Shipmates, Liberty ain't what it used to be

[BOSSHOG]

Per today's NYT, liberty for Sailors in New York is sipping Cappucino's with your wife or being astounded at eating Burgers with Mushrooms.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/nyregion/30sailor.html?th&emc=th

Off-Broadway, Architecture and Terra Cotta facades?? WTF - O? Surely to Davey Jones, there has to be some Sailors who have slipped the grasp of reporters and photographers and taken off in search of more traditional Sailor pursuits. Please tell me its so!

[SpiralHawk]

1. Actually, most sailors take liberty at the Museum of Natural Inclinations

where there are educational exhibts on rum and saucy barmaids.

[BOSSHOG]

2. Arrrrrhhhh!!!

and every story laced with lies. Where oneupmanship is a fine craft handed down from salt to salt.

[panader0]

3. I've been to that museum too!

[lpbk2713]

22. I've been known to shoot the shit in the geedunk before.

Just remember, if any story starts with "Now this aint no shit .... ", you can be sure it is.

[driver8]

24. Or as we used to say, "This is a no-shitter..." n/t

[Sgent]

4. Don't worry

5 years ago my brother and one other Marine were the only two to go to a single museum while thier ship was outside Rome.

They still take liberty as always (although the drug test when they return prevents some more extravagant celebrations as in the past).

[driver8]

25. When I was in (86-91), my ship always has several options for

different tours and opportunities to explore the country we were visiting. Many of them "sold out" almost as soon as they were posted.

That is not to say that sailors don't like to "visit" the other attractions, but I know that the opportunities are there to visit museums, etc.

[Lady Effingbroke]

5. Nice archtiecture - gee whiz!

:wow:

[MindPilot]

6. Not to worry, the NYT is just puttin' on the ritz..

Cappuccinos and Burgers with Mushrooms is just a code for motor oil and fungus-covered sliders. And that was not his wife...

[Left_Winger]

7. In my day it was quite different

Although I was a Marine, I did spend most of my time deployed and I was well acquainted with the "Gator Navy".

"Join the Navy and see the world..." No one ever told me the Marines went with them.

Oh, the things we did on liberty. If I told any of the stories this thread would probably be locked.

[BOSSHOG]

8. Same here Teammate

and a hearty Semper FI to you. I guess we'll keep our liberty memories safe in the deep dark perverted corner of our mind where all the other youthful "indiscretions" belong. Those were the days!

[Left_Winger]

11. Here is a safe "sea story" you might enjoy...

One upon a time aboard the USS Spartanburg County (LST 1192) we were in some rather rough weather. The ship was rolling and pitching... you know, those times when it's possible to walk on the bulkheads ("walls" for non-Naval personnel).

Well, my platoon was berthed four decks below, most of my fellow Marines were heaving, and there was not much fresh air....

To escape, I climbed out of our compartment. Along the way I encountered a Chief (at least I think he was because he was wearing khakis) and he asked why I was not in my quarters; we were in that status when all water-tight hatches are secured and all non-essential personnel were supposed to be in their quarters (Is that 'condition zulu?'). When I told him what I was doing he just laughed and told me that his favorite color was aqua marine. "Get it, aqua Marines!"

[MindPilot]

15. So we're in Guam picking up our Marines on the way to 'Nam...

I'm rigging the brow (that's the stairway that goes up the side of the ship.) lights as a few hundred Marines are coming aboard. Guam is an open harbor and the sea is a bit rough so the ship is bouncing around a lot even while tied up to the pier. I hear a horrible scream and look down to see the heavy steel roller on the bottom of the brow rolling up this Marine's leg. I'm now the only one on the brow and dead center. Everyone on the quarterdeck is yelling at me to get off the brow. The brow easily weighs a few thousand pounds so my scrawny ass isn't going to make a bit of difference, but I know that if I run up or down, that brow will whip and make the Marine's life even more miserable. Next, I hear over the 1MC, "This is the XO! Get off that brow, IMMEDIATELY!!

I vaulted over the rail. On the way down I was *really* hoping I didn't fall between the ship and the pier. As it turned out I landed on a pile of cables and was just bruised up. I got put on report and had to go to mast for not following orders. The Marine was fine; just some bruising.

