Navy Doing Away with Rates

This flooded my Facebook feed today. Seems to be very mixed reviews among my Navy friends.
 
Makes me wonder if the Coast Guard will follow suit since our system is similar to the current Navy Rating system.
 
No more sending the new guy to the battery locker for an EM punch.
 
or down to the fire room for a bucket of steam
or to the mess deck for 50ft of chow line
 
But can I still call my favorite small boat helm "Boats?" Sigh.

The little things that made the sea services quirky and unique are being dissolved. No doubt I echo naval officers of a century ago, or any time in history, bemoaning change, perhaps complaining about my big gold fringed epaulets being replaced by shoulder boards, or some other tradition going away, such as Rocks and Shoals.

I enjoyed being able to look at a Sailor's sleeve, instantly recognize his/her rating badge and name tag, and courteously call them "YN1 Finarkle," as a mark of appreciation and respect for their skill set and rank. Not just a generic "Petty Officer Bilgewater." When a team became tight through hours of watch standing and operations, and I became, with respect, "Loo, ma'am, can we bring you anything from the mess decks?" - it was all part of our particular dialect that made us part of the club.

Various ratings have been retired, renamed, merged. There has certainly been a move afoot in recent years to blandify (I just made that up) the distinctive elements of various service traditions.

One thing does not change: the inevitability of change in the armed forces. And vets like me mumbling, "well, in MY day...."

Semper Gumby.
 
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once during a unrep we sent a midshipman to the dispersing office for the gas money, he came back to the bridge and announced "the dispersing officer says credit card is on the dashboard".
 
Two buckets of rotor wash, please!

Grab a henway while your at it.

Don't forget the left-handed monkey wrench.

Forget the chow line, we need shore line.

I was never in the navy, but I did work construction every summer during college and wore a giant target on my chest.

I left out a few that wouldn't make it past kinnem, TN, and the boys.
 
"Petty Officer Second Class Jones, quarterdeck." 2 minutes later...5 PO2s are on the quarterdeck.
 
"Petty officer smith just got injured. Petty officer! I need a petty officer here to help him!"
 
Military Bearing Grease.
Keys to the ship.
Mail buoy watch.
Ever seen a sea bat?
 
on the other hand if the other services use generic ranks why is it a problem for the Navy? Not always a good thing to take an attitude of 'business as usual' or to stick with a system because 'that's the way we have always done it'.
 
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