Why civilians shouldn't read EVALS ...

Admit it - the only thing almost everyone is more embarrassed to talk about in the military than meaninglessness the NAM, is how we write our Social Realist EVALS/FITREPS. To an outsider, bad Sailors look OK; OK Sailors look great; great Sailors get lost in the shuffle.

You know - take a standard-issue Sailor just doing his job in a normal way, and you get this from a reporter,

"superior professionalism, exceptional performance and selfless devotion." ... the "driving force" behind keeping the Tomahawk system safe and operational ... One superior said he would make an excellent commissioned officer.

That for a guy who in 2009 had a DWI and was recently kicked out of the Navy following NJP (45 days of restriction, 45 days of extra duty, demotion of one rank and forfeit of half his pay for two months) - not unheard of. From reading the article, it sounds like he got a an OTH as well.

What did he do for this? Well - he explains it thus;

"You kiss the wrong girl and it can affect your whole life,"

Who was that "girl?"

He admitted —- after initially denying —- that he had had a brief romance with a female ensign. ... the ensign — a graduate of the Naval Academy ...

Really? Really?

They were among five sailors aboard the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Sampson who were charged this year with fraternization between officers and enlisted personnel.
...
(they) knew their relationship could get them in trouble. They had broken up even before the relationship came to the attention of the chain of command, he said.

But when the wife of an enlisted sailor complained to the command that her husband was having an affair with a female officer, (he) and the ensign were swept up in an investigation into improper romances aboard the Sampson.

Interesting female power dynamic in the Wardroom. Poor Skipper. Shipmate - not the Command experience you were hoping for; most of us have seen similar.

Read the whole thing as it gives a nice insight how difficult it is for civilians to understand the military.

As for the NJP - I think the CO did what he had to do; in this case the hammer seems about right. What I am interested in though is what happened to the female officers. It was their primary responsibilities as women but more importantly as officers to control this issue.

Their punishment - more than the enlisted personnel - should be the most public. Fear and shame, especially when combined, are great motivators and would serve to warn other officers male and female to follow the line of Grandmother Salamander; "Don't sleep with the help."

That is the story.