Minggu, 25 Februari 2018
Shipboard Service Is Harsh. The Navy Isn't Preparing Recruits For This Reality - Task & Purpose
“It’s a floating prison.” This is how a sailor described serving aboard USS Shiloh, and the sentiment seemed to be shared by many of the crewmembers. The Shiloh made headlines when a crewmember Petty Officer 3rd Class Peter Mims went missing while underway, spurring a massive search by the crew for a comrade who, it turns out, who was hiding in an engineering space the whole time.
This seemingly came as a surprise to no one in the crew, as Mims was a strange guy. What struck a chord with me was the fact that so many people in the media were shocked by the story. The truth is every ship has several Mims-like characters on board. The whole Shiloh affair led me to believe that the higher-ups have no idea who is actually serving aboard their ships.
From my time onboard the USS Vella Gulf (CG-72), spanning 2010 to 2013, we lost more sailors to nerves, pressure, and ineptitude than I can actually count. We called the ship “Cell Block 72,” and it sure felt like a floating prison. That’s exactly how I describe serving in the Navy to my friends who’ve asked me about it.
The fleet isn’t a safe space. It’s a grinder that chews up the vulnerable, preaching teamwork and brotherhood while practice dictates: “If you aren’t carrying your weight, get the fuck out of the way.”
We had Mims beat by a long shot, as eccentricities go. We had an IT who was so inept he was not allowed to use the phone, per the captain’s orders. We had another sailor who would speak to himself aloud in Portuguese — not even remotely his native tongue — and, with a wide-eyed gaze, shout Bible verses in berthing to make us aware of our impending damnation for watching R-rated movies. He was also not allowed to touch or operate anything other than a swab, and eventually parted ways with the crew after almost losing his hand trying to catch the ship’s jack-staff, after he’s removed its securing pin while it was in an upright position.
We had another sailor, a young LSSN, go missing one night… and after a lengthy man-overboard drill, he was discovered in a comatose state, hidden away in a supply locker, high from huffing paint.
These sailors were such commonplace for us — and everyone else that I knew serving on smallboys in Norfolk — that we mostly ignored the obvious facts: They not only shouldn’t have been in the Navy, they needed help.
The truth is, the Navy does not prepare sailors for what life is actually going to be like on a ship. I’m not even sure if it can. The long hours, the endless drilling, the ship in constant disarray — nothing can really prep someone for operating at a non-stop pace for literally years without adequate sleep.
Unfortunately, when everyone in your immediate community is depressed, people who are really slipping off the edge go unnoticed. In the early 2010s, the “spice” epidemic hit the Navy hard. One sailor got high and passed out in the berthing barge with a spice pipe still in his lap, which launched a probing investigation onboard that had all of us afraid to even associate with anybody who might seem guilty. This is another impossibly complicated situation, and since the military is only beginning to test for the drug in your system, hearsay or suspicion by association can be enough to get you kicked out. This left many sailors hanging out to dry: These were people that were dealing with tremendous pressure by self-medicating, and nobody could help them.
The fleet isn’t a safe space. It’s a grinder that chews up the vulnerable, preaching teamwork and brotherhood while practice dictates: “If you aren’t carrying your weight, get the fuck out of the way.”
I’m guilty here. I turned a cold shoulder to sailors who were crying out for help, all because I was terrified of being associated with them. That’s something I have to carry now.
Navy bootcamp actually sets the precedent for what happens in the fleet. Right away, a small group of sailors is selected, receives symbolic leadership ranks, and essentially carries the rest of the team to the finish line. The problem is, once you’re in the fleet, nobody can carry you.
As much as I resented the captain and chain of command for the lack of sleep, the constant drills, working until damn near midnight even while in port, pushing a broken ship through what should have been deployment-ending technical issues (and fires — so many fires), the all-too familiar echoes from the Shiloh lead me to believe that this is just how the Navy is. I truly don’t know if it can be fixed.
When I read articles about Petty Officer Mims asking, “Why were the signs missed?” I can’t help but think about a sign that our deck department’s chief placed on the door of the boatswain’s locker: “If you are going through hell, keep going.”
Why were the signs missed? Because you can’t tell a feces-covered HT running on negative 20 hours of sleep how shitty your day was. Everybody is depressed, everybody’s got issues at home, everybody is tired, and still, everyone must carry their weight for the crew to be able to complete its mission.
