Giddy Limit Calendar

When I was in Orkney, just after I'd strolled through St. Magnus Cathedral, I went to the Orcadian Bookshop on Albert Street - where I just happened to run into five of my six hosts.


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Aside from just looking for Orkney-related stuff, I had a specific target in mind. The Orcadian newspaper runs a comic strip about Orkney by local illustrator Alex Leonard, titled The Giddy Limit. I discovered it - you can view the whole run of the comic on the website - while I was in the Middle East. My favorite comic is #38 from all the way back in 2006. Each year, Alex Leonard does a calendar with the characters from the strip. The 2012 calendar featured Orcadianized (?) a bunch of famous movies. This year's calendar features the crew in a series of Orcadianized (?) versions of advertisements for popular brands, like Guiness ("Gurness is food fur ye"), Nike ("Jist dae hid"), and even IRN-BRU ("HOM-BRU gets ye through"). So, I've put it up on the bulletin board in my room.

It's a great daily reminder of Orkney, and really, what more could you want out of life?

Island Paradise: Italian Chapel

In my last Island Paradise post, I mentioned that the Churchill Barriers were built using labor provided by a bunch of Italian prisoners of war from the North Africa campaign. (I imagine it must have been quite the shock to go from the deserts of North Africa to the austere conditions in Orkney.) The thing about Italians in the 1940's was that they were pretty devout Roman Catholics, and Catholicism wasn't exactly a big thing in Orkney. So, the Italians requested permission to turn a Quonset hut - the British term being a Nissen hut - into a chapel.

The POWs took a Quonset hut on the north end of Lamb Holm, within sight of the first Churchill Barrier, and converted it into a chapel. The chapel stands to this day, and it's one of the sites where Captain John took me on my first day in Orkney back in 2004. One of GBU-16's great uncles was one of the POWs in Orkney at the time, so when I announced that I was heading up there for a visit, she insisted that I go see the Italian Chapel - as if I'd miss it! So, on my last day in Orkney, as I was touring from southeast to northwest, I stopped in to the Italian Chapel and snapped a few pictures.

You can read more about the Italian Chapel and its history at Visit Orkney, Orkney Communities, and Wikipedia. I've heard every now and again that there are concerns about its deterioration over time, but it seems to be holding up pretty well. The Italian Chapel features the stations of the cross, a beautiful altar, and ornate decoration that - if memory serves - is actually painted onto plaster. To look at the building from the side, you'd have a hard time telling what's inside, but the front (and possibly the back?) exterior have been converted to complete the appearance of a chapel. I don't believe any services are held there anymore - case in point, it was mid-day on Sunday morning when I visited.

With my visit to the Italian Chapel complete, it was time to head northwest to the Heart of Neolithic Orkney.

January Blogging

January's probably going to be a little bit light on posts here at the Operation Highlander blog. There are a few reasons for this.

First, a couple of my big features are going to be stalled for content: Island Paradise is nearly tapped out until my next expedition, and Around Aberdeen also needs some work in the next couple of months to come up with some new pictures and new stuff to write about. I have a few ideas for the latter, but they'll take some coordination and some effort to get them ready.

January's also going to be a busy month, with study for exams, exams themselves, social events with the returning Strategists, and possibly a bit of travel at the end of the month before the new semester begins.

I'm going to keep the posts coming as I'm able, and I'll try to post about some more day-to-day stuff once my life stops being pure exam study and sitting around accomplishing nothing. Things should pick back up once we hit February.

Exam Review Update

I wasted a lot of last week not studying, sleeping in, watching nonsense on YouTube, writing a series of posts for my other blog that may not even get published, and not much else. On Saturday night, I finally put together a formal outline that includes the sample exam questions I'm studying from, a list of books I'm focusing on, and a few others items. Here's how it looks.

Strategic Theory:

Modern Strategy: read

Modern Military Strategy: An Introduction : review and note where appropriate

Strategy in the Contemporary World : probably getting ignored

Another Bloody Century: review chapter 8 (space warfare)

Director's Topical Cuttings: review all

PowerPoint Slide Decks: review all

Student Topical Memoranda: read all

Strategic Intelligence:

Intelligence Power in Peace and War: type up chapter and book summaries

Intelligence in an Insecure World: read, note where appropriate

PowerPoint Slide Decks: review all

Secret Intelligence: A Reader: probably getting ignored

Intelligence in War: probably getting ignored

I've got about a week to do all of this, so I have my work cut out for me. That said, I'm probably going overboard, and I could probably sit for the exams right now and nail them. The Director will also be doing a review session later this week, so I'll attend that. This is one of those situations where my competitive streak, my attention to detail, and my ability to test well should hopefully pay off.

Another Surprise Visitor

A few weeks ago, I saw another deer walking through the area near my digs. Actually, I saw two of them, but one of 'em was really bookin' it. I didn't get close, but I was able to get a lousy picture with my point-and-shoot camera, so I figured I'd share it. I also attempted to get some pictures of those bunnies because Lady Jaye was so obnoxious about it, but they're only out at night, so unless I snare one of them with some parachute cord then they're just not going to turn out. Sorry, Lady Jaye, guess you'll just have to settle for another deer picture.

Around Aberdeen: Robert the Bruce

One of the first statues I saw upon arriving in Aberdeen is outside Marischal College, on Broad Street in the Aberdeen City Center, where there's an impressive statue of Robert the Bruce - which, like the aforementioned statue of the Gordon Highlanders, was also erected in 2011. I guess 2011 was a good year for Aberdeen and statues. It's just a hunch, but I'm guessing that Angus Macfadyen did not serve as the artistic inspiration for the statue. The famed King of Scots is riding a horse (much thinner than the horse that Marcus Aurelius is riding on his statue in the Piazza del Campidoglio outside the Capitoline Museums in Rome!), he has a sword, and he's holding up a compact of some sort. It also bears an inscription, visible in this image...

