It's time to cast off for an uber-motivated portrayal of the Navy with this PBS documentary on the nuclear-powered carrier USS Nimitz (h/t David Axe of War is Boring). Normally, gussied up photos and stats of the Navy (top speed: 30+ knots of awesome!) in the traditional media makes me want to vomit for some reason, but David Axe recommended it, so it is worth perusing. It is also good knowledge to know, since your tax dollars are paying for these colossal sea beasts. You can get some history and stats on the ship here, some info on their 2005 deployment and some candor from a Rear Admiral here, and an interview with "the crew" here. Generally when one refers to "the crew" in Navyspeak, that refers to the enlisted men and women who work for a living. But this montage is mostly aviation types and mostly officers. If this is big ploy to get people to join the aquatic branch during these tense times, then PBS has chosen wisely. If they had chosen servicemembers from the nuclear community who work in the carrier's engineroom, then they would've heard musings on how much their life sucked, complaints about the ship's internet not having enough bandwidth for World of Warcraft, and the wretched boredom of standing watch deep in the ship's hull. The aviation community is generally very proud of what they do and loves talking about themselves more than Paris Hilton at a self-help seminar. While the nuclear or "nuke" community (which I am part of) chooses to not celebrate the setbacks of their own life....which is probably a good thing.
A pilot's perspective...
...and a nuke's perspective
See what the others have said:
12 comments:
That's awesome. Thanks LT.
Glad you like, Membrain!
Just curious- I wonder how many years cheeseball Tom "Cat" Cruise set back Navy recruiting?
I think you have missed a few nights viewing. They have interviewed much of the crew. I find it rather surprising that they are showing as much as they are. Inappropriate relationships - sexual and otherwise - lots of talk of boredom, captain's mast and so many of them joined to escape a bad home/bad parenting. "fly boys" have been king of the hill since John Wayne movies. I'm sure learning stuff I had no clue about.
stay safe,
Liz
Wek,
Haha, actually recruiters have told me that whenever Top Gun plays on TV, the phone calls are always coming in the next day for potential recruits. I guess everyone wants to be in that volleyball scene from Top Gun.
Liz,
Sounds pretty interesting. I can't access the documentary (just the website), but I'll have to check it out.
1baffdFunny you show the star wars/weding pic. I was in a light saber arch for a fellow nuke's wedding. Not my proudest moment, but he's my bro, so I did it.
The flyboy mentality would make them all think they belong in the Top Gun volleyball scene too. I have to say though, the ones I have met in real life just wouldn't make the cut. Too much time just sitting around....
Darn! I was picturing Lt Nixon with abs like Ice Man.
Imagine LT Nixon however you want to bag blog. As far as I know he hasn't claimed to be a flyboy- they are the ones I was referring to in my comment. Maybe he (LT N) is spending some of his down time in the gym. Between that and the scarf he's wearing in the photo he could be a twin for Ice Man...or Danny Devito...or maybe the scarf is hiding a shnozz like Klinger's. So many options.
Hey WE played volleyball. Okay, you played. I watched and complained from the sidelines. LT Kiyum and I watched this last night. They were doing interviews, and the people were all talking about how they were helping out so much and this one guy goes, "We helped out 8 Iraqis personally." Then it cuts to this chick who goes, "This is so lame. I don't know why we are even here." Leave it to the womens to tell it like it is. There was also this part where a jet is like 4 seconds from landing on the carrier and some jackass just runs out in the middle of his landing zone. How would you like to be the loser who got killed by a landing aircraft in the middle PBS filming a documentary? It was almost as cool as the time we found LT Kiyum's former roommate in a book on marine aviation, not wearing the appropriate safety gear.
Good show. Probably as "balanced" a view we'll get from a PBS production. I wondering that several of the enlisted Sailors and the Marine they chose to highlight came from pretty f**ked up backgrounds. I don't remember it that way. Maybe they should've talked to more spooks and nukes.
Olgreydog,
At nuke school I thought I signed up for Star Fleet Academy. Man that was a huge let down!
FOD,
Thanks for stopping in Master Chief. They probably didn't talk to the spooks because "they were never there", haha. A lot of spooks used to ride with us, all good people, except this one LTjg who was a complete jackass.
ABWF/Bag Blog,
Sorry ladies I have a face only a mother could love, and I never work out (hence this dumb blog).
Ms. Kiyum,
I liked when LT Kiyum hit Grom in the face with the volleyball. That was funny shit.
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