USS Theodore Cheque
Modesty aside, my reputation as a fly boy has spread far and wide so I wasn’t totally surprised to be invited on board USS Theodore Roosevelt to give the US Navy a tip or two. I have to admit that it is quite flattering to think that they diverted their entire fleet to Portsmouth just to meet little old me but I suppose that is the lure of true celebrity... Shucks.

I took Bryn and Emma along for the ride as it’s good to get the oldies out for a spin sometimes. We asked Lt Col Simon Butt along so he could tell the Yanks what life is like on the ground in Helmand. He did a tour recently and knows quite a lot about being given air support.

Our hosts for the day were two real life Top Guns with the call signs Malvo and Fun instead of Maverick Raceand Goose but they they fly the same F18 Hornet. They have just completed a seven month deployment to the Indian Ocean where they flew missions in support of both American and British Forces in Southern Afghanistan.


On the way back home, they decided that they wanted to continue to support our wounded so over 1000 members of the crew turned out on the flight deck and ran marathons to raise $10000 for H4H... Now that is truly awesome!

USS Theodore

Isle of White Ferry

We took the Isle of Wight ferry out to the ship and I have to say that the USS Theodore Roosevelt is about the same size as the Isle of Wight. It is ginormous! If you stood it on its end it would be bigger than the Empire State building, it has a crew of 5500 and 75 or so aircraft. It appeared like an island out of the mist and I realised that the little boat along side it was a tanker... Its big! Flight Deck

Fun and Malvo fly for The Blacklions, the elite top VFA-213 Squadron so we spent some time in their Ready Room hearing about their tour and watching videos they had taken as they straffed the Taliban attacking the British Forward Operating Bases ( FOBs) in Helmand.


I can’t divulge all the top secret Int that I gleaned but let’s just say you don’t want to be on the wrong end of an F18 Hornet when it is irritated.

Flight Deck

Briefing over, it was time for a trip around the flight deck. I gave the boys some tips from my experience of flying a Tornado and they were very impressed and learnt a lot from me. I am always glad to pass on the benefit of my thoughts and I am sure they will learn. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they renamed the Blacklions the BlackBears in my honour. Just a hint guys.

Flight deck
Heros quick spin


We did some posing on the flight deck with the big cheque and then climbed up inside The Island, the control tower. I took the opportunity to jump into the Captain’s seat and took the ship for a quick spin round the island, these nuclear engines sure can accelerate!
On board
 
Being a bear of the people I spent some time chatting to the crew and even did some time manning the .50 Caliber machine gun. You just never know when the Isle of Wight Liberation Army might show up - ‘Be Prepared’ is my motto!
 
Hero gunner
Posing on the flight deck
After climbing up miles of stairs I was fairly knackered and ready for a kip. It was a great day, even by my standards! I have to admit to being pretty impressed with the US Navy and even more so that they had raised so much dosh for our boys and girls. I just hope we would do the same. Thanks guys, good job!

Must rush, time to go and oil up my bear torso and to get out onto the beach volley ball court before biking off to see Kelly... the life us fighter jocks lead !

Toadly Awesome!
See y’all

The Bear
 
Hero the Bear