Earning Your Dolphins

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Earning Your Dolphins

Robert L. Harrison
  Greenfield, Indiana
  Copyright October 18, 1997

 It takes a heap o learnin for a qualifyin' gob
  That's the story I was told by one ol' Navy COB
  He sez you gotta learn to put a boat together
  Then tear it down and fix it in most ever kinda weather.

  There aint no rest or pleasure for a guy who's NQP
  And a lowly DINK is good as dead, or so the COB tells me.
  You gotta get ten sigs a week, or maybe it is twenty,
  I cant recall just how it wuz but I know that it wuz plenty.

  You gotta learn 'bout pressure air and when you got that done,
  You answer questions by the score or is it by the ton?
  If you're late in gettin' sigs, you muster with the Chief
  And he has DINKS for breakfast, he's tough beyond belief.

  Next you study ships' control, electrical, and scopes
  Your situation's critical, you're almost outa hopes.
  An don't forget hydraulics, radar and sonar, too
  Propulsion next you gotta learn cause that's what turns the screw.

  Emergency equipment, explain and demonstrate,
  If you're in port, you stay aboard, no time to celebrate.
  Finally there comes a day when you stand to take your test
  Before the board you prove to all that you're the very best.

  The Captain pins a badge on you, this is your crowning glory
  You've earned your Dolphins fair and square, the end of one proud story,
  Next mornin', bright an early, you're awakened with this quip,
  Come on, sailor, rise and shine, its time to learn the ship!
 

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