A Week Underway, Coming Back on Duty

(Written Tuesday, April 30th)

Wow, this underway was a busy one. There were drills practically non-stop, but thankfully the only one I had to participate in was General Quarters. The GQ watchbill got switched around somehow, so instead of being where I should be (in Sonar 1 as a repairman) I was stuck with the gunner's mates below the 5" deck gun as the person to check the serial numbers on the shells to be loaded. There was nothing to do, since this was a drill, so I got a lot of rest. First in a chair for about 25 minutes, then sitting next to the door for the same time (where it was warmer), then I curled up in a corner below the mount for the remaining hour.

Monday, the 29th, I was back outside as a line-handler for sea and anchor. It was pouring rain out, so we all got drenched. It was a little chilly, but the wind wasn't bad at all (at least where I was... on the starboard side to take on and cast off the line that one of the tugboats used to pull us away from the pier. We were standing around for a couple hours though... lots of delays somehow. It felt wonderful to change into dry clothes and eat lunch when they let us go from that. The rest of the watch stations had to stay at sea and anchor for a couple more hours, but at least they were the inside the skin of the ship stations.

Other than that, I worked a good deal on ESWS (surface warfare qualification), getting sign-offs for two whole sections (Supply and Operations), and made appointments with Engineering and Deck for Wednesday, when most of the drills are over. Also started on Anti-Terrorism, but it's a recent addition to the qualification, and our recent AT guy just left the ship a few weeks ago. So the guy who got thrown into the job wasn't familiar with the questions... that and he's one of those guys who goes into a lot of detail. Three line items took a half-hour. :-)

Besides the GQ on Tuesday, I had a couple maintenance checks to accomplish that morning (requiring a tag-out for electrical safety, and "hazmat", or regular detergent to the rest of the world). So although the check itself was extraordinarily simple, it took a good couple hours to get done. GQ lasted all through normal lunch hours, so I ate lunch about 2:30 in the afternoon, and had dinner (after doing some studying on my own) just before it ended at 5:30ish. I spent a bunch of time after dinner walking around the main deck of the ship and recording where all the damage control equipment is located, so I can have a practical focus for my DC studying. I think I learned a lot just by looking around. Then it was time for yet another Sonar watch.

(Written Thursday evening, May 2nd)

During the mid-watch (Tues night to Wed morning), we had a very unexpected casualty with our cooling water unit. The officer of the watch for combat systems called and asked us about some overheating alarms he was getting. Immediately, I thought... SKID! So we went down there and found that the cooling unit was completely out of water, and had shut off because of it! So our supervisor shut down the system so it wouldn't overheat while we got engineering to send us some water through the inlet pipes. Even after it started coming in, it wasn't filling like it should, so the officer and I looked around our sonar spaces, and he noticed a drip valve that was doing a lot more than dripping. The watch team before us had simply wrapped rags around it without telling us about it... and when we discovered it, there was a bit of water all over the rags they had put on the floor to catch it. We found the connected valve and made sure it was tight. This stopped the water and we think, solved the problem. The tank filled up just fine, and the system went back to normal. I wiped up the water with the rags, wringing them into a bucket, and all was well.

I got a couple hours of sleep, and was up in plenty of time to eat my daily shredded wheat and granola cereal for breakfast. Spent the morning in slight frustration, trying to meet with someone for ESWS training who wasn't where he said he'd be... and then I tried to find a Boatswain's Mate for some primer paint for a space of ours, but couldn't since they were all busy with the small boats. Then I did my Corrective Maintenance that was scheduled for that morning... changed out a light bulb (smaller than a dime) on one piece of gear in CIC (combat info center).

I finally did track down the person for my ESWS signature, and coped with the schedule change for early lunch and watch (an hour ahead of time) for a six-hour watch. I tried to work on the brief for the wardroom that night, but my secret account was still not set up right. After being at the command for as long as I have (nearly a year; end of next month) I called Radio again and again until everything was working. Saw all the secret-side emails for the first time... some ranging back to mid 2012. But just as I was going to start on the brief, they called General Quarters, and I had to go back to the room below the 5" gun... and that lasted for FOUR hours. I was very rested and ready for action when it was lifted. Got relieved from the watch soon after, enjoyed breaded shrimp for dinner, then did a lot of work on my ESWS book, organizing it and copying all I needed to for the first three sections... and continued to work on finding answers for the anti-terrorism stuff. I stayed up to give the first prayer this underway, even though I had the late watch. Read the first bit of Psalm 1, and prayed for the usual things... safety and rest. Nothing crazy happened during that watch... just copied over my DC notes from the day before and that ate up practically the whole ordeal.