I’m not advocating any of this; I’m simply describing the realities of life in the fleet. I’m explaining why my first reaction to the Shiloh testimonies was “So what? Nothing new. Suck that shit up with a straw”: because, well, we had to. I have no idea if that’s the right or wrong reaction to my fellow shipmate’s misery. For now, let’s go with “it’s complicated.” And I’m not sure how you simplify it. But being honest about fleet life is a good start.
WATCH NEXT:
Want to read more from Task & Purpose? Sign up for our daily newsletter »
Bachelor Winter Games: 11 Essential Things You Should Know About Kevin Wendt - POPSUGAR
If you're not preoccupying your time with the Olympics or The Bachelor, chances are you're probably watching Bachelor Winter Games, the four-episode series in which Bachelor franchise contestants from around the world are pitted together in Olympic-like competitions. Similar to Bachelor in Paradise, the goal is to be the last couple standing.
Bringing in contestants from other countries means there's a lot of fresh meat for the American audience to feast upon, and one particularly delightful surprise this season has been Kevin Wendt, the 33-year-old firefighter who proposed to Jasmine Lorimer on the first season of Canada's The Bachelorette. While Jasmine and Kevin have clearly ended their engagement — and on good terms — it hasn't deterred him from finding love on the show.
Naturally we had to find out more about Kevin, so we hopped on the phone with him to discuss everything like Nickelback (yes, really), his sign, and the person who convinced him to go back on the show.
- He's an Aquarius. Born Feb. 1, just like Harry Styles. Just sayin'.
- He was in the Navy prior to working as a fireman. "The best decision I ever made in my life was getting out of the military, but the second best was joining," Kevin told us. "I tried university; it wasn't for me." Living with his parents and trying to find his path, he ended up enlisting in the military. "I had never really left my little place in Ontario, and I hopped on a plane, moved to Vancouver Island, and never looked back for six years."
Kevin said he was forced to grow up and live on his own for the first time. He traveled to places like India, Abu Dhabi, Thailand, and Fiji for work. "It was right during the whole pirate thing, when Captain Phillips was starting out. We did a lot of time off the coast of Somalia. I was the boarding party diver, so I was part of the team that would go and search all those little boats."
- He left the military for a heartwarming reason. Kevin mentioned that he only got out of the military because he has a "family soul" and was homesick after being deployed for the last 36 of 48 months. Once he returned to Canada, he transitioned into becoming a fireman.
- He's literally never downloaded a Nickelback song — or seen them in concert. We were concerned when The Bachelor Winter Games gave us a fun fact about Kevin: he's seen Nickelback in concert 27 times. But rest assured that this was an act of pure savagery on the producers' behalf, because Kevin does not stan for Nickelback. "I have never seen them. I've never downloaded a song or owned an album. They decided to pick the funniest band . . . like, they wouldn't say Justin Bieber? Why wouldn't you say someone like Tragically Hip, someone I could be down with? [Laughs] They wanted it to be the most cheese-ball band we've ever produced out of Canada, which is why they chose Nickelback." Despite this "factoid" being totally fake, he's been rolling with it.
- He was single two years before joining The Bachelorette in Canada. Kevin didn't jump into his season of the show. It had been two years since he'd broken up with his long-term girlfriend of four years when he considered doing the show. "I had a dog. I renovated a couple houses with her. And when I was turning 30, she gave me the ultimatum — she had a right to give me the ultimatum — like, we have been together four years. And I thought of her as my best friend and roommate, not my wife, so I had to make the tough decision to walk away from the relationship." It was for the best, though. Kevin said she is now happily engaged and he's in a better mental space.
- His sister-in-law is responsible for getting him on the show. Kevin's sister-in-law messaged him during Ben Higgins's season asking why he wasn't on one of the shows. "I said, 'I'd rather do Survivor.'" [Editor's note: I mean, it's not that different.] She ended up writing an email about Kevin to the show, and that same day, he received an e-mail about possibly joining the cast. After a call with the director, it was a done deal. "That was 16 days before we started shooting," said Kevin.
- He's connected to Kaitlyn Bristowe. On his Instagram, Kevin has been photographed with Kaitlyn and Shawn Booth prior to Winter Games. Kaitlyn knows Kevin's ex, and both Shawn and Kaitlyn appeared on the after-show for Kevin's season. "Shawn picked me to win, and Kaitlyn called me the 'Canadian Shawn Booth' because I have a bit of a jealous side to me. I was the first out of the limo and I was in love within the first five minutes."
