I Think I Finally “Get It”!
Why the Navy seems so odd to everyone else, that is.
It’s simple. They think and look at the world differently.
Here’s an example. In any sane world, room 5D22 generally is next to (or maybe across the hall from) room 5D23.
On a ship – or in a building laid out by a Navy contractor – it’s often completely on the other side of the ship or building. That’s called the “even/odd rule”.
Also, decks above the main deck are levels, not decks – even though they’re decks. Decks including and below the main deck – those are decks. And the main deck may or may not be big one that’s open to the air (it’s not on a carrier). And so on.
Once you realize that, why the Navy seems “different” to everyone else all starts to kinda make sense.
You nautical types are kinda weird, but we love you anyway. (smile)
Category: Navy, Pointless blather, Who knows
They have white uniforms for crissake. How do you explain that?
@1 it makes inspections go faster, anyway. The galley usually serves spaghetti that day too.
I always thought having name tags on our asses was backwards, but now that I’m working around another branch, I respect the utility of that considerably more.
2/17 Air Cav: for the same reason the “Green Machine” has Dress Blues – tradition.
Tradition doesn’t have to make sense. (smile)
#2 Reaperman
The ass name tag is so those on the ship know whose body they’re fishing out of the water.
Don’t you know the white uniforms are so they look FABULOUS!
The Navy ‘bullseye’ is a placard in each space on the ship so you know where you are.
So if you see:
O2-67-5-L
You know it’s on the O2 level, frame 67, starboard side away from the centerline, and it’s a living space
If you see
1-45-2-T
You know it’s on the 1st deck, frame 45, near the centerline but on the port side, and it’s a passageway.
A compartment on the centerline could have a bullseye of:
1-45-0-T (0 is centerline)
The even/odd thing + frame number makes sense so you know which side of the ship it’s on which narrows down the different passageways you can take to get there.
‘THE MORE YOU KNOW’
Decks below the main deck are decks… unless they’re platforms.
Bulkhead: Wall (or sometimes door)
Overhead: Ceiling
Scuttlebutt: Bubbler or water fountain.
Passageway: Hallway
Topside: Upstairs
Below Decks: downstairs
Ladder; Stairs
Head: Latrine
Galley: Chow Hall (DFAC for you young’ns)
I still use Navalese even after all these years. You get into the habit of saying it and it likes almost impossible to stop. 🙂
wow that sh1t reads like stereo instructions from the 60s translated from Japanese to English by 7th grade Japanese students….
I am really glad I didn’t listen to the Navy recruiter and went with the Army….at least a field is a field and hill is a hill….for the most part.
Reaperman: yeah, the mess cooks would serve up something red every friggin time we had to wear whites. In my experience, it was more often as not Chicken Adobo, but spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli, etc were all part of their devious little schemes.
Even US Marines think the US Navy is weird as shit…
Amen to what #11 said, but some of the best time in my life while in the Corps was serving on ship and serving with the Navy.
SwoMyGosh: admit it. You Navy types do that just so you can have fun screwing with the newbies and non-Navy types on board – and with non-Navy visitors to shore facilities. (smile)
You know, I hear everyone on the labeling of spaces on a ship – that takes some getting used to. Although, when I’ve been at Navy shore commands, the numbering for the offices/rooms has always made sense.
I spent the first three years of my career at Fort Gordon, GA and I have to say that after that, the Army STILL makes no sense to me!
@11. It’s ok. We think Marines are pretty weird too. 🙂
I never understood the fascination of utilizing ship terminology (I.E. “deck”, “head”, “bulkhead”, etc.) in places that were not a ship.
@11 And the Army ain’t real sure about the Marines, either. In my day they dressed like soldiers and talked like sailors. We’d get a class of them every so often at APG, so we always had a Marine instructor or two in our branch. There was a Gunny that periodically rotated through the various branches and you always knew when it was moving day because he had a Marine detail to haul his personal desk and refrigerator. I could understand the icebox, but never did figure out why he was so attached to the desk.
Just recently on the Navy base I work on I saw an Army Major walking towards me. I saluted him and said “Good Afternoon, sir.”
He replied “Airborne.”
Uhm, thanks…..you too.
@1 -AirCav, we wear whites because we sell ice cream in the summertime. (Personally, I like the light blues better than the whites.)
It’s not an icebox or a refrigerator, it’s a food locker or a reefer.
Rate is your job description. Rating is your paygrade.
The difference between a boat and a ship is if it’s a boat, it can fit inside a ship.
Of course we Nucs are the weirdest of them all, not a day would go by on ship without hearing someone mutter”fucking nucs”
Ex-PH2: That’s not the only way to distinguish between “boat” and “ship”.
A second way of making the distinction is to note that both a “boat” and a “ship” can submerge – but only the former (“boat”) can resurface under its own power. (smile)
Thanks for the effort, all, but I still don’t get it! But, spent a good amount of time at a NAS, so spoke the language of aviation with all branches.
