This may well sound like inside-Hollywood to
those outside the service, but there’s a bit of a tempest in a teapot
brewing in the naval ranks these
days.Turns out that a certain
relatively senior officer (more senior than me, so I’m being a bit
circumspect here) thought it would be a splendid idea if each and every day
folks under his (distributed) command spoke the Sailor’s Creed aloud.
I am a United States Sailor.
I will support and defend
the
Constitution of the United States of America,
and I will obey the orders
of those appointed over me.
I represent the fighting spirit of
the Navy
and those who have gone before me
to defend freedom and
democracy around the world.
I proudly serve my country's Navy
combat team
with honor, courage and commitment.
I am committed to
excellence
and the fair treatment of all.
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Apart from whatever thoughts you may have of
daily hand-raising rituals, this has generated a sad controversy revolving around just the kind
of class posturing that certain folks take too much pleasure engaging in –
a few officers have either expressed themselves exceptionally poorly or plainly
misunderstand their position and obligations in the service by claiming that
they should not have to recite the Sailor’s Creed, not being themselves,
well - Sailors. They are
officers,
see? And certain Sailors have taken a kind of perverse joy in beating the
officer corps en
masse with this, as probative evidence of
our inherent insularity and arrogance.
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It is all rubbish, of course, but worse than that
it is counterproductive – anyone that uses the sea or goes down to the sea
in ships is a sailor, whether officer or enlisted. And any enlisted man who is
not yet a chief is a Sailor – the words sound very similar, don’t
they? And the capital “S” Sailor has an advantage over me in that he
has experiences that I have not and will not ever have – being a Third
Class midshipman and sleeping in the Supply berthing for three weeks
doesn’t count. I have advantages over him in experiences too, but mine are
merely different than his, not better. One of the best CO's I ever had spent his
first eight years enlisted, before going on through the BOOST program to officer
accession and eventual command of a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. Not only
was that pretty good work for a guy that started out tending lines aboard the
presidential yacht
Sequoia
when Nixon was the prez (and getting hurled in to the Potomac River on national
television), but it made him an outstanding communicator with the troopers -
someone who'd worn the white hat and been there. I envied his style, all the
while knowing I could never fully emulate it - I didn't have his
background.
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Historically, prior to WWII, the Navy had a bad
reputation for the almost aristocratic aloofness of its officer corps. This was
much diminished by the forced democratization of the service by a huge influx of
draftees who owned no part of naval tradition as their own during the war. But
the Navy (always the most traditional of the services) was slower perhaps to
change than the other services. Witness the convulsions over CNO Elmo Zumwalt’s changes back in the
70’s. But we’ve finally worked just about all of that out, one
team/one scream etc – we are, quite literally in the same boat - when this
ridiculous controversy comes up. Pah.
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Oh, it's not so big a deal really. More steam than
flame. But Admiral "31 knot" Arleigh Burke was proud to be called a sailor,
and that’s good enough for me, and should be good enough for the rest of
us.
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I acknowledge however that there’s one
little problem: The Sailor’s Creed has certain language, “I will
obey the orders of those appointed over me,” that is evocative of the Oath
of Enlistment:
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I do solemnly swear that I will support
and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign
and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that
I will obey the orders of the
President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over
me, according to regulations and
the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me
God.
(ed. there’s that word
again)
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But rather different than the officer’s oath
of appointment:
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I do solemnly swear that I will support
and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign
and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take
this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion,
and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon
which I am about to enter, so help me God.
(ed: it’s
everywhere!)
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It might seem strange, but officers do not take an
oath to obey the orders of those appointed over them (don’t try testing
this out at work, Skippy). Instead, our allegiance is to the Constitution, and
this is a precise distinction designed by U.S. Title X (federal law governing
the armed services) to ensure that we don’t a) all roll over like the
German General Staff did in World War II and take a vow of personal allegiance
to a mere politician, or b) try to claim (á la LT Calley ) that we were only following orders.
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So anyway, it’s a rather stupid discussion
to be having, and I could wish we hadn’t embarked on it, while recognizing
the laudable intent of the folks who, however unintentionally, brought it to the
fore. Still, there’s no graceful backing out of it I suppose, and
it’s doubtful that anyone will amend the Sailor’s Creed for the sake
of the more pompous.
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My recommendation, if anyone cares, is that we
view the creed as something other than an oath - in other words, something we
affirm as true, rather than something we swear to do. Anyone who objects on
(actual) principle probably ought to shut his suck for the good of the service
and get on board with the team. For the big win.
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My 2c.
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