Fire? or just really hot?

Fire or just really hot?
I assume that the Navy still has the same kind of people that made making it a career for me too much like going to prison voluntarily. 
You know the kind. People so full of themselves. The First Class division LPO that believes he is there because he is a great leader. 
Not because he was the senior guy and had the experience that less senior, less knowledgeable guys needed to be good at their jobs. It was 1976.
Well, we sure had a couple of those. MM1/ss (A-gang)Frank Pennington was one. He had broken service. Got out and opened a AC business. Came back in because 'it was too tough out there'. 
With a heart, he could have been a nice guy. He had a huge ego, a whiney voice, a small stature and a badly receding hairline. A real enlisted military politician. 
He liked to make people miserable (I mean enjoyed it), it made him feel like he had control over you. 
And he was a stickler for the details that would make it clear that he intended to make you know it, and there is nothing you can do about it.
We had been out to sea for several weeks and the usual routine of sea was the plan of the day. 
I was a second class A-ganger with almost three years in and was coming up on shift change... about to get off watch as Aux-Fwd. I was in conversation with MM1 Pennington on the dial-x (rotary dial phone) in control. I was getting my off going watch work assignments so I could make the appropriate tag outs. 
Field day had just concluded and the Fwd-IC man was conveying the CO2 readings to the OOD and they were way up. A second scrubber was going to be ordered. While I waited on the phone the OOD gave the order for the COW to start a second scrubber. 
The COW got on the sound powered phone to Maneuvering and ordered the EEOW to start a second scrubber. And I told my LPO the order was coming. He began to light it off as Maneuvering called him on the sound powered phone with the order.
As he was acknowledging the order the motor to the MEA pump caught on fire. The watch standers in maneuvering saw the current draw of the second scrubber and knew it was coming up. 
Pennington acknowledged the order with maneuvering and hung up the sound powered phone and immediately shut the scrubber down. I was on the other ear. Pennington said to me to get the tag outs made and tell the on coming Aux-Fwd to get them approved but not to get permission to begin the jobs just yet, and to hurry back to AMR1 right after watch. 
I wanted to eat but was told not to bother. 
I arrived after watch to find the second scrubber powered off and the requisition for a new motor made out. I was ordered to begin the removal of the motor and told not to say anything to any one about the motor. I asked what had happened and he related the story of the fire while on the phone with me and the EEOW. 
I looked puzzled and asked how come he didn't report the fire. I mean we should have gone to general quarters. 
He came close to me and in a discrete voice said 'I didn't think it was necessary for this small thing'. 
I told him the CO2 levels were quite high and we were going to need the second scrubber right away. 
He told me to get to work. I made a comment about the off going OOD coming in and asking about the CO2 levels not coming down on his rounds after his watch and when he found out about the fire... well, heads were going to roll. 
Again, I was told to just get to work. All of a sudden it struck me as hilarious. My LPO as big an asshole as any other two people on board was breaking rules that could win him some serious consolation prizes. 
And I knew all of the facts.
I began to laugh almost uncontrollably. He became very agitated in no time. 
As I worked I laughed. The off going Aux-Aft came through and he got the whole story with the three part harmony and of course, my laughter. His silence was ordered. 
I was laughing pretty hard when the off going OOD dropped into the ML. There I was laying on the floor unbolting the motor. I looked up and saw the OOD and began laughing harder. How was Pennington going to explain this one?
As the OOD began to inquire about this not being on the tag out list, I began to chuckle. The truth was close to coming out and I was going to be there to see it happen. 
Wouldn't you know it, just when you think you have the answer, the question changes. 
Pennington, in his wisdom began to denigrate me for laughing at him. Then he ordered me to stop! I was so surprised at the inane order I laughed even harder. 
I was immediately told I was on report for disrespecting a superior. The OOD was a witness. And the deed was done. I was beside myself. The hilarity of the entire thing was too much. 
I never disclosed the facts of the situation. No investigation that involved me was conducted. I went to Captains mast two days later on the charges of disrespect to a superior petty officer. 
There I was standing in the Captains Stateroom at attention with my entire chain of command behind me. Each one of them confident that I was finally going to get what I so dearly deserved. 
In all honesty, I did have quite a bit of contempt for most of the 'leadership' in the service, but this circumstance only served to convince me that the Navy was truly a place for others, not me. And that my contempt was well placed.
As I surveyed the line; LPO, CPO, DIVOFF, DEPTHEAD, XO and off going OOD I figured the worst that could happen was I'd be restricted to the boat. Ha-Ha. 
But something quite strange happened... the Captain asked me to explain the reason for my disrespectful behavior! 
Without too much disclosure I told him of the fire and the work performed without a tag out and was about to explain how I found that to be so funny coming from Pennington when I was cut off by the CO. "Is this true PO Pennington"? Of course, I expected him to lie. 
But again, I was surprised. 
He said it was true. All of it. 
Every single head in the line of my chain of command turned to the left to look at Pennington and in unison they all said 'you never told me that'! 
So shoot me, I guess I have a thing for irony. I began to laugh. 
The CO, on the other hand, had an entirely different state of mind. My demeanor changed back right away. 
A man not known for his sense of humor. The CO stood and looked me straight in the eye and apologized, dismissed the charges and ordered me to carry on. I acknowledged the order and departed his stateroom. 
You could hear him screaming at the top of his lungs at the entire chain of command clear into the control room. 
Of course the entire ship knew I was about to be keel hauled and was awaiting the order to surface the ship for that very activity. But an entirely different outcome resulted. 
From that point on I knew I had to watch my P's and Q's. And I did. 
But to this day the thought of military discipline brings an almost uncontrollable urge to laugh out loud. 
I had the opportunity to go to Captains mast several times in my illustrious eight and a half year career only once was any action actually taken. The charges were always attempted acts of 'official' revenge for my dogged determination to not be someone’s whipping boy.
But that is an entirely different story.