And on the topic of that lousy movie, the Robert the Bruce statue is located here, which is just a five minute walk from...

... here: the William Wallace statue that I mentioned in this post from a couple of months back. I also took a night shot from the bus a couple of months ago...

... but, as you can see, it wasn't top notch. I may try to get another night shot the next time I'm in the area.

The Dissertation: Education as a National Security Issue

Another potential dissertation topic is the intersection of education and training, and national security. If I wrote on this topic, I'd plan to structure my dissertation along the following lines.

High School: I'd like to examine how America educates its young people, in Kindergarten through graduation generally, but specifically examining the content and standards applied to high school education. Part of my intent would be to identify what skill sets are necessary for success in the civilian job market, and what skills are necessary for success in the enlisted ranks of the military.

College/University: My examination of college and university education would be similar to my discussion of high school, but with focus on military commissioning programs in lieu of the enlisted ranks. There are a number of issues surrounding modern university education that impact both the civilian job market, and the quality of the officers we commission into the military. I would examine some of these prominent issues, and propose improvements to bridge that gap.

Trade Schools and Apprenticeships: The push to send more and more students into four year degree programs has led to a decline in the number of students who follow high school with vocational training. This has led to a shortage in skilled laborers, which has a corresponding fact on both the economy and the defense sector. I intend to discuss how an increased emphasis on trade schools, apprenticeships, and other vocational training programs could enhance America's national security.

Beyond specific institutions and programs, I'd also like to examine the following programs as they relate to education and national security.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: One of the big acronyms in discussions of education is "STEM": science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. I've found that my interest in STEM - even the mathematics portion - has grown since I left school as I've identified projects on my own that have encouraged that interest. STEM education and encouraging students' interest in STEM is critical to America's continued security, so I'd like to do some research on that as well.

Language and Culture: The other major challenge America's schools face is improving their ability to instruct students in foreign languages and cultures. For the benefit of America's economy and its defense, language and cultural expertise is critical, and America is not currently producing enough high school or college graduates with the appropriate skills to meet these needs. I'd like to explore this and make some suggestions on how to fill this gap.

Educated Citizen Body and National Security: Finally, there's the question of whether or not America's schools produce competent voters - this being the ostensible justification for providing publicly funded education in the first place. Regardless of one's political leanings, things like voter turnout and polling suggest that most Americans neither follow politics very closely, nor do they understand how the government works, nor are they cognizant of topics outside their immediate experience like budgetary issues or foreign policy. Thus, a challenge exists: how do we adjust our system to get people engaged in the political process, and to get them to vote responsibly as well? I'd like to take a stab at it.

As I write this blog post, I realize that any one of these items could be an essay unto itself. If I select this as a dissertation, or possibly as a longer research project at some point later, I may very well approach it as a series of research projects on each individual item.

Island Paradise: Churchill Barriers

According to the undisputed and infallible source of all knowledge:

On 14 October 1939, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk at her moorings within the natural harbour of Scapa Flow in a nighttime attack by the German U-boat U-47 under the command of Günther Prien. Shortly before midnight on the 13 October the U-47 had entered Scapa Flow through Kirk Sound between Lamb Holm and the Orkney Mainland. Although the shallow eastern passages had been secured with measures including sunken block ships, booms and anti-submarine nets, Prien was able to navigate the U-47 around the obstructions at high tide. He then launched a surprise torpedo attack on the unsuspecting Royal Navy battleship while it was at anchor in Scapa Flow. The U-47 then escaped seaward using the same channel by navigating between the block ships.

In response, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill ordered the construction of several permanent barriers to prevent any further attacks. Work began in May 1940 and was completed by September 1944. However the barriers were not officially opened until 12 May 1945, four days after the end of World War II in Europe.

Basically, they took a bunch of Italian prisoners from the North Africa campaign, and put them to work making concrete blocks that were then dropped into the channels between various islands on the eastern end of the archipelago. One links the Orkney Mainland to Lamb Holm; the second links Lamb Holm to Glimps Holm; the third links Glimps Holm to Burray; and the final one links Burray to South Ronaldsay. Since the threat from German U-boats has declined slightly since the early 1940's, they're now used primarily as bridges. I can only imagine how restricted I would have been in my movements if Winston Churchill hadn't given the order.

Captain John first took me to see the Churchill Barriers way back in 2004, on my first full day in Orkney. I'd never heard of them, and I was amazed. This was either right before or right after we visited one of the naval artillery batteries that defended Scapa Flow. Orkney is full of history.

Scapa Flow has its own rich history, tied into the history of World War I and World War II. As mentioned above, it was the site of the sinking of HMS Royal Oak in 1939. It was also the site where the German imperial fleet was interned, complete with crews, after hostilities had ended in World War I. As the Treaty of Versailles was being negotiated, a failure in communication coupled with German distrust of the victors led a German admiral to order that the ships in Scapa Flow be scuttled. While the British were able to salvage a few of the ships, most were lost, and there are a number of spots where the remains are still visible. Their location next to the Churchill Barriers makes for a historical drive that you'd be hard pressed to find an equivalent to elsewhere in the world. I took these pictures on my way back from the south end of South Ronaldsay on my last day in Orkney...


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... as I was doing a sort of condensed grand tour of the islands accessible by road. While still on tiny Lamb Holm, which is probably about as big as the University of Aberdeen campus, I revisited the Italian Chapel, and that will be the topic of my next Island Paradise post.