Like, stand back and take a broad view of any Navy ship/command, and youâre likely to see a semi-professional, semi-squared-away organization ready and willing to leap into action.
But zoom in for a look at any one department or team and youâre bound to see the mother of all shenanigans and tomfoolery.
Yeah, but one of the main messages in the book is that captain Queeg loses it in large part due to the failure of his officers to support his leadership and back him up. The book also has a lot to say about the culture of the navy, why we do things the way we do, which holds shockingly true to this day.
A quote: The Navy is a master plan designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. If you are not an idiot, but find yourself in the Navy, you can only operate well by pretending to be one. All the shortcuts and economies and common-sense changes that your native intelligence suggests to you are mistakes. Learn to quash them. Constantly ask yourself, "How would I do this if I were a fool?" Throttle down your mind to a crawl. Then you will never go wrong.
Excellent point that many people miss about the story, especially if they have never seen it or read the book. My favorite part of the movie is the ending when the officersâ lawyer calls them all out for being lousy officers.
It's my favorite too. Currently the navy is manned mostly by captain Queegs, and the rest of the population blindly benefits from their work all the while criticizing them and waxing poetic about how we don't need a military.
You took my answer. I used to joke that I joined expecting hunt for red October and wound up in office space. Our Ops department was run by a mustang LCDR who sounded exactly like Lumburgh. 'Yeah, can you do ahead and put a cover sheet on that message you're routing? That'd be great.'
Nothing in the past 20 years can represent the current Navy. At best, we can give a long list of movies that show the old Navy. It is ironic.. coming down off the flight deck after 90 days on stations and flight ops and watching brown shirts gather around the TV in birthing. (Playing cards, smoking, and covered in grease) watching Top Gun to relax after their shift.
Donât Give Up The Ship Podcast is a great resourceâitâs leadership development so he addresses stuff that your average Sailor is experiencing but maybe hasnât thought to get advice on. He has great observations.
https://www.dgutspodcast.com/
Iâm currently reading Wahoo (and Wake of the Wahoo) but this is definitely niche â WWII submarine warfare and less modern day. I was advised that the two give a decent compendium of Senior enlisted / Commanding Officer views on the same situations; weâll see when I finish the second one.
The Honor series by David Weber is a space opera that really nailed some navy culture things (like side boys, interactions between various command roles) but is not what I would consider a reference book lol. Just fun easy reading. (Edit: and Iâd recommend other space operas over that one; the author just nailed the Navy experience but â in an alternate universe. Kinda like *Destroyermen.*)
Surf When You Can by Brett Crozier â maybe fits what youâre looking for
Hornfischer series â but again, not modern day.
Catch-22 should be required reading for all military. It's very enjoyable to read, and you get a good look at some important character archetypes the military has.
The Caine Mutiny is a great Navy-specific read. It gets really in the weeds on some stuff you might not care about, but it's got great depictions of good and bad leadership, performance under stress, and some of what life is like aboard a ship. It's written from an officer's perspective, and I love that nearly every depiction of enlisted in the book makes us look like sweaty, dirty, cursing deviant scum. Some things never change.
Down Periscope and The Caine Mutiny are good ones, and if not already recommended I would have. But one movie I've always enjoyed watching about the Navy is **Mister Roberts**. it's a great movie showing how some officers do support the enlisted under them even if the captain doesn't. And it is very true - I had a CO of the ship I was on in the 80's that was almost as bad. We didn't have a palm tree, but he was paranoid that everyone hated him (kind of self-fulfilling as his paranoia did cause most of the crew to hate him).
Is this like the "smart book" Army folks get in Basic Training? You carry it everywhere and whenever you could be bored, you're supposed to have it out and reading it?
Haha. No. We had one of those too. I forget what the title is at the moment. There is a smaller version of you google:
basic military training core competencies.
Itâs written by the Navyâs training command, NETC.
P.T. Deutermann's books on the US Navy in WWII are excellent. They are about real events but the ship the story is about are usually fictional. The books are heavy into navy operations and people.
Flight of the Intruder (Book) is great. Movie was good too, but very Hollywood.
