Seriously, it was probably just, “Hey CO, come shoot this rifle!” and he did. One thing about the Navy, you’re never short of safe shooting avenues.
I suspect he was just shooting at waves for the camera, which is probably part of why he wouldn’t notice the scope, since he wasn’t actually acquiring a target. Although to me that seems kind of unsafe to just shoot in a direction, even if it’s just out at the water, without really looking at what you are shooting at.
From some training I’ve seen, the reason you might actually have that sort of weapon in that situation, would be for a guy on the deck or bridge wing engaging things like small boats, so you would want a scope for that.
Albatross.
African or European?
Or were it one of those ready-to-eat ones?
If he were a Royal Navy captain the scope would be right but the rifle would be pointing the other way.
Whoa now! I was an expert rifle marksman in my time as an officer. It came in handy, well never. But it could have!
Weren’t you on, um, submarines? If you are using a rifle down there, something is definitely wrong!
How else do you expect them to attack the enemy through the screen door?
Oh, I’m sure he was careful what he shot because some things don’t react well to bullets down there.
Just out of curiosity, what DOES react well to a bullet?
Ballistic gel?
More US Navy dumbfuckery.
Chiefs gonna chief, I guess. Though truth be told, most of the chiefs I’ve met have been a bit smarter than this one.
I certainly understand why the device wasn’t found sooner, though. Modern ships have so many doodads and geegaws stuck on them…
Christ, that chief is not going to enjoy life I imagine.
Sounds like all the chiefs were complicit. That strikes me as a massive breakdown of discipline and leadership. Presumably the internet restrictions on naval vessels exist for legitimate reasons!
I don’t know a lot about the navy or warships or SIGINT, but it seems to me that having an unauthorized transmitter that’s basically broadcasting a giant “KICK ME” sign into the ether is a rather big deal.
Seems like it’s becoming a bit of a concerning pattern. It’s not something I follow closely, but it leaves me questioning the state the Navy is currently in. Stuff like this:
All those TikTok videos aren’t gonna watch themselves.
Remember, a bunch of not-so-well known US military facilities around the world suddenly showed up because airmen and soldiers wearing GPS exercise trackers were running the perimeters each morning and basically mapping out the entire fence line of their facilities in the middle of Africa and Asia.
The Internet is hell on OPSEC.
Simple solution: just dive, baby! Satellite internet doesn’t work well underwater.
I think the Internet, and social media too, are definitely players here. I would think that the vast majority of men and women going into the military at this point are coming from a world where they are on their phones 24/7 and can’t really imagine an existence where they aren’t able to instantly communicate with their friends, kill any downtime with a game or TikTok, and all that. Then you shift their world dramatically into a place that is very much not tolerant of that sort of thing, and no matter how much you drive it into their heads, it’s going to be a slog to get them to shift their mindset and their mental muscle memory.