17 April 2009
Well I made it through my first day of work on my ship! I never really knew what jet-lag was until this trip. I went to bed around 11:30 pm, but woke up around 2 am and just couldn’t get back to sleep. So, after tossing and turning for a while, I got up and called Liz and talked with her for a bit. Then tried to get some rest since it was going to be my first big day. I got up when my alarm went off at 6 am, even though I was already awake. I did some push-ups, took a shower and got dressed in civilian clothes. I got my seabag packed with just my uniform stuff and PQS manuals. The officers met in the lobby at 7 am and we carpooled over to the ship.
I got a temporary rack in the Chief’s berthing to stash my stuff, but no locker was available. I changed into the uniform of the day, coveralls and steel-toed boots. I don’t have a command ball cap yet, so everyone said to just go uncovered even if I’m outside. I had some breakfast, from the galley, and ate it in the wardroom. Either the other officers don’t eat breakfast or they had already eaten, because I was the only one in there. Pretty tasty, I had scrambled eggs with cheese, peppers, onions, and ham. I also had some bacon, a pancake and some juice that tasted kind of like Tang.
The first thing on the POD (Plan of the Day) was to do a “Fast Cruise” at 0830. Basically we just went through all the ship’s various watch bills and manned them up, ran some training simulations since we were still moored to the pier. My first job was to UI (be Under Instruction) for Helm Safety during Sea and Anchor detail. Basically I just make sure the Helm and Leehelm are executing their jobs correctly, hearing the CONN (conning officer, the one that drives the ship) correctly. That was my first experience with PQS (Personnel Qualification Standards), getting things signed off as we were executing them. That first one didn’t go so well, but since the ship has been in the yards for 3 months I guess the crew was a bit rusty. We went through the various watchbills throughout the rest of the day, pausing for lunch. I got my first experience to announce to the Pilothouse (bridge of the ship) that “ENS Reed has the CONN.” Thankfully I didn’t actually have to do anything as the CONN, but it sure got my heart pumping.
Right before lunch all the officers met in the wardroom and we had the JORG/BULL Ensign pinning ceremony. We actually found out that ENS Kyle Sherman commissioned on DEC 12th as well, but since his ceremony was in OR, and mine was in RI, I still ended up being “Sr.” to him by about an hour or so. So, he was pinned as the JORG. My sponsor, ENS Matt Smart, was pinned as the BULL Ensign. Everyone had a big kick out of that since our commission dates were so close, and I guess ENS Sherman was so looking forward to me checking on board so that I could be the JORG. After that we had lunch, and watched some of the new James Bond film in the wardroom.
Once we were finished with the fast cruise stuff, there were some awards given out to top off the day’s work. Captain (LCDR Horpayak) introduced me to the whole crew at that time as well. That was about 4 or 5 pm. We got changed back into civilian clothes and carpooled back to the flats. ENS Smart and I then went over to the Naval base. He went to the gym while I got my haircut (“hi and tight” marine corps-type haircut, sorry Liz!), got some laundry detergent and dryer sheets, and a cell phone that I can use while I’m here in Bahrain. Not too bad, $33 phone, $10 Sim card, and prepaid about $66 for 780 minutes. Then I went to the gym for about 15 minutes as well and did some chest work out.Once we got back to the flats I took a shower, started some laundry, then ordered a sandwich and ice cream and brownie since I was starving even after eating dinner. I was also able to borrow my roommates computer to jump online and check e-mail and Facebook. I called Liz and talked with her for a bit then got to bed around 11 pm.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
16 April 2009
Well, I made it safe and sound to Bahrain for my first deployment. The flight from Corpus Christi to Dallas was short and uneventful. The flight from Dallas to Frankfurt, Germany was loooooooong, 9 hours and 35 minutes. But the plane was nice and big, a Boeing 777 if I remember right, lots of headroom and enough leg room. The plane was very full and had about 10 or 11 seats across, I was seated in one of the middle seats. We cruised at about 38,000 feet, 585 mph, and it was like -59 degrees F outside the plane at that altitude, bbbbrrrrrrr! Everyone had their own personal mini TV monitor where you could select what you wanted to watch or listen too, with movies, shows, and music on loops that you can join every 25 minutes or so. So, I watched “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (re-make of an old film with Keanu Reeves), not too bad of a story, but nothing great. And I also watched “Bedtime Stories” with Adam Sandler, and it was funny in a cute Disney way. I tried to get some sleep, but my internal clock still set on TX time didn’t think it was late enough to sleep really, so I only rested my eyes.