Hondo: As a Naval Aviator (lessor breeds are merely “flyers”) the submariner’s would josh us with “Aviation? More aircraft on the bottom than subs in the sky. Hu-yuk!”
My reply? “Yep, but what goes down doesn’t necessarily have to come back up again.”
They failed to see the humor…
Let me point out how we say it in Infantryland; “thats a F-bomb floor”, “thats a F-bomb room”, “thats a F-bomb door”, “thats a F-bomb….F-bomb it lets blow it up anyway”.
All I know is we had a large group of sailors come over for an exercise not so long ago. Before you can say anchors away, the gym, the dfac, the bx, they were all covered with seamen
Reminds me of something that happened when I was in the Indiana Air National Guard…..we were billeted at NAB Coronado with Indiana Army National Guard soldiers back in 2007 since we were all out in California to help build the “Border Fence”. I was at the McDonald’s one morning and, while I was in line one of my fellow Senior Airmen saw a sailor in khakis and greeted him with “Good morning, sir,”. I looked over and saw an anchor with a star over it on each collar, and a brass belt buckle embossed with the same emblem (clearly he wanted to make sure everyone knew that he was a Senior Chief) and mentioned to my fellow airman, “Andy, that is not an officer, it is a Chief, specifically a Senior Chief” Followed by “Good morning, Senior Chief”. Now, that Senior Chief was cool about and said “Good morning airman, yeah I figured you Air Force types probably don’t know our ranks too well.” It was a little embarassing. Fast forward six years, and I am now a Platoon Leader for one of the companies in the Army engineer battalion that we worked with out in California.
Couple of things I noticed over the years:
-Our chevrons are upside down.
-We took the engine from a C130 and put it on a P3, upside down.
As a young HM, I was assigned to do physicals as I was waiting to class up for a school. They had me do the color vision test on people even after I told them I was color vision deficient.
@9. True story (not one of those sailor’s true stories!). Walked into the Marine recruiting station at 17 (+ 1 or 2 weeks). Recruiter was happy until he learned my exact age. He said that I’d have to be 18 by the time I graduated Boot Camp under a new special order. (No one wanted dead 17 year olds anymore, he explained.) Walked out unhappy and right past the Navy recruiting box to the Army. Asked the recruiter whether I had to be 18 by the time I got out of Basic–like the Marines required. A big smile appeared on his face. A couple of weeks later, I was at (ready, Master Chief?) Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn for my induction. No Navy. No Way.
Trip the port turbine! Not that one! The port one facing aft!
I’d get a bunch of confused looks. Training commands were great.
And let’s not forget, this is the service where a Captain is a Lieutenant and a Colonel is a Captain…
Okay, it IS nearing 45 years since I wore dungarees or a Dixie cup (except when Jonn makes me), but there is certain level of snobbery here that needs to be addressed.
Army guys can rarely communicate without using the entire alphabet capitalized, at least once. No particular reason, mind you, I think it must start in boot camp.
The USMC guarded gates for The Navy for centuries. They did it well too. Not one gate stolen in all that time.
The Air Force started as part of the Army. Dunno quite which part, but…
C’mon, Zero. You Navy guys have no room to talk about using all caps with abbreviations like COMUSNAVFOREUR, COMNAVSUBBASE, and COMDESRON. Hell, I expect to see COMWHOKNOWSWHATORWHERE used one day soon! (smile)
And don’t get me started regarding the Navy having 30 or so different authorized abbreviations for almost every enlisted grade. I think you do that so no one else really knows what rank you are. (smile)
All I know is that
You can sail the seven seas in the navy.
You can put your mind at ease in the navy.
Come on now, people, make a stand in the navy.
In the navy.
Come on Hondo, I’ll explain it to you.
Say you are a Boatswain Mate and a first class petty office you can be called:
BM1 (“Bee-ehm-wun”)
Petty Officer
Yep that’s it. God forbid you are a Boatswain Mate chief because THEN you are called:
Chief
Yep that’s it. Not hard at all.
Except even people in the Navy can’t keep the “CT” rates straight. Oh well.
@16 Information Warrior … HAHAHA All The Way!
@28
Yeah, and the officer ranks make sense. You’re point being? 🙂
As an ARMY HUEY Crew chief, while on an LPH for “Aircraft Carrier Training”, with landborne helicopters, no less; I was but about 21 yrs old and asked a sailer why there were marines on board. The sailer said, “They are here to wait on us. We call them Seagoing Bellhops, and they are to wait on you guys too. If you want anything, the proper way to call them is by saying Aye Aye Bellhop”. Needless to say, I learned that I had been punked the first time I wanted directions as to which hallway to take to the hangar deck. Damned swabbies.
@34 That’s just the Airborne response. You didn’t say whether he was Airborne or not.
