He had to grow his own NCOs.

Panic is something that good operations officers plan for.

He had to do so many things and make each appear as though it were the only thing he had to do. He had to compartmentalize everything, when on one task to pretend that the others didn't exist.

The assistant commander at any post is supposed to be a ruthless son of a bitch.

A commander's pride got his soldiers dead.

One presidential advisor to another: "If the world made sense, we'd all have to find honest work.

The allocation of research money was a political act.

There is no seamen in the world who prefers a slow ship to a fast one. The painters painted better, the cooks took a little more time with the meals, and the technicians tightened the bolts just a little more. Their ship was no longer a cripple, and pride broke out in the crew like a rainbow after a summer shower.

Privacy and loneliness were the traditional luxuries accorded to a skipper.