[Vision2020] Navy Names New Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyer

[Tom Hansen]

>From the Department of Defense -

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Navy Names New Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyer

The Department of the Navy has announced the naming of the Navy's newest
Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer, Wayne E. Meyer. The name
honors retired Navy Rear Adm. Wayne E. Meyer, who managed the development of
the Aegis AN/SPY-1 radar system. This system serves as the cornerstone of
the Aegis combat system installed in Ticonderoga class guided missile
cruisers and Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers.

Wayne E. Meyer was born in Brunswick, Mo., on April 21, 1926. In 1946 he
graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelors in electrical
engineering. He also holds a masters in astronautics and aeronautics from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a bachelors in electrical
engineering from Naval Postgraduate School. 

Meyer's career began in 1943 as an apprentice seaman. In 1946 he was
commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve and was transferred to
regular Navy in 1948. After several years at sea, he returned to school in
1951 and attended the Joint Guided Missile School, Fort Bliss, Texas, and
the Naval Line School, Monterey, Calif., and eventually served as an
instructor at Special Weapons School, Norfolk, Va. 

Meyer returned to sea as executive officer on the USS Strickland, followed
by service on the staff of commander, Destroyer Force Atlantic. He was then
ordered to the USS Galveston. 

In 1963, Secretary of the Navy Fred Korth chose Meyer to lead a special task
force for surface guided missiles. Meyer turned down a destroyer command to
continue his work with missile, radar, and fire control systems. His
experience laid the groundwork for the success of a prototype Aegis radar
weapons control system in 1974. He later became director of Surface Warfare
at Naval Sea Systems Command where he guided the development of the Aegis
system.

Meyer was promoted to rear admiral in January 1975 and assumed duties as the
founding project manager, Aegis shipbuilding in July 1975. In September
1983, he was reassigned as deputy commander, weapons and combat systems,
Naval Sea Systems Command.

The future USS Wayne E. Meyer will utilize the same combat system that Meyer
helped to develop, the Aegis combat system and the SPY-lD, multifunction
phased array radar. This advance radar weapons control system, in
conjunction with, the vertical launching system, an advanced anti-submarine
warfare system, anti-aircraft missiles and Tomahawk weapons capabilities
continues the revolution at sea.

Additionally, the ship will be manned with a complement of highly trained
sailors providing the Navy with a dynamic multi-mission platform that can
operate independently or as part of carrier strike groups, surface action
groups, amphibious ready groups, and underway replenishment groups, ensuring
the USS Wayne E. Meyer will lead the Navy into the future.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.