Five Days Out

My 3rd anniversary (21SEP) of joining the Navy, and I had Saturday duty and double watches. The first watch and the last watch (the last one was all Sonar Techs!). 

Starting Monday, 23 September, we went back out to sea for a few INSERV demonstration rehearsals. S&A was set from 09-11, then I took the first watch (after lunch). I observed a MOB (man overboard) drill from CIC for an ESWS item, then had some DC training, then a CSTT (combat systems training team) drill, and finally worked out on the bike before bed.

24SEP started with a GQ drill during my first watch. My LPO had me find out the measurements for the tape markings on the torpedo countermeasures tow cable, and then I prepared for late watch scheduled maintenance checks with hazmat and tagout and the associated spot check. Had steak and lobster (and scallops) for dinner, and then an All Hands Call on the flight deck for awards (But you should have heard the rumors fly about the ship's schedule all day long in anticipation of it! Lots of people were talking about Syria.). That evening I observed another MOB drill, this time from the bridge.

25SEP started very early with the late watch, did the scheduled maintenance, so it went faster than normal. After breakfast, there was a connected underway replenishment (UNREP) and my station was on the forecastle for the first time in a long time. Managed a little rest before another MOB drill (this time requiring us to muster with our divisions). All of Sonar went to early chow because of our schedule... but when we got there, we were all surprised to learn that we were required to get a flu shot at the same time. Nothing like a hamburger and a shot in the arm! Not long afterwords they manned the stream team, and a few of us re-taped a bunch of the tow cable, until we ran out of tape. After dinner, I had a spot check with OPS (operations officer). Worked out again (proud of myself for doing it twice in one week underway!), then managed a short rest before the mid-watch, in which I trained our new guy on lots of things, including the dailies.

26SEP: There was a field day until lunch, and the new guy and I took care of two passageways and two spaces ourselves. That evening, CMC (command master chief) sent an email to the crew, calling out my division for being the "most impressive" and giving us a "BZ" or Bravo Zulu, which is Navy code for "Well Done".

"Clean decks, high dusting, sparkling hand wheel and all the corners and angle irons.  But most importantly, witnessing the TEAM effort with all paygrades pitching in, set a positive tone for me."

That night we had a quick and successful sonar scenario. I verified the frequency of the thing we tracked. It was fun to watch the drill go so well with equipment and personnel working so fluidly.

27SEP: Pulled in mid-morning, and I was able to observe Sea & Anchor from the forecastle for ESWS. As we were coming up the Elizabeth River, we passed a Frigate going out to sea, and rendered passing honors. Even though I wasn't on the watch-bill, I joined everyone in falling in at parade rest, and in saluting as the whistles blew as we passed. Since it was my duty day, I obviously stayed on board. I wrote a job and searched for a couple part numbers on our computer program for jobs. Conducted pier sweepers just before sunset (picking up lots of trash in the parking lot). Up in plenty of time for the last watch, and it went by quickly enough, I guess. LSC was my OOD, and he said he knew someone on the USNS Comfort (hospital ship) that is moored across from us on our new pier. Apparently, on that ship, an E-5 would have their own stateroom. What a shock it would be for somebody like that to come to a fighting ship and have to share a berthing with 50+ other people!

Turning over the duty on Saturday morning was very pleasant... I had two whole days to relax at home!

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.

I'm Sweeping in the Rain

(on the way home after dinner and some errands)

 Friday morning was all that stood between most of the ship's company and a much-needed weekend.

Thursday had been very busy with certain checks on the equipment that needed to get done, and the guys that came in to fix some of the lagging on some of our piping. I helped STG2 with unscrewing the cases of some CPUs to check the status (it seems that much of a tech's job is unscrewing little screws).