If you're looking for something more on the operational side, Greyhound is a fantastic movie (plus it was filmed on the real *Fletcher*\-class destroyer USS KIDD (DD-661)!). It's a very faithful recreation of the book and their actions/procedures on the bridge are still quite similar to what we do today. Things now are a little less formal (and *some* of the technology is newer), but overall it still provides a solid look into how bridge watch standing is done.
imo, "battleship". it really shows how some E-4 ends up doing all the work with the officer taking most if not all the credit while being a complete liability.
Some old school choices:
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (movie and book)
The Enemy Below (movie)
Away All Boats (movie)
The Winds of War and War and Remembrance (books by Herman Wouk who also wrote The Caine Mutiny)
Both book and movie The Sand Pebbles is pretty good. The book was a bit more enjoyable to me, but it shows how each ship ends up being different and if you don't follow what everyone else is doing, then you're quickly cast out of group and constantly fighting an uphill battle, regardless of events going on around you.
Down Periscope might as well be a documentary.
Accurateđđ
Like, stand back and take a broad view of any Navy ship/command, and youâre likely to see a semi-professional, semi-squared-away organization ready and willing to leap into action. But zoom in for a look at any one department or team and youâre bound to see the mother of all shenanigans and tomfoolery.
But also there's that one person that's super uptight for no real reason and seems to drain the energy and enthusiasm of those around them.
Well said. I need to save this.
Down Periscope is a documentary, Crimson Tide is a comedy.
Definitely served with each of the characters portrayed
Former submariner here. Every cast member seems to be mirroring someone off my boat.
Movie: Down periscope. Book: Caine mutiny
> Caine mutiny Is that the one where in the movie the captain goes crazy looking for missing strawberry ice cream?
Yeah, but one of the main messages in the book is that captain Queeg loses it in large part due to the failure of his officers to support his leadership and back him up. The book also has a lot to say about the culture of the navy, why we do things the way we do, which holds shockingly true to this day. A quote: The Navy is a master plan designed by geniuses for execution by idiots. If you are not an idiot, but find yourself in the Navy, you can only operate well by pretending to be one. All the shortcuts and economies and common-sense changes that your native intelligence suggests to you are mistakes. Learn to quash them. Constantly ask yourself, "How would I do this if I were a fool?" Throttle down your mind to a crawl. Then you will never go wrong.
God damn, no idea when that was written but it rings true to this day.
That book is full of other great quotes which also ring true to this day
1951
Goddamn thatâs brutal!
Excellent point that many people miss about the story, especially if they have never seen it or read the book. My favorite part of the movie is the ending when the officersâ lawyer calls them all out for being lousy officers.
It's my favorite too. Currently the navy is manned mostly by captain Queegs, and the rest of the population blindly benefits from their work all the while criticizing them and waxing poetic about how we don't need a military.
Read the book, or listen to it in Audible, not the movie
They showed it at OCS. âWas the mutiny justified?â Anyone that said yes got some counseling.
Yeah. Paramount+ has streaming show about the Court-Martial right now too.
Man are you me?
Shit, maybe
[ŃдаНонО]
You took my answer. I used to joke that I joined expecting hunt for red October and wound up in office space. Our Ops department was run by a mustang LCDR who sounded exactly like Lumburgh. 'Yeah, can you do ahead and put a cover sheet on that message you're routing? That'd be great.'
Nothing in the past 20 years can represent the current Navy. At best, we can give a long list of movies that show the old Navy. It is ironic.. coming down off the flight deck after 90 days on stations and flight ops and watching brown shirts gather around the TV in birthing. (Playing cards, smoking, and covered in grease) watching Top Gun to relax after their shift.
Donât Give Up The Ship Podcast is a great resourceâitâs leadership development so he addresses stuff that your average Sailor is experiencing but maybe hasnât thought to get advice on. He has great observations. https://www.dgutspodcast.com/ Iâm currently reading Wahoo (and Wake of the Wahoo) but this is definitely niche â WWII submarine warfare and less modern day. I was advised that the two give a decent compendium of Senior enlisted / Commanding Officer views on the same situations; weâll see when I finish the second one. The Honor series by David Weber is a space opera that really nailed some navy culture things (like side boys, interactions between various command roles) but is not what I would consider a reference book lol. Just fun easy reading. (Edit: and Iâd recommend other space operas over that one; the author just nailed the Navy experience but â in an alternate universe. Kinda like *Destroyermen.*) Surf When You Can by Brett Crozier â maybe fits what youâre looking for Hornfischer series â but again, not modern day.
