Final Test and My Fourth PFA

Don't know the official word on either yet, but I know I passed both.

Friday's test was twice as long as normal, at 100 questions, and was cumulative. It took forever to complete... they allowed us ample time to finish it up. Overall it was pretty straightforward, but there were those usual few that made me scratch my head forever. I was very glad to get out of there, and ended up falling asleep at home by 1830.

Today's Physical Fitness Assessment (or Physical Readiness Test... whichever you prefer... I hear both acronyms used) went very well. I drove over about 10 min. before it was scheduled to begin. There have been times in the past when I wish I would have arrived that late. There is a lot of standing around waiting for people to check in and for the CFL (command fitness leader?) to get things started. I pinned number 112 (written on a 5" by 8" blue card) to the front of my yellow PT shirt, and got in the line on the far right. Wagner was #111, and also without a partner, so we teamed up.

There were three long columns, probably 150+ Sailors arranged side by side. There were a few brief warm-ups and then we began. Wagner's side of the column went first with the curl-ups. Then we have a short break as the guys with clipboards walk down the row and record the scores. Then it was my turn. Wagner held my ankles and counted reps as I had done for him. I was only 4 shy of maxing the score with 97 in two minutes. We switched again, Wagner busted out lots of push-ups and I counted, amazed. Then a short break and I struggled, doing 44 push-ups, just 2 shy of the max. An Outstanding score so far... good deal.

Then the Mile & a Half Run. Boo. I hate running. But it seemed to go faster today then normal... I guess all that regular PT really helps out. And I managed to avoid coughing my lungs out afterwords; I guess my nose didn't run when I did like it had in the past. And can you believe it? my hurt foot gave me no trouble at all (and feels better today?! good grief!). We start by the port side of the USS Recruit (USS Neversail) and run on the cement pathway around the grass field that used to be the parade ground of RTC San Diego, back in the day, and end in the cul-de-sac behind the medical center, right next to where we did the first two events. With all those people, it really gets crowded at the beginning.

I think my time was 13:39... but all I heard was the "39" part. I was pretty tired by the last quarter mile. I lady passed me by and shouted encouragement to go faster... I met her in the locker room afterwords... she was a chief! Goodness, a very nice chief!

Thank goodness it's over (for six months, at least)!

Otherwise, I felt terrible because I fell asleep again after my alarm went off this morning. Stupid... the day before the last day. I was a bit late, but it didn't affect anyone since everyone was let go because of the odd schedule. We're taking our practicals now, and they say they're going to take 2 hours for each group of two students. So people were to come back for the time they were scheduled for, and Baldwin and I were assigned first thing tomorrow morning. Okay by me. I really appreciate STG1 being understanding like he was. He knows I'm not a slacker, I guess. Still, I could kick myself.

Last Days

Tomorrow we'll be taking our final test; today was the last day of organized PT, as well as our last power-point and last lab.

Tuesday was our last day with Mr. Fontaine... he walked us through a lab that didn't match up with the troubleshooting procedures, just so we'd know how to really use the schematics and flow-charts. The winch wouldn't operate because he had unplugged the Manifold Assy.

Wednesday was wild. We didn't have PT (I did it on my own after class) and our lab was the actual handling of the array... using the levelwind to deploy and retrieve... and the ones who weren't operating were creating drag (normally created by the water) on the end of the array so it would wrap tightly around the winch. It was hard work pulling... I was breathing heavily. Near the end of class we did the first half of the Sonar Dome Pressurization System (SDPS) general & physical description power-point.

Today we finished it, and have a basic understanding of the water and air system we'll have to be monitoring. I love how being a Sonar Tech, we've gotten to learn little bits of electronics, mechanics and hydraulics. Then for the last half of the day we did the final lab, learning the emergency drive system on the levelwind. There were only two groups that went through, and I was with Hibbard, Trimpe, Wagner & Witte. I operated the control panel and observed all the mechanical switches, levers and screws that had to be done in order to make it work.

It was a very standard free PT this morning... did 15 minutes on the bike, then some crunches and pushups.