[MindPilot]

9. Gator Navy sailor here...

If today's sailors think that sipping cappuccino is a good time I have my doubts if they could get you guys across the street let alone to the war.

[alfredo]

16. In my MOS, we couldn't talk shop, so we talked of our exploits

downtown. We consumed more alcohol per soldier than any military base in the military. That is not counting what we consumed downtown.

So just to prepare you for this site I will warn you that there are stories of young men acting badly.

http://www.geozazz.com/zazz03.htm Go to spook tales. BTW the icon is the doors to an off limits brothel. A little taste http://www.geozazz.com/hicksa01.htm



The people on this site were featured in "We didn't do it for You." by Michela Wrong. It's a modern history of Eritrea. Excellent book.

[Captain Hilts]

10. AIDS, all volunteer [i.e. sailors are older] has changed things.

No more specially painted toilets for those with the clap, etc.

[Bucky]

12. No one's coming out and saying it. Dammit, I'll say it! They need whores!

Sailors need whores. They don't need sultry barmaids. They need cheap, disease-ridden, well-aged, whisky-breathed strumpets. Dammit, that's what we're fighting for, not mushroom burgers, cappucchinos, and wholesome museum tours with their wives. Their wives?!!? What the hell is that? Grrr, the terrorists have already won!

[Captain Hilts]

14. I suggest your wife or sister volunteer for that duty. nt

[JVS]

20. Preach it!

[savemefromdumbya]

36. Hey what do lady sailors do in the meantime?

do THEY need whores? :evilgrin:

[maxrandb]

59. I'm sure some ladies do

I've served on mix gender ships, and trust me. Seeing what some of our lady Sailors were doing in Guam rivaled anything I had seen from their male counterparts. :)

[UTUSN]

13. Hey! I did the Folger Shakespeare Library (outside. it was closed) once

Got my picture taken with Puck (the stature). And a symphony concert. And one opera and one ballet. So that would be 3 1/2 cultural events on Liberty. However, the number of schooners and the like are as unnumbered as the stars...

[Stinky The Clown]

17. We always went to church

I recall one liberty out of the mine lab in gawd-forsaken Panama City, Florida (back waaaaaay before the days of the 'Redneck Riviera').

I was one of four 'duty drivers' using the assigned van to haul our guys to the beach. Two local women decided to just give it away, so to speak. This went on for three days. Taxing our guys back and forth. The van started to reek.

Me? I was just the duty driver. Pure as the driven snow.

It is only now that I've come to sip lattes. :)

[PsN2Wind]

18. It didn't take us long to study the architecture

in Olongapo, Yokusuka, Atsugi, the various numbered villages of Okinawa or even Hong Kong. So most of us spent our time trying to help get young ladies off the streets. We did have a lot of success at this although sometimes only for a "short time"!!

[oneighty]

19. Give me liberty or give me death.

Life happiness and pursuit of liberty.

But in Greece long ago I did take some guided tours just like a tourist. A liberty well worth the time money and effort. So much to see.

'KAZUKO' the story of a three year long liberty. Available from my journal.

180

[PsN2Wind]

21. Hi 180

My last time in Japan, I also did do some serious sight-seeing. A young lady I had befriended took me on a tour of Tokyo; the Ginza, Tokyo Theatre (saw South Pacific with an all Japanese cast), took in a Sumo match. Then to Kamakura to see the Dai Butsu (Great Buddha) and the shrine at Ieshima. Figured it might be my last time there, so took a weeks leave to see something a bit more cultural than, Black Market Alley, VD Hill and Gobblers Gulch.

[oneighty]

23. Kamakura

Been there many times. We would catch the 'Toonerville' trolley (train) from there to Enoshima for swimming-skindiving and just plain relaxing.

180

[Left_Winger]

28. I only had one such opportunity

as transports usually have port call in lousy places. However, I was lucky enough to have a good time in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I saw all the famous places like Morro Castle, Plaza de Colon, the old city, etc. When my ship did reach a desirable location like Singapore or Hong Kong I usually had shore patrol so one does not have to guess what I got to see (I was deployed out on four different ships, both FMF Atlantic and Pacific).

