[GreenKeys] OT - was Oil, Navy, and well greased operations... (or something like that)

[rjcote]

>Guess I can relate to your note Randy. Been on Subs in Guam and also on the 
>tender prior to gettin gout.

Worked on Navy ships surface types for the University of Hawaii on three 
different vessels, 300 foot long or so for 35 years after Guam.
I was Comm officer and Marine Technician most of the time...Occasionally SOJ 
officer (Shitty Odd Jobs)
Yes we used HF with ASR28's on 1 KW 60 baud
Take care

Ray
> I guess I am in something of a cranky mood of late...  "the Navy" as I
> knew it - is scheduled to die later this year. Change is, of course
> inevitable - and most change is for the better. I guess the true measure
> of one becoming obsolete is when one looks at "change" and sees nothing
> but disaster. I know - in the grand scheme of things - this particular
> change is of little consequence - but still many of us are both saddened
> and alarmed that the last remaining fully Navy manned Submarine Tender
> will pass from the Navy to the MSC (Military Sealift Command) and be
> primarily manned by civilians.  The USS EMORY S. LAND was "handed over"
> to MSC last February (as quietly as the Navy could manage it) - and just
> this week I received (finally) official confirmation that USS FRANK
> CABLE is also now scheduled to be turned over to MSC later this year.
>
> This brings to a close a more than 100 year history of the US Navy's
> full support of the Silent Service through fully Navy manned and
> deployed tenders. It's been obvious since the early 1990s that the Navy
> has been making a strong effort to rid the fleet of Auxiliary ships -
> now the few remaining (less than 50 of all types of auxiliaries) are
> mostly research ships (most of those in the hands of civilians like the
> University of Hawaii) and such. ALL of the ARs ADs AGs and similar
> repair / support ships - save for 2 ASs -- have been retired / sold /
> scrapped... and those two ASs - as noted -- will primarily be MSC manned
> and operated ships. If a submarine gets in trouble in the Atlantic far
> from our shores - heaven help them - as there is no (US) tender "out
> there". LAND will be home ported out of Bremerton for the next two
> years; CABLE is in desperate need of an overhaul, but is still (for the
> time being) operating at Guam. Considering how badly we are outnumbered
> and out-gunned in the Pacific - that is not a comforting thought (not
> that the Atlantic is much better).
>