It's good to know some of our fighting forces are making love, not war.
'Swapping paint' leads to pregnancies
ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN -- In the race-car vernacular favored by the captain, the infraction is called "swapping paint." Inappropriate contact between men and women of the 5,500-member mixed crew is rare because of severe penalties imposed on violators of the Navy's ban on fraternization and intimacy aboard its vessels.
But the laws of the heart sometimes overwhelm the instinct for self-preservation. During each deployment aboard this nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, as with dozens of other naval ships with female crew, pregnancies and prohibited relationships occur regularly.
Since the Lincoln pulled out of its home port in Everett, Wash., on July 20, about 20 crew members have been sent home pregnant, seven in the first few weeks, said Cmdr. Gerry Goyins, the ship's senior medical officer.