Went right into today...goodness. Today started off with a visit to the Navy's underway gas station... a USNS fast replenishment ship. I was on the watchbill for being a line-handler at the refueling station on the aft missile deck (gas + missiles... hmm :) It took us (around 15-20 line-handlers) all our strength to get that heavy nozzle across the span-wire and into the receiver. But our job was over when it was accomplished. Very glad I wore gloves, because the rope we were pulling on was covered in greasy something. The weather was beautiful out there though... I really enjoyed it on the whole. We all stood in a line at parade rest while coming alongside the big auxiliary, and again as we broke away.

The big job, though, was back in Sonar, replacing the heavy batteries in one of the consoles. My friend and I had a heck of a time with the people who control tag-outs. They were trying to make us do more than necessary... which would make it impossible for us to finish during the day... but our LPO went up there and straightened things out. That didn't make it any easier, though. This particular console hadn't ever had the batteries changed before. Everything was very tightly fastened, and we had to uncomfortably wedge our heads and shoulders underneath in order to take the old ones out, and put the new ones in.

That sentence took a second to write, but the operation took literally all day. We were interrupted with a General Quarters drill, but only for an hour or so. Each screw was excruciating... and every step completed a small miracle. For instance, a tool had to be rigged out of two tools taped together in order to begin in the first place. How wild it was! But we managed, I suppose. It was a relief to sit in a chair after we were done. I have several bruises on my left thigh, my right knee and my left elbow.

Gave the ranges brief (very briefly) for the wardroom (the UNREP debrief and Sea & Anchor brief were both held beforehand on the mess decks, so the Ops brief was brief indeed), and back in Sonar, I tried to get my secret-side account to work for the weekly acoustic cuts we're supposed to classify. No luck, of course. It never ends... until tomorrow! :-) Gave another prayer, simply on my old reliable, Psalm 23 (it is so much easier when I don't have to read what I'm saying over the 1MC... don't have to hold my flashlight and study words instead of thinking about how my voice will carry, like I should), and I finished by reminding the crew that the Lord never leaves us and always loves us.

(Written post-underway, Sunday, May 5th)

Friday was not exempt from drills, no matter that we pulled in that day. First was a continuation of gas-mask drills that turned into a GQ... and lucky for me, that was during my scheduled watch time that morning. S&A was set early, around 1330, and I stayed on the flight deck this time and helped fake out (set down in neat rows) all three of the mooring lines in that area. Then I set up my line to be ready when we moored, opening up the section of wire mesh that passes over the chock opening (where the line passes through), putting the line through and back over the rail, and tying the heaving line to the mooring line on the second try (the way they trained us in boot camp; not bad for not doing one for several months!). I stayed out on the flight deck all the way past Virginia Beach, Cape Henry, VA-13 bridge/tunnel passage, Ocean View, I-64 bridge/tunnel passage, and up to where we were passing the carriers at the naval station. This was my duty day when we moored, and I had the first watch as POOW (petty officer of the watch) and had to change from coveralls to the working uniform, besides getting dinner and my necessary items for watch.

The first two hours of the watch were absolutely wild. I was passing words over the 1MC every other minute for so-and-so to muster here or there, the posting of four successive watch-bills (for over the weekend), the working party to get the shore power connected (which they did in record time!), calling out "Liberty Call; Liberty Call. Liberty Call for duty sections..." - every one but mine), and bonging the CO ashore... (four bells)... "TRUXTUN, departing." (stinger). [Boy, do people get upset if you get that wrong... one guy was relieved of his watch once, because he kept messing up the bells.] Between all these things, I had to answer the phone... and had to transfer two or three calls as well. Then of course, there were the people checking out on leave (good for them!), the ship's log to keep up with, and personnel to salute as they left the ship. The other three hours of watch went slower, but at least time did not stop. I soon was talking with my husband, checking the dome pressure, and going to sleep!

Going home Saturday morning was very nice, indeed. Sunrise (turning off the lights), sweepers, turnover, and the dailies were done before I knew it, and soon I was free as a bird, walking down the pier with my bag in one hand and a bag of berthing trash in the other (to be deposited at the end of the pier).

[Post Script... I loved this last line from my husband's last email for the underway...

"Prayers for your Friday, and that you don't have to replace any more teeny tiny lightbulbs, or batteries, or grab any Incredibly Heavy Gigantic Greasy Hoses.  So looking forward to hearing your voice again."]

Thank you, Michael!