My Navy Command Ball is happening soon and the theme is Casino Royale. I am really leaning towards choosing the black dress, but wanted to know if these options are appropriate to wear.

Apparently the light grey is a different grey then the grey Tomcats got later in their lives. Though someone can correct me on that.

We are in that time of year, where a survey is pushed out that on average about 30% of the command takes. And of that 30%, 15% of those participants actually take it seriously and give well thought out responses to the question.

This is just speaking from my experience in recent years, I know and have heard of commands reaching into the 70% before, and I was throughly impressed.

I’ve tried to impart upon my fellow colleagues the importance of actually taking the time to do this survey. And even more so, providing CONTEXT. Not just “the XO sucks”. Great, tell me why they suck, do I need to consider removing them for cause? Give me details. “My LPO is mean”. Cool, some people are mean, tell me what they are doing and why it’s mean. “Off time would be great”. Amazing, I love a good off day myself, tell me what I can do better to work more into the schedule that I haven’t, or if I am missing out on a departments work rotation that is completely different from the majority. We’re doing our best, speaking plainly, a lot of OPTEMPOs are total shit right now.

How many people have actually SEEN change come from a DEOCS? I’m talking investigations into incidents, because enough background information was provided? Changes to command climate that are actually effective from the top to the bottom? Poor leadership addressed appropriately?

What do you think it would actually take in a DEOCS to make a true difference, to have the ISIC realize that there is a staggering issue in a command that needs to be addressed from higher?

Hi everyone, I am reposting to look for information regarding my biological grandfather. I now have his full name: Jerry Billy Waugh (likely born in the early 1960s).

He served in the U.S. Navy during the 1980s on the guided-missile destroyer USS Cochrane (DDG-21).

He was stationed/visited the Philippines (Subic Bay/Olongapo) and told my family that his ship escorted a major aircraft carrier during his Western Pacific (WestPac) deployments. I have attached his portrait photo from that era, along with his USS Cochrane Zippo lighter. What I am hoping to find:

• Does anyone remember serving with a Jerry Waugh on the Cochrane in the 80s?

• If anyone has access to the 1985–1990 USS Cochrane Cruise Books or Fold3/Ancestry military muster rolls, could you please check if his name is listed in the roster and what division he belonged to?

He does not know our branch of the family exists, and I want to confirm his ship records before making any next steps. Thank you all so much for your help and service!"

I'm currently an enlisted ET3 that wants to commission to PAO. I hold a Communications bachelor's degree from The University of Alabama, I'm 30, married and believe this would give me more opportunities in the future while doing work I truly enjoy. I do a lot of video work, editing, etc as a hobby so I gravitate toward that more than my ET work as a 2M tech and NMT. Does any PAO out there have any advice and information on where to get started. I've talked to my chain of command and have their support, but the paperwork and process falls on me to get done. Thanks in advance!

A sailor assigned to USS Michigan (SSGN-727) (Submarine Group 9) died after a single-vehicle crash. Condolences to their family, friends and loved ones.

https://news.usni.org/2026/10/13/ncis-investigating-submarine-sailor-death-on-naval-base-kitsap

I’m about a year into the Navy, currently an E-4 (third class), and lately, I’ve been struggling with my motivation.

I feel like no matter what I do, it’s never good enough. My division recently appointed a new second class as the Galley Watch Captain, but I’m still expected to take charge, handle paperwork, and shoulder a lot of the responsibility. Technically, though, I’m now just a cook on watch, while the second class is essentially acting as the galley supervisor. In practice, it feels like I’m still expected to carry a lot of the weight without having the same position or authority.

I get the meals out on time. I show up, do my job, and try to keep things running smoothly. But somehow, it never feels like enough.

Meanwhile, we have other CSs who seem to spend most of their days sitting in the mess decks doing very little beyond salad prep, and I can’t help but wonder why the expectations feel so different depending on who you are.

On top of that, I keep hearing secondhand information about what people supposedly think of me, but none of it comes directly from my first classes. Yesterday, my LPO asked if I was upset, and I admitted that I was. She brought up my leadership style and said she thinks the FSAs and others don’t respect me because I’m too nice and laid-back.