- He's committed to giving back. As a fireman and former member of the Navy, there's clearly a common thread with Kevin, and that's helping those in need. He told us that he likes to help sick kids as much as he can, raising money and donating his time to places like the Ronald McDonald house. "I have one right beside my firehouse," he said. He's also going on a trip to Honduras this summer with Ben Higgins for Generous Coffee. "I love that he's helping families that are farming for next to nothing. He's helping them get a better life."
- It took some convincing to get him on Bachelor Winter Games. It seems like once you join a Bachelor franchise, it's easy to jump into a spinoff. That wasn't the case for Kevin. "[The Bachelorette's Jasmine Lorimer] had broken up with me in the middle of March, and it was probably the worst four months of my life. It was like, 'Do I go to work? Or do I stare at my ceiling all day?' I was completely heartbroken. When they reached out to me, it was the last week of July, and it was a hard 'maybe.' I kept getting contacted by producers and they kept giving me more of the premise of the show."
The producers explained this spinoff was going to be lighter and fun, and that while there would be chemistry and romance, they positioned it as "one big party in Vermont." Doing some research on the show, Kevin was intrigued. "I started reading into it, and I thought Peter was going to be there, I knew Ben was coming. And I realized it wasn't just a bunch of random people from different seasons, like there were some pretty hard hitters! Ben, Dean, Ashley . . . this is a pretty good cast."
- His Canadian pride kicked in when making the big decision. "Being Canadian, I was like, 'I love skating. I love Winter. I'd rather be in Vermont than Mexico. Paradise is less appealing to me than this.' I knew that it was the first season, and I read a few articles about Chris Harrison being excited about it, so there were a few things that got me interested."
- Would he consider being the next American Bachelor? Sadly, Kevin has taken too many cues from Chris Harrison, because when we asked him about his interest in becoming the Bachelor here in the US, he left us hanging. "That's a great question, but you're going to have to tune in to find out!" he joked. Given that he's currently dating Ashley I. on the show, we wouldn't be surprised to hear that he's happily in a relationship. During our conversation, he did mention that he was headed back to Los Angeles for 10 days — where Ashley currently resides — and the Bachelor Winter Games after-show has already been shot.
You can watch Bachelor Winter Games on Tuesday, Feb. 20, plus the show's finale and after-show on Thursday, Feb. 22, on ABC.
Just 3% of Americans own more than half the country's guns - Big Think (blog)
Americans are not as gun-obsessed as some would like their countrymen to believe. Linking gun ownership to the identity of being an American has been a successful sales tactic that is more myth than reality. The numbers show that a small, unrepresentative, but disproportionately vocal portion of the American population, aided by self-serving politicians and a powerful lobby organization, has enacted its agenda over the majority of Americans, who do not own guns and would rather see much stronger gun safety regulations.
How many Americans actually own a gun? A 2016 study by Harvard and Northeastern University put the total number of privately-owned firearms in the U.S. at 265 million, with more than half of that - 133 million - being concentrated in the hands of just 3% of Americans, called "super owners," who have an average of 17 guns each.
For another perspective on this stunning statistic, consider that the Small Arms Survey estimates there to be around 650 million civilian-owned firearms total in the world. In contrast, about 200 million firearms are owned by the armed forces, while 26 million are in law enforcement hands. So we have 3% of Americans owning about 20% of the world’s stockpile of firearms.
A 2017 poll by the Pew Research Center found that the amount of Americans who actually own a gun themselves is at about 30% of the country's citizens. Maybe this should be obvious math but here it goes anyway - about 70% of the people in the U.S. do not own a gun. Among households, 42% of Americans live in a home where someone keeps a gun. That leaves about 58% of Americans who live in a gun-free house.
credit: Pew Research Center
Overall, the percentage of gun owners in the U.S. has been declining relative to the population growth and is at an almost 40-year low, reported the Washington Post. Across a number of national polls, gun ownership has fallen by 10 to 20% from the 1970s.
If you want to chew on the numbers further, 48% of white men in America currently have a gun. That's compared to 24% of white women and 24% of nonwhite men, as well as 16% of nonwhite women.
One other telling characteristic - the less education you have, the more likely you are a gun owner. About a third (31%) of the people who only have a high school diploma have a gun, 34% of those who some college education, but only a quarter of those with a bachelor's degree report to be gun owners. Among whites only, the number of high school diploma owners with a gun jumps up to 40%, compared to 26% for college graduates.
