Looking for advice on what to tell my daughter to do about the racist remarks and name calling she is getting from minorities onboard her ship. Being called white devil and told that all white people look alike is really making her start to hate the navy.

As a manager, I’d be firing the hell out of those people, but I have no idea how things work in the navy. This shit needs to be nipped in the bud right away.

What mos? What type of ship?

Embarrassing to say, but she went spact. Girl was hardheaded and didn’t want to work to improve her ASVAB.

Amphibious Assault Ship

Edit to add: her chief is too lazy to be bothered about anything.

Document everything possible. Saved email, statements from fellow sailors who don't approve of it but maybe afraid to speak up.

She needs to go up her chain of command with concise factual information. Starting with her immediate supervisor. If the immediate supervisor is part of it go up the chain of command till she can talk to someone who isn't participating in the harassment. She needs to be ready to explain to that person why she jumped the chain of command.

tell her to look at this

https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Support-Services/21st-Century-Sailor/Equal-Opportunity/CMEO/

https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Support-Services/21st-Century-Sailor/Equal-Opportunity/Resolving-an-Issue/

Edit: Just saw your comment about her chief apparently not interested in being a real leader and resolving issues. She needs to go see the senior chief or division chief if her chief isn't that person. IF it is she has to go higher.

She needs to explain that she is afraid of reprisal if she really is.

10-4. Thank you for this

So it was one jackass? That's a lot better than if she was black. Seems like a teachable moment that will improve her career success forever.

It’s several of them in that department

Does she have proof? The best path out is a rate change. That will put her in another division with hopefully more civilized people. With proof, she can go up the chain, jumping her chief, and give the command an avenue that is less adversarial. The command will probably welcome that, avoiding possible race dispute. Her command has a career counselor. That person can help with a rate change. I'm not familiar with the term "spact".

I had a chief that wouldn't support me regarding a dispute with the ships engineer. I had to be represented by a different chief from another division for my visit with the XO. The issue was resolved in my favor.

If she were black it wouldn't happen.

spact?

Proof is what she really needs to expedite the process. She can go to the career counselor and see if she can cross rate.

https://www.mynavyhr.navy.mil/Career-Management/Community-Management/Enlisted/PACT/

If you're white they won't do shit, at least when I was in the army 30 years ago.  When I was in black guys could wear all kinds of black militant clothing & have stuff on the walls in their rooms, but white guys couldn't even wear a shirt with the flag of their home state if it had any confederate looking part to it, couldn't have them up in their rooms either.  It was just the army standard, the double standard, like so many other things.

Listen to this guy. This is the only correct response.

Edit:  that said… our military is going to shit and being white seems to be a handicap. We’ve collectively lowered our standards to accept the trash that she’s combating.

Are the bad actors peers or seniors? If peers has she ever told them she doesn’t think it’s funny? Do similar jokes get directed towards others? Would turnabout be received okay?



She needs to document, document, document.

At the minimum write notes everyday of what was said where, and when, by whom, and who was present.  I’m not sure if covertly recording would be advantageous or create an issue when she presented it. She should probably write some notes now of past episodes to her best recollection.

A white person alleging racism in the military is going to not only need to have their ducks in a row, but those ducks need to be well-trained, highly-disciplined and able to hold the line under strong and repeated enemy attacks.

Well, it very well could turn out that way. However, she could then just start calling them out during their “racism training “ next time. Practice what you preach right?

Found it. S-PACT is what we used to call a Seaman apprentice or non rate. I would encourage her to look into OPs or Supply division rates.

Back in the day, a trip to the wood line would have resolved the issue. I was a career infantryman, we were pretty relentless in make jest of our differences. It was all in good spirit tho. If shit got out of hand, differences were resolved quickly.

Has the daughter addressed the issue with the instigator(s)?

Also, most Navy Chiefs are pretty worthless leaders. Sorry.

Worth repeating document document document

She needs to read the OPNAV and any other pertinent instructions or regulations regarding her situation and know them or at least what's in them and how to find the information.

If she wants out of that division or department she needs to know the PACT process inside and out and go to the career counselor and get a rate that would take her out of that environment ASAP.

Edit: I would not covertly record anything, if audio happens to be picked up with a shipboard CCTV camera or an accidental hot mike on a issued radio that's different.

Thank you everyone. She has documented everything so far. There is a bm2 she knows well that she will be going to see on Monday.

Sometime in April she will be eligible to strike for a rate and is looking forward to it. Very smart girl, sucks at math so it killed her scores, and she bought into the getting to shadow all the jobs n the ship. Yeah right.

I wouldn't call it out in a open forum like that, she would be better off to go up the chain of command with a complaint and get an internal command investigation started.

She usually would but she says there’s a group of them that are a bunch of catty bitches and she’d rather not get herself in trouble. Unfortunately she’s like me and you. A trip behind closed doors somewhere to knock a bitch out. Getting her through high school was hell sometimes lol. Suspended twice for finishing a fight someone else started and I’d have to pick her up and buy her ice cream.

Attached File

She won’t. I’m just talking smack. The Navy kinda broke her finally. She believes in doing things the right way now.

There will be no discipline for those savages, so she needs not pursue that. And she can count on retaliation if she tries. That is why she needs to get on to selecting a rate and diligently pursue it. And use the proof of the persecution as a dogging wrench upside the heads of the command to get the ball rolling. Damn near every white supervisor in the navy has experienced false racism accusations and had it affect their lives.

And I'm glad I didn't have to put up with female sailors on my ship!

Tell her to go into admin and really fuck with their lives! The Dispersing Petty officer was never someone you wanted to cross.

