About the Navy

When I was in the Navy, I was the supervisor of a work center that was tasked with keeping a large amount of equipment working- including the ship's fire pumps. The motor on one had gone bad and needed to be sent off for repair. This motor weighed over 800 pounds and needed to be pulled out for repair. The problem was that it needed to be lifted from the machinery room to the second deck- a vertical distance of about 80 feet. We set up a chain hoist. During the lift, the hoist rig separated and sent the entire load crashing 20 feet to the bottom. In the process, it removed 3 fingers from the left hand of one of my subordinates. The safety review that followed faulted the supervisor (me) for not using a certified rigger to do supervising the lift.

A month later, a second fire pump motor failed. When we were told to get it repaired, I pointed out that I still didn't have a rigger. They told me to do the lift anyway. When we went to do it as ordered. the padeye available had a tag on it, stating that it was rated for a working load of 800 pounds. The motor, chain hoist, and associated equipment weighed in at 1100 pounds. I told the engineer that we could not get the lift done until we had better equipment and a stronger padeye installed. An hour later, a Chief showed up and put a new label on the padeye that read "Working load 1200 pounds" and then told us to do the lift anyhow.

This is why I tend to support Captain Crozier. The military is full of career ticket punchers who care more about their own careers than they do the lives of their subordinates. That is also why I don't believe the people who say that cops or military will refuse orders to seize guns from citizens. They care more about their careers than they do your rights.