For context, I’m not someone who feels the need to constantly get in people’s faces or make everyone’s life miserable just to establish authority. I’ll correct people when I need to, and I can be firm when the situation calls for it, but I don’t believe being an asshole automatically makes someone a good leader.

At the same time, I’m only a year into the Navy. I’m still learning, and I’m willing to accept criticism if there’s something I genuinely need to improve. I just don’t know how much of this is a leadership issue on my end and how much is a problem with how my division is managing expectations.

I’m frustrated because I came into the Navy wanting to be good at my job, take on responsibility, and become someone people could rely on. I haven’t shied away from hard work, but lately, I feel like I’m being asked to do more without really knowing where I stand or whether any of it is appreciated.

I don’t need constant praise, but I would appreciate clear expectations, constructive feedback, and some consistency in how people are held accountable.

For those of you who’ve been in the Navy longer, how do you handle this?
Should I change my leadership style and become more assertive with the people working under me? Should I stop volunteering for responsibilities that technically aren’t mine anymore? Or do I just need to accept that this is part of being junior enlisted and learn how to navigate it?
I don’t want to become bitter or lose the motivation I had when I first joined, but I’m starting to feel like no matter how much effort I put in, it doesn’t make a difference.
I’d genuinely appreciate advice from people who’ve experienced something similar, especially other CSs or anyone who’s worked in a galley.

I frequently float (pun intended) between ships that use Navy Cash and EagleCash. Is there a way I can actively hold both cards without cancelling one and filling out another 2887 when I need the other? Disbursing said the kiosks are specific to one type (i.e. Navy Cash will not work on EagleCash kiosks).

In August, President Trump directed the Navy to figure out how to return to using steam catapults on aircraft carriers to hurl fighter jets into the air.

For U.S. military officials, the order marked the return of an old foe: Bill Jones.

Who?

Exactly. Trump has described the man as a “catapulter” who served in the Navy for 25 years and loves the smell of steam. Jones convinced Trump the old technology was superior to modern methods of launching jets, the president said.

The incident sent Navy leaders searching for Jones to figure out what he said that prompted the president to demand an overhaul of one of the most expensive weapons programs in history. They never found him, according to defense officials.

But they’re still dealing with the consequences of the mystery sailor and his chance encounter with the president.

It all started just months into Trump’s first term when he was in Virginia touring the USS Gerald R. Ford, the newest aircraft carrier in the Navy’s fleet.

This warship, the largest in the world and first in its class, cost about $19 billion but had experienced myriad problems over eight years of construction as cutting-edge, but unproven, technology was installed on the ship. It was years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

Trump seemed eager to apply his real-estate experience to the dazzlingly complex world of Pentagon procurement. He has said he grew tired of hearing excuses from the admirals and he wanted to hear from the people who operate the machinery.

“I said, ‘Let me see the catapult people,’” Trump recalled during an April 2019 speech. “They said, ‘Sir, you don’t really want to do that?’ I said, ‘Yeah, those are the people that know what the hell they’re doing.’”

Then it happened.

The president said a sailor told him the Navy was making a mistake by ditching the tried-and-true method of using steam catapults. The decision to use an electromagnetic system to launch planes faster and more efficiently was dooming the service to failure.

Trump has said the sailor told him if the electric catapults break you need geniuses from MIT to repair them, while the steam version can be fixed with a hammer and blowtorch. Industry officials said both descriptions vastly oversimplify things.

After the encounter, Navy officials scrambled to explain to the president why the technologies were chosen and why removing them would be extremely disruptive, according to former defense officials.

During a Thanksgiving call in November 2018 to sailors aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, an older Nimitz-class carrier with steam catapults, Trump asked the ship’s commanding officer his opinion of steam versus electric catapults.

Then-Capt. Patrick Hannifin, now a three-star admiral in charge of naval forces in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans, told Trump that while steam is reliable now, he preferred electromagnetic catapults.

When Trump pressed Hannifin that “you have to be Albert Einstein” to operate them properly, the captain responded: “You sort of have to be Albert Einstein to run the nuclear power plants that we have here as well, but we’re doing that very well.”

Trump said “that’s actually a very good answer.” The issue seemed to go away.

It came roaring back as Trump sought and won re-election.

