A Sign of Good Faith

It’s been awhile. But things have developed a bit since my initial hiatus that made a blog entry almost necessary. Times are finally starting to change a bit. My ship is in the midst of a Port Call, and liberty restrictions have finally relaxed a bit. The upper chain of command is giving sailors a sign of good faith by allowing looser liberty rules. Rules that actually make sense and are easy to abide by.

For instance, Sailors who are classified as low risk (i.e. those with no prior behavioral issues or incidents) who are in possession of a blue card and up (E-1 through E-6) Currently do not have to file an Individual Liberty Plan, or require a liberty buddy if they are not planning on consuming alcohol. So if I wanted to go out and go shopping for gifts for my family, I don’t have to drag a liberty buddy along as long as I don’t consume alcohol. This will make for a more exciting port call in my opinion.

I have always had the problem of conflicting desires while out on liberty. While I would have one thing planned, my liberty buddy or buddies would want to do something completely different or off the reservation. These relaxed liberty rules allow for such differences in opinions as long as the sailors are keeping within the set parameters.

This is a double-edged sword however, as Murphy’s Law no doubt applies… there are always one or two sailors out there who will inevitably end up ruining it for everyone else… I am hoping that this new granted freedom empowers my peers to help police our misguided shipmates while out on liberty in order to avoid any such occurrences or potential incidents which would end our new freedoms. I know that I personally will be keeping a more vigilant eye out, and interceding when necessary to facilitate a liberty-free port call.

I applaud the powers that be for a rational decision made, and thank them for the opportunity to act in the capacity of an adult who defends the freedoms of the United States of America. I sincerely hope that this is the first of many more positive blogs to come. Till next time…