Good Morning, Admiral...
Bob McKellar
I appreciate you asking me here to give my side of the story, particularly
after the unfortunate, sensationalized accounts that came out in the
anti-military media.
First of all, I'd like to point out that my predecessor left me a real mess.
That ship was totally unsatisfactory when I took over, and the few months I
had to correct things before the "incident" were far too short. I knew that
whatever he had done before was totally wrong, since he came from the
[redacted] community, and they're all a bunch of Bozo's.
Excuse me, Sir?.... No, actually, I was not aware you were part of that
community....
Yes, Sir, I suppose I really should have checked that out before this
proceeding....
Yes, Sir, I'll move on in my discussion.
As soon as we cleared the pier, I dismissed the tugs. I don't believe it
looks good to imply that a ship that big needs any help from anybody. We
headed down the channel, and I called for Ahead Full as soon as we were on
initial course.
Yes, Admiral?....
Well, I learned early in flight training the importance of speed, the faster
the better. It seemed to make sense to apply the same principles in this
case, since going fast means you get past the potential problem spots
quicker.
After we had spent a while in the channel, I could clearly see the open
ocean ahead. Since we were already pointed in that direction, I ordered
"Steady As She Goes". This caused a bit of commotion among some of the less
decisive officers on the bridge, but I ignored them.
Sir?....
Charts?....
Well, I'm the Captain, not a chart checker. Anyway, some of those charts
are ten years old, and they're full of guesswork and opinions. The water
looked fine to me, at least the part I could see.
Anyway, as we headed out to sea, the Navigator started making a fuss, and
the CIC people kept making annoying calls to the bridge. I had the CIC
speakers turned off, and asked the Navigator what his problem was. He was
agitated, quite undignified in my opinion. He kept poking a spot on the
chart with his finger. To humor him, I took a look and saw that the chart
showed a sand bar in our path. I assured him that my SUV plows through sand
all the time with no problem, and a big old aircraft carrier shouldn't have
any trouble with that sort of thing.
Anyway, I certainly couldn't have ordered a course change, since that would
shown a lack of resolve and confidence.
A few minutes later, the speed on the pit log started to drop, so I ordered
"All Ahead Flank" to make up the difference. However, due to the poor
condition of the plant and the incompetence of the Engineer Officer, the
ship continued to slow and eventually came to a stop.
Admiral?.... Are you OK?.... Can you still hear me with your head on the
table like that ?....
I'll continue, Sir. I hope you feel better.
Once we had stopped, I knew I had to take decisive action. Since it would
have been bad for morale to admit to a mistake, I got on the 1MC and
announced to the crew that we had reached our destination. To make sure
they bought the story, I ordered a steel beach picnic. It did seem a bit
unusual only 2 hours after "shift colors", but no sailor is going to turn
down sliders on the flight deck. The Pork Chop did seem a bit irritated at
the short notice, but he was always a malcontent and not a team player.
The next day, the crew was getting a bit suspicious. The Signalmen were
happy, since we were still close enough for them to use the "Big Eyes" to
check out the beach, but I felt an increasing lack of confidence from the
rest of the crew. To deal with this, I sent the ship to General Quarters
and lit off all the weapons systems to keep the crew occupied. The
unfortunate accident with the CIWS and the Channel 5 NewsCopter was the
result of the lack of fire control discipline by the Weapons Officer.
Sir?... Could I perhaps get you a glass of water?
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the very nice
helicopter you sent to bring me to this meeting. I must apologize for the
regrettable display of dropped trousers by a disaffected minority of my crew
as we left. I suspect that the poor leadership of the Operations Officer
and several of the embarked squadron CO's was to blame.
I would also like to point out that I never actually touched the wheel
during the entire voyage, there was some BM3 who actually steered us into
the grounding. I forget his name, but I am sure he was a troublemaker.
IT WASN'T MY FAULT!
---------------------
Bob McKellar
.
walt moffett
On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 22:40:50 -0400,
Bob McKellar <b...@coastcomp.com> wrote:
<snip>
thanks for posting this. it joins my collection of TINS narratives.
please keep it up.