I saw on another thread that you used to live in Pawley's Island, SC, just behind the post office. This is a small world, I spend my summers in Litchfield (you should know where that is); and a piece of info from the area: the old post office still stands but is abandoned.

My deployments did take to places many people never go. Two such extremes were 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle and crossing the equator (maybe we ought to have a Shellback roll call).

Howdy from the coast of SC.

:hi:

[hootinholler]

26. Hey Chief, The NYT left out the first sentence...

"And this is no shit."

-Hoot

[Captain Hilts]

31. Good one Hoot! nt

[BOSSHOG]

39. Fuckin NYT

and that ain't no shit! (Is that a quadruple negative or what?) Thanks for chiming in Shipmate!

[maxrandb]

58. New York is a great city for liberty

We went there for Fleet Week and had to wear whites on liberty. I don't think I bought a beer the whole time we were there. The people were just simply fantastic, and our money was no good there.

We had Sailors coming back to the ship without covers, web belts, ribbons, ESWS Pins, and other various acoutrements, because we had given them away to strippers, people in bars, or just people on the street. New York was/is an awesome liberty call.

[true_notes]

27. A Current Sailor's Views

With me being in the Navy, I'm up to date on all the jive and jazz. I think that Sailors are enjoying what the article called "Calmer Liberties" because

1.The new Navy is super-educated, even in the enlisted ranks. There are new policies requiring at least an Associates to obtain Chief Petty Officer and a Bachelors to obtain Master Chief Petty Officer. So this mass education of sailors enlightens their brains to soothe the thirst of knowledge by spending their money on something worthwhile other than finger bangin' and skin thrashing.

2. The Navy is STRICT on tattoos, whore mongering, and all the "bad" stuff sailors are synonomous with. If you do this stuff you will see the XO, if not the CO if you fail to obey policy. No tats below the sleeve line, and they can't be seen through the whites. You play you pay!

3.Better pay than it used to be. We can afford more things than titties and beer. Not only that, beer is so bad for your health and guess what? If you aren't healthy in the Navy these days, no questions asked, yer ass is with Davy Jones.

Well that's my 2 cents.

[lpbk2713]

29. That's good to know about the educational requirements.

When I was in (65 - 69) it was demoralizing to work under a PO1 or PO2 who couldn't even spell his name the same way twice in a row.

[maxrandb]

34. And I'd take the

GED educated BMCM that did "back-to-back" riverboat tours in Vietnam and was a two time alcohol rehab failure, over any college educated CPO when the "shit hits the fan".

Some of those old guys may have been "dumber than dirt", but I would want them on the hose in a main-space fire.

[lpbk2713]

35. That is certainly a point to consider.

But there were never any major fires where I was and there was a lot of time spent trying to figure out how some people managed to get advanced as far as they were.

[maxrandb]

53. It's definitely a different Navy today

Some of the changes are for the better, but some are definitely not. One thing we never would have done would be to question how someone senior to us "made it that far". That's what the Navy advancement system is for, and I continue to have faith in that system.

One thing that I always say is: "there is NO "personality conflict" between a junior and a senior...it called "indubordination".

[BOSSHOG]

40. You are right on the money shipmate!

Give me a salt, not a sheepskin (if my life were in jeopardy.) I recall a CB we had who had a (weight problem). He raised holy hell about the PT test. Big old boy. He said do you want someone big enough to pull you over a cliff or someone who looks good in uniform while your ass dangles from a ledge? Now that I'm retired I can wax philosophical.

[true_notes]

42. You Guys Are Missin' the Point

You go through the ranks while gathering an education, so you are getting "salty" and smart at the same time. To me it's a beautiful thing, The Navy is giving us the best of both worlds. To me it's an educated enviroment in which you can swear, howl at the moon and do things that would otherwise get you fired in any other "educated" job.

I believe that an educated sailor can do anything a rock can, and even better. We're a stronger team because of being smarter, and we understand world views better so when we go to a port there's not so much discontent amongst the locals. That's just me though, My generation of sailors are the new breed of multitasking sailors.

