Taking A Crap On The George H.W. Bush Is Missoin Impossible

**TheMorningStar** · November 30th, 2011, 01:20 AM

Over the weekend, the mother of one Bush sailor became so upset by her son's repeated reports of widespread toilet outages that she blasted a news release about it to reporters across the country.
"The sailors aboard the USS George H.W. Bush have already endured nearly six months with an unhealthy 'inconvenience' that most civilians would not tolerate for six hours," Mary Brotherton wrote. "The taxpayers are outraged over the living conditions of the men and women onboard."
Brotherton's son, Petty Officer 1st Class Richard Frakes, said in an email interview that on some occasions he's searched almost an hour to find a working head, the Navy's term for a toilet.

"It definitely affects my morale," said Frakes, an aviation mechanic. "When I was unable to relieve myself for two days, I was irate to say the least."
The wife of another Bush sailor - she asked not to be named for fear that her husband would be punished - said her husband began telling her about the outages months ago.
"It sounds like a nightmare - having to run all around the ship to find a working toilet," she said. "He's told me it's made it one of the hardest cruises he's done."
Other Bush sailors told the publication Navy Times that they've resorted to urinating in showers, sinks and bottles, and that some crew members have developed infections after resisting urges to use the bathroom.

One sailor was recently disciplined after urinating in a place he wasn't supposed to, the Navy said.
Brotherton said she decided to issue her news release after her son told her he was limiting his food and water intake so he would need the bathroom less often. In the heat of the Arabian Gulf, where the Bush is deployed, sailors who don't drink enough water run the risk of dehydration.

What seems to set the toilet problems on the Bush apart from those on other carriers is that if one clog disrupts the vacuum, it can cause half the ship's toilets to fail at once.
In written responses to questions from The Virginian-Pilot, the Navy command that oversees Atlantic-based aircraft carriers said the majority of the outages - and those that usually take the longest to repair - have been caused by sailors flushing "inappropriate material or items" down the ship's toilets. <---code for tampons?

The Bush has experienced toilet breakdowns since it was commissioned two years ago, the Navy said, but the service does not view the issue as a construction flaw.

"When used properly, the system works as designed," the Navy said. "Ongoing education is a key part of the solution, ensuring that all hands understand the appropriate use of the system."
The Navy's statement said sailors have spent more than 10,000 hours maintaining the vacuum system since the Bush left Norfolk - the equivalent of 10 sailors spending 40 hours a week doing nothing but working on the toilets for the entire deployment.

Most problems are fixed within 24 hours of being reported, the Navy said.
But on one occasion, a clog caused a shutdown of all the toilets on the forward half of the ship and then, without warning, the rear half also failed, according to an article in the ship's newsletter. The hull technicians charged with keeping the system running worked around the clock for more than 30 hours to fix the problem.

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/11/toil...stress-carrier

**Pete Bondurant** · November 30th, 2011, 07:27 AM

These toilets need corporate sponsorship.

**gee** · November 30th, 2011, 11:21 AM

I call Bullshit on the tampon as being the blame. How many women on that boat? There couldn't possibly enough women to cause that issue. Their toilets are faulty.