Friday, June 17, 2011

The time I was threatened with sentencing to Navy brig

My seventh grade teacher once described me this way.  "If  people are walking through the hall and a warning comes for everyone to get back against the wall, every person will obey except Roy, who is already back against the wall and will then move to the middle."  I leave it to the reader to decide if that was a compliment.

The American navy does not punish by keel hauling or flogging but a minor offense can get a seaman five days in the brig on bread and water. I've told about getting cursed out by the officer of the deck for being late to report for a watch although I was innocent. There was one time I was threatened with captain's mast, where punishment was ordered.

Our division was composed of quartermasters, signalmen, radiomen and radarmen.  The leading chief petty officer was a quartermaster who did not like radar operators, me in particular.  For some reason the division, and probably the whole crew, had a brief muster on deck.  As we proceeded back to the radar shack we had to enter through the quartermaster shack.   A chart blew off of a table and the chief turned to me and, using much profanity, including questioning my paternity, ordered  me to pick up the chart.  I answered that I did not cause the chart to fall but would be glad to pick it up if he would apologize for his profane language.  He crew more profane and threatened to have me thrown in the brig. He had to go through the division officer, whose duties including overseeing the communication center (essentially the radar operation). He said he did not want to put one of  his men on report and wanted to settle it in the division.  The chief argued but finally said he would settle for me picking up the chart.  I agreed if he would apologize for the names he had called me.  He really blew up then, but the lieutenant refused to put me on report but assigned me to  15 hours of extra duty.

You are not allowed to go on liberty when you have extra duty hours to serve.  I have yet to serve the extra duty (although I worked many extra hours as of necessity) and when there came a time we were in port I went on liberty, much to the chagrin of the chief.

That does not end the story, however.  When we were taking liberty on a deserted island, the chief and his only friend attacked me and broke the little finger on my right hand.  Every attempt to bandage it failed because I had to use all my fingers in operating  the radar and the dead reckoning and relative movement chart.

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