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!

Aloft Pics

 Looking down the ladder inside the main mast structure, and right, looking down from the top yardarm I was on.

Looking down on our commissioning pennant... from the very top of the mast.

I asked ET2 if it was silly to take a moment for pictures, but he said they do it all the time. I envy them!

On Top of the World!

Coming in Monday morning, I had no idea how I'd spend my time... there wasn't anything to do as I was aware of. Ha! I was busy all day! Started off right away, coming in from Quarters topside... Combat needed our equipment online, so there was some starting and restarting to do. Then after sweepers, I had to do it some more. Afterwords, I found out my tasking for the week... accomplish the check we've been having problems with for months, and the check that none of us have ever done before... going aloft and checking our antenna on the top yardarm of the main mast. No one in the division was aloft qualified, so that was my new mission.

First, I wrote and got a response from the manager of the specific check I was still trying to finish. It took all day, but that's understandable, as he's based in Washington State, and three hours behind us. Then it was a matter of getting aloft qualified in a day. Ship's force was going to go aloft the next day, so I decided I would make it happen. Both checks would be lost if we didn't get them done this week.

I got with the ETs for the rest of the line-items (I've had a couple trainings before, but never enough), then had an oral board with ETC (electronics tech chief). This passed, I decided I'd write up another list of things to order that got left of the first order, and I had just about finished when the 50-man working party for unloading the ship's food stores was announced as inadequate. They needed more bodies, so I went to the mess decks and spent a solid hour helping move generally very heavy boxes (some frozen) from one person to the next in the main ladder-well. When I finished with this, I walked my aloft qualification around for four or five signatures, including the XO and CO.

Tuesday was rather busy as well. I was worried all morning that the ETs were going to leave me behind from going aloft (always have to do it in pairs for safety), but it was sort of out of their hands. The ship wouldn't allow anyone aloft all morning for some reason. So I worked on getting the fatho check done, but of course, the test equipment needs looking at by an ET first. I remembered the aloft check required a tag-out, and according to procedure, needed to be tagged out by taking out the fuses to the distribution box. That required getting the right safety gloves from tool issue, and routing a "energized work chit" to be signed off by the Captain. I managed to get 3 minutes to eat lunch (spaghetti and meat sauce) while on my way to look for my Department Head (lieutenant). Once the Captain signed it, the CSOOW (combat systems officer of the watch) helped me write the tag, as none had been done before by anyone on board.

So following the checklist on the work chit, I pulled the fuses associated with the correct gear (to keep us safe from radiation while aloft), then headed up to see the ETs. They were very helpful, and dropped everything to help me by being my safety observers (and showing me how to get up there). I was warned I might get scared once I saw how high it was, but as I told them, heights don't bother me in the slightest if I know I can't get hurt (when I'm tethered to something... and I can hang on). And goodness, what a view from up there! After the clean and inspect check, ET2 took me up a few feet more to the very top for some pictures... boy, was it fun!

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing... five-hour, "sit down and monitor the alarms" watch (during training!), a good rest, and then more tags to run in the morning!

Also of interest, last week the females had to move out of our usual berthing so that the deck could be redone (needed it badly in places), so yesterday, I was shown where the new one was, since I had never been there before and would need to move in for my duty day today. This morning, I picked out a bottom rack for the day, put brand new sheets on it, and stowed my PT gear and toiletries. When I got my t-shirt and shorts out for this cycle's BCA (weigh-in), I remembered why I like the top rack so much better... it takes a bit of struggling to open up the rack at the angle so low near the deck. And I passed the weigh-in, thank goodness! A highly profitable day.

 Today, my LPO told me that I was the first Sonar Technician on the Truxtun to ever go aloft!

The Week That Never Ended

The last week and a half, continued from the last post, was the most interesting I've had so far in the Navy, as pertains to my job. Every day we had to stay late, as in 19 or 2000, the First Classes were always working on getting the power-point brief put together... initially, and then fine-tuning it as we went.

I was very pleased with my watch team (the division was split up into two teams, blue and gold; I was gold); we worked rather well together and got our job done, when the system behaved. :) My friend, STG2, did a bunch of extra work, I think it was Wednesday or Thursday, rebooting some of our computers and bringing a vital system back online. I helped her, and watched her, trying to take in as much as I could. The class I went to for being a technician had a lot to do with finding things in the tech doc, but had hardly anything to do with understanding how to troubleshoot computer systems... which is the majority of what we do as techs.

