[Hemingway's Ghost]

As a lowly Midshipman 3/C on summer cruise (i.e., only a few weeks after being a plebe), I wrote fitreps for the guys in the division I was assigned to on the USS (not going to say which ship JIC). The officer, who didn't feel like writing them himself, gave me a little guide other officers used on how to write fitreps---chock-filled with certain catchphrases, etc. He told me it was SOP to lift the catchphrases right from the guide.

[HRoarke]

If you were like most youngsters, it must have been tough to write evals from the rack...

I myself was stuck with a BM1 as a running mate..."Wake up Middie! It's time to launch some boats!" Sometimes I still hear "Set Condition 1A for welldeck operations" in my sleep.