we robbed from the dead fleet boats all the time, often for stuff that was no longer made, the manufacturer had gone out of business, often decades ago.
When I was the ugliest secretary in Iraq, we'd part out trucks with parts on long wait to keep other trucks running. Then when all the long wait time parts showed up, they'd go on the hanger queen, and it'd roll out the gate.
Did a 4 year tour as an FFG's Electronics Material Officer as an OpTech CWO. Front row seat to the Navy Supply System, which I likened (rightly or wrongly) to the waiter being the aristocracy in a restaurant. We were getting underway from Todd Shipyard in L.A. for sea trials when the surface search radar crapped out. A capacitor had gone bad and none were in stock aboard. Drove over to a marine electronics store in San Pedro and bought the part for $14. We got underway only an hour late. The Captain had to order the SUPPO at gun point to reimburse me. A few years later the air search radar antenna self-destructed while we were in homeport, Long Beach, CA. Huge backlog and lead time to get an entirely new antenna. I was living in Navy Housing onboard the Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach. 1 of 8 houses on base. On a hunch, I went to a compound on that base that had a half dozen ancient AN/SPS-30 height-finding radar antennas in a chain linked area next to a building. Turns out that there was a friendly high level civil servant there who knew people in radar antenna repairs. The man was eager to help. He helped me get a new antenna in about 5 days. It was one of those 1 in a million hunches that paid off. I gave him an arm-load FFG-9 swag and he had lunch with the Captain and a grand tour of our ship.
I remember earlier, aboard another Frigate as a Chief EW during the Jimmy Carter Era. Carter was a former Naval Officer. He was all about fiscal responsibility and trimming the fat. What did we get? Fewer roast beef meals (replaced with rabbit and soy-extended burgers), and a smaller budget to buy spare parts for our equipment. That was to help trim expenditures, our contribution to trimming the federal budget. No provisions were made to tell the equipment not to break. We still got castigated for "down" equipment that degraded the mission. If you weren't comshawing, doing end runs, scavenging or skirting the system you were failing.
Thanks for pointing this out, Jim. Pretty relevant to any military supply system, real or fictional.
Enjoy your time away. 👍
we robbed from the dead fleet boats all the time, often for stuff that was no longer made, the manufacturer had gone out of business, often decades ago.
When I was the ugliest secretary in Iraq, we'd part out trucks with parts on long wait to keep other trucks running. Then when all the long wait time parts showed up, they'd go on the hanger queen, and it'd roll out the gate.
Did a 4 year tour as an FFG's Electronics Material Officer as an OpTech CWO. Front row seat to the Navy Supply System, which I likened (rightly or wrongly) to the waiter being the aristocracy in a restaurant. We were getting underway from Todd Shipyard in L.A. for sea trials when the surface search radar crapped out. A capacitor had gone bad and none were in stock aboard. Drove over to a marine electronics store in San Pedro and bought the part for $14. We got underway only an hour late. The Captain had to order the SUPPO at gun point to reimburse me. A few years later the air search radar antenna self-destructed while we were in homeport, Long Beach, CA. Huge backlog and lead time to get an entirely new antenna. I was living in Navy Housing onboard the Naval Weapons Station in Seal Beach. 1 of 8 houses on base. On a hunch, I went to a compound on that base that had a half dozen ancient AN/SPS-30 height-finding radar antennas in a chain linked area next to a building. Turns out that there was a friendly high level civil servant there who knew people in radar antenna repairs. The man was eager to help. He helped me get a new antenna in about 5 days. It was one of those 1 in a million hunches that paid off. I gave him an arm-load FFG-9 swag and he had lunch with the Captain and a grand tour of our ship.
I remember earlier, aboard another Frigate as a Chief EW during the Jimmy Carter Era. Carter was a former Naval Officer. He was all about fiscal responsibility and trimming the fat. What did we get? Fewer roast beef meals (replaced with rabbit and soy-extended burgers), and a smaller budget to buy spare parts for our equipment. That was to help trim expenditures, our contribution to trimming the federal budget. No provisions were made to tell the equipment not to break. We still got castigated for "down" equipment that degraded the mission. If you weren't comshawing, doing end runs, scavenging or skirting the system you were failing.