maybe if the NEA unionized sex oriented schools would teach something of history, then these idiot kids wouldn't be so "depressed" after the Ritalin wears off...
It's also possible that we have some pretty ate-up leadership on that boat. The Navy has a couple hundred ships and most of the crews are not swan-diving into Davy Jones's Locker. But the ground rules under which the service publicised this make it impossible to evaluate the situation. (One hand-picked sailor talking by phone to the presstitute, while an officer sat in the room -- come on).
I have served my time in the Army, but in a position where I have gotten to see all the services in action and work with them closely. My own observation is that in the Navy, officer-enlisted relations remain feudal in nature and teamwork routinely goes unappreciated and unrewarded. I felt pity for the poor guys I saw on Navy ships; the accommodations and mutual respect (or lack of same) reminded me of the boat scenes in Ben Hur.
I would never recommend the Navy to any young man today. If he wants to be treated like a human being, the Air Force is the place to be. If he wants to be part of something special, the Marines. Unless one qualifies for special operations (paging PFC Tillman!) or something else out of the mainstream, the Army only makes sense as a three or four year experiment. Everything wrong with Special Forces is something that is wrong with the Army as a whole, but most things that are wrong about the Army are alright in SF. I have a friend who is a retired SEAL officer and he says they felt the same way (but were careful not to express it around boat drivers).
Anyway, my 2¢. I don't think that these suicidal (?) kids are alright but I don't think that their chain of command is blameless in this, and the Navy seems to have pulled out the PR stops to blacken the names of the kids and excuse the skipper.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Firstly, I would question the acceptance of the four in the first place. Secondly there had to be indications prior to the jumps. No matter what, the Navy has to accept the fact that they did not prevent their enlistment and failed to read that they were unacceptable for duty.
Hmmm, what's behind the numbers? I wonder if they stay in, in order to get away from this command. What I mean is, if a sailor has say, a year or more left on his enlistment [when his tour of duty ends], it's not enough to get [2 or 3 year] orders to a new command. Ergo, it's either stay at a command from hell until they get out of the Navy, or extend a year or two, in order to escape. Maybe things have changed, but that's what I remember happening at a place where I was stationed.