Another factor that plays into this - the farther you live from a city, the more likely you are to own a gun, as 46% of Americans who live in rural areas are gun owners. This is in contrast to 28% of suburbanites or 19% of those who live in urban areas, who feel compelled to get a weapon.
Combine this with the statistics that the number one reason (among 67%) for owning a gun is "protection," while 89% of gun owners see having one as important to their overall identity and another 85% say guns are essential to their sense of freedom.
Located next to a Wellness store, this is the Sunrise Tactical Supply store in Coral Springs, Florida on February 16, 2018 where school shooter Nikolas Cruz bought his AR-15 to gun down students at Marjory Stoneman High School. (Photo credit: MICHELE EVE SANDBERG/AFP/Getty Images)
It's also telling that among gun owners, only 66% say they keep their guns in a locked place (34% don't), 59% take gun safety courses while 41% keep their shooting skills up to date. Only 44% keep all their guns unloaded, 26% tell visitors with children that there are guns in the house and only 5% would share that knowledge with those who come to their house without children.
So, accordingly, a large enough proportion of gun owners are not up to speed on how to use their guns, don't keep them locked up or unloaded and won't tell others they have guns in the house, even if children are involved.
Now, how many people are involved with the all-powerful National Rifle Association (NRA)? There are about 5 million members of the NRA, the leading gun lobby organization. Of course, the NRA has some stats of its own, looking to bolster its percentages in a country of 321 milliion. It counters that if you take into account lapsed memberships and people whose family members are in the NRA, you can get "more than 14 million Americans” who “consider themselves NRA members."
It's telling, of course, that the NRA is counting members by estimating what people might be thinking rather than actual facts, while spending at least $203.2 million dollars on political activities which include donating to candidates and lobbying, since 1998 (as per PolitFact). The group also often spends money indirectly to help defeat any legislation that it may perceive to be lessening gun rights or contributes to candidates through affiliates.
A protester holds a sign that reads, 'NRA Stop Killing Our Kids', outside the court-room where Nikolas Cruz, 19, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was having a bond hearing in front of Broward Judge Kim Mollica at the Broward County Courthouse on February 15, 2018 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by Charles Trainor Jr. - Pool/Getty Images)
The NRA was a significant factor in the repeal of an Obama-era law that was blocking mentally ill people from purchasing guns. The measure to nix the existing rule was signed by President Trump in one his first actions on the job. This fact has come back to life with a vengeance in the aftermath of the high school shooting in Florida, where a mentally unstable teenager, who was repeatedly reported to the authorities, was somehow allowed to purchase an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle - the weapon with which he carried out the horrific tragedy of murdering 17 people.
According to the Pew Research Center, 89% of both gun-owners and non-gun owners agree that there should be legislation that would prevent the mentally ill from purchasing guns. 77% of gun owners and 87% of non-gun owners (84% of total adults) think there should be background checks for private sales and at gun shows, closing the “gun show loophole”. Over 80% of both groups would bar gun purchases to people on the no-fly or watch lists, and 71% would create a federal database to track gun sales.
Semi-automatic AR-15's is shown at Good Guys Guns & Range on February 15, 2018 in Orem, Utah. An AR-15 was used in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
Disagreements start to creep in when talking about banning assault-style weapons like the AR-15, with 77% of non-gun owners being in favor, and 48% of gun owners, which still makes for 68% of all adults. Similarly, 65% of all adults would ban high-capacity magazines.
Of course, as regulations stall, the sheer amount of guns in America is staggering to consider as is the number of mass shootings, with more than one mass shooting happening per day on average. It is a shameful statistic for a developed country and a world leader. Stronger laws are necessary but any attempt at them has been constantly pushed back by gun-lobby influenced politicians. In fact, the opposite has been happening - there are fewer restrictions than ever.
One other factor to consider if you think the gun lobby cannot be stopped and nothing will ever change in America - as of 2018, gun sales are going down. It's not hard to guess why - President Obama is out of office and "fear-based buying" is down with the pro-gun President Trump in office. No longer can it be claimed by the gun industry that Obama is coming to take anyone’s guns.
And maybe that's how it should be. What people who see gun control as necessary need is to cause a change in consciousness that cannot be enacted by any one man or woman. The majority of Americans see plainly the danger unregulated guns continue to pose to their society but must finally feel their power in numbers. They have to organize and make changes to the reality where a relatively small amount of passionate people, who see guns as essential to their identity (which is not a part of the national character of America), dictate their will.