"USN Navy Desertions" Topic

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I wonder how many were trapped in deck department?

Probably most.

I always thought the Navy handled desertions and UA rather poorly. I called the mother of sailor that was UA. She told me that her son was there and that she just wanted to make her son happy! I convinced her that her son would be better off he would return and he did. I was verbally reprimanded for talking to his mother.

This is a far cry of what my veteran father told me, "if I ever went UA do not come home". I was a lot better off in the long run with tough love he gave me, because I had no choice but to stick it out.

The hardest part of the Navy is adapting and learning to deal with stresses of naval life during the first two years.

I blame the Navy for part of this problem. When I enlisted it was my second tour of service my first had been in the Army. The Navy recruiter offered me an "Undesignated Seaman" rating even though I qualified for 99% of the jobs in the Navy based on my ASVAB scores. I was a little older and a little wiser, so I asked a lot of questions and rejected the offer in about 15 seconds flat! I wanted Corpsman, I demanded it and received it.

"Undesignated Seaman" do not receive schools after boot camp they are immediately assigned to the fleet Deck department with the sales pitch, "You will get to see what the Navy is all about and then you will get to PICK THE SCHOOL OF YOUR CHOICE." The new recruit is being lied to…

For those of you that don't know what Deck department is, it is a labor pool that performs a ton of essential tasks that are unpleasant and get no respect. (I.E. Chipping paint, cleaning, swabbing decks, grunt labor in the hot sun or freezing rain etc…) Not many want to be in Deck department, and it is perpetually understaffed. The Navy will do anything to fill this department and once you are in it, it is almost impossible to get out.

THE BIG LIE, you will get to pick the school of your choice.

The reality you will get to pick from a list of schools that are available, what is available is up to the Navy. The Navy tends to fill MOS slots with new 18-year-old recruits that were smart enough to reject the "Undesignated Seaman" sales pitch. When a seaman having spent a couple of years in Deck department figures this out morale plummets and then rage sets in. You become a slave to your contract.

The second part of this lie is a lie by omission. There is no designated time how long you will spend in Deck department. Your ship will blame the Department of the Navy and tell the seaman you need to be patient it will happen. The reality is the ships Captain wants to keep his Deck department staffed and will block transfer / school requests citing the needs of the Navy. Since the Deck department is perpetually under staffed the seaman will be kept in Deck department for years on end.

The Navy will eventually honor its contract promise to the "Undesignated Seaman". Late in his enlistment they will offer him a poor selection of schools. However he will now need to extend his enlistment to get the school of his choice from those presented. There will also be a waiting period for his school to convene, could be six months. The waiting period will all be spent in the Deck department. Many seaman faced with an extension decline the schools offered. The Navy like some evil twisted Genie will smugly inform the seaman his contract was full filled, he declined to accept a school and will now finish his enlistment in the Deck department.

The Deck department is also used as a dumping ground for punishment. Lose your MOS for any reason the Navy doesn't discharge you they reassign you to Deck department. You receive UCMJ and get extra duty, you report to the Deck department. You have a dream of becoming a Navy SEAL and you wash out of BUDS you get reassigned to the Deck department. Deck department was full of angry disgruntled seaman and with good cause. All of the people that went AWOL when I was in were Deck department.

Dragon +1 …

Also didn't the USN have a large number of suicides too, fairly recently.

Yes

Thought so … The USN is so very important to our defense obviously. Hope they get their act together.

"All of the people that went AWOL when I was in were Deck department."

Was in the Navy for 28.5 years. Not all were in Deck but, a large percentage. Also if you lose your security clearance were is the XO going to send them? You do not want disgruntled sailors serving food.

I did not have any of those problems with the recruiter Dragon mentioned. Most of Deck personnel did not have the score needed to go to the A school of their choice. I always advise to be prudent before you sign your name to a contract.

I wanted to go into aviation. I wanted to go to AZ school (Aviation Maintenance Administration) so I took the test and was told I couldn't get AZ school but I qualified to be a Radioman. Turns out the Navy put the word out they needed Radioman and was offering recruiters bonuses. Found out later I did qualify for AZ school but was lied to. So I went to RM school, hated it and so didn't do well.

So the career counselor said I should switch from Seaman to Airman (E-3) and wait for a school slot to open. So I got sent to V-2 Division on a carrier. V-2 is Aviation Boatswain's Mates. It is the aviation version of the Deck Department.

Not knowing what you're doing can get you and a lot of people killed. V-2 operates the steam catapults and arresting gear. I had not been to school for this and I was was scared to death. I was nervous and sick. The crew in that department were using drugs on board the ship and when I refused to take part I was beat up and humiliated.

I was given every crappy job they had. I got mad and I went to personnel and got the correspondence course for AZ. I passed the test with flying colors and was promoted to E-4 AZ3 (non-com.) My life changed for the better.

I went to the commander in charge of the Aviation Intermediate Maint. Dept. and was told to pack up my stuff and move to new digs and a new job. It was the job I wanted in the first place. Never went to school for it.

The Navy treats E-1 through E-3s like crap. You have to be pro-active and take risks to get ahead. If you get in and don't like it, too bad! No wonder they had a drug problem and accidents. I could go on…

I will take my experience a little further here. In my Corpsman A school I spent my weekends studying for weekly exams we had to pass. Most of my peers were having weekend drunken orgies in a hotel. The result was my class GPA put me in the top 5% of the class enough to qualify for a C school, I selected Pharmacy tech.

At the end of my enlistment I requested an early discharge from the Department of the Navy it was approved. I received a letter from The Department of The Navy to begin out processing as soon as my replacement arrived. My replacement arrives and my Medical Department head on my ship requests I stick around two weeks more to train my replacement to run the shipboard pharmacy. I agree and at the end of the two weeks I request to begin out processing.

The Captain of our ship decided I was not going to out process and I would be reassigned to you guessed it DECK DEPARTMENT! I refused and was threatened with UCMJ and a bad discharge by the Captain. I immediately started to research what my rights were under the circumstances.

I tell the head of the Medical Department, "Please inform the Captain I demand a trial by court martial. Please inform him he will have to answer the following questions at my trial…"

1. I have a letter from the Department of the Navy authorizing me to out process and that out ranks the Captain so why I was not allowed to out process?

2. The justification for sending me to the Deck Department when I out rank my replacement? (I was an E-4)

3. What I have done to deserve a bad discharge? ( I also reminded them I already had an honorable discharge from the Army and my benefits were secure)

The unholy Satanic tantrum they had… They put me ashore in Yokuska Japan, I hopped the Mag Lev to Tokyo, caught a flight to Treasure Island in San Francisco and was out processed in record time with an Honorable discharge

Maybe the new Top Gun movie will help with Navy recruiting? Like the last one …