated as a Naval Flight Officer. He joined VF-2 1 in November 1962 as that squadron transitioned from the F-3H to the F-4B aircraft, and flew over 100 combat missions in Vietnam. After three years in VF-21, he was assigned as an instructor in VF-121. In July 1967 he reported to the Staff Commander Seventh Fleet Detachment Charlie at Tan Son Nhut AB, Republic of Vietnam, as Air Operations Officer. Attending the Command and Staff Course at the Naval War College from August 1968 to July 1969, he concurrently attended the George Washington Uni- versity and received a Master of Science degree in International Affairs. In December 1969, following four months F-4 refresher training in VF-101, he served as Maintenance and Operations Officer of VF-74, NAS Oceana, Virginia. In August 1971, he reported to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, serving as Assistant F-14 Program Coordinator for two years. After completing the VF-124 F-14A training program he reported to VF-1 in October 1973, assumed the duties as Execu- tive Officer in February 1974 and in April 1974 assumed command of VF-1 aboard USS ENTER- PRISE (CVN-65) in the South China Sea. He was relieved as Commanding Officer of the WOLFPACK in July 1976, and assumed command of VF-124 in August 1976. After being relieved in VF-124 in December 1977, he attended the Prospective Exe- cutive Officer Course, Surface Officer School and reported aboard USS MIDWAY (CV l) as Executive Officer in March 1978.