So during our "fast cruise" practice on Friday (I wasn't on the watch bill), I did a thorough sweepers in Sonar 2 & 3, cleaning up after the lagging guys and the inspectors we had down there. I buffed my boots a little while we were waiting for the freshwater wash-down, then joined the other E-5 and below Sonar Techs on the boat deck and starboard and port breaks for sweeping water after lunch. We were just finishing when a light rain began. :)

Situations Rectified

I had work this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. And although I thought Chief told me on Friday that I'd just have to find someone to switch with me for Thanksgiving, she ended up approving the Special Lib chit. CS1 gave it back to me approved on Saturday. That was a very pleasant surprise! :)

Today, as the ship's plans changed at 1500, I was let off. I was only there because we were going to get underway early tomorrow (it was technically my day off). As I changed, I noticed that my military ID card was nowhere to be found. I searched high and low... literally: all through my rack, and even the deck of the head... in the pockets of four garments... in Sonar 1, the scullery, the galley... even the cleaning gear locker (everywhere I had been during the day). I obviously had it this morning at 0630 (I was allowed to come in late), and I remembered putting it in the left breast pocket of my coveralls (like in boot camp). I checked with the quarterdeck and the duty master-at-arms. No returned cards.

So I found out in order to get a new one I'd have to get a special request chit signed and go to PSD (the ID card place) that was probably closed. No, wait, there's another one at the NEX. I was told I'd need a form from admin... and that the request had to be signed by MA1... (he said he didn't, but he did anyway)... then someone told me all I needed was the request signed by the CO, and I could get back on base in the morning. Then admin said no... I needed the chit signed by my entire chain of command. Got MA1, my LPO, Chief... then back to admin, and that's all I need. Then someone told me if I get it undersigned by the DIVO, then I'd just use the form. Got DIVO's signature (found him in his stateroom), then ran into the Sonar Divo (ASWO) and she got the CO to sign the bottom line for me. Then I went back to Sonar 1 and found my ID at the desk in the card reader where I'd left it while trying to log into Navy Knowledge Online for the second version of that silly training I completed back in AUGUST on the Code of Conduct (if separated or captured). Good grief! So frustrated and so relieved! Even though it was two hours later, I did get to go home.

The weekend was much calmer. Saturday I served all three meals, and Sunday I washed the trays, plates, cups and utensils in the scullery. I found time both days to scrub the grime in the sinks in the scullery to make it look better in there. Saturday I watched a couple movies on the mess decks during down time... MIB:3, and Dark Knight Rises. Rather entertaining for a duty weekend. Sunday went much slower... but that's probably because it was the second day.

Working Weekend and a Medically Messy Monday

Saturday was super long. Little confusion in the morning about if we were operating the wardroom. After breakfast Young and I worked our tails off field-day-ing the mess decks. The cooks were working hard on the galley, and I don't believe we had a break before lunch began. Juggled the jobs around a bit, because I did not have to do the Chief's mess (weekend in port). After lunch we all watched the Florida-Georgia game... so many turnovers! Unfortunately, it took 2 hours for Chief to let us off after dinner, instead of the usual 30-40 minutes. She had us field-day-ing some more... including cleaning under the scullery equipment. We were all ready to leave when we did.

I took the duty van to Town Center for a visit to Panera Bread at 1945 (about 20 min after we were let go). They gave me a free coffee when they noticed my NWU-style laptop bag! Not only that, but when I went back to pick up the chicken noodle soup-to go I paid for, the guys in the back gave me two extra bowls of broccoli-cheddar for free (they were closing soon). I spent all the time there posting the pictures of the dolphin encounter I had at Marineland a couple weeks ago. Wouldn't have been able to finish if they hadn't been open the extra hour for Saturday night.

Sunday was a little better. More easy-going cooks (they rotate every day), and I was asked nicely to field-day the Chief's mess corner of the galley. Inspired to put everything straight, I worked the entire time between meals again. The most difficult thing was cleaning all those salt and pepper shakers; they were a shambles. :) After serving a very satisfying brunch (tuna casserole and grilled sandwiches) I was pretty tired from standing up for the two-hour meal. After taking out the trash, and watching a bit of the Dolphins-Jets game, I took a beautiful, half-hour nap in the back corner. It was grilled steak for dinner... and that was so popular, we ran out for the last half-hour of the meal. Sailors had to satisfy themselves with the baked chicken breasts and legs. :) After everything was cleaned up, a bunch of us watched the Cowboys-Giants game. Nail-biter to the end!

