Crews and Ships

A word of explanation about my unit and some background information about the Navy.

Almost two years ago, the Navy decided to test a new concept. They figured that ships could spend more time in their area of operations if the Navy kept the ships where they were and rotated the crews. A crew could train on a ship at home in the US then fly to a different ship already located in one of the Navy's "hot spots".

Obviously, this goes against some pretty old Navy traditions. No longer would a group of Sailors identify with themselves as the USS SHIP, but as a Crew that could be sent to any ship, anywhere. No more time lost in getting to the Middle East and back. A quick plane flight and we're there.

This program wasn't implemented on every ship in the Navy, just a handful. However, it made the most sense for small ships like Mine Hunters, MineSweepers, and PCs because it takes us so long to transit across the ocean. In the Mine Warfare community, this means we train in Ingleside, Texas, then deploy for 6 months to one of the Mine Warfare ships in the Persian Gulf.

And so, I became part of the experiment. I'm officially attached to MHC CREW BOLD. I was on USS SHRIKE for 18 months until this summer when we deployed to the USS RAVEN, where I am now. In early 2006, we will swap again, back home to another ship in Texas. Since our crew will have been on three different ships in a six-month period, we have come to identify ourselves mostly as CREW BOLD.

There are some downsides to this arrangement, such as the loss of esprit-de-corps and ownership. Some involved warn of a "rental car mentality". Since you're never on a ship for very long you don't feel like you own it. We're fighting these problems head on and working hard to establish our pride in CREW BOLD.

If you want to read more about the Navy in general, check out these websites:
Wikipedia Entry - Navy
The US Navy's homepage