[feyes]

Speaking from experience on surface ships, no.

If the command gives a rip about its reputation then these things will be addressed first. Everything from swabbing and sweeping decks, high dusting, polishing fittings, etc. It will look immaculate. Only on deployment do these appearance priorities start to drop due to operational concerns or tempo.

But the surface Navy is not a good community and is filled with self-interested officers that are more concerned about progressing their careers than training their people or maintaining their gear. It's why the collisions happened and it's why people died because of those.

The Navy has a huge culture problem in the surface community and until someone with the authority to address it decides to, things won't get better.

It's a big factor that led me to leave the Navy and go onto other things.

I'd constantly be trying to do something a different way that I could prove was more effective and be told not to do it.

Anyways that's my two cents on the topic.