Questions, Questions

Every day was a longer day this week... getting out between 1530ish and even 1700 once. But once I have in my mind that it's going to be that way, there's no getting frustrated about waiting to be let off. I've kept myself pretty busy every day, even when I had to come up with things to do myself.

Monday was, as I said in the last post, taken up with LOK tests and an NKO course about cyber security.

Tuesday it was more of the same for the division, but I also worked on a fathometer check... one that's notorious for being difficult to understand. I was running up to ask the ETs (electronics technicians) questions all day about this cord or that part or the test equipment itself.

Wednesday, I was directed to work on the division's consumables issue (we haven't had anyone who knows how to order office supplies in over a year... I asked a lot of questions of supply in the last couple weeks) and managed to get a list sent out for a quote.

Thursday was the very late day. I got the quote back from SERV MART (local government supply store), worked on getting that information printed out on the right form and routed with an official USS Truxtun "Action Correspondence Route Slip" to my department head for approval (with running it by my LPO/LCPO first, of course). And there were a couple MRCs that needed completing too.

What made the day super late was a combination of things. My duty section had to run a DC drill, even though it wasn't my duty day. They did this to make sure people were available and not on watch during the full-scale drill. I was assigned as a "Utilityman"; this meant that I set boundaries or smoke screens, or whatever was needed. They did a "white smoke" drill, and I learned how to set a smoke shield around a doorway that responders had to have open for the fire hose to go through.

The drill went pretty well... it's just that the brow cracked right as the drill was getting over, so the brow was secured (no one could leave!). And it was after 1600. I ate dinner, since I was there, and enjoyed the tasty steak cubes that were on the menu. Then I went back to Sonar to continue consolidating our acoustic analysis charts. The brow was repaired and opened around 1630ish, but I stayed a bit longer to finish a certain page I was working on.

Friday was great fun! Did one check, worked on more charts, received a package from the pier for the division, and then got dressed up in my service uniform (khaki blouse, black pants/cover) in order to go to a GMC's (chief gunner's mate) re-enlistment ceremony downtown, on the forecastle of the USS Wisconsin (BB-64). Thankfully, I remembered to go back to Sonar 1 for my 2nd class crow pins before I got to the quarterdeck. I had to take off my 3rd class ones... don't think I've worn the uniform since standing watch in San Diego at school!

The ceremony itself was the nicest I've been to. The Weapons department head was there to read chief's bio, and another Lieutenant (who was a long-time friend) said a few words and gave out the certificates. First, chief was honorably discharged, then after a few words, he took the oath of enlistment again, and even his little kids participated (and got certificates too). Then the party retired to Buffalo Wild Wings by the MacArthur Center Mall for a celebratory lunch. I had picked up STG3 so she could go too, and I drove her home as we left.

End of Class, Back to the Ship

All last week I missed my ship getting underway for the first time. Of course, this was planned and accounted for... I had to finish up my Acoustic Analysis class. I finished the final 75 question test with a 96%... believe me that I remember the three I got wrong better than what I had memorized. I missed a couple points on the classifications, but it did not matter. A generic grade of "satisfactory" was pronounced on everyone, and we went our separate ways on Friday. Interestingly, as I was doing errands in Ocean View after class, I saw a destroyer coming in and reasoned that it was my own. And I've since verified that they were transiting at sea and anchor at the time I saw them... what a coincidence!

I was very disappointed to have to shred my beautiful notes, but OPSEC will be OPSEC. Maybe in the future they'll allow us to take them back to our ships again. Not too long ago some student ruined it for us by violating procedures... and now it must all be shredded.

I ended my long time off from the ship yesterday morning with a Sunday duty day. Not a bad way to ease back into it, I suppose. I was so used to being a student that I spent all my spare time before my quarterdeck watch working on the preliminary PQS for ESWS (enlisted surface warfare specialist). I've gone through the common core book and took notes before I sit down with qualified specialists and get the required signatures. And I even worked on it more during my second watch in CSMC, very early this morning. Ten hours of watch was more than enough to get me back into the atmosphere of working on board. :)

But with the last watch comes the unpleasant reality of rolling right into the next working day with hardly anything to show for a descent rest. In fact, between my two watches, I simply crashed in Sonar 1 with a few blankets so I wouldn't have to bother about getting undressed and dressed again... wasting precious rest.

The ship was incredibly busy today with lots of drills. I managed to stay out of them, working the entire day on a "Information Awareness" NKO (Navy knowledge online course) and a few LOK (level of knowledge) tests for Sonar, after I had done the daily and weekly checks. With all this and the ESWS training on my own, my head was near to bursting by the time we were let go. I am always thinking of what I still have to do when I am on board, and with all that comes up, it is a wonder that my brain doesn't explode. :)

Half-Day Duty and a Week of BAAR

Why is it that the Navy calls a bed what the rest of the world calls a torture device?

:)

Yes, I did toss and turn in my rack on my duty day... and usually it is a little tough on my back, but maybe that was because I was very used to sleeping at home for a while now.

