Monday, March 6, 2023

John Blackshoe sends: March 6, 2012, A Date Which Shall Live in Infamy.

 

"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex      


“NEWPORT NEWS, Va., March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Carroll "Lex" LeFon, ATAC F-21 pilot, retired Naval Aviator, TOPGUN Graduate and prominent military blogger known as Neptunus Lex, was killed in a plane crash on the morning of March 6th, 2012 when his F-21 Kfir crashed at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada; he was 51.”

But, we enthusiastically celebrate this date, not as the end of an era, but for the wonderful era it was.   It was a time filled with an education on many topics, entertainment, and some of the finest prose in the English language that we will ever see on military subjects.  Along with random thoughts, occasional politics, religion, gratuitous aeronautical engineering, and cushion gripping aviation tales, some likely true, others likely true but presented as fiction.   We also shared in proud and poignant revelations of a father and husband, to round out his accomplishments as pilot and poet. 

 It was not a one way conversation, as Lex’s words spurred lively discussions, usually polite, and at times readers were left to “talk amongst yourselves.”

 Carroll Fairfax Lefon, better known to his innumerable friends, many he never met, as “Neptunus Lex.”

He continues to acquire new friends to this day, large thanks to Bill Brandt, who only discovered Lex shortly after that infamous day, but has diligently resurrected many of the post from Lex’s blog, and made them available to everyone over at “The Lexicans”  Link Here 

Two other private sites, on Facebook and MeWe are places where more enthusiastic admirers continue discussions in the spirit of Lex, and also share an occasional Guinness (for strength) and Jamison (for courage) in a live meetup.

 It is remarkable that this one man, greatly missed, brought together such a diverse group, and inspired so many in different ways, and that his influence has not diminished even after 11 years.

 Here are some random facts to refresh our memory of this remarkable man, from Hizzoner, or his admirers.


About -  [in his own words and inimitable style]

 It’s all in the title bar logos, but somebody asked:

Raised in old Virginia. Taught to be a gentleman before it was required of me.

A naval officer, and naval aviator slimy contractor – still serving recently retired, but no longer current in an airplane, alas flying unsuspecting civvies through the burning blue – and back in the saddle again! A trade school graduate, I got my wings in Meridian, MS a long time ago, and spent another 18 purgatorial months there instructing before joining the west coast fleet, flying God’s jet – the FA-18 Hornet. Cruised aboard the USS CONSTELLATION (twice) and INDEPENDENCE (once).

Did a tour after that in Key West, Florida, flying the F-16N, F-5E and A-4E aircraft. Best. Job. Ever. Also where I had the Worst Day Ever. But that’s another story.

Department head tour in Japan. Hornets again. Deployed a number of times aboard INDEPENDENCE again, that rough beast.

TOPGUN instructor after that. Was never more proud to be a part of something.

Commanded a west coast FA-18 squadron. Deployed aboard USS CARL VINSON – my first nuke.

Served as Operations Officer aboard the fleet’s finest aircraft carrier, an oil-burner. Put her to bed after 41 years of faithful service.

Now serving as a staff pogue in a different way in sunny San Diego (and Ventura County). Believe certain things to be true. Don’t declare them to be, however.

Married to the best girl I ever met, who also delivered up three wonderful children. Don’t really know how I could be happier, or more blessed.

Vitals:

- Flight hours: ~4600
- Arrested landings: 570, or so.
- Deployments: 7
- Original thoughts: Tends towards zero
- Ability to recognize a good idea: Tends towards infinite

  




The Title Bar Logos  source

A nice man from Britain asked me what the logos were on the title bar – they reflect a portion of my navy and aviation history, I have left the training squadrons out:

From the left you have the crest of the US Naval Academy, in Annapolis, MD – my alma mater. To this day, I cannot see the academy’s chapel dome in the distance without checking my watch to see if I am late, and wondering whether I am going to be in trouble. Call it the echoes of my guilty conscience – As a midshipman, I was very far from perfect.

First squadron logo on the right hand side, reading from the left is from VFA-25, “the Fist of the Fleet,” my first fleet fighter squadron. Here is where I discovered that despite being the only male child in my family, I had twelve brothers. I was young there…

Next is the patch of VF-45, the Atlantic Fleet adversary squadron. We modeled Soviet style tactics in dissimilar aircraft: F-16N, F-5E, and A-4E. The red star on the patch represented that part of our function, and was the logo on our aircraft tails as well. We were called “the Blackbirds,” since in ancient times (1975) the squadron was manned by 4 active duty officers and 20 reservists. Four and twenty, get it? Blackbirds? Sigh… It was The Best Job Ever. I also experienced my worst day ever in that squadron. That was the last place I ever really felt young. Growing older will do that to you.

