Less Could Be More

We were supposed to have lots to do this last week. First it was integrated scenarios, then Combat Systems Training Team (CSTT, pronounced "C-sit") drills, then an in-depth inspection of our spaces (called DITS... don't ask me what that stands for exactly).

We did indeed do our CSTT drills on Wednesday, but since the other warfare areas got behind in there scenarios, they didn't really play with us until Friday... when I had to duck out early for my first topside rover watch on board. I think it was Tuesday, the 23rd, where we all came in an hour and a half early, then sat in Sonar ALL DAY, waiting for them to incorporate us into the scenario. We did whatever we could to keep sane... lots of singing, talking, and swinging from the ceiling. Senior bought us four Pizza Hut pizzas, and that was very yummy. It wasn't long after that we were finally incorporated, but we never found anything to track with the inputs we received.

Wednesday was very busy though. Had to get stuff set up on the missile deck for a torpedo event, and that took the entire morning. I wasn't directly involved, but I spent a lot of time as a runner, getting this or that from Sonar or wherever. Also did a couple maintenance checks to get them out of the way. In the afternoon, we had our CSTT drills, and I was directly involved in that, and chosen for the first team that was evaluated. We had three drills to go through: one on the Dome, one on the Skid, and one an electrical fire in Sonar Control. I forgot to keep my hands on the CO2 bottle at all times, like they teach over and over again, but otherwise, we knocked it out of the park.

Thursday I bothered about printing more of the tech doc to our aux, and talked with Senior about the job we have in for it. We were on standby for scenarios, which didn't happen for us.

Friday, we started off doing our scenario and had a couple engagements before I had to leave for watch. Had topside rover for the first time on board... I had it once as an extra watch on the pier in Yorktown back in March. It was a lot nicer than POOW... got to walk around, observe everything, didn't have to answer the phone, and later on, I got to watch the divers come out of the water and pack up their equipment. Since it was the afternoon watch, I also got to see my division get let off (pretty late for a Friday) and I went to the quarterdeck to salute them ashore between my roves.

After a meager dinner, there was duty section training and a DC drill... just refrigerant leak, but this time I got to go down and see what is done for the first time. Then my counterpart and I had to take care of two maintenance checks, and then I took care of educting the sump again. While I was waiting for that, I finished sorting out the schematics I printed out for our auxiliary equipment, and traced some lines with the help of the troubleshooting guide. Have to dig into it more come Monday.