I’ve known a few friends who have sailed foreign flag and most have had rather good things to say. I also sign on plenty of U.S. naturalized Filipinos, Hondurans, Jamaicans, Guyanans, Indonesians, Nigerians, Senegalese, Egyptians, Europeans, Koreans, etc. I’m still waiting for a sailor of Chinese dissent but I’m sure I’ll handle it like it all the others and form my own opinion of their abilities as a seaman and manage it from there.
It is presumptuous and dare I say insulting for you to insinuate anything different. Though it is currrently Donald Trump’s America it is still a melting pot and the crews of the U.S. Merchant Marine are no different.
I bet I will surprise nearly EVERYBODY here, but the military already does these. There exist Warrant Officer Deck Officers on military vessels, and their training and experience is even accepted by the USCG for a masters license (I think 1600T oceans, but not sure). I only learned of this because I ran into an instructor that taught navigation at their school. The program has all the ship drivers as a skilled set that they learn and only do. It seems to work well…
Celestial navigation is a small part of the course which encompasses what Marine warrant officers are expected to know. The course is 33 weeks long. Some of the tasks they learn are basic piloting, electronic navigation, tug and towing, ship handling, and of course, celestial navigation.
Many of those courses are approved by the Coast Guard, according to Lipson. For those reasons, Lispon believes this course is one of the longest and hardest courses in the Army.
I’m very familiar with Army watercraft officers and crew and their training and vessels. I think most on these forums are. We did neglect to bring them up as a very salient point in regards to the discussion, so I appreciate you bringing it up.
No one says it’s anything to be ashamed of. If they want to recognize their ancestry that’s great, but they’re still not a hyphenated American. They’re an American with whatever ancestry.
Some, even if they were proud of their heritage, saw it as a way to calm people’s nerves during wartime, such as German-Americans during certain times of war.
Although unfortunately that did not work out well for others. It’s much better to be a Japanese-American now than in the fourties when they were treated in an illegal and despicable manner.
With the growing scope of oppressive political correctness in this country, heritage isn’t even restricted to ethnicity or national origin, now we have “muslim-americans.”
I went to high school near the Army’s transportation school at Fort Eustis. The syllabus for Warrant Officer Watercraft Operators has always been intentionally modeled on the Merchant Marine. It is the longest in time to qualify of the Army’s Warrant Officer specialty schools, taking longer to qualify than to be an aviator.
As usual you have twisted this topic into some abhorrently mottled mess of whatever your hatred for the U.S. apparently is. Yes, we got it. You have lived in Singapore and Norway. You still apparently harbor some heavy duty hostility for the U.S. for some reason. Why?
Maybe it’s because the Army isn’t locked into stupidity by some bizarre sense of “heritage” and the very inflated self image of superiority and the arrogance that breeds. The Army figures the MM figured out how to operate water craft with minimum horseshit and followed that example rather than strutting around hindered by a 16th century culture. They are men and women doing a job with little fanfare or ceremony.
I once did a gig as sea trials chief on an Army LSV and found the crew to be unburdened by military ceremony and just as (if not more) professional than any MM crew.
Maybe the Navy needs to hire the Army to run the ships and let the “senior service” types play HMS Pinafore and shoot the cannons.
This is exactly what I was told when I was informed about the Army and its watercraft operations: “Our vessels exist to move our stuff, nothing more.” A very utilitarian way of thinking that is quite contrary to the Navy. For one, I am flabbergasted by the (limited) availability of naval vessels. They are in port getting repairs or maintenance for what seems 90% of the time.
I wonder what the Air Force would operate like if it still was the Army Air Corps.
You should see how maintenance is done. Simple jobs such as even changing a light bulb can be convoluted.
For the most part maintenance is done on basic tasks that is laughable in comparison to the type of work ships force can accomplish in the merchant fleet, with far less crew!.
Typical merchant PMS and corrective maintenance by ships force would be contracted yard work for a naval vessel, even though they have the bodies. Folks, i’m not making this stuff up.