What is going on the question start USS Donald Cook supposedly was neutralized by Russian jets who flow close to the ship without any response. The US denied it happened but lots of rumors started that the crew did not want to serve on that ship again. How much is true we will never know. Then came the USS Fitzgerald which was a cargo ship hitting it. This for anyone who was a sailor sounds impossible very easy for a faster ship to get out of the way of a slow moving ship. This on its own would only be an accident that should never happen. Next came USS porter [DDG78] this ship was hit by a oil tanker here again was a much slower ship hitting a faster ship. The US government is saying the navy has been cut back and there were no lookouts on board ship. This is just crazy as they have more radars than the local airport. This is where the conspiracy hat gets put on is this why the US does not want to put ships near North Korea they were sent out once and then changed course to another port. Is the US afraid of putting their prize armada in harm’s way. Was all these things just accidents or is someone sending a message. Fun to speculate what is going on.
Well, when I was in and our ship, a guided missile destroyer, was doing "sea trails" off of San Diego, we barely missed the plane that was pulling a cone on a long cord that we shot one of our SAM missiles at. I was on the Bridge at the time and hear someone over a radio say "Halt all firing, immediately. Plane almost hit." Someone got their butt in the "ringer" for that one. Most likely an FT and Officer in charge of him. An FT is also known as a Fire Control Technician (enlisted man) who was firing the missile from the launcher under command of the Fire Control Officer. Mistakes happen in the military, just like in civilian jobs, except the news picks up military mistakes and reports on them. Obviously, military mistakes can be deadly and people are disciplined much more heavily than in civilian jobs.
True, Martin. I can't speak to the Navy. I was a straight leg grunt and I know services can get lax, take training for granted, slip a notch or two in efficiency, listen to all the bluster about how good they are, and first thing you know when things suddenly get hot, accidents happen, gun batteries experience an explosion while loading a breach, forget what to do when they need to do it, get over-run by a smaller force or a better trained one. Usually what we find is a leadership lapse, training standards have lowered we get a little bit lazy, find ourselves totally unprepared to fulfill our mission. Maybe we need to prepare for world war three instead of getting flustered about North Korea. Greater forces may be moving into position. Their target, crush the USA. thinking! thinking! Thinking...