<p>My son seemed to enjoy his experiences. The crews were great, virtually every ship had a KP alum on board who saw to it that he stayed on top of his sea project and he saw some places that people his age just don't normally see. Moreover, he was given responsibilities that were far beyond those accorded people his age. As I've said before in most places the college intern isn't allowed to run the copying machine without adult supervision. This is not always the case however, some ships keep the cadets so busy that they have little time to work on their projects and they fall behind. DS also noticed a change in the general tone of one particular ship each time a new captain came aboard. Deepdraft makes an important point that I failed to recognize.... If they don't love sailing enough to tolerate the bad times then no captain will ever be good enough and no salary will ever be large enough.</p>
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It sounds like cadets are used more as gopphers and gets the work no one wants to do. I guess all have to start at the bottom. Hopefully next sailing will be different experience.
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<p>I wouldn't say this is always true for every ship. As a cadet, I think everyone experienced this at some point, but it's a right of passage and meant to force you to earn your spot onboard, both as a cadet and eventual 3/M or 3A/E. My very first ship (and my second, as well), I started off doing mundane tasks - making copies for the captain, checking fire extinguishers, etc. So long as you show that you can handle that (and that includes not having an attitude about it), you will be given more responsibility and assigned more "officer-like" tasks. By my second sailing and in particular, on my last ship as a cadet, I was basically running the bridge on my watch, conning in and out of port and taking charge of either the bow or stern when mooring. If you give a lot and take the time to learn a lot, they'll notice and keep you going higher and higher. </p>
<p>Like anything else, you get what you put into it. Yeah, there are some @-holes out there, but you can't do anything about that so you got to learn to deal with it. I can say that for each "bad" officer I worked with at sea, there were 10 awesome ones. How you are treated as a cadet largely comes from the way you conduct yourself and whether you're a PITA or big help to the crew. To me, being the "newcomer" to the industry, that burden comes down on the individual cadet. Keep in mind that all of the officers were at some point either cadets, or sailing as unlicensed crewmembers. Either way, they earned their spot too and obviously succeeded at making it to their position. Nobody is just put or born into a spot onboard ship. </p>
<p>IMO, cadets shouldn't be used just as an extra OS or wiper. Yeah, a little backbreaking work is fine to get them acquainted to how much work there is in running a ship, but cadets are the future officer corps of the industry and should be trained as such. Classrooms and exams are great for learning book facts, but real practical knowledge has to be gained through experience (sidenote: this is one major gripe i had with the sea projects - a large portion of them could easily been taught in a classroom. Doing it at sea robbed opportunities for real experience). I had one C/M in particular who was always moaning and bi***ing about how "bad" new 3/M's were these days - and then assigned me to go paint the provisions crane or count chain on the car decks. I had no problem doing it, but I did very little bridge work on that ship and I couldn't help but think that he was not helping the "problem" with green 3/M's which perhaps had C/M's like him when they were cadets. </p>
<p>Life (and KP in particular) is full of up's and down's. You come from HS (or another college) thinking you're on top of the world - and then get hit with plebe year. Then, come 3/C year, you're no longer a plebe and think you're not the bottom of the barrel anymore - then you get out to your first ship as a cadet. Soon you graduate and think it's all over - then you get on your first ship and you're the least senior member of the crew (this time, with a license). Where you go from there is your own choice, but the last four years of riding the KP roller coaster should make anything else seem like a breeze.</p>
<p>If you haven't seen this article in the Naval Institute's magazine Proceedings, its worth the read:</p>
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<p>That is as it should be and a great experience. Generally those opportunities are not given to cadets on their first sailing period. They just dont have enough knowledge to benefit from them. Cadets that dont show an aptitude for the craft probably wont be given those opportunities, regardless of sailing period.</p>
<p>Also, just to be clear, KPMid09 was doing all those great things under the authority of a supervising officers license and it will be a wee bit different when the "training wheels" come off and he has to do it on his own.</p>
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<p>BINGO!! My son told me this exact same thing. He said he learned way more in the few weeks he had left aboard his ship AFTER he finished his sea project than during the whole time he was working on it.. Get the sea project done, but don't let it get in the way of learning something. </p>
<p>IMO the deck sea project should be completely overhauled.</p>
<p> [quote=KPmid09] How you are treated as a cadet largely comes from the way you conduct yourself and whether you're a PITA (Pain In The A$$) or big help to the crew. To me, being the "newcomer" to the industry, that burden comes down on the individual cadet.