What really surprised me though was after watching an ad for the new movie Lincoln, one of the guys started talking about how Lincoln didn't care about slavery, and how he owned slaves himself! I stood up for the former president and emphatically denied these absurd allegations. Oh, here's a neat site on the topic: http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2008/02/lincoln.html. The cook who swore up and down that Lincoln did, said he found this undeniable fact on the Internet somewhere. Sigh.

It was so surprising, because earlier in the day, while Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter was playing on one of the mess decks TVs, another cook swore up and down that Lincoln actually did believe in vampires and sent out military units to destroy them, or keep them from coming here from England. LOL! Where and when will it stop? At least the cook admitted that this was a conspiracy theory. But he seemed convinced of it himself because of "documentary proof". Oh, dear.

~

As for my medically messy Monday, I worked breakfast and then found out after quarters that I was off for the rest of the day. But my name was mentioned on the list for people still needing the yearly Typhoid shot (I was due yesterday, actually). HM1 told me to go to the medical building on base to get my blood drawn for an HIV test (mandatory, of course) first, so after changing into my regular working uniform, I walked all the way to medical... in the refreshingly chilly October wind (that reminded me of my favorite parts of boot camp... when we got to march outside).

The problem was, they didn't have the order in their system. So after sending me to go put my info into the system with records, they said I'd have to get with whoever sent me to put an order in. Unfortunately, I didn't have the quarterdeck's number (it's changed a few times with all our recent moves) and all my friends were not answering. Thankfully, the assistant supply officer was there too, and she gave me a ride back to the ship. But when I dug my hand into my pocket, I realized I had left my ID card at medical. I showed my driver's licence, and both watch stations let me back onto my ship. Thank God, but it scared me!

HM1 had sent the order in, but it got fouled up along the way. As she had me right there, she gave me the Typhoid shot in my left arm. Since she needed to pick something up from medical anyway, she drove me back over there, got me in the system and blood was drawn from my right arm. Drove me back too! So nice! Although punctured twice, and although I was very flustered and frustrated about the whole thing, I found my ID card in the waiting area when we went back to medical, so everything ended well.

I stayed on the ship to eat lunch, and fill out the form for my yearly physical health assessment (PHA), but they didn't have time to finish it with me. Will have to do that tomorrow when we start the weigh-in's for the PRT. So many acronyms!

For the rest of the day, I bummed around on base between noon and six-ish. Did my laundry (took a nap while I did), ate at Pizza Hut, went to the NEX at least twice, and bought a sandwich on my way back to the ship. Ran into someone from A-school the 2nd time at the NEX... turns out she's on the other DDG on our pier... #68... USS The Sullivans. But after dumping my things off at my rack, I went back outside to see if the duty van with my friends going to Town Center was still there... and it was. Four of us Sonar Techs went out to eat at a sushi place, then looked around in B&N, then got cheesecake to go from the Factory on the corner. Took a while to get picked up again, but we all got back to the ship in one piece.

Two Weeks That Seemed Like Four

This weekend has been my first days off in the last two weeks... that have been especially busy. We were underway to get de-magnetized for a few days, and then a few days more to come down to Florida, and we just moved into dry dock the day before yesterday.

More pertinent for me, we had to move all our belongings onto a barge. That included four separate trips for my personal stuff, and then later on for all of the mess equipment (dishes, utensils, pots, pans, etc.). The first trip for me was moving my mattress, sheets, pad and pillows up the three, narrow, 12 ft. ladders on the ship, across the brow, down the steep stairs to the brow, down the pier a few hundred feet, up the gangway, down a ladder, through the barge, up a ladder and finally into the tiny, 30-man female berthing. My arms felt like jelly after this first trip. Thankfully, the other trips were only carrying my sea bag and backpack with uniforms and books and things.

My job during the great mess move over was to stay in the galley on the barge and clean the big equipment... a steamer and a couple huge, steel cauldrons (that were still hot from boiling the grime off of other equipment). Had to be careful not to burn my fingers and arms as I rubbed them down with a steel wool pad and soapy rag. CS2 (in charge of the cleaning) told me I was very good at it, and at one point he even told me to take a break, I was working so hard. Just listened to music the whole time, and that made it much easier.

