Two Days Without Stopping, Then an Abnormally Long Friday

This week was super busy for me... along with the rest of the ship. Since we pulled back in on a Monday, no one got a weekend after a very busy eight-day underway. Had Monday and Tuesday evening to unwind a little, but then it was back at it again on Wednesday for my duty day. Started off with the first watch, although the watchbill was very late getting posted... I found out as I got there that I had five minutes to get armed up and on watch (no time for breakfast). The watch itself was the most stressful thing about the two days... started out on the wrong foot, thinking I lost one of my ammo clips (which would be very bad)... turns out I had only slipped it into the wrong pocket on my belt without noticing. Thank God, the Petty Officer of the Watch I was relieving noticed it and all was back to normal.

Then there were a thousand phone calls to answer, most of them having questions for the Officer of the Deck. And I had to pass lots of things over the PA system... "secure the mess-line", "officer's call", "quarters. all hands to quarters for muster, instruction and inspection", "muster duty sections (time & place) for turnover"... and whatever else anyone needed to have passed. Like I had to blow the whistles for colors for the first time, because no duty admin person was on the bridge... and I didn't know my whistle didn't have a little ball in it... and it didn't sound very good. The XO even told me to go practice blowing a whistle. Then the CDO wanted department heads to muster at a certain time, and the first time I passed it, the mike broke in and out, so I had to "belay my last". Then my OOD told me the wrong thing to say... and the CDO came over and I had to "belay my last" again. I had to bong the CO ashore, and later on, returning on board; at least I managed to do that right. All the while the OOD was busy with checking in contractors... and the next day I ran into one at the NEX... he said, "Hey, I saw you on the Quarterdeck yesterday... you had to pass something three times!" What a reputation! Not only that, but the OOD wanted me re-write the deck log at the end of the watch because he forgot to have me write a line at one time, and I wrote the wrong word tense on another line... and apparently, although the Navy allows three errors on one deck log page before it has to be re-written, Truxtun's policy seems to be more strict. So twenty minutes later, I finally went and had lunch. I was so relieved to be relieved.

The rest of the day, back with my division, I spent working in Sonar 1. We were re-painting all the bulkheads and angle-irons bright white... they had long since yellowed and gotten very dingy-looking... so it was a pleasure to work on that... even if the lights were out in the corner I was working on (contractors were working on the lights) and I had to hold a flashlight in one hand and the roller in the other. This took us into the afternoon and it was soon time for dinner. Then there was sweepers, and parts on the pier that I had ordered for my division. I got them all inside and put away, and managed to put in another open purchase request which I finished just as the section was mustered for training. We talked about chemical protection gear for Damage Control, then did an exercise topside with a big hose for Force Protection. But that wasn't all! A passageway back aft near where Captain's Mast was held was found to be rather dirty, so we were tasked with cleaning it up... even though it belonged to other divisions to take care of. Were we overjoyed to do somebody else's work or what!

I had exactly four hours sleep before I had to get up for my second watch... we were short because of people busy with other things or being on leave... and I had the last watch as well as the first. Being in the wee hours of the morning, it was much more relaxed. I do enjoy watching the sun come up, but that's about the only thing. Had to pass a couple things for the beginning of the day, but very soon I was off to do the muster report, have a quick breakfast, and head up topside for quarters. Did the daily check right after that, then had to get to turnover before I had finished. Had an appointment that morning to go get a new ID card... because I am now an official Second Class Petty Officer (E-5)! When I got back, we still didn't have the paint we needed for the day, so a bunch of us were let go to have lunch together off base. But when we came back, all was ready and we fell to... touching up Sonar 1, then painting the passageway outside it (for the same reason) for the rest of the afternoon. I really love painting like this... taking care of our spaces to make them look really well kept. We kept getting compliments from the BMs and GMs who were going by as we worked.

