Saturday, March 24, 2007

Rear Admiral's Visit

A couple weeks ago we had a visit from the 2-Star Admiral over the entire Navy JAG Corps. He was here in country visiting and wanted to come down and see the remodelded court room as well as meet the judges who convicted Akhtar.



As many of you know I was a former Navy JAG. When he arrived and as we were introduced he said, "so you're the traitor." We just laughed.


We had a really great visit. He listened to the judges and asked about their needs. He talked about the great things that have been done here in country and where he hopes to see the ANA military justice go. He was a very gracious guest. I know the judges were thrilled to have him here.


Here are a couple of photos from his visit.












Prior to him leaving he presented Merrill and I with his coin. For those not schooled in military tradition, giving coins is a time honored tradition. Commanders will have their own coins made, military units will get them made. They are given on special occassions and are highly valued and appreciated. I've seen some pretty impressive collections. I've got several but this is the first 2-Star coin for my collection. We were honored to have been given his coin. It was pretty cool!




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why is he called a "Rear Admiral"?

Anonymous said...

Is it anatomical?

JAGMAN said...

I know there's a reason but after a few minutes of searching I figured that someone with an interest greater than mine can find out. Maybe I'll look later and no, it's not anatomical.

Anonymous said...

Gross is not always funny...

Here's the history:

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank that originated from the days of Naval Sailing Squadrons and can trace its origins to the Royal Navy. Each Naval Squadron would be assigned an admiral as its head, who would command from the centre vessel and direct the activities of the squadron. The admiral would in turn be assisted by a vice, or vice admiral, who commanded the lead ships which would bear the brunt of a naval assault.

In the rear of the Naval Squadron, a third admiral would command the remaining ships and, as this section of the squadron was considered the least dangerous, the admiral in command of the rear would typically be the most junior of the squadron admirals. This has survived into the modern age, with the rank of rear admiral the first and junior-most of the admiralty ranks of most navies.