Just got this from my Dad.
I think everyone knows Hoser Joe. He and I were F-14 flight instructors
together back in VF-101
R/ Jon
Anchormen
The legends of Annapolis.
By James S. Robbins
A recent Washington Post profile of John McCain's years at the Naval
Academy portrayed him as an unruly, fun-loving, under-achieving
Midshipman struggling with his obligation to live up to his family's
brilliant military legacy. It was "a four-year course of insubordination
and rebellion," McCain later wrote. McCain graduated 894th out of 899 in
1958, five spots above the "Anchorman," the lowest-ranking midshipman.
In this respect he did uphold one family tradition; his similarly
rebellious father Jack, who would rise to the rank of Admiral and was
the Pacific Command CINC while his son was being held prisoner in Hanoi,
had graduated 424th of 441.
Some have suggested that McCain's low class ranking reflects negatively
on his fitness to lead the country. But there is no clear relationship
between Academy class rank and leadership qualities. For example, Jimmy
Carter, the only Naval Academy graduate to serve as president to date,
graduated 59th out of a class of 820, so draw your own conclusions.
Seventeen class anchors have attained flag rank, and many low-ranking
graduates have gone on to brilliant careers. This tracks with the thesis
I developed in my book Last in Their Class; the bottom of the class
tends to produce a different kind of leader than the top. Those who wind
up at the foot are often there by choice. They could do better if they
studied, but they would rather trade class ranking for other pursuits.
They tend to be the risk takers, the innovators, usually very well liked
and in their own way driven. They know how to get into trouble, and more
importantly how to get out of it. They also tend to have more than their
share of luck. The "Anchormen" of Annapolis are of the same breed as the
"Goats" of West Point, and both can appreciate the humor in the comment,
"There, but for the grace of God, walks a civilian."
Charles William "Savez" Read was one such officer, the anchor of the
USNA Class of 1860. A Mississippian, Read took a commission in the
Confederate Navy when the Civil War broke out, and quickly established
himself as a daring and resourceful sailor. Read seized so many Federal
vessels (twenty two in three weeks) that a special task force was
assembled just to find him. One of his most noteworthy exploits took
place on June 27, 1863, when he slipped into the harbor at Portland,
Maine aboard the prize schooner Archer, and seized the U.S. revenue
cutter Caleb Cushing. Read had planned to set fire to the other Union
ships in port but his plan unraveled, and Read had to flee to open
waters. He was apprehended and imprisoned at Fort Warren in Boston
Harbor (coincidentally along with Major Harold Borland, the West Point
Goat of 1860). Read tried to escape many times before he was finally
exchanged, and the end of the war found him still trying to ply his
trade as a Confederate raider two weeks after Lee surrendered at
Appomattox. He fully earned his nickname "The Sea Wolf of the
Confederacy."
Commander Aeneas Armstrong of Georgia, anchorman of 1856, also served
with the Confederate Navy. He was on a patrol on the James River on the
picket boat Hornet January 26, 1865, when his vessel was accidentally
rammed by the flag of truce steamer "William Allison." The Hornet was
split in tow and immediately sank, throwing the crew into the icy waters
of the James. The crew of the Allison immediately rendered assistance,
and had picked up four of the six men in the river when they heard the
voice of one of the crew.
"For God's sake, captain, let me go, or both of us will be lost!" the
man cried.
"Well if either is to be drowned, let it be me," Armstrong said. "Save
yourself if you can." The rescuers made their way towards the sound of
the voices, managed to located the fifth sailor and bring him aboard.
Commander Armstrong's voice rose from the darkness, "I'm numb, for God's
sake, be quick." Armstrong went under as the rescuers neared him. He
surfaced again briefly a few yards distant, muttered, "It is too late,
I'm gone," and sank a final time. The rescue party searched for his body
but could not find it, and the James froze over that night. Other
searches also proved fruitless. Armstrong's body was discovered months
later in the ocean near Bermuda, hundreds of miles out to sea.
