Carrier (2008–…): Season 1, Episode 4 - Squared Away - full transcript
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Uh-huh it's a long road to paradise
and, oh, I feel the pain oh oh oh
they tell me things are different
now but I still hurt the same
mm-hmm haze gray and underway
a world away from you
and miles and miles of blue
When I was a young boy I wanted
to sail around the world
that's the life for me...
Hands out of your pocket
there, Ghost Rider.
Livin' on the sea
spirit of a sailor...
What's wrong with your
uniform there, shipmate?
Circumnavigates the globe..
You got a lot of people
hanging out over here.
Cleaning stations!
Let's get busy!
In a leaky boat lucky
just to keep afloat...
Life on deployment? Oh, my!
The movies... Top Gun does
not explain how the Navy is.
Not even close.
It's not that great.
Monotonous.
It's tedious, it's exhausting, it
creates a lot of hypertension.
Very, very stressful. I
can't stress that enough.
It's the same routine
day in and day out.
You're working 12 hours on, 12
hours off, every single day,
seven says a week.
I love deployments. They give
you the opportunity to see
places and see things that you
probably will never see in your
entire life.
Life on deployment is
what you make of it.
It's hard for some people.
It's easy for some people.
For some people, this is the life
for them, for some people it's not.
Some people wait their time to get
out, do their 4 years and go.
Some people go crazy and try to
get kicked out, just so they
don't got to stay in no more.
What's going on?
I got nobody who wants
to talk to me today!
I see you're on
cleaning stations.
What you doing, shipmate?
I was working on getting a mop, but...
Yeah, working on getting
a mop and sitting there
shooting the breeze.
Are they giving you... I wasn't
shooting the breeze, master chief.
Ok, I'm blind then.
I'm blind.
Are you cleaning?
No, not at the moment.
And what are your names so I
could check to see if they got
you on the white card,
blue card, or whatever.
Williams.
What'd they give you a white
card, blue card or what?
A white card, master chief.
Maybe if you started doing
what you need to do and take a
little bit more initiative,
you can upgrade it, OK?
Yes, master chief.
The sailors that's coming in
the Navy these days don't
have a lot of discipline and
then when they get here to the
military, it's part of the
first line of discipline that
they've ever had in their life
and that makes it hard on me
because now you're startin'
from ground zero trying to
build not only a sailor but
just trying to build a citizen.
We have what we have and we
have to make sure that we groom
the sailors that we have
to complete the mission.
Because the mission itself may
depend on whether that person
is disciplined enough to
put that bomb on that jet.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit
of all who threaten it.
You got it in? You gotta wait till
it gets all the way in, yeah.
They go to boot camp, they go
to school, they come to us.
So drop it in now, go
ahead and tighten it.
There you go.
Within the first 6 months
it's just like my phrase is
like a dry sponge. Ok?
Real small and they need to absorb
all the knowledge that they can.
I'm a mentor. I look out
for their daily needs.
I keep them from
getting into trouble.
I make sure that they get
trained well, and they meet all
their qualifications.
I look at 'em as if
they're my own kids.
They're my responsibility and I want
to make sure that they get home safe.
First mentor was AC1 Jaqueline
Williams and, um, and
she, I don't know where I would
be if I didn't have her.
Jackie Jackson is
actually my mentor.
You'll be all right.
She cares. She's very good at listening.
She cares about what
you have going on and she's
very willing to help you.
McCollum, you ready
to do a practice?
I watched Jackie grow.
When I first got here, she was
the type of person that was
looking for guidance.
All right, go ahead, try it.
Initiate training.
And, uh, seeking out
the right way to go.
Can I just keep pushing it?
And now the Navy's put her
in positions where she's the
supervisor. She's now providing
guidance for everyone else.
Hey, press one.
There we go.
There're so many things
that you can do.
A lot of people focus
on the negative.
"I can't stand it,"
this, this and this.
"I don't work for the Navy,"
I tell people all the time.
"The Navy works for me."
I'm gonna take what I can from it
and give it exactly what it wants.
It wants my time, it wants
me to do this job that I
specialize in. I'm gonna take my
schooling, I'm gonna take my degree.
That how you have to...
Circle it up.
I need a smoke so bad.
I'm gonna, oooh, I'm
gonna die out there.
Remember my first
time launching?
It sucked.
My name is Joan Lamoreaux.
I'm an airman.
I launch and recover planes.
I hope to become plane Captain,
where basically they're saying
that you know everything, you
don't need anyone up there to
watch you, you're done
with training basically.
That's my goal for this cruise.
What I need you to do is to
make sure that everything's
moving and that the stabs
aren't, that they're moving at
the same rate.
I love my job, I do.
I've been a lot better.
Like I know actually
my sequence now.
I'm not nervous.
Progressing a lot, really
fast, I think, anyways.
There's people in my shop that
took about a year to get plane
Captain.
I'm almost done. I've been here
for about two and a half months.
I'm doing really well.
I'm on schedule.
I'm from Reading, Pennsylvania,
not too many jobs, drugs and
teenage pregnancy.
My biological father
had committed suicide.
I was about 7, and
my mother lost it.
So we ended up being
put in foster care.
I'm 22 now.
I think I've spent 8 years
total living with my mother.
The rest was in foster care.
There was a lot of drugs going on
in the family: Heroin, cocaine.
My brother just got out
of jail not too long ago.
To be honest with you, I have no
idea why I chose a different path.
I really don't, but
I'm glad I did it.
Stand by for a word from
commanding officer.
Good evening, Nimitz
and airwing 11.
This is the Captain.
We've gotten some clarification
on our schedule now.
I think it's good news.
We're gonna start heading East.
We're going to Guam.
So we'll stay about 4 days in
Guam and then on into the Gulf.
So Pusan is off the table,
we're not going up there now.
My impression leaving Hong Kong
was that we were headed to
Korea and that we would in
fact go into port there.
As it turns out, I suspect
strongly, after further
discussions, the determination
was made that was perhaps
more of a signal than was
desired or intended for the
carrier to actually go into port
in South Korea at this time.
The flexibility afforded by
this asset and this strike
group was there.
You know, we were out, we're
in the neighborhood, we're
available if required...
Not knowing where we're going
can be discouraging at times
You know like, "oh, yeah, Korea
on the 15th." Then we find
out, you know, we're actually
going to go to Guam.
It can be frustrating.
I'm like the bottom
of the totem pole.
We're told to do certain things.
We're just told to do it.
We're not explained the reason
because, you know, you just do it.
It would be nice to know. Then
maybe you'd feel like you're
doing a little bit of something.
We don't have the luxury of
having the sailor have the
inclination or the mindset that
says, "well, I don't understand
"that. Why do I
need to do that?"
That's not a luxury
we can afford.
We have to have the environment
that when issued a direct order
to do something now, we can have
the confidence that it's gonna
get done.
This is the Captain. It's
another great day out here.
Beautiful weather.
We've got a lot to do today.
Do it like you always do,
professionally and well.
Stay focused.
We have a whole cruise ahead
of us and we want to continue
doing great work.
Just standing around waiting
for something to happen.
That's all we do.
You get watch a lot of cool...
Though.
My grade is in ABH... Mostly
with the handler, blue
shirts, what we do is chalk the
bird, put the little orange
thing in the wheel, put
chains down, tie it down.
And then when we need to move
it, hook up a tow bar to it,
hook it up to a tractor, and move
it along, wherever it has to go.
That's basically what we do.
Flight ops is from like, 10:45
to like 2:00 in the morning, or
whatever.
And we've got enough blue
shirts to where we can be up
for 2 hours and take
a break for 2 hours.
Basically, with the 2 on 2
off, you got it way easy.
We have our little blue hole.
If we're not on the flight deck,
uh, that's the place we're at.
Fly 2 is like a little
compartment or like area where
we chill there, watch TV,
go on the computer, movies.
"Rocky," we watch
"Rocky" every damn day.
Do whatever bull...
What's up your ass?
This girl's calling him
Jakey Bear in this email.
I'm gonna start calling
him Jakey Bear.
Hey, you guys drink plenty of water today.
It's supposed to
get to 116. Just with the weather
alone, so... 12, 14 guys in fly 2.
And, uh, we all get along
pretty well, for the most part.
Why should you be in the
air conditioning, man?
Get your ass up there!
Every now and then we start
getting on each others throats,
but it's usually for dumb stuff.
You're the one that
came up with that.
Somebody go up for
me for 20 minutes.
I'm not gonna do 2 hours
and 30 minutes up there!
You got Ace. He's a Filipino.
He's pretty cool.
He's always straight up and everything.
He's a pretty hard worker.
You signed up for that....
You got a couple of Mexicans in there...
Ledezma. They're all cool.
Then you got airman Fields;
He's the one we call "Blackie."
He's cool with it.
That's his nickname.
Most of us are just white guys
that are just kind of there, I
guess, I don't know.
All right, what are
you about to do?
I'm about to do something
really stupid.
Robert Allen, let me tell you about him.
That guy is the coolest!
I love that guy.
Robert, he's a class act.
He's one of a kind, I think.
Allen is a funny guy. He kept the
fly going. He made the fly laugh.
Do it again.
The first time I ever did it and
he didn't get it on camera,
I landed on the laptop and...
About busted my head open.
Without the cranial.
Yeah, and then I put the
cranial on after that.
My name's Robert Allen,
and I'm an abh airman.
I'm from, uh, Oklahoma, a
little town out in the sticks.
They all call me redneck, and
they always give me hell.
I'll go back down real quick
and get me a damn pop.
Canadians say pop.
It's not soda, it's pop.
You guys call it a refrigerator.
I call it an icebox.
A refrigerator.
It's an icebox.
Like I'm gonna pop it
out of the icebox.
It's an icebox.
I'm gonna pop you.
I want a Coke damn it, now.
Universal word for it,
call it what it is.
I got married in high
school, and everything was
going good and everything and
about nine months down the road
she starts going to college and
I was on a job on the road,
like gone all week.
And then, I don't know, stuff
happened and we got a divorce.
I got depressed and I started, I
was an alcoholic. I became an
alcoholic for like four months,
quit my job, quit everything.
My town's like tiny. There's one stoplight.
My mom is like "You need to do
something with your life. You
need to get out of here, change
or something, get a hold of
yourself," 'cause I was going
down the wrong hill,
so I joined the Navy.
Damn it, I want to talk.
It ain't what I
thought it would be.
When I thought of the military,
like my brother was in it, my
sisters in it, they're all
marines and I thought of guns
and killing people, not flying
birds off a flight deck all day.
Like in the marines, you got to
depend on that other guy for
survival.
