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The uniforms I don’t care don’t really matter in the end

A photo stopped me in my tracks the other day at a local restaurant I occasionally frequent.

The owner told me long ago that her son was in the Navy and I got the impression he was a junior enlisted, perhaps a petty officer third class. I noticed a new picture the owner had behind the counter and it featured her son and some others who were wearing what I thought were khaki uniforms. Not looking closely at first, I thought these were all chief petty officers and officers. Those are the ranks that have long worn khakis as service uniforms.

Looking closer I briefly thought “Marine” as the men and women were wearing khaki shirts and dark pants.  Then it hit me that the group I saw in the picture were indeed sailors. They were wearing the new Navy service uniform which consists of  khaki shirt, black pants and a garrison cap. The latter is the straight-sided cap that is parted in the middle, the kind of which has been worn for ages by Army and Air Force personnel as well as Navy officers and chiefs. Were it not for subtle differences, the uniform would be a dead-ringer for the Marine Corps service dress. That’s not a bad thing, if you want to look like a Marine.

Several years ago the Navy tested new uniforms, perhaps to be more economical, and the present service dress was the winner. To be fair about the finances, it did replace two uniforms, one blue and the other white. At the time of the changes, an FAQ on an official Navy uniform Web site explained:

“While trying to find a functional year-round service uniform for Sailors E-6 and below, our
intent was not to try and make us look like any of the other services. However, the concept we are testing is in line with other services (i.e., a non-vertical match (tops and bottoms are different colors.)

Navy Service Dress. No, I Ain't a Marine, Sir. Navy photo

 

Okay, leave it to my old service to over-explain a concept.

One has to wonder though about the Navy — always different if not unique — looking like other services. They replaced those comfortable and, I’ll say cool as in stylish, dungaree working uniform with their version of the Army Battle Dress Uniform (BDU). The Navy calls it a NWU, for Navy Working Uniform, and it bears camouflage patters with an overall blue and gray color in its main form. There are also woodland and desert camo in case, I suppose, a sailor wants to go hunting for a bear or maybe a camel.

As I have said here before. I like the BDU and especially like it’s main features — mucho pockets — but it is getting done to death as every branch of service has its version of it and cops also wear its variations.  I mean, I love cargo pants as it kept men just that much further from having to carry a purse. But the Navy has a rich tradition and I hate to see the uniforms and the service itself set into some kind of national defense force like other countries where navies and armies wear the same uniform.

I have spoke with some sailors who are in today’s Navy and they love the utility of the NWU. I know it has its advantages, and I’m talking other than pockets, such as camo hiding stains from things such as grease or paint. Everything is gray in the Navy if it isn’t blue.

The Navy Working Uniform. Now you see it. Now ... you see it. Navy photo.

Also, I remember there were many people both inside and outside the Navy who hated the uniforms of my days in the Navy in the mid-1970s. That is when we switched our dress blues from the bell-bottom trouser, jumper and “dixie cup” caps to the dark blue coat, pants and combination for junior enlisted which made us look like chiefs and officers. I never even wore the former uniform although I found the latter was probably much easier to keep than the latter. The dress blues were so hated as a matter of fact, that Navy enlisteds got the old “crackerjack” uniform brought back. The old uniform was new again.

Uniforms come and go. Even though I don’t like the new uniforms very much I don’t really disparage them. It’s who wear the uniform that counts and I know when it comes to that aspect, it really doesn’t matter that much to me what they wear.

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Perry and DPS director building their own military/state foreign ministry

Republicans decided for some reason or the other that Rick Perry was a little too “out there” to consider as a presidential candidate. Perry, as many Texans feared, came home and decided to continue running his state like some kind of personal banana republic though minus the bananas. Who knows. Ol’ Good Hair might be thinking of a 2014 run or maybe even vice president for Mitt Santorum or whomever comes out of the convention.

Meanwhile, boys, we got us a nation, uh, state to run. And run is what Perry continues to do. Run it right into the old Balcones Fault.

One area in which Perry’s muscle-flexing as a would-be king is on the Texas-Mexico border. And the instrument in which he is using to show the world he’s one tuff mo-fo is the Texas Department of Public Safety. That, my friends, is a damn shame.

From way back to the days when Col. Homer Garrison, an ol’ Lufkin, Texas, boy who started out as a motorman (on highway patrol motorcycles), still ran the DPS, the agency was my ideal as a law enforcement agency. We called them “highway patrol” because that’s mostly what they were and still are seen doing in Texas. I knew the highway patrolmen since I was about as tall as a grasshopper’s knee. For the most part, they were fair, they were fearless, they might give you a ticket if you deserved it. Or they might not if they figured just stopping you and giving you a friendly warning was enough. I am 56 years old and I’ve had three tickets in my life — two by highway patrolmen.

