(navy.mil photo, shared from a friend... thanks, James!)
You can only see the top of our mast, poking out from behind the USS WASP (LHD1).
Well, our holiday stand-down is now a thing of the past. We're back to regular, 6-section duty, after eight days of 3-section duty. I had the pier sentry watch at one time or another every duty day. I got to meet different people from the WASP each time, which also provided pier sentries. My favorite pair was from my last watch... an AC (air-traffic controller) and an AT (aviation electronics tech), both females, both fun to talk to. Our worlds are very different, so it was interesting comparing notes. I was very grateful to the WASP for providing a heater for the last two watches... and AC3 thought of bringing it up to the door of the tent so we could comfortably keep a good watch on the entry point.
We tipped each other off as to which persons in civilian clothes were officers from our boats or not. And AT2 successfully kept me from checking my watch every ten minutes during the last two hours or so... made it go faster. :) But I was relieved about 20 minutes late from the on-coming duty section... just barely had enough time to get breakfast before Quarters (it was a miracle, actually). And on the watch before this one, on Sunday, I was surprised how many people were sightseeing. I stopped two different people from taking pictures out their car windows!
Yesterday's duty day was even exciting at times... we ran two drills that evening... one for leaking refrigerant (toxic gas) on the refer deck below the galley (I got suited up all the way... coveralls, boots, hood, mask, helmet, SCBA - air-, gloves) and I watched the team leader respond on his radio. GM1 selected me to be one of the actors in the ATFP (anti-terrorism force protection) drill after that. I was a disgruntled Sailor who started shooting computers and a shipmate in CSMC... I ended up shot and in handcuffs... the reaction force didn't slip up at all.
What was singular was the real alarm we had after I had gone to bed with my alarm set for 4 precious hours later. Only after a half-hour's rest, I jolted awake and ran up to the repair locker to find the Chiefs in charge and people hustling. I started getting dressed out, even though I was in my undershirt, sweatpants and tennies. I helped someone else get a mask, but that was pretty much it. It was a real refrigerant alarm, which turned out to be false (thankfully).
As for the working days, there were a few jobs on our queue. Finished sanding and painting the dome p-way on the 3rd and the 4th. I was also able to fix a dilemma and get the part number from our tech rep on Friday, for the thing we replaced the day before. Monday, I updated all the security check-lists. On Tuesday (first day with everyone back) I worked topside (pretty much all day), helping the GMs sand and paint rust spots. But before we started that, I took the initiative to mop up the old water up there from the stopped up drains. It had frozen a little, so I was very pleased with myself for getting that bone-dry and ready for the preservation work. We dumped two-and-a-half mop buckets full of rain water over the side!
Wednesday was interesting... I had a couple trainings, one for sponsoring (mentoring) new Sailors, then another quick one for our upcoming schedule. Right after that, there was an all-hands working party for two hours... a mammoth stores on-load of soda and chips and various things for the ship's store. It was kinda neat knowing that everyone was lending a hand. Made passing all those boxes a little bit easier.
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