PingJockey, perhaps that should read “In the beginning, God said ‘Let there be the Military’. And there was the military. And it was good. And God decided there weren’t no need to do no more. Cuz you just don’t mess with perfection!
Or their egos for that matter….”

In the beginning was the word. And the word was God and all else was darkness and void and without form. So God created the heavens and the earth. He created the sun and the moon and the stars, so that the light might pierce the darkness. And the earth, God divided between the land and the sea, and these he filled with many assorted creatures.

And the dark salty slimy creatures that inhabited the seashore God called Marines, and dressed them accordingly and the flighty creatures of the air he called Airdales and these he clothed in uniforms which were ruffled and foul. And the lower creatures of the sea God called Skimmers. And with a twinkle in his eye and a sense of humour that only he could have God gave them big grey targets to go to sea on. He gave them many splendid uniforms to wear, he gave them many wonderful and exotic places to visit, he gave them pen and paper so they could write home every week, he gave them make and mends at sea and he gave them a laundry to keep their splendid uniforms clean. When you are God you tend to get carried away.

And on the 7th day as you know God rested and on the 8th day at 0700 God looked down upon the earth and God was not happy. So he thought about his labours and in his infinite wisdom God created a divine creature and this he called a Submariner. And these Submariners whom God had created in his own image were to be of the deep and to them he gave a Brown woolly pully, he gave them black steel messengers of death to roam the depths of the sea waging war against the forces of Satan and evil. He gave them hotel rooms when they were weary from doing Gods will. He gave them subsistence so that they might entertain the ladies on Saturday nights and impress the hell out of the creatures called Skimmers.

And at the end of the 8th day God looked down upon the earth and saw all was good but still God was not happy because in the course of his labours he had forgotten one thing, he did not have a Submariners brown woolly pully but he thought about it and finally satisfied himself knowing that not just anybody can be a SUBMARINER.

I’ll have to think about this “chief” situation and get back to you.

mmmmmmmmmmm aviators… mmmmmmmmm

Keeps it in a glass jar in his bottom right hand drawer.

Yes we of the fouled anchor persuasion do get things done – how I got my current gig, interviewed with 3 former JO’s who had stuff to accomplish – now they work for me!

Party on Wayne