Today I head to Tempe, to Arizona State University to be exact, to attend my sons Plank Owner Ceremony. Well it isn't his alone, it belongs to about 85 members of his R.O.T.C. unit at ASU. Michael went specifically to this school to be part of this brand new unit. He wanted to help be a part of starting it and seeing it off the ground. What he didn't expect, but worked for, was placing as the first ever #1 Midshipmen as well as the only one is his class to receive the Marine Corps Side Load scholarship. We knew he would do well but he has exceeded all his own personal goals and has continued to make us proud. If you are not familiar with Plank Owner please read below for a description. I will share pictures from the day as I am sure to take many. His dad is deployed but will be there as usual in spirit.
Plankowner
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A plankowner[1] (also referred to a plank owner) is an individual who was a member of the crew of a ship when that ship was placed in commission. Originally, this term applied only to crew members that were present at the ship's first commissioning. Today, however, plank owner is often applied to members of newly commissioned units, new military bases and recommissioning crews as well.
[edit] In U.S. military
Plankowner is a term used by the United States Navy,[1] and has consequently been variously defined by different units. The origin of the term is the implication that a crew member was around when the ship was being built and commissioned, and therefore has bragging rights to the "ownership" of one of the planks in the main deck.[2][3]
Historically, a plankowner in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard, or his widow, could petition the Naval Historical Center's Curator Branch for a piece of the deck when the ship was decommissioned.[3]
Sailors who are plank owners at their current command often have the word "PLANKOWNER" embroidered on the back of their uniform ball cap to denote this designation. A plaque is placed aboard the ship with the crew names. When in port, the departure of a plank owner for the final time is usually announced on the 1MC public announcing system with a bell-ring, as
In lieu of an actual "plank" from the deck of a newly commissioned ship (these being pretty hard to come by in this day and age) crew members are presented with a Plank Owner Certificate commemorating their unique status of being part of the Original Crew when the ship became part of the U. S. Navy.
2 comments:
Congratulations to your son! what proud parents you two must be!!! :)
That is awesome...it's hard to believe he is almost done with his first year...how crazy is that?
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