Back in my day, we had the sea lawyers, the smoke pit, and of course the E-4 Mafia. Sometimes we’d start a rumor in the smoke pit just to see how far it would travel. By the time it made its way around the ship and came back to us, you couldn’t even recognize the story we started.
Now imagine the smoke pit with social media.
A disagreement becomes a massacre. A man overboard becomes evidence that the entire crew has lost morale. A legitimate incident gets mixed with three rumors, somebody posts it online, and suddenly thousands of people who have never spent a day aboard a warship are repeating it as fact.
Meanwhile, look at what the Sailors and Marines aboard Lincoln are actually doing. Look at the operational tempo, the flight hours, the ordnance being moved and employed, and the complexity of conducting sustained combat operations at sea. To accomplish that mission while keeping serious mishaps to a minimum is a hell of an accomplishment.
It means we separate confirmed facts from rumors before we start telling America that one of our aircraft carriers is falling apart.
And remember something else: the Sailors aboard that ship can’t necessarily jump onto social media and tell you what’s actually happening. OPSEC matters. River City is real. Sometimes silence from the ship isn’t confirmation of the rumor—it’s Sailors doing exactly what they’re supposed to do.
So to the Lincoln Sailors and Marines: keep your heads on a swivel. Take care of the person next to you. Do your jobs. Give ‘em hell, and get your asses back home with all ten fingers, all ten toes, and some stories and camaraderie you’ll carry for the rest of your lives.
