Here's Chuch Norris the camel. I just call him Chuck. He's attached to me pretty much wherever I go. There is a tradition of the "bull ensign" in the Navy. It's the most senior ensign. They are in charge of making sure all the other little ensignlings behave and they have to carry a bull around.
In this case, a camel. Now, it's everyone else's job to steal him from me. I have heard of him going up the flagpole, on a medevac to Iraq and back, and a large chase around the hospital that ended with someone jumping over a computer desk and knocking over the monitor.
So far, I've been okay. Some of my corpsmen are really good at getting the caribeaner off of me. They haven't gotten him yet. I will miss the little guy when I have to give him up a week from today when I pick up LTjg!!! Then, I think ENS Upton will have him for a while. It's kinda a neat tradition and all the army folks have to ask and they think it's pretty fun.
I had an army EOD guy talk to me yesterday about how much he loves the navy. He was saying that the army doesn't really look out for you and they just tell you to suck it up and don't give a rat's about you. I don't know. That's just what I hear from a LOT of army guys. I asked him what the difference was and he said one word... hospitality.
That makes me happy. I'm glad that so many people benefit from Navy medicine. That's why I don't understand when people dog on military medicine. The docs take wayyyy more time to make sure you're okay than any other civilian doc I've been to.
1 comment:
I've heard a lot of people give the Navy sh&t about some of their traditions, arguing that it is hazing. The Marine Corps has a lot of traditions that are similar, but they actually are hazing...but hell I like em anyway (gotta love the first time you get promoted to NCO and get your "blood stripes"). That being said, all these little traditions that you guys have (i.e. the bull ensign, crossing the equator on ship, etc.) seem to build morale, and that's a damned good thing.
You know... the only problem I've ever had with military medicine was at the VA... and I dont think that counts. They shuffled us through our dental exams quickly (they had to process 100 guys in about a 3 to 4 hour period) and told us all that we were good to go. Because I relied on them for my teeth exam every year, I ended up getting periodontal gingivitis. That being said, the Navy Dentist in Iraq had me do a lot of fox hole tricks to keep my teeth in good order. He didn't have the full facilities to clean me out, but he toughened my teeth and gums up to where the situation didn't get worse. You Navy docs are top notch, and I've only had good experiences with you all.
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