So how come I never got invited to Navy parties?
Bobo sends a link to the report of a party which will probably end several Naval careers from the Navy Times. It seems that mixed ranks were at a house-warming party for a female officer which, of course resulted in the day-long consumption of adult beverages;
Then, something startled her guests, a mix of colleagues from her command, friends and neighbors: The host stripped off her bikini top.
The party — while not an official command function — included enlisted, junior officers, and even the commanding officer of her 100-member logistics task force based in Bahrain. The sight of her topless changed the party’s dynamic. Men drew closer to leer. Another woman removed her top. And a man took off his pants, exposing himself. While guests stared, all three went skinny-dipping.
That’s when the commodore jumped in.
Capt. David Geisler, commodore of the logistics task force responsible for supplying all naval assets in 5th Fleet, who had spent the afternoon drinking and floating in an inner tube on the canal, removed his bathing suit and swam nude, witnesses said.
Way to lead from the front, there, Captain. I think they probably screwed up in a major way when they had lower enlisted people at an officer’s home. I’m not saying the seamen did anything wrong, but for some reason they have an effect on officers who are under the influence of distilled spirits. Otherwise rational people do stupid shit around privates.
I have no idea why men feel that taking their pants off is the same thing as women removing their shirts. That usually kills a moment. And you can be pretty sure that it was the seamen who reported their commander for swimming in the all together.
Told ya;
Sailors saw a double standard — they heard tales of their commodore at wild parties and rumors that he and his “crew” had been out past curfew, transgressions for which they’d be punished.
Privates are never your friends. But officers behaving like this is not something anyone should condone. I’d say he ruined his career, but, if he thought that swimming nude and boozing it up in front of his subordinates was OK, he probably didn’t have much of a career anyway.
Category: Shitbags
Plus the fact you’re doing it in Bahrain. Granted, while alcohol is legal there (unless you’re Muslim), the fact you’re still in a Muslim country getting tanked just ain’t the brightest thing you can do.
And you’d think 20 years after Tailhook, et al, commanders and leadership, both officer and enlisted, would have two fucking functional brain cells to rub together and think, “Mmmmm…fraternization is bad, mkay?”
And for the record, Jonn–I’ve been to ONE Submarine Ball or other official Navy “party” that didn’t suck ass. PI, Hong Kong, Australia–those are another story, but that’s OUTSIDE the gate.
Sincerely,
Shit River Commando/Barrio Baretto Bubblehead
No shit Sparky. Sounds like a terminal case of cranial rectal inversion going on at this command.
“Otherwise rational people do stupid things around privates”…er, um, I’ll say.
Damn looks like I’ve been trying to join the wrong service.
Believe me, Adam–with Mabus dictating the breathalyzers at every command, this ain’t your father’s military. Or mine.
Yeah, there’s a time and a place for everything. The officers had “dining in”, Submarine Sanctuary, etc. No excuse for fraternizing like this, and DEFINITELY no excuse for doing this kind of shit in public, around civilians.
I was joking sparky, I agree with you 100%
I’ve seen a lot of “newer” officers do dumbshit like that. I’d just walk away because I knew it was going to get out of control and I didn’t want to be brought in (again) and interviewed by CID or some other officer. As a plt sgt, I’d take care of those under me and make sure they knew when it was time to leave before something turned to shit.
Oh, good. I get to use my favorite new saying (that you folks taught me!)
“Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
The real question; where are the pictures?
Of all the “old fashion” traditions the Marine Corps has held on to, the separation of the ranks is one of the wisest. Except for ‘field days’ and some chartered fishing trips, I never partied with an officer. I went to my Plt Ldr’s house ONCE and the only people there were a small group of men under his command. I think everyone was too uncomfortable to have more than a couple of beers!?
Well, in one sense, yet again Officers seem to be getting over. The “poor guy” he will have to retire as a captain, making more in his retirement check than an E-9 makes in a combat zone.
But at the same time, at least the Navy is doing something to get after commanders. The Army is full of “Toxic” leaders and doesn’t do a whole helluva lot about it. There was big talk about it over the summer, but doesn’t seem like much of a deal anymore.
We had an entire squadron of jr. officers go out in town and get drunk the night before deployment. The ones that weren’t picked up by CHP were grabbed by the MP’s at the gate.
