Hagel would NOT be the first enlisted SoD...or is the media wrongly ripping Obama?

[MADem]

11. OMG--that's hilarious, and scary!!

Bad, bad skipper for forcing a staff officer to stand watch like that!!! It's not at all uncommon for staff officers to get their surface warfare qualifications, but they volunteer to do it and start out at the bottom rung, doing their JOOD quals and getting them signed off in proper fashion! I've known a few Supply Corps, lawyers and chaplains who have done it; it helps them relate to the crew at sea and it gives them a sense that they are really pulling their weight. It's not mandatory, though--it's entirely optional.

I feel for your father--that had to be a "bad feeling in the pit of the stomach" atmosphere to be abandoned on the bridge on the high seas with enlisted personnel looking to him for guidance! He sounds like a hot shit though, someone who could roll with the punches!