BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - A Look At Officer Training In The US Navy and Merchant Marine

Mr. Luddite[_4_]

On 8/24/2017 7:43 AM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 8/24/17 7:16 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/24/2017 7:07 AM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 8/24/17 7:00 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/23/2017 11:14 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/23/2017 8:57 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 8/23/17 8:42 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/23/2017 8:00 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 8/23/17 6:38 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/23/2017 5:36 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 8/23/17 12:01 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 8/23/2017 11:02 AM, wrote:
This article offers some interesting insights into some of the
issues
behind the recent naval collisions:

http://gcaptain.com/separate-equal-look-officer-training-us-navy-merchant-marine/

They make the point that many, if not most, US naval
officers regard
sea duty as something that must be endured on the way to
higher
rank,
as opposed to a career goal in and of itself.

My wife and I once met a recently promoted US Coast Guard
admiral
who
expressed exactly those sentiments in a conversation with
us.Â* We
were
surprised by both the attitude and the candor but that was
probably a
reflection of our inexperience with such things.

I don't know of anyone who was in the Navy, officer or
enlisted,
who relished sea duty.

Then why sign up for it? One might think that if one is
signing up
for the navy, one relishes the idea of serving on a ship at sea.

Reason number one:Â* It was Navy or the Army.

Actually, the Navy is much, much more than just ships at sea.
There's a vast system for communications, aircraft squadrons,
INTEL
facilities, administration, logistics and supply facilities that
support the mission of the Navy and the fleet.Â*Â* I don't know the
breakdown butÂ* I believe that far more Navy personnel are
assigned
to shore duty stations at any one time than assigned to ships.

Typically, the rotation is three years of sea duty and then three
years of shore duty.Â* But it's more complicated than that because
some overseas shore duty may be counted as sea duty for
rotational
purposes. I was actually on ships for three years but had two
tours
overseas that also counted as sea duty.Â* My only duty that did
not
count as sea duty was time in schools and my last duty station in
Annapolis.

Yeah, I know the navy is more than just ships at sea, but...why
would
you join the navy unless you were into ships at sea?

I felt I had an obligation to serve my country.Â* You?

No. I had a passing interest in going to the Coast Guard Academy,
but
that passed. Had I been ordered to report for a pre-induction
physical,
I might have signed up, but I never heard from my local draft board,
other than getting the signed USPS receipts from the change of
address
info I sent.

So "no" means you felt no obligation to serve your country.Â* At least
that's honest.

Going to SE Asia to kill SE Asians served the military-industrial
complex.
I donâ€™t believeÂ* it served the country.

Over nine million people served on active military duty during the
Vietnam War.

Of that nine million, one to one and a half million were stationed
in a war zone and actually saw combat.

Yeah, I wasn't an enabler, either. You're making more of this than I
did, as usual. I did what the law required...I registered and I kept
my draft board aware of my address. If I had been drafted, I would
have shown up. I wasn't, so I didn't. In retrospect, I am happy I
didn't help the military-industrial complex kill SE Asians, produce
billets and promotions, and put profits into the coffers of
war-mongering corporations,Â* but I didn't think much about that at
the time.

Going back to the original point ... your answer is still, No, you
felt no obligation to serve your countryÂ* then and obviously have
never felt otherwise since.

That's your right.Â* Others feel differently.

The rest of your BS are just excuses, typical of those who feel a need
to find some.

Oh, please. If it makes you feel happier to rationalize the assistance
you gave to the military-industrial complex that was involved in killing
hundreds of thousands of SE Asians, hey, go for it. Nothing this country
did in the war against Vietnam served our country.

So, maybe you might have considered serving in the military but only if
it was in total peacetime? Figures.