Whiny JO Resignation Letters

I've blogged about the NewNavy website before, but it continues to provide some humorous content. The author is apparently a deeply disturbed former submariner (I know I normally don't use that term, but I think it's appropriate in this case) who doesn't seem to have enjoyed his time in submarines, or in the psych ward before he got out. (He's doing much better now, though.)

I'm not sure if they're new, or if I missed them the first time, but he's got up a couple of incredibly whiny JO resignation letters that sound fairly legit. Some excerpts:

"A problem that is exacerbated by being stationed in Japan is how the Navy handles personal responsibility. We are in charge of warships and hundreds of lives, but we have to be told what we can and can't do on liberty. We are told where to go, what to wear, and when to be back. Due to the political sensitivity, I understand using the easy solution of creating more rules and restricting behavior. Since I can offer no better solution, I can't say that it is the wrong way to handle the situation; however, I don't enjoy being treated as a child and I will enjoy the greater freedom and personal accountability that goes along with adult life outside the Navy."

I'm sure the liberty rules aren't at all due to previous officers who had lots of freedom and ended up drunk, beaten, and robbed. From the 2nd letter:

"In both my collegiate education and in my own further study of management theory, the basic leadership principle that I have encountered time and time again is that people are motivated best by positive reinforcement. Contemporary psychology has shown in experiments that treating individuals with sincere praise and encouragement reinforces and develops desirable behavior at the actual expense of unwanted behavior. The Navy’s method of leadership, however, is fundamentally based upon negative reinforcement. At every turn, behavioral change is attempted through criticism and punishment.
"As a junior officer first starting to monitor maintenance practices on my submarine, I was instructed by my Department Head to omit positive comments since they “provided no value.” Upon completion of a period of casualty drills, the Chief of the Boat would debrief the crew on only the errors and mistakes they had made, explaining that improvement could only be made by calling attention to what had been done wrong. Even official evaluations – such as Operational Reactor Safeguard Examinations (ORSE) or Tactical Readiness Evaluations (TRE) – report their findings as a detailed list of deficiencies. In the absence of negative comments, a simple disclaimer is made: “No deficiencies noted.” Seldom is feedback provided highlighting what was done correctly or how to correct the deficiencies that were observed, and any such feedback is off the record."

I'll admit that this particular practice takes some getting used to; skimmers and airdales both emphasize good things when debriefing. Still, to make it one of the reasons you're getting out seems a little bit overboard.

Anyway, I'm sure these two guys will be happier outside of the Navy, and will find that civilian jobs are always fun and never frustrating... {/sarcasm}