Category: <span>In the Navy</span>

Green Buoy in the ocean. Photo by Atypeek Dgn: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photograph-of-a-green-buoy-12264234/
Not A Mail Buoy

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Going down to the sea in ships can best be described as weeks of mind-numbing boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror. Based on my Navy career with about twelve years actual sea time, I can attest this is true.

So, sailors come up with very creative ways of filling in those weeks of mind-numbing boredom. One way is to play pranks with new crew members just starting their seagoing careers. On my very first submarine sea voyage I became the star attraction in a mail buoy run.

In the Navy

United States Navy Chief Insignia
U.S. Navy Chief’s Insignia

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

I’ve been on a roll lately in answering Quora questions. Either I’ve accidentally worked out the format for writing attention-catching answers, or just gotten lucky. Because most of my answers seem to be getting lots of views, upvotes, and comments.

My latest best-read answer was comparing Navy Chiefs to the comparable senior non-commissioned officers of the Army and Air Force.

In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

Dealing with monsters among us. Photo by Luis Quintero: https://www.pexels.com/photo/silhouette-of-a-person-1799904/
Dealing With Monsters Among Us

Estimated reading time: 19 minutes

Between my former Navy career and present consulting career I’ve met, worked with, even lived with, a lot of different people. New people constantly cycle into my world, then cycle back out due to forces and decisions not under my control.

On the positive, I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting people whom I never would have known through social activities. On the negative, I’ve been forced to deal with some truly horrible people.

More than horrible, I’ve been thrown into dealing with actual monsters living among us. People who from the outside seemed like normally decent human beings, but scratching their skin revealed a creature totally devoid of soul. One of these monsters was a seemingly decent family-man with a wife and three lovely daughters. Dealing with him threw me into one of the ugliest situations I’ve ever been involved in.

In the Navy Ron Charest

USS Port Royal (CG 73)

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

My last Navy sea tour, on the Aegis Cruiser USS Port Royal (CG 73), from February 1994 to April 1996, homeported in Hawaii, was a bittersweet time. On one hand, I was winding down my Navy career so things like evaluations and career development didn’t mean anything. On the other hand, I ran a division of eighteen people, each of whom were smart and creative. Each in their own way.

So, one of my challenges as the division Senior Chief was to encourage my people’s creativity while simultaneously preventing them from doing anything seriously stupid. At times, this proved to be very challenging.

In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

comparing service on navy submarines to service on surface ships.
Composite of submarine USS Scamp and cruiser USS Port Royal

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

My Navy career was rather unusual as I served on both submarines and surface ships. These were considered “different navies,” with different traditions and duty requirements. In that era, very few sailors ever made a switch between surface and subs. For the most part, the only sub sailors who typically went to the surface fleet were those kicked off subs for disciplinary issues, and who also lost their “Qualified in Submarines” status.

I qualified submarines on USS Scamp, SSN 588. I maintained my submarine qualification status when, years later, I joined the Aegis Cruiser USS Port Royal , CG 73. This dual service gave me an interesting perspective on the different communities that make up our U.S. Navy.

In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Winnie and I returned home from our one week’s whirlwind visit to the lovely island of Oahu, Hawaii. It was a wonderful vacation for both of us. So much so that I had to wonder why I waited 27 years to go back.

While our reason for this trip was being part of decommissioning the last ship I served on during my Navy career, it was also our first vacation trip since the zombie apocalypse started in January 2020.

Family Stories In the Navy

Not The News, Military Edition
Washington, D.C.
April 1, 2022

Navy Spokesperson Captain Crunch Jr. announced today that out-of-the-box thinking has resulted in dramatic cost savings in the Navy’s new budget. “For years, the Navy has struggled to understand why costs kept spiraling up” Crunch said. “It turns out, ships are expensive to fix. There’s so much stuff on them that breaks, and they’re literally sitting in water all the time, just rusting away. So, several years ago we awarded multi-million-dollar consulting contracts to conceptualize ways the Navy could save money moving forward.”

In the Navy Just For Fun

Navy Command Master Chief badge
Navy Command Master Chief badge

My Navy career was unusual for the number of different types of ships I served on. Few people get to serve on both submarines and surface ships. Even more unusual, I served on two very different types of submarines, and two very different types of surface ships. This background gives me some unique perspectives on Navy life. So when I saw this Quora question, I felt I had the background to give a solid answer.

In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

Admiral Mike Boorda
Admiral Mike Boorda, Official Navy Photograph

Recently I had the opportunity to answer another Quora question on navy life. This answer brought back a flood of memories from my life in Naples, Italy, and working with NATO. The question was “As an enlisted service member, what did an officer do to earn your respect?” I felt this was an interesting question, as the person asking seemed to know enough about military life to know that respecting position is required, but respect for the person is earned.

In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

In the Navy Quora Re-Posts