Watch and the Weigh-In

I've seen a steady progression... I was around 180 lbs before I joined the Navy. During the next year, plus some, I brought it down to 160 lbs, where it returned to after boot camp. Over the first two PRT cycles in San Diego (another year) I kept it down, but it was more towards my limit of 170. For today's weigh-in, I was 5 lbs over, but managed to meet the Navy's BMI standard of taking an arbitrary number (with my height of 68", it is a 59) and subtracting the circumference of the neck (14") and adding the circumferences of the waist (31") and hips (42") to come up with a corresponding body fat percentage. My Navy BMI is 32% (just passing). There is no way that I have that much fat (whine)! But I shouldn't complain. I think there were a couple people in class who weren't so lucky.

I need to be more careful all the time. I didn't starve myself this cycle, like I have done before, and only remained cautious as to what I ate, and how much. I feel like I have better chances at keeping it under control with habits like these, but at the same time I wonder if I'll ever be able to get it down to 160 again.

Sunday was my Duty Day. I was assigned the 12-17 (1130-1630) Bldg. 51 Access Watch. Five hours of standing up behind a podium, checking IDs and saluting for the Ensign and recording "51 ROVER REPORTED. ALL CONDITIONS NORMAL." in the deck log every fifteen minutes. I still wrote this during the last half-hour of watch, even though the fire alarm had gone off in Bldg. 11 (the quarterdeck & schoolhouse) and the fire department arrived... I wouldn't know what else to write. :) My feet were pretty tired by the end of the ordeal; my right foot had even fallen asleep. Just something to get used to, I suppose.

I decided that I didn't want to miss church, even though it would be cutting it close (service starts at 0930 and is a good 20 minutes away). So I went to service in my NSUs, and I'm kinda glad I did. No one there had seen me in a uniform before and I had several nice comments about it. Made me feel proud to wear it. And of course, it helped me explain why I needed to blast out of there right when the pastor finished. It was a great sermon about faith during trials, but he went longer than ever. I made it to the watch on time, but I had no time for lunch. I bought a bag of Doritos and a bottle of water at Liberty Hall right before assuming the watch. Very glad I made myself breakfast that morning!

Mentally, I made it through pretty well by reading the first 50 pages of American Naval History — An Illustrated Chronology of the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present (a MCPON Reading List book). I began with George Washington's gunboats in 1775 and got off watch with the end of the Mexican War in 1848. It goes on for another 250 pages, ending up in 2002. Lots of interesting facts... ships, exploits, innovations, people... all in one place.

Class today was all labs, and my group didn't have time to go before we had to weigh-in... so I spent the three hours asking STG2 questions about the fleet and reading a few dozen pages in Battleship Sailor.

And one little side-note oddity... the gym lacked shower curtains this morning. Apparently, they had been cleaned and just not put back up yet (even when Hibbard asked for them), so it was almost like boot camp this morning... but at least there were stalls!

Practice With the Winch

We had labs all of Thursday and today. The one I had yesterday with Trimpe and Hibbard, we had a pressurized pawl (stopper-thing that locks the winch) that wouldn't budge. The lab was going through the power-on procedure, and we stopped when we found a glitch, looked through the thick 11x17 manual of flowcharts and schematics until we found out how to narrow the problem down to a replaceable part. I didn't fully grasp this at first, since all we had done before was identify the parts, and I tried futilely to manually engage that pawl... lol... it was very stuck with hydraulic pressure.

Today I went twice. But first we went over the quiz from Wednesday, and I figured out what had puzzled me before. The first lab was with Wagner and Clem, and this time it was an electronic fault. The fuse on a power supply "needed replacing"... Mr. Fontaine had removed it for the lab. Then later on we went over a different fault... a fuse on a different power supply, for the same reason.

Thursday we also had our third GMT this month on Sexual Harassment Awareness. This time we had the local SARC (sexual assault resource coordinator) speak for about an hour and a half. The ones before had been very brief... a half-hour or less about current statistics and repercussions. This was more of a discussion about why we are held accountable and situational responses we should have. These lectures are so awkward... everyone gets to laughing every so often, because of the examples or silly phrases used accidentally. The topic is actually very serious, but because it interrupts everyone's free time, and is generally thought unnecessary, people are prone to make a joke out of it. For those reasons I hate going to them. Also I'm sick of hearing about sex in such a negative way. But I do understand that we get new people to the base all the time, and therefore have to repeat information... and I understand the DOD is trying to tackle a big problem and create a new culture in the military that does not stand for these sort of infractions, but I have to wonder if this is the best way.