I knew and worked with troopers all through my careers, first as a firefighter, and second as a reporter. They weren’t afraid to get in and get their hands dirty whether it meant helping tear metal apart to free a trapped victim or to help us with the inglorious task of having to remove a body.

All of this back story is that it shows my admiration for the Texas DPS troopers. I knew and received information from troopers — usually straight-forward and without hesitation — at the scene of more wrecks than I can count when I worked as a reporter. They were the most cooperative law enforcement officers I dealt with while working in the news media. Those troopers whom I worked with regularly would hand me the license or identification of a deceased victim, knowing I wouldn’t publish a name until family notification was made. That’s just how it worked.

Because of my admiration and respect for Texas DPS personnel is why it pains me to see Rick Perry using the DPS as a political pawn. Oh, sure, I imagine the Texas governors always used the DPS to their advantage to some point. But the agency usually had strong leaders who were able to keep the department clear of use as a full-bore political wing of the governor’s office. That seems to be changing somewhat.

The agent of change was Steve McCraw. McCraw got his start with the DPS before joining the FBI, where he became an assistant director. Perry named McCraw state homeland security director before being picked as DPS director. Under his command, the DPS has become even more of a paramilitary organization than such an agency would normally be particularly with respect to border security. Even more than a paramilitary commander, McCraw has taken on some of the responsibilities of the U.S. Secretary of State such as by issuing his own tourist warnings for Mexico.

Perry and his war/foreign minister McCraw have also militarized the border with much of their moves surprising and infuriating local law enforcement. In tune with right-wing politicians and their PR hacks/pundits, the Texas border has become a front in the political propaganda war between the GOP-backers who say Texas border cities are unsafe as well as those in Mexico. While there are reports of gunfire spilling over — gunfire might travel from a quarter-mile to five miles depending on the weapon and the circumstances — many U.S. border LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers) argue crime is down.

Yet the DPS has added more manpower with Ranger task forces as well as helicopters and gunboats, for God’s sake! A state has no business patrolling international waters. They are not trained for the implications of what might transpire into an international incident. And if anyone should be patrolling Texas rivers, it should be the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s game wardens instead of marine “highway patrolmen.”

What has come to light recently is that much of the strategy of the Texas “border war” being marshaled by Good Hair and his gang has been outsourced to a retired four-star Army general as a result of a no-bid contract. While all of the work being performed by retired Gen. John Abrams may be stellar, such moves should not put Texas in the realm of a nation status.

In short: We don’t need no stinkin’ state highway patrol leader telling us where we should and should not go in a foreign country.  We don’t need an armed, international Texas Navy. We don’t need our security outsourced for millions of dollars to a retired general from another state. We need our Texas Department of Public Safety officers including its Texas Rangers to return back to the jobs they do so well and probably better than any other state police in the country.

The nation needs a secure border, but the state of Texas also need safe and secure highways. It seems like protocols are already in place for both local and federal governments to operate. That shouldn’t be so difficult should it?

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A “rat” awesome blog post, it is

Holy Foley, there is a lot going on and I don’t have time to put my two-point-five cents’ worth in, to escape ending with a preposition. I haven’t been here in a few days thanks to Verizon. I finally got my second replacement for the 4G upgrade I received a week or so ago. The replacement’s replacement is a “MiFi,” or “Jetpack.” which is basically a device smaller than my cell phone that provides a mobile wi-fi hot spot wherever I go. In theory. The device and battery arrived in two separate boxes on two separate days. It’s a funny thing but there is little communication between Verizon and FedEx. I bet that surprises the hell out of you if you’ve ever dealt with either one of those companies. I still am awaiting a charger for the MiFi which will come in maybe one, maybe three days. I can use my phone charger on the MiFi for the time being, thankfully.

I have a doctor’s appointment at the local VA, the monthly type, in about 1.5 hours, but I will write a few things, go to the doc, well, nurse and then come back to this labor of love (Say what?) when I finish my rat-killing. Oh lighten up, PETA, I’m not really killing rats except the ones that come inside where I live and chomp on rat bait. “Doing your rat-killing” or “Finishing my rat-killing” is just an East Texas way of saying I am going to run errands or do some chore or the other.

All hail the President

President Obama just held his first news conference since October. He announced that SEAL Team 6 has been sent to take out Rush Limbaugh. That’s a joke, son. I think the most poignant remark Seamus O’Bama made today concerned all the saber-rattling taking place all over the place. Some folks such as John McCain — who never saw a problem that couldn’t be taken care of with by a Cruise missile, Tom or otherwise, wants us to bomb Syria. Captain McCain wants us to help out the Syrians fighting against the dictator Assad. That might not be so bad if we knew Assad would not be replaced by some Hezbollah-Bolla-Slop-Bucket or that rockin’ group named Al Cicada and His Exploding Crickets.

