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

Published January 11, 2025 by

Making A Navy to Civilian Life Transition

On Making A Navy to Civilian Life Transition. Join modern mobile mighty Navy by Library of Congress is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0
Our Modern Mobile Mighty Navy

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Another one of my Quora answers seems to have hit the mark. Given the number of upvotes, and response comments, I thought it was worth sharing on this humble blog.

The question was “Is it true that the longer you stay in the military, especially as an officer, it will be harder to transition to the civilian world when you get out?”

My answer described my difficulties in making my transition from Navy to Civilian life. Spoiler alert: My answer is a resounding “Yes!“

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Family Stories In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

navy life quora Transitions

Published October 17, 2024 by

A Reunion in Seattle

Ron and Winnie Charest at Pikes Market, Seattle, Washington
Ron and Winnie Charest at Pikes Market, Seattle, Washington

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Winnie and I recently returned from a week’s vacation in Seattle, Washington. It was a great week. We had a chance to visit with one of our nephews, explore Seattle and the lovely surrounding parks, and attend another Navy reunion. The reunion was the primary reason for making this trip.

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Family Stories In the Navy

Deep Submersibles Navy Reunion

Published February 5, 2024 by

The Mail Buoy Run

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.

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In the Navy

Mail Buoy submarines

Published January 28, 2024 by

Why Navy Chiefs Are Different: A Quora Question

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.

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In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

Navy Chief

Published December 31, 2023 by

The Monsters Living Among Us

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.

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In the Navy Ron Charest

Family Navy Story

Published September 20, 2023 by

A Heavily-Armed Fishing Boat

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.

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In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

Aegis Cruiser Fishing Boat Port Royal

Published April 22, 2023 by

The Difference Between Submarine and Surface Crews

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.

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In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

quora submarines Surface Ships

Published October 5, 2022 by

Back From Hawaii, Back To Reality

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.

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Family Stories In the Navy

Hawaii navy life vacation

Published April 1, 2022 by

Navy Budget: Out-of-the-Box Thinking Produces Results

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.”

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In the Navy Just For Fun

April Fools Navy

Published November 24, 2020 by

Chief of the Boat vs Command Master Chief? A Quora Question

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.

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In the Navy Quora Re-Posts

navy life quora submarines