I was half awake during a USCG All Officers Meeting today when a new check in was told to stand up and introduce himself. Being prior USN, I let him say two words then with no conscious thought bellowed, "SIT DOWWWNNNNNNNNN". Call it a flashback if you will, but I completely expected the entire wardroom to join me in chorus. To my surprise, I was the only one heckling. Not only that, but the WHOLE room swiveled around and stared in disbelief. Another USN Direct Commission Aviator came to my rescue and said, "You're not in the Navy anymore".

When the meeting was over, I shook the newbie's hand, then apologized to the skipper. An O-5 pulled me aside and said, "That was great, we need more camaraderie like that".

Then it dawned on me.....the modern military isn't out of place, I am. It didn't strike any JO (majority of which are 8-10 years younger than me) to yell, heckle, laugh, embarrass, then welcome our new addition into the fold with a strong handshake and slap on the back. In fact, I didn't see anyone else but me shake the new pilot's hand today.

Has the military changed this much since I was commissioned 14 years ago, or is this unit/service specific?

P. S. the follow on "All Hands" conversation to last week's diversity training didn't go well this morning. And oh yeah, the new "Hurricane Recall Accountability Tool" has extended from automated phone calls, to a new website requiring registration with user name and password. At least my GMT is up to date until December 31st.

 

I believe the proper fighter pilot reply is "SIT DOWN *********"! ....

 

OR, "let's say HELLO to the new guy.........."

GF

 

That my friend is just a normal Coast Guard ward room.

 

You ought to try an army staff meeting if you really want to experience discomfort and awkwardness. I think back to my navy days of debriefing over a beer in the squadron bar(I wonder if the tap in VT-4 duck pond still works), raucous safety standounds, and the infamous Key West dets where even the skipper makes it a point to go to get sauced. Times have changed I suppose. Sigh.

 

Probably. Became a Coastie 4 years ago, and only know my current duty station (and ATC Mobile for training).

I compare USN personalities to policemen, and USCG culture to a fire department. Never served in either, but I think the "vibe" is a good comparison.

Hopefully my DOD friends are keeping the wardroom, JOPA spirit alive.

Hahahaha

I'm just a little freaked out by being the outlier. I can only take so much talk about promotion rates and career progression while eating lunch in the wardroom. GREs, grad school, payback tours. Only 10% of us fly during our off time. Life at the AIRSTA beats the hell out of a DOD deployment, so don't get me wrong.....I appreciate my QOL. Just curious if the forward leaning, warrior spirit has been replaced by a status quo, risk averse, career minded culture throughout the U. S. military?

Damn.....it may be time to bail.

 

Funny, at my nephew's graduation at NAS Whiting, the most warrior-like guy there was the Coastie CO from USCG Clearwater. He drove over to attend an AD Ensign who was going to Clearwater. He stood up and cheered the ensign to the point of embarrassment, bought rounds of drinks at the dinner and seemed like a great guy to work for.

GF

 

Bar taps worked next door at 10 when I left in 2007. Talk about a fricking amazing way to end a day of flying! Funny how student grade sheets went from....."Crappy".....sip sip......"Well I guess it wasn't that bad"....sip sip......"That guy rocked it!". Good times.

PCSing to North Whiting next month. Looking forward to instructing again. Hope the spirit is still alive up there.

I remember hanging in a bar with a reserve P-3 crew in El Sal circa summer '03. A SELRES pilot and DAL FO told me, "Flying for Delta is better than flying for the Navy in every way except we don't do this...."(he pointed out the mix of active and reserve crews drinking together, then raised his beer and clashed it with my pint glass).

 

Right on.

And to avoid sounding like a knuckle dragging, loud mouth, booze hound....it's not all about getting hammered. It really is more about camaraderie. We have all put up with lost shipmates, deployments, USAF security and red lines, GMT, jammed printers, corrupt profiles, in-flight emergencies, donating urinalysis samples, collecting urinalysis samples, roving watches, mishap drills, foreign travel requests, sh!t man I can go on. So why not hold dear the culture that made this job so fun in the first place?

 

+1 to be sure!