Then there is Iran to bomb. Israel would probably have already bombed them had there not been more targets in sunny Teheran than Newton Yahoo has in his Tel Aviv arsenal. President O’Bama said it is easy for folks to stand on the sidelines and say “bomb ’em,” to paraphrase.

“Now, what’s said on the campaign trail — you know, those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities, said the Prez. “They’re not commander in chief. And when I see the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, I’m reminded of the costs involved in war; I’m reminded of the decision that I have to make, in terms of sending our young men and women into battle, and the impacts that has on their lives, the impact it has on our national security, the impact it has on our economy.

“This is not a game,” the CINC said. “And there’s nothing casual about it.”

Soup or Tuesday?

Remember the movie “Willard?” The original is the only one I remember. There was a remake too. The point is that Willard loved rats. Whether Willard Mitt Romney loves rats, I don’t know. If he thought it might get him votes, he might get in bed nekkid with a whole passel of rodents and roll around with them. You can probably substitute rodents there with $100 bills. Tonight, Willard could lock up the Republican presidential nomination. And then he might not. I’m kind of tired of that whole rat race. What is it with the rat theme today, anyway? To celebrate Soup or Tuesday, I will hopefully watch “Justified” tonight because the stupid hotel in which I was staying in San Antonio last week didn’t carry FX on its cable.

I’m off to the VA!

Ugh. What a way to spend an afternoon of leave. That is it today, bucakangaroos!

 

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Remembering Great Lakes Recruit Training Center

A classmate in high school said via Facebook that her son would be reporting shortly to Navy boot camp at Great Lakes, Illinois. That got me thinking about my days at Great Lakes and wondering the sort of experience her son would have there in today’s 21 century Navy. After all, I served during the last century. That makes me feel like an ol’ salt!

I reported to AFEES, that’s for Armed Forces Entrance and Examination Station, Houston, in July 1974. The Defense Department renamed such centers Military Entrance Processing Stations, MEPS, in the early ’80s. The Navy had some kind of program that let you enter early. I forget why. I think the only difference made was in figuring your time in service so I enlisted a couple of weeks early. Back then, enlistments were for a total of six years with different active and reserve configurations.

Most people, such as myself joined for four years active and two years inactive reserve, the inactive being the IRR, or Inactive Ready Reserve. Back in the days in which I joined — this being as the major hostilities were winding down in Vietnam — little thought was given to time served in the IRR. In fact, the thought of being called up from IRR was something which would only happen with the likes of a world war. That all changed with Iraq.

I read the other day about some a–hole wanting to bring charges against an Iraq War vet in the IRR who wore his uniform to an Occupy Wall Street protest. Yeah, I know you aren’t supposed to wear your uniform when you are separated. Even wearing parts of the uniform is not allowed. But if someone was to have taken my Seabee foul weather jacket away from me during my inactive reserve years after the service that I wore it, they would have to tear it from my dead and very cold hands!

Some time along the line, the enlistment period also changed. A total of eight years service is now required.

There used to be, sort of, a choice of where to go to boot camp. San Diego, Orlando and Great Lakes were all available for male enlistees when I joined. The only choice at the time for female boots back in the mid-70s was Orlando, if my memory serves me. I chose Great Lakes because of the weather. Two of my brothers enlisted before me. One went to Great Lakes, the other San Diego. I think all three of us joined around the same months, though in different years. I figured San Diego and Orlando would both be pretty warm during the summer months. It could get hot at Great Lakes, just north of Chicago, but it could get really freaking cold in the winter. That reminds me of a photo caption that was in my boot camp “cruise book.” That’s kind of like a school yearbook. There were pictures of our boot “company” and the rest were stock photos taken at various times in boot camp. This one picture was taken during the winter. Shown was a sign saying “Keep Off the Grass.” A snow drift was about halfway up the sign post. The caption read: “Aye, aye sir!”

My friend’s son will be going to Great Lakes during the winter, so that will be one obstacle to overcome. I may be wrong, but from what I have heard of and read, boot camp today will not be as difficult in some respects as it was when I joined.

It wasn’t such a long time before I enlisted that a chief might just take you out behind the barracks and give you a little physical “extra  military instruction,” if you know what I mean. That type of thing had been outlawed by the time I joined. Still, there were instances in which a sailor who was far off the right path could face near or actual brutality. Some levels of punishment when I was in boot camp were pretty mindless. I have mentioned “Happy Hour” here before. I only went once, when I failed an inspection for not folding my skivvies the correct way. The happy hour was an hour of intense physical exertion. Running laps upon laps around the drill hall with my rifle at port arms. Exercises with my rifle, a 9.5-pound, M-1 Garand, — the U.S. battle rifle from pre-World War II-to just prior to Vietnam — included holding the “piece” out in front of you until being told to stop. It felt like your arms were going to just collapse. Real screw-ups might find themselves in the brig, facing some “fun” with the Marines. Fortunately, Happy Hour was the pinnacle of my punishment.

