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. :)