Reply With QuoteCruisers can provide fleet defense. The HMS Illustrious and the HMS Ocean can act as a helicopter assault ships. Realistically, that should be OK until the HMS Queen Elizabeth is in service.Originally Posted by Weeto
How the hell can the Royal Navy be effective without operational aircraft carriers for at least another eight years or so?
I am Queeg...
Cruisers can provide fleet defense. The HMS Illustrious and the HMS Ocean can act as a helicopter assault ships. Realistically, that should be OK until the HMS Queen Elizabeth is in service.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet. That's how World War I got started." - Abraham Lincoln
"90% of what I write is sarcasm -- the other half is bullshit."
I'll come back to this one in more detail soon.
Short answer for me: it doesn't matter if I agree with it or not. I am a medic who is tasked with providing for the health and well being of the troops I am assigned to. If I don't agree with a conflict, the best thing I could do is make sure as few lives are lost or mangled in that conflict and be there for my soldiers. I spend a lot of time at Army hospital and the VA. I frequently see the lasting horrific effects of war and it actually strengthens my resolve to stay with military medicine for the rest of my life.
FYI - The vast majority of soldiers I know who are deployed or have deployed didn't personally agree with the wars. Almost every one of them will just tell you how it was a giant waste of time and resources and how much it sucked. You do you job, but for the most part it is apolitical. You don't do it for Bush or Obama. You do it because it is your job and your buddies are depending on you.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet. That's how World War I got started." - Abraham Lincoln
"90% of what I write is sarcasm -- the other half is bullshit."
I recently finished watching a great program on Netflix called Carrier: Life aboard the USS Nimitz. Highly recommended. Check it out on Netflix.
The 10-part program was was produced for PBS and is an amazing look at the actual day-to-day life of people in the military. Even though I have never been in the Navy, I would say that in many ways, it captures the culture of military life better than any program I have ever seen.
No... it isn't all flag waiving war glorification. It is pretty frank and honest. And funny.
Last edited by Doc Randy; 04-18-2012 at 05:42 PM.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet. That's how World War I got started." - Abraham Lincoln
"90% of what I write is sarcasm -- the other half is bullshit."
When I was a kid, all I wanted in the world was to be a Marine (Gung-Ho was my favorite GI Joe). Then I got medically disqualified. I look back on it now, and for a number of reasons think it was for the best, but most of all, because I have an almost pathological need to do things NOT the way I have been commanded to by authority figures. It would have been a rough 4 or so years on me.
Is the Navy's motto really "If it doesn't move, paint it"?
Do not drop your pants and bend over!!!
I think they paint it even if it moves. Seems like all they do is scrub, clean, paint, and polish.
This is a good thing to talk about. So much of the crappy work you do in the military often feels like pointless bullshit, but most of the time, there is a good reason for it. The cleaning on a Navy ship is a good example. Salt water and sea air are really corrosive. Because of this, sailors are constantly having to clean and reapply new layers of paint. Not only is it to keep the ship looking and smelling nice, but also keeps it from rusting out from underneath you. Another really good reason for it is that if you are tasked with cleaning a certain area, over time you will be able to notice if anything is afoul of the way it is supposed to be. When you are at least a thousand miles from land, you don't want any catastrophic fuckups. This is especially important on submarines.
Unless I was an officer, I wouldn't ever recommend anybody join the Navy. I think they have really unethical bullshit commercials. Their slogan is "Accelerate you life!" and they show nothing but fighter jets and Navy SEALs. That's less than 1% of the Navy. So many kids sign up thinking they are going to be these bad ass Navy SEALs, then fail out of the selection process. They then end up being given some random shit job they never would have wanted for the next few years. If you can actually be a SEAL or a Naval Aviator, then great. Everything else just seems pretty shitty.
I've worked with a bunch of ex-sailors over the years. Almost all of them had some horrific story about their enlistment and couldn't wait to get out. One guy was stationed on an aircraft carrier. His job for 12 hours a day was to restock vending machines. 12 hours on. 12 hours off. 7 days a week when at sea. I knew another guy who changed light bulbs all day. Fuck that.
In the military, you always have your primary job, but then depending on what branch you are in, you also have a seconday unofficial job.
The saying goes:
Every Marine a rifleman.
Every Sailor a fireman.
Every Soldier a janitor.
There isn't a saying for the douche bags in the airforce. Fuck those guys.
Fun fact about the airforce, unlike all the other branches, for the most part, only officers (pilots) are directly involved in combat.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet. That's how World War I got started." - Abraham Lincoln
"90% of what I write is sarcasm -- the other half is bullshit."
Silly Keith, you have no authority over me!
What, exactly, is a blivet?
People think I have got the power cause I've got the monkeys. Nope. I've got the power because I'll let the monkeys loose...
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