When I was a kid, war movies were popular. And like generations before and after, we were influenced by the popular films of the day. In fact, we would act like we were soldiers and “play Army” in backyards across the neighborhood. It didn’t matter if we, in our imaginations, were on the ground, in the air or on water. It was all “playing Army.”
I hadn’t thought of that in many years until a few weeks ago when I was at Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. There I was on the back deck of the U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ship Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), which is currently under construction at the yard. Austal’s LCS is a 417'×99' aluminum trimaran designed to outperform similar-sized monohulls and catamarans. The trimaran can carry large payloads at high speeds (45 knots) and ensure a more stable platform for launching and retrieving helicopters, according to Austal officials. In the photo (left), you see the landing of a helicopter on the flight deck of LCS 2 (Independence) during the RIMPAC exercises last summer.
This vessel looks like something that could only come from the mind of a Hollywood screenwriter. In fact, if it were included in the aircraft seen in the upcoming “Star Wars” movie, my guess is it would have no trouble fitting right in. But it was designed by Austal Ltd. in Australia and it’s a ship that was built for the water, not outer space.
I have been fortunate over the years that Austal has allowed me to climb around on these LCSes, starting with Independence in 2010. (Relax, Navy officials, I didn’t see anything I wasn’t supposed to see.) But the other day was the first time that I thought to myself, “What would the kids in the neighborhood think if they saw me on this thing?”
My thanks to Austal for bringing back some fond memories and, in a way, allowing me to “play Army” again.
