Georgia's Defense Initiative

I was excited this past Sunday as I read my copy of "The Telegraph" here in Macon, Georgia.  There was an article on page 1B - Local & State entitled "New effort to protect Georgia military bases."

The Governor of Georgia announced that this Initiative will be headed by Washington defense consultant Will Ball.  The article also stated that Mr. Ball had served as the Secretary of the Navy in 1988.  Right away I recalled that when I served in the USS Sellers (DDG-11) homeported in Charleston, SC that we had a Lieutenant William Lockhart Ball as the Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer.  I also recalled that this same Lieutenant was appointed to serve as the Secretary of the Navy.  Surely this must be the same person.

I then took out my copy of the 1971 Cruise Book from the deployment of the USS Sellers (DDG-11).  I recall that we took great pride in the fact that our ship was the best Anti-Submarine Guided Missile Destroyer in the U. S. Atlantic Fleet.

Therefore today I will share some pictures from that Cruise Book.  The first picture is of Will Ball as he appeared in Uniform in 1971.

Lieutenant Ball with the Anti-Submarine Rocket Launcher (ASROC)
in the background.  Also shown here are two members
of the ASROC Team.

During the 1971 deployment our Captain held
several Morale Building Events for the Crew.
Shown here is this Blog's Author as he
participated in a "Swim Call."

I am confident that Will Ball will perform an excellent task on behalf of the State of Georgia.  I knew him as a person who is able to get the job done.