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Two beers per head are still authorized after 45 days underway when there's no port call scheduled in the next two weeks. But they still make a bureaucratic ci
by psunavy03 1y ago
Two beers per head are still authorized after 45 days underway when there's no port call scheduled in the next two weeks. But they still make a bureaucratic circus out of it to avoid hoarding and trading. They crack the beers before they give them to you so you can't stash them.
- cabinguy 1y agoI had that happen once in my three years in the fleet and they didn’t open them for us (long time ago). We did have kegs & BBQ on the pier in GITMO once, too (“pigs on the pier”). I was in when they were just starting a/the tobacco ban on the ship. You could smoke them, but you couldn’t buy them . It created an excellent black market opportunity for entrepreneurs onboard. Last fun fact - my ship was catered by Krispy Kreme donuts every morning when we were in port - long, long before they were a nationwide brand.
- hatsunearu 1y agois it 2 beers per day?
- yamazakiwi 1y agoOnce, per deployment that meets that requirement
- adriand 1y agoOf all the reasons I would not enlist in the military, this one never occurred to me, but it is now probably in my top five.
- IncreasePosts 1y agoHow far we've regressed. 400 years ago you would get a gallon of beer per day if you were a sailor.
- yamazakiwi 1y agoThis is a common reason that Sailors are known for partying after long deployments. Imagine you are 21 and unable to spend money, have free housing (the ship) and free food, then you land in a foreign country where you can finally drink after 8 months at sea with all the money you saved. It's high high's and low low's
- psunavy03 1y agoFree food unless you're an officer . . . then pay that mess bill before XO yells at you about it!
- yamazakiwi 1y agoIf you're at sea too? Officers make good many anyway, but that's pretty funny imagining execs yelling at you to pay your bill.
- psunavy03 1y agoThis is US Navy-specific, and the person you are replying to seems to have a dated experience of when beer days are authorized. It's every 45 days underway without a port call in sight, and this is governed by formal published regulations. Most ships pull into port at least every 30-40 days outside of major combat. Ground troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Global War on Terror were under General Order #1, which prohibited alcohol in theater, but elsewhere like Djibouti and Qatar were authorized three beers a day maximum.
- psunavy03 1y agoTwo beers per 45 days at sea, and only if no port call is scheduled for 14 more days. Ships usually pull into port somewhere in the world more often than every 45 days outside of large-scale combat.
- yamazakiwi 1y agoDepends on your command, I was forward deployed and most of our deployments were longer than 45 days without port. Could be different now
- yamazakiwi 1y agoNever happened to me once and I was deployed multiple times longer than that, it depends on your captain and command I guess.
- psunavy03 1y agoIt's in a published instruction. The Wikipedia article has a link to an archived PDF of the OPNAVINST. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_day
- jaoane 1y agoDo they have non alcoholic beer?
- madaxe_again 1y agoIt couldn’t be more of a contrast to the Royal Navy - my grandfather served from the mid 50s until the late 70s, and not only did they still have rum rations until 1970, but they dished out Valium like candy. The way he tells it most of the crew were high or drunk most of the time, and would end up laughing in situations that would otherwise result in brown trousers.
- RichardCA 1y agoMonty Python did a skit about it, along with a Terry Gilliam animated bit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DlN4Sh06po https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DlN4Sh06po
- cameldrv 1y agoOne of the many funny stories an ex-sailor friend of mine told me was that the crew on his ship would take blood thinners so they could get drunk on two beers...
- GJim 1y ago> Two beers per head are still authorized after 45 days underway Good God! In the Royal Navy its 3 beers per man per day, every day. (Coke tin sized or 2 beers if the tins are larger, depends what the NAAFI ordered in). There are usually a few extra tins going spare if you want it and a blind eye turned, though getting drunk on board (let alone on duty) is a serious offence. Frankly, its rare for anyone to act like a knob. Mate, two beers is 45 days is mad. No way are us British going to sign up for that!
- lotsofpulp 1y agoBased on how it effects health, drinking alcohol regularly is mad, especially as often as daily.
- GJim 1y agoLife is full of choices. And the choice to enjoy oneself and not live on a diet of rabbit food is one such.
- lotsofpulp 1y agoObviously, but 2 beers per day has significant health risks, not to mention the other risks such as becoming alcoholic and all the societal costs that come with that. And seems like an odd habit to cultivate for a country that wants to pay for its citizens’ healthcare. The same reasoning applies for daily consumption of high amounts of calories from sweet drinks and snacks. There is a large spectrum between this and rabbit food.
- low_common 1y agoYou're so cool dude, enlighten us more.
- psunavy03 1y agoEventually we're all going to die . . .