another BINGO!! Ships officers have enough problems and they dont need the cadet to add to them. Look to pitch in and help where you can without being asked. Get in the habit of being around when things are happening that you might be able to learn from. It will also make a big difference in how youre treated onboard. It's also one BIG way KPmid09, to be able to report aboard your first job as a more savvy 3rd Mate and keep those Captains and Chief Mates from moaning and bi***ing about how "bad" and clueless new 3/M's are these days. </p>
<p>A BIG beef of mine is with cadets that want to be spoon fed information and led by the hand. Many dont have an intellectual curiosity about my craft or take initiative beyond the requirements of the sea project. As an example, few years ago I mentioned to a cadet that I was making an inspection of a double bottom tank at 1400 hours. Even though he was going to be off duty at that time he said he wanted to accompany me so he could see what a tank interior looked like. I said "no problem, this will be a good chance for you to learn something, so I'll see you at 1400 at the tanktop.. At 1400 I entered the tank made my inspection, which took about a half hour, then I had the Bosun button the tank back up. The cadet never showed up. Later that afternoon when he saw me he said gee Mate, why didnt you call me for the tank inspection. When I asked where he was he said he was up taking a nap.. I told him that I have enough on my plate and It aint my job to call the cadet. I also let him know in no uncertain terms that it was his responsibility to get himself up and get down there if he wanted to go in the tank with me. The lesson here is to take initiative and make sure you're not a "no show" when there's a chance to learn or there's work to do.. That might even mean the inconvenience of staying aboard in port (oh no!!, heaven forbid!!) or not taking that nap in the afternoon. Sorry guys, but welcome to the adult real world.
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<p>You got it EXACTLY right muchacho..</p>
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<p>When you have a crew like that, its harder for cadets to stay positive. More often than not they hear conversations that revolve around retirement (or the health of retirement plans), increased work load, requirements to comply with yet another new rule/regulation, or the health of the U.S. maritime industry in general. They may hear about pending contract negotiations with the possibility of reduced pay and benefits coupled with adverse changes to work rules. Add to that, they might overhear discussions of personal problems at home, problems with the company, the ship, the crew, etc. ad nauseam. That's the reality ..
I have lost count of the number of times Ive come in to the officers saloon and the main topic of discussion was of retiring and getting out of the business. Hell, I've even started one or two of those discussions myself.</p>
<p>It doesnt take much of that kind of talk for a kid thats ambivalent about going to sea to say maybe this isnt for me. </p>
<p>Much like cruise ships passengers, there is a prevalent view among cadets that a good ship is one where the Mate and Captain (or First and Chief) are cool, the crew is chill, the run is great, the food is good, you have a big comfortable stateroom, drinking is allowed, you get to go ashore in every port to play "tourist" and where never is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.. The degree a ship measures up to that definition will probably relate directly to a cadets happiness.. </p>
<p>One final thing.. I truly believe that the seagoing profession is a calling and not just a job. Those who are mainly attracted to it by things like the pay, the travel or the novelty of it all will soon be pursuing other lines of work.</p>
<p>Oh and by the way KPmid09, Ive read many of your posts and, unlike most of your fellow cadets that post here, I think you and that kid DavyGravy3 got it pretty well figured out.</p>
<p>dd- I think you are under the impression that my son is a slacker, but just for the record he is walking off the ship with two wonderful letters of recommendation where he was highly evaluated and recognized for all the hard work contributed by him. They are also fowarding copies to the school. He even was thrown a bonus here and there.</p>
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Nah, not at all
and its great that he did an outstanding job and was recognized accordingly for it.</p>
<p>Most of my comments were in response to the post by KPmid09. The comments made after your quote are maybe more pertinent to your sons experience and might be able to help explain some of his unhappiness.</p>
<p>Oh the horror!!</p>