Holiday Stand-Down No. 2

Just re-read my entries from holiday stand-down from last year... how long ago that was! And how far I've come from then! It was the very first time I stood an armed watch!

This holiday period in port really was holiday duty for me. My first duty day was a Sunday (had the mid-watch on the Quarterdeck with an Ensign from section 5 as OOD)... and the next was Wednesday... the 1st of January (afternoon watch on the Quarterdeck with BM2)... and the final was yesterday, a Saturday (Combat Systems Maintenance Central evening watch). As the first two were holiday routine days, we didn't have training and I had tons of time to get all my required training courses done. There were drills on Saturday, but we knocked them out in the morning. I was Team Leader for the DC drill for the first time... thankfully it was an easy flooding/pipe patching drill in self-serve laundry. We enthusiastically got it done right the first time.

Since it rained a lot, we swept a lot. I nearly swept the non-skid off of the missile deck by week's end. :)

And the ship did us all a good turn: since our pre-deployment leave is so awfully short, they let us have two days off during the week. We had short workdays on Monday and Friday, then we had time to relax Tuesday through Thursday. And boy, did that feel good. I started making a habit of leaving the ship in civilian clothes... and it made me feel even free-er. :)

Friday, School; Saturday, Duty

Friday, I never even saw the ship. I was TAD (temporarily assigned duty) to the Maintenance University at the TSC (training support center) building on base for a class in job writing (which was informative and useful!). Afterwords, I went to Servmart quickly for a few quotes for open purchase, then went home.

The next morning I went in early in case I had the first watch... and I did. I was topside rover, and therefore had to get a little wet in the morning misty rain. It had rained steadily for a couple days so there was a bit of water on the decks. By the afternoon, though, it had stopped and the sun came out. I spearheaded the effort to get the standing water off the missile deck... using my brand-new push-broom that had arrived from supply on Thursday... and it worked wonders. I used a bunch of the afternoon to get those open purchase requests ready to be routed up the chain of command on Tuesday. Went to bed really early so that when I got up for the last watch (petty officer this time) (I was doubled up this time from no fault of my own... we didn't have enough qualified people for everything because some people were on leave), I would be wide awake... and it worked. Did the daily checks right after disarming, then it was time for turnover, and then home for two days off in a row.

In & Out

Last week we came back in from our month-long underway, but I only had a few days before I took a 4-day leave to spend with my parents and husband; and what a wonderful break it was! But when I came back, I had to stay on the ship for three straight days, although we were only getting underway for one.

TUESDAY 19:

Liberty expired on-board early all week... and Sonar got two new people! I was assigned to help STG3 and STG1 check in, and that constituted my entire workday. Even though we were let go in the early afternoon, we managed to get half the sheet signed off. Checked them in with Senior Chief, our Division Officer and Department Head, our Master-At-Arms for berthing, the Naval Counselor for career stuff, got the ball rolling on their Navy Cash Cards (for use at the ship's store), set up their ship's mail, signed sheets with the Force Protection Officer, and met a few others. 

WEDNESDAY 20:

Was my DUTY DAY. More check-in work (including with the CO). Had to pack up all our personal gear from the underway and cleaned up Sonar 2 & 3. Went through the desk in Sonar 2 and found a sea bag in the back corner that belonged to a Sonar Tech that was long gone from the ship. Polished brass in the dome cage with the rest of the division before they were let go in the afternoon. On my own in Sonar 1, I studied my Safety PO qualification on the computer at the desk; we had no duty section training due to the busy ship's schedule so it was a quiet evening. For watch, I stood my very first Petty Officer of the Watch watch on the last rotation and I got to know the OOD (officer of the deck - in port) pretty well. As interesting sides, we had a skewed brow from the movement of the ship and had to get ahold of the Port Engineer to fix it. Just as we were almost done, there was another toxic gas alarm on the refer deck and we had to advise everyone coming aboard. I was excited to be the one to "bong on" the CO when he arrived (4 bells, "TRUXTUN, arriving" over the 1MC) but he came after I was relieved.

