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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/SSNs4evr on 2024-01-19 05:01:59.
I was stationed on USS SUNFISH (SSN 649) from 1991-1995. During the time I was there, the crew compliment was 130 men. 14 officers, 12 chiefs, and 104 E6 and below (blueshirts). The boat had 3 telephone lines. Having communicated with some of my friends and colleagues on other boats in mine, and our sister squadron (Submarine Squadrons 6 & 8), I knew that some boats had their phone lines designated as CO/XO (Commanding Officer/Executive Officer), Officers & Chiefs, and the crew line. On SUNFISH however, the 3 phone lines were simply the 3 phone lines...if the phone rang you picked it up, and got the person asked for, or took a message. If you wanted to make a call, you chose whatever line was available.
That is until late 1993, when our new Navigator (NAV) reported aboard. The NAV is the Operations Department Head, and is 3rd in command. The new NAV came equipped with his own "great" ideas on how things were going to be. One ofmhis ideas includedmchangesmto the phone lines, which were under the purview of the Operations Department. SUNFISH joined the cadre of boats with specifically designated phone lines. Per his orders, only the CO, XO, and Yeomen - the Executive Department, were to use the CO/XO phone line. Only officers and chiefs were to use their designated phone lines, and of course the crew had their line.
The NAV discussed this policy every - single - day at muster time. Why? Because everyone rolled their eyes, and simply disregarded the new rule.
Everyone disregarded the new rule, up until he started inspecting.... Because of course, you cant expect much, if you're willing to inspect.
When he saw someone talking on the phone, he'd check what line they were using. Of course he never checked anyone in the Executive Department. He bothered the chiefs a bit, until the Chief of the Boat (Command Master Chief) told him to F-off, and not to talk to his chiefs. The NAV did however chew out the officers and blue shirts whenever he caught them using the inappropriate phone for their paygrade. People started grumbling.
The NAV stepped up his game soon enough though, as his phone inspections and ass-chewings weren't getting him the quick results he wanted. He had the officers follow his lead - for any calls for blueshirts on the wrong phone line, the caller was directed to call back at the appropriate phone number, then the call was ended.
Shit hit the fan.
The phones were located in the Attack Center (AC), Yeomans Office, and the Wardroom. While many people go to the AC throughout the day, the Fire Control Techs (FTs) and Quartermasters (QMs) were the only ones who primarily occupied that workspace. Previous to the new NAVs arrival, they had to listen to that phone ringing constantly, all day. With the NAVs new policy, they muted both the CO/XO & Officer/Chief lines. The NAV forbade the crew from muting any phone lines, except for the YN in their office, but whenever he asked who muted those lines in the AC, he just got blank stares and shrugs from whoever happened to be there. As soon as he left, the non-blueshirt lines ended up muted again.
Nobody ever wants to answer the phone, and have to go running all over the boat to find people. But now, the crew started doing the same thing as the officers did....if the phone call was for anyone above the paygrade of E6, they simply told them to call back on the correct line, and hung up.
Suddenly, quite a bit of work was not getting done, messages weren't getting passed, maintenance with our assigned Submarine Tender was suffering, due to them not knowing anything about our designated phone lines. Of course, not many people were willing to walk up & down all those decks on the Tender, then down the pier, when they couldn't get through on the phone.
The NAV tried to make the cooks (MSs) answer the wardroom phone, as the wardroom was one of their workspaces. The MSs were always busy, and were never good about answering the phones to begin with. Sometimes they would answer the blueshirt phone (because they were blueshirts), but never the Officer/Chief line, unless an officer was in the wardroom to see them ignore the ringing phone. The MSs would laugh, that if they answered the Officer/Chief line, they'd simply tell the caller to hold on, set the receiver down, and walk away.
Things simply didn't go well, regarding the new phone policy. Leadership (namely the NAV) created the problem, leadership was blamed for all the setbacks in maintenance & repairs, leadership was blamed by all the families having trouble reaching their family members aboard ship. The Chiefs suffered their setbacks, but were humored by the shitshow, and the blueshirts started to love the new phone policy....they got to watch a bunch of things burn down.
Of course, when we answered the phone, we had to identify the boat, that the call was on a non-secure line, and state our name, but everyone talked so fast that there was no understanding or accountability, as to who answered the phones.
It was truly a "the beatings will continue, until morale improves" situation. By the numbers, most of the crew made a good time of the whole situation, and really enjoyed pointing out that everything was great until the new NAV showed up.