Gord Beaman
RENABORNEY
And unfortunately all too true - I had a real sense of Deja Moo (I've heard the
BS before). Read about the grounding of the Missouri (right off Continental
Army Command HQ at Fortress Monroe) in Chesapeake Bay in the Fifties
sometime....
Arved Sandstrom
news:OsYgd.239986$as2....@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
I have to admit, it had me giggling too. :-)
My only real anecdotes related to leadership at the officer level deal with
captains, i.e. Marine captains. One guy was the son of a former general, and
we called him E-Tool behind his back because once at Fort Bragg when the
chow HMMWV delivered the food, he literally used an E-Tool to eat a slice of
chocolate cake. Let's also just say kindly that his XO and his other
officers sort of carried the load when it came to actually making the
battery work.
There was this other captain (Marine) in Panama (Kilo 3/4) that was a piece
of work. To the best of my belief, we had infiltration by civilians just
going through the Canal Zone on this particular night, as opposed to the PDF
doing their patrols on other nights. This particular night, he decided that
enough was enough. Two 81mm mortar tubes doing continuous fire, supporting
two patrols, we closed off the Pan-American Highway due to bomb splinters,
guys racing around the roads in HMMWV's with Mk19 40mm AGL's shooting up the
woods, the company gunny was leading a small task group continually throwing
M-67 hand grenades into this small streambed downslope from the CP...it was
actually rather glorious. My secret suspicion is that all the poor bastards
that were observed being hauled away by Panamanian ambulances were peasants
trying to get through to Panama City. Needless to say, no official
recognition of this action ever occurred.
Oddly enough, the PDF was actually doing real stuff at this time (early
'88). Problem was, there's no fence at the edge of the CZ, and the
Panamanians consider all of that to be sort of...part of Panama. So one
night we'd be observing a professional patrol of Panamanian police or PDF
through nightsights (and under ROE not be allowed to shoot them up), but at
the same time we'd have to deal with poachers, locals (some of whom would
actually walk that far just to get to the urbanized area), etc etc. So I
have some sympathy for the military in Iraq. It can be a damned difficult
problem identifying what it is that you are dealing with.
Another captain was a failure because he ignored the fact that his gunny was
an autocratic SOB. In fact, the gunny was running the infantry company. I
had to helo over on a Huey to calm down that section of my SFCP (I was the
NGLO) because they were going nuts. This gunny actually took one of my lance
corporal's rifle, disassembled it in detail, and threw the bits in a
trashcan. I had words with the man, in private. The rough translation was
"Gunny, you're a gunnery sergeant, and I am a corporal, but I am also the
NGLO for your f**king unit. I have 2 people on your LST to help you survive
a possible landing. Treating a rifle like that is shit, and I am reporting
it to my boss, who happens to outrank you and your boss". Never saw a guy
get that pissed off and still manage to recognize that he should hold his
mouth shut.
AHS
JJ
>Well, I learned early in flight training the importance of speed, the faster
>the better. It seemed to make sense to apply the same principles in this
>case, since going fast means you get past the potential problem spots
>quicker.
Um, is the flight training reference also a reference to Dubya Bush?
>Well, I'm the Captain, not a chart checker. Anyway, some of those charts
>are ten years old, and they're full of guesswork and opinions. The water
>looked fine to me, at least the part I could see.
Ten years old? A reference to his pappy's war?
>Anyway, as we headed out to sea, the Navigator started making a fuss, and
>the CIC people kept making annoying calls to the bridge. I had the CIC
>speakers turned off, and asked the Navigator what his problem was. He was
>agitated, quite undignified in my opinion. He kept poking a spot on the
>chart with his finger. To humor him, I took a look and saw that the chart
>showed a sand bar in our path. I assured him that my SUV plows through sand
>all the time with no problem, and a big old aircraft carrier shouldn't have
>any trouble with that sort of thing.
Is the navigator Colin Powell?
>I would also like to point out that I never actually touched the wheel
>during the entire voyage, there was some BM3 who actually steered us into
>the grounding. I forget his name, but I am sure he was a troublemaker.
>
>IT WASN'T MY FAULT!
I'm assuming this is a reference to the 380 tons of missing "KAPOOOW!"
>Bob McKellar
Great job, thumbs up and a wink!