William Barker Cushing was well on his way to being the anchor of the
class of 1861 when he was "bilged" (expelled) for failing a Spanish
exam. But when war broke out he pled his case personally to the
secretary of the Navy, was reinstated, and managed to graduate, like
John McCain, fifth from the foot. During the war he was known for his
daring, and was described by a later biographer as "Lincoln's Commando."
His greatest feat was the sinking of the ironclad CSS Albemarle in a
night time raid during which he rammed the ship with a 30-foot picket
boat armed with an explosive charge. (The ironclad concept had been
pioneered by John Randolph Hamilton, anchorman of 1851.) The explosion
destroyed Cushing's small vessel, but blew a huge hole in the Albemarle,
sending her to the bottom. Cushing survived and saw action in many other
engagements, and in 1872 became the youngest commander in the history of
the U.S. Navy up to that time.
Anchorman Richard Zullinger was diving officer and XO on the World War
II submarine USS Pollack. Zullinger was notorious in the Pacific Theater
for his antics between missions. "Zully was one of those guys you knew
was a bad influence but was too much fun not to be around" his crewmate
Kenneth C. Ruiz wrote. "He was a free spirit on a perpetual search for a
good woman and a good time." Yet Zully worked as hard as he played, and
was a highly competent submariner. "He may have been last in his class,"
Ruiz recalled, "but he became a first rate officer and a great presence
in combat. One thing for sure, he always had the respect and trust of
the men."
Colonel Joseph Zachary Taylor, USMC, did well academically but graduated
890 out of 890 in conduct in 1949. "Brains and irreverence," as his son
described him. In the 1950s Taylor was one of the organizers of the much
revered and justly feared Marine Force Recon. One of his men remembered
him: "Joe Taylor was a man who was comfortable with himself. He never
seemed to feel a need to prove himself to or impress anyone. Whatever he
did, I am convinced, he did for the satisfaction of knowing he had given
his best and the intrinsic reward of a job well done. He was what he
seemed to be and more; without pretension, affectation or artifice. . .
. He was smart, imaginative, resourceful and creative. . . . He did it
all with an unflagging, puckish sense of humor. He was, in my opinion,
an exemplary human being."
Amon Bronson was anchorman of 1896. His first assignment after
graduation was aboard the USS Maine, and he was asleep in his bunk on
February 15, 1898 when the ship blew up in Havana Harbor. Bronson
survived, and went on to command the U.S.S. Denver and U.S.S. St. Louis
during World War I. For his service he was awarded the Navy Cross.
Amon's friend and frequent partner in misbehavior at Annapolis was Henry
Mustin, who graduated one slot above Bronson. Henry earned 12 varsity
letters at the Naval Academy, a record at the time, and was decorated
for bravery in the Philippine insurrection. Most notably he was the
first man to fly an aircraft catapulted from a ship at sea. He
established the Naval Aeronautic Station at Pensacola and commanded the
first naval air squadron. Henry Mustin was not only the Father of Naval
Aviation but also the patriarch of a Navy family tradition which has
continued through four generations to the present day.
One member of Mustin's command at Pensacola was Marc Andrew "Pete"
Mitscher, who graduated 107th of 130 in 1910. In 1942 Mitscher commanded
the USS Hornet during the daring Doolittle Raid on the Japanese home
islands. He later commanded the Fast Carrier Task Force, which wreaked
havoc on the Japanese fleet, merchant shipping, and ground
installations. His pilots won the decisive Battle of the Philippine Sea,
also known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot, the largest aircraft carrier
battle in history. Admiral Arleigh Burke later said of Mitscher that he
was "a bulldog of a fighter, a strategist blessed with an uncanny
ability to foresee his enemy's next move, and a lifelong searcher after
truth and trout streams, he was above all else - perhaps above all other
- a Naval Aviator."
The spirits of the aviator and the anchorman often resonated together.
