Assumed the Watch. Moored as Before.

by Terence Fitzgibbons

The USS Pelican, or the “Pelican’t” as it was affectionately known, was the craziest, most nerveracking ship in the navy. How was that possible, though, if it remained tied to the pier essentially for two years? This account contains the musings and observations of one junior officer attempting to stay sane aboard mighty Pelican. Likewise, it includes his attempts to do the same on a different ship—this one doing circles in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Genres: Military Fiction, Nonfiction

182 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 22, 2009

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

While sarcastically humorous, I have concluded that Terence Fitzgibbons is immature. Life in the Navy isn't easy. Welcome to the military.

I did laugh throughout this book because as a SWO myself, the asinine now-panic-and-freakout moments on a ship are true on a daily basis, tied to a pier or out to sea. They say "A bitchin' sailor is a happy sailor". Terence bitches like a child. There were moments in this book where I internally agreed with the shenanigans and there were times where I thought, "Grow up and get a grip. You do act like a fifth-grader."

I guess they don't teach mental toughness at Notre Dame.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dailies going-ons of Mr. Fitzgibbons serving as a Naval Officer on a surface ship. Honest. Hilarious. Insightful. Poignant. My highest recommendation.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this dude's life fucking sucked. Surely the navy sucks less after 20 years right

[Polycarp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book every time I was sent to a new ship, which was 4 times. Each time was more cathartic than before. Terrence nailed it. His description of ship life of an officer is spot on. His distinction between the career apple polishers and the disgruntled idealists is so true it hurts. His goal was reaching people like me, and he attained it. Anyone who gives this book a less than 5 star rating either has never served on a ship, or is one of the rats/weasels he so eloquently describes. Terrence deserves a goddamn Nobel Prize for this.

[Whitney Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very honest, tragic, witty portrayal of the modern Navy - bureaucratic, oftentimes pointless and existing for only some distant pageantry. I thought the book was an quick, easy read- and I highly recommend it. You'll relate to the author and laugh out loud at him. This is great for military and non-military. Bravo, Mr. Fitzgibbons.

[Joshrof · Rating 4 out of 5]

A difficult book to review. On the one hand, his dry wit and humor carry through and there were parts that were genuinely laugh out loud funny, amusing, and unfortunately, relatable. On the other hand, he’s whiny, and accepts minimal if no responsibility for his actions, his predicaments, the seemingly endless number of things that go wrong that he likely could have avoided by simply reading an instruction/publication. He simply chose not to out of laziness/incompetence. “They wouldn’t let us go to the trainer because medical didn’t sign it correctly”. It’s fairly easy to do things the right way if you actually give a shit.

His description of the navy, is pretty spot on. It was troubling to see just how little has changed from 2006 to 2026. I suppose some aspects of ship life are timeless. His experience is not unique. In fact, every ship in the navy has similar stories of hijinx.

I think the main reason I can’t give this a 5/5 is because of how little ownership he takes. Everything in the book happens “to” him. “Got fired as OOD”, “got fired as music guy”, “got yelled at because I was UA”. If you’ve been in the navy any time at all you’ve worked with shitbags like him. Guys who were too good to show up on time, or hold any sort of standard. And so you’re here cleaning up after him, and covering for him. Ultimately, he leaves the ship with a COM, and a pat on the back and you never get the satisfaction of any actual consequence. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief knowing they won’t ever have to work with him again, but at the same time knows that he’s one of many.

I did enjoy this book, it poses a lot of unintentional questions about leadership and looking through a modern lens you can see fairly quickly what happened. Perhaps I’m reading too deeply into it but him keeping tabs on the ship is like an ex who sees her new boyfriend on Instagram and says, “glad I dodged that bullet”, not having the self-awareness to realize he is in fact the bullet dodged.

[Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda funny for people who hate being in the Navy. Felt like a long book of complaining from the perspective of someone who loves being a SWO in the Navy

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I deliberately held off on reading this book until I departed my last ship, and I'm glad that I did. There are so many ridiculous difficulties to everyday life in the navy, but wallowing in them makes the experience much worse. Mr. Fitzgibbons chronicles each of the injustices he survived in a self-published book that reads much more like a blog. Some had me laughing with remembered frustration (the firefighting school master chief who cancelled class because of a missing paperwork stamp), but others had me rolling my eyes at the author. He begins his section on the Cowpens with an episode where he accidentally interrupts a meeting in the XO's stateroom and is profanely asked to leave. This bothered him so much that he mentions it again later in the book. I share his love of civility, but standing on that principle is a bit rich for someone that celebrates his love of public penis-drawing.

Mr. Fitzgibbons really needed a high-quality editor to filter his complaints and fix his typos. Many of his tales are valid concerns for today's surface navy, but the message is hard to digest when it comes from someone so self-absorbed. A careful read shows that he did receive some benefits from his time in the navy (like his friendships and, of course, his sea stories) but his fixation on the negatives made the experience nearly impossible to bear for him and a bit of a grind for the reader.

[Anastasia Zamkinos · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading _Assumed the Watch: Moored As Before_ on the recommendation of a friend of mine currently serving in the Navy. He told me that the book would explain more about his daily life than he possibly could, and it did exactly that.

While the book isn't "fine literature", it's an easy read that effectively communicates one man's experience and stays surprisingly funny for a book describing such depressing conditions. A good read for those with a specific reason to read it, like considering joining the navy or having a loved one who is serving as a SWO.

[Grayson Coco · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book on the recommendation of one of my Department Heads in the Navy. He gives a lot of accurate insight into life in the Navy, but really dwells on the crappy aspects and uses the novel as a platform for bitching, never presenting any solutions to any of the problems he encounters. He also barely made the rank of LT (which one can accomplish being able to fog a mirror for 4 years) and likely was never privy to the broader strategic and operational rationales for the missions which he was supporting.

[Calvin Rastall · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a Navy book

I'm a blueside Sailor so I could easily relate to this book, but it might be hard for a civilian to fully comprehend Fitzgibbon's angst for the SWO life. Although I do not totally agree with the author author's opinions, it was a good, fast read and entertaining nonetheless.

[Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I pretty good novel overall although I would say the man had a pretty bad experience mine is fine much better

[Sarah Miller]

Read this on my first tour, and it surely got me through some dark days with lots of laughs. I'd recommend to all surface warfare officers!