Mouser.. posted:

Magnetic North posted:

Whoops, thank you. I was too busy trying to figure out what he was saying at the end there. (I don't know if he says pickets or what, and the glossary isn't helping, so I ran with that.)

1
That's what I'm here for.

A picket is referring to a radar picket. When a battle group is closing on an enemy contact, there are picket stations or ships that are designated as picket escorts that extend the radar range and protect it from surprise attacks from scrambling enemy aircraft or reinforcement submarines. In simple terms, in a schoolyard fight when everyone circles the people fighting and prevents their buddies from jumping in to help out.

EDIT: Here's an image to illustrate it. This is a picture of the radar picket stations around Okinawa during the marines amphibious assault on it. By covering it in all angles, they prevent aircraft from strafing marines fighting on the island. If there are only two destroyers, a picket can also be used as the military term for a forward watch that warns of an advancing enemy force.


The ships set up as the radar pickets during the battle for Okinawa suffered the majority of the Navy's losses because they were the prime target for kamikaze pilots.