The John S. McCain, an American guided-missile destroyer, right, was left with a hole in its left side after a collision with an oil tanker in waters off Singapore on Aug. 21.
Credit Roslan Rahman/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
New York Times: Fatigue and Training Gaps Spell Disaster at Sea, Sailors Warn
Pink was a submariner until he moved on to do different things in his life but he did his job well on nuke subs and can take a rightful pride in that. Unless I'm reading him way off reality, Pink is not a war dog but a peace dog. He won't start a war but he will bring one which will fry you into Nacho Doritos if you start one.
That's how the military is supposed to work, right? They defend America against crazy fuckers but otherwise stay underwater just watching because there are lots of crazy fuckers out there.
In Pink's knowledge / experience, there were several nuke sub blow-ups in which they just exploded underwater and no-one knew what happened except all the sailors were lost. Through some exceptional Sherlock Holmes work, the Navy deduced the cause of the problems and the result was the SUBSAFE standard for construction of nuke subs. The Navy has not lost a sub since.
When the Navy has had two major crackups with large surface vessels in a few months, Pink gets annoyed since the man knows process when dealing with such things and without it you became a deceased submariner.
WASHINGTON — Two deadly collisions between high-tech destroyers and easy-to-spot, slow-moving cargo ships in a little over two months have stunned many in the Navy and sent top leaders scrambling for answers.
But shipboard veterans had long seen signs of trouble. Factor in a shrinking Navy performing the same duties that a larger fleet did a decade ago, constant deployments that leave little time to train and relentless duties that require sailors driving 9,000-ton vessels to endure sleepless stretches that would be illegal for bus drivers, and avoidable accidents can happen, current and former officers said.
- NYT
Zen Yogi: cripes, Silas, I have never, ever, seen a top leader scrambling. Most of them are so dumpy they will vapor lock if they ever scramble. It sounds like those jabberwockeys at NYT are going down stern first.
Roll with it, Yogi, since they're presenting a view from the sailors.
The fatigue aspect hasn't been raised previously. We have heard plenty of the endless litany regarding need more money but there's little indication of any systemic analysis when they only want more.
The perspective that a bus driver cannot legally work the number of hours required of the cadre on a nuke sub goes into a whole new world of reckless irresponsibility by the Pentagon. There can't ever be a mistake on a nuke sub, surface vessel, etc but they push the sailors too far to stay rational. Mistakes happen and sailors get dead.
“What seems impossible — that two ships could hit in the middle of the ocean — becomes very real,” said Robert McFall, a former Navy lieutenant commander who served as the operations officer of the destroyer Fitzgerald in 2014. “If you are not at your best, events can start that lead to a disaster.”
- NYT
Zen Yogi: should I tell Bob real and very real are the same thing?
Nah, people get pissed off about that.
The New York Times continues with documenting the points that there are somewhat fewer vessels in the Navy (i.e. 80% of levels relative to twenty years ago) and the existing vessels have to stay at sea constantly.
There is one aspect of the testimony which was simply not true:
“There are very few ships there, but the operational demands are enormous,” said Kevin Eyer, a former Navy captain who commanded cruisers in the western Pacific.
- NYT
The first phrase is hogwash since you can see from previously the number of vessels is reduced from twenty years ago but it's hardly been decimated. However, the last part is accurate and is specifically the manifestation of the problem due to unrealistic expectations.
Zen Yogi: what's the source of the problem then?
America is trying to occupy everywhere in the world with land forces and control everywhere in the world with naval forces. That has been expanding steadily for decades.
This part diverges from Pink and he may well agree but don't be thinking I'm trying to represent him in that which I write. I hope it does but the fact remains, this part is me.
Zen Yogi: me too, buddy
That's right, Yogi. You too, pal.
You're probably already there in the observation this is the price for over-extension. The vessels are relatively new and have sophisticated kit but that doesn't mean anything when the sailors are too tired to operate it correctly.
Zen Yogi: spend less, think more?
You are definitely smarter than the average bear, Yogi.
Zen Yogi: cool ... so let's go steal some pic-a-nic baskets
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