ScottDLS wrote:
This kind of hits home to me. When I was a junior officer in the US Navy in the late 80's, I was sent from my destroyer on a handful of small boat operations in the Mediterranean and North Africa. None of them consisted of more than a few hours or 10-20 NM. I had no specific training for the tasks, though I had certainly received code of conduct and military law training in officer accession. We were armed with a total of one M-14 and a 20 round box magazine of 7.62. The selector was welded to semi...Now this was a utility boat from a '60s vintage destroyer. There was no navigation equipment other than a paper chart and a depth finder that looked like it came from Uncle Buck's bass boat...
So I "kind of" feel for the sailors...While they had modern riverine patrol boats w/ navigation and armaments, I wonder if they felt like they would be backed up by their commanders and this administration??? I'd like to think I would have been up to the task if the same thing had happened to me in '89. These sailors were poorly trained and led no doubt, but this article smells of butt covering by the higher ups.
An officer is expected to carry out orders to a successful completion, see to it that he has the resources to do so, including manpower, material, fuel, bullets, toilet paper, just like a CO is responsible for everything that affects the operation of his command. I don't think I was ever assigned to any task that I was properly, fully trained for, except maybe RPS custodian.
I still haven't heard what the actual situation was. Did they stray into Iranian waters? Navigation error? Low fuel? What were they supposed to do? What were their orders?
A Navy pilot who runs out of fuel, without some justification, gets the blame. Any sort of similar poor performance is his responsibility. What is nearly the first training statement you hear? "Proper prior planning prevents * poor performance."
If a ship collides with another, it's the CO's problem. If he allowed unqualified officers to direct the ship, that's his problem, and theirs for not performing. Remember when the USS Frank Evans was run down in night ops by the Australian carrier Melborne? The Captain was in the rack, and the two LTs on the bridge were unqualified. The ship turned to starboard rather than to port during night ops, was cut in two, part of it sank, killing 74.
Not many understand the concept of responsibility, it seems.
Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.
