This is the page where the "Eras" in BRADLEY's life cycle are defined. This Era concept was first proposed by Brian Brisky, GMG3 in an email to our list. Your Webmaster has extended and modified the original categories a bit to cast them in terms of the Commanding Officers of each Era.

The Golden Era: This is the era which started when the pre-commissioning crew reported to their various commands to breath life into the new ship as she was commissioned in 1965. It ends in 1973, after the the heat of the Vietnam conflict wound down. Your group included the "Plank Owners" as well as those who took the ship "In Harm's Way". You steamed her hard and proved her worth.

The Silver Era: This was essentially the "Post Vietnam Conflict" period. Those of you who served during this period found things a little bit tough as the Navy "Downsized" to fit our governemnt's assessment of the new threat. Funds for needed mantenanace were scarce, there were manning shortfalls, and getting the job done required a lot of extra work, sometimes under extreme stress. Readiness training and WestPac deployments to meet the requirements of a "Presence" mission were difficult in this environment, but Bradley did herself proud.

The Bronze Era: This was the period when the "New Navy" struggled to meet the challenges into and through the "Cold War" era. Downsizing was pretty much over and the stress of years of underfunding was recognized and corrected somewhat. Relative peace was upon us although you took seriously the task of training to ensure readiness to meet the Soviet threat which loomed large. Decommissioning in 1988 brough a final end to the long and valliant carreer of the ship we loved so much. Gone - but not forgotten!