This is what it looked like after I was done.

Working in the Wardroom and the Mess Decks for the last two weeks has been an adventure of sorts. My first regular day... Monday morning the 13th (after getting underway) I showed up for breakfast in the Wardroom galley, opened the door to the sight of the other attendant throwing up into our big trashcan. I thought, "Oh, boy, this is going to be a fun day." Later on I took that trash down, and got some of that throw-up on my coveralls. Fabulous.

Here's the Wardroom and galley in Officer Country:

So I worked my tail off for the next two weeks, really without a break. There were a few perks though... I made my own breakfast most of the time... had eggs and oatmeal a lot. Also, GM3 put me in charge of doing the laundry (table cloths and napkins) every other day, so I've been able to do all my laundry as well. Every moment I wasn't setting up or serving a meal I was getting the linens done.

Our other responsibilities include washing the officer's laundry and sweeping the P-way by the Wardroom, and the two back aft by the other officer's staterooms, and keeping their heads stocked and clean (that always sounds funny to me... the officer's heads :) (for you landlubbers... their bathrooms). One night when we were conducting an in-depth field day, I was in charge of scrubbing out the CO's shower... a meeting got out while I was doing it, so I had to come to the door of the cabin and ask permission to continue when he came in. Recently I had to wash at least 7 or 8 pairs of coveralls. GM3 took care of the P-ways while I did the laundry, and I liked that very much. A chance to work alone and not have to sweep minuscule amounts of dust and change the toilet paper rolls. :)

It was last Saturday that was terrible. First full day underway, and I never had a chance to go topside... never saw the sun all day long. It was all day before I remembered what day of the week it was... but really just another work day. It was the day GM3 decided on the switch-off schedule between Gili and I... meaning I'd work on the Mess Decks. I had been under the impression I always worked upstairs, so it was a little jarring, and she wanted the laundry key back the next day because she didn't trust me to not forget to take care of it one day. The work was long and hot in the scullery when you clean up after 150+ people. The Mess Decks MA had yelled at me for eating before dinner out of turn... the CSs were a little late cooking the pizza, so the FSAs were sort of at a loss for when we were going to get to eat. And that evening at 8pm, when the division officers served up ice cream, I was turned away because I was in my Navy sweats and sweatshirt and not in coveralls (which I learned we're supposed to be in "all the time underway", which wasn't explained to me before). Couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks as I walked back forward to Sonar. I had changed out of my uniform and boots just an hour or so earlier to nap in my rack before it started. I was exhausted and sore all over. But in Sonar I was able to chat on Facebook with my husband, and one of the Sonar guys was up there and brought me back a scoop of cookies & cream. I was much calmer by the time I went to sleep, but still kept a Kleenex nearby for any stray tears. :)

The next day was so much better. I made a point to go outside at least twice... once in the morning (the deep, bright blue of the ocean took my breath away at the first glimpse), and again in the evening around 1900... the sun was just going behind some big clouds in the distance and all of a sudden a couple dolphins popped up right alongside, below me, swimming with the ship.

I've already described the Mayport barge ordeal at the top of the post. The day before getting underway for dry dock I was helping move some final things over to the barge in the dark hours of the early morning and once I didn't pay attention to where my feet were going as I stepped onto the brow of the ship. I fell down hard on the unforgiving metal on my right knee and left shin, and nearly burst into tears right there, it hurt so bad. I said something to medical after breakfast was over and was able to sit down for a while and ice them on the Mess Decks. That afternoon I and a couple others were let off early, and as I took my socks off, I opened up the wound on my shin. Had no idea I broke the skin, and medical soon patched it up. Unfortunately, it still makes it difficult getting into my top rack... I have to kneel on the mattress for a second at least when I get up there, and even that hurts.