I've been very excited, anticipating going to the Basic Acoustic Analysis Refresher (BAAR) class ever since I checked on board nine months ago. It goes over nitty-gritty Sonar Tech stuff that I haven't had a chance to practice since I learned it over two years ago. In fact, I had forgotten so much, I scored a 25% on our pre-test on Monday... and that's 5% above average. Comparatively, I got an 86% on today's written test, coupled with a 100% on the analysis part. I forgot how I enjoyed doing it, since I know what I'm doing again!

The class lasts from the morning to the early afternoon, so on my duty day, Tuesday, I went back to the ship after class. I was so relieved to know I didn't have watch (so there was no schedule conflict), but when I stepped onto the quarterdeck, the section leader was standing OOD, and she told me I had the evening contact sentry watch. This I did not mind at all, since it's been a few months since I've stood it... and it's during all the duty section happenings, such as sweepers and training. And this was our first really warm day... 89 degrees!... so warm that after the sun went down, the breeze coming off the water was still refreshingly warm to cool. I've never enjoyed a watch so much! 

And I had a couple hours before I had to go stand it. I routed a leave chit, and attended two meetings (MWR -morale/welfare/rec.- and then Safety). There was also a fire drill that I got dressed out for, and for the first time on board, actually went on air! I was a boundary-man for Sonar 1, as the drill was right above it. This was a more formal drill than usual... inspectors on board to observe.

All About Water: Dome and SKID

Monday, I had yet another class. This was sort of last minute; when I was told about it the week before, I thought it was much less informal... but it turned out to be a three-day class on our ship's water cooling unit or SKID. Don't ask me what SKID stands for... I'm not sure myself. In fact, when I reported to the ship, everyone kept talking about "the daily" on "the Skid". Since not a word was said about this in school, I was completely flabbergasted and confused. I found out this week that every other Sonar Tech in my division thought that as well. A Lieutenant at the schoolhouse asked me if I had any training in A school, and I mentioned that the system was a total surprise when I reported on board. The Truxtun's FCs (fire-control techs) were also at the class, but they had had formal training at their A school.

The first thing we did when we got there was take a pre-test. Even with the tech manuals and MRCs in front of me, I got 7 out of 20 wrong. But that was a good learning experience... on Friday, we took the post-test and I only got 1 wrong for a 95%. We also had a lab after the test on Friday, to take apart the motor to change the mechanical seal and put it back together using the maintenance card. On Monday, part of the power-point lecture included two Navy films; one on this very process, and another on cleaning out the filter. Both looked like they had been filmed in 1989... but it was nice to note that the DANGER tags they hung looked the same as they do today. At least some things don't change.

Tuesday was pretty busy, getting ready for the dome water-to-air interchange the next day. First I had to represent our division by helping with the Industrial Hygiene survey on the mess decks. STG1 and a few of the 3rd classes and I worked on getting the water from the pier connected to the dome before the water-to-air brief with the Captain, XO, and department heads in the wardroom. I then got hazmat for S-3, a clean and inspect check on the hatch in the dome p-way, and did it while the others took care of S-1 (water valves) and S-2 (air valves) to make sure we had proper operation of all our valves before we started things the next day. I also hung tags after lunch, even though it was hard to find the sounding tube in the dome p-way... lots of going up and down ladders in the trunk. Besides all this, the four of us who were at the SKID class had a walk-through with the instructors of all our maintenance checks on our own equipment, and that lasted an hour or two. What was really silly, was after everything was done, it took a whole hour of us waiting around for the Okay before we were allowed to leave.

Wednesday was my duty day, and also the Big Day of the dome operation. I panicked when I woke up, because I had slept too long. We were starting the operation early, at 0600 (liberty normally expires at 0700), and I woke out of a hazy sleep at 0555. I was so tired the night before that I fell asleep before setting my alarm. My last thought before awaking was what time should I set it for... oh, dear! I made it to Sonar in record time, apologized, and went straight down the trunk to the dome p-way to help STG3 operate a couple valves IAW (in accordance with) the MRC (maint. req. card). This I did all morning until early chow for watch reliefs. I had the afternoon watch for the first time ever, and it was pretty exciting. Lots of stuff to pass over the announcing system, lots of phone calls to take, lots of regular deck log entries, and I managed to take up a lot of time by cleaning the little cubbie hole we have behind the shelter and podium of the Quarterdeck.

Now this evening and early morning were very peculiar. I forgot about the time for training after dinner as I was in Sonar control, getting quotes online for supplies we want to order. They passed the word for the duty section training right as it was supposed to start. Made it to the mess decks as everyone was signing the muster reports. Anti-terrorism was easy: we read the quarterly use-of-force/deadly force training and made sure everyone knew what everything meant. For DC, we went aft and rigged up a peri-jet pump and lowered it down the trunk to simulate what we'd do if there was flooding.

When we were done, our CDO (command duty officer) spoke to everyone about being on time. He called out a half-dozen of us who "trickled in after training had started" and made us muster with him the next morning very early. This was very embarrassing for me, and made me pretty mad, but I understand where he's coming from on principle. He was mostly displeased with how long it takes to get turnover started in the morning... and I agree with him 100% on that. The night was difficult for me already, as I had to babysit the dome, checking it every 4-6 hours (2100, 0100, 0500), and "burping" it, by opening a certain valve and letting excess air out. This didn't allow much time for rest, but I have my department head to thank for an extra day off that day since we've been very busy lately on the whole.