Every Day a Monday

It wasn't long into the underway when I thought of the title for this post. :)

Although difficult, and a lot like boot camp (in the way boot camp severs normal relationships for months at a time and makes one feel isolated among strange people, while all the while requiring a sharp learning curve), it was also unlike anything I've done before. Seeing pods of dolphins up close (in and out of the water) is a normal occurrence. Training with live weapons with the deck rocking beneath your legs... pinging SONAR into the water... and learning how to operate the controlling systems... preparing briefs for the Captain and wardroom using a strange and complex software system... and then giving them... practicing casualty drills (and thinking about if they really happened)... studying, taking tests and answering questions in an oral board in order to be qualified to stand a particular watch or do a certain type of job... getting up every morning... working out, reading books to stay sane... going to a divisional meeting at the same time every morning then cleaning your spaces... rushing through meals sometimes in order to stand five hours of watch at a time and remember assigned tasks (depending on the rotation)... keeping always on the alert for whatever happens.



















learning, learning, always learning... for thirty-six days straight... with not much change between them.

I read six books in the duration! I qualified Maintenance Person, CSOSS Technician, POOW, & RPPO. I continued work or started work on four or five more: ESWS (enlisted surface warfare specialist), Safety PO, CSMC Watch, Advanced DC and Sonar watches.

 Watching and recording the depth readings closely during special evolutions.

 And how could I have done it without the constant support of my husband, writing me long emails every day and talking on the phone when we could? And what a blessing to be able to pray for the ship nearly every night! Kept me focused on saving grace at least for a few moments every day. And the opportunity it affords! Nearly every night I can step out onto the bridge wings and be enveloped in stars without number, or bathed in the moonlight, or whipped in the face by fierce wind, or simply refreshed, hearing the rhythmic crashing of the waves against the hull. And I get to see a totally different world of the ship in operation and be reminded that a great many different people that live on board, besides what I see in the chow line. How the Lord has given me grace!