He could get you killed
if he makes a mistake.
And the Navy's not
really like that.
It's like no respect.
Nobody cares, nobody gives a...
If I could switch, I would
do it in a heartbeat.
'Cause this is just bull...
The Navy.
The way I see it, that's true.
This ain't the military.
I don't think so.
This is what I'd
like to know, bro?
How do you like the Navy?
How do I like the Navy?
How do you like the Navy, bro?
It sucks.
It's all right.
I guess it's alright.
It's all right?
So you're staying in another
six years aren't you?
Another six years
of all this crap.
As a member of the
Navy, you complain.
That's your job. It's one
of the things you do.
It's time for me to check
the CMC suggestion box.
All comments and
suggestions are welcome.
Let me see what the sailors
are complaining about today.
This carrier displaces 90 thousand tons.
You are allowed
about 15 square feet.
And if someone lives next to
you that stinks, it makes life
rather hard.
The things that hold this ship
together are the junior personnel.
If there weren't people to take
out the trash and keep the ship
clean, we'd be living in filth.
You know, it's like a train
hitting the wall every fifteen
seconds over here.
You got 20, 30 females on one
side and you have, like, the
same amount on the other.
And you have 3 showers.
Oh, food on the ship.
They tell you when to
eat, when to sleep.
Lines are nice, I love lines.
Dealing with the people.
People get on your nerves.
People come from all
different, uh, walks of life
when they come in the military,
and they expect us to work in
perfect cohesion no matter...
They throw us all together, and
it doesn't work out like that.
Even if you go to the mess
deck, you see certain groups
sitting together, like different races.
Sometimes
people just choose to
be with their own.
Filipinos look out for
Filipinos, blacks look out for
blacks, whites look out
for whites, and so on.
I don't think there's
a lot of segregation.
I think the ethnic groups here
get treated fairly by the
command as a whole.
Every ethnic group on this
ship always has their own
celebration: You know, African
American month, Asian-Pacific
heritage month, which would
include the Filipinos. You have
Native American month, you have
Hispanic month. Everything but
Caucasian month, but I guess
Caucasian month is every month.
Racism is everywhere. It
doesn't matter if it's in the
military or out on the street
corner, in a restaurant.
It's everywhere.
Robert Allen.
People have certain views,
people have certain prejudices.
Especially in the military
because they accept everyone,
you're gonna have people
that think differently.
I have a case of racial
slurs charged against me.
I just got in trouble
in March for racism.
And this is 3 months later I'm
doing the same thing again.
They all kind of knew my
background, and probably my
reputation of what I
was gonna be like.
Then I started popping
these racist things.
That's been happening a lot,
and I don't know, it's just
been getting worse.
Basically it happened when,
ah, me, Allen, Ledezma,
everybody was just chillin' in
the fly hole, minding our own
business, listening
to music or whatever.
And it was country or rock,
I'm not sure exactly
what it was at the time.
And he had it up kind of
loud and one of the yellow
shirts, second class
petty officer came in.
He's a black guy. He never
really liked country or rock or
anything like that. He always
pretty much liked rap.
I don't really care what
kind of music it is, but if
it's turned up too loud, we get
complaints from the other work
centers and people higher than
me, officers, and I really
don't feel like hearing their mouth.
I come in here, it's
blasting, "turn it down.
"Turn it down."
You're not listening,
boom, I turn it off.
It's not the first time that something
like that had ever happened.
So boom, Allen snapped and
was like, "turn, turn my
down? Hell, no!"
"I don't say nothing while you
guys are playing that black "."
I'm like, "what do you mean you
"guys playing that black?"
So I told him, "watch your way
with your words. You already
"got in trouble."
You know, I'm always trying
help these guys, these junior
personnel and he said, "I don't give a.
I'm racist.
Everybody already knows it. I
"don't care if I get kicked out."
So I said, "OK, I'll help
you find your way out."
And here I'm in the wrong
place is what I told, I told
officers when I had to talk to them.
I was like, "I joined the
wrong thing."
There's too many different
kinds of people here and I
don't get along, like
I don't feel right.
So I have no choice.
I've gotta make it.
Keep my mouth shut, I guess.
He's cool with me, so
what am I gonna do?
I've gotta work with this kid.
In V-1 some of the airman
in there are black, and he
definitely did not hate that
person or those people.
You know, he got along with them.
We even hung out, uh, in
ports together.
In fact there was a guy named Fields.
Everybody joked on
him. They call him "Blackie"
and he calls everybody else "whitey"
and all this kind of stuff.
They got along great.
I already knew the way he was
when I came to the fly, so I
was like, "it's cool. " I don't
mess with him, he don't really
mess with me.
I don't care what the hell he
thinks, just as long as he
don't bring it to me.
We get along all right now. It
was just when he first got here.
It got it taken care
of, just between us.
We was at a hotel party one
night and I called him a spic.
I got my ass whooped, but...
You live and learn, that's the
way I see it.
Sometimes he jokes
around with it, but...
Uh, you can only take so much.
It's the way I was raised.
Everything in my mind, been put
in my mind my whole life, by my
brothers... My mom told
me a bunch of stuff.
My sister dated a black guy
in High School and the whole
family like, threw a fit.
I mean, God, it was bad.
I couldn't even watch black
television growing up.
My mom's like, "turn
that black crap off!"
And I was just, "OK, sure!"
I didn't think nothing of it.
I mean, if I got kicked out for
this, it wouldn't bother me.
I wouldn't care.
It's just... I don't know.
It's all weird, like I have all
of these thoughts going through
my head all the time about all
this getting kicked out or
staying in, the racism or whatever,
how I'm gonna change and just
all sorts of stuff all the time.
I don't know, I just,
whatever happens, happens,
the way I see it.
If I go to CMC's office, he's
gonna have a heyday with me.
He's not gonna realize.
He's the CMC! He's black!
There's zero tolerance
for racism.
War has zero tolerance
for racism.
The taxpayers back at home,
they don't care whose out here
manning these ships.
Did somebody say, "whoa!
"I hope they're all white!"
Or "I hope they're all black!"
Or "I hope they're all..."
No. They say, "I hope they're all what?
Qualified to complete
the mission."
And so you have to take that
part of you and just leave it
back there in the civilian
because you're here to do
a bigger job. You're here to defend
your country and everyone in it.
We're all human beings and
that's just the bottom line.
And that's the biggest
difference in the military.
Because we're thrown together
in unique situations where we
have to depend on each other,
we learn to get rid of our own
individual biases
and prejudices.
The camaraderie's and the
bonds that you build with
people is unmatched.
It's almost impossible to get
to know somebody the way you
know somebody when you're
living on a ship for six,
seven, eight months.
Teamwork.
Teamwork.
Teamwork.
If there wasn't a team
atmosphere here, you know, it
would be anarchy
all over the boat.
We're gonna try to train you
all as one team because you're
gonna be one team in the
Gulf standing them watches.
People would be doing what
they wanted all day long.
I don't think real
work would get done.
Everybody understand that?
Yes, sir.
Now what do you guys have?
Anybody have any
feedback for me?
Everybody's more or less equal.
Except for the rank.
Let me jump in here real quick.
Oh, I'm sorry. No problem.
What's going on?
I have this pain in my tooth
that I've had for like two
weeks and I keep trying to come
down here but I haven't been
able to till today.
So I think I might
have a cavity.
Or my filling's jacked
up or something.
Can I help you, sir?
I'm here to have my
annual flight physical.
What's your last four? 9331.
Captain Jakubowski.
How are you?
Great. How about yourself?
Good.
Officers get to go
in front of us.
I signed up and he
came in after me.
And we both sat down at the same
time and he got seen before me.
Twice already he's been seen
and I've been waiting here
longer than he has.
I've been sitting here
for almost an hour now.
I mean, I understand that
you're an officer and you have
your privileges and
everything like that.
But why he came here was
just for some routine stuff.
Why I came here is because my
tooth has been hurting for two
weeks and this is the only opportunity
I've gotten to come to dental.
I'm probably gonna have to have
a filling or something else
like that. All he needs is
to get his teeth cleaned.
Being on the ship and being an
officer, that probably got to
be the because they
don't do nothing.
They get a bad rap a lot of
times from the mess decks.
And most of the people are
talking about the officers, oh
they've got it so easy,
whatever, but I think that
they've got it probably just as hard as us.
It's just we don't
recognize it.
How is it different from officers
enlisted under the surface?
It's responsibility,
it's accountability.
They take pretty good care of
us, make sure we don't get
in trouble. They put their necks out
for us, keep us out of trouble.
The officers on this boat, I think,
get a lot more stuff than we do.
There's about 30, 35 of us
females, Navy and marines.
I get my own sink.
I get a desk.
Everything you have fits inside
these four compartments.
Oops, sorry, five.
Yeah, you've just got to
kind of slide in there.
You've just got to kind
of slide in like this
'cause that's all
you're getting.
You just push this little
button and it folds right out.
They're waiting in a bunch
of lines that are very long.
They get to eat in the ward
rooms which, the food there is
of better quality as opposed to
where I work in the aft galley,
where you've got to cook
for 3,500 people, so
get the meal out in two hours.
If you're getting any gab from
the troops about the food
you're eating, then that's wrong.
We are eating the same
food as the folks
in the mess decks.
We cook the same foods, but
because we prepare less
of it, the food tastes better.
I pay $250 for it every month.
I'm gonna freaking eat it.
Definitely a double standard.
Officers and enlisted people
are definitely separated, and
the officers say one thing but
then they do another thing and
then we get in trouble
for doing what they say.
Everyone's there to tell you
what to do, and so you've just
kind of got to back down and
let 'em tell you what to do,
until you raise in rank and
then you can tell other people
what to do.
Somebody's got to be the boss.
Orders come from the hierarchy.
You know, that's what the
world's built on, 'cause if we
all was the same,
nothing would get done.
"Why don't you do it?"
"You're the same as I am."
Then that's when, when you take
the hierarchy come in and say,
"I tell you what, both of you"
knuckleheads go do it 'cause
"I'm senior to the both of you."
And then somebody come tell you,
"well, I'll tell you what, all"
three of you go do it
'cause I'm "senior."
And it just continue on.
That's how we do
cleaning stations.
When you come into the Navy,
most people come in as e-3 and
bellow, which is airman,
seaman, fireman.
I'm just an e-3.
I'm an airman, you know.
I'm not poppin' no collars!
Nothing is on my collar.
Nothing, I have
no collar device!
And when you get that rank of
petty officer, you have more
responsibility.
E-4 will have one chevron.
E-4, I'm a third-class
petty officer.
Two chevrons, e-5.
