Bravo Zulu...
Posted on 12/31/2024 5:50:06 PM PST by US Navy Vet
Well, this is the watch on that special night, When the OD writes poetry by gangway light Tis the 1st of January, 1968 And I've the watch that runs quite late. USS Agerholm (DD 826)
The naval service, by its very nature, thrives on rules and regulations. Above all else, a ship and her crew must promote self-reliance, discipline, and teamwork to maintain effectiveness and ensure mission accomplishment in the unforgiving and uncertain environments of both ocean and fog of battle. This truism of rules and regulation is particularly reflected in the official record maintained by all commissioned U.S. Navy vessels - the deck log.
(Excerpt) Read more at usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil ...
At least it used to be in my Navy.
Onboard the USS Dwight D Eisenhower while in port in Naples, Italy, I had the mid-watch on Dec 31, 1984. The Navy had just outlawed beards and my log noted that fact (as well as others) in a poetic form that I had prepared ahead of time. Later I was called on the carpet and was ordered to rewrite them. In the intervening 40 years I have misplaced the original. Otherwise I would be posting them this evening.
I filled out four of those.
Bravo Zulu...
You cannot go wrong with that. Technologies change. But the fundamental mindset is what makes that maxim so timeless. Self Reliance. Everything Has Its Place. The Crew as a team.
And when push comes to shove, and the rubber hits the road, when, as Kipling said, "If you can keep your head when All about you are losing theirs..." that nautical sense of order, of things having their place, of being self reliant and working as team, you are set up to succeed.
On board a ship of any kind, but particularly warships, when a crisis arrives, whether it is the height of a hurricane off Puerto Rico, or Japanese and American ships squaring off in Ironbottom Sound in 1942 at point blank range and firing directly into each other, they could see their shells hitting each other on a flat line, gun-to-hull or bulkhead, punching a hole and disappearing inside of it, all in pitch darkness.
Personal accounts of the battle went like this which is an excerpt from the web page article on warfarehistorynetwork.com:
"...At this point, “Japanese and American ships mingled like minnows in a bucket,” according to naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison. Existing records offer some idea of the confusion that took place in Iron Bottom Sound that night, but giving a conclusive, blow-by-blow description of the fighting is all but impossible. One of the participants said that the fight was like “a barroom brawl after the lights had been shot out.”
That mindset described in that maxim is what keeps you from being sunk in a battle like that, or foundering on a rocky shore in a storm.
Enjoyed that post of yours, as you could likely tell...wisdom from Your Navy. My Navy. My Dad's Navy.
The Army says, “HUAH”
The Marines, “HOO-RAH”
Navy?
Concerns the Navy.
HOOYAH
“..Navy?...” Who Dat???
Aren’t Navy Ships haze grey, under way and always gay? (Only kidding!)
Happy New Year from a Merchant Mariner!
<< The Army says “HUAH”
The Marines,”HOO-RAH”
Navy? >>
“BEAT ARMY! “
They say, “IN THE NAVY”
....I am a Navy vet, too, although I am actually retired from the Air Force....during an open house event, I remember visiting a Navy ship and seeing a minority female, very overweight, in her dress whites, a BM2 (Botswains Mate 2nd class) as part of the OOD party, thinking what ever happened to our height and weight standards of our Navy...??
HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!
Maybe she was kept in “stock” just incase a spare”Bouy” was needed
The Marines, “HOO-RAH”
Navy?
BEAT ARMY!
A second class boatswain's mate doesn't have to do anything but hold a coffee cup without spilling and scream at the deck apes. No fitness needed.
<>“BEAT ARMY! “<>
31-13!
*
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