What's wrong with being big and smart?

[BOSSHOG]

45. Yo shipmate

Did you join a fucked up Navy? I think not! Every new breed of Sailor is better than the last; its by design. Just wait to hear what the next generation of Sailors (who might not be born yet) has to say about you. Keep on proving the old saying that youth is wasted on the young. I did my time in that barrel. We were big enough and smart enough; that's why you got a job now. I was smart enough not to work four years after retirement (and counting.)

"We're a stronger team because of being smarter." May I suggest you win a world war before you get too overcome by your own bad self.

Fair Winds and Following Seas Shipmate and keep on paying those taxes so this old neanderthal khaki sumbitch continues to get a thankyou every first day of the month.

[MyNameGoesHere]

30. Holy crap

you mean there are no more sailors? What a shame. next your going to tell me that no one goes to "the gut" on liberty anymore.

[maxrandb]

33. You can still have "fun" in the Navy

but now we just call it "Le Gutar"

[rppper]

48. "the gut"...toulon france?

been there, done that...ate smashed sandwiches.......got a few no shitters from toulon......

[MyNameGoesHere]

55. Toulon dear god no

we were too big to pull in there. Good old Via Roma in Napoli.

[BOSSHOG]

37. God Bless ya Shipmate

I retired in 2002 and I told my Sailors that if they could beat my score in the PT test they got a 72 hour liberty. It happpened once in four years. I've gone straight to hell since then. Best of luck Shipmate, I hope you have a prosperous career; proudly hit the beach in Khakis and live long and prosper. Fair Winds and Following Seas. I truly hope that one day you are an old fart retired chief. The country needs us to sustain our wealth of knowledge.

[MindPilot]

44. Wow, things **have** changed!

When I was in, smart was a serious liability. It was made very clear from the outset that you were not to think, make decisions or do anything without permission and supervision. Any expression of individual thought or self-actualization was a ticket to an ass-chewing.

[rppper]

47. the submarine force has always been the better educated.....

...part of the navy....basicly if you can not learn the location of every major valve, all of the D/C gear, every pump, the workings and purpose of every major piece of gear, from the range ovens in the gally to the main engines back aft of your boat, within 9 to 12 months of reporting, while doing your in rate job and standing and qualifying watchstations, in port and at sea, you will be shitcanned to the surface fleet....a submariners nightmare......

i am glad you could still have fun while i was in....i have a chestfull of "no shitters"...all true of course. the old boomers and fast boats all had a charm to them that the new boats lack...they have pumps for the san tanks now instead of HP air.....safer if you open a flapper valve half awake for sure, but the excitment of the old man blowing a shitter on himself at 4am is gone forever.......

best of all...there were no jarines on a sub, unless you were messing with the warheads on a boomer...and they belonged to the tender....and i hate to break the spirit of all you skimmer types on this board....yes, that includes the gator navy too....but you were all nothing but targets to us mighty submariners...i know for a fact if you guys ever found us in an exercise it was because we let you. i have penetrated the destroyer/frigate screen sooooo many times as battle-stations helmsman in all those exercises against carrier battle groups is was almost disheartening...we were all like "thank gawd we AINT the russians....". i have personally banged on a bulkhead, along with several other shipmates, with large monkey wrenches so you skimmers might have a clue...i gotta admit though, the helo's would always save your asses....untill we went deeeeeeep..........flame away skimmer pukes and gator frieghter guys....i fart in your general direction(all in fun shipmates...all in fun)

[Captain Hilts]

50. Good to see pride still runs deep!

[rppper]

51. you are old school if thats your boat........

my first sea dad was a bonefish survivor..despite that he was a diesel boat guy all the way...an "A" ganger too.....below is my last boat...ssn770(uss tucson)...thats me in the far back during alpha trials.....

[Captain Hilts]

52. That was dad's last boat. Great photo of you....and the boat! nt

[MyNameGoesHere]

60. I never understood 2 things

Why people jump out of perfectly good airplanes, and why some go on a ship that purposely sinks itself. But hey I learned a new word from Submariners= "fuckingbubbleheads" :)

[Beetwasher]

54. "Beer is bad for your health"????!!!!!