On my duty day this week (Wednesday the 15th), we were also conducting checks with some tech assist guys... and I did the underway check on the fatho. We replaced the bulbs in the door, and found out that one of the fuses was out of spec. He wouldn't continue the check until we had the right one, but that I couldn't find anywhere... not even with three other divisions or the electronics officer. Since we needed to get this checked off our list, I volunteered to go get one out in town. I tried the obvious first, Auto Zone, Radio Shack, O'Riley Auto, but they didn't have one small enough. O'Riley was helpful though and directed me to Audio One a couple miles down the street. They didn't have it, but directed me to the people who did... 4.5 miles away. It took me an hour to do it, but I came back with a little pack of the right fuses. After lunch, we finished the check and all was well.

My only watch consisted of a 5 hour stint in the Combat Systems Maintenance Central, to keep an eye on the alarm panel and let the right people know if something went off. Afterwords, I stayed up and did the dailies before crashing for a couple hours (0300 to 0530) in Sonar 1 because I was too lazy to want to change in and out of my uniform. My team rolled right into a two-hour scenario, waited through the next one, and then did the final two-hour scenario after lunch. I was wiped out! But just as people were getting ready for the debrief, I was told that our consumables had come in and LS1 was waiting for me on the pier. I went right outside, still in my fleece from being in Sonar Control all day, and walked into a brilliant sunlit, warm afternoon. The fleece came off and a bunch of supplies came in... we ordered some cleaning stuff (like new brooms! and a mop caddie!) that everyone was excited about.

Friday was the final day of our exercise, and it didn't involve me at all. So after getting their early to help set up the system and listen to the final brief, I made myself useful after that by taking out some of the trash. First I worked on getting the dead console batteries (that we replaced underway) recycled at the site on base. It's a bit of an operation getting them there... they weigh 35 pounds each; with one in each hand, a person gets tired pretty quick. Took them up the one ladder to the deck one at a time, then leaned back as I walked down the 15-foot ladder to the pier with both in my hands. I dropped them off at the end of the pier (with permission) and drove my car over to pick them up (I was parked a ways away). From then on it was easy!

Came back to find that the chairs we ordered for the division had arrived, so I picked up one box and carried it all the way to sonar (Master Chief helped me for the last bit of the ways... she is so helpful!). The guys managed to get the other three inside while I set to work assembling them. The assessors were pretty surprised to come back after lunch and find plenty of places to sit down! That's what I call good timing!

We were finally let go at 1345... so I guess it only felt like it would never end.

A Little Bit of Class and a Lot of Work

That was the week of May 6th through 10th, evenly divided.

Monday, Tuesday and half of Wednesday, the Truxtun's entire Sonar division was in class on base in Norfolk, getting a solid refresher on our various watch-standing duties. When they split Combat and Sonar, we operators had a few lessons on the marine environment and our basic segments that were very helpful; the instructors were knowledgeable, and answered all our questions.

The rest of the week we continued the learning on board with the instructors looking over our shoulders as we simulated real situations. It was the most Sonar I've done since joining the Navy... and although a little stressful, it was absolutely essential for getting to know the system and procedures for real.

I especially enjoyed having classroom time with the entire division. It's rare that we're all together in one room for so long... there's usually someone off doing something else. And it afforded us time to hang out a little too, especially at lunch time.

Thankfully, my duty day landed on Wednesday, which was a super-long day anyway. I had the afternoon quarterdeck watch with Chief, for the first time. She was very amiable, and the watch went by quick enough; I saluted my entire division ashore as they left around 1900. I was kept pretty busy the whole time with phone calls and what-not... there was only an hour and change left after evening colors went down. 

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!

Questions, Questions

Every day was a longer day this week... getting out between 1530ish and even 1700 once. But once I have in my mind that it's going to be that way, there's no getting frustrated about waiting to be let off. I've kept myself pretty busy every day, even when I had to come up with things to do myself.

Monday was, as I said in the last post, taken up with LOK tests and an NKO course about cyber security.

Tuesday it was more of the same for the division, but I also worked on a fathometer check... one that's notorious for being difficult to understand. I was running up to ask the ETs (electronics technicians) questions all day about this cord or that part or the test equipment itself.

Wednesday, I was directed to work on the division's consumables issue (we haven't had anyone who knows how to order office supplies in over a year... I asked a lot of questions of supply in the last couple weeks) and managed to get a list sent out for a quote.

Thursday was the very late day. I got the quote back from SERV MART (local government supply store), worked on getting that information printed out on the right form and routed with an official USS Truxtun "Action Correspondence Route Slip" to my department head for approval (with running it by my LPO/LCPO first, of course). And there were a couple MRCs that needed completing too.

