We recently have been reading quite a bit about what is wrong with our seagoing profession, why officers and sailors are leaving, and what we can do to make it better. Certainly, there is plenty of room for improvement, and it is obvious that the top leaders in the surface warfare community have taken notice. While this introspection proceeds, a look at what is good about what we do seems worth a few lines. From the grand scale (why we are on the high seas in the first place), to the simple things we often take for granted in a single day on board a ship at sea, there is nobility in what we do. Ours is an enduring profession with a rich tradition that is an important part of our country's history.
A Sense of Purpose
- It is John Paul Jones and the Continental Navy taking the fight to the British, squaring off against the towering Royal Navy in its own waters, and defeating them.
- It is the USS Constitution—swift, powerful, and strong—a marvel of naval architecture in her time.
- It is the exploits of the U.S. Navy in the War of 1812, capturing the Guerriere, Macedonian, and Java.
- It is Commodore Matthew C. Perry's voyage across the Pacific, opening Japan to the United States and, ultimately, to the Western world.
- It is Seventh Fleet operations today, throughout the Sea of Japan, South China Sea, and beyond, maintaining a credible presence in support of regional security and free trade.
- It is annual UNITAS deployments circumnavigating South America in support of hemispheric solidarity.
- It is Lieutenant Stephen Decatur's audacious raid against the Tripolitan pirates, burning the captured frigate Philadelphia during the Barbary wars.
- It is carrier battle group operations in the Gulf of Sidra asserting high seas freedoms.
- It is Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Southern Watch, and Noble Anvil.
- It is Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet and the emergence of the United States as a world leader.
- It is escorting reflagged Kuwaiti tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
- It is the tactically critical amphibious landings at Inchon in the defense of South Korea.
- It is the USS Missouri (BB-61) in Tokyo Bay, a powerful punctuation mark ending the bloody battles in the Pacific theater in World War II.
- It is our ships pounding the D-Day beaches at Normandy.
- It is the naval blockade of Cuba during the missile crisis in 1962. It is our naval forces today, steaming in every ocean and sea around the world.
Life at Sea
- It is the singularity of our work.
- It is the wide open expanse of the sea and the deep blue swells.
- It is the star-filled night observed from a silent bridge wing.
- It is the waterspouts and the whales, and dolphins riding the bow wave.
- It is the whitecaps and the whistling wind.
- It is the shimmer of phosphorescence both in our wake and rising from the depths on a dark night.
- It is the satisfaction of bringing your ship smartly alongside, whether replenishing at sea or returning to port.
- It is the feeling of a job well done after the exercise, and the team spirit during its planning and execution.
- It is mixing it up with foreign navies in tactical maneuvers, leap frogs, and encounter exercises.
- It is the thrill of port visits halfway around the world, and of homecomings.
- It is always being the first in the fray—wherever it is.
- It is the satisfaction of your first watch as officer of the deck late at night, when you know the trust of your sleeping shipmates lies squarely in your hands and good judgment.
- It is the indescribable joy of commanding a ship and her crew.
Where We Are Going
- It is our "Linebacker" ships and the evolution toward theater-wide ballistic missile defense.
- It is DD-21 (the land-attack destroyer) and LPD-17, and our ability to influence events in the littorals and well beyond.
- It is new weapons such as the Standard Missile 2 Block IV and the Standard Missile 3, tactical Tomahawk, and the 5-inch/62 gun.
- It is network-centric warfare.
We have a lot to cheer about: the history, the invigorating life, and the cutting-edge technology. What we do is relevant. Stick around and help us fix what is wrong. These are exciting times.
Commander Girrier commanded the USS Guardian (MCM-5).