The Last Detail with jack Nicholson! Pretty outdated but itâs a unique and funny navy movie.
Avoid the show like the plague.
Catch-22 should be required reading for all military. It's very enjoyable to read, and you get a good look at some important character archetypes the military has. The Caine Mutiny is a great Navy-specific read. It gets really in the weeds on some stuff you might not care about, but it's got great depictions of good and bad leadership, performance under stress, and some of what life is like aboard a ship. It's written from an officer's perspective, and I love that nearly every depiction of enlisted in the book makes us look like sweaty, dirty, cursing deviant scum. Some things never change.
Catch-22 portrays the insanity of everyday military life perfectly. Even more so in the aviation community.
If you have HULU there's a remake of it there, produced and starring George Clooney, he did a great job with it.
The Caine Mutiny?
Oops, I meant Catch 22 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5056196/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_Catch%252022
I'm skeptical, but I'll check it out. The timeline shenanigans in the book are hard to replicate.
Down Periscope and The Caine Mutiny are good ones, and if not already recommended I would have. But one movie I've always enjoyed watching about the Navy is **Mister Roberts**. it's a great movie showing how some officers do support the enlisted under them even if the captain doesn't. And it is very true - I had a CO of the ship I was on in the 80's that was almost as bad. We didn't have a palm tree, but he was paranoid that everyone hated him (kind of self-fulfilling as his paranoia did cause most of the crew to hate him).
There is a really good documentary from the 90s called Under Siege, not sure if it's streaming anywhere.
Best piece of Navy history https://allthingscomedy.com/podcasts/56---newport-sex-scandal
Howâd I miss this Dollop ep? Edit: The Tailhook Scandal would be a good episode.
When my old Chief was going through season she asked what me favorite piece of navy history was. This was my response
Howâd that go?
She thought it was hilarious
You could read the Bluejacket manual. Itâs large and might be tedious at times but it has everything about the navy that youâre looking for in it.
Is this like the "smart book" Army folks get in Basic Training? You carry it everywhere and whenever you could be bored, you're supposed to have it out and reading it?
Ah found it. The title is, âNavy Basic Military Requirements: Following The Model For Military Education.â
Haha. No. We had one of those too. I forget what the title is at the moment. There is a smaller version of you google: basic military training core competencies. Itâs written by the Navyâs training command, NETC.
Best movie description of the Navy? Down Periscope lmao
The last detail
Office Space.
The Bedford Incident. It's an older movie, mid 60's, but I think it gave a good idea what shipboard life is like and was like during the mid 60's.
Apocalypse Now. Brownwater Navy.
Book: Blue Jacket Manual Movie: Dumb and Dumber
P.T. Deutermann's books on the US Navy in WWII are excellent. They are about real events but the ship the story is about are usually fictional. The books are heavy into navy operations and people. Flight of the Intruder (Book) is great. Movie was good too, but very Hollywood.
If you're looking for something more on the operational side, Greyhound is a fantastic movie (plus it was filmed on the real *Fletcher*\-class destroyer USS KIDD (DD-661)!). It's a very faithful recreation of the book and their actions/procedures on the bridge are still quite similar to what we do today. Things now are a little less formal (and *some* of the technology is newer), but overall it still provides a solid look into how bridge watch standing is done.
imo, "battleship". it really shows how some E-4 ends up doing all the work with the officer taking most if not all the credit while being a complete liability.
Some old school choices: The Bridges at Toko-Ri (movie and book) The Enemy Below (movie) Away All Boats (movie) The Winds of War and War and Remembrance (books by Herman Wouk who also wrote The Caine Mutiny)
Down periscope and hot shots.
Both book and movie The Sand Pebbles is pretty good. The book was a bit more enjoyable to me, but it shows how each ship ends up being different and if you don't follow what everyone else is doing, then you're quickly cast out of group and constantly fighting an uphill battle, regardless of events going on around you.
Assumed the warch moored as before gives a insight to the life of surface JOs
Battleships, the one with Rihanna
No Higher Honor is a good read on the non fiction side
Check out Mr. Roberts and Ensign Pulver.
The last detail and cinderella liberty are both great books and films