The day we got underway for dry dock was a crazy long one. Breakfast was normal, along with Quarters on the Mess Decks right after it, although that was hurried, since the barge was getting underway before the ship. I spent roughly the entire day on the near-empty ship. Everything useful for living (food, bed, computers) had been moved over to the barge and was gone. A few of us walked over to the McDonald's nearby long before we had to leave, in order to have something different for lunch that we'd have for dinner (boxed dinner was the same as the one for lunch... sandwich, pear, water, chips). I had to be at Sea & Anchor (line-handler detail) from just after 1300, and wasn't let go until just after 1900. That was a lot of time... read a little in "Clear the Decks" ... a Navy captain's hilarious experiences from WWII and beyond. After waiting around for those 6 hours, I was able to wait the next 4 and-a-half where ever. The dry dock was rising out of the water and there was no way to get ashore for all that time. I will say this though, they had mid-rats (late dinner) and ice cream waiting for us on the barge when we all got back.

It has been a crazy couple weeks. I'm pretty confident that things will calm down now that we're all set up for where we're going to be for a while. At least I hope. :)

Other News

In my rage, I forgot to record for Monday... we had labs with Mr. Fontane, and in class we did yet another quiz. I think that made three quizzes in preparation for Tuesday's test. PT was pretty normal, and there was some talk about our schedule changing.

Wednesday, I re-took the lab with Nordgren and did just fine. A final of 90% was awarded, and that was fine by me. And with the 94% on the written portion, that meant no mando, and that I was competently aware of how to find answers in the tech doc.

Also, our cleaning assignment changed... we are now in charge of the student heads on the 3rd deck, instead of the staff locker-rooms. Witte and I did what we could while most of the class started their two hours of mandatory extra study.

PT was very hard though... I'm still feeling it now. It was Witte, Hibbard, Trimpe and I who volunteered to do his circuits with him. Butt-kicks, sprints, grapevines, and power skips, interspersed with push-ups, leg lifts, squats and lunges in place. And we finished with a two-minute wall sit. Those last three are what I'm still feeling... I haven't worked out my legs like that for a long time.

Duty Calls...

Well, it's back to work after a super-long, nice weekend.

Started the intro to electricity on Monday, going over the basics of voltage, current, resistors, switches, fuses, breakers, schematics, electromagnetics, relays, meters, multimeters and their measurements. And I took the first test, scoring 96% out of 25 questions (missing one). The multimeter test on Tuesday was a bit harder (88%), along with today's test on Ohm's law and Series Circuits (93%). Gosh, it's only been three days! I barely passed one quiz before lunch today (70% out of 10) and I started getting worried if I was really getting it or not... but my shipmates next to me helped me out a bit and I settled down and got a fine score on the test when I returned from lunch. Lots of formulas swimming through my head. :)

We haven't had anybody talk about cheating all week! So that's probably a good thing. Oddly enough though, they moved my entire class two rooms down (to room 325 instead of 321) yesterday. So now my view of the lake is more unobstructed, and I can still see the trees to my left. I can see the beach now too (when I stand up) and today I saw a pair of ducks loitering just below me in the water. Kind of weird to think of it as a "beach" with the light layer of fresh snow that covered it today... :) Because the room hadn't been used in a while it was rather dirty. And because I am new, they wanted me to learn where to get the cleaning gear when it's my turn to do "sweepers" in the afternoon... so a more experienced shipmate and I did the sweeping and mopping in the classroom yesterday. Yay.

My duty day yesterday was a bit out of the ordinary. When we mustered after returning from class, they said they needed people to go perform colors for the main flag in front of the clock tower in the center of the base... and they told five of us to go. Some of my shipmates took a while getting their dress blues on, so we had to sprint nearly a half-mile in our dress shoes... ouch. And when we got there, they told us they didn't need us. Darn! I was excited to do it! So we stood outside and saluted as the music played and then we walked back. I was able to get out and go to the NEX and to chow before I came back for my watch at 0745-2200 in the lounge. I tried stopping some people from horsing around (like my watch-standing orders direct) but they weren't thrilled about listening. A third-class gave me grief, but I kept on anyway. I learned my chain of command while standing around... and that means I'm ready for my exam for phase II liberty any time.