Navy bread and water (B&W) punishment recently received a bad rap when a series of articles, both online and in print, were published in which the USS Shiloh (CG-67) was excoriated as a “prison ship.” In one of these, “USS Bread and Water: Old and Rare Punishment Loomed over a Demoralized Crew,” the author reports that the Commanding Officer (CO) awarded the B&W punishment “at least six times according to records.” It is not made clear what those records were. Was it in the CO’s “Punishment Log” where such records are typically kept? Or was the information drawn from command climate surveys—which are of questionable veracity and opinion-based.
In any case, let us assume that the CO in question did award B&W six times during his 26-month tour, as the article reports. That is slightly more than three times a year, which hardly seems excessive. Regardless, B&W may be an old punishment, but it is not a rare one in the Navy. It is awarded throughout the fleet on a regular basis. More important, it is not considered by those who have, or have had, Captain’s Mast authority to be a particularly harsh punishment.
According to SecNav Instruction 1640.9C, Department of the Navy Corrections Manual, “Confinement on Bread and Water (B&W) . . . may be imposed as punishment upon personnel in paygrade E-3 or below, attached to or embarked in a vessel.” Despite the ill-informed reporting, it is not an “arcane” punishment; it is neither secret nor mysterious; and it is not some sort of obscure right performed only in the darkest hours of night.
Instead, these are facts about B&W punishment:
· It is authorized by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Article 15; it may not be imposed for more than three consecutive days. (Note: If the sailor is delivered to the brig at 2359 on the day of punishment award, that counts as day one. As a result, seldom is the punishment three full days.)
· Rations furnished a person undergoing such confinement shall consist solely of bread and water. The rations will be served three times daily at the normal time of meals, and the amount of bread and water shall not be restricted.
· The medical officer must pre-certify in writing that a deterioration of the prisoner’s health is not anticipated as a result of such action.
· Prisoners serving this punishment will be confined in a cell and will be bound by the procedures set forth for disciplinary segregation cells. They will not be removed for work or physical exercise.
Sailors seldom arrive at Captain’s Mast by either accident or a CO’s fiat. Generally speaking, the process is as follows: If a Sailor violates the Uniform Code of Military Justice, an investigation takes place. This is followed by a Disciplinary Review Board (DRB), during which the Chief Petty Officers (CPO) Mess reviews the case and questions witnesses and the Sailor. The CPO Mess also speaks to the Sailor’s chain-of-command in order to get a perspective on his or her past performance and potential. Once complete, the DRB passes its recommendation for disposition of the case to the Executive Officer who undertakes a similar process at Executive Officer’s Inquiry (XOI). In many ships, both the DRB and the XOI are granted authority to dismiss cases. Only those cases that both the DRB and the XO determine require the CO’s personal attention make it to Captain’s Mast, where real punishments may be awarded. Of course, the Captain also has the prerogative to dismiss cases. And this happens. In some cases, the chain- of- command simply wants the Captain to read the riot act to the Sailor, putting him or her on stern notice, and then sending the chastened Sailor back to work none the worse for wear. The point here is that when a Sailor makes it to Captain’s Mast, in most cases he or she has exhausted the efforts of an entire chain of command, and the Captain is being asked to impose discipline.
B&W simply is one of the tools available to a CO at mast. Granted, some COs may elect to seldom or never award B&W, but there are explanations for that beyond a supposed belief that it is a cruel punishment. The fact is that many deem B&W to be among the most minor of punishments. Alternatively, a CO may award other, legitimately more severe punishments, including:
· Correctional custody of not more than 30 days (the brig)
· Forfeiture of not more than one-half of one month’s pay per month for two months
· Reduction in one pay grade
· Extra duties of not more than 45 days
· Restriction of not more than 60 days
· Certain combinations of the above, including 45 days restriction, 45 days extra duty, and one-half pay for two months.
The bottom line is that B&W is considered to be one of the more humane punishments, particularly for a married Sailor. Other punishments have the unintended consequence of also punishing the family. It also should be understood that B&W usually is awarded as a minor punishment to get the attention of a recalcitrant, but potentially good Sailor.
This discussion likely was generated as a result of a command climate survey. These surveys only can be understood fully in context. On board ship, morale typically rises at certain times and falls at others. For example, most Sailors are pleased to deploy, where they can do the jobs they signed up to do, while almost all find duty in the shipyard to be a terribly unpleasant experience. There are a thousand variables, and they have to be weighed to understand what a ship’s morale might be. One thing is certain: Every unit has some disgruntled Sailors, and some of these folks will express their unhappiness in the strongest possible terms, particularly when those views can be expressed anonymously, as is the case in command climate surveys. Most significant, with regard to the judging of morale, is the fact that the most disgruntled sailors are typically those who are most junior and in their first command. In deciding whether morale is poor, the following should be asked: Who says so, and against what standard are they comparing? If they have never been in another fleet unit, the data may be suspect.
Life at sea is hard. It is increasingly understood that deployments and hours are long. Morale is a fungible thing and should be viewed relative terms. A ship that tops out in command climate surveys may also be a ship that is completely without rigor or discipline. This is not to pass judgment, either good or bad, on the CO of the Shiloh. Morale is different, Sailor-to-Sailor, division-to-division, and from one moment to the next. For a media outlet to cherry-pick a command climate survey is both unprofessional and hurtful to an entire command.
Captain Eyer served in seven cruisers, commanding three Aegis cruisers: USS Thomas S. Gates (CG-51), Shiloh (CG-67), and Chancellorsville (CG-62).
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