There were some downsides to embedding reporters. One was discovered on American aircraft carriers, where the word came down that sailors were no longer allowed to scrawl messages on bombs being loaded on aircraft. A tradition going back to World War II, the messages were sometimes off color. But with journalists and their cameras assigned to carriers, the brass felt it prudent to ban any bomb graffiti. Actually, pressure has been building for this ban for some time. Ever since political correctness became a major factor in military life during the 1990s, it was only a matter of time before a few pictures of irreverent chalk marks on 500 pound bombs got some admiral in hot water. There was only one way to solve that problem, and the problem has now been taken care of.