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THIS IS NOT A DRILL – A Long Story About A Short Meeting To Save US Shipping
gCaptain ^ | 9-2-2020 | John Konrad

Posted on 09/02/2020 10:44:32 AM PDT by fishtank

THIS IS NOT A DRILL – A Long Story About A Short Meeting To Save US Shipping

September 2, 2020 by John Konrad

EDITORIAL NOTE: Some elements of this story have been fictionalized for brevity.

OP-ED By John Konrad (gCaptain) Those five words have special meaning. They motivate like no other. They ring for years in the sweat-soaked nightmares of any sailor who has ever heard them. They excite and calm. Words have power and meaning but few words have more meaning to sailors than these five. The first step required to rebuilding the US Merchant Marine is for a strong leader to pronounce these five words:

THIS IS NOT A DRILL


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: bloggers; merchantmarine; shipping; trade

FDNY Fire Chief Hugh Halligan with his groundbreaking invention.

1 posted on 09/02/2020 10:44:32 AM PDT by fishtank
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To: fishtank

Ceci, n'est pas une drill.

2 posted on 09/02/2020 10:49:56 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: fishtank
"They ring for years in the sweat-soaked nightmares of any sailor who has ever heard them."

WTH? I've experienced my share of "This is not a drill" when Soviet subs got to close. Never had a nightmare, but it does get the adrenaline flowing unlike a General Quarters, "this is a drill." You still have to hustle just as fast through the passageways and ladders to get to your assigned General Quarters. It's like an orchestrated cluster-frig with the entire crew running in all directions. It was kinda funny at times.

3 posted on 09/02/2020 11:01:15 AM PDT by A Navy Vet (I'm not Islamophobic - I'm Islamo nauseated. Also LGBTQxyz nauseated)
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To: fishtank; COUNTrecount; Nowhere Man; FightThePower!; C. Edmund Wright; jacob allen; Travis McGee; ..
NOT A Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!, but well worth the read!

The government wants to disarm us after 244 yrs 'cuz they plan to do things we would shoot them for!

At no point in history has any government ever wanted its people to be defenseless for any good reason ~ nully's son

The biggest killer of mankind

Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!

To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...


4 posted on 09/02/2020 11:02:25 AM PDT by null and void (The Left weaponizes everything in the service of tyranny.)
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To: fishtank

Never mind FDNY Fire Chief Hugh Halligan with his groundbreaking invention. ....I was hoping to see Trump rebuilding the US Marine service including shipbuilding and apprenticeships.


5 posted on 09/02/2020 11:14:07 AM PDT by spokeshave (White Confederate statue kills black man......Another month of protests.... (HT to seawolf101))
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To: fishtank

BTTT


6 posted on 09/02/2020 11:17:15 AM PDT by Cold Heart (Legalize Hydroxychloroquine)
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To: spokeshave

Sadly, that’s the province of Congress, who killed it.


7 posted on 09/02/2020 11:27:08 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: spokeshave

There are ships, but they don’t want to be registered under the US flag - legal and regulation reasons.


8 posted on 09/02/2020 11:34:11 AM PDT by Fido969 (In!)
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To: A Navy Vet

On one of the submarines on which I served we used to stand amidships for General Quarters and shout, “Everyone aft, go forward! Everyone forward, go aft! Everyone amidships, direct traffic! ;-)


9 posted on 09/02/2020 3:15:23 PM PDT by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (I always refer to Otto Preminger's quote about actors: "Actors are like cattle!")
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To: null and void

Interesting


10 posted on 09/02/2020 3:37:50 PM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: spel_grammer_an_punct_polise
“Everyone aft, go forward! Everyone forward, go aft! Everyone amidships, direct traffic!"

Actually laughed out loud. Thank you for your Silent Service. Don't know how you guys do it, but I depend on you guys to sleep well. I'd rather be on the flight deck for round the clock flight ops in oppressive heat than be sequester in a tube.

BTW, how are the female Submariners working out? Thought it to be a bad decision. Still, with special training hope they are pulling their weight, unless getting intentionally pregnant which many do on surface vessels.

11 posted on 09/03/2020 10:39:42 AM PDT by A Navy Vet (I'm not Islamophobic - I'm Islamo nauseated. Also LGBTQxyz nauseated)
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To: A Navy Vet

“BTW, how are the female Submariners working out? Thought it to be a bad decision. Still, with special training hope they are pulling their weight, unless getting intentionally pregnant which many do on surface vessels.”

I wouldn’t know about female submariners. I left the Navy in 1967.....way before all of this humbug started but I have heard that it is just about the same for submarines as it is for surface vessels.....the females get pregnant.


12 posted on 09/03/2020 7:16:02 PM PDT by spel_grammer_an_punct_polise (I always refer to Otto Preminger's quote about actors: "Actors are like cattle!")
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To: fishtank

In the two decades I lived at home I only witnessed Dad use the tool once; when a blizzard dropped many feet of snow on our street Dad pressed its claw into a hole in the street and lifted a man-hole. Then we shoveled our snow right into the sewer.


Well that’s the application I got from the story........................


13 posted on 09/03/2020 7:21:31 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: fishtank

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.” -Winston Churchill



14 posted on 09/03/2020 7:24:21 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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