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Blame vs Ownership

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljqra3BcqWM Jocko does a fantsstic job here of explaining the concept of extreeme ownership in a way that everyone can understand.  You don't have to be ex-military or a former Navy SEAL to be able to understand and even put yourself in his shoes that fateful night.  He goes on to say that these moments are part of life, for all of us.  We all have them--if you haven't yet, you will.  Here is one of mine. Like Jocko, I was an officer in the US Navy, and like him I was part of an elite group.  Unlike the SEALs, my elite group were engineers, members of the naval nuclear propulsion community.  The SEALs brought death and destruction to the enemy; we made steam.  They were tough as nails, able to accomplish any mission, regardless of difficulty.  We were not only smart sailors, but also nearly 100% smart-ass sailors, quick with a joke and even quicker to verbally slam someone who deserved it.  And maybe a few who ...
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No Parking

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The events described herein are true to the best of my knowledge.   I shit you not. As chance would have it, this particular sea story happened on land.  No matter. I attended Naval Officer Candidate School (OCS) in the summer of 1991 in Newport, RI.  In OCS, much of what is done is educational--courses in everything from maneuvering with a fleet, to subsurface/surface/air weapons, to propulsion, etc.  Much is physical--daily PT, etc.  Much is ceremoneial--marching, for example.  Marching (as in marching in a parade, which we did on July 4 that year) involves sorting ourselves by height and then lining up four abreast, tall to small, with the battalion commander in front, and the guidon bearer in the right-most position of the front row.  That was me--the guidon bearer (or just guidon for short) for first battalion.  Back when I was there, OCS was 16 weeks, culminating in a graduation ceremony.  The base in Newport was fairly large, but ...
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Introduction

I don't have a lot of sea stories.  I did not spend much time at sea.   But I like listening to other folks tell their stories, and if I like it when others tell their stories, then I figure I should tell mine.  Thanks for reading, and I hope you find them at least somewhat amusing :) (I have never been to war, so I don't have any war stories at all. Which is probably for the best.)
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