The Beginning

Welcome to The Ward Room. This will be a blog about my Naval experiences as a junior officer. I will not use the name of my ship and nor the names of people to protect the guilty. 

What I intend to do with this is provide leadership examples of what to and not to do. As an officer, I was charged with handling my own division as a Division officer (DivO) I reported to a department head (DepO), who reported to the executive officer (XO), who reported to the captain/commanding officer (CO). Similar to what you've seen on Star Trek and other shows where a chain-of-command is emphasized, the CO had broad powers over his command. While they can't directly violate any order, they can disagree, and where the order is considered unlawful, outright reject it. I will be giving examples of all of this.

Please note that the blogs are not necessarily in chronological order but more order of importance and what lesson I want to convey. Also, these incidences took place over 30 years ago, so they are not as fresh in my mind as they used to be. I may embellish a bit on some or not quite use the exact details, but the overall details are true. Think of these more of a bard's tale or parable, with a lesson in the end than the complete 100% truth.

You've also probably noticed that use the masculine pronouns. All of this took place before females were allowed on combat ships. At the time they were only allowed on auxiliary ships like tankers, supply ships, and sub tenders (repair ships that made how calls), so I never got a chance to command female sailors. 

Also, I only stayed in for 4 years before resigning my commission. I could have stayed longer but chose not to. 

Thank you.
Location: Norfolk, VA, USA

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