Sailors report footing bill for needs on ships

[unhappycamper]

Hull Maintenance Technician Fireman Brandon Oesch works in the repair shop aboard the carrier Nimitz. Readers tell Navy Times they often don't have time or command funds to buy parts through official channels.


Sailors report footing bill for needs on ships
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 30, 2009 6:19:14 EST

Chief Machinist’s Mate (SW/AW) Michael Seger was tired of his sailors being punished when they weren’t getting their work done on schedule. It happened over and over, and it wasn’t their fault, he said. They didn’t have the gear they needed to clean, paint spaces, or maintain their equipment by the command’s schedule.

So Seger took matters into his own hands. For years, first on the carrier Enterprise and then on the amphibious assault ship Nassau, Seger drove out to hardware stores and shopping centers to spend his own money on the stuff his sailors needed.

Between those two ships alone, Seger estimated he spent more than $4,000 of his own money “to buy everything from simple cleaning supplies that cost a few dollars to high-priced fittings for pumps that cost upwards of several hundred dollars,” he told Navy Times.

“Over almost 18 years of service, I know I am not the only one to do this, and honestly, it is simply pathetic,” Seger said.

He is far from the only one. More than 40 current and former sailors told Navy Times stories about paying for equipment with their own money, a practice they described as common and often necessary to keep ships in fighting shape. Many active-duty sailors asked not to be identified because they worried about being disciplined for discussing shortages or management problems in their current commands.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/11/navy_gear_113009w/

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. A trillion a year ain't what it used to be.

Besides, someone more worthy needs the money in their pocket.

[rurallib]

2. Teachers have to buy supplies to keep their class rooms running

pretty soon politicians will have to supply their own horse manure.