More stereotypes

Tonight is going to be another stereotype post, just like last night. I know that is a bad word and good people never stereotype because there is always someone who doesn't fit, but I'll just settle for being a bad person. Also, I am going to say Navy, but realize that I am just speaking for my corner of the Navy, the nuclear part.

If anyone has ever wondered how submarines keep from running into each other under water, it is because each submarine is given a "box" of water to operate in. Boxes are a good thing and keep us safe when we are talking about navigation. The Navy carries this box mentality over into everything. We never think outside the box. This is partly due to it being a peacetime Navy where success is not failing, and partly just our culture. One example of our box locked thinking is how our ships our modified. If I decide that it would be convenient to move a locker from here to there, I don't just get out my cutting torch and hack it out and then weld it in where I want it. There is a huge process that takes months where engineers check out every possible ramification. And then to avoid the perfunctory "no" that going out of the box would merit, they change ship's drawings so that you can make the change and stay in the box. That is the Navy way, and it carries over into everything. Procedures, instructions, drawings, OpOrds, plans, you name it. We operate by the book, in the box.

This can be very frustrating because it has happened before that people refuse to do things smarter ways for fear of leaving the box. People let the box do the thinking for them. It is very rare to find someone at the higher levels who will leave the box, even if they are high enough that they define the box. Every once in a while one of these crazy free thinkers will make it to a high level, but that is just because every time they left the box it turned out well for them. It is okay to leave the box if you succeed, and it is okay to fail as long as you do so inside the box.

When I was sold (rented?) to the Army, I thought it was a breath of fresh air how they left the box freely and at will. One example of this is their trucks. There is a TV show called "Pimp my ride" where a group of mechanics will take a beat up vehicle and trick it out in 30 minutes. The Army lives that show. Every truck is completely "pimped out" with extra lights and sirens and sometimes even music systems. These guys will cut, weld, or drill into their trucks without thinking twice; I still get nervous to put a screw in for an authorized install. And it is not just the Joes (that's Army for average soldier) who do this. We are constantly getting new toys to add on that will definitely be the one to win the war with cool names like Dragon, Blowtorch, or Boomerang - if only there had been an Army testing program to verify they work in the real world.

I'm not sure my initial evaluation of "breath of fresh air" was quite right, because many of these after-market add-ons don't work out so well. It is not uncommon to have cables melt or to run the generator/alternator at overload to support these toys. It is not uncommon for these rapidly fielded gadgets to fail in the Baghdad/war environment. I have since realized that
the Army does not think outside the box. That is the wrong stereotype. A better stereotype would be that either a) they don't realize there is a box to think outside of or b) they just plain don't think. It is all very hard for a submariner to deal with.

So does it make me appreciate the Navy more? No. I still maintain that it is cowardly to cling to a box because you are scared of what may possibly happen if you think. Acting outside the box should be done with trepidation, but thinking should outside should a way of life. On the other hand, it sure would be nice if the Army realized that the box was not there to escape as a goal, but to leave when necessary. It would also be nice if they thought before they left, if that's not asking too much.