Second-class petty officer.
E-6 will have 3.
First-class petty officer.
He's a second-class petty officer.
He's a third-class petty officer.
Sometimes.
Yeah, sometimes you get discriminated
because you're higher up.
You're higher up,
your rank, you know.
You could be one day really
cool with somebody as an
airman, but the next day you're
a third class, and then all of
a sudden you're trying to...
You don't kick it with the
Airmens no more.
Yeah, you can't.
You're trying to just boss them
around now 'cause you're a
third class.
For me, making rank and going so
fast, surpassing some of the people
that I used to work with, and
you know, it was OK at first,
but now it's, you know, it's not OK.
It's, "you think you're
better" or you know.
I'm the same person I was I just,
I'm making a little bit more money.
Which I should be, I'm
doing a bigger job.
I get paid more money.
Definitely, doing less.
We both, he's too, I don't know.
That's just the way it goes,
the higher you go in rank, the
less you do, and the more
you get to yell at people.
Hey, Costa?
On this here, we have to redo
the surface and get the edges.
Yeah, that's what I
was just working on.
He's a second class.
He's not horrible. I just like,
he does frustrate me a lot.
I can't explain it.
He's just irritating, you know.
Oh, no, no.
Do it straight up and down.
Here, put this back on there.
'Cause the thing's off.
That's the way I had it.
My way is a good way.
He'll get you in trouble for
things that are OK for him
just because he's a second class
or 'cause he's a supervisor.
And even if you ask him, you're
like, "hey, well, you did the
same thing. How is it OK
for "you and not for me?"
He'll be like,
"'cause I'm Decker.
I'm the watch Captain.
I'm second class.
"I can do that."
You know?
You know, the cleaning doesn't take long.
It's just a
matter of getting it done.
Nobody likes to do it, so
unfortunately we've got to kind
of be harsh when we
tell people to do it.
First of all, they tell you,
this is how you do your work,
then they tell the person above
you to watch how you do your
work and make sure
you do it right.
Then that third class has
somebody on his back, telling
him how to do his job.
Then that first class has another
person on top of him, telling him.
And it just goes down hill.
All right, so let's get
all of this cleaned up.
This hatch here needs
to be scrubbed down.
And we're gonna quit talking to
you guys about cleaning this.
Both sides still ain't done. I
shouldn't have to explain that
to you because you're
a second class.
What the hell's going on here?
We need to fix this.
This is not, this is unsat...
We can't be living like this.
Look at this. Would
you sit on that?
I wouldn't want to
piss over there.
So I guess I'm gonna have to do
my supervising again and make
sure you guys clean the way
you're supposed to be cleaning.
Because if I leave it to you
guys, it's gonna end up looking
like a hole.
That's what it's
gonna look like.
You got to get your game plan
today and you better start
working on it.
I'm gonna re-inspect later on
sometime this week before we pull in.
If it's not up to speed when we
get to Guam, don't expect no
liberty until we get
it up to speed.
'Cause we're not gonna
live like this at all.
We are a floating dictatorship
defending a democracy.
All right, guys, let's
go, cleaning stations.
An order to do something is not
up for debate, even if you
think personally that the
reasons behind it are
ludicrous. That's part of the
discipline that goes along with
being in the military and
working in the military and
doing what you're ordered to do.
In a world that's set in
stone I'm set in something
just let it go, just let it go...
I got yanked off the
flight deck to go T.A.D.
T.A.D. stands for Temporary Assigned
Duty, which is something that
everyone e-3 or below has to do,
one time in their life at least.
They'll like take you out of
your division or shop that
you're in and you basically
work for supply department.
I clean female chief berthings
and female chiefs bathrooms,
and then female
officer bathrooms.
So it's just like having cleaning
stations for 12 hours a day.
I got yanked right when I was
so close to making a very big
qual that I need to get.
So basically I went from launching
a jet to swabbing a deck.
Ever since I've gone T.A.D.
I've become more laid back, like
I don't want to... after I'm
done work, I don't want to go
up to the line shack to study
again or nothing like that
'cause I'm too tired from
working all day and, I don't
know, I just feel like going
T.A.D. set me back a lot.
I guarantee you if everyone
was to let out their emotions
here, everyone would go to mast.
Someone would say something to
somebody superior to them that
that superior doesn't like, someone
may do something, you know?
Everyone here is
suppressing emotions.
You have to have, you know, an
avenue to vent your frustrations.
I can lay down a beat.
The fun stuff on
this ship, eating.
I have masqueraded aboard
this ship as a pirate.
I write poetry.
I've hijacked the bridge.
Checking the emails, see
if somebody wrote me.
Run on the admiral's
treadmill for a workout.
What else do we do for fun?
Sleeping.
And other miscellaneous
scalawag type things.
Christian Garzone here
for naval confessions.
I'm down here in the print shop.
We actually busted a kind of a,
as soon as the camera came in
they scattered away.
Have you ever seen
me lose to him?
Will you not break dance
or whatever and you go
get in the proper uniform.
We like to drink Nyquil.
It makes us, uh,
go to bed faster.
There's always something
going on in berthing.
We always do thing to keep
us alive, basically sane.
We always do stupid bets.
We bet on what time they're
gonna call reveille, and you
know what time. That's
the same time every day.
That's how we
entertain ourselves.
Hitting each other in the nuts.
Mail call.
Getting things from home,
care packages and letters.
Ohhhhh!
It's from my girlfriend
Sadie, back home.
Second one I've got from her.
It's the only mail I've got.
It keeps you going.
I've read it like 3 times already
in like the past 2 hours.
Workout.
Workout.
Workout.
When I'm on the treadmill,
I'm not on the ship.
You got to do it.
You get to relieve all
your anger in the gym.
Being in the military you're
only limited to say so many
things so, this
relieves a lot of it.
Been tryin' and tryin'
and tryin' and tryin'
and tryin' to get by...
there's only so much you can
do or get away with
here on the boat.
The gym only takes you so far
before your stress level goes,
goes out the window.
The only thing keeping you sane is
that you have those port calls.
The port calls is
when you let loose.
Just like everybody else...
Guam, I think you'll like it.
Lots of water sports,
lots to do there.
We'll start down the pass of
what we need to do to get
everybody ready to go in and
have some good liberty in Guam.
I'm gonna shotgun this beer.
Are you ready then I'm
gonna go get my hat.
You guys are drunk.
Whenever I get drunk, you guys
tell me, and I'll be all right.
You're drunk, Allen.
We're part of the Guam
separatist movement.
You better run for
your life boy!
Fire at me as I come charging towards you!
Boom, boom!
I got the whole sack of shoes.
I got the whole sack of shoes,
a whole sack of beers, and all
you got was a pair
of lousy shoes.
Take this with you
cause that's dirty.
Hey, locals, you want some beer?
Because I'm gonna
wash it with me.
You can only do so much
to help a shipmate out.
Wade, I want you to take a
picture with this local.
Come on man, get in here man.
No, get in here.
Get in here, all of you.
All right!
Ready.
Mr. Bass is coming to
solve the situation.
Where's the beer at, please?
You're the only one that has
any control around here.
And you're all making asses
out of yourself right now.
Well, then give me another beer.
Let me talk to you.
All right. I'm good.
Let's talk.
Let me tell you something about
myself before you get to know me.
Go ahead.
I'm getting kicked out
of the Navy for racism.
Are you?
I have two accounts
against black guys.
Ok.
But I mean, I still like you
guys and I respect you and I'm
talking to you right now.
Are you guilty of it?
That's the way I
was raised, man.
Let me ask you, are
you guilty of it?
Yes, I am.
So, let me ask you this.
You're talking to a
racist right now.
I mean we're shaking
hands, we're holding arms.
Oh, of course, of course.
Yeah. It ain't my fault.
All right.
I joined the Navy. That
was the wrong decision.
No, it wasn't. No, it wasn't.
I'm gonna tell you
why it wasn't.
I've been in one year and now
getting discharged, man.
No, no, listen to me.
It wasn't the wrong decision.
Let me tell you like this.
The Navy is a melting pot.
When you join the Navy, you join
like different nationalities,
different cultures,
different everything.
Say for example the fifth
deck gets flooded.
I happen to be there
and you're drowning.
I'm not gonna sit there and let
you die because you're a racist.
You're my shipmate.
And I hope you'd do the same
for me not because I'm black.
I'd do the same, I'd do
the same for anybody.
Exactly.
To save your life.
Exactly.
Let me ask you a question,
would you call me a nigger
after this conversation?
No. I'd be cool with you.
Right.
You know what? Let me tell,
let me tell you like this.
It ain't about nigger, it ain't
about cracker, it ain't about
spic. It's about none of that.
I know I shouldn't judge
people by their color.
But... It's just the way.
You were raised.
Yes.
But even in that, there's no excuse.
You know what's right
from what's wrong, right?
If you adapt yourself to be
around different cultures, if
you learn about different
people and what they experience
in their life, than that
will change you overall.
Think about it, come on.
If I can get through to one
person, I've made a difference.
If you can teach your children
not to be the same way
you were raised, then we
can make a difference.
I want to congratulate the
crew on your outstanding
performance in Guam.
We trust you guys to be adults
and act responsibly and about
99 and a half percent of
everybody did exactly that.
We did have a small number
of folks who couldn't quite
measure up to that standard.
I'll talk to them this
afternoon in Captain's mast.
And they've got me on 6 charges.
Now they're charging me with
disrespecting a senior chief,
resisting arrest, drunk and
disorderly, assaulting a petty
officer, a threat towards a
petty officer, and then I got
racial slurs from
the other deal.
That's all on one
Captain's mast.
I'm in a lot of trouble.
I've been screwing up.
I screwed up in port, got
in a little bit of trouble.
Went out and got drunk.
That's a lot of charges dude...
6 charges.
I'm probably gonna do brig time.
That's what you want,
though, right?
I don't really necessarily want
brig, but I want out of the Navy.
I don't like this place.
I can't adapt.
I never had this problem
before I came in here.
Being in trouble like
this, saying this.
I'm getting all butterflies
and in my stomach.
We'll figure it out.
Maybe I'm just hungry.
The officer of the day, he's
like, "if you stay in, you're
gonna keep doing
this, aren't "you?"
I was like, "yeah. It's
probably "gonna get worse."
I was like, "it's getting worse
and worse every time. Next time
I'll be like dropping the
"n-bomb on some dude."
What if they don't discharge me?
You know how pissed off I'm
gonna be?
And we were drinking all night
and we got into a fight
well, I feel so broke up
Lord, I wanna go home
so hoist up the John B's sail
see how the main sail sets
call for the Captain ashore let
me go home Lord, I wanna go home
I got 30 days restriction.
