[Whispering Smith]

Two officers in a 14 foot boat doesn't make sense to me unless maybe it was an orientation trip for a new guy.

[Juan Medén]

Kerry was only there for four months. Was he there long enough to be anything other than the new guy?

[mcg1969]

Kerry did not have his own command yet, hence he needed a supervisor on boat. At least that is how I understood it. Besides, it was not a Swift boat, it was a whaler.

[NEPA]

It was in fact during Kerry's training period, before he was given a swift boat to command.

[The Old Hoosier]

And that's exactly what it was.

[lstanle]

"Two officers in a 14 foot boat doesn't make sense to me unless maybe it was an orientation trip for a new guy." ,

I think sKerry was the new guy. What is big here I think is that SKerry has said there were only himself and two enlisted men in the boat. If the Admiral is going public with a claim that he was also in the boat, I think we can chaulk up another sKerry lie.

Damn, I wish I had my "Unfit For Command" book, its on order at B.Dalton , they said they would call when they get some more copies in. I bet a lot of questions I have are answered in the book. I seem to have heard that there were to be two boats in the operation and one had mechanical problems, this could also account for two officers being aboard the boat. sKerry was definitely the Jr officer aboard.

[TheLawyerFormerlyKnownAsAl]

Was Schachte and Admiral at the time?

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

It was a training mission for Jean Fraude.

[Leisler]

Kerry was new to the Division. He had just come from Cam Rahn Bay where he was training for about a month. He was in the division for only a few days, and wouldn't get a swift boat and crew for ten days or so. Anyways, he was bored and asked to go along. He was a strap hanger, they didn't need him and he wasn't in command of paddle, let alone the whaler.

He's cooked.

[Future Useless Eater]

yes, kerry was the newbie,

and besides, do you really think Schachte was a RETIRED REAR ADMIRAL at that time?

[Winfield]

Or.....if you have a certain officer from Massachusetts
that can't be trusted.

[WOSG]

"Two officers in a 14 foot boat doesn't make sense to me unless maybe it was an orientation trip for a new guy."

Hmmmmmm.

It was Kerry's first day on the job.

Hmmmmmm.

I wonder if he called Kerry an "FNG" on the trip...

[AndrewC]

Two officers in a 14 foot boat doesn't make sense to me unless maybe it was an orientation trip for a new guy.

Kerry arrived there 17 Nov 1968 as documented in his fitness reports. Thus on 2 Dec he had been there just over 2 weeks. It is highly unlikely that Kerry would be allowed to be left unsupervised in a boat for which he was not trained (His orders were for a different craft, he volunteered because he was tired of waiting for his own PCF), especially when night combat was a possibility on his very first mission in the area. His life was not the only one at risk if anything went awry.