The Navy's been in the papers for all the wrong reasons recently. The author of the post "Why Ships Collide" spent seven years in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer - a Black Shoe in the parlance of Sailors.
Give it a read and then come right back - I'll be here waiting.
Good read wasn't it. Straight up, the author isn't exaggerating. There is a whole lot of truth in this article. I spent three years on a Cruiser in the U.S. Navy and I was tired the entire time. Not just tired, but exhausted, drop dead exhausted. We all were.
The Navy has played with Smart Manning and other things over the years and all sorts of other things - but EVERYONE WAS EXHAUSTED at sea - EVERYONE.
I don't know if exhaustion played a factor in these collisions, but exhaustion is the nasty epidemic in the military that everyone knows about, but no one talks about.
Now you may say - 'Gee, the ship just got underway' - That's cute too. You think when the ship is in port those Sailors are working 9-to-5, Monday to Friday and sipping Mai Tai's? Not a chance, nope not going to do it. They're working long hours day in and day out.
When you go to Sea it only gets worse - Port and Report - crazy schedules, crazy jobs, crazy, crazy, crazy.
Now you want to know the crazy part? I miss that shit! I miss the camaraderie that suffering with others brings. That shared sense of mission, of accomplishment, of achieving something in the face of all odds. More importantly, I miss the Sailors - Men AND Women - that I served with, suffered with, succeeded with.
P.S. If you're thinking the Sailors on shore duty have it easy....think again. I was tired then also. Ask me about 2-2-2-80 sometime and watch me shudder. Bastards.