That's it?
Nothing about the racist stuff.
Oh, great.
That's another.
So what'd you go
to mast today for?
For getting arrested the
other night and all that.
Probably yours, isn't it?
Your shoes, your
belt, your cover.
Thanks.
Man, why didn't they
do the racist stuff?
They dropped everything, man.
Who did?
The C.O.?
Because they can't
hold that against you.
Remember when you got in trouble
for racism the first time?
It didn't go up to mast,
so it didn't count.
What about this time?
I don't know. Damn.
Man.
I don't know.
The legal said... 'Cause I was
talking to legal right after I
got back, and they gave me my
papers and I was like, "what
"about the other deal?"
And he was like, "well, we'll
"take care of it later."
You still have to go?
I better.
It's the whole reason
I wanted to go.
Man, I didn't want 30 days.
It sucks.
Hopefully, next time
I'll get the big dog.
Go on home.
That's what I was wanting.
You only got 30 days, though? I
got 30 days extra duty, too.
Hey, what does that "r"
mean for you, Allen?
It means racist.
Now everybody knows.
Another day that pulled
you under come on come on
is there really any wonder?
Come on come on 'cause you
feel alive I'm in over my head
feeling so low under your
thumb I'm in over my head
is the world caving
in under your skin?
Another day assured... Just
because I don't have a
chevron don't mean I
cannot speak freely.
It's all bull, OK?
We're already at each other's
throats after like... what was
the last port? Was
it like a week a?
Guam.
Guam was like a week ago and
everyone's already at each
other's throats again, you know?
It's been like a week.
Hey, what's going on?
You're not supposed to be
out of your rack, man.
Man. Hell!
You're on restriction.
You've got rules to follow.
Third class, you
need to step down.
You never act like this.
Shut up. Go to sleep.
It doesn't say in the rules I
have to go to bed at 10:00.
It says be in my rack at 10:00.
What are you gonna do in there?
This is my rack. I'm in it.
Turn the lights out and go to sleep.
That's all you got to do.
What if some serious
went down and I'm in
here round with you?
Man, I'm gonna tell you this one
more time and I'll call security.
This is real life, guys.
Good morning, Nimitz
and air wing 11.
CAG and I coming back to you for
the Kuala Lumpur Captain's call.
For now and for the next several
months any opportunities
we have for liberty will be in
the Muslim environment and the
rules are very different.
The Western Pacific will be behind us.
We'll go through the
straits of Malacca tonight and
from that time on we'll be over
in the Indian Ocean side and
in the Arabian Gulf in the
Muslim countries and in their
countries, we play by their rules.
We're entering an area that's,
uh, frankly full of terrorists.
We are entering an area where people
are dedicated to killing you.
And they're willing
to die to do that.
Ok, we're about 2 hours from
the Singapore straights.
We'll be going through the straits
of Malacca all night tonight.
It's a navigation choke point.
Anytime we go through a
constricted choke point like
that, especially in today's
environment, we never really
know if a boat's gonna come
alongside you and blow up,
like the "Cole."
We want to protect ourselves
from any type of terrorist
attack by small boats
or low slow aircraft.
What we want to do is not only
protect ourselves, but we also
want to show that we can go
through this strait with no
hesitation, just like we're
gonna do when we go through the
strait of Hormuz
going into the Gulf.
Our main job is
to keep you safe.
And with your personal
protective measures in place,
we'll be able to do that.
Right now, our threat in Kuala
Lumpur, we're looking at
significant. Ok?
So we have layered defenses.
You see the sentries, you
see the vehicle inspection
checkpoints, you see the barricades,
the spike strips, whatever.
It's a layered defense.
We want them to go through as
many obstacles as possible
before they can attack
or penetrate the ship.
They get to the ship, it's over.
Kuala Lumpur is really strict.
It's a really strict country.
The females don't get treated the
same way as the United States.
The females dress up like
Muslims from head to toe.
It's disrespectful to point.
You can't tap a civilian
on the shoulder.
They find that offensive.
You'll go to jail
for that, actually.
Vehicle bombs.
They can blow 10-12 of you guys
up and they're making an impact.
You've got to be thinking that
everybody's out to get you.
Don't think you're safe
because you're not.
When we get complacent and we
stop thinking that something's
gonna happen to us, that's
when it's gonna happen.
Just wrapping up here.
Enjoy Klang and Kuala Lumpur.
Enjoy the liberty and
make good choices.
That is all.
Good morning.
We're about to go on a tour and
leisure expedition in Kuala Lumpur.
I'm quite beside myself.
I can't wait to get on the bus
and I'm just pumped with energy
this morning, so uh,
Phil, are you ready?
Yeah, I'm ready.
We're going out to the pedaling
Jaya orphanage for Comrel.
Comrel is, uh,
community relations.
It's really open to almost
any kind of application.
From planting to
painting to cleaning.
It's something that we can
do as Americans in a foreign
community to help someone.
Ok. All right. You look nice.
I said I was scared and
I still am scared.
I'm scared of what could happen,
but at the same time I'm
enjoying myself out here.
You get to know a lot of
things, you know, learn a lot
more about this, their culture.
And it's pretty cool.
Went to Captain's
mast yesterday.
He told me my charges and asked
me if I'm aware of them,
and I told him, "yes, sir."
He asked me if I admit
to being racist.
I told him, "yes, sir."
He said, "Are you racist
against Asians or Hispanics or
Jews or blacks?"
And I just told him, "Black
people, pretty much."
And he asked me why.
And I told him that was just
the way back home I was raised
around and it's the way I grew up,
it's just what I feel right now.
He said, "well"... we talked a
little bit more, he's like,
the Navy's a team, and you're
"no longer on the team anymore."
He paused and he's like,
"this is off the record."
The Captain's mast was pretty
much over, but I just stood
there and kept talking to
him like a conversation.
And he said, "Well, I'm gonna
send you home. You're gonna be
a civilian."
He said, "maybe when you
get home, you'll change.
Maybe one of these days you'll
grow up and change and see
people like they should be seen"
or whatever.
And I was like,
"well, maybe, sir.
I don't really know yet, but
"this is how I feel right now."
I'm not playing the spook song.
I'm gonna get so drunk
on the airplane.
Play "Scotty doesn't know."
Can you play "Scotty
doesn't know"?
Scotty doesn't know that
Robert's going home,
getting out of the Navy.
Going to get stoned.
I got an administrative
separation with other than
honorable mentions.
That's a, that's a good
discharge, I guess, 'cause like
I don't know, I could still get
a job and I'm eligible for a
lot of stuff still.
I just don't get my G.I. Bill
but I don't really give a...
about that anyways.
I don't plan on
going to college.
After two years or something,
it goes away, doesn't it?
What do you mean, if you
have to like apply to a job
you don't have to say nothing?
I don't know.
I don't know.
Remember this?
What the?
What was I doing
talking to this guy?
That was in Guam.
What's he doing huggin' me?
What the, dude?
What's this guy doing?
What are you really
thinking in that picture?
I was drunker than.
I don't have any idea.
You don't remember this at all?
You remember her?
I was wasted, dude.
I don't remember even
taking these pictures.
Guam's the last
place I drank beer.
That's where I got
up, got in trouble.
It was fun, though.
It was worth it.
If I get stoned and sing all night
long it's a family tradition
you whooped my ass.
I was so drunk, I couldn't even...
You passed out.
I had sand all over my
face and in my mouth.
That was a... Oh, yeah,
I remember that.
There he's dancing
like Michael Jackson.
He ran outside like
he was gonna do it.
I was like damn.
I got some whites from him.
Got some dress whites and
dress blues for 40 bucks.
Did you buy them?
Yeah.
Allen!
Hey, there's Allen.
Allen.
He took off running.
Who beat the out of him?
You did?
Allen, tell us about the
time you and him fought.
What time was that?
Damn, you guys fight
more than once?
Oh, at the hotel?
Yeah.
That was crazy.
That's the night I drank
that shampoo and.
Thought it was Alcohol.
Those little shampoos
at the hotel?
Drank all that.
Gonna buy that?
Got your money?
Yeah.
Go get it.
Don't forget the whites.
Hey, is it gonna fit?
No, it don't fit.
Man, come on!
You ain't gonna buy it?
I can't even wear it.
You wore it before!
Those were your pants.
Sell you the pants for 20.
Man, ask milk. He can fit 'em.
I got to go to personnel because
I might be leaving tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
Yeah, tomorrow, tomorrow.
Hey, man, take care
of yourself, man.
Yeah, I will.
Hey, shoot me an email, man.
All right? Yeah, I'll see.
Nimitz style, man. Yeah.
A'ight? A'ight, man.
A'ight, man. A'ight.
Take it easy.
He's the one that calls
me petty officer.
Or magic chief of hatred.
Kid gets kicked out for racism
but he has black friends.
He don't have black friends.
I made black friends.
No, he don't have black
friends, that racist bitch.
They still like him.
No, I hate his ass.
I don't know what that's about.
See if I can fit
this bitch in there.
Yeah, I'm just ready to go home.
I have no doubt, no regrets.
I'll miss you, man. Yeah.
Take it easy.
See you, man.
Yeah, see you, Derik.
Airman Allen might think he
won by gaming the system,
but an other than honorable
discharge has real consequences.
It's equivalent to being
fired from the Navy.
It will limit his G.I. Bill and
job preference opportunities
for the rest of his life.
Allen's behavior on board and
in port was unacceptable.
And you know, it's really a
shame he didn't listen to his
peers and his chain of command as
they tried to straighten him out.
You back at the shack?
You walk around a ship and
you see people making jokes,
and you see people swearing at
each other, and yelling at each
other, and fighting each other, and
doing just general dumb stuff.
But when they call man
overboard or when they call
general quarters or when they
call any kind of drill that
requires response, everyone
may be in mid joke, but they
snap to and they go.
And I think you have
to have faith in that.
In the next couple of days
we'll pass through the straits
of Hormuz and enter
the Arabian Gulf.
We've worked hard and come a
long way to be here and we're
ready to support the guys
on the ground in Iraq.
If today was not a crooked highway
if tonight was not a crooked trail
if tomorrow wasn't such a long
time and lonesome would mean
nothing to you at all I can't
see my reflection in the water
I can't speak the sounds to show
no pain I can't hear the echo
of my footsteps or remember
the sounds of my own name
yes, and only if my own
true love's waitin'
I could only hear her
heart softly pounding
yes, and if only she was lying
by me and I'm lying in my bed
once again.