For PT Thursday morning, I did a leg (well, both of them) workout with Witte and Hibbard. Witte taught us how to do dead weight lifts with the dumb-bell... and my legs have been feeling it!

H&SG

The Handling and Stowage Group section of a Sonar Tech's equipment has to do with the mechanics, hydraulics and electricity behind the handling and stowage of our acoustic array and tow cable on the back end of most of our ships.

We really got into things, starting Monday. Most of the day was taken up with the Operational Description lecture and power schematics. Tuesday we covered fault line flowcharts and schematics, even ones that they've deemed not necessary for us to know. Mr. Fontaine (a retired senior chief) thought we did though, so we went over a ton of information. Our heads were quite full by the time we were done. Today he took us though a lab in bldg 12, going over the finer points of the power set up and the mechanical workings of the winch and control console. We also got to use the deploy and retrieve functions on the winch for the first time, and my lab partners, Wagner and Fierro, thought I handled it best as we practiced arresting it on the pawl. Otherwise, we had a 29-question quiz on the same stuff that was rather time consuming for me.

PT on Monday was pretty regular... running on the treadmill and abs. Tuesday's Quarters was standard, and STG2 gave me an outstanding on my service uniform for the inspection. Witte and I cleaned the head after class... I only mention that because one of the guys in class was unhappy with my role as class leader. In a response to my message, he said I never clean enough and therefore don't lead by example. Phooey. I think he was mostly sore at me for mentioning at Quarters that he was wearing the wrong type of shoes for an inspection. He made some valid points though, and I'll be a little more conscious of the way I present myself to my peers in this role. This morning's PT was an arm workout with Witte and Hibbard. I'm sure to feel it tomorrow a lot. But because a bunch of the people in our class don't feel the need to stay for a good, solid workout, STG2 is going to make us do PT together starting tomorrow.

Deja Vu

I think the Captain is as tired of Sailors being stupid as I am. Less than a month ago we had an open mast, but seven E-1 through E-3s didn't care enough to say "no" when temptation came around. Two guys provided alcohol to four guys and one girl who were underage. They had all been in A-school together last month when they bragged in class about drinking at a sports bar across the street from the base. The two got the full punishment, and the five were tried together after them with most of the same punishment. With the five, he took the cash out of his wallet and threw it around behind him as an illustration. To try to get through to those who need to hear it, the Captain arranged for it to cut into the time we would normally be off... 1400-1500, when most of us are let go by 1100. I got the message last year (my first witnessing of an open mast was May 5th, 2011)... I don't know about these people.

We had a different schedule this morning. Allowed to come in at 0700, then we cleaned a very dirty classroom on the other side of the building for a big building inspection from the ASW Captain. That took us until 0800, when I had an appointment to meet Lt. Ayala in Bldg. 52 with my mentor STG1 Cooper about the Oceanography/Meteorology officer program... what they do and what I could do to become one. I printed out my unofficial transcripts, from the UW and from the Navy equivalency program (SMART) which translates Navy schools and jobs into college credit. The LT thinks I would need to take some higher math classes in order to be considered, after I do OCS and become a regular line officer (SWO - surface warfare officer) for a couple years. I'm not sure it's something I want yet... I'll decide after I get to my ship. STG1 mentioned that the orders for this next month came out yesterday, so I might be getting them next week! We'll see!

I was worried that I was missing an important lecture with Mr. Fontane, but I didn't. I was able to go over everything I missed very easily. Wagner was very kind and helped explain the answers to the quiz questions on the schematic very quickly. Other than that, I started into Battleship Sailor.

In the Hundreds

Monday was something of a surprise. PT was pretty regular, as were the power-points and lab on the TSP (torpedo settings panel). But after class I had a couple emails from Lt. Castro about meeting up again to talk about formatting, so I arranged with her to meet right away. When I parked in the TSC lot at the NEX, a petty officer was pulling out of his spot, but then stopped, got out of the car and called to me. It was ET1 Jordan, the recruiter-in-charge at Bellevue when I first met the Navy! I knew he was stationed in San Diego now, but I never thought I'd run into him! What a nice coincidence! We chatted, but we couldn't for long as we were in the middle of the parking lot.