Renowned pilot Joe "Hoser" Satrapa entered the Class of 1964 with the
expressed goal of graduating as the anchorman and winning the bounty to
which each Mid contributed a dollar. He frequently found himself before
disciplinary boards, and told one of them "I'm just waiting to get the
hell out of here so I can go to flight training and get over to the
goddamn war and kill gomers!" After four years of carefully planned
underachievement and misbehavior he was within sight of his goal, but in
the final examinations he got a few too many questions correct and wound
up graduating slightly above the anchorman.
Hoser went on to become a legend in Naval Aviation, a fearless hunter in
the skies over Vietnam who was a tireless advocate of guns over
missiles, of close-in dog-fighting over long range engagement. "There's
no kill like a guns kill" was his motto. He later was a Top Gun trainer
and a revered figure in the F-14 community. His commitment to flying was
demonstrated after a bizarre accident. Hoser had crafted a single-shot
rifle out of a surplussed 20 millimeter cannon from an F-14. But one day
while cocking the weapon the breech exploded and the firing bolt blew
backwards, taking off his right thumb. Knowing he could not fly
thumbless, Joe prevailed on a surgeon to replace the missing digit with
a big toe. Today Hoser still uses his flying skills, to put out forest
fires. His entire life has been driven by a central rationale: "The
purpose of life is to matter," he wrote in his Vietnam War diary, "to
count, to stand for something, to have it make some difference that we
lived at all."
I thought of these men, these and others I have read about, heard about,
or had the privilege to meet, when listening to the end of John McCain's
acceptance speech, his entreaty to fight, fight for what's right, for
the ideals and character of a free people, for the future. To stand up
and fight, for "beautiful, blessed, bountiful America." It was the most
honest, impassioned and inspiring call to arms I have heard in many
years. I heard in it the sum of his years, his wisdom, lessons hard and
painfully learned. Character will always be more important in a leader
than charisma, and not all virtues are acquired in classrooms.
- NRO contributor James S. Robbins is the director of the Intelligence
Center at Trinity Washington, and author of Last in Their Class: Custer,
Picket and the Goats of West Point.
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
I think everyone knows Hoser Joe. He and I were F-14 flight instructors
together back in VF-101
R/ Jon
Anchormen
The legends of Annapolis.
By James S. Robbins
A recent Washington Post profile of John McCain's years at the Naval
Academy portrayed him as an unruly, fun-loving, under-achieving
Midshipman struggling with his obligation to live up to his family's
brilliant military legacy. It was "a four-year course of insubordination
and rebellion," McCain later wrote. McCain graduated 894th out of 899 in
1958, five spots above the "Anchorman," the lowest-ranking midshipman.
In this respect he did uphold one family tradition; his similarly
rebellious father Jack, who would rise to the rank of Admiral and was
the Pacific Command CINC while his son was being held prisoner in Hanoi,
had graduated 424th of 441.
Some have suggested that McCain's low class ranking reflects negatively
on his fitness to lead the country. But there is no clear relationship
between Academy class rank and leadership qualities. For example, Jimmy
Carter, the only Naval Academy graduate to serve as president to date,
graduated 59th out of a class of 820, so draw your own conclusions.
Seventeen class anchors have attained flag rank, and many low-ranking
graduates have gone on to brilliant careers. This tracks with the thesis
I developed in my book Last in Their Class; the bottom of the class
tends to produce a different kind of leader than the top. Those who wind
up at the foot are often there by choice. They could do better if they
studied, but they would rather trade class ranking for other pursuits.
They tend to be the risk takers, the innovators, usually very well liked
and in their own way driven. They know how to get into trouble, and more
importantly how to get out of it. They also tend to have more than their
share of luck. The "Anchormen" of Annapolis are of the same breed as the
"Goats" of West Point, and both can appreciate the humor in the comment,
"There, but for the grace of God, walks a civilian."