THURSDAY 21:

After checking my weapon back in with the gunner's mates and grabbing breakfast, I signed for yoke (material condition of doors and hatches) and did the muster report (STG3 did the daily maintenance). Although the ship was very busy in general with inspectors, our division didn't have much going on. Our check-ins got set up with Medical and a few others though. Conducted sweepers back aft and let go by our Division Officer (DIVO) in the afternoon. Checked out on leave with STG1 as the OOD, and I drove STG3 home as we left together.

FRIDAY – MONDAY OFF! And it was very fun indeed! We saw Jamestown, the naval base, Les Miserables (the new film), then drove over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, walked the beach at the state park, and the last day, drove down to North Carolina to see Kitty Hawk and Roanoke Island.

TUESDAY 26:

Another DUTY DAY; I made myself ready for a 3-day underway as we had to stay on board the night before Thursday's early morning underway. Arrived very early after dropping off my husband and went to Sonar first to drop off breakfast before officially checking back in from leave on the Quarterdeck. Went to duty section turn-over as usual, and before lunch managed to eat all the leftovers from the Macaroni Grill. Had an MWR meeting after lunch, then started work on the Fatho pre-underway check which lasted through Sonar's drill. Worked on ESWS after everyone left, and tried to complete another check. Training on mess decks was short and sweet; we talked about what to do if there was a swimmer near the ship and how we would attack an Alpha fire in a forward space. Was POOW again for the mid-watch, and the OOD (former Sonar Tech, now officer) and I talked about the schedule, the command and what it was like for him to become an officer. Was able to talk with my husband briefly before and after watch.

WEDNESDAY 27:

Woke up by CSOOW 15 minutes before my alarm to check all the Sonar spaces for flooding. Ended up being a false alarm and I did the dailies after changing into my uniform. Had a quick breakfast because of duty sweepers on the Quarterdeck and Aft Missile Deck. Finished up muster report as Quarters started, and called away for the duty section setting up blocks on the flight deck because of the base drills. Finished the Fatho check with my LPO, signed for that and the other in CSMC as well as train on another for our antenna. Did some training with FC1 for the CSMC watch station, then attended a Sonar drill in the afternoon. Called Dad at dinnertime, went to the Navigation brief after than, then waited for Chief for a half-hour for my CSMC oral board, passed it, and called my husband.

THURSDAY 28:

And finally, the underway! Early breakfast, set Sea & Anchor soon after. Little trouble with the Fatho because of what we had to do for the check the day before, but had it working in no time. Ended up being a two-hour watch including the SOA inspection we had. The most fun I had this underway was helping the Gunners load our 5-inch gun before lunch. I helped pass the ammunition, praise the Lord, which was canisters of gunpowder three-and-a-half feet long! My only Sonar watch was after dinner (section 3 of 4) in which I went to another Navigation brief and did some training on our job-writing system. Can't wait for the day when I don't need training every time I turn around.

FRIDAY MARCH 1:

Before we returned to port, we had an early CONREP (connected replenishment) RAS (replenishment at sea). This was the first I participated in, as I replaced an STG3 who was on emergency leave. It was so bitterly cold in the wind that within minutes my face, hands and legs were getting numb. In fact, the moment I stepped out the port break onto the forecastle ("foc'sle"), the wind was coming by so fast I could not breathe for a moment (until I turned my head away). When the line and cable were finally across, (we'd rotate as we walked the line across the deck... too difficult just to pull) I was the first in line as we sent it back over to the USNS vessel. Then we were rotated in to help with the distance line (line up forward with little distance-marking flags to show the OOD exactly how far we were from the other ship). About a half-hour after we finished (just time to eat my bagel from breakfast), we were called away for FWWD (fresh water wash down), my station being on the aft missile deck with weapons department. Thankfully, it wasn't quite as cold (we weren't in the direct path of the wind there), but still enough to the point where I was glad of my earmuffs. While this was still in progress, Sea & Anchor was called away for getting ready to enter port. And we were pier-side on schedule! Had to wait for shore power to get connected before we were allowed to take out the trash and leave for the weekend. What a day!

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. :)