When working in the Navy, you learn to trust your orders, but sometimes those orders come with unintended consequences.
One sailor’s blind obedience to a superior’s command would soon illuminate a situation in ways no one expected.
Read on for the full story!
The year is 1985, and I was an E4 sailor aboard a US Navy support ship somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
When traveling at night, Navy ships would turn off all exterior lights so as not to interfere with the bridge crew’s night vision.
The rule about no lights was pretty clear.
There were dim red lights, but ABSOLUTELY NO WHITE LIGHTS were permitted when running dark.
Even the doors and hatches leading to the exterior had switches to automatically turn off all of a compartment’s interior lights if the exterior door was opened.
This made things a bit tough on dark nights.
I was working with another E4 in a small compartment out on deck where the underway replenishment controls were (probably painting something, I don’t remember).
It was a moonless night, and pitch black.
So one officer had the bright idea to just turn on the lights.
A really ticked off E6 from another department stumbled into the doorway, pointed, and told me to flip three switches on the bulkhead. These were the underway replenishment lights for night operations; similar to stadium lights.
But the sailor knew this was against the rules.
I told him, “I can’t do that, those are exterior lights.”
He said, “This isn’t up for debate. Flip the switches.”
I said, “Is that an order?”
But the officer insisted the sailor comply.
“If you don’t do it, I’ll write you up.”
So I said to the other E4, “You heard him,” and flipped the switches.
After that, the reaction was swift and immediate.
That was when I learned that Navy ships have VERY loud loudspeakers forward of the bridge. A voice boomed out, “TURN THOSE ******* LIGHTS OFF NOW!!!”
The E6 dived over me to turn off the lights.
Things didn’t end well for the officer.
Within seconds, a Master at Arms showed up to escort the E6 to talk to the duty officer. I don’t remember for sure, but I think he got Captain’s Mast for that.
Just following orders.
Who knew a single flick of a switch could ignite such a firestorm.
What did Reddit think?
This commenter thinks his superior should have been more in tune with the people around him.
This commenter concurs.
It’s sorta similar to “Can I get that in writing?”
It was a day to remember, that’s for sure!
The lesson from this story is clear: Someone may be your superior, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they know best!
If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.