What made the day super late was a combination of things. My duty section had to run a DC drill, even though it wasn't my duty day. They did this to make sure people were available and not on watch during the full-scale drill. I was assigned as a "Utilityman"; this meant that I set boundaries or smoke screens, or whatever was needed. They did a "white smoke" drill, and I learned how to set a smoke shield around a doorway that responders had to have open for the fire hose to go through.

The drill went pretty well... it's just that the brow cracked right as the drill was getting over, so the brow was secured (no one could leave!). And it was after 1600. I ate dinner, since I was there, and enjoyed the tasty steak cubes that were on the menu. Then I went back to Sonar to continue consolidating our acoustic analysis charts. The brow was repaired and opened around 1630ish, but I stayed a bit longer to finish a certain page I was working on.

Friday was great fun! Did one check, worked on more charts, received a package from the pier for the division, and then got dressed up in my service uniform (khaki blouse, black pants/cover) in order to go to a GMC's (chief gunner's mate) re-enlistment ceremony downtown, on the forecastle of the USS Wisconsin (BB-64). Thankfully, I remembered to go back to Sonar 1 for my 2nd class crow pins before I got to the quarterdeck. I had to take off my 3rd class ones... don't think I've worn the uniform since standing watch in San Diego at school!

The ceremony itself was the nicest I've been to. The Weapons department head was there to read chief's bio, and another Lieutenant (who was a long-time friend) said a few words and gave out the certificates. First, chief was honorably discharged, then after a few words, he took the oath of enlistment again, and even his little kids participated (and got certificates too). Then the party retired to Buffalo Wild Wings by the MacArthur Center Mall for a celebratory lunch. I had picked up STG3 so she could go too, and I drove her home as we left.

End of Class, Back to the Ship

All last week I missed my ship getting underway for the first time. Of course, this was planned and accounted for... I had to finish up my Acoustic Analysis class. I finished the final 75 question test with a 96%... believe me that I remember the three I got wrong better than what I had memorized. I missed a couple points on the classifications, but it did not matter. A generic grade of "satisfactory" was pronounced on everyone, and we went our separate ways on Friday. Interestingly, as I was doing errands in Ocean View after class, I saw a destroyer coming in and reasoned that it was my own. And I've since verified that they were transiting at sea and anchor at the time I saw them... what a coincidence!

I was very disappointed to have to shred my beautiful notes, but OPSEC will be OPSEC. Maybe in the future they'll allow us to take them back to our ships again. Not too long ago some student ruined it for us by violating procedures... and now it must all be shredded.

I ended my long time off from the ship yesterday morning with a Sunday duty day. Not a bad way to ease back into it, I suppose. I was so used to being a student that I spent all my spare time before my quarterdeck watch working on the preliminary PQS for ESWS (enlisted surface warfare specialist). I've gone through the common core book and took notes before I sit down with qualified specialists and get the required signatures. And I even worked on it more during my second watch in CSMC, very early this morning. Ten hours of watch was more than enough to get me back into the atmosphere of working on board. :)

But with the last watch comes the unpleasant reality of rolling right into the next working day with hardly anything to show for a descent rest. In fact, between my two watches, I simply crashed in Sonar 1 with a few blankets so I wouldn't have to bother about getting undressed and dressed again... wasting precious rest.

The ship was incredibly busy today with lots of drills. I managed to stay out of them, working the entire day on a "Information Awareness" NKO (Navy knowledge online course) and a few LOK (level of knowledge) tests for Sonar, after I had done the daily and weekly checks. With all this and the ESWS training on my own, my head was near to bursting by the time we were let go. I am always thinking of what I still have to do when I am on board, and with all that comes up, it is a wonder that my brain doesn't explode. :)

Half-Day Duty and a Week of BAAR

Why is it that the Navy calls a bed what the rest of the world calls a torture device?

:)

Yes, I did toss and turn in my rack on my duty day... and usually it is a little tough on my back, but maybe that was because I was very used to sleeping at home for a while now.

I've been very excited, anticipating going to the Basic Acoustic Analysis Refresher (BAAR) class ever since I checked on board nine months ago. It goes over nitty-gritty Sonar Tech stuff that I haven't had a chance to practice since I learned it over two years ago. In fact, I had forgotten so much, I scored a 25% on our pre-test on Monday... and that's 5% above average. Comparatively, I got an 86% on today's written test, coupled with a 100% on the analysis part. I forgot how I enjoyed doing it, since I know what I'm doing again!

