Captain Gary Voorheis on “Crisis Management”

It was one of these days inport Norfolk. There we sat at the Wardroom table, waiting for the meal and something, which isn’t really important, except to know it was something that required unplanned, immediate attention for some shore based command, had just been called to our ship’s attention. Then Commander Gary Voorheis , Commanding Officer of USS CONOLLY (DD- 979), sat at the head of the forward table, and I two seats away. I offered my opinion at this point, with some remark about crisis management, clearly indicating my displeasure and disgust. I’m some I used some standard “Naval” terminology to ensure how I really felt about it came out. Captain Voorheis looked at me and then gave me some incredible words that completely changed my outlook on this issue. He posed this question: “Engineer, isn’t war the ultimate human crisis? “ Well, it sure didn’t take too much thought to get this answer right. “Yes” I responded. Then he connected the dots with this sage logic: “Then every time you have a chance to exercise ‘crisis management,’ aren’t you just practicing your profession?” Thank you, Captain Voorheis for your wisdom.