Good on ya Dad!

That is what she gets for getting a shit mos filled with dregs.  She needs to suck it up.

Super helpful bro. Why don’t you just come out and say racism is acceptable.

It’s been that way since the 70’s.  When I was in aviation, aviation MOS were 95% white.  POL was 90% minorities.

You had to choose wisely because command was not going to fix it.

I had two e-7s and one Chief.

I don't believe you.gif

Go Project Veritas on their racist asses?

You go where the ASVAB says you're capable of performing adequately.

I've been in for 34 years (next month) and learned something new.  Neve heard of SPACT either.

When I got to my first unit in Germany all the white guys would get marched down to the theater & basically lectured to about how awful we were for being white, the black guys thought it was great.  Fast forward a bit & the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings started.  Then they started marching all males down there & told us how awful we were for having penises.  The brothers that it was awful for them to be lumped in like that.  The standard for sexual harassment then became whatever the female decided was sexual harassment.  LOT'S of guys got their asses in trouble for doing nothing more than giving a female a light, even though she'd asked for the light.  I was glad I was infantry (before females were allowed in combat arms MOS's) so it was fairly easy to avoid them.  A couple years later when I was ETS'ing & clearing quartermaster I was waiting in line, this female with a squeaky little voice calls some PVT who was there to draw his gear he replies with a "Here sergeant" loud enough for anyone to hear, but not shouting.  This female NCO yells back in her minnie mouse voice "sound off like you got a pair, boy!"  Could you imagine what would've happened if a male had said something similar to a female?  Or if it had been a black guy?  

I haven't seen the Chaplain option mentioned.  Also, it really is a hostility and harrassment issue primarily, the "racism" angle is always weak.

  I was on 3 ships as enlisted and Officer.  As an XO at 2 different shore units I was approached numerous times by the Chaplain on various issues like this.  It's an effective way for junior folks to jump the chain without doing it overtly.   I never called anyone out, but was always able to put pressure down the chain to make the Chiefs do their job,  Chiefs never want Officers in their business, especially the XO.  
 Sometimes I wouldn't be specific at all to the Chief's Mess, just that I was hearing too much about their people's garbage and that they better figure it out before I got everyone on the same page for what they were to bitch about.
 Documentation was mentioned and is key.  If an investigation goes down, her notes hold a lot of water, just like the ship's logs.

 She really needs to kick ass at getting her quals and seek additional duties.  Not kissing ass, but making herself valuable.  The jerks hassling her are probably liabilities.  
 I started as enlisted underway as a cook and there are times when you have to push back on the BS. I learned after a while that Cooks have a lot of power and Sailors love fuck-fuck games.  Even the Officers understand this.  
 As enlisted we took one of our EM2's rack, rolled it and taped it up with all his shit in it and put it in the old man's shower with a love letter taped to it.
 The old man got on the 1MC and read the letter and then requested the EM2s presence in his stateroom on the double.  He was there in his towel and gave him his stuff back.  That recalibrated the EM2.
  Like I said, she needs to be an asset and focus on knowing her job and at least the next level up.  She should get in the gym too, start working out with the jarheads or BMs.  Get strong and get stronger friends that'll have her back.
  Honing up on her insults and wise-ass comebacks won't hurt either.  (I always defaulted to yo Mama crap, or "inbred says what?")   She's dealing with bullies, bullies are stupid and easy to humiliate.  If they get violent, they'll end up in the brig or worse. ( Officers love those investigations.)
 Being a nonrate is supposed to suck, to motivate you to advance.  
 

OP you sound like a hot head aching for a fight go fix this shit for her instead of trying to do it on the fucking internet.  She's working with low IQ people.  This is what happens.

No she doesn't. Jesus christ. She needs to fight for herself.

Bruh, the USN used to have literal race riots on their ships. How do you not believe this?

Sticks and stones?

Plus one on contacting the Depatment LCPO if the Division E-7 wont do their job. Does she have a mentor assigned? She needs to write down dates, times to keep a history. Also note if any adverse changes by her chain of command for retaliation.  Crappy Sailors are not The Navy.
how soon can she strike into another rating?

Nothing wrong with Deck Department!  I was 2nd Div Officer in SAIPAN, and had a great bunch of guys working for me.  One great Chief and one worthless drunkard of a BMCS.  Several solid BM1s and BM2s.

What's the Warrant Bosun like, and is he a real BM Bosun or a former Skivvy Waver?  A hard ass Bosun makes ALL the difference in a big deck gator's Deck Department.

If the Chief is worthless, she should be talking to her Division Officer.  Care and feeding of the troops is 50% the DivO's job.  The other 50% is getting his/her own quals done.  If the DivO can't manage to fix it (either directly or through the CWO/First LT) then a talk with the Career Counselor, CMC or even the Chaplain is another viable route.  They all have the ear of the XO and CO.  Last resort is Request Mast.  She'd better have talked to every Officer in her chain first though. have everything documented before trying the NCC/CMC/Request Mast route though.  Fair warning... shit rolls down hill and gathers speed as it goes.

What are her evals like?  Does the DivO and the First LT think she's a good sailor?

ETA - Alternatively, she could just realize she's dealing with shitbirds.  Ignore it/laugh at them and just focus on doing her job the best she can.

I should update. The offender flipped the bird in her face not too long ago in front of a group of other sailors. My daughter went off on her right then and there and shut that shit down finally. Everyone around her was backing her up. They are out to sea and I got an email from her and things have stopped for a couple of weeks now.
Takes a while for her to finally get fed up with things before going nuclear if necessary. She’s striking for a rate in April.