In Frankfurt I had a little trouble finding the gate that my flight was leaving from, but after asking a few people I was able to locate it. To eat brunch I had a choice of Starbucks, bars, or Burger King, so I took the latter (5,95 Euros for a double cheeseburger meal). The flight from Frankfurt to Bahrain on Gulf Air wasn’t too bad, the plane was almost empty. By this time I was starting to get really tired. I did watch most of the Disney movie “Bolt” and listened to some music, and fell fully asleep several times during the 6 hour flight.
After landing in Bahrain I went through their customs with no problems, got my seabag that I checked and left the main terminal. Just outside was my sponsor, ENS Matt Smart holding a handwritten sign with my last name on it in capital block letters. He let me use his cell phone to call Liz to let her know I made it safe and sound. Just outside the terminal there were a bunch of stores, many of them familiar like “Papa Johns”. Matt drove us from the airport, in an old Nissan pickup, to the “flats” where our crew is staying for just a few more days. Along the way we saw familiar things like McDonalds and Chili’s.Wow, these flats are flippin’ awesome!!! If I were staying here for a few months during shipyard maintenance I think I could really handle it well. I took several pictures of the place. Unfortunately, we’ll be moving back on the ship in the next couple of days. After eating a sandwich from room service most of the officers met upstairs by the pool for a social and to welcome me to the crew. They drank liquor, and I had a diet Dr. Pepper. They sound like they have a good time working together. We found out that I will probably not be the JORG (Junior Officer Requiring Guidance) since another ENS who arrived 2 weeks ago was commissioned only 1 day after me, so there will be a ceremony for that tomorrow.
Well, I made it safe and sound to Bahrain for my first deployment. The flight from Corpus Christi to Dallas was short and uneventful. The flight from Dallas to Frankfurt, Germany was loooooooong, 9 hours and 35 minutes. But the plane was nice and big, a Boeing 777 if I remember right, lots of headroom and enough leg room. The plane was very full and had about 10 or 11 seats across, I was seated in one of the middle seats. We cruised at about 38,000 feet, 585 mph, and it was like -59 degrees F outside the plane at that altitude, bbbbrrrrrrr! Everyone had their own personal mini TV monitor where you could select what you wanted to watch or listen too, with movies, shows, and music on loops that you can join every 25 minutes or so. So, I watched “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (re-make of an old film with Keanu Reeves), not too bad of a story, but nothing great. And I also watched “Bedtime Stories” with Adam Sandler, and it was funny in a cute Disney way. I tried to get some sleep, but my internal clock still set on TX time didn’t think it was late enough to sleep really, so I only rested my eyes.
In Frankfurt I had a little trouble finding the gate that my flight was leaving from, but after asking a few people I was able to locate it. To eat brunch I had a choice of Starbucks, bars, or Burger King, so I took the latter (5,95 Euros for a double cheeseburger meal). The flight from Frankfurt to Bahrain on Gulf Air wasn’t too bad, the plane was almost empty. By this time I was starting to get really tired. I did watch most of the Disney movie “Bolt” and listened to some music, and fell fully asleep several times during the 6 hour flight.
After landing in Bahrain I went through their customs with no problems, got my seabag that I checked and left the main terminal. Just outside was my sponsor, ENS Matt Smart holding a handwritten sign with my last name on it in capital block letters. He let me use his cell phone to call Liz to let her know I made it safe and sound. Just outside the terminal there were a bunch of stores, many of them familiar like “Papa Johns”. Matt drove us from the airport, in an old Nissan pickup, to the “flats” where our crew is staying for just a few more days. Along the way we saw familiar things like McDonalds and Chili’s.Wow, these flats are flippin’ awesome!!! If I were staying here for a few months during shipyard maintenance I think I could really handle it well. I took several pictures of the place. Unfortunately, we’ll be moving back on the ship in the next couple of days. After eating a sandwich from room service most of the officers met upstairs by the pool for a social and to welcome me to the crew. They drank liquor, and I had a diet Dr. Pepper. They sound like they have a good time working together. We found out that I will probably not be the JORG (Junior Officer Requiring Guidance) since another ENS who arrived 2 weeks ago was commissioned only 1 day after me, so there will be a ceremony for that tomorrow.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Please excuse the lameness
I am just starting this blog, so for a little while, until I can get this figured out, this might be a lame blog to view.
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