Friday was a different story. Spent the morning touching up our work... I took care of a lot of edging in Sonar 1, and then we gathered up all the painting supplies and they got returned to the paint locker. What was put out at Quarters in the morning was there was to be a couple hours of cleaning, besides the top-side Fresh Water Wash Down. And liberty was going to be in the hands of the department heads. So we were done with our space by 1100 at the latest... but liberty was held up for another four hours because of bureaucratic whatever-that-was. Didn't eat lunch in anticipation of getting let go, and kept busy by shining brass in our newly-painted passageway... and then unexpectedly, had to write up a subordinate for being disrespectful to me (this wasn't the first time)... so that was a big learning experience. We were finally let go, three hours or so after that, and it seemed as if the entire ship exited at the same time.

One Year in the Fleet

Here's my post from one year ago, today.

As for order of business today, a bunch of people from the division were gone on leave or liberty, but we still managed to get everything we needed to done. Prepping Sonar Equipment Room 1 for painting, and working with the tech rep on a console. Also managed to get a hold of a business contact for a part we need ordered, and I found myself following my mentor, STG2, around today by accident, sort of like I did last year.

Eight Days in June

Tuesday, June 18:

Well, here I am again! For yesterday's Sea and Anchor, I was back topside for line-handling. I was sent midships to take on and cast off the line for the tugboat. The schedule this week is jammed-packed with events going on; for Sonar today, we had some demonstration with "torpedo banding" that I had never heard of before. Basically, it's showing that we can load a torpedo into the over-the-side launchers, and handle it safely; and it took most of the day.

After dinner, I went straight to bed, as I knew we had the Sonar exercise starting at 2300, and watch afterwords until... about now... that really helped me be awake, as I got five whole hours of sleep! Other people were up practically the whole time.

The Sonar exercise went pretty well. Started late, but we got done around 3ish. I was able to track a fake sub and make reports over the Sonar net, so that was exciting, and kept me engaged the whole time.

 
Wednesday, June 19:

Boy, yesterday was long! My watch was during the night exercise, so that was a stroke of grace! During the day I managed to get a lot more naps in... our leadership is understanding that we're on a reverse schedule, so it's been going okay.

I was selected for random urinalysis, and after that, worked on ordering parts for a long while. After dinner I went to take a nap, but I was woken with the task of returning the Hazmat we had checked out for that torpedo check the day before. I asked the person who woke me if they could, since they were in uniform, but they opted out. That made me mad, and so I returned it, still in my Navy sweatpants and sweatshirt... it was quick, but my LPO found out after I got back and made me feel bad about it, since I knew that to do work like that, you have to be in uniform of the day.

After that, I couldn't get back to sleep for the 2 hours until watch and the scenario, so when they announced ESWS training in the classroom, I decided to get up and go to it. Got some signatures that I needed, so it was good I did.

The scenario was kind of rocky, but we made it through. Went to bed at 3, had to get up for Quarters and sweepers at 7. But then they let us go back to sleep, and I just got up and had lunch. The turkey burger was delicious!

Tonight, our scenario is even later, but I suppose we'll make it okay. My watch section has the evening watch, so I'll probably get a few hours of sleep after that.

Thursday, June 20:

We've made it past the half-way point! Five out of my nine watches this underway are done!

I did get to sleep the whole morning, like I said, but I spent the entire afternoon working on ESWS signatures... I got Deck done, and Combat Systems, and finished up most of Engineering and all of Hazmat... all from the first half of the qualification.

But yesterday's evening watch was a bear. Besides going to the Ops brief in the wardroom, I worked practically the whole time on running our prediction software to generate ranges for our Sonar.

While I was asking questions about the slides I was making, my sonar supervisor told me I didn't belong and I should have been a nuke rate (Navy for Geeky). And another time he yelled so loud that I cried afterwords (which I hid as much as possible). Somebody then told a joke about what you call a fish with no eyes? ... a FSH. Lol... and I told them about the Blind Cave Fish that really don't have eyes... and they said I suck the fun out of everything. Lol... I know they're just being callous and coarse, and they don't intend to be mean... but when I'm tired, it's hard to let it all slide.

And THEN, I even stayed over an hour past watch to finish up the last slides... and the next watch section was loath to let me leave with two more remaining. As it was, I got 2 hours sleep before the scenario... which lasted until Reveille... making it five hours long when it was supposed only take an hour and a half. I was dying for bed at the end.

