Navy's old-style 'bread and water' punishment to end with the new year

[Zorro]

With the start of the new year, the U.S. Navy will no longer authorize commanders to punish low-ranking sailors with punishments of bread and water, ending a tradition that hearkens back to the days of wooden sailing vessels, broadside cannons and flogging.

Ship captains have broad authority to dole out punishment at sea. They can place sailors on restriction, give them extra duty, lower their pay grade and take half their paychecks for up to two months.

Until the change, a ship captain also had the option to confine sailors at the rank of E-3 or below to the ship’s brig for up to three days and feed them only bread and water.

Tim Druck, who served as a nuclear machinist mate on board the carrier Enterprise in the 1990s, said he was given three days of bread and water in 1998.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/sd-me-navy-bread-and-water-20190102-story.html

[Submariner]

1. COMSUBLANT NAVSUX

The Commandant (Admiral) of the Atlantic Fleet of submarines took away our so-called Grog ration in the late '60s.

At sea on Wednesday nights, Prince spaghetti night, my pig boat CO would let us enlisted pukes have a 6 ounce glass of wine with our Italian night dinner. When the Commandant heard about it he ordered it stopped immediately.

At the Rotten Groton Sub Base that same Admiral's wife would not let us wear blue ball caps while working on the lower base. We had to wear our white dixie cup hats because she said we looked "cute" with them on rather than ball caps.

So another Navy tradition bites the dust.