One of the technical advances that has made a difference in life underway and has improved communications with Sailors' families over the year has been email. Every Sailor who checks on board Shiloh gets his or her own email account. Another thing we now have the capability to make phone calls back home. That helps out a lot. Having the ability to have near to real-time communication with their families helps ease Sailors' minds.
Email is the greatest thing.
Your wife will send you an email telling you that the car broke down. You can tell her exactly what to do within hours, rather than wait for letters to keep crossing back and forth over a period of three to four weeks. One of the changes I have seen in the Navy is that there is more concern and effort in the quality of life and training of Sailors. We teach them skills for life, such as how to balance a checkbook, the importance of being physically fit and working out, and being responsible. Issue of Fraternization As a mixed gender ship, the Navy's policy of fraternization is strongly enforced on board Shiloh .