Get in touch with plebes at USMMA

I feel like I post something to this effect every year. Usually it'd be longer, but I'm posting from a third world internet connection on my phone (...and guys like @KPEngineer and @tankercaptain relied on their radio operator! Ha!)

The class specific Facebook groups are great, great for collective hand wringing, and general misinformation? Why you ask. It's very much the blind leading the blind. 2019'rs who are still figuring out which side of their uniforms the name tag goes on teaching 2020 folks about their vast knowledge of what lies beyond Vickery Gate. The parents pages are the same way, generally negative worry about things they can't control. For some things like trends in admissions 2019 has the most up date information, but everything else their is a huge lack of perspective. The groups have their place, if you keep in mind their limits.
 
beyond said:
I feel like I post something to this effect every year. Usually it'd be longer, but I'm posting from a third world internet connection on my phone (...and guys like @KPEngineer and @tankercaptain relied on their radio operator! Ha!)

The class specific Facebook groups are great, great for collective hand wringing, and general misinformation? Why you ask. It's very much the blind leading the blind. 2019'rs who are still figuring out which side of their uniforms the name tag goes on teaching 2020 folks about their vast knowledge of what lies beyond Vickery Gate. The parents pages are the same way, generally negative worry about things they can't control. For some things like trends in admissions 2019 has the most up date information, but everything else their is a huge lack of perspective. The groups have their place, if you keep in mind their limits.
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Hey, Sparks always provided entertainment. . . and that was separate from the headlines he would post every day. . . .
 
The next youngest mate on my ship now is still old enough to be my father; so I'm constantly hearing about the "the good ole' days, when the ships were made of wood and the men made of steel." It serves as a reminder of how much I'll never see out here.... Sigh.
 
beyond said:
The next youngest mate on my ship now is still old enough to be my father; so I'm constantly hearing about the "the good ole' days, when the ships were made of wood and the men made of steel." It serves as a reminder of how much I'll never see out here.... Sigh.
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Some things never change.. When I started in 1975 I was sailing with guys that during coffee time would recount being torpedoed or making the Murmansk run in convoy while reminding us young bucks how good we have it..
cmakin and I don't go back to the dark days of WW2, but we do remember sailing on 'stick ships' that hung around port for more than just a few hours and when the SL-7's were running commercially AND making money doing it..;)
 
Ships may be steel now but the Men/Women, Deck, Engineer, Ordinary Seaman may still be Iron. The Merchant Marine can be a hard service with long deployments. If you go to Signals.com you can find a sweatshirt with "Keep Calm And Ask an Engineer".
 
deepdraft1 said:
beyond said:
The next youngest mate on my ship now is still old enough to be my father; so I'm constantly hearing about the "the good ole' days, when the ships were made of wood and the men made of steel." It serves as a reminder of how much I'll never see out here.... Sigh.
Click to expand...
Some things never change.. When I started in 1975 I was sailing with guys that during coffee time would recount being torpedoed or making the Murmansk run in convoy while reminding us young bucks how good we have it..
cmakin and I don't go back to the dark days of WW2, but we do remember sailing on 'stick ships' that hung around port for more than just a few hours and when the SL-7's were running commercially AND making money doing it..;)
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Yeah, I was VERY lucky to have sailed on two different stick ships for two VERY different companies. . . even then it became plain that the era was ending. One of the companies went bankrupt and we were arrested in Manila in early December (of 1978). . . moved to the anchorage, but did have daily launch service (for no cost to the personnel, but if one missed the scheduled boat, a trip could be had for about 4 bucks). I don't dwell too much in the past, but urge any and all cadets/midshipmen to make the most of their experience. KP isn't easy, nor should it be. It is a tough way to make a living, even when companies aren't disappearing. . . I didn't sail as long as deepdraft, but still work in the general maritime/offshore industry. . . I saw some real changes when I was a Class Surveyor in the 90s. Not wanting to alienate anyone, because I also have to say that I have only been unemployed in the over 34 years that I have been out for a sum total of about 6 weeks and that was by choice. . . . I needed a break before I went back to sea. . .
 
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