Common Sense Does Not Apply

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nadofr8dog

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I have absolutely no problem with plebes having to go outside to make phone calls when they have phone privileges, but making them do this when it's 28 deg F with 18 knots of wind and a wind chill of whatever makes absolutely no sense!

Can someone please apply some common sense to this! Thanks.
 
Though this is small comfort, my Blackberry cell never seems to work inside at KP. When there on business throughout the year, I'm hunched up outside in the winter months, looking to stand in the lee of a building and get reception. Guess I'm a bit nuts, because I actually love cold salt air and a stiff breeze...:rolleyes:

And... in a weird way, it's a taste of the future. Being outside supervising deck crew on ocean-going tugs, cargo ops in the snow, underway replenishment in the North Atlantic on USNS ships traveling with a Navy battle group, a considerable variety of Coast Guard and NOAA scenarios - freezing your tuckus off outside is part of the job description for any number of post-KP jobs. Throw in Army, Marine Corps and Air Force for good measure with an amazing array of freeze-tuckus-off "opportunities," and perhaps going outside to make a phone call can be seen in a Pollyanna light!
 
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Plebes don't like being outside to make phone calls in the cold......

Solution: No phone calls for plebes when temperature below X degrees

Sounds like a plan to me. At least they're allowed cell phones. We got to stand in a line for a pay phone.
 
Though this is small comfort, my Blackberry cell never seems to work inside at KP. When there on business throughout the year, I'm hunched up outside in the winter months, looking to stand in the lee of a building and get reception. Guess I'm a bit nuts, because I actually love cold salt air and a stiff breeze...:rolleyes:

And... in a weird way, it's a taste of the future. Being outside supervising deck crew on ocean-going tugs, cargo ops in the snow, underway replenishment in the North Atlantic on USNS ships traveling with a Navy battle group, a considerable variety of Coast Guard and NOAA scenarios - freezing your tuckus off outside is part of the job description for any number of post-KP jobs. Throw in Army, Marine Corps and Air Force for good measure with an amazing array of freeze-tuckus-off "opportunities," and perhaps going outside to make a phone call can be seen in a Pollyanna light!


I love this post. When I was at VMI, one of my classmates used to say "it's good training" when something undesirable came down (marching penalty tours, serving barracks confinement, dealing with new rules/policies). This is the perfect way to look at it....not that it makes anyone feel better, but a little bright spot can't hurt.

Regarding freezing the tuckus off, having spent 3.5 years at Minot AFB in North Dakota (with 4 winters...I reported to the base in February), I can assure you that the active duty world (for those who choose it) is full of opportunities to be VERY VERY COLD.
 
Though this is small comfort, my Blackberry cell never seems to work inside at KP. When there on business throughout the year, I'm hunched up outside in the winter months, looking to stand in the lee of a building and get reception. Guess I'm a bit nuts, because I actually love cold salt air and a stiff breeze...:rolleyes:

And... in a weird way, it's a taste of the future. Being outside supervising deck crew on ocean-going tugs, cargo ops in the snow, underway replenishment in the North Atlantic on USNS ships traveling with a Navy battle group, a considerable variety of Coast Guard and NOAA scenarios - freezing your tuckus off outside is part of the job description for any number of post-KP jobs. Throw in Army, Marine Corps and Air Force for good measure with an amazing array of freeze-tuckus-off "opportunities," and perhaps going outside to make a phone call can be seen in a Pollyanna light!



I received a portable XM radio for Christmas a few years back. It obviously didn't work within the skin of the ship. After I got off watch, I would put on about 4 layers and head to the flight deck. I also brought out a rolled up mat from the gym that was never being used. I connected the XM radio to the flight deck nets and would lay down on the flight deck to listen to my favorite hockey team play thousands of miles away. It was around 20-30 degrees and windy with the occasional spray of the sea, but that little "taste of home" made it all worth it. When my team scored I had to be careful not to yell out, as that would probably have scared the watch into thinking someone had gone overboard in the dark night.

If the phone call is worth it, they'll venture outside. Chase Hall at CGA didn't have the best reception either.
 
Kings Point is a cell phone dead zone. Almost everyone has to go outside to make a call regardless of rank.
 
Regarding freezing the tuckus off, having spent 3.5 years at Minot AFB in North Dakota (with 4 winters...I reported to the base in February), I can assure you that the active duty world (for those who choose it) is full of opportunities to be VERY VERY COLD.

A friend of mine had an email from his daughter, a recent USAFA grad, in Greenland -- minus 18 deg this AM with windchill to 28 below... quite the cozy duty station.
 
Never was stationed in Minot but we lived there a few years back. Jan. 6, 1997 -29 (air temp) sustained 55 mph winds with gusts to 72 mph. Lovely
 
You have GOT to be kidding! We have bases in Minot and Greenland?

Can somebody please apply some common sense to this! Thanks...
 
^^^
We even have an operation at McMurdo Station, Antarctica :eek:
Been there, done that!
 
And lets not forget a place less populated than Antarctica......

Attu, AK.
 
Doubt if anyone needs anymore knee jerk reaction policies.

Obviously everyone has endured hardships.

We can all agree if you want to make a phone call bad enough you will do what you need to do.

With the number of smart and resourceful students at this school I wouldn't be surprised if they figured out a way to build something to improve cell service.

Sure there are better topics to discuss than a kid standing in the cold talking on a phone.
 
Fortunately, being very grizzled, tough skinned and from the days of wooden ships and iron men, well before the invention of cell phones, I've "appreciated" all the comments. Except for Minot, Greenland and the Antarctic, though I am currently in Anchorage in my second career, I can probably at least equal all those "I been there's" . . . .

My original comments germane, this sounds like one of those little red a$$ things that is done just because. Or, I had to do it when I was a plebe, so . . . . makes sense. Let me see, if it is raining, they get to have their cell phones but they can't make any calls because they have to go outside in the rain and that would ruin the phones. Hmmmmm.

Enough said. The supermoderator is welcome to kill this thread.
 
At the OP's request and since we've probably beaten it to death I'll lock this one down.
 
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