swans on tea

Just another SFN Blogs site
  • Home
  • A very little about me
  • Sample Page

A Chip in the Big Game

Published by swansont on April 29, 2010 03:00 am under Lab Stories, Navy, TMI

Last week I stayed late to give a tour of our clock facility, and to show off the fountain, to some brass that were visiting. For me, tours like this are a little bit stressful, because this was more than just the gee-whiz—aren’t—we—cool tour (and tabletop-ish atomic physics makes for some pretty good gee-whiz) we give to some visitors. For those visitors, talking about physics is sufficient, and I’m pretty good at bringing the geek. For visitors who actually have a stake in what we do, I’m trying to make the presentation relevant to the job they do, above and beyond the “timing = navigation, because a nanosecond is a foot.” And really there is more to that message, because timing is also tied in with communication (and more importantly, secure communication) but because I’m the redundant backup for such tours, I don’t have a lot of practice at the high-level discussions. Which makes a feedback loop — because I don’t have a lot of practice to polish the talk (and I’m further down the chain), I don’t get called on to do this often, etc., etc. Iterate.

But things went well enough, and as the admiral shook my hand and thanked me, a coin was transferred into my possession. Challenge coins are a military tradition, that admit I had no awareness of when I was a junior officer in the navy, mostly because they are generally (or admirally) exchanged only when rubbing elbows with top brass of some sort. Wikipedia tells me the tradition probably dates back to WWI. There are coins that reflects one’s unit, and coins that reflect one’s job, especially if one has a job with a large degree of specialization. These are used as identification, and as with so many military traditions, they are often tied into drinking — if challenged to produce your coin and you don’t have it (or sometimes if you are the last one to do so), you are expected to get a round of drinks.

There are other coins that represent one’s command, and still others that are personal coins which will declare the rank of the giver. These can also be presented as a challenge when you’re sitting in a bar, with the owner of the coin representing the highest rank winning, and exempt from having to pay for drinks. The coin I got represents the Admiral’s office at the Joint Chiefs, rather than being a personal coin, so it does not show the rank of Rear Admiral (two stars). The frequency at which one gives out a coin is really a personal decision; I’ve read of flag officers who carried (or, more specifically, had their aids carry) a bag of coins with them because they handed them out so readily, and others who were very stingy. This was my first coin, and was probably given in appreciation for staying fairly late. A true cynic might think this is little different from the kind of cheesy awards you can buy (“You’re a Star” mug, “Celebrate Awesomeness” hunk of plastic or “Team Player” keychain) but I disagree. A coin — especially a nice coin — is not a bulk item, and has a nice tradition behind to back it up. I’m pretty jazzed about it.

JCS coin

3 Comments so far

  1. rob on April 29th, 2010

    i never heard of this coin tradition.
    congrats!

  2. swansont on April 29th, 2010

    I suspect it has become more popular in recent years with the increased availability of quality coins.

  3. Cherish on May 1st, 2010

    After reading this, I asked my husband if he ever received one. He worked civil service in Keyport for 7 years. It turned out that he received one, but it was actually last summer when he was doing some contract work on the Lewis and Clark. (He didn’t mention it before I asked.) They’re very nice coins! But until he got the coin last fall, he’d never heard of the tradition, either.

Posting your comment.

  • Recent Posts

    • When Does the Decade End?
    • This is the Hardest Job a Manager Has …
    • 5 Things You Should Know About Light
    • See Spot "Run"
    • The System Works
  • Recent Comments

    • Joey Cook on One Ringy-Dingy, Two Ringy-Dingy
    • Science Fanatic on Talk Like a Physicist Day
    • Chris Gould on Brian Cox is Full of **it
    • LaurieAG on Inmates Running the Asylum
    • Uncle Al on Curious About Curies
  • Archives

    • December 2019
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
    • February 2010
    • January 2010
    • December 2009
    • November 2009
    • October 2009
    • September 2009
    • August 2009
    • July 2009
    • June 2009
    • May 2009
    • April 2009
    • March 2009
    • February 2009
    • January 2009
    • December 2008
    • November 2008
    • October 2008
    • September 2008
    • August 2008
    • July 2008
    • June 2008
    • May 2008
    • April 2008
    • March 2008
    • February 2008
    • January 2008
  • Categories

    • admin
    • Antiscience
    • Art
    • Blog Compendia
    • Blogging
    • Body
    • Books
    • Bureaucracy
    • Business
    • Cartoon
    • Conference stories
    • Cool stuff
    • DIY science
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Experiments
    • Food
    • Game
    • Geocaching
    • History
    • Humor
    • Illusions
    • Journalism
    • Lab Stories
    • Language
    • Links
    • Math
    • Metaphysics
    • Misc
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Navy
    • Not Really Science at All
    • Other science
    • peeve
    • photography
    • Photos
    • Physics
    • Politics
    • Quotes
    • Rants
    • Religion
    • Satire
    • Sci-Fi
    • Science-general
    • science-y observation
    • Security
    • Shameless self promotion
    • Sick sick sick
    • Silly
    • Sports
    • Tech
    • The Lab
    • Thermal IR
    • Time
    • TMI
    • Toys
    • trivia
    • TV
    • TYAGFITI
    • Typography
    • Uncategorized
    • Video
    • Weird
    • World Events
    • Writing
  • Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2022 swans on tea
WordPress Theme based on Light Theme