Woman captain of a US navy guided-missile destroyer was relieved of her command
on 03/08/2010 at 09:07 AM
Peiper old boy, you must stay abreast of things a little better if you can.
I ran this story several days ago under the title “Our Captain Bligh is a Lady”.
No, she isn’t pretty. I don’t care. Her job didn’t revolve around pretty. She was let go because the way that she did her job had created an abusive and cruel work environment, far beyond the extended limits that may be necessary on a military ship at sea in war time. There were several charges of petty corruption too. The boat race may not have been exactly safe or smart, but that kind of thing is not too uncommon I hear.
I don’t think I went with the PC/affirmative action angle in my post. Was it there? Likely. Was it the sole, or even main, reason that she got the job? I can’t say, though I rather doubt it. She had the education, the rank, and the experience necessary, so she was in the queue for a ship along with everyone else. PC/AA may have moved her up a spot or so, but I have no proof at all that it brought her to the head of the line. The only Equal Rights angle I noted was that this was the example of the Right To Fail, and it looked to me like the decision had nothing to do with this officer being female, or less than cover-girl attractive. Demotions happen every now and again. This was the first time AFAIK the ranking naval officer was relieved of duty who just happened to be female.
Ok, my apologies. The key point is in the linked story and the comments there. The author is implying that this is a witch hunt, and the commentors are saying that the US Navy is a bunch of namby pambys who can’t take a little salty language.
I think we’ve got a cultural clash here. The British military has always treated it’s enlisted ranks much worse than the American military has. At least they’ve been portrayed in books and films that way for the past several hundred years. And that extends even to the lower quality and quantity of equipment issued to those troops. Nothing new there: there’s an old Mauldin Willy and Joe cartoon from WWII where the Tommy says to Willy and Joe “you blokes leave an awfully messy battlefield” which was a jibe at the Brit’s amazement/resentment at the quantity of stuff the US equipped their guys with. Even today it’s tough to visit Theo’s, or to read one of Yon’s posts from the sandbox that mention the UK troops, and not see the complaint that they are given the rough end of the stick by getting short shrift in gear.
Yet this poor treatment - a class thing I guess - seems to be a point of British enlisted pride. “They gave us nothing and starved us and treated us like crap and we still got the job done!” Well, great. But was it really necessary, and did you deserve it? In America we have loads of stuff to hand out, and we theoretically have a classless society, so it’s likely our guys wouldn’t put up with either. And it seems that our modern Navy can get the job done without the anger, too much bad language, or vindictive abuse, because each seaman has faith and pride in themselves and their actions because they are well trained, equipped, and have proved that they are professionals worthy of respect.
And of course the UK paper paints this story as the Old Boy network out for revenge against a glass ceiling breaking female. A Vast Right Wing Internet Conspiracy. Typical left wing skew. I don’t think that was the case here at all.
Ok give it up. She looks positively girly compared to some women I’ve worked for. And that pic is without the slightest bit of makeup too, on a fair haired woman who has spent her life at sea. What were you boys expecting?
I like my navy story better,hehe.
These uber hostile lesbians are getting out of hand. Friggin moonbatshit crazy all of them.
Ahh, ship racing at sea! When the Frigate I was on was going by the Florida Keys, we happened to cruise by a couple of those Hydrofoils and they decided to give us a show, flying by at approximately 35-40 knots.
The Captain, being the competitive type, decided to crack open the turbines and blow out the cobwebs, since we hadn’t been at sea for almost 4 months. We pulled even with them and started to pass them up. It turned into a race that we shouldn’t have had a chance of winning, as our (non-classified) top speed was 40 to 45 knots emergency flank, however, we stayed ahead of them for the 20 miles we were with them.Maybe it was the fact that out LAMPS were flying to Ingall’s shipyard in Pascagoula, or the fact that the main berthing area was gutted, or the Hydrofoils waffled a bit, but I don’t think so.
It is the nature of man to be competitive. And to a Navy captain, as well as his crew, they are all proud of their ship, and convinced they are the best. Racing is part of this (and a hell of a lot of fun) I think that was a non-issue on the part of the whole matter. On an off-note, that ‘Near Miss’ picture is NOT a near miss, we got closer than that (about 50-75 feet) on un-rep. and if the CG got too close, they just pull back the throttle, and the brick shaped behemoth will basically brake like a brick due to air resistance and mass, beside the fact that the Destroyer was going faster. A captain will not take stupid chances with their ship. A near miss is where the sailors can hollar across and sling assorted insults at each other intelligibly (10-20 feet).A Navy man will take a lot. HOWEVER, No man will take being berated in public with no cause. THIS is why the Captain has their own cabin to take said person for a proper dress-down. (Innuendo not implied) if they can’t find a quiet place on deck or down the corridor to have a bit of heated discussion. The first thing one learns in any military leadership class that is worth a damn is ‘Keep personal agendas personal.’ If you don’t like your subordinate, you do NOT take it to work. Wait until you are off-duty and pound the puss / berate them.