So right after 0600, when we were done, I had breakfast... which tasted pretty good... then I went straight to bed for the rest of the morning. Got woken up around sweepers time because today of all days they decided to blare music through the loudspeakers... and it was some awful country song about some girl looking so swell that the singers rolled their car windows down to look at her. "Can't you see through the glass? Or are you country-gangsters with tinted windows?"

Anyway, that made me mad because once I woke up I was freezing cold and terribly tired. But I did get back to sleep and was reasonably rested when I woke up for early lunch and the afternoon watch, which I spent the whole time working on the slides for the Ops brief tonight, which I finished just fine.

Fried chicken for dinner, then time for three hours of rest... and one more scenario!

Friday, June 21:

With all our scenarios done, we are certainly on the down-turn here; just the weekend to get through now… and not much on our schedule. Friday started off awkwardly… our last scenario finished at about 4:30ish or 5 in the morning, so I just slept for an hour or so in a chair in Sonar Control (where we stand our watch). My Sonar Sup woke me up right as watch began… and was sort of grumpy and wouldn’t let me go grab any breakfast. I did manage to ask someone to get a muffin for me, and he did… actually two, plus an apple… so it worked out okay. I just didn’t talk to my Sup for the rest of the watch unless he asked me a question. It was really hard to stay awake the first couple hours (since everyone else hit their racks). About half-way through I decided to get up and clean up the space to stay awake, and that did the trick.

After watch was lunch, then some brief ESWS training, then seconding a safety tag for another Sonar tech. Then I took a marvelous shower (as marvelous as showering in something that resembles a well-used phone booth in an earthquake can be), and went to bed for a good four-plus hours. I woke up half-way through to see if I was hungry enough to get up for dinner, but I wasn’t and fell back asleep promptly. 

Got up for more ESWS training in the classroom, but didn’t get the signatures because our teacher was the Junior Officer in charge of the program under discussion… and he was long-winded. But the info he put out was useful, and a good refresher. After that, I found myself to be ravenously hungry, so I tried to go on the mess decks to heat up some instant mac’n cheese, but that was thwarted because the first session of the Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention training was still going on. To wait for it to end, I hung out in the crew’s lounge back aft with a bunch of other people, also waiting, and Men of Honor was playing, and that’s one of those movies that I’ll always sit back and watch, no matter where it is. I watched from when the main character graduated Navy diving school to where he lost his leg… then I decided to try again… and Mid Rats was open! Don’t ask me what “Rats” means… I just know that’s the term they use for late chow. And they were serving some delicious chicken pot pie (except it was in a big pan), so I ended up eating dinner after all! 

On the way to bed, I felt the Lord wanted me to go up and pray, even though it would mean losing an hour or so of sleep. So I went up and gave the first prayer of this underway… and the first in a very long time. Shared some famous passages of Psalm 103, and then afterwords, spent a good bit of time on the bridge-wing, praying and looking at the full moon blazing on a very calm sea on a very clear night. The stars were faint with the brightness! What a sight!

I managed to sleep for an hour or two before getting on the late watch. Goodness, it’s freezing in berthing! It’s fine if you’re just there for a minute or two, but after laying still for a while, the shivers creep up on you. I even put my wool blanket over my fleece, and my other fleece over my head as well as shoulders. 

Saturday, June 22:
Since the scenarios are over, we had normal quarters and sweepers, and of course, the afternoon was taken up with a SAPR training. This one was much better than all the others I've had, mostly because the CO, XO and Master Chief gave it, and they never really beat any dead horses, as is a hallmark of these trainings. And we had pizza and ice cream as on every Saturday underway. The Junior Officers were serving, and I was dished up with a little of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate! So delicious! Then I had the mid watch, and I was off to bed, ready to sleep in for Sunday's holiday routine.

Sunday, June 23:
Started off with helping another female out with urinalysis. Only E-5 and above can officially observe, so we're always doing it for each other. Then I went to our little casual church service in the classroom, and during our chit-chat found out that we're getting a Muslim Chaplain to accompany us on our deployment.

Had a lovely lunch (it actually was alright), then that afternoon we had a general quarters drill for a few hours. Then I went straight to early dinner, and my final watch of the underway! And my Sup let me go for most of it so I could get a bunch of ESWS training with the ship's Oil King. This required me to get a pair of fire-retardant coveralls from the DC'men, and hang out in engineering while we went through the sign-offs. 