Jay the Pig
George Z. Bush
"JJ" <jayj...@nadasppam-yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:41a6988c....@news2.flex.com...
> "Bob McKellar" <b...@coastcomp.com> wrote:
>
>>Well, I learned early in flight training the importance of speed, the faster
>>the better.
On final approach??? (^-^))) Sorry....I couldn't resist the opportunity and
the devil made me do it.
George Z.
Ed Rasimus
I've never been too fast, but occasionally I've gotten too slow.
Even on final.
Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
George Z. Bush
> On Mon, 1 Nov 2004 07:08:41 -0500, "George Z. Bush"
> <georg...@charter.net.nospam> wrote:
>
>>>> Well, I learned early in flight training the importance of speed, the
>>>> faster the better.
>>
>> On final approach??? (^-^))) Sorry....I couldn't resist the opportunity and
>> the devil made me do it.
> I've never been too fast, but occasionally I've gotten too slow. Even on
> final.
Haven't we all! And I daresay there are very few of us who haven't made three
or four landings on one approach.
(^-^)))
George Z.
Charlie Wolf
image of USN Captain John F. Kerry - had he remained in the Navy.
Regards,
On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 22:40:50 -0400, "Bob McKellar" <b...@coastcomp.com>
wrote:
>Good Morning, Admiral.
ian maclure
[snip]
> IT WASN'T MY FAULT!
And thats Trotsqerry's story and he's sticking to it.
Unfortunately for him there is a record of his activities.
IBM
_______________________________________________________________________________
Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com - Accounts Starting At $6.95 - http://www.uncensored-news.com
<><><><><><><> The Worlds Uncensored News Source <><><><><><><><>
Joachim Schmid
>>IT WASN'T MY FAULT!
>
> And thats Trotsqerry's story and he's sticking to it.
> Unfortunately for him there is a record of his activities.
I'd say: fortunately. As well as there are records of Mr. Bush's
activities, too.
OMG - am I happy that tomorrow you have election day over there,
finally. I hope the voters will decide wisely, and clearly.
Joachim
Nicholas Smid
about navies I hope?, The Shrub is a more likely candidate, if his uniform
had been a darker blue.
"Charlie Wolf" <charli...@noemail.com> wrote in message
news:f89do0t36hq8e0472...@4ax.com...
Charlie Wolf
<smi...@clear.net.nz> wrote:
>Since carriers are commanded by ex pilots in the USN, you do know that much
>about navies I hope?, The Shrub is a more likely candidate, if his uniform
>had been a darker blue.
Well - except for the teeny fact that the President served honorably
in the Air Guard and not the Navy.
By the way - Kerry is a fucking traitor who aided and abetted the
enemy in Vietnam. Now go away.
Regards,
Jim Watt
<charli...@noemail.com> wrote:
>By the way - Kerry is a fucking traitor who aided and abetted the
>enemy in Vietnam. Now go away.
Would the word 'enemy' refer to the natives of that country,
or those who bombed them, massacred them in their
villages, dumped napalm and agent orange on them,
and were finally driven out?
--
Jim Watt
http://www.gibnet.com
Martin Reboul
"Bob McKellar" <b...@coastcomp.com> wrote in message
news:o9qdnQTKRpU...@comcast.com...
Did you ever serve with D Spencer Hines by any chance? This all seems so
horribly familiar...
Nicholas Smid
> On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 23:09:23 +1300, "Nicholas Smid"
> <smi...@clear.net.nz> wrote:
>
> >Since carriers are commanded by ex pilots in the USN, you do know that
much
> >about navies I hope?, The Shrub is a more likely candidate, if his
uniform
> >had been a darker blue.
> Well - except for the teeny fact that the President served honorably
> in the Air Guard and not the Navy.
>
of blue (you did actually read what I posted?), Yes he served in the ANG,
when it didn't get in the way of parteing and political work, why I seem to
recall from the news he even got to fly in such deadly dangerous skys as
Oklahoma.
> By the way - Kerry is a fucking traitor who aided and abetted the
> enemy in Vietnam. Now go away.