Charles William "Savez" Read was one such officer, the anchor of the
USNA Class of 1860. A Mississippian, Read took a commission in the
Confederate Navy when the Civil War broke out, and quickly established
himself as a daring and resourceful sailor. Read seized so many Federal
vessels (twenty two in three weeks) that a special task force was
assembled just to find him. One of his most noteworthy exploits took
place on June 27, 1863, when he slipped into the harbor at Portland,
Maine aboard the prize schooner Archer, and seized the U.S. revenue
cutter Caleb Cushing. Read had planned to set fire to the other Union
ships in port but his plan unraveled, and Read had to flee to open
waters. He was apprehended and imprisoned at Fort Warren in Boston
Harbor (coincidentally along with Major Harold Borland, the West Point
Goat of 1860). Read tried to escape many times before he was finally
exchanged, and the end of the war found him still trying to ply his
trade as a Confederate raider two weeks after Lee surrendered at
Appomattox. He fully earned his nickname "The Sea Wolf of the
Confederacy."
Commander Aeneas Armstrong of Georgia, anchorman of 1856, also served
with the Confederate Navy. He was on a patrol on the James River on the
picket boat Hornet January 26, 1865, when his vessel was accidentally
rammed by the flag of truce steamer "William Allison." The Hornet was
split in tow and immediately sank, throwing the crew into the icy waters
of the James. The crew of the Allison immediately rendered assistance,
and had picked up four of the six men in the river when they heard the
voice of one of the crew.
"For God's sake, captain, let me go, or both of us will be lost!" the
man cried.
"Well if either is to be drowned, let it be me," Armstrong said. "Save
yourself if you can." The rescuers made their way towards the sound of
the voices, managed to located the fifth sailor and bring him aboard.
Commander Armstrong's voice rose from the darkness, "I'm numb, for God's
sake, be quick." Armstrong went under as the rescuers neared him. He
surfaced again briefly a few yards distant, muttered, "It is too late,
I'm gone," and sank a final time. The rescue party searched for his body
but could not find it, and the James froze over that night. Other
searches also proved fruitless. Armstrong's body was discovered months
later in the ocean near Bermuda, hundreds of miles out to sea.
William Barker Cushing was well on his way to being the anchor of the
class of 1861 when he was "bilged" (expelled) for failing a Spanish
exam. But when war broke out he pled his case personally to the
secretary of the Navy, was reinstated, and managed to graduate, like
John McCain, fifth from the foot. During the war he was known for his
daring, and was described by a later biographer as "Lincoln's Commando."
His greatest feat was the sinking of the ironclad CSS Albemarle in a
night time raid during which he rammed the ship with a 30-foot picket
boat armed with an explosive charge. (The ironclad concept had been
pioneered by John Randolph Hamilton, anchorman of 1851.) The explosion
destroyed Cushing's small vessel, but blew a huge hole in the Albemarle,
sending her to the bottom. Cushing survived and saw action in many other
engagements, and in 1872 became the youngest commander in the history of
the U.S. Navy up to that time.
Anchorman Richard Zullinger was diving officer and XO on the World War
II submarine USS Pollack. Zullinger was notorious in the Pacific Theater
for his antics between missions. "Zully was one of those guys you knew
was a bad influence but was too much fun not to be around" his crewmate
Kenneth C. Ruiz wrote. "He was a free spirit on a perpetual search for a
good woman and a good time." Yet Zully worked as hard as he played, and
was a highly competent submariner. "He may have been last in his class,"
Ruiz recalled, "but he became a first rate officer and a great presence
in combat. One thing for sure, he always had the respect and trust of
the men."
Colonel Joseph Zachary Taylor, USMC, did well academically but graduated
890 out of 890 in conduct in 1949. "Brains and irreverence," as his son
described him. In the 1950s Taylor was one of the organizers of the much
revered and justly feared Marine Force Recon. One of his men remembered
him: "Joe Taylor was a man who was comfortable with himself. He never
seemed to feel a need to prove himself to or impress anyone. Whatever he
did, I am convinced, he did for the satisfaction of knowing he had given
his best and the intrinsic reward of a job well done. He was what he
seemed to be and more; without pretension, affectation or artifice. . .