Subs rip, edit, and
resnyc by © VJ Me 2010
by the corporation for public
broadcasting and by contributions
to your PBS station from...
Uh-huh it's a long road to paradise
and, oh, I feel the pain oh oh oh
they tell me things are different
now but I still hurt the same
mm-hmm haze gray and underway
a world away from you
and miles and miles of blue
When I was a young boy I wanted
to sail around the world
that's the life for me...
Hands out of your pocket
there, Ghost Rider.
Livin' on the sea
spirit of a sailor...
What's wrong with your
uniform there, shipmate?
Circumnavigates the globe..
You got a lot of people
hanging out over here.
Cleaning stations!
Let's get busy!
In a leaky boat lucky
just to keep afloat...
Life on deployment? Oh, my!
The movies... Top Gun does
not explain how the Navy is.
Not even close.
It's not that great.
Monotonous.
It's tedious, it's exhausting, it
creates a lot of hypertension.
Very, very stressful. I
can't stress that enough.
It's the same routine
day in and day out.
You're working 12 hours on, 12
hours off, every single day,
seven says a week.
I love deployments. They give
you the opportunity to see
places and see things that you
probably will never see in your
entire life.
Life on deployment is
what you make of it.
It's hard for some people.
It's easy for some people.
For some people, this is the life
for them, for some people it's not.
Some people wait their time to get
out, do their 4 years and go.
Some people go crazy and try to
get kicked out, just so they
don't got to stay in no more.
What's going on?
I got nobody who wants
to talk to me today!
I see you're on
cleaning stations.
What you doing, shipmate?
I was working on getting a mop, but...
Yeah, working on getting
a mop and sitting there
shooting the breeze.
Are they giving you... I wasn't
shooting the breeze, master chief.
Ok, I'm blind then.
I'm blind.
Are you cleaning?
No, not at the moment.
And what are your names so I
could check to see if they got
you on the white card,
blue card, or whatever.
Williams.
What'd they give you a white
card, blue card or what?
A white card, master chief.
Maybe if you started doing
what you need to do and take a
little bit more initiative,
you can upgrade it, OK?
Yes, master chief.
The sailors that's coming in
the Navy these days don't
have a lot of discipline and
then when they get here to the
military, it's part of the
first line of discipline that
they've ever had in their life
and that makes it hard on me
because now you're startin'
from ground zero trying to
build not only a sailor but
just trying to build a citizen.
We have what we have and we
have to make sure that we groom
the sailors that we have
to complete the mission.
Because the mission itself may
depend on whether that person
is disciplined enough to
put that bomb on that jet.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit
of all who threaten it.
You got it in? You gotta wait till
it gets all the way in, yeah.
They go to boot camp, they go
to school, they come to us.
So drop it in now, go
ahead and tighten it.
There you go.
Within the first 6 months
it's just like my phrase is
like a dry sponge. Ok?
Real small and they need to absorb
all the knowledge that they can.
I'm a mentor. I look out
for their daily needs.
I keep them from
getting into trouble.
I make sure that they get
trained well, and they meet all
their qualifications.
I look at 'em as if
they're my own kids.
They're my responsibility and I want
to make sure that they get home safe.
First mentor was AC1 Jaqueline
Williams and, um, and
she, I don't know where I would
be if I didn't have her.
Jackie Jackson is
actually my mentor.
You'll be all right.
She cares. She's very good at listening.
She cares about what
you have going on and she's
very willing to help you.
McCollum, you ready
to do a practice?
I watched Jackie grow.
When I first got here, she was
the type of person that was
looking for guidance.
All right, go ahead, try it.
Initiate training.
And, uh, seeking out
the right way to go.
Can I just keep pushing it?
And now the Navy's put her
in positions where she's the
supervisor. She's now providing
guidance for everyone else.
Hey, press one.
There we go.
There're so many things
that you can do.
A lot of people focus
on the negative.
"I can't stand it,"
this, this and this.
"I don't work for the Navy,"
I tell people all the time.
"The Navy works for me."
I'm gonna take what I can from it
and give it exactly what it wants.
It wants my time, it wants
me to do this job that I
specialize in. I'm gonna take my
schooling, I'm gonna take my degree.
That how you have to...
Circle it up.
I need a smoke so bad.
I'm gonna, oooh, I'm
gonna die out there.
Remember my first
time launching?
It sucked.
My name is Joan Lamoreaux.
I'm an airman.
I launch and recover planes.
I hope to become plane Captain,
where basically they're saying
that you know everything, you
don't need anyone up there to
watch you, you're done
with training basically.
That's my goal for this cruise.
What I need you to do is to
make sure that everything's
moving and that the stabs
aren't, that they're moving at
the same rate.
I love my job, I do.
I've been a lot better.
Like I know actually
my sequence now.
I'm not nervous.
Progressing a lot, really
fast, I think, anyways.
There's people in my shop that
took about a year to get plane
Captain.
I'm almost done. I've been here
for about two and a half months.
I'm doing really well.
I'm on schedule.
I'm from Reading, Pennsylvania,
not too many jobs, drugs and
teenage pregnancy.
My biological father
had committed suicide.
I was about 7, and
my mother lost it.
So we ended up being
put in foster care.
I'm 22 now.
I think I've spent 8 years
total living with my mother.
The rest was in foster care.
There was a lot of drugs going on
in the family: Heroin, cocaine.
My brother just got out
of jail not too long ago.
To be honest with you, I have no
idea why I chose a different path.
I really don't, but
I'm glad I did it.
Stand by for a word from
commanding officer.
Good evening, Nimitz
and airwing 11.
This is the Captain.
We've gotten some clarification
on our schedule now.
I think it's good news.
We're gonna start heading East.
We're going to Guam.
So we'll stay about 4 days in
Guam and then on into the Gulf.
So Pusan is off the table,
we're not going up there now.
My impression leaving Hong Kong
was that we were headed to
Korea and that we would in
fact go into port there.
As it turns out, I suspect
strongly, after further
discussions, the determination
was made that was perhaps
more of a signal than was
desired or intended for the
carrier to actually go into port
in South Korea at this time.
The flexibility afforded by
this asset and this strike
group was there.
You know, we were out, we're
in the neighborhood, we're
available if required...
Not knowing where we're going
can be discouraging at times
You know like, "oh, yeah, Korea
on the 15th." Then we find
out, you know, we're actually
going to go to Guam.
It can be frustrating.
I'm like the bottom
of the totem pole.
We're told to do certain things.
We're just told to do it.
We're not explained the reason
because, you know, you just do it.
It would be nice to know. Then
maybe you'd feel like you're
doing a little bit of something.
We don't have the luxury of
having the sailor have the
inclination or the mindset that
says, "well, I don't understand
"that. Why do I
need to do that?"
That's not a luxury
we can afford.
We have to have the environment
that when issued a direct order
to do something now, we can have
the confidence that it's gonna
get done.
This is the Captain. It's
another great day out here.
Beautiful weather.
We've got a lot to do today.
Do it like you always do,
professionally and well.
Stay focused.
We have a whole cruise ahead
of us and we want to continue
doing great work.
Just standing around waiting
for something to happen.
That's all we do.
You get watch a lot of cool...
Though.
My grade is in ABH... Mostly
with the handler, blue
shirts, what we do is chalk the
bird, put the little orange
thing in the wheel, put
chains down, tie it down.
And then when we need to move
it, hook up a tow bar to it,
hook it up to a tractor, and move
it along, wherever it has to go.
That's basically what we do.
Flight ops is from like, 10:45
to like 2:00 in the morning, or
whatever.
And we've got enough blue
shirts to where we can be up
for 2 hours and take
a break for 2 hours.
Basically, with the 2 on 2
off, you got it way easy.
We have our little blue hole.
If we're not on the flight deck,
uh, that's the place we're at.
Fly 2 is like a little
compartment or like area where
we chill there, watch TV,
go on the computer, movies.
"Rocky," we watch
"Rocky" every damn day.
Do whatever bull...
What's up your ass?
This girl's calling him
Jakey Bear in this email.
I'm gonna start calling
him Jakey Bear.
Hey, you guys drink plenty of water today.
It's supposed to
get to 116. Just with the weather
alone, so... 12, 14 guys in fly 2.
And, uh, we all get along
pretty well, for the most part.
Why should you be in the
air conditioning, man?
Get your ass up there!
Every now and then we start
getting on each others throats,
but it's usually for dumb stuff.
You're the one that
came up with that.
Somebody go up for
me for 20 minutes.
I'm not gonna do 2 hours
and 30 minutes up there!
You got Ace. He's a Filipino.
He's pretty cool.
He's always straight up and everything.
He's a pretty hard worker.
You signed up for that....
You got a couple of Mexicans in there...
Ledezma. They're all cool.
Then you got airman Fields;
He's the one we call "Blackie."
He's cool with it.
That's his nickname.
Most of us are just white guys
that are just kind of there, I
guess, I don't know.
All right, what are
you about to do?
I'm about to do something
really stupid.
Robert Allen, let me tell you about him.
That guy is the coolest!
I love that guy.
Robert, he's a class act.
He's one of a kind, I think.
Allen is a funny guy. He kept the
fly going. He made the fly laugh.
Do it again.
The first time I ever did it and
he didn't get it on camera,
I landed on the laptop and...
About busted my head open.
Without the cranial.
Yeah, and then I put the
cranial on after that.
My name's Robert Allen,
and I'm an abh airman.
I'm from, uh, Oklahoma, a
little town out in the sticks.
They all call me redneck, and
they always give me hell.
I'll go back down real quick
and get me a damn pop.
Canadians say pop.
It's not soda, it's pop.
You guys call it a refrigerator.
I call it an icebox.
A refrigerator.
It's an icebox.
Like I'm gonna pop it
out of the icebox.
It's an icebox.
I'm gonna pop you.
I want a Coke damn it, now.
Universal word for it,
call it what it is.
I got married in high
school, and everything was
going good and everything and
about nine months down the road
she starts going to college and
I was on a job on the road,
like gone all week.
And then, I don't know, stuff
happened and we got a divorce.
I got depressed and I started, I
was an alcoholic. I became an
alcoholic for like four months,
quit my job, quit everything.
My town's like tiny. There's one stoplight.
My mom is like "You need to do
something with your life. You
need to get out of here, change
or something, get a hold of
yourself," 'cause I was going
down the wrong hill,
so I joined the Navy.
Damn it, I want to talk.
It ain't what I
thought it would be.
When I thought of the military,
like my brother was in it, my
sisters in it, they're all
marines and I thought of guns
and killing people, not flying
birds off a flight deck all day.
Like in the marines, you got to
depend on that other guy for
survival.