> Regards,
>
Well Kerry opposed the war he atleast went there and got his arss shot at,
rather than have daddy fix him up with a nice safe out state side. And last
I heard it was still within US law to dare to disagree with his most exalted
highness the Pres, even say you think this war he's fighting might be less
than a brilleant idea, or is that something else the Patriot act has
changed?
> >
> >"Charlie Wolf" <charli...@noemail.com> wrote in message
> >news:f89do0t36hq8e0472...@4ax.com...
> >> You didn't mention any names but the cartoon bubble in my head had an
> >> image of USN Captain John F. Kerry - had he remained in the Navy.
> >> Regards,
> >>
(snip a very funny story I enjoyed)
Mark Test
news:4188...@clear.net.nz...
>
> Well Kerry opposed the war he atleast went there and got his arss shot at,
> rather than have daddy fix him up with a nice safe out state side. And
last
> I heard it was still within US law to dare to disagree with his most
exalted
> highness the Pres, even say you think this war he's fighting might be less
> than a brilleant idea, or is that something else the Patriot act has
> changed?
Lots of other folks got their arses shot off in Vietnam, but they
didn't go and committ treason. BTW treason is still against
the law here in the US, though many apparently want to legalize it.
Mark
Howard Berkowitz
Test" <MAR...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
You are aware that it's the one crime defined in the Constitution, and
the Framers deliberately made the standards extremely tough -- based on
their experience with British excesses. Similar thinking went into
banning laws ex post facto and bills of attainder.
So tell us...where can we find a proposal for a Constitutional amendment
to "legalize treason"? Perhaps it's because no one is trying to do so?
The framers' intent would appear that disagreement is not criminal.
Given the eventual fate of such things as the Alien and Sedition Acts,
it would appear that even rather nasty protests tend to get protected.
The standard for treason appears that the prosecution can show direct
cause and effect from the defendant's action -- that it SPECIFICALLY
gave identifiable aid and comfort to the enemy, which is a lot more
specific than sympathizing with them.
In any case, it would be a bit hard to establish "enemy" in an
undeclared war. Treason specifically calls out "enemy", as opposed to,
say, espionage acts where the act need only be performed for a foreign
power.
Fred J. McCall
:"Nicholas Smid" <smi...@clear.net.nz> wrote in message
:news:4188...@clear.net.nz...
:>
:> Well Kerry opposed the war he atleast went there and got his arss shot at,
:> rather than have daddy fix him up with a nice safe out state side. And last
:> I heard it was still within US law to dare to disagree with his most exalted
:> highness the Pres, even say you think this war he's fighting might be less
:> than a brilleant idea, or is that something else the Patriot act has
:> changed?
:
:Lots of other folks got their arses shot off in Vietnam, but they
:didn't go and committ treason.
And neither did Kerry. Jesus, the election is over. Get over it!
:BTW treason is still against
:the law here in the US, though many apparently want to legalize it.
I'd suggest you might want to go examine the laws in this regard. You
do not appear to know what constitutes 'treason' under those laws.
--
"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the
soul with evil."
-- Socrates
Jim Watt
<h...@gettcomm.com> wrote:
>In any case, it would be a bit hard to establish "enemy" in an
>undeclared war.
"they are bad people" the sort that get locked up in Cuba
for no valid reason at all by a police state. Very dubyious.
Andrew Chaplin
Or, perhaps, "Dubyus"?
--
Andrew Chaplin
SIT MIHI GLADIUS SICUT SANCTO MARTINO
(If you're going to e-mail me, you'll have to get "yourfinger." out.)
Howard Berkowitz
<abch...@yourfinger.rogers.com> wrote:
> Jim Watt wrote:
> >
> > On Wed, 03 Nov 2004 21:38:41 -0500, Howard Berkowitz
> > <h...@gettcomm.com> wrote:
> >
> > >In any case, it would be a bit hard to establish "enemy" in an
> > >undeclared war.
> >
> > "they are bad people" the sort that get locked up in Cuba
> > for no valid reason at all by a police state. Very dubyious.
> > --
> > Jim Watt
> > http://www.gibnet.com
>
> Or, perhaps, "Dubyus"?
OT but amusing -- if you really want to have a problem with names, the
first Republican candidate for Congress from the District of Columbia
was Jack Nevius. Nice guy, and anything but devious, but the name gave
such opportunities!