Where in the world did you ever get that idea? Maybe TOO MUCH beer is bad for your health, but beer in moderation is actually quite good for you.

[maxrandb]

32. BOSSHOG. I guess I had the best of both worlds

I was single for many of my early deployments, and then married. Some of us are faithful to our brides and prefer watching "training films" to releive the...uh..."tension" of a long deployment.

Sea Story you may appreciate: On my first cruise on USS IOWA, we pulled into St Thomas. Of course we had to anchor out. Me and a good shipmate of mine went out, met a couple of girls that were living on the island, and had a great time. About 0300, we decide that we better get back to the ship (this was when we actually treated our Sailors like adults and Cinderella Liberty was not the norm). Anyway, the girls get us back to Fleet Landing, only to find out that boating had secured for the night. The girls said they had access to a boat and offered to take us out to the ship. In our slightly inebriated state, we decided that was a good idea. We hop in their little boat with an outboard motor and start heading for the Battleship anchored in the middle of the harbor. Well, they must have seen us coming. By the time we got up the "accom" ladder, our Master Chief was standing there in his flip-flops, shorts and t-shirt with a cup of coffee in his hand. He started at the Quarterdeck and tore us up one side and down the other. He called us everything but "human beings". To this day, I still refer back to that ass-chewing when I'm searching for the right words to use on some knucklehead. It was absolutely the best ass-chewing I ever had, and I've had 'em all over the world.

Sad thing is that today, we probably would have been shot.

I have a simple rule for liberty that has worked for me throughout my career. After being cooped up with the same folks for months at a time, the last thing I want to do is go to the nearest bar and watch a bunch of Sailors re-enact "Jackass, the Movie". We pull into Naples, Italy, and some Sailors head straight for the "gut", and never make it more than a 1/4 mile away from the ship.

My rule? I watch the Sailors going down the pier, and if they all turn right...I turn left. I've had so much more fun getting away from the crowd and finding the little out of the way places. You experience so much more of the place when you're hanging with the locals.

[true_notes]

38. I'm sorry you came to Naples

I've been here 3 years...... :(

[maxrandb]

57. Did 4 MED's

so I got to see a lot of Naples. First time there, I did the overnight MWR tour to Rome. Second time in, me and a couple of shipmates hopped the train down to see the ruins of Pompei.

Heard that they cleaned up the "gut" in Naples. Used to be just across the street from the pier and down an alleyway. Didn't seem like much, just a few bars and houses of ill-repute.

If you want to see a "gut" go to the Reiperbohn(Sp) in Hamburg Germany. Makes Las Vegas look like Disneyworld.

[BOSSHOG]

43. "A Glimpse of Hell"

is amongst my prized possessions right under my shadow box along with a tribute to my DDay Hero father in law. I liked to "liberty" alone or with as few witnesses as possible. As a young Sailor I was as sick as the rest but fortunately I'm 52 and can still tell the stories. Nothing beats a good ass chewing from the CMC (especially since there is no paper trail.) In the not too distant past I do believe a Sailor would rather take Captain's Mast then a spin in the goat locker but meeting Jesus there was a lot less damage to the career and a helluva lot more of a motivator. God we were good.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

41. They must not have passed out the maps of the "Off Limits" places.

Where we all made a bee-line for. Those maps were handy in Kao-hsiung and Yokohama.

[BOSSHOG]

46. Wasn't that a hoot?

Do not go to these locations because thats where all the whores are.

Okay Chief, thanks!!!!!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

49. Hell, we had a staff sergeant lead us to one of cathouses.

He was supposed to be "minding" us. That was in Kao-hsiung and we could only go on liberty in groups of 5 with a senior NCO to keep us out of "trouble".

Our "born again" CO gave us a screeching dressing down when our squadraon achieved the honor of leading the entire 1st Marine Air Wing in cases of clap.

"The Few, The Proud".

[maxrandb]

56. Chiefs didn't want you going there

because there was too much of a chance they'd run into you. :)