Submarine Quote of the Month July 2015

Background

Yesterday's M.E. posting noted ...
Secretary of the Navy Mabus, a Democrat attorney with skimmer experience paints a compassioate face on his latest concession to women ---tripling maternity leave. ("With increased maternity leave, we can demonstrate the commitment of the Navy and Marine Corps to the women who are committed to serve." SECNAV Mabus). Surely, 18 weeks is only a starting point to this madness. Servicewomen, like men make huge sacrifices for DEFENSE readiness.  This move, which will be hugely more disruptive for secretive submarine force missions than for the surface vessel crews will have three unfortunate impacts on the sub force:
1- Pregnancies are being encouraged.
2- Training, qualification and sequalia will be disrupted for female sailors who become pregnant.
3- To some uncertain extent, the overall readiness of the U.S. submarine force will have been needlessly sacrificed for more votes. 

Related

Coming to our attention just today is this apropos quotation:

“The loss of even one member of a crew can have a significant ripple effect on a submarine, especially when it’s someone who holds unique qualifications.  In many cases, that means we either pull someone from another crew or we end up with a deficit in skills. Neither of those stopgap solutions is ideal.”  - Rear Adm. Dave Kriete, commander, Submarine Group Nine,  Bangor Leaders Seek To Decrease Unplanned Personnel Losses, July 1, 2015.

Submarines are always silent and strange.