Arved Sandstrom
news:hcb-2B1118.0...@news-central.giganews.com...
You'd do best with such a one as Amor De Cosmos ("Lover of the Universe"),
who served as British Columbia premier from Dec 1872 to Feb 1874. That was
not his original name (which was William Alexander Smith, and he was born a
Nova Scotian). He had his name officially changed in 1854, over a decade
before Confederation.
Examples like this demonstrate to me that there are influences along the
Left Coast, all the way from Alaska down to Mexico, which differ somewhat
from other parts of both the US and Canada.
AHS
Howard Berkowitz
<asand...@accesswave.ca> wrote:
To say nothing of the referendum to change the Alliance leader's first
name to Doris.
WaltBJ
> "Bob McKellar" <b...@coastcomp.com> wrote in message
> news:o9qdnQTKRpU...@comcast.com...
> > Good Morning, Admiral.
TINS indeed. I worked at Eastern with a man who was a yeoman on the
Big MO and he was actually manning a pelorus (compass rose bearing
taker) on the bridge when the Captain let her run aground. His name is
Jim Flood and he's a marine artist, doing oil paintings of ships and
seascapes and builds marine display models. He's living in Miami,
Florida. I've got a picture he did of the old Pennsylvania. I've
examined his good-sized models of the Pennsy and the Repulse - they
were great works of art.
Walt BJ
Mark Test
> In article <uhfid.2040$Gm6...@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>, "Mark
> Test" <MAR...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
>
> > Lots of other folks got their arses shot off in Vietnam, but they
> > didn't go and committ treason. BTW treason is still against
> > the law here in the US, though many apparently want to legalize it.
> >
> undeclared war. Treason specifically calls out "enemy", as opposed to,
> say, espionage acts where the act need only be performed for a foreign
> power.
You don't have to have a "declared" enemy to be guilty of it.
Treason:
1. "Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially
the betrayal of one's
country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to
aid its enemies."
2. "A betrayal of trust or confidence."
Mark
BTW I was being sarcastic regarding it's legalization.
Fred J. McCall
:"Howard Berkowitz" <h...@gettcomm.com> wrote in message
Wrong.
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War
against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and
Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the
Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in
open Court."
--
"Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the
truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Howard Berkowitz
Test" <MAR...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
> "Howard Berkowitz" <h...@gettcomm.com> wrote in message
> news:hcb-28C929.2...@news-central.giganews.com...
> > In article <uhfid.2040$Gm6...@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>, "Mark
> > Test" <MAR...@peoplepc.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Lots of other folks got their arses shot off in Vietnam, but they
> > > didn't go and committ treason. BTW treason is still against
> > > the law here in the US, though many apparently want to legalize it.
> > >
> > In any case, it would be a bit hard to establish "enemy" in an
> > undeclared war. Treason specifically calls out "enemy", as opposed to,
> > say, espionage acts where the act need only be performed for a foreign
> > power.
>
> You don't have to have a "declared" enemy to be guilty of it.
>
> Treason:
> 1. "Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially
> the betrayal of one's
> country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to
> aid its enemies."
>
> 2. "A betrayal of trust or confidence."
>
> Mark
>
> BTW I was being sarcastic regarding it's legalization.
>
>
>
Dictionary definitions are certainly useful, but the Constitution has an
extremely specific definition for the US, which does not fall under
either of those you cite. I didn't know how you meant it, but there are
a lot of people that tend to demonize dissent, in a way that the framers
of the Constitution seemed to want to avoid.
Andrew Chaplin
> To say nothing of the referendum to change the Alliance leader's first
> name to Doris.
The proposition got my vote -- several times. "Vote early, vote
often."
Jack Linthicum
This seems to be a reverse on the usual tale of the 'one bell landing'
wherein the judgement of the OOD enables a ship to come alongside a
docking with one engine command.
I have seen cruisers run aground on an 'uncharted shoal' inside Subic
Bay and IIRC soon after one of the escorting destroyer captains asked
for a tug for what was a very easy landing. He was greeted as
"Charlie" ever after. [Charlie the Tuna, spokes-cartoon for the brand
of tuna, Chicken of the Sea]