Got A Good Laugh From Kerry Commercial

[Bruzilla]

Kerry's got a commercial running down here in Florida that really made me laugh yesterday. He says that "I enlisted into the Navy out of a stong sense of national service." I was like...

1. You never enlisted in anything. You went in and took a commission as an ensign.
2. You did everything you could to get out of national service, but you couldn't get the draft board to defer you.
3. You joined the Navy AFTER you were drafted by the Army, and the Navy offered the lowest chance of being in combat in a land war.

That Kerry... what a kidder.

 

[sleuth]

Originally posted by Bruzilla
ensign

How do you pronounce that and what does it mean?
:shrug:

 

[Bruzilla]

It's pronounced n-sin, and it's the lowest rank of officer in the Navy. If you enlist in the Navy you would enter service in paygrade E-1, which is a Seaman, Airman, Fireman, or Constructionman Recruit (depending on what specialty you are) and if you join as an officer you come in at paygrade O-1, which is an ensign.

 

[sleuth]

Originally posted by Bruzilla
It's pronounced n-sin, and it's the lowest rank of officer in the Navy. If you enlist in the Navy you would enter service in paygrade E-1, which is a Seaman, Airman, Fireman, or Constructionman Recruit (depending on what specialty you are) and if you join as an officer you come in at paygrade O-1, which is an ensign.

Thanks!
I see the word all the time, but didn't know what it meant and never got around to looking it up.

 

[aps45819]

There are different levels of ensign aboard ship. The jr. ensign will be assigned a set of collar insignia with the name GEORGE engraved on them. The senior ensign gets a set with BULL on them.
Nobody wants to be george.

 

[Bruzilla]

Actually, things like "Bull" ensign are titles, not ranks. There is only one ensign rank. BTW, after close to 30 years of being in the Navy or working for the Navy, I've known a lot of Bull ensigns but I've never heard of a "George" ensign. Where did you pick that up from?

 

[SuperGrover]

there's a "boot" ensign (the most junior), but never seen a "george" ensign

oh, yeah, FYI (ensign trivia!), a "national ensign" refers to the U.S. flag