For Pipedragger. A "remember when"
I was re-reading a comment you made and it made me remember something. It really only applied to you and Hammer. But it was a significant indicator of what our chain of command really thought of enlisteds.
Y'all had been busting butt (as had we all) for like 18 months without ever getting to go anywhere other than ROK and Sagami Wan. Hardly a proper life for a sailor. As you know, ROK is nice to see off the starboard side as you're headed to someplace good but ain't a great liberty port (sitting on the bus watching Oscars coming back up).
We finally got sent somewhere after all the inspections and overhauls and whatnot. And the trip included a stop in Thailand, a place most Vinny sailors had not yet been to. Do you remember what Williams, Salva-tiara*, and Perez wanted to do? Yeah, leave you and Hammer behind at TPU for the few months before you transferred. Your reward for keeping your shop online and inspection ready? Yep, a chance to paint curbs on base when the ship finally hit a real liberty port.
Remember how I had to fire dang near all my silver bullets to get them to take you guys instead of leaving you behind? Having to have that fight, with those boneheads, over and over was when I was sure I was going to retire after shore duty.
* Tiara. You know, cause he was like a little princess. What did I used to call him, The Gay Caballero or something?
(OK bubba, here's a flashback signature for you)
FCCS A
Y'all had been busting butt (as had we all) for like 18 months without ever getting to go anywhere other than ROK and Sagami Wan. Hardly a proper life for a sailor. As you know, ROK is nice to see off the starboard side as you're headed to someplace good but ain't a great liberty port (sitting on the bus watching Oscars coming back up).
We finally got sent somewhere after all the inspections and overhauls and whatnot. And the trip included a stop in Thailand, a place most Vinny sailors had not yet been to. Do you remember what Williams, Salva-tiara*, and Perez wanted to do? Yeah, leave you and Hammer behind at TPU for the few months before you transferred. Your reward for keeping your shop online and inspection ready? Yep, a chance to paint curbs on base when the ship finally hit a real liberty port.
Remember how I had to fire dang near all my silver bullets to get them to take you guys instead of leaving you behind? Having to have that fight, with those boneheads, over and over was when I was sure I was going to retire after shore duty.
* Tiara. You know, cause he was like a little princess. What did I used to call him, The Gay Caballero or something?
(OK bubba, here's a flashback signature for you)
FCCS A
That's what I'm about. Ramblin' Ed at 8:32 PM
3 comments:
As a JUST SO YOU KNOW: The Vinny decommed this week in San Dog.
Good riddance.
Ed
Ed,
Yeah, I remember you telling us, that we almost didn't get to go. And if we still had the Chief before you came aboard we would not have... We thank you for that :) FYI, I will always remember the Vinny fondly, (It was my only ship) and life aboard with the old experience chain-of-command was much better. (O-6 Captain Murray, who was senior and on the list for Admiral. We had good liberty ports in S.America) I and everyone else aboard saw a big change for the worse when they reclassified the ship for an O-5 to command her.
Pipedragger
PS: An American won the US MotoGP motorcycle race, it was a great weekend!
And that's fair enough. I'm sure things were better with a senior CO, both in terms of respect on the waterfront and in his ability to lead from a position of greater experience.
But I got there for the end of Mariano (a screamer and reactionist) and all of Perez (a buffoon) and probably the worst chains of command the navy has ever been able to put together.
Since Vinny was my fifth ship and I had been fortunate enough to serve on some very well led cruisers, I was disappointed in my experience there. Let's just say that my enthusiasm started slow there, then tapered off.
As for the race, I'm not one that follows those things, but am a staunch supporter of Americans winning things.
Ed
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