FREE ESSAY ON CRIMSON TIDE

CRIMSON TIDE

When Russia rebels gain control of nuclear weapons in the USSR, the United States
retaliates by deploying the USS Alabama, a nuclear submarine. Which is commanded by
Captain Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman), a veteran solider and Naval Great. Ramsey selects
Lt. Commander Ron Hunter (Denzel Washington), to be his right man on this mission; Hunter
is a Harvard graduate and prefers to use his brains to weapons unlike his Commanding
officer. The USS Alabama's mission was simple, it was to basically go into Russian waters
and sit as America's first line of defense in case of a WW3. The president of the United
States set the strategic goal for this operation, which was to set ship in Russian waters
and monitor activity. The tactical goal for this operation was for Captain Ramsey and Lt.
Hunter to follow out the strategic goal sent by the president. The last goal, which is
the operational goal, is for the crew of the USS Alabama to follow instructions from
their Captains and keep everything safe. Planning also played an important part of this
movie. Strategic planning was used when the crew was first sent down for their mission.
They were told that they were the first lines of defense and if they were shot at then
they shoot back. Both Ramsey and Hunter used tactical planning, an example of this would
be when the radio broke down and they had to plan with out one. A perfect example for an
operational plan was given by the Captain to get the radio fixed. There were many cases
of decision-making processes in this movie. When the ship radio went down they received a
message that wasn't clear about launching the nuclear weapon or not launching it. At this
point both men had to make decision and quick, Captain Ramsey believed that the
interrupted transmission was to fire the weapon, which was a decision of uncertainty and
of high risk. Because if Ramsey was wrong, then he would start WW3. However, Lt. Hunter
uses the decision of certainty, and tries to convince Ramsey not to launch the weapon and
wait for the response of the interrupted message.