How has the Navy changed in the last 20 years?

Where to start? I just transferred from a DDG last year, we had "high speed" internet to around 100 PC's. The internet is a huge part of day to day operations with the 3M system, parts ordering and the such all utilizing the web. Satellite phones are for emergencies only however there is a pool of phones available to the higher ups and a few offices. On my ship from Taps to reveille we had a "morale" line set up for 15 minute calls to Norfolk for free. If the person was to call long distance they needed a phone card. This was all on a first come first serve basis. Cell phones are a huge NO NO. Once the ship set sea and anchor, no more cell phone usage. The mission today, for DDG's at least, is counter piracy, escort duty, or in my case Ballistic Missile Defence. Haven't done any shadow games with the Russians or any other navy since I've entered service in 2001.

I think the reason the Navy personnel hardly speak on this site is because the Army and Marines seem to have more problems than we do. We can voice what appropriate actions we would take however those are different branches who have different methods for solving their problems. Like I'm sure several people have stated, the Navy has got a lot nicer. We cater to everyone's needs.

I remember having to use a satellite phone to make phone calls, which was in the library on the ship (USS Independence) and good luck being able to use it because it was always being used by someone else! We had arcade style video games instead of X-Box, PlayStation, etc. Yes, we didn't have Internet and yes, we had to write letters to communicate back home.

Fast-forward to my last ship that I left in 2003 and things were a lot different. We had Internet, even though connection was limited. At least we could email friends and family back home instead of having to use snail mail. You could use cell phones, assuming you were close enough to land to get a signal. We had X-box/PlayStation tournaments.

I had internet on my ships, but it was very unreliable. Letters were still very much appreciated while underway. I saw the ship's satellite phone used only once, for a personal emergency. Cell phones were just going mainstream, but my ships were exceptions (CIVMARS) and the rails were lined every time we transited through the Philippines. Our main mission was UNREP with a heavy dose of humanitarian aid. Of course, my experience was 10 years ago, and all my ships have since been scuttled.

I'm following this thread closely as well. I have no idea how life is in the Navy. I saw Seabees pulling convoy ops in Iraq and it almost blew my mind.

Well, for one thing, it doesn't have any more of these ...

I can only tell you how it changed since 1958. I was deployed on destroyers (DD 703 Wallace L. Lind) and we operated with the Nautilus - our first nuclear sub

Memories of my time in the service:
Hafa! I was at NavSta Guam - Port Ops in '93 when they had the big quake ... Port Ops had fun trying to pull the piers back together. I'd been there a month when it hit. Pretty scary experience for a small-town kid from Nebraska.
I remember going to a friend's house in Lockwood Terrace and seeing her bubblehead hubby's internet setup & being amazed that he was chatting with people on the other side of the world... and trying to figure out the time difference between Guam and Nebraska so I could call home & tell my folks I was doing ok. Calls were so expensive that I wrote more letters than I called home.
I remember working my hind end off while doing line-handling on the Navy harbor tugs & feeling a sense of pride that my face was one of the first new faces those shipboard sailors may have seen in months.
I remember a strong sense of teamwork & a keen sense of belonging.
I remember when we got a new Bos'n for Port Ops & thinking "That's an officer who inspires me to do better, be better."
I remember our PT consisting of going to the base bowling alley & getting drunk while rolling several frames.
I remember a Port Ops party at Gab Gab beach, playing volleyball in the coral sand, reef walking, and stepping on a GD sea cucumber.
I remember feeling VERY teeny tiny when I saw my first "Gator Freighter" up close & being absolutely fascinated watching the SEAL's practicing in the harbor.
I remember being on watch the night the Admiral's gig was found on the bottom of the harbor & having to go "up the hill" for the board of inquiry. Sometimes, being a "dumb seaman" had it's advantages. All I had to do was report what I saw ... which was nothing.
I remember being jealous of my Seabee roommates in the enlisted barracks because they got to leave the island.
I remember getting orders to a destroyer in Everett, WA to be one of the first females in the Navy to serve aboard a warship ... and my now ex's hissy fit over the fact that he'd have to take care of our kids by himself if I ever went to sea & so he pressured me to get out, which my Bos'n (very much rightly so) told me that I would regret ... and I do to this day. Being Navy was my niche, my place in this world. I loved every minute of my time in & wish every day that I would have been smarter & stayed in.

Can't believe I remember this much of my time in this far in time from then ...

Now, I hardly claim my time in the Navy ... I only did a bit over half of my 4 yr enlistment thanks to an ex who, well ... he wasn't nice. Yeah, I served, but it doesn't feel like I really served. It wasn't really wartime in 93-95, I wasn't on board a ship. I was just on overseas shore duty. Maybe I'd feel differently had I served my full enlistment contract &/or made a career of the Navy.

Editing to add that I wish I could have gone through a Crossing the Line or Shellback ceremony ... or not. LOL!

Drastically, some for the better, some not.

During my first three deployments, we had nothing but snail mail on which to reply for comms with the home front. I remember my wife and I having to number our letters to one another, as they often got delivered out of order. It was tough, but we managed. That said, I would consider the Internet to have bettered our lives with regard to connecting with loved ones while away. I don't know, however, if the Internet is a benefit writ large...people are less active as a result of the Internet; something I believe is a disadvantage.

I do miss the days when the Navy allowed the use of alcohol in a responsible manner. I remember when PRTs used to be conducted on one day, not over a months-long length of time. The PRT for a command was scheduled on one day, you simply didn't take leave on that day. It was always on a Friday, first thing in the morning, after which you had a choice...go back to work, or head to the beach for a BBQ and kegger with everyone else.

Before I get bashed for the comment on having a command kegger, we took care of each other in those days...and with no need for a policy in place to mandate that we did so. We had volunteers to act as DDs and never had an issue with DUIs. It may not have been that way everywhere, but it was where I was stationed. That is, until the Navy decided that having such functions was a no-no. After that, people went off to do their own separate thing and as a result, I saw DUIs that we never had an issue with before. Just my own personal experiences.

It's funny my husband and I have this same conversation all the time, he went in the Navy in 92 and was out before I went in the Navy in 02. We go through our Navy gear and it's funny you can see the differences, he had the old blue Jean utilities and I have the new ones, shortly after I got out in 07 they went to the digital camies. When he was in boot camp there was no such thing as stress cards, yep the division that startd just after me had stress cards they could hold up if things where "to tough" in Feb 2002 we where up at 430 with reveille playing, by Mar a month in They has to stop because other divisions that where starting didn't have to get up until 6.