He could get you killed
if he makes a mistake.
And the Navy's not
really like that.
It's like no respect.
Nobody cares, nobody gives a...
If I could switch, I would
do it in a heartbeat.
'Cause this is just bull...
The Navy.
The way I see it, that's true.
This ain't the military.
I don't think so.
This is what I'd
like to know, bro?
How do you like the Navy?
How do I like the Navy?
How do you like the Navy, bro?
It sucks.
It's all right.
I guess it's alright.
It's all right?
So you're staying in another
six years aren't you?
Another six years
of all this crap.
As a member of the
Navy, you complain.
That's your job. It's one
of the things you do.
It's time for me to check
the CMC suggestion box.
All comments and
suggestions are welcome.
Let me see what the sailors
are complaining about today.
This carrier displaces 90 thousand tons.
You are allowed
about 15 square feet.
And if someone lives next to
you that stinks, it makes life
rather hard.
The things that hold this ship
together are the junior personnel.
If there weren't people to take
out the trash and keep the ship
clean, we'd be living in filth.
You know, it's like a train
hitting the wall every fifteen
seconds over here.
You got 20, 30 females on one
side and you have, like, the
same amount on the other.
And you have 3 showers.
Oh, food on the ship.
They tell you when to
eat, when to sleep.
Lines are nice, I love lines.
Dealing with the people.
People get on your nerves.
People come from all
different, uh, walks of life
when they come in the military,
and they expect us to work in
perfect cohesion no matter...
They throw us all together, and
it doesn't work out like that.
Even if you go to the mess
deck, you see certain groups
sitting together, like different races.
Sometimes
people just choose to
be with their own.
Filipinos look out for
Filipinos, blacks look out for
blacks, whites look out
for whites, and so on.
I don't think there's
a lot of segregation.
I think the ethnic groups here
get treated fairly by the
command as a whole.
Every ethnic group on this
ship always has their own
celebration: You know, African
American month, Asian-Pacific
heritage month, which would
include the Filipinos. You have
Native American month, you have
Hispanic month. Everything but
Caucasian month, but I guess
Caucasian month is every month.
Racism is everywhere. It
doesn't matter if it's in the
military or out on the street
corner, in a restaurant.
It's everywhere.
Robert Allen.
People have certain views,
people have certain prejudices.
Especially in the military
because they accept everyone,
you're gonna have people
that think differently.
I have a case of racial
slurs charged against me.
I just got in trouble
in March for racism.
And this is 3 months later I'm
doing the same thing again.
They all kind of knew my
background, and probably my
reputation of what I
was gonna be like.
Then I started popping
these racist things.
That's been happening a lot,
and I don't know, it's just
been getting worse.
Basically it happened when,
ah, me, Allen, Ledezma,
everybody was just chillin' in
the fly hole, minding our own
business, listening
to music or whatever.
And it was country or rock,
I'm not sure exactly
what it was at the time.
And he had it up kind of
loud and one of the yellow
shirts, second class
petty officer came in.
He's a black guy. He never
really liked country or rock or
anything like that. He always
pretty much liked rap.
I don't really care what
kind of music it is, but if
it's turned up too loud, we get
complaints from the other work
centers and people higher than
me, officers, and I really
don't feel like hearing their mouth.
I come in here, it's
blasting, "turn it down.
"Turn it down."
You're not listening,
boom, I turn it off.
It's not the first time that something
like that had ever happened.
So boom, Allen snapped and
was like, "turn, turn my
down? Hell, no!"
"I don't say nothing while you
guys are playing that black "."
I'm like, "what do you mean you
"guys playing that black?"
So I told him, "watch your way
with your words. You already
"got in trouble."
You know, I'm always trying
help these guys, these junior
personnel and he said, "I don't give a.
I'm racist.
Everybody already knows it. I
"don't care if I get kicked out."
So I said, "OK, I'll help
you find your way out."
And here I'm in the wrong
place is what I told, I told
officers when I had to talk to them.
I was like, "I joined the
wrong thing."
There's too many different
kinds of people here and I
don't get along, like
I don't feel right.
So I have no choice.
I've gotta make it.
Keep my mouth shut, I guess.
He's cool with me, so
what am I gonna do?
I've gotta work with this kid.
In V-1 some of the airman
in there are black, and he
definitely did not hate that
person or those people.
You know, he got along with them.
We even hung out, uh, in
ports together.
In fact there was a guy named Fields.
Everybody joked on
him. They call him "Blackie"
and he calls everybody else "whitey"
and all this kind of stuff.
They got along great.
I already knew the way he was
when I came to the fly, so I
was like, "it's cool. " I don't
mess with him, he don't really
mess with me.
I don't care what the hell he
thinks, just as long as he
don't bring it to me.
We get along all right now. It
was just when he first got here.
It got it taken care
of, just between us.
We was at a hotel party one
night and I called him a spic.
I got my ass whooped, but...
You live and learn, that's the
way I see it.
Sometimes he jokes
around with it, but...
Uh, you can only take so much.
It's the way I was raised.
Everything in my mind, been put
in my mind my whole life, by my
brothers... My mom told
me a bunch of stuff.
My sister dated a black guy
in High School and the whole
family like, threw a fit.
I mean, God, it was bad.
I couldn't even watch black
television growing up.
My mom's like, "turn
that black crap off!"
And I was just, "OK, sure!"
I didn't think nothing of it.
I mean, if I got kicked out for
this, it wouldn't bother me.
I wouldn't care.
It's just... I don't know.
It's all weird, like I have all
of these thoughts going through
my head all the time about all
this getting kicked out or
staying in, the racism or whatever,
how I'm gonna change and just
all sorts of stuff all the time.
I don't know, I just,
whatever happens, happens,
the way I see it.
If I go to CMC's office, he's
gonna have a heyday with me.
He's not gonna realize.
He's the CMC! He's black!
There's zero tolerance
for racism.
War has zero tolerance
for racism.
The taxpayers back at home,
they don't care whose out here
manning these ships.
Did somebody say, "whoa!
"I hope they're all white!"
Or "I hope they're all black!"
Or "I hope they're all..."
No. They say, "I hope they're all what?
Qualified to complete
the mission."
And so you have to take that
part of you and just leave it
back there in the civilian
because you're here to do
a bigger job. You're here to defend
your country and everyone in it.
We're all human beings and
that's just the bottom line.
And that's the biggest
difference in the military.
Because we're thrown together
in unique situations where we
have to depend on each other,
we learn to get rid of our own
individual biases
and prejudices.
The camaraderie's and the
bonds that you build with
people is unmatched.
It's almost impossible to get
to know somebody the way you
know somebody when you're
living on a ship for six,
seven, eight months.
Teamwork.
Teamwork.
Teamwork.
If there wasn't a team
atmosphere here, you know, it
would be anarchy
all over the boat.
We're gonna try to train you
all as one team because you're
gonna be one team in the
Gulf standing them watches.
People would be doing what
they wanted all day long.
I don't think real
work would get done.
Everybody understand that?
Yes, sir.
Now what do you guys have?
Anybody have any
feedback for me?
Everybody's more or less equal.
Except for the rank.
Let me jump in here real quick.
Oh, I'm sorry. No problem.
What's going on?
I have this pain in my tooth
that I've had for like two
weeks and I keep trying to come
down here but I haven't been
able to till today.
So I think I might
have a cavity.
Or my filling's jacked
up or something.
Can I help you, sir?
I'm here to have my
annual flight physical.
What's your last four? 9331.
Captain Jakubowski.
How are you?
Great. How about yourself?
Good.
Officers get to go
in front of us.
I signed up and he
came in after me.
And we both sat down at the same
time and he got seen before me.
Twice already he's been seen
and I've been waiting here
longer than he has.
I've been sitting here
for almost an hour now.
I mean, I understand that
you're an officer and you have
your privileges and
everything like that.
But why he came here was
just for some routine stuff.
Why I came here is because my
tooth has been hurting for two
weeks and this is the only opportunity
I've gotten to come to dental.
I'm probably gonna have to have
a filling or something else
like that. All he needs is
to get his teeth cleaned.
Being on the ship and being an
officer, that probably got to
be the because they
don't do nothing.
They get a bad rap a lot of
times from the mess decks.
And most of the people are
talking about the officers, oh
they've got it so easy,
whatever, but I think that
they've got it probably just as hard as us.
It's just we don't
recognize it.
How is it different from officers
enlisted under the surface?
It's responsibility,
it's accountability.
They take pretty good care of
us, make sure we don't get
in trouble. They put their necks out
for us, keep us out of trouble.
The officers on this boat, I think,
get a lot more stuff than we do.
There's about 30, 35 of us
females, Navy and marines.
I get my own sink.
I get a desk.
Everything you have fits inside
these four compartments.
Oops, sorry, five.
Yeah, you've just got to
kind of slide in there.
You've just got to kind
of slide in like this
'cause that's all
you're getting.
You just push this little
button and it folds right out.
They're waiting in a bunch
of lines that are very long.
They get to eat in the ward
rooms which, the food there is
of better quality as opposed to
where I work in the aft galley,
where you've got to cook
for 3,500 people, so
get the meal out in two hours.
If you're getting any gab from
the troops about the food
you're eating, then that's wrong.
We are eating the same
food as the folks
in the mess decks.
We cook the same foods, but
because we prepare less
of it, the food tastes better.
I pay $250 for it every month.
I'm gonna freaking eat it.
Definitely a double standard.
Officers and enlisted people
are definitely separated, and
the officers say one thing but
then they do another thing and
then we get in trouble
for doing what they say.
Everyone's there to tell you
what to do, and so you've just
kind of got to back down and
let 'em tell you what to do,
until you raise in rank and
then you can tell other people
what to do.
Somebody's got to be the boss.
Orders come from the hierarchy.
You know, that's what the
world's built on, 'cause if we
all was the same,
nothing would get done.
"Why don't you do it?"
"You're the same as I am."
Then that's when, when you take
the hierarchy come in and say,
"I tell you what, both of you"
knuckleheads go do it 'cause
"I'm senior to the both of you."
And then somebody come tell you,
"well, I'll tell you what, all"
three of you go do it
'cause I'm "senior."
And it just continue on.
That's how we do
cleaning stations.
When you come into the Navy,
most people come in as e-3 and
bellow, which is airman,
seaman, fireman.
I'm just an e-3.
I'm an airman, you know.
I'm not poppin' no collars!
Nothing is on my collar.
Nothing, I have
no collar device!
And when you get that rank of
petty officer, you have more
responsibility.
E-4 will have one chevron.
E-4, I'm a third-class
petty officer.
Two chevrons, e-5.