Stupid shit has always happened, and always will but this goes for the gold in a BIG way.
This is just another case of “do as I say, not as I do” from the Navy brass. If that had been a CPO, or God-forbid, a Petty Officer that dropped his pants and jumped in he’d be at Mast before he came up for air. But this Commodore will likely be reprimanded and put at a desk at the Pentagon until he retires (and keeps all his bennies).
Of course this chick officer will get the thumbscrews put on her, too. She’ll probably get some kind of administrative remarks about “poor leadership” and then everything will be kosher again. This is, however, a Logistics command, full of LS’s and Suppo’s, so any kind of military bearing should never be assumed.
Without pics, it didn’t happen….
An O6 who can’t get his ribbons right for an official photo should never be trusted. Either he is too arrogant to ask his senior enlisted to check him or he is too ignorant to understand the service’s requirements. Either way, it’s a good indication that he can’t lead.
My favorite part of the article is tasking an E7 to shore patrol duty because the O3 couldn’t stay sober on the beach. Officers need to remember that, when they screw up, it’s always the enlisted that end up paying.
#15 right? At least the other commanders were “smart” enough to put it all on film, either video or picture. sheesh…
@Bobo Why do you think some officers could give less than a turd? Because they know THEY aren’t going to be the ones to pay when they screw up.
Hell, I dealt with crap like that while I was in the Army, unfortunately aided and abetted by senior enlisted (E-6 – E-8). I haven’t seen as much in the Navy, but I still see cases where an officer is either incompetent or trying to impress senior brass, and the enlisted has to clean up after them.
OK, Bobo, I’ll bite (I’m not Navy/USMC). What did he hose in his the ribbon rack?
BU1–case in point, the aforementioned Tailhook scandal back in 1991.
How many enlisted were in that gauntlet of pilots? (Hint: Zero.)
Yet out of the uncountable hours of fraternization/sexual harassment training that came from that debacle, how many officers did I see attending that training? (Again, hint: zero.)
As cynical as it sounds, there was always one constant when it came to something getting fucked up: if taking you down would take down a khaki with you, most chances are you’d be getting off with a slap on the wrist, not even CO’s Mast. If taking you down wouldn’t drag any khakis with you, bite the pillow, cause they’re goin’ in dry.
Hondo–The only thing that stands out to me on his ribbon rack is missing a second NDSM, otherwise, I’m not seeing it.
I’m not really seeing anything dicked up with his rack. Now, the 5 o’clock shadow, especially the mustache, and fucked up haircut strike me as fucked up, but not the uniform. However he’s a logistics guy, so you should expect a pretty high degree of shitbaggery. His rack isn’t out of order as far as I can tell.
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/display/usn.htm
Squid–to be fair, he’s a line officer, so you would THINK he knew better, but also judging by the ribbon rack, he didn’t spend a whole lot of time on the pond, either.
Would one of you squidlies please explain ‘surface warfare officer’ to me? He has a boat pin on his blouse but no Sea Service ribbon. To be a SWO don’t you have to be on the surface of the ocean?
No star on the Afghan Campaign Medal, and, what appears to be two NATO medals (NATO medal for the former Yugoslavia and NATO Non-Article 5 medal for ISAF). Any award of the ICM or ACM is with a service star, and only one NATO medal is authorized, with 3/16″ bronze star for subsequent awards. It was the double NATO set that made me look a little closer and saw the missing ribbon attachments.
The no star on the ACM/ICM is a common gig, despite the fact that the reg has been around for years. I have to admit, though, that even after spending two years in the Pentagon where screwed up ribbon racks seem to be the norm, I’ve never seen anyone wearing two NATO ribbons.
Add to the fact that he’s a skimmer puke assigned to a log unit in Bahrain, where everyone is getting BAH, per diem, imminent danger pay, and tax free and this is just icing on the cake.
Sparky – I was thinking the same regarding the sea time. I my 6 years came with a sea service ribbon and three stars. All of his sea tours must have been on surface ships along the lines of the USS Fulton or the USS Tullibee.
