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I must admit there is one thing I begrudge about military insigne's. Years back only aviators and sub sailors got to wear a "badge" such as wings or dolphins. Seems now they award "badges" for just about anything. I say it has to be something special to wear such a badge. Pilot, sub sailor, Seals, etc. Not just strapping some headphones on.
I must admit there is one thing I begrudge about military insigne's. Years back only aviators and sub sailors got to wear a "badge" such as wings or dolphins. Seems now they award "badges" for just about anything. I say it has to be something special to wear such a badge. Pilot, sub sailor, Seals, etc. Not just strapping some headphones on.
I don’t think it makes sense for only pilots, submariners, etc. (essentially the URLs) to be able to earn warfare qualifications and accompanying pins. They are not the only part of the fight, which is increasingly non-kinetic in nature. That said, warfare devices should be rigorous to obtain. I can’t think of one that isn’t
The Dolphins (sub warfare) became a joke back in the early 2000's, when the qualifications became a computer based thing, and everyone got "impressed" because some were getting qualified in a few weeks.
The powers to be seemed more interested in making it easy for everyone to get a pin, than the reasons why the qual process was as it was. Before it went computer based, the person had a qual card and had to interact with a whole lot of the crew, go around and schedule to meet to learn about things, memorize schematics, see, feel things, etc. Took months to do, upwards six months if I recall correctly on average.
Computer based wiped all that out, and even instructions to tone down the qual board and use the arranged guidance from the computer for the board. Became a damn boring and uneventful, to the point it was no longer a big deal at all, no 1MC announcement, no little ceremony on the con, no humorous qual boards, no nothing, like some very dull, corporate meeting setting.
The Dolphins (sub warfare) became a joke back in the early 2000's, when the qualifications became a computer based thing, and everyone got "impressed" because some were getting qualified in a few weeks.
The powers to be seemed more interested in making it easy for everyone to get a pin, than the reasons why the qual process was as it was. Before it went computer based, the person had a qual card and had to interact with a whole lot of the crew, go around and schedule to meet to learn about things, memorize schematics, see, feel things, etc. Took months to do, upwards six months if I recall correctly on average.
Computer based wiped all that out, and even instructions to tone down the qual board and use the arranged guidance from the computer for the board. Became a damn boring and uneventful, to the point it was no longer a big deal at all, no 1MC announcement, no little ceremony on the con, no humorous qual boards, no nothing, like some very dull, corporate meeting setting.
Maybe things have changed since then.
In my experience riding and seeing my guys qualify, it appears to have changed. There is still a computer-based part of the qualification process (SOBT courses), but this was only a small part of the process.
The Dolphins (sub warfare) became a joke back in the early 2000's, when the qualifications became a computer based thing, and everyone got "impressed" because some were getting qualified in a few weeks.
The powers to be seemed more interested in making it easy for everyone to get a pin, than the reasons why the qual process was as it was. Before it went computer based, the person had a qual card and had to interact with a whole lot of the crew, go around and schedule to meet to learn about things, memorize schematics, see, feel things, etc. Took months to do, upwards six months if I recall correctly on average.
Computer based wiped all that out, and even instructions to tone down the qual board and use the arranged guidance from the computer for the board. Became a damn boring and uneventful, to the point it was no longer a big deal at all, no 1MC announcement, no little ceremony on the con, no humorous qual boards, no nothing, like some very dull, corporate meeting setting.
Maybe things have changed since then.
There, too??????
I had learned, the harsh way, that anti-terrorism had gone from drills to a power point presentation that people rushed through to go on liberty because it was all "common sense" (no wonder we are so screwed up!).........
.........and had heard that they cancelled SWO school and it was now "SWOS in a box" (CD-ROM) and that's one of the reasons we are getting so many collisions.........
The Dolphins (sub warfare) became a joke back in the early 2000's, when the qualifications became a computer based thing, and everyone got "impressed" because some were getting qualified in a few weeks.
The powers to be seemed more interested in making it easy for everyone to get a pin, than the reasons why the qual process was as it was. Before it went computer based, the person had a qual card and had to interact with a whole lot of the crew, go around and schedule to meet to learn about things, memorize schematics, see, feel things, etc. Took months to do, upwards six months if I recall correctly on average.
Computer based wiped all that out, and even instructions to tone down the qual board and use the arranged guidance from the computer for the board. Became a damn boring and uneventful, to the point it was no longer a big deal at all, no 1MC announcement, no little ceremony on the con, no humorous qual boards, no nothing, like some very dull, corporate meeting setting.
Maybe things have changed since then.
The dolphins are definitely not a joke, and still take 6-12 months to get. Still just about the hardest warfare device for anyone to get. Was still made a big deal to get. Source: Son who is a US Navy submariner who has his dolphins.
I don’t think it makes sense for only pilots, submariners, etc. (essentially the URLs) to be able to earn warfare qualifications and accompanying pins. They are not the only part of the fight, which is increasingly non-kinetic in nature. That said, warfare devices should be rigorous to obtain. I can’t think of one that isn’t
The dolphins are definitely not a joke, and still take 6-12 months to get. Still just about the hardest warfare device for anyone to get. Was still made a big deal to get. Source: Son who is a US Navy submariner who has his dolphins.
While your son has them, you do not, thus no experience, I do have them, and what I said is what I said.
The dolphins are definitely not a joke, and still take 6-12 months to get. Still just about the hardest warfare device for anyone to get. Was still made a big deal to get. Source: Son who is a US Navy submariner who has his dolphins.
Because officers have an entirely different pipeline in order to be able to qualify in submarines, I assume you're referring to enlisted dolphins. If so, anyone taking 6-12 months to get them is not a function of the difficulty of the qualification itself, but due to other things. I have personally witnessed riders on boats--who aren't attached to a particular platform more more than 4 months--regularly qualify within 2-4 months. And this is with doing their job and the additional cleaning/maintenance and other duties they are assigned to while on the boat. So, while I don't know if I'd call the qualification "easy" (and acknowledging that what is easy is ultimately subjective), I agree completely with K350 in terms of realistic timeline.
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