Second-class petty officer.
E-6 will have 3.
First-class petty officer.
He's a second-class petty officer.
He's a third-class petty officer.
Sometimes.
Yeah, sometimes you get discriminated
because you're higher up.
You're higher up,
your rank, you know.
You could be one day really
cool with somebody as an
airman, but the next day you're
a third class, and then all of
a sudden you're trying to...
You don't kick it with the
Airmens no more.
Yeah, you can't.
You're trying to just boss them
around now 'cause you're a
third class.
For me, making rank and going so
fast, surpassing some of the people
that I used to work with, and
you know, it was OK at first,
but now it's, you know, it's not OK.
It's, "you think you're
better" or you know.
I'm the same person I was I just,
I'm making a little bit more money.
Which I should be, I'm
doing a bigger job.
I get paid more money.
Definitely, doing less.
We both, he's too, I don't know.
That's just the way it goes,
the higher you go in rank, the
less you do, and the more
you get to yell at people.
Hey, Costa?
On this here, we have to redo
the surface and get the edges.
Yeah, that's what I
was just working on.
He's a second class.
He's not horrible. I just like,
he does frustrate me a lot.
I can't explain it.
He's just irritating, you know.
Oh, no, no.
Do it straight up and down.
Here, put this back on there.
'Cause the thing's off.
That's the way I had it.
My way is a good way.
He'll get you in trouble for
things that are OK for him
just because he's a second class
or 'cause he's a supervisor.
And even if you ask him, you're
like, "hey, well, you did the
same thing. How is it OK
for "you and not for me?"
He'll be like,
"'cause I'm Decker.
I'm the watch Captain.
I'm second class.
"I can do that."
You know?
You know, the cleaning doesn't take long.
It's just a
matter of getting it done.
Nobody likes to do it, so
unfortunately we've got to kind
of be harsh when we
tell people to do it.
First of all, they tell you,
this is how you do your work,
then they tell the person above
you to watch how you do your
work and make sure
you do it right.
Then that third class has
somebody on his back, telling
him how to do his job.
Then that first class has another
person on top of him, telling him.
And it just goes down hill.
All right, so let's get
all of this cleaned up.
This hatch here needs
to be scrubbed down.
And we're gonna quit talking to
you guys about cleaning this.
Both sides still ain't done. I
shouldn't have to explain that
to you because you're
a second class.
What the hell's going on here?
We need to fix this.
This is not, this is unsat...
We can't be living like this.
Look at this. Would
you sit on that?
I wouldn't want to
piss over there.
So I guess I'm gonna have to do
my supervising again and make
sure you guys clean the way
you're supposed to be cleaning.
Because if I leave it to you
guys, it's gonna end up looking
like a hole.
That's what it's
gonna look like.
You got to get your game plan
today and you better start
working on it.
I'm gonna re-inspect later on
sometime this week before we pull in.
If it's not up to speed when we
get to Guam, don't expect no
liberty until we get
it up to speed.
'Cause we're not gonna
live like this at all.
We are a floating dictatorship
defending a democracy.
All right, guys, let's
go, cleaning stations.
An order to do something is not
up for debate, even if you
think personally that the
reasons behind it are
ludicrous. That's part of the
discipline that goes along with
being in the military and
working in the military and
doing what you're ordered to do.
In a world that's set in
stone I'm set in something
just let it go, just let it go...
I got yanked off the
flight deck to go T.A.D.
T.A.D. stands for Temporary Assigned
Duty, which is something that
everyone e-3 or below has to do,
one time in their life at least.
They'll like take you out of
your division or shop that
you're in and you basically
work for supply department.
I clean female chief berthings
and female chiefs bathrooms,
and then female
officer bathrooms.
So it's just like having cleaning
stations for 12 hours a day.
I got yanked right when I was
so close to making a very big
qual that I need to get.
So basically I went from launching
a jet to swabbing a deck.
Ever since I've gone T.A.D.
I've become more laid back, like
I don't want to... after I'm
done work, I don't want to go
up to the line shack to study
again or nothing like that
'cause I'm too tired from
working all day and, I don't
know, I just feel like going
T.A.D. set me back a lot.
I guarantee you if everyone
was to let out their emotions
here, everyone would go to mast.
Someone would say something to
somebody superior to them that
that superior doesn't like, someone
may do something, you know?
Everyone here is
suppressing emotions.
You have to have, you know, an
avenue to vent your frustrations.
I can lay down a beat.
The fun stuff on
this ship, eating.
I have masqueraded aboard
this ship as a pirate.
I write poetry.
I've hijacked the bridge.
Checking the emails, see
if somebody wrote me.
Run on the admiral's
treadmill for a workout.
What else do we do for fun?
Sleeping.
And other miscellaneous
scalawag type things.
Christian Garzone here
for naval confessions.
I'm down here in the print shop.
We actually busted a kind of a,
as soon as the camera came in
they scattered away.
Have you ever seen
me lose to him?
Will you not break dance
or whatever and you go
get in the proper uniform.
We like to drink Nyquil.
It makes us, uh,
go to bed faster.
There's always something
going on in berthing.
We always do thing to keep
us alive, basically sane.
We always do stupid bets.
We bet on what time they're
gonna call reveille, and you
know what time. That's
the same time every day.
That's how we
entertain ourselves.
Hitting each other in the nuts.
Mail call.
Getting things from home,
care packages and letters.
Ohhhhh!
It's from my girlfriend
Sadie, back home.
Second one I've got from her.
It's the only mail I've got.
It keeps you going.
I've read it like 3 times already
in like the past 2 hours.
Workout.
Workout.
Workout.
When I'm on the treadmill,
I'm not on the ship.
You got to do it.
You get to relieve all
your anger in the gym.
Being in the military you're
only limited to say so many
things so, this
relieves a lot of it.
Been tryin' and tryin'
and tryin' and tryin'
and tryin' to get by...
there's only so much you can
do or get away with
here on the boat.
The gym only takes you so far
before your stress level goes,
goes out the window.
The only thing keeping you sane is
that you have those port calls.
The port calls is
when you let loose.
Just like everybody else...
Guam, I think you'll like it.
Lots of water sports,
lots to do there.
We'll start down the pass of
what we need to do to get
everybody ready to go in and
have some good liberty in Guam.
I'm gonna shotgun this beer.
Are you ready then I'm
gonna go get my hat.
You guys are drunk.
Whenever I get drunk, you guys
tell me, and I'll be all right.
You're drunk, Allen.
We're part of the Guam
separatist movement.
You better run for
your life boy!
Fire at me as I come charging towards you!
Boom, boom!
I got the whole sack of shoes.
I got the whole sack of shoes,
a whole sack of beers, and all
you got was a pair
of lousy shoes.
Take this with you
cause that's dirty.
Hey, locals, you want some beer?
Because I'm gonna
wash it with me.
You can only do so much
to help a shipmate out.
Wade, I want you to take a
picture with this local.
Come on man, get in here man.
No, get in here.
Get in here, all of you.
All right!
Ready.
Mr. Bass is coming to
solve the situation.
Where's the beer at, please?
You're the only one that has
any control around here.
And you're all making asses
out of yourself right now.
Well, then give me another beer.
Let me talk to you.
All right. I'm good.
Let's talk.
Let me tell you something about
myself before you get to know me.
Go ahead.
I'm getting kicked out
of the Navy for racism.
Are you?
I have two accounts
against black guys.
Ok.
But I mean, I still like you
guys and I respect you and I'm
talking to you right now.
Are you guilty of it?
That's the way I
was raised, man.
Let me ask you, are
you guilty of it?
Yes, I am.
So, let me ask you this.
You're talking to a
racist right now.
I mean we're shaking
hands, we're holding arms.
Oh, of course, of course.
Yeah. It ain't my fault.
All right.
I joined the Navy. That
was the wrong decision.
No, it wasn't. No, it wasn't.
I'm gonna tell you
why it wasn't.
I've been in one year and now
getting discharged, man.
No, no, listen to me.
It wasn't the wrong decision.
Let me tell you like this.
The Navy is a melting pot.
When you join the Navy, you join
like different nationalities,
different cultures,
different everything.
Say for example the fifth
deck gets flooded.
I happen to be there
and you're drowning.
I'm not gonna sit there and let
you die because you're a racist.
You're my shipmate.
And I hope you'd do the same
for me not because I'm black.
I'd do the same, I'd do
the same for anybody.
Exactly.
To save your life.
Exactly.
Let me ask you a question,
would you call me a nigger
after this conversation?
No. I'd be cool with you.
Right.
You know what? Let me tell,
let me tell you like this.
It ain't about nigger, it ain't
about cracker, it ain't about
spic. It's about none of that.
I know I shouldn't judge
people by their color.
But... It's just the way.
You were raised.
Yes.
But even in that, there's no excuse.
You know what's right
from what's wrong, right?
If you adapt yourself to be
around different cultures, if
you learn about different
people and what they experience
in their life, than that
will change you overall.
Think about it, come on.
If I can get through to one
person, I've made a difference.
If you can teach your children
not to be the same way
you were raised, then we
can make a difference.
I want to congratulate the
crew on your outstanding
performance in Guam.
We trust you guys to be adults
and act responsibly and about
99 and a half percent of
everybody did exactly that.
We did have a small number
of folks who couldn't quite
measure up to that standard.
I'll talk to them this
afternoon in Captain's mast.
And they've got me on 6 charges.
Now they're charging me with
disrespecting a senior chief,
resisting arrest, drunk and
disorderly, assaulting a petty
officer, a threat towards a
petty officer, and then I got
racial slurs from
the other deal.
That's all on one
Captain's mast.
I'm in a lot of trouble.
I've been screwing up.
I screwed up in port, got
in a little bit of trouble.
Went out and got drunk.
That's a lot of charges dude...
6 charges.
I'm probably gonna do brig time.
That's what you want,
though, right?
I don't really necessarily want
brig, but I want out of the Navy.
I don't like this place.
I can't adapt.
I never had this problem
before I came in here.
Being in trouble like
this, saying this.
I'm getting all butterflies
and in my stomach.
We'll figure it out.
Maybe I'm just hungry.
The officer of the day, he's
like, "if you stay in, you're
gonna keep doing
this, aren't "you?"
I was like, "yeah. It's
probably "gonna get worse."
I was like, "it's getting worse
and worse every time. Next time
I'll be like dropping the
"n-bomb on some dude."
What if they don't discharge me?
You know how pissed off I'm
gonna be?
And we were drinking all night
and we got into a fight
well, I feel so broke up
Lord, I wanna go home
so hoist up the John B's sail
see how the main sail sets
call for the Captain ashore let
me go home Lord, I wanna go home
I got 30 days restriction.
