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Letters

Poor choice for uniform

I spent 10 years in the Marine Corps Reserve, and I was damn proud to wear that uniform. It embodied tradition, good taste and esprit de corps.

When I joined the Navy Reserve last year, I was appalled to hear that the Navy was forcing a bastardized uniform on the enlisted sailors. This new uniform is a cross between a Marine uniform, a soldier’s uniform and the uniform from a small South American dictatorship — without all the ribbons. Quite honestly, the uniform board did an excellent job creating a sharp Air Force uniform, even a pretty good Army uniform, but a Navy uniform? No.

Since donning the new service uniform, I’ve been saluted, called “Sir,” called “Marine” (which offends the former Marine in me) and been asked just what branch of the service I was in. And some of those questions were from sailors and Coasties.

There was nothing inherently wrong with the summer whites or winter blacks. If the Navy was truly concerned with reducing the seabag issue and making life “easier” for sailors, then it could have authorized the “salt and peppers” with the “Dixie cup” hat as a default uniform of the day, with summer whites or winter blacks at command discretion.

Not only do I not look like an American sailor, I don’t feel like an American sailor. That’s a sad and damaging result for a Navy trying to make my life “easier” by simplifying my seabag.

LN2 Samuel Frankel

Plantation, Fla.

Seeing is honoring

Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Fernandez is entitled to his opinion concerning return of the coffins of war dead and access to photography showing their return [“Unwelcome access,” Back Talk, April 20]. But not all service members agree with him.

Fernandez thinks every person who thinks we need to see these coffins is an idiot. Why? Are we somehow ashamed of them? Do we have to sneak them back into the country under cover of darkness and press blackout? On the contrary, as a retired veteran, I think we need to honor these war dead in every way possible. Our troops deserve more than to be hurriedly brought back from the war zones without anyone noticing.

Apart from the question of whether we need to see coffins coming home as the cost of the war, part of what those who sent us need to see is how their loved ones — all of them — are treated by their comrades.

A couple of nights ago, I saw video of our troops coming home to Dover [Air Force Base, Del.]. It is my opportunity to stop and give thanks, to pray for their families, and for all those on watch in all corners of the globe, and to pray for the day when peace may come.

The Rev. (Cmdr.) Christine Miller (ret.)

Camarillo, Calif.

Cutting can be amputation

In reference to the April 20 article “Career risk for chiefs,” I would like to note that the Navy’s misguided information caused them to do things backward. What the master chief petty officer of the Navy calls “trimming the fat” was, in many cases, amputation of perfectly good limbs.

I was one of the sailors forced out by high-year tenure in 2005 because I was a Fleet Marine Force hospital corpsman third class with eight years of service. What the Navy did not take into consideration was that the HM rating was, and still is, overmanned. I took the HM2 exam eight times, and eight times I passed.

On my final exam cycle I passed with a score in the high 60s, had 7½ years of service, four years time in grade, four award points, and 15 passed-not-advanced points, and my last two evals were Must Promote and Early Promote, with the EP being the more recent.

However, I did not make HM2 because the Navy promoted less than 15 percent of all HM3s Navy-wide.

Former HM3 (FMF) Joshua D. Coley

Miramar Beach, Fla.

24-hour days for subs

I read your article on 18-hour days for submariners with a great deal of interest [“Studies could spell the end for 18-hour day aboard submarines,” May 4].

This was studied around 1968 by Lt. Samuel Gingrich, the doctor on the submarine Mariano G. Vallejo as part of his submarine qualification. Gingrich performed the studies for NASA as part of the preparation for lengthy astronaut stays in space aboard Skylab.

Gingrich studied crew members who worked on 18-hour cycles and crew members who worked on 24-hour cycles midpatrol.

The data collected — and also the urine and blood collected from the crew members in the study — was flown to Houston from Guam aboard a C-130 immediately following the patrol. I was a member of the 18-hour cycle [group]. I remember the doctor telling us that the study results indicated that the body rhythms of temperature, blood pressure and heart rate in the 24-hour group followed a sinusoidal rhythm, and the rest of us had no rhythm.

Former ET1 (SS) Edwin Bills

Sumter, S.C.

Unrecruitable dependents

The Department of Defense Education Activity is well on its way to creating an entire demographic of students ineligible for service in the Navy [“DoDEA plans to expand virtual school offerings,” April 20].

In accordance with Navy Recruiting Command Instruction 1130.8H, Volume II, online high school diplomas are not the same as a traditional high school diploma.

The Defense Department uses a three-tiered system to evaluate high schools, Tier 1 for traditional, Tier 2 for correspondence and online offerings, and Tier 3 for high schools with no education credentials.

Not to say DoDEA’s new “virtual” high school won’t be fun and cool for the students — it just misses the mark on what the Navy deems an education.

However, not all hope is lost for the unfortunate students who possess this diploma. The Navy can enlist 5 percent of its total force with Tier 2 educations, provided the applicant can score at least a 50 on his Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, and education waivers are being entertained at that time.

One more thing: The Commission on International Trans-Regional Accreditation, from which DoDEA is seeking accreditation, is not recognized by the Defense Department.

Good luck, kids.

NCC (SW) Brett M. Horton

Harlingen, Texas