Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!cbnews!military
From: jwm@sun4.jhuapl.edu (James W. Meritt)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Ship manning
Message-ID: <1990Dec8.224153.281@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 8 Dec 90 22:41:53 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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Approved: military@att.att.com



From: jwm@sun4.jhuapl.edu (James W. Meritt)
They may be overmanned to be tied up pierside and everyone go home at night.
But that isn't what they do.  Some things to consider:

In combat, wwhen someone gets taken out of action you have to replace him.
There is not a large standing ready supply of people mid-ocean.

Somebody has to FIX all these things.  A ship has more moving parts than a
building.  I've seen the manning of an LHA go up by 20% or so just from the
requirements to do PMS.

Ships go 24 hours a day.   You need three times as many people as positions
to do this for an extended period.

I've spent a lot of time at sea.  I don't recall a lot of people doing
nothing.  I remember a lot of people orn out from doing too much too
long.  (I was one of them)

Jim Meritt
LCDR (USNR)
went to reserves after 10 years active.
Surface line - mighty fine.