Navy guy gets yelled at for wearing kilt into work!

[BLAZN]

I'm evidently missing something here, but if you & your Filipino buddy are in the US Navy, don't you guys have to wear a uniform to work? :confused:
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Yes, we wear a uniform while AT work. The guy wearing the kilt was on his way into work. Most of us come to the sub in civilian attire and then change into our uniforms. It's less restrictive that way... we're extremely limited in where we're allowed to go in our working uniforms. There's a rule that precludes us from stopping at a gas station or going grocery shopping on the way home, if in a working uniform.

Maybe I'm missing something here too but if you serve aboard a submarine how come you ride a bicycle to work?

We don't LIVE on the submarine.
I personally ride a bike to work for economic reasons as well as physical fitness reasons. Economically speaking, I'm not spending out my posterior for gas, nor am I putting the wear and tear on my car. I live so close to work that my car would never warm up completely on the trip... which is bad for the engine.
For fitness reasons... I get a workout every day, for the most part.

The way it works today, is that sailors park their car in the parking lot, walk up the pier to the ship, go down to their "at sea" living area and change into their uniform for the day. They stay in uniform all day during working hours. When the ship is in port, they change into their civilian clothes at the end of the day and go home to their apartment or house. Almost nobody stays in uniform for their off work time.

He gets it. Very true.

At sea is a different matter. It's uniform all the time then.

Also true. On long deployments, we sometimes get "casual" days where we get to wear non-uniform clothes.

I wonder how that will turn out. If you have problems, you might consider contacting the Diversity Manager @ PNS. The Navy has put out all kinds of stuff about diversity and how much they value it. Maybe this is where the rubber meets the road.

Well, if the COB throws flack for me going to a civilian clothed function in a kilt, I'll just have to talk to the CO... or file a grievance.

[SingleBarrelBourbon]

Big Jim,

Are you serving on an attack boat or a missile boat? (I have been out for quite a while and have not kept up on all the boats.) I am assuming that you know there is a Polaris tartan. It's beautiful and was designed by the commander in Holy Loch at the time for the boomer sailors. Two of the colors are used to designate the two crews -- two gold stripes (gold crew)with a sky stripe (blue crew) in the center.

The Polaris tartan is much better looking than the Edzell (Navy) tartan. The USNA Pipe and Drums wears the Polaris tartan. Check out their site to see the kilts.

Alexis Malcolm makes both an 8-yard and a Hillwalker (5-yard) in the Polaris tartan. It is a special order tartan, so it is a little more expensive, but her prices are well within what anyhone else charges for a handmade kilt. I have spoken with the lady and she is very helpful. I just have to wait for a while before I purchase one. She also has kilt pins with dolphins on them.

[Kirkwood]

I'm a former Boomer squid myself. I couldn't imagine climbing down the L.E.T. in a kilt.
Maybe that's why the Cob is pissed. He saw something he didn't want to when your friend was coming down the ladder.

[navycb]

"I'll just have to talk to the CO... or file a grievance."

Boy the Navy sure has change since I was in. File a grievance? When did the Navy go union? This must be part of the kinder and gentler military. When I was in you did what you were told untill you attained the rank to do the telling. Have a talk with the CO? I guess there is no such thing as a chain of command anymore. Oh well at least we still have the Marines.

[GatorUK]

I'm retired from the USN..but when I came in over 30 yrs ago Navy Regs provided for sailors to have direct communication with the commanding officer. A sailor may request to see the CO. His request will go up the chain of command and he may or may not disclose why he wants to see the CO. In my experience, when a sailor has a problem and has requested this, when he has disclosed why he needs to talk to the CO, the problem was resolved at a lower level.
Even though it's been over 10 years, the Navy is still "feeling the pain" from Tailhook. Any incidents of discrimination, or harassment whether it is sexual, racial, religious or cultural is dealt with swiftly.

[JackK]

... Have a talk with the CO? I guess there is no such thing as a chain of command anymore. Oh well at least we still have the Marines.

When I got to 'Nam our Battalion, 3d Battalion/4th Marines, Commander had an open door policy on Sunday afternoon (if we weren't in the bush) to jsut come in and have a talk. When it started a couple of the company commanders decided it really 'ment that you had to go through the chain of command, meaning through them. Man when the Col. found that out there was a couple Captains with sore butts for a while. This Colonel was one that us Marines would have gone to hell with

Jack

[Riverkilt]

Guess freedom of dress isn't one of the freedoms we defend....? Sad.

Maybe the two of you could go together....the COB would think a mutiny was afoot.

Ron

[Skipper1]

Well - COB's can be like that some times. They have to maintain discipline and sometimes mistake innovation for "flipping the bird". Perhaps he thought the sailor was trying to make a joke or being impudent rather than expressing an actual preference for kilts. I wear a kilt in to my ship every day as well and I took some razzing initially. Of course, as the Exec, I was somewhat immune to it. ALso, my Coxn (the Canadian equvilent to a COB) is named MacUisdin and he also wears a kilt every day so the sailors tend to keep their mouth shut.
I think a chat with his divisional PO or officer who can then go to the COB and set the record straight might be in order. I would hold off on the grievence for a bit to try the internal route. Might let the COB save some face when he is forced to back down. In the long run that might make for a better long term working relationship.

[Detroitpete]

Blazn,

Eight years of Crypto and SBU service here--with a few 'voluntary' ;-) excursions with bubble heads. I say, if you get to go to and from the boat in civies, then a kilt fits the definition. I've seen my share of COB's and Command Chiefs who decided that they would push an issue, regardless of fact, just because they felt they could. Just remember the important role these Bulls play. I had a Master Chief BM who HATED the fact that I was a Crypto, had and wore an ear ring (Golden Shellback) and he took every moment he could to bust my chops--MAN, did I learn from that guy--I still respect him.

This guy sounds like he's flexing. I found that for issues like this, talking to the Command Chief man-to-man usually worked things out.

As for the picture of the gussied-up Spooks, it looks like a certain 'place' in Florida most of us are familiar with. We switched from blues to whites as directed as UOD. I do think we lagged behind other commands in the switch however.

[Monkey@Arms]

Gents, just wanted to point out that this thread is two years old, so the OP's circumstances might have changed by now.

Best regards,

Jake