That's it?
Nothing about the racist stuff.
Oh, great.
That's another.
So what'd you go
to mast today for?
For getting arrested the
other night and all that.
Probably yours, isn't it?
Your shoes, your
belt, your cover.
Thanks.
Man, why didn't they
do the racist stuff?
They dropped everything, man.
Who did?
The C.O.?
Because they can't
hold that against you.
Remember when you got in trouble
for racism the first time?
It didn't go up to mast,
so it didn't count.
What about this time?
I don't know. Damn.
Man.
I don't know.
The legal said... 'Cause I was
talking to legal right after I
got back, and they gave me my
papers and I was like, "what
"about the other deal?"
And he was like, "well, we'll
"take care of it later."
You still have to go?
I better.
It's the whole reason
I wanted to go.
Man, I didn't want 30 days.
It sucks.
Hopefully, next time
I'll get the big dog.
Go on home.
That's what I was wanting.
You only got 30 days, though? I
got 30 days extra duty, too.
Hey, what does that "r"
mean for you, Allen?
It means racist.
Now everybody knows.
Another day that pulled
you under come on come on
is there really any wonder?
Come on come on 'cause you
feel alive I'm in over my head
feeling so low under your
thumb I'm in over my head
is the world caving
in under your skin?
Another day assured... Just
because I don't have a
chevron don't mean I
cannot speak freely.
It's all bull, OK?
We're already at each other's
throats after like... what was
the last port? Was
it like a week a?
Guam.
Guam was like a week ago and
everyone's already at each
other's throats again, you know?
It's been like a week.
Hey, what's going on?
You're not supposed to be
out of your rack, man.
Man. Hell!
You're on restriction.
You've got rules to follow.
Third class, you
need to step down.
You never act like this.
Shut up. Go to sleep.
It doesn't say in the rules I
have to go to bed at 10:00.
It says be in my rack at 10:00.
What are you gonna do in there?
This is my rack. I'm in it.
Turn the lights out and go to sleep.
That's all you got to do.
What if some serious
went down and I'm in
here round with you?
Man, I'm gonna tell you this one
more time and I'll call security.
This is real life, guys.
Good morning, Nimitz
and air wing 11.
CAG and I coming back to you for
the Kuala Lumpur Captain's call.
For now and for the next several
months any opportunities
we have for liberty will be in
the Muslim environment and the
rules are very different.
The Western Pacific will be behind us.
We'll go through the
straits of Malacca tonight and
from that time on we'll be over
in the Indian Ocean side and
in the Arabian Gulf in the
Muslim countries and in their
countries, we play by their rules.
We're entering an area that's,
uh, frankly full of terrorists.
We are entering an area where people
are dedicated to killing you.
And they're willing
to die to do that.
Ok, we're about 2 hours from
the Singapore straights.
We'll be going through the straits
of Malacca all night tonight.
It's a navigation choke point.
Anytime we go through a
constricted choke point like
that, especially in today's
environment, we never really
know if a boat's gonna come
alongside you and blow up,
like the "Cole."
We want to protect ourselves
from any type of terrorist
attack by small boats
or low slow aircraft.
What we want to do is not only
protect ourselves, but we also
want to show that we can go
through this strait with no
hesitation, just like we're
gonna do when we go through the
strait of Hormuz
going into the Gulf.
Our main job is
to keep you safe.
And with your personal
protective measures in place,
we'll be able to do that.
Right now, our threat in Kuala
Lumpur, we're looking at
significant. Ok?
So we have layered defenses.
You see the sentries, you
see the vehicle inspection
checkpoints, you see the barricades,
the spike strips, whatever.
It's a layered defense.
We want them to go through as
many obstacles as possible
before they can attack
or penetrate the ship.
They get to the ship, it's over.
Kuala Lumpur is really strict.
It's a really strict country.
The females don't get treated the
same way as the United States.
The females dress up like
Muslims from head to toe.
It's disrespectful to point.
You can't tap a civilian
on the shoulder.
They find that offensive.
You'll go to jail
for that, actually.
Vehicle bombs.
They can blow 10-12 of you guys
up and they're making an impact.
You've got to be thinking that
everybody's out to get you.
Don't think you're safe
because you're not.
When we get complacent and we
stop thinking that something's
gonna happen to us, that's
when it's gonna happen.
Just wrapping up here.
Enjoy Klang and Kuala Lumpur.
Enjoy the liberty and
make good choices.
That is all.
Good morning.
We're about to go on a tour and
leisure expedition in Kuala Lumpur.
I'm quite beside myself.
I can't wait to get on the bus
and I'm just pumped with energy
this morning, so uh,
Phil, are you ready?
Yeah, I'm ready.
We're going out to the pedaling
Jaya orphanage for Comrel.
Comrel is, uh,
community relations.
It's really open to almost
any kind of application.
From planting to
painting to cleaning.
It's something that we can
do as Americans in a foreign
community to help someone.
Ok. All right. You look nice.
I said I was scared and
I still am scared.
I'm scared of what could happen,
but at the same time I'm
enjoying myself out here.
You get to know a lot of
things, you know, learn a lot
more about this, their culture.
And it's pretty cool.
Went to Captain's
mast yesterday.
He told me my charges and asked
me if I'm aware of them,
and I told him, "yes, sir."
He asked me if I admit
to being racist.
I told him, "yes, sir."
He said, "Are you racist
against Asians or Hispanics or
Jews or blacks?"
And I just told him, "Black
people, pretty much."
And he asked me why.
And I told him that was just
the way back home I was raised
around and it's the way I grew up,
it's just what I feel right now.
He said, "well"... we talked a
little bit more, he's like,
the Navy's a team, and you're
"no longer on the team anymore."
He paused and he's like,
"this is off the record."
The Captain's mast was pretty
much over, but I just stood
there and kept talking to
him like a conversation.
And he said, "Well, I'm gonna
send you home. You're gonna be
a civilian."
He said, "maybe when you
get home, you'll change.
Maybe one of these days you'll
grow up and change and see
people like they should be seen"
or whatever.
And I was like,
"well, maybe, sir.
I don't really know yet, but
"this is how I feel right now."
I'm not playing the spook song.
I'm gonna get so drunk
on the airplane.
Play "Scotty doesn't know."
Can you play "Scotty
doesn't know"?
Scotty doesn't know that
Robert's going home,
getting out of the Navy.
Going to get stoned.
I got an administrative
separation with other than
honorable mentions.
That's a, that's a good
discharge, I guess, 'cause like
I don't know, I could still get
a job and I'm eligible for a
lot of stuff still.
I just don't get my G.I. Bill
but I don't really give a...
about that anyways.
I don't plan on
going to college.
After two years or something,
it goes away, doesn't it?
What do you mean, if you
have to like apply to a job
you don't have to say nothing?
I don't know.
I don't know.
Remember this?
What the?
What was I doing
talking to this guy?
That was in Guam.
What's he doing huggin' me?
What the, dude?
What's this guy doing?
What are you really
thinking in that picture?
I was drunker than.
I don't have any idea.
You don't remember this at all?
You remember her?
I was wasted, dude.
I don't remember even
taking these pictures.
Guam's the last
place I drank beer.
That's where I got
up, got in trouble.
It was fun, though.
It was worth it.
If I get stoned and sing all night
long it's a family tradition
you whooped my ass.
I was so drunk, I couldn't even...
You passed out.
I had sand all over my
face and in my mouth.
That was a... Oh, yeah,
I remember that.
There he's dancing
like Michael Jackson.
He ran outside like
he was gonna do it.
I was like damn.
I got some whites from him.
Got some dress whites and
dress blues for 40 bucks.
Did you buy them?
Yeah.
Allen!
Hey, there's Allen.
Allen.
He took off running.
Who beat the out of him?
You did?
Allen, tell us about the
time you and him fought.
What time was that?
Damn, you guys fight
more than once?
Oh, at the hotel?
Yeah.
That was crazy.
That's the night I drank
that shampoo and.
Thought it was Alcohol.
Those little shampoos
at the hotel?
Drank all that.
Gonna buy that?
Got your money?
Yeah.
Go get it.
Don't forget the whites.
Hey, is it gonna fit?
No, it don't fit.
Man, come on!
You ain't gonna buy it?
I can't even wear it.
You wore it before!
Those were your pants.
Sell you the pants for 20.
Man, ask milk. He can fit 'em.
I got to go to personnel because
I might be leaving tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
Yeah, tomorrow, tomorrow.
Hey, man, take care
of yourself, man.
Yeah, I will.
Hey, shoot me an email, man.
All right? Yeah, I'll see.
Nimitz style, man. Yeah.
A'ight? A'ight, man.
A'ight, man. A'ight.
Take it easy.
He's the one that calls
me petty officer.
Or magic chief of hatred.
Kid gets kicked out for racism
but he has black friends.
He don't have black friends.
I made black friends.
No, he don't have black
friends, that racist bitch.
They still like him.
No, I hate his ass.
I don't know what that's about.
See if I can fit
this bitch in there.
Yeah, I'm just ready to go home.
I have no doubt, no regrets.
I'll miss you, man. Yeah.
Take it easy.
See you, man.
Yeah, see you, Derik.
Airman Allen might think he
won by gaming the system,
but an other than honorable
discharge has real consequences.
It's equivalent to being
fired from the Navy.
It will limit his G.I. Bill and
job preference opportunities
for the rest of his life.
Allen's behavior on board and
in port was unacceptable.
And you know, it's really a
shame he didn't listen to his
peers and his chain of command as
they tried to straighten him out.
You back at the shack?
You walk around a ship and
you see people making jokes,
and you see people swearing at
each other, and yelling at each
other, and fighting each other, and
doing just general dumb stuff.
But when they call man
overboard or when they call
general quarters or when they
call any kind of drill that
requires response, everyone
may be in mid joke, but they
snap to and they go.
And I think you have
to have faith in that.
In the next couple of days
we'll pass through the straits
of Hormuz and enter
the Arabian Gulf.
We've worked hard and come a
long way to be here and we're
ready to support the guys
on the ground in Iraq.
If today was not a crooked highway
if tonight was not a crooked trail
if tomorrow wasn't such a long
time and lonesome would mean
nothing to you at all I can't
see my reflection in the water
I can't speak the sounds to show
no pain I can't hear the echo
of my footsteps or remember
the sounds of my own name
yes, and only if my own
true love's waitin'
I could only hear her
heart softly pounding
yes, and if only she was lying
by me and I'm lying in my bed
once again.
Subs rip, edit, and
resnyc by © VJ Me 2010