Monday, June 24:
Started pretty early. I set my alarm for 0530, only to be awoken by the 1MC's call of "Reveille, reveille. All hands heave out. Reveille." and "Breakfast for the crew." just before it was set to go off. My station for Sea and Anchor (pulling into port) was logkeeper in Sonar Control. I checked into my station, then was sent topside to participate in FWWD (fresh water wash-down). That took a long time, but I enjoyed the view of Virginia Beach, the smell of the salt water and felt the force of the wind in my face. Returned to Sonar for the rest of the evolution, and soon we were pierside. 

Holiday Duty, Once, Twice

The last two duty days book-ended my extended leave that I've been on, to visit my family in Washington and move my husband out here to Virginia with me.

The first was Memorial Day, Monday, May 27th. Whatever people say, holiday duty can be the best... and this one was by far the best duty day in my memory. There were no drills, and my watch, the first Petty Officer of the Watch, went by quite quickly. First it was the business about the flags for colors... the Pier SOPA (Senior Officer Present Afloat) - the ship on the pier with the most senior captain - was sending mixed signals for how they wanted the flags flown for the holiday. Per instruction for Memorial Day, the largest flags are to be flown from both the flagstaff aft of the ship and the mast... both at half-staff for the first half of the day. Of the four ships on the pier, all were doing something different. It finally got resolved, but it took a good deal of time before it was all sorted out. And I'm pretty sure the SOPA made us raise the flag the whole way before it was time.

The  next issue we had was the intrusion alarm we had. Turned out to be a malfunction, but I had to call away a Security Alert to be sure. So I passed "Security Alert, Security Alert. Reason for Security Alert, intrusion alarm (in a certain space)" over the announcement system. I was so flustered, I forgot the next part of the message that tells the security team to lay to the armory. They figured it out by themselves, though. Then I secured the brow... meaning I stood out on it, allowing no one access to or from the ship.

After watch, I had lunch and then rested for an hour or so. Then I got with the chief who agreed to proctor my Physical Readiness Test. We headed over to Q-80, the pier-side gym, where we found a corner and I did 92 sit-ups, 20 push-ups, and an Excellent on the stationary bike (burning 136 calories in 2 minutes). The Outstanding sit-ups, combined with the Good and the Excellent ratings gave me an overall Excellent score.

Returned to the ship just in time for sweepers, which Chief let me do in my PT gear. She also let me check out on leave right afterwords, and that was very exciting. I went to the pool and swam a 4 or 500 before going home, having dinner, finishing the dishes and doing all my laundry before I left for Washington very early the next morning.

-

Back from leave, I had a regular workday on Thursday where I fixed an open purchase request, tried to figure out that one check that's been on hold forever and ever because of our test equipment, and get access to a computer program that I ended up not needing, and talking to supply about orders for parts that were cancelled.

Duty on Friday, which was Flag Day, June 14th, also went pretty well. The workday was more of the same as before. Except this time there was a ship pulling into our pier, and in the afternoon, one pulling out. It's the responsibility of the duty section of the other ship (ours that day) to provide people to take in or cast off the mooring lines. So this I did twice, even though the tech rep for the check came as I was heading out to the first working party. I found out later that he wasn't able to make the test equipment work either... so I didn't feel too bad about not being able to figure it out or miss him looking at it. The ship pulling out in the afternoon was going on deployment, so there were a bunch of families and friends on the pier watching as the ship's company, mostly in dress whites, maned the rails. I saw a destroyer's anchor come up for the first time, and I got pretty excited for my own upcoming deployment as I watched this crew go out.

I had the evening watch, as POOW again, and again it went by pretty quickly. Our watch-bill coordinator was the OOD; it was my first time standing with him, and he gave me more to do than some of the other OODs I've had. I was very glad to be on watch during sweepers, colors, and duty section training... and I was able to get a full night's sleep in my own rack. The Berthing 2 floor had been repaired and finished while I was gone. It is now shiny, new and clean! Got up early on Saturday to take care of the daily checks and the muster report before morning sweepers, and helped sweep up the female berthing as well. Took out the trash as we left, and then freedom!