Well, if Mabus is intent on stamping this out, I can only say, I wish I had the concession to supply the mouthpieces for the breathalyzers for the Navy. I could retire in two years or so, a wealthy man. Imagine how many per day the Navy will go through. And, with the DoD’s penchant for overpaying for most things, I’d bet they’ll be paying twice the going rate. And that’s $200 for 500 mouthpieces at today’s prices.
I went out with my NCOs on occassion but never stupid faced. I let them but someone had to be the adult and we still came home on time and if during the week it never interfered (even if I wanted nothing more then to close the door and sleep).
There is a difference between building comraderie and just being dumb. I don’t know if what I did was wrong but my NCOs and I were close. we knew what to expect from one another and we trusted one another.
A leader has to adapt to situations not force the world to adapt to them.
#26… Tullibee? LOL
Tim–Tullibee was about THAT close to being nuke boat number three to sink. Believe me, you didn’t WANT to go underway on that boat. And that’s just the stories I know about.
There’s one or two on every waterfront. On my first boat (Pearl, late 80’s/early 90’s) it was the Helena or the Sam Houston. On my second boat (San Diego) it was Jefferson City or La Jolla–I saw the latter come back after coming to PD under the torpedo retriever. Not pretty.
And Bobo–I saw two Sea Service Ribbons. I guess I’m a slug, since I only have five in my 8 years of sea duty.
NHSparky #31: I hadda look up Sea Service Ribbon? You young guys get all the perks.
Pons–pretty sad when you call a guy pushing nearly half a century on this spinning turdball “young”.
Yeah, we had electricity and steam power on our ships too. No rum, sodomy, and the lash in this man’s Navy–although in reality, the Navy is still an 18th Century organization, being dragged kicking and screaming into the 19th Century.
NHSparky: if you’re pushing 50 rather than dragging it, you ARE a “youngster” – youngster.
Sparky – that’s what I saw, 2 sea service ribbons. So, with 23 years in and commanding a ship, he managed to spend only two years with more than 90 consecutive days away from home port. It’s kind of like the Army COLs I see running around here with no combat patches. Nice work if you can get it.
NHSparky #33: Yawn… I’m nearing 66. Weird thing is that AFTER Vietnam the Navy introduced a slew of ribbons that were NOT extant during my 6 years (ending in ’69).
I suspect that even Shit River was cleaner during your visit.
Bobo – thanks. I’d finally noticed the missing devices (per his bio in the basic article, he’s also missing a bronze OLC on his DMSM and a bronze service star on his NSDM). But I have to admit I’d forgotten that policy regarding the NATO medal is the same as that for the UN medal (only one ribbon authorized to be worn if multiples are earned, even if the ribbons for the specific awards earned are different).
pons–Oh, I’m sure it was. They even tenderized meat and stuff by soaking it in the river–not that I’d ever have eaten it. Hell, the kids had to pull the down the boards crossing the bridge so we could still throw pesos.
Yeah, Olongapo turned into a regular fucking Puritan village between your time and mine. That’s why after we did tacos and lumpia at Via’s and the free beer at Slim’s, we’d pile on the jeepneys to the Barrio. Old retired submariner box-kicker owned a few places. Free beer for the crew the first night a boat pulled in. You’d be amazed how much beer 100 guys could go through in a night.
Oh wait–no you wouldn’t.
NHSparky #38: Did Shore Patrol in Olongapo the night after The Shore Patrol hauled me to the brow.
Unrelated: Used my Zippo on a coin or two just to see what happened.
Back on topic… I never served with females afloat. Regardless of the rank I can’t quite comprehend The Party. [shrug]
Hey Commydore…that flashing behind yer eyes is not the hangover….it’s the “career terminated” lights.
…I dunno – somehow it seems to me that ANY story including the line, “And then the commodore jumped in” can’t possibly end well.
@31 Sparky, my bad! I meant to ask about an Overseas Service ribbon? An O-6 and he’s never had an overseas assignment before the Debauchery Tour (live) 2012?!? You get a Jarhead with a Service Stripe or two and they’ll have at least one. I’ve seen Staff NCOs with an OSSR with enough stars to start their own galaxy!?
You know I would have gotten pictures. But yeah on the bad idea list this is pretty high up. What ever happened to the good old days where you could screw around and everyone was ok with it cuz they were doing the same thing.