The Navy wanted its own BRRRRRRRRRRRRT.
A nice morale builder (besides the presence of the Phalanx, itself) is the occasions when the crew gets to decorate it.
When my son was on the USS Roosevelt CVN-71 (the Big Stick) they did it up like a Minion, when he was on the USS Reagan CVN-76, they did it up like R2D2, the Star Wars theme being particularly fitting, considering the ships namesake.
If I remember correctly, when his squadron was assigned to USS G.H.W.Bush CVN-77, the crew made it up like Darth Vader, but he said it looked more like Dark Helmet from Spaceballs (proportions were off).
A nice morale builder (besides the presence of the Phalanx, itself) is the occasions when the crew gets to decorate it.
When my son was on the USS Roosevelt CVN-71 (the Big Stick) they did it up like a Minion, when he was on the USS Reagan CVN-76, they did it up like R2D2, the Star Wars theme being particularly fitting, considering the ships namesake.
If I remember correctly, when his squadron was assigned to USS G.H.W.Bush CVN-77, the crew made it up like Darth Vader, but he said it looked more like Dark Helmet from Spaceballs (proportions were off).