The class lasts from the morning to the early afternoon, so on my duty day, Tuesday, I went back to the ship after class. I was so relieved to know I didn't have watch (so there was no schedule conflict), but when I stepped onto the quarterdeck, the section leader was standing OOD, and she told me I had the evening contact sentry watch. This I did not mind at all, since it's been a few months since I've stood it... and it's during all the duty section happenings, such as sweepers and training. And this was our first really warm day... 89 degrees!... so warm that after the sun went down, the breeze coming off the water was still refreshingly warm to cool. I've never enjoyed a watch so much! 

And I had a couple hours before I had to go stand it. I routed a leave chit, and attended two meetings (MWR -morale/welfare/rec.- and then Safety). There was also a fire drill that I got dressed out for, and for the first time on board, actually went on air! I was a boundary-man for Sonar 1, as the drill was right above it. This was a more formal drill than usual... inspectors on board to observe.

All About Water: Dome and SKID

Monday, I had yet another class. This was sort of last minute; when I was told about it the week before, I thought it was much less informal... but it turned out to be a three-day class on our ship's water cooling unit or SKID. Don't ask me what SKID stands for... I'm not sure myself. In fact, when I reported to the ship, everyone kept talking about "the daily" on "the Skid". Since not a word was said about this in school, I was completely flabbergasted and confused. I found out this week that every other Sonar Tech in my division thought that as well. A Lieutenant at the schoolhouse asked me if I had any training in A school, and I mentioned that the system was a total surprise when I reported on board. The Truxtun's FCs (fire-control techs) were also at the class, but they had had formal training at their A school.

The first thing we did when we got there was take a pre-test. Even with the tech manuals and MRCs in front of me, I got 7 out of 20 wrong. But that was a good learning experience... on Friday, we took the post-test and I only got 1 wrong for a 95%. We also had a lab after the test on Friday, to take apart the motor to change the mechanical seal and put it back together using the maintenance card. On Monday, part of the power-point lecture included two Navy films; one on this very process, and another on cleaning out the filter. Both looked like they had been filmed in 1989... but it was nice to note that the DANGER tags they hung looked the same as they do today. At least some things don't change.

Tuesday was pretty busy, getting ready for the dome water-to-air interchange the next day. First I had to represent our division by helping with the Industrial Hygiene survey on the mess decks. STG1 and a few of the 3rd classes and I worked on getting the water from the pier connected to the dome before the water-to-air brief with the Captain, XO, and department heads in the wardroom. I then got hazmat for S-3, a clean and inspect check on the hatch in the dome p-way, and did it while the others took care of S-1 (water valves) and S-2 (air valves) to make sure we had proper operation of all our valves before we started things the next day. I also hung tags after lunch, even though it was hard to find the sounding tube in the dome p-way... lots of going up and down ladders in the trunk. Besides all this, the four of us who were at the SKID class had a walk-through with the instructors of all our maintenance checks on our own equipment, and that lasted an hour or two. What was really silly, was after everything was done, it took a whole hour of us waiting around for the Okay before we were allowed to leave.

Wednesday was my duty day, and also the Big Day of the dome operation. I panicked when I woke up, because I had slept too long. We were starting the operation early, at 0600 (liberty normally expires at 0700), and I woke out of a hazy sleep at 0555. I was so tired the night before that I fell asleep before setting my alarm. My last thought before awaking was what time should I set it for... oh, dear! I made it to Sonar in record time, apologized, and went straight down the trunk to the dome p-way to help STG3 operate a couple valves IAW (in accordance with) the MRC (maint. req. card). This I did all morning until early chow for watch reliefs. I had the afternoon watch for the first time ever, and it was pretty exciting. Lots of stuff to pass over the announcing system, lots of phone calls to take, lots of regular deck log entries, and I managed to take up a lot of time by cleaning the little cubbie hole we have behind the shelter and podium of the Quarterdeck.

Now this evening and early morning were very peculiar. I forgot about the time for training after dinner as I was in Sonar control, getting quotes online for supplies we want to order. They passed the word for the duty section training right as it was supposed to start. Made it to the mess decks as everyone was signing the muster reports. Anti-terrorism was easy: we read the quarterly use-of-force/deadly force training and made sure everyone knew what everything meant. For DC, we went aft and rigged up a peri-jet pump and lowered it down the trunk to simulate what we'd do if there was flooding.

