I retired from the Navy in 1993. Yes, it was in the last century, the 1900’s. I have many memories about that time, some good, some not so much. But hindsight is always 20/20 as the saying goes. I say hindsight is filtered by the passage of time.

There has been much coverage on the Navy lately with the Abraham Lincoln and all of that. My feeling being social media has added to all of that in a very bad way. The helicopter parents piping in with all the little stories about their babies. And the number of what we called “sea lawyers” is in the thousands.

Being on Facebook my newsfeed in now being filled with Navy related stories. You know if you click on one article how a hundred more are directed your way. It’s all about sales! The more is offered to you the more you are likely to buy. Thing with me is, I’m not buying 99% of what is being sold.

The newest story I saw involved the George Washington. This carrier pulled into Yokosuka Japan; the crew went on liberty and some sailors got drunk! Yes, in a shocking development sailors were drinking alcoholic beverages, fighting and behaving poorly.

The captain has now banned the crew from consuming alcoholic beverages while on liberty. Not only that, if you are 18,19 years old you can’t have overnight liberty! The sea lawyers are out in force on Facebook offering advice! Many seem to believe the sailors civil rights are being violated, why it could be discrimination as well! I’m sitting here laughing.

As I said I retired from the Navy thirty-three years ago. I realize things have changed a great deal since then. The Navy I knew doesn’t exist anymore, that was in the 1900’s, when the social construct was vastly different than today. I was still in the don’t ask, don’t tell era.

I’m laughing about the George Washington story because whatever they did it was expected back in my day. I know it sounds like a stereotype but that’s what sailors did. Yes, not everyone was that way, there are always extremes in either way but in general, yeah, we were sailors.

Joining the Navy, being a fleet sailor came with certain expectations on the part of your shipmates. We were men! Well, at least we thought we were anyway. Away from home for the first time, on our own, we were set free! That was our goal, to be independent of our parents, to be, on our own! Lots of bad judgement exercised, it was a learning curve.

Back in my day we didn’t say things like, we were embracing the Naval lifestyle, no, we were hitting the beach! Hitting the beach implied certain actions, drinking alcohol was on top of the list accompanied by a slew of questionable choices for entertainment.

Sick bay would even give you preemptive shots of penicillin, you know, just in case. It was an optional thing. Tattoos and having relations with women of highly questionable moral virtues it may seem like a prudent choice. No one in the entire command would be shocked or surprised by any rowdy behaviors.

I’m not saying times were better back in my day, I’m saying times were different. Generally speaking, sailors were young men, prone to proving they were men by the standards displayed. Yeah, a bunch of kids, although we certainly didn’t think of ourselves that way.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. That’s an old adage that holds a great deal of truth. I know this much, sailors on ships, at sea, and in foreign ports are different than sailors in their home port. What I’m saying is, when sailors are “in the navy” many will act that way, like sailors. When at home, not so much, that’s when we tell our stories.

I wonder what the climate is today, what with all the social changes that have taken place. I see the postings of those in boot camp. They are marching carrying a water bottle and what appears to be a blanket. In some, they are calling cadence.

When I was in boot camp, we carried a rifle. We never called cadence, that’s an Army thing, we were sailors! Carrying a water bottle? What? No, we did carry a notebook and a pencil when going to class. I didn’t find boot camp to be any great challenge; I suffered no emotional trauma.

That was because I was used to being yelled at by any number of people. Mom, dad, the teachers at school, the coach or any other adult that felt like giving you a blast. I had learned to just absorb that, to shake it off. My feelings didn’t require validation. I had also learned that there were things I had to do whether I liked them or not. It was best not to complain, just get it done.

You could say there was a certain degree of bullying going on but that wasn’t anything new. I had learned long ago to navigate the bullies, those that were name callers. I already understood two basic facts of life: it isn’t fair and there are those that “got it like that.” Sailors, drunk and disorderly! Oh, the shock and shame of it all.