OPINION:
In “Iron ships and girly men” (Web. Oct. 29) Gary Anderson baselessly attacks the young men and women manning the ships of the U.S. Navy, drawing wrongheaded conclusions about the caliber of sailors being produced by the Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill.
Mr. Anderson cites as primary evidence stray comments from various command climate surveys taken from ships in the fleet, but he doesn’t give examples. In recent Senate hearings it was revealed that sailors afloat are currently working 100 hour weeks, or more than 14 hours a day every day, far more than what he extols as being worked by these sailors’ great-grandfathers.
In assigning fault for this “whining,” Mr. Anderson sets his sights clearly on the Navy’s boot camp. Interestingly, he believes that the Navy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NROTC) does a good job of preparing officers for sea duty despite being located in the hearts of many of the country’s most liberal, safe-space-creating universities. Here he is correct.
Mr. Anderson also speculates that the investigations into the collisions at sea involving the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain will conclude that “snowflake” sailors were glued to computer consoles instead of safely navigating their respective ships. The primary responsibility for safe navigation in fact falls to the officer of the deck, almost invariably a commissioned officer. The Navy would be well-served to publish the results of these investigations forthwith in order to put to bed such obtuse theories.
The Navy recently celebrated its 242nd birthday, and in all of that time the hazards of sea duty have fallen on the young to carry out. This is no different now than it was in Vietnam or World War II. What has changed in this time has been the standards of conduct that sailors are held to; the image of the hard-drinking, fighting, carousing sailor of yesteryear has been replaced by sailors who work hard afloat and then do volunteer work ashore. Perhaps this is what Mr. Anderson meant by “girly men.”
There can be no denying that the Navy has many challenges that require addressing. But Mr. Anderson and the American public should know that the young sailors of today’s U.S. Navy continue to man the fleet with the same honor, courage and commitment as the sailors who went before them.
ALAN NEWPORT
Quantico, Va.
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