The meeting with the LT went well. I hadn't had a clear picture of what exactly she was looking for, but I do now. More of a journalistic approach, with date and place, and even a "thesis". I've been so used to blog writing, I didn't consider someone would want a who-what-when-where-article written like a history paper. But that's what I've got to do.

Tuesday we had no Quarters because the staff had a meeting, or something. This was our test day, though, on the XBT, LAMPS, & TSP. I took the longest time, beating my brains out over two questions... but otherwise it was pretty easy. Wednesday morning, I found out I pulled off a 100%, making it my 3rd in the last 4 tests. Still in third place, but now at a 97.54% (behind Trimpe at 98.67%). There was a lot of down time, but we also started the H&SG (handling & stowage group - for the acoustic sensor). Signed and got my copy of my first evaluation in admin... I officially "meet standards". :) The last thing we did was finally discover the insides of Bldg. 12: ASW command's set-up of the H&SG. But it was just a quick walk-through to get formally introduced to the heavy machinery. Actual practice will come a little later.

Today, I ran circuits with Witte and Hibbard on the volleyball court for PT. A good workout, indeed! So glad to be able to push myself harder with other people. Retired Senior Chief Jerry taught us today. He gave us schematics (as he did back when he taught us the Power Supplies) for the hydraulics and power circuits for the H&SG. Again we broke out our colored pencils and traced some of the lines so we'd better understand what did what. Most of the day was taken up with the 84-slide Functional Interfaces power-point. Gosh! So much!

Back at home I finished the final few pages of the very readable 600-page novel The Sand Pebbles. It marks the fifth book I've finished in class... and tomorrow I'm going to start Battleship Sailor from the MCPON's suggested reading list. It's a personal account of a radioman 3rd class on the USS California from 1940 to 1941. Promises to be very interesting.

Good, Good Friday

I woke with a start, as my alarm went off for duty section muster. At first glance, I thought I was late, but that was because I had an odd schedule today, not having to come to class until 0715, and partly because I was so tired. I was upset for about five minutes before I realized that I was ten minutes earlier than I had planned. Whew! I signed the watchbill on my way to muster, had a normal muster at the Red Deck, then had breakfast at the galley.

Class was pretty normal... finished up LAMPS, and started the TSP slides... and read in my book. But at 1030 we were whisked out of class for the first of several short GMTs this month about sexual harassment awareness. It's a theme for this month... they said one gets reported in the Navy every day. Good grief.

It was soon time for the afternoon (1230 on Fridays) muster, and that also went quickly and smoothly. Right after that, I utilized the Lib Hall computers to write the article that I interviewed for yesterday. Took me about an hour, then I sent it off to the LT. I hope she likes it!

When I got home, I had exactly two hours before my watch, so I took a light nap and had a bit of a snack while I got into my service uniform (khaki & black). I had the 17-21 MOOW (messenger). The OOD sent me over to take over the Bldg. 51 access watch while she found a replacement for the guy who was away on TAD orders. It was that kind of duty day. This has been the only duty day in recent memory that took up the entire day. I'm very glad to be resting in my bed right now.

Dragging, Tuesday Through Thursday

That's what happens if you don't take a nap! I've had trouble these last three days, getting up and at 'em. Tuesday morning I fell asleep immediately after I swiped my phone's alarm off... and then next thing I knew, STG2 Root called and asked what was going on. "It's five?!" was my reply. And I was in class at 5:30. He broke us for breakfast when I sat down in my chair, so I immediately went home again for a bit of eggs and oatmeal. It was nice we had the extra time, because this was our Whites inspection at Quarters. I led everyone in the Creed for the third time.













First on a timer at the overflow parking lot across the street. Second in the women's locker room in the gym. My pants are a little tighter than they used to be, and they shortened them too much in boot camp... needless to say, I need a new pair.