He mentioned Jones by name during a January 2024 rally in Mason City, Iowa. Then in February 2025, Trump brought up the electric catapults when he swore in Tulsi Gabbard to be the director of national intelligence.

There were rumors among industry insiders that Trump would sign an executive order telling the Navy to return to steam, but nothing happened—until this summer.

In August, Trump signed a national security memorandum directing the Navy to figure out the cost and timeline for installing steam catapults and hydraulic elevators in the ship currently known as CVN 81, expected to join the fleet in 2034.

The Navy isn’t getting its Ford-class carriers fast enough, and must simplify their design by using time- and battle-tested technology, an administration official said.

It hasn’t built a carrier with steam since the USS George H.W. Bush, which entered the fleet in 2009.

More problematic: “Steam catapults have been out of production for decades—no one makes them anymore,” said Hunter Stires, the maritime strategist to former Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro.

Since the order, Navy leaders have couched their public remarks.

“If we were to go back to steam and hydraulics with the elevators, we need to really understand the total cost of that,” Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said at a conference in Reno, according to USNI News. “That will be a significant design change.”

He said a February stress test of the Ford’s electromagnetic launchers showed they outperformed their steam peers.

Analysts and industry insiders say the new system could be more effective for future warfare since it could launch bomb-laden aircraft and drones. Shipbuilding experts worry putting steam back on a carrier would put the Navy technologically behind China.

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao has warned officials not to question the president’s decision.

“To be clear, the debate on whether we do this has ended,” he wrote in an Aug. 28 memo, referring to a broader set of recommendations including the steam catapults. “Our task now is to provide the plan on how to implement.”

Given the ship won’t be completed before Trump is set to leave office, and Democrats are expected to gain control of at least one chamber of Congress in the midterms, the chance that a new ship with the old catapults actually joins the fleet drops significantly. Still, the Navy is steaming ahead.

“This could ultimately be a multibillion-dollar change that was resulting from largely this one sailor’s interaction with the president,” said Bryan Clark, a naval expert with the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank. “Which is kind of crazy when you think about the level of impact a single person had.”

Trump has gotten personally involved in several other projects, from the new Air Force One and a class of high-tech battleships to a futuristic military drone port on the top of the White House.

In an attempt to find the mysterious Bill Jones, The Wall Street Journal contacted current and former Navy officials, lawmakers, White House aides and industry executives.

No one who was contacted knows the sailor’s identity.

A Navy spokesman said that without his date of birth or other identifying information, it “cannot accurately locate this Sailor in our records.”

I already have special medical inserts, but I need new boots with steel toe for my new command.

Anyone know what boots brand is best for supporting feet with Plantar fasciitis? Something super supportive and comfortable.

I'm willing to pay more for my feet not to kill me so any brand you reccomend please let me know!

If it helps with reccomendations, I used to wear the Oakley ones and they really helped a lot.

Is the chain just CMC straight to Detailer? Or are there other steps?

For those that have gone through or submitted an ARA how long before you saw something in NSIPS or another program?

Hi, can anyone help me find a copy of the CRT guide? I can’t find it on any official Navy website.

Looking for contacts in Florida, Virginia and San Diego. I am based in the Singapore Navy, looking to trade challenge coins and patches.

I’m interested in pursuing a dental career after my initial SWO obligation. Anyone know anything about the transfer process if I were to become a navy dentist? I know there’s the HPSP scholarship but I was wondering if there are any considerations where the navy could somewhat lat transfers my designation from SWO to dental corps.

I’m trying to fly myself, my wife and my kid back home for Christmas and I’m trying to figure out the best way to find cheaper flights or perks we could use with the military cause $1400 is very pricey around that time since we also have to board our dogs during that time. Any and all help would be super appreciated

My grandfather, WWII, on the left. Not sure what the patch is on his shoulder, if anyone could be of some assistance? He was a signalman on the LST-31.

I’m PCS’ing from my command (where I was receiving BAH) and am in my second of three c-schools. I’m still getting the amount BAH from my old command. I get done with all of my C-schools in December and I detached from my old command in September. Is this supposed to be happening? I’m in a hotel at this current c-school and will be in a barracks for my next one.

Thank you guys! Happy Navy birthday btw 🫶