Hondo #30: Yeah But.
Sorry, was gonna reply in some detail to educate you, but I can’t get Maclave’s # 31 out of my head for some reason.
Listen to the words Army guys, and keep showing yer envy.
I think you Army guys are just jealous because the Navy let us keep beer machines in the barracks.
Your beer machines are outside.
Listen here you land-lubbing sea-fearing putrid mollusks. If by chance you ever are ordered to a ship follow these simple directions. Report to ship that is moored with lines portside or starboard to. Traverse brow and salute the ensign aft and immediately thereafter, while addressing the Officer of the Deck (OOD) who is stationed on the Quarter Deck (QD), request permission come aboard. Once granted permission, complete salute and respectfully state purpose of visit to the ship. Tell the OOD, Ensign Dumbfluskskibergerwitz, that you are here to see the Master Chief. Once the OOD notices he has wet himself … the Petty Officer of the Watch (POOW), will escort you to your destination. While enroute, you will trip over every door and hatchway, skin your fragile little knobbie knee on every scuttle, gag at the stentch of every head, bang your knuckle-head on every overhead, slip and almost fall on every deck (unless it is a weather or flight deck with properly applied non-skid), crush your booger hook in every water tight door, get shouldered by a young Sailor and end up face first nostrils flared against a bulkhead, walk backwards up and down ladders, and eventually end up at your destination. On your way through the maze of marine engineering and architectual madness, foward and aft, above and below, port and starboard, you may have noticed black numbers painted on yellow background. These numbers are a matter of life a death to someone like me. Deck Number Frame Number Position in relation to centerline of ship Compartment use Example: 4-150-2-E Pretty simple even for a visitor like you with an IQ of about 3.7. Standing in front of the Chiefs Mess usually adjacent to the galley, you will notice a sign on the door. “Knock Then Enter”. All doors, unless otherwise posted, on Navy ships are designated as such. Knock and enter … once you enter … if you see two Sailors uffing each other, exit and wait one minute. Re-enter and ask to see the Master Chief. Any questions? When your business is complete, reverse the process above… Read more »
Often times Marine, Army, and Air Force Captains are addressed as Majors on board a naval vessel – to avoid confusion with “The Captain” on a ship. Then the Captain of a ship isn’t always a rank of Captain, but is called a Captain anyways because he’s the big cheese in charge. Some Naval Captains, due to their responsibilities are referred to XO, CAG, Commodore…etc, and almost never as Captain. Got it – no confusion here.
Are you telling me, Master Chief, that I have to find and replace EVERY G–D—- use of GANGPLANK with BROW?????????
It’s a tug, not a destroyer!! D!@#!$!@$!!!!!!
!!$#@#$%@~!#$$!)(*&*!!!!!!
The Commanding Officer of the ship shall be referred to as the Skipper!
Captain is rarely used.
Most call the Commanding Officer … CO.
Very few have the balls to refer to the CO as Skipper, which is a loyal term of professional endearment not usually expressed unless in the company of the likes of me!
If you don’t like the CO or Skipper, you refer to him or her as Commander Schitzallover or Captain Uvgotztobekiddenme.
@ 40 …. “Often times Marine, Army, and Air Force Captains are addressed as Majors on board a naval vessel”
Maybe in the French Navy!
They would be called passengers first or Lieutenants second by mistake!
…and that not to mention “Up and Aft on the port side, Down and Forward on the starboard side”…. Violate that on during a GQ and you’ll look like you got run over by a bus.
Or better yet you can just report to a submarine and be calling about 95% of the crew by their first names, nickname, or just “dickhead” by the time you’re qualified.
@ NH .. yeah that too!
NHSparky #45: Us Pond Scum could easily explain that one.
My head hurts after reading all of this.
@37, Zero P, yeah, like I’ve said to ex-sailors that talk trash about me being Army, you join the Navy, and you get a free Sailor’s suit and bellbottoms that’ll make you fit right in at ANY Village People Concert! Yes, it’s true, they’re all “poofers”!
To y’all, it’s not a latrine, it’s a “head” (THAT makes me wonder about what kind of “business” you sailors do in them!!)
It isn’t a ship store, it’s a “geedunk” (Learned that at a Naval Museum, do you Squids TRY to make up weird names for things?)
You Squids ARE weird!
Here’s another thought on the difference between the services, and it’s about telling the time of day.
In American civilian life, it’s 3:00 PM.
In the US Army, it’s 1500 Hours.
In the US Navy, it’s when the bells ring [I don’t know how many] times (I DON’T KNOW, I’ve never been a Squid!)
In the US Air Farce, it’s when Mickey’s big hand is on the 12, and his little hand is on the three!
Among Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children, it’s *UNK!* *AAHHRRGHHH!* *GRUNT!*, *GRUNT!*, *GRUNT!*.