No Relief in Sight for the Lincoln

[Feadan]

Stay tuned,

Brian

Actually...after that offering of narrow minded right wing BS I think it's time to change the channel


Cheers,
David

[Wombat]

Since this thread is obviously motivated by deep compassion for the poor folks of Aceh, perhaps it would help to mention some of the background for those who care.

Military and civilian aid workers have overlapping but clearly distinct roles to play in disaster control. They need to work together as a team. The civilians will be there long after the military are gone.

All reports in the Australian media have stressed how well the different groups involved in aid have been coordinating the operation. There have been isolated reports of members of the Indonesian military profiteering but not many. There have also been isolated reports of obstruction but not many.

There is a civil war going on in Aceh between the Indonesian authorities and Acehnese separatists. The Tsunami didn't stop the war. Whilst there has been no suggestion that either the army or rebels would target foreign aid workers, as in Sri Lanka, both would want to be in charge of aid distribution in the areas they control. I doubt that the rebels would show up in the cities or towns but the place is dangerous.

[Will O'B]

All reports in the Australian media have stressed how well the different groups involved in aid have been coordinating the operation. There have been isolated reports of members of the Indonesian military profiteering but not many. There have also been isolated reports of obstruction but not many.

I should think this is much closer to the truth than the other "first hand" point of view that we were given.

Will O'Ban

[Lambchop]

Unless things have changed significantly in the past 30+ years, the waste is enormous and I'm suprised that this gentleman is just now waking up to that fact. My guess is that much of the food the workers ate from the ship's rations would have been dumped after each meal anyway, so I'm not sure why he is so upset.

Presumably, he's upset because he's the one paying for the food. The guests appeared to be eating in the officer's wardroom (hence the reference to "wardroom treasurer"), not the crew mess hall.

Most military officers, and NCOs, receive "separate rations" pay to cover food. Depending on the circumstances, if you eat government rations you are obligated to pay for them, either in advance or on the spot. In fact, if you are hospitalized, you have to pay a daily charge for food.

On navy ships, unless things have changed, officers contribute to a fund which pays for operation of the wardroom. Each officer pays his/her percentage of the food bill.

It may therefore not be clear exactly who is going to reimburse the wardroom treasury for the food. A distressful situation, yes, and one which may be difficult to resolve should the guests, who may have viewed themselves as guests of the US government rather than as guests of the officers of that wardroom, simply refuse to pay.

One group possibly needing relief after the tsunami may well be the officers of the Lincoln.

[Denny]

I can understand why the "wardroom treasurer" would ask his superior officer how to account for the meals...

I am having difficulty understanding why one he would question a quest.

[Lambchop]

There is no "superior officer" to question. Eating arrangements are more a function of a communal living arrangement, so to speak, than military business. It's a matter among the denizens of the wardroom.

There likely isn't a set procedure for handling things like this. I can't ever remember it happening to me. Certainly, if a civilian happened to be dining anywhere I've been stationed, they'd have to fork over the cash. Or someone else would have to fork it over for them.

I remember once I was officer of the day one weekend at a large hospital. A sergeant whose family member had been airlifted to the hospital had himself been picked up by helicopter to be with the family member. He'd been on field exercises and so had no cash. He had arrived late Friday night and had been without food until Sunday, except for some juice the nurses had scrounged. There was no restaurant within walking distance of the hospital, even if he'd been able to pay for a meal there.

The mess hall sergeant, because he had no way to account for a "free meal," simply refused to serve him. It was the most heartless act imaginable. He refused to let me pay for it, as well. We had a horrible argument over it. He said the man was on separate rations. I said he was in the field, so he'd paid for his rations for that day already and we should provide them without making him pay again. He said the man had paid another mess hall. I said it was all the same darned Army--if he paid THEM he paid US! And round and round we went. He kept saying the aid office was in charge of doing something, the aid office was closed, and no other resource I tried--and I tried a slew of them--was available. I didn't even have anything edible in my desk to give him. I ended up giving the money to an enlisted man I knew, had him give it to the soldier, and the man was able to eat.

The next day, the aid office was able to give him vouchers for meals. The mess hall sergeant, however, was sure I had done the evil deed of feeding the man, wrote me up for giving money to an enlisted man, necessitating that I write HIM up for failing to assure the welfare of another, yada yada, and that resulted did some good--there was thereafter a means to get vouchers to individuals caught in red tape. (And, no, I wasn't the one who got in trouble.)

When everything works according to "rules," people who think rigidly just can't deal with situations that happen outside the "rules." Everyone in the wardroom should know that you have to pay for meals and WHY you have to pay for meals. When invaded by individuals who do not know this and do not know WHY, everything falls apart.

Not that it makes writing unpleasantness any better.

[Will O'B]

In fact, if you are hospitalized, you have to pay a daily charge for food.

That sounds like a real kick in the teeth. Maybe my memory has failed me -- again -- but my final 3 months of enlistment were spent in the hospital and I don't recall money being taken from my pay for food.

Will O'Ban

[IRTradRU?]

It's a whole different ballgame in officer's country.

[Will O'B]

It's a whole different ballgame in officer's country.

I'll admit that is something I can't comment on.

Will O'Ban

[Lambchop]

That sounds like a real kick in the teeth. Maybe my memory has failed me -- again -- but my final 3 months of enlistment were spent in the hospital and I don't recall money being taken from my pay for food.

Will O'Ban

You were enlisted. I was talking about officers. Their situations are somewhat different.

Merely trying to explain why that alleged Lincoln officer is so disgruntled. Not that I don't think it's abhorrent behavior.

[glauber]

My warship had been transformed into a floating hotel for a bunch of trifling do-gooders overnight.

I feel your pain.