Listen to the whales, our Navy blows
Date 2/18/1999 12:00 AM | Topic: Opinion Not since 1588 had the world witnessed such an act of naval genius. On the evening of Feb. 5, under the veil of a dark, Atlantic sky, the USS Radford ran into a massive Saudi Arabian merchant ship.
In the hours following the collision, Navy officials struggled to minimize the incident in order to circumvent the inevitable flood of public criticism that would result from an unfavorable portrayal of the event.
According to a Navy spokesman, only one sailor was injured during the impact, a fact attributed to the successful deployment of the destroyer's airbags and the absorption of sizable kinetic forces by the hull's front crumple zones.
American and Saudi Arabian authorities later exchanged insurance information during a Washington conference at which President Clinton prayed that a "mere fender-bender" would have little bearing on oil prices within the United States. The incident was then dismissed, but not forgotten.
Despite the government's valiant attempts to maintain the Navy's dignified stance within the international community, the recent collision on the Atlantic is indicative of a startling truth: the United States' Navy is less formidable than a man in a canoe armed only with a rifle.
This claim, though seemingly unjustifiable, is one made evident by the number of vacancies now plaguing the Navy's hallowed ranks. At the close of last year, 22,000 positions remained unfilled.
The effects of the shortage have been nothing less than devastating, requiring many ships to sail with significantly reduced crews. One of the most alarming examples is that of the USS Enterprise, a carrier normally occupied by 5,830 sailors. This January, the Enterprise left port with only three.
Though various measures have been taken to mend the gaping holes in the Navy's population, they have only added to the deterioration of the fleet.
Of all the recent amendments to naval policy, none have proven as detrimental as the reduction of the Navy's educational requirement. In a desperate attempt to seduce more children into the force, Navy Secretary Richard Danzig declared that the number of sailors admitted into the service without high school diplomas would be doubled. Disaster came on the heels of the declaration.
On Feb. 10, the crew of the USS Russell, one twice as deprived of high school diplomas as it had been in the previous month, opened fire upon a whale.
The firestorm lasted for nearly two minutes, with members of the destroyer's crew unleashing every weapon in the ship's staggering arsenal. The mammal had no chance of survival. Three days later, after the smoke from the attack had finally settled, the creature's remains could not be found.
According to unconfirmed sources, the destroyer opened fire in response to what some considered aggressive actions by the whale itself. Though refusing to acknowledge the nature of the whale's actions, nor the threat it posed, a member of the Russell's command admitted that the use of three Tomahawk missiles was likely "unnecessary and excessive." The consensus of the crew was quite different, for most believed the assault was nothing less than "cool."
The whales are crying. Without immediate alteration to naval educational policies, Greenpeace predicts that the world's whale population will be extinguished within four months. It is this ominous fact, not the decline of American naval superiority, with which we must concern ourselves.
Hesitation means only extinction. The whales are crying. It is we who must heed their call.
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Sean Helle
Chips Columnist
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