On the other hand, there are some rules in today’s Navy boot camp that would have made many of our lives’ difficult in recruit training. For one thing, you can’t smoke in boot camp. You can’t smoke in a car. If your parents come to see you, even they can’t smoke. You also can’t drink alcohol while on liberty. The Navy has really gone to the extreme on drinking. Not in boot camp but at my duty station could we buy beer from a barracks vending machine. I suppose this Prohibition-like fervor is good for getting sailors in shape for wars in the Muslim world where alcohol is prohibited.

Navy boot camp wasn’t terribly difficult for me, looking back. It made me reach inside and pull out some things. It helps you adjust in making a transition from the civilian world to the military one, that can be difficult for some. My friend’s son, I would think, is in his early 30s. That transition might be a bit more difficult for him — having been out in the adult world for awhile now — or it might not.

As I told my friend, Patti, I think my decision to join the Navy is one of the best I made in my life, and, man, have I made some decisions. I hope her son will be able to look back 30 years from now and say the same.

 

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The Caucuses: Okay, but keep an eye out in the Middle East

Yes, there is a political race — of sorts — taking place today. The Iowa Caucuses are important why? Well, supposedly it is important to the people of Iowa although not so much those of the Democrat stripe during this presidential election. Surely millions of dollars will have been spent before this first step on the road to the Republican presidential nomination begins. Perhaps that is important. Still, something is brewing that could prove of major consequence to not just the 2012 elections but likewise the worldwide economy.

That would be the tensions between the U.S. and Iran. At the present, the Iranian government is engaged in major saber-rattling amid new sanctions signed Saturday by President Obama which are aimed at Iran’s central bank. The sanctions come amid growing nuclear ambitions in Iran that Western leaders say are meant for developing weapons. Already the rial, Iran’s currency, has reached a record low against the U.S. dollar as of Monday. The Tehran government said the falling rial — which has lost a third of its value since September — is unrelated to the sanctions although that is open to speculation, one might say.

The Iranian Navy is engaged in a large-scale exercise off its coast near the Strait of Hormuz, between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. A new cruise missile known as the “Ghader” was test-fired Monday, leading the Iranian Navy head to boast of “proof” the Islamic republic controls the petro-strategic strait that Iran has threatened to close. Such a blockage of the strait and thus idling petroleum tankers could cause dire consequences, according to foreign policy experts such as the Brookings Institution’s Vali Nasr.

“Iran notes that Western economies are under stress and predicts they could not afford higher oil prices. Even the threat of disruption in oil supply would send energy prices spiraling sky high, and that would plunge the already struggling economies of the United States and Europe into deeper recession. Iran is hoping to change the conversation in Western capitals from how tightly to squeeze Iran to what could be the cost of doing so.

 “Nor would economic woes caused by conflict in the Persian Gulf remain limited to the West. Persian Gulf exports already account for 60% of Asia’s energy consumption. Economies from India to China would be impacted by a Persian Gulf oil cutoff and higher energy prices. Iran is in effect threatening global economic crisis.”

Still, U.S. officials say they have no intention of letting any government impede shipping in the vital Gulf area even though the Iranians have warned the U.S. to not replace the carrier USS John C. Stennis which recently departed the area.

The U.S. Navy operates under international maritime conventions to maintain “a constant state of high vigilance to ensure the continued safe flow of maritime traffic in waterways critical to global commerce,” said Pentagon spokesman George Little.

It is clear the Strait of Hormuz is a volatile area right now although the Iranian Navy has only a few destroyers and corsairs in addition to a fleet of speedy patrol craft. In short, Iran’s Navy is no match for that of the United States or perhaps even a carrier or carrier task force.

Although the Tehran saber-rattling is pesky it is still preferable to what would be the first sea battle since the 1983 Falklands War between Great Britain and Argentina. Nonetheless, an itchy-trigger finger or mistake by either Navy could set the whole Gulf on fire, disrupt oil shipments and most importantly, would likely result in casualties. A battle might also prove the right time for Israel to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities. While there are some hawks who would like to see the latter, another war is not what the U.S. needs at the moment. Neither does the economy need a war or even more threats. The price of oil in the U.S. jumped $4 per barrel today just over all the Iran-U.S. rhetoric.

So, let Iowa have its day in the sun. But keep an eye toward the Strait of Hormuz. If something happens there then all bets are off on the state of the economy and the presidential election. Significant changes affecting either should not be a cause for great expectation nor a general state of great joy.