NavList:

Robert Eno wrote in part:

"One only need look at the current job market to see this in practice: 30 years ago, a high school education was your ticket to employment. Nowadays -- the trades being one of the exceptions -- if you don't have a Master's Degree, you won't even be interviewed. I worked for a large bureaucracy some years ago. A manager position came up in one of the shops. A fellow I knew (I am not obliquely referring to me) wanted to apply. He was quite capable, had years of experience as a field officer and could easily have done the job. But the cut-off was a BSc in the sciences so he could not even apply. It is all about credentials. Unfortunately, in today's competitive market, credentials are one of the few reliable indicators with which to gauge a man's professional attributes."
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Once upon a time, I came upon a proposition by a learned gentleman, it might have been Lancelot Hogbein, author of Mathematics For The Millions, or it may have been Neville Norway (Shute). Which of the two or whomever it was, offered the following. He said that what he descsribed as "the system of academic book keeping", so many credits in this, so many in that, more in the other thing, and out comes a BS or BA, should be done away with. This shocked people, one of them asking, Having done that, how would one recognize the educated man? He who would eliminate "academic book keeping" answered as follows. The same way one always did.

Otherwise, I've had very limited contact with the US NO, having spoken with a couple of gentlemen and a lady there. The lady directed me to a Mr. Freeman, who after listening carefully to my question, directed me to a Senior Chief Quartermaster, a very senior enlisted man, an instructor in navigation, who was then assigned to the NO, Chief Larry Fayhee, who has since retired. I spoke with Chief Fayee a couple of times and also exchanged some emails with him. He was quite patient with what might well have been some dumb questions, and where he could be, was helpful.

Otherwise, I suppose, when dealing with bureaucracies and sometimes with individuals too, how one presents things can make a significant difference in how one's ideas are received. Turns out that there is usually more than one way of telling someone that you think they are wrong. Here, I speak from personal experience.

Alan

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