Rules...
For thee and not for me... Version 253...
A Navy supply ship was run aground by a junior officer off the coast of Bahrain shortly after the ship's master -- or captain -- left the bridge to eat dinner, an investigation revealed.
The USNS Alan Shepard had finished up a maintenance period on July 15 and was on the way to a port in Bahrain when she was directed to an area just off shore to wait on a pilot. The master took the ship there and then went to eat dinner, leaving the ship in the hands of a much more junior third officer.
Less than 30 minutes later, the Alan Shepard was grounded on a shoal.
Full article, HERE from Military.com.
It is noted that an actual Navy CO was relieved last month for running aground in the Pacific, but this guy...not so much.
Why?
Well, USNS ships are run by 'contract' seamen, with just a few military folks on there, who, by the way, are NOT allowed to command at sea. They are mostly supply types, who manage the cargo/stores on the ship with their enlisted sailors and provide the same to the various ships during underway replenishments (UNREPS).
And they have a union!
So, the 'rules' don't apply to them like they do for the Navy, even though it's a Navy ship managed through MSC... sigh...
(grumpy face emoji) Unions started out as a good idea. Today? Not so much.
I can easily see how a Master could be clearly negligent and walk away from the consequences, Jim.
You can't touch the union. 🤬 Thank you for that little gift, President Kennedy.
I had to deal with the Federal Education Association (FEA), a spin off of the teacher's union, NEA, while I taught in the DOD school in Korea. A bigger bunch of entitled, little [censored] you'll never meet.
I had to warn parents about how direct allegations of teacher incompetence would never get their kid out of the crappy classrooms due to the union circling the wagons at the first sign.
I was happy to leave the room when the FEA members would have their separate "special" meetings. More time for me to grade. 🤷♂️ Of course, they would trash talk me in front of my students, but most of the kids were too smart to buy that bologna. 👍