. He was smart, imaginative, resourceful and creative. . . . He did it
all with an unflagging, puckish sense of humor. He was, in my opinion,
an exemplary human being."
Amon Bronson was anchorman of 1896. His first assignment after
graduation was aboard the USS Maine, and he was asleep in his bunk on
February 15, 1898 when the ship blew up in Havana Harbor. Bronson
survived, and went on to command the U.S.S. Denver and U.S.S. St. Louis
during World War I. For his service he was awarded the Navy Cross.
Amon's friend and frequent partner in misbehavior at Annapolis was Henry
Mustin, who graduated one slot above Bronson. Henry earned 12 varsity
letters at the Naval Academy, a record at the time, and was decorated
for bravery in the Philippine insurrection. Most notably he was the
first man to fly an aircraft catapulted from a ship at sea. He
established the Naval Aeronautic Station at Pensacola and commanded the
first naval air squadron. Henry Mustin was not only the Father of Naval
Aviation but also the patriarch of a Navy family tradition which has
continued through four generations to the present day.
One member of Mustin's command at Pensacola was Marc Andrew "Pete"
Mitscher, who graduated 107th of 130 in 1910. In 1942 Mitscher commanded
the USS Hornet during the daring Doolittle Raid on the Japanese home
islands. He later commanded the Fast Carrier Task Force, which wreaked
havoc on the Japanese fleet, merchant shipping, and ground
installations. His pilots won the decisive Battle of the Philippine Sea,
also known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot, the largest aircraft carrier
battle in history. Admiral Arleigh Burke later said of Mitscher that he
was "a bulldog of a fighter, a strategist blessed with an uncanny
ability to foresee his enemy's next move, and a lifelong searcher after
truth and trout streams, he was above all else - perhaps above all other
- a Naval Aviator."
The spirits of the aviator and the anchorman often resonated together.
Renowned pilot Joe "Hoser" Satrapa entered the Class of 1964 with the
expressed goal of graduating as the anchorman and winning the bounty to
which each Mid contributed a dollar. He frequently found himself before
disciplinary boards, and told one of them "I'm just waiting to get the
hell out of here so I can go to flight training and get over to the
goddamn war and kill gomers!" After four years of carefully planned
underachievement and misbehavior he was within sight of his goal, but in
the final examinations he got a few too many questions correct and wound
up graduating slightly above the anchorman.
Hoser went on to become a legend in Naval Aviation, a fearless hunter in
the skies over Vietnam who was a tireless advocate of guns over
missiles, of close-in dog-fighting over long range engagement. "There's
no kill like a guns kill" was his motto. He later was a Top Gun trainer
and a revered figure in the F-14 community. His commitment to flying was
demonstrated after a bizarre accident. Hoser had crafted a single-shot
rifle out of a surplussed 20 millimeter cannon from an F-14. But one day
while cocking the weapon the breech exploded and the firing bolt blew
backwards, taking off his right thumb. Knowing he could not fly
thumbless, Joe prevailed on a surgeon to replace the missing digit with
a big toe. Today Hoser still uses his flying skills, to put out forest
fires. His entire life has been driven by a central rationale: "The
purpose of life is to matter," he wrote in his Vietnam War diary, "to
count, to stand for something, to have it make some difference that we
lived at all."
I thought of these men, these and others I have read about, heard about,
or had the privilege to meet, when listening to the end of John McCain's
acceptance speech, his entreaty to fight, fight for what's right, for
the ideals and character of a free people, for the future. To stand up
and fight, for "beautiful, blessed, bountiful America." It was the most
honest, impassioned and inspiring call to arms I have heard in many
years. I heard in it the sum of his years, his wisdom, lessons hard and
painfully learned. Character will always be more important in a leader
than charisma, and not all virtues are acquired in classrooms.
- NRO contributor James S. Robbins is the director of the Intelligence
Center at Trinity Washington, and author of Last in Their Class: Custer,
Picket and the Goats of West Point.
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
