Meet Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) 1st Class Mason Butler, a Recruit Division Commander (RDC) at Recruit Training Command (RTC) Great Lakes, the Navy’s only boot camp.
A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, Butler has served in the Navy for nine years. His journey began with a desire to break away from uncertainty and find direction.
Continue reading “Staff in the Spotlight—Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) First Class Mason Butler”
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle called on the U.S. Navy to heighten its readiness capabilities and be able to fully surge and respond at any moment during an all hands call to Guam-based personnel last week.
Continue reading “CNO Caudle Tells Sailors in Guam to Be Ready for Conflict Now”
On November 18, 2025 Rear Admiral Paul W. Dillingham, Jr. passed away. His biography follows:
Continue reading “RIP Rear Admiral Paul W. Dillingham, Jr., 34th Commander the Lead Naval Cryptologists”
Featured image: “The Spooks” of the USS Fox (DLG–33/CG-33) – Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone, PIRAZ, Gulf of Tonkin, 1971. Special thanks to Bill Scholz for allowing his picture to be used on this post.
During the Vietnam War and other major conflicts, the U.S. Navy operated a select group of ships known as PIRAZ stations, short for Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone. These vessels, often referred to by their radio callsign “Red Crown,” formed the backbone of radar coverage and command coordination for friendly aircraft in designated combat zones.
Continue reading “The Navy’s “Red Crown”: Guardians of the Skies – The Role of PIRAZ Stations”
Most Marines had never seen combat when Peter Ortiz joined the Corps in June 1942. However, he had already survived five years in the French Foreign Legion and fought in Africa, faced the Nazis in France, spent 15 months as a prisoner of war, and escaped occupied Europe to get back into the fight.
Continue reading “The U.S. Marine Who Forced Nazi Officers to Toast FDR at Gunpoint — and Became the Most Decorated OSS Operative”
William Frederick Halsey, Jr.
30 October 1882 – 16 August 1959
