Friday, March 05, 2010

Tips of Icebergs

I heard about it this morning when I walked past the telly and Fox News was reporting an investigation that two US Navy ships raced each other on the high seas. Well, duh, was my first reaction. You've got warships which are designed for maneuvering and hopefully bursts of speed. You've got virtually unlimited space in the Pacific for a little drag race for bragging rights. It doesn't seem like something to get worked up about unless we're back to political correctness 101 and someone trying to make points against the military. Boys will be boys.

Guided Missile Cruiser Races Destroyer, Winner Not Revealed

But, I stumbled when I read the brief news piece. The cruiser was skippered by a female. Nothing wrong with that in today's military. If she can do the job. But, I had to do a quick search on the Captain's name, Holly Graf when the item also said she was relieved of command last month. There's more to the story.

It seems that Capt. Holly is spoiled little sis of Rear Admiral Robin Graf and that there's a certain Queeg aura about her:

Spitting, Tantrums, Death Threats and Life at Sea

I would like to know if the itinerary for the Cowpens was including stops at Tahiti to pick up some breadfruit. Rum, the lash and sodomy are so passe in the US Navy, but that doesn't mean blatant abuse isn't still available for the chosen few.

6 comments:

Poppy said...

President Obama has proposed a 1.4% pay increase for active duty military in 2011. This would be the SMALLEST MILITARY RAISE SINCE 1973! Nice to know that during a time of rampant inflation, while war is fought in 2 countries, our men and women in uniform get A LOWER PAY INCREASE THAN WELFARE RECIPIENTS!!!

Anonymous said...

Rampant inflation? Many people did not and will not get any pay raises and are thankful to have a job. You make a point,however your credibility is weakened.
How is this relevant to this story of incompetence and coverup in an increasingly politically correct military officer corps?

Anna said...

Another Capt. Marcus Aureilus Arnheiter. Geez.

jjet said...

Ah, Mr. Anonymous, while Mr. poppy may have drifted off topic a bit, there IS inflation in the People's Republic of America.

It is out there and has been rampant for many more years than it has not been.

Do you believe FedGov "statistics"?

If so, you fail to understand realpolitik.

If not, go to
www.shadowstats.com or

http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Consumer_Price_Index/CurrentCPI.asp

In the future look for official inflation figures to be way lower than actual- sometimes absurdly so. Why? Each uptick costs the FedGov billions in inflation-adjusted payments and borrowing costs.

Murphy's Law said...

I read this yesterday and just shook my head. How long was she allowed to go on like she did just because of who and what she was?

Remember Lt. Kara Hultgreen of the US Navy? Everyone who rated her flying said that she wasn't competent, but no one wanted to wash one of the first female carrier pilots out despite a record that would have washed out any other pilot, so they just let her keep going until the crashed and died. Sometimes giving people a sympathy boost or looking the other way is anything but a favor in the long run.


In Graf's case, she survived and prospered, but she harmed the Navy and a lot of individuals in the process. The Cowpens crew should have placed Graf in an open lifeboat and set her adrift long ago, it seems.

MagiK said...

The economic downturn has not hurt the Civil Servent pay raises, just the US Military members increases.

Quite large number of the ones doing nice safe DMV type work are earning far more than the average joe...not to mention their very nice Union backed benefits packages.