Next is VFA-192, the “Super Sh!t Hot, World Famous Golden Dragons,” home ported in Atsugi, Japan. We were world famous because the film studio that shot “the Bridges of Toko Ri” used our squadron’s aircraft to film the aerial scenes. The actual squadron that destroyed the bridges (in North Korea) was our sister-squadron in Japan, the “Dam Busters” of VFA-195. We were happy to take credit for it apparently. I’m not quite sure how we came to be “super sh!t hot,” by our own admission I guess. This is where I did my department head tour.

Next up is the patch of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, TOPGUN. Two years here after my department head tour taught me that all shore duty is not created equal. Hard work, long hours, great personal rewards. I worked with the top 20 fighter pilots in the US Navy. Put those 20 young men in any business in the world, and I am firmly convinced they would own the market they served in five years or less. I taught some, learned a great deal, left to go to sea again.

Finally there is the logo of “the Mighty Shrikes” of VFA-94, home based in Lemoore, California. I was the executive officer, and ultimately the commanding officer of this squadron. While I was commanding officer, we won the wing-wide strike fighter derby – I was immensely proud of my boys, and would have matched them against any squadron in the fleet, man to man. A blue collar bunch of get-it-done pilots that partied like rock stars in foreign ports. I had always considered myself no slouch in that category. Here I realized that not only was I no longer young, I was starting to get actually old. In an admin (where the 18 or so pilots share a hotel suite in foreign ports, sleeping where they can after the night’s amusements) in Hobart, Australia, I returned from a night of liberty in all the usually suspect places at 0400, thoroughly exhausted. over-served and jaded to discover I was the first one home. At 4 AM. What a non-hack.

To the far right is the US Navy “Command at Sea” pin. I spent 17 years earning that pin, and wore it for 15 months. It was a fair trade.



He was an athlete too, an All-American,placing third in the NCAA finals in 1982, the year he graduated from USNA.  Not many colleges remember former players 30 years after they graduate, but USNA Fencing did last year on the 10th anniversary of his passing;

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca-lVmApbRO/

 


Lex spawned several other bloggers, including our gracious host, albeit one who also wore a blue uniform, it was sort of a funny shade of blue, from a service accustomed to operating planes off mile long concrete strips instead of 500 feet of pitching and rolling steel deck.   As Sarge posted here on May 17, 2014: 

“For those who don't know, I started this blog shortly after the passing of Lex, back in March of 2012. He's the reason I do this. His blog was where I started my day, every day.

 

My youngest, The WSO knows how I felt about this guy. How much I enjoyed his wit, his wisdom and his writing.

 

Right now VFA-2, The Bounty Hunters, are out at NAS Fallon, getting ready for RIMPAC* this summer. The WSO sent me a few pictures. I thought I'd share them with you. It's what I do, I share. Well, most of the time.

 

Okay, some of time.

 

A couple of Bullets enjoying a Guinness with Lex
(BTM on the left, LUSH on the right**)

 Source

 

Source

Rest in peace, dear friend of so many you never met.  You are missed, but certainly not forgotten.

 


 https://theaviationgeekclub.com/remembering-captain-carroll-lex-fairfax-lefon-the-founder-of-neptunus-lex-blog-and-patriarch-of-online-aviation-communities/

  

Now, take some time and go read Lex’s great story (in 54 parts) about life aboard an aircraft carrier, “Rhythms,” which should have been published, but never was, except in digital form.

14 comments:

  1. Thank you Tuna, I apologize for ignorance...... :)

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  2. Thanks for putting this together JB and Tuna, thanks for posting it.

    It's a date seared into my memory.

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    Replies
    1. It was my honor. Bedsides, JB did all the real work.

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  3. Well said. Thank you for sharing. We will never forget.

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    1. Mary, I hope you are well. I miss reading the word Hobbit on a daily basis which was often the case in his writings.

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    2. Probably not the Mary I was thinking of, but the sentiment remains the same.

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  4. My family & I had dinner at Shakespeare's in San Diego when we were vacationing there last summer. I proudly enjoyed a Guiness (for strength) and Jamison (for courage) in his memory. Great man who is sorely missed.

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  5. The joy of having his written stories, the grief of losing a digital friend. Still today.

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  6. I miss him. I just got a chuckle reading an earlier comment mentioning the "Hobbit" - it made me think about the "All Girl Spending Team."

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    1. And his "Crushing Burden of Debt" aka- his home. I remember he used SNO for his son, which for years I thought meant "Student Naval Officer" while he was in NROTC at USD- but it was actually Son Number One.

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  7. The Rat Story was worthy of James Thurber.

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    1. Oh my gosh yes. I cried, I was laughing so hard. A warrior poet indeed.

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  8. I met Lex in June '11 at Shakespeare's. The fake libtard "Fliterman" (John Chesire) was there as well and was the only other airplane driver at the meet up. Alas, John passed from congestive heart failure on December 15, 2021 at 75. He flew F-4s off Midway and had two war cruises to 'nam of the Midway.

    When Bill Tuttle emailed me that Lex had been killed, it was like a punch in the gut. You know it can happen, but it was still unexpected. Being an AF brat, I know too well that death follows pilots.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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