Cursing like a sailor.. Yes, that is fact. BUT you don’t use it in a derogatory manner. It is okay to say “Dog that fucking hatch”, but not to say “Dog that hatch, you fuck-off!”
And you NEVER, NEVER, EVER Piss off the Senior Master Chief. I do not care if you are a Fleet Admiral. They will have their revenge one way or other, and it will not be pretty, especially if they are a ‘respected’ SCMC.. if they are ‘extremely liked’… God help you.
Bah, I’m rambling again..
BillDrew .. I don’t know how I missed your posting on this. Of course, it was new to me having just seen.
Were you in the Navy?
Her god awful looks I agree have nothing to do with the story and I used it coz she’s so damn ugly. Her looks kinda fit the story.
I stand firmly by what I said and believe to be right.
There really are places where women, no matter the education or training, have no place.
Shipboard in the Navy is one of them. Not as captains and not even as cooks. They are there ONLY due to the pol. correctness of our twisted times, where men must have a feminine side and women become macho. Where down is now up and up is down.I do not think lady sports reporters belong in a men’s locker room either. Just something done because now some court says they can. I think it’s okay for men’s only clubs too btw.
If they are private clubs and not supported by taxpayer money, why not? What next? Inclusion in the Boy Scouts as well? Why not? Many young girls might be very well qualified in the things scouts earn badges in.Re. Brits. I once had the pleasure of visiting a Royal Navy Destroyer while we were overseas. Might have been Subic Bay. ?? Spent a few hours which doesn’t make me expert but I never got the feeling they weren’t treated as well as us or endured unreasonable hardships. Seemed like a pretty proud bunch of guys, like us. But maybe not quite as spoiled as we seemed to have more of everything.
Oh, I have to post something I found last night, but too late to post yesterday.
There is this IDIOT here named Harriet Harman (Harperson) who has been on an equality crusade since forever. Lyndon can paint a better picture. No stone must be left unturned in the pursuit of her personal holy grail, equality.
In her sights now and she hopes to pass into law cause she is the equality commie-sar,
Vegetarians and teetotalers. Oh ,,, and atheists as well. Yup. All are to be given the protection of the law. Prolly the same kind of law that made the beasty a ship’s captain.Error in the article - militarycorruption.com is NOTa military website - it might be about the military and corruption both real and imagined - but anything military (i.e. actually US military) is .gov.
Sorry but for those of us who think any 2 million sized city/corporation would have just as many ____________(fill in the blanks - nuts, suicides, divorces, thieves, corrupt individuals, meanies etc) - for comparison sakes. Most especially when the people involved go from illegal aliens to multi-degreed privileged elitist social climbers. Percentage wise - I still say that the truly stupid and corrupt are a much smaller number in the military than in any other 2 million sized city or corporation. Because stupidity and corruption in this line of business - gets people killed.
Peiper - good, stand by your guns. As for pride in their mistreatment, I went on and on about that because of what I read in the comments over at the UK newspage.
Never having been in the Navy, no I can’t say if it works co-ed. Women seem to manage ok in the Army and Air Force and in other nation’s military, so I’m willing to believe it could work. In the old days women on board was considered bad luck.
Actually, (getting back on topic) I have seen ships commanded by women. Usually they support vessels and are Drama Barges.
However. You must remember, every ship is like a family. The Captain is the head of that family and should act in a manner as the head of household. It is the XO’s place to discipline the crew acting as the Captain’s proxy. This is why an XO is RARELY put in permanent command after the captain leaves due to transfer or retirement. They are not the most popular people on the ship, to say the least. It is better for the Captain to be aloof than to become Cap’n Bligh in spirit, as it’s not a popularity contest, HOWEVER it is in his best interests to be at least friendly with the crew, passing compliments where merited and allow the XO to apply the red ink frowny faces.
Just my opinion, don’t hit me!
Bill
03/08/2010 at 11:22 AM