Tuesday was also our test day on the consoles and the CADRT. It was very tricky, because there were two versions of each that we needed to keep straight. Don't know the exact score yet, but he's told us that no one got below an 85% (which would mean mando).

Wednesday I set the alarm differently, so I thought I'd get up better. Nope. But I made it to PT with about five minutes to spare. It's easier to get up and go on PT days, simply because a t-shirt and shorts (and usually a sweatshirt) are much faster to get into than the t-shirt, socks, trousers, boots, blousing straps (for the bottoms of the trousers), blouse and cover of the working uniform. I did the first bit of the workout on the elliptical, then followed Witte and Hibbard over to the volleyball court for a great abdominal workout, just us three. Very glad I had my book... all we did all day was our practicals. And STG1 Fletcher assigned me the last of the five groups with Nordgren. I read over 50 pages in the 3+ hours I had to wait. At one point everyone's chatter was bothering me and I was getting pretty cold just sitting there, so I took a walk around the third and second decks of the school and then came back. Much better. I had to do that a couple times in Ops, I remember. :) The practical itself was just fine. Actually went through an MRC (maintenance requirement card), verifying it with the MIP (index page), tagging out the "PP" (power panel) and "removing and replacing" the battery on the CADRT. We were given 100's.

Today, I had to sprint to the gym from my car in order to make it on time; and I got there seconds before STG1 came to muster us. (ARRG! So angry at myself!) I was seriously tempted to just go home, since my backpack with my uniform was still in my car. But I did the right thing, came back and worked out. Bench-pressed, shoulder-pressed, pushed-up and called it a morning.

Back in class at the normal 0715, we had STG2 Root back. He forgot to bring our tests back, but after I suggested it, he printed out the cumulative score from the last two weeks combined. I passed up Wagner, climbing to 3rd place with a 97.0% behind Trimpe and Witte. Today we went through the slides for the XBT (expendable bathythermograph - measures temperature vs. depth) and the LAMPS (light airborne multipurpose sonobouy system - talking with the helos). We only have three weeks left to this course, and only three more short topics, the final, and last practical. I also read a bit between us figuring out what we were going to do for our class party.

Oh, and Hibbard (from my RTC division) got orders to Washington State today. That's made me think seriously again about how short my time left at this command is. Three of the four on the bottom of the class ranking have been given orders now. What a silly coincidence! They joke that they did it on purpose. :) So I checked my orders today in the Student Resource Center, just to make sure the new ones haven't posted yet... and they didn't.

And this afternoon I had my first interviewee for my new job. I am such a booter! I knocked on the door before coming in... just to make sure. The chief was very friendly... he came into the office in PT gear after I had arrived, having forgotten all about it. I listened to the others talk with a Senior Chief while he changed. There was a double-pinned, undesignated seaman there, talking about getting out. Nobody can find her an A-school! So Chief and I went to a room upstairs for the interview, and it was very interesting. I told him about myself first, then we got into how he got into the COOL program and what he's been doing. He's a Damage Control guy, wanting to get into FEMA or Homeland Security when he retires in five years. It was an interesting little conversation. If the half-page I write about it ever makes it online, I'll be sure to link it! :)

New Chapter

I've got an additional job now... the Lt. I met today in the TSC Student Affairs building on 32nd street is the command's PAO (public affairs officer) and she said that she needs someone to help write short articles for news stories related to TSC students to be published on Navy websites. I already have two assignments for this month. So far she wants me to write about students who went to help out on a ship lately, and our upcoming SAPR training at GMT this month. Suddenly, I have a job to do in the Navy without being baby-sat... almost like those three weeks last year when I worked on the USS Antietam... except this is just the LT and I. We'll see how well I do and what comes of it, but I'm glad to be able to help out a very busy officer. She said she'd take me over to Coronado soon to get familiar with the students over there. Possibly a story about BUD/S drop-outs and how they get re-assigned. I hope I'm not in over my head, but I don't think so. I'll give it my best shot.

Class today was pretty usual. PT on our own, and I took it pretty easy because of my big hiking trip yesterday. Only 3 miles on the bike and a few core exercises next door. We finished up the lectures and labs on the CADRT, and I read a few more exciting chapters in Sand Pebbles.