When we were done, our CDO (command duty officer) spoke to everyone about being on time. He called out a half-dozen of us who "trickled in after training had started" and made us muster with him the next morning very early. This was very embarrassing for me, and made me pretty mad, but I understand where he's coming from on principle. He was mostly displeased with how long it takes to get turnover started in the morning... and I agree with him 100% on that. The night was difficult for me already, as I had to babysit the dome, checking it every 4-6 hours (2100, 0100, 0500), and "burping" it, by opening a certain valve and letting excess air out. This didn't allow much time for rest, but I have my department head to thank for an extra day off that day since we've been very busy lately on the whole.

A Busy Day - And Some

Yesterday's Duty Day was by far the busiest and strangest I've ever had.

First, I missed quarters because I had to give my shipmate's purse back to her when she arrived in a taxi because she had left it in my car. We thought our Dress Whites inspection was that morning, but when I arrived the other sonar techs were on watch on the Quarterdeck and told me otherwise. But I was glad I brought them on board... there was an icy wind blowing down the pier that morning, and my garment bag made an excellent wind shield against it.

So again, things were pretty slow in the division. We worked on little discrepancies from our big inspection the week before, and that was about it. But at turnover, I was assigned to be a line-handler for a ship pulling in that afternoon. Of course, they had us come to the Quarterdeck a whole hour before we really needed to be getting things together... and we waited... and waited. Finally, we were told to go stand by the berth to await the ship that would cast us their lines to be slipped over the bollards... and we waited a good bit more. Just as Port Ops told me to move to a different place, the USS Arleigh Burke (DDG 51) pulled into view and soon we were done.

Not an hour later we were mustered again for sweepers amid ship and aft... Chief gave everyone assignments, and told me last of all to "supervise". Huh? Okay. So I tried to be as nice as possible as I pointed out areas that needed sweeping. A bit later we were called again to help with some trash down the end of the pier (E-4 and below) but I came anyway just to make sure they had enough people. Ended up being a false alarm. Then we had training on the Mess deck... Level of Knowledge (LOK) tests for DC (damage control) and FP (force protection) because of our inspection going on. Gosh, I hate those DC tests... so picky... and I haven't even had advanced DC training yet. FP was much easier, as it's more straightforward.

Then just as we finish with that, they call away lighting detail since it's just before sunset. I hear Chief tell the Quarterdeck to have the duty section muster with STG2 Waters for assignment. That's the third time now my name has been passed over the 1MC... first once when doing food service and CS1 needed us in the afternoon one weekend, the second when the CO announced the list of names that had been advanced from the latest advancement exam. Anyway, I assigned people to all the stations and it all got done.

But later on, as I was talking to my husband on the flight deck, I noticed the flagpole light wasn't lit. When I stopped by the forecastle, the Jack staff wasn't lit either. Stopped by the Quarterdeck to let the OOD know, then went to the bridge to investigate. Turns out whoever went up there forgot to flip a couple switches.

I had the mid-watch that night with one of our new ensigns (but he was former enlisted). Plenty to talk about as the Force Protection Officer stopped by for a while. But I was late getting relieved... and because of that, I was wound up enough to get our daily checks done before I went to sleep. Sweepers in the morning was very normal, and I helped sweep just like everyone else. Who knows.

That morning was pretty easy and short. I attached a light cover in the dome room and worked out a check-off list in Excel for a sonar tech who was struggling with it. Going home after a duty day is always such sweet bliss.

Safety Class

On my birthday, and the next day, I had an evening class at the Navy's Safety Training Center at Naval Station Norfolk to become my division's safety petty officer.

I was given half of Monday off, leaving at 1130ish, so that I could have ample time to rest before it started at 1830 (and supposedly ended at 0300). That morning was taken up with a couple checks on the Dome equipment (piping) before we were to do the water to air interchange the next day. But hazmat was closed, so just before I left, the plan changed (the last check required hazmat). 

I arrived in plenty of time, and sized up the other 30 students from around the waterfront (one other from my ship) and our instructor, an 18-year veteran with lots of safety stories from 5 different ship platforms in her career. We started off with videos of people doing stupid stuff and getting hurt (just like ridiculousness, except without the host or the annoying guests), then did a pre-test, and walked through the slides with the two other locations over microphones and the Internet (they were in Japan and Korea, I think, so that's why the class hours were so odd). We were let go at 2230 for the night.

Next day I was let off work since I was TAD... at first my division told me it was only a one-night class, but it was confirmed otherwise, so I texted Senior Chief and had his approval. The class got let out an hour earlier too, as we took the test and picked up our reference CD by 2130.

Wednesday the 27th, I was allowed to come in late (1100) as well! What a week! Practically everyone was gone anyway... the only thing I managed to get done was update the divisional safety binder before we were let go in the afternoon for PT at the nearby gym.