Are we destroying Navy morale?

 250 DAYS AT SEA IS UNBEARABLE

GOOD LUCK WITH NAVY RECRUITMENT

 

We are sometimes reminded of the horrors of crossing the Atlantic in sailing ships, Columbus,  the Pilgrims and others, their voyage lasted between 28 and 50 days. While today it is much safer than in those days,  time on the water is an exhausting affair.

 

I have spent as many as 90 and 120 days at sea and as young person it was a very depressing and overwhelming affair. Usually fresh water is rationed, hence the term,"Navy Showers", eggs that are 90 days old, safe, but not very appetizing. It is a test of endurance and possibly more so without a clear mission and objective.

 

The recent revelation about the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln is something that should not be happening, similar problems arose with the Gerald Ford with stories of internal sabotage etc. With eleven carriers, why have they not being rotated in a sensible humane way? It seems most of the others are in port, under repair and one wonders if they actually have crews to man all these carriers. 

 

This is an aircraft carrier and I suspect the same problems, but worse, are happening on the other smaller ships, which are not as comfortable or have the same quality of supplies as the the big ships. No one has mentioned that the climate this time of year in that region is often 120 degrees. One has to wonder if the air conditioning can keep up? 

 

I recall being at sea for months and the talk of sabotage or mutiny soon become commonplace, although none ever happened. Twice that time at sea is not really understandable or comprehensible. We can expect that it will have a long term effect on many of these sailors, their reenlistment rate will undoubtedly decline and when they hit  port, some will not return.

 

A similar abuse of the reserve forces in the other gulf wars I suspect has had lasting effects on recruitment. Many reservists, there for an existential threat to the nation, were called up for  1 year and sometimes multiple 1 year call ups, resulting in loss of homes, due to foreclosure, wives and families. Their lives were damaged sometimes irreversibly.

 

The repercussion of this war and other preceding wars is having lasting effects on the nation in more ways than can be predicted.