Interested? We are filling these positions with the best people we can find . . . people, without regard to race, creed or national origin. People: That's the key word. There is no more important part of the United States Navy than its people. No matter how modern our equipment, it won't work without people who are trained and ready to do a thousand different vital jobs. Right now, Navymen around the world are involved in everything from aerology to zoology; in running everything from a typewriter to the latest electronic computer, from a 50-foot motor launch to a 78,000 ton aircraft carrier. And Navymen are involved in making decisions. Important decisions. Right now, you yourself may be faced with what is, to you, an important decision. Which military service should you join? For what profession or trade do you want to train? Where do you want to be, 20 or 30 years from now? The Navy may help you to find the answers and to achieve your goals. If you can meet the challenge. The challenge of a life of action. Let go all lines! "Left full rudder, port engine back onethird." "Left full rudder, aye... port engine, back one-third, aye. The rudder is left full, sir. port engine answers back one-third, sir Thus begins another voyage and the ship moves slowly out into the channel. Past other ships, past the last few cottages clinging to the rocky shore, past the bobbing sea-buoy. The first swells roll in from the open sea and give rhythmic life to the deck. The colorful signal flags snap in the breeze. Another voyage for a Navy ship. It could be a cruiser, an ammunition ship, or an aircraft carrier. Perhaps it is the destroyer TAUSSIG, bound for Japan. On the bridge, Commander Samuel Gravely will settle back in the Captain's chair-his chair and let a cup of coffee warm his hands. He will take reports from the Officer-of-the-Deck, and from other members of his staff. He may be thinking of many things of the voyage ahead, of new countries to be visited, or the responsibilities he assumed when he saluted the former commanding officer and said, "I relieve you, sir." The ship will be surrounded by the beauty of the sea as the day moves forward: the brilliant clouds above, the vibrant colors of the water below, the joyous plunge of the porpoise playing tag with the bow; and, at night, the mysterious glow of phosphorescence churned up in the wake. The same beauty that has always been a part of life at sea, for all sailors, from the beginnings of time. |