Posted on 09/02/2020 10:44:32 AM PDT by fishtank
THIS IS NOT A DRILL A Long Story About A Short Meeting To Save US Shipping
September 2, 2020 by John Konrad
EDITORIAL NOTE: Some elements of this story have been fictionalized for brevity.
OP-ED By John Konrad (gCaptain) Those five words have special meaning. They motivate like no other. They ring for years in the sweat-soaked nightmares of any sailor who has ever heard them. They excite and calm. Words have power and meaning but few words have more meaning to sailors than these five. The first step required to rebuilding the US Merchant Marine is for a strong leader to pronounce these five words:
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
FDNY Fire Chief Hugh Halligan with his groundbreaking invention.
Ceci, n'est pas une drill.
WTH? I've experienced my share of "This is not a drill" when Soviet subs got to close. Never had a nightmare, but it does get the adrenaline flowing unlike a General Quarters, "this is a drill." You still have to hustle just as fast through the passageways and ladders to get to your assigned General Quarters. It's like an orchestrated cluster-frig with the entire crew running in all directions. It was kinda funny at times.
The government wants to disarm us after 244 yrs 'cuz they plan to do things we would shoot them for!
At no point in history has any government ever wanted its people to be defenseless for any good reason ~ nully's son
Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!
To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...
Never mind FDNY Fire Chief Hugh Halligan with his groundbreaking invention. ....I was hoping to see Trump rebuilding the US Marine service including shipbuilding and apprenticeships.
BTTT
Sadly, that’s the province of Congress, who killed it.
There are ships, but they don’t want to be registered under the US flag - legal and regulation reasons.
On one of the submarines on which I served we used to stand amidships for General Quarters and shout, “Everyone aft, go forward! Everyone forward, go aft! Everyone amidships, direct traffic! ;-)
Interesting
Actually laughed out loud. Thank you for your Silent Service. Don't know how you guys do it, but I depend on you guys to sleep well. I'd rather be on the flight deck for round the clock flight ops in oppressive heat than be sequester in a tube.
BTW, how are the female Submariners working out? Thought it to be a bad decision. Still, with special training hope they are pulling their weight, unless getting intentionally pregnant which many do on surface vessels.
“BTW, how are the female Submariners working out? Thought it to be a bad decision. Still, with special training hope they are pulling their weight, unless getting intentionally pregnant which many do on surface vessels.”
I wouldn’t know about female submariners. I left the Navy in 1967.....way before all of this humbug started but I have heard that it is just about the same for submarines as it is for surface vessels.....the females get pregnant.
In the two decades I lived at home I only witnessed Dad use the tool once; when a blizzard dropped many feet of snow on our street Dad pressed its claw into a hole in the street and lifted a man-hole. Then we shoveled our snow right into the sewer.
You can always count on Americans to do the right thing after theyve tried everything else. -Winston Churchill
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