Stay Anchored in Hope

The other day I decided to start blogging about how things are out here, out at sea, and start a series on here called “Destroyer Life at Sea”. You can check out Part I here. I’m not sure how many of these I’ll write, but whenever something pops into my head that sounds like a good idea, I’ll take a stab at it.

So, the first thing I went over was watch standing. I figured I should now go over what we do when we’re not on watch. As you would assume, being on a 509 1/2-ft. ship, there’s not a lot of space to do things. The Mess Decks, a small library that is typically used as a lounge and a classroom are essentially the only common areas for people to hang out. And, on the Mess Decks, they have to clean it and use it for all the meals (obviously), therefore that’s not somewhere that “hanging out” typically happens. The Classroom is used primarily for meetings/trainings/church services, so that’s not frequently open either.

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I am re-posting Part I and Part II of this series of blogs, as I never finished posting the rest last year. This can be a refresher for those who read my following blogs. Enjoy!

This is Part II in a series of blogs about my Naval Career, you can read Part I here.

On-Hold:
After graduating from Boot Camp, I was sent to Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, which was practically across the street from Recruit Training Center, Great Lakes, to attend school(s). Due to the high number of AECF personnel they were bringing into the Navy, there was a delay in starting school, and the primary barracks that the AECF students were supposed to be in were full.

So, like many others, I was on-hold for school until the end of February/beginning of March, and was placed in an open-bay barracks (four-to-a-room “Quads”, with no doors) that were normally reserved for the Seaman and Airman Apprentice students who were only there for training for approximately 2-3 weeks, vice the primary two-to-a-room (with a door!) barracks that were designated for AECF students.

I actually enjoyed the barracks though, as it was a blast-being open bay, I made a lot of friends and hung out with a lot of people. I was very close to most of those friends for over a year or so, until we were dispersed to our follow-on schools. Since we were there for 4-5 months, we ended up running all the Duty Sections, so we never stood watches, we just assigned all the Seaman/Airman to do so and practically did whatever we wanted.

As far as work goes, each day we’d muster (meet up) in the morning and then be sent off on different jobs. I did things such as cleaning the Gunner’s Mate training building, helping clear out the Officer’s Quarters for remodeling, and riding around and delivering cleaning supplies around base.

We’d be done by the afternoon, and then we’d just hang out, mostly at The Factory, which was the bar on base. We’d shoot pool, or go and drink. Luckily, I was of legal age when I came in, and didn’t end up getting in trouble for a few alcohol-related incidents while I was there.

Advanced Electronics Technical Core:

I started School (Advanced Electronics Technical Core-Tech Core). Tech Core was the basics of Electricity and Electronics, we learned about circuits, AC/DC power, resistors, rheostats, binary and Hexidecimal numbers, etc. In Tech Core, I was #5 in the class, I was what they called a “Distinguished Military Graduate” with a score of over 95% overall for the class. From Tech Core, you get to pick whether you want to be an ET or an FC- typically the higher scores pick ET, while the lower ones end up getting FC, as in a class of, say 20, they take 9 ET’s and 11 FC’s (just an example). So, going by score, if the top 9 PICK ET, then the bottom 11 have no choice but to be FC’s.

At some point during my time in Tech Core, they moved some of us (myself included) to a completely different barracks, this one that was primarily filled with Firemen Apprentice students. These were four-to-a-room, and we had it pretty good there, as they didn’t have us stand duty because we were on the Color Guard and Drill Team.

Accolades:
Distinguished Military Graduate from AETC
Member of the Color Guard/Drill Team

The not-so good:
I had a few issues with alcohol while I was there, ones that should have probably got me in trouble but somehow didn’t.

On-Hold (again):

Ok, so after Tech Core and before ET “A” School (an “A” school is a Primary school for the rate…even though I was going to be an ET, I wasn’t an ET yet because I hadn’t gone through “A” school to get Rated as an ET), I had another 2 months on hold. We did a lot of cleaning and stripping and waxing of the decks. We also went through the Deck Seaman school-the Deck Seaman are the unrated Sailors on the boat who really end up doing the crappy jobs. Anyway, they just wanted to send us through the school for lack of anything better to do with us.

Electronics Technician Radar “A” School:

I started ET “A” School in August or so, in the RADAR strand. That meant I was going to be a RADAR technician. Most of my buddies got the Communications Strand. Anyway, in each strand, you got two weeks of theory of the other one, so I got 2 weeks of Comms theory. I had an issue with one of the Modules (one of the RADAR where we troubleshot down to component) and ended up “rocking back”, which meant I was taken out of my class and put in one that was behind me, and I repeated the whole damn module. Instead of graduating in November and being a Petty Officer 3rd Class in December like the rest of my friends, I graduated in December and was a PO3 in January 1999. Because I came in under a 6-year contract, we were “push- buttoned” to PO3-as soon as we were rated (hence the requirement for graduation from “A” school) and had the applicable Time in Rate (if you come in as an E-1, or Seaman Recruit, you have to do that for 9 months, then Seaman Apprentice for 9 months, then Seaman for 6 months before you’re eligible to be a PO3). I came in as an E-3 (Seaman) because of my college credits, so I’d had the time in rate for about a year already. For advancement from E-3 to E4, up to E-6, we take semi-annual tests (March and September) to advance and it’s based on things such as Test Score, Awards, and something called “Performance Mark Average” which is your evals (for each one they’re given a point value then averaged). For “push-buttons”, we didn’t have to take the test, we just made it automatically. And, like with the Chief’s advancement, it’s ALWAYS on the 16th of the Month (pay reasons, so that your paychecks that month are at the lower rank and the next month at the higher rank).

During this time, they moved us in to the ET/FC barracks, where they were two-to-a-room quarters (with doors!). We were now in the normal barracks we should have been in, with the other students we were in class with. We fought the move-we wanted to stay in our barracks where they didn’t make us stand duty-however, that fight was to no avail.

It was also during this time that I got married to my first wife, Angelica, after finding out that we were expecting a baby to be born (Justyce). I won’t get into that any further, it’s ancient history.

Advancement:

Ok, so in December of 1998, I was now ETSN Himebaugh (rated as an ET, with the rank of a Seaman). In January 1999, I was ET3 Himebaugh (an Electronics Technician Petty Officer Third Class).

On-Hold (yet again):

I was on hold, yet again, pushing a broom in the Captains building as an ET3. I left Great Lakes (for good), on February 28, 1999. This time on holds was rather unremarkable, as my friends had started being sent off to their new duty stations (or schools en route to their new duty stations), and I was one of the last remaining due to taking longer to graduate ET “A” School.

“C” Schools

I transferred to Dam Neck, Virginia, for a “C” School. “C” schools are schools that give NEC’s, which I explained a bit earlier. Some rates have NEC’s, some don’t. It’s essentially a specialization. So, I was an ET, but I was specialized based on my “C” Schools. Those “C” Schools were called…well, I can’t remember exactly, as they’ve changed names a few times…anyway, one of them was for GCCS-M, which is a computer system that gives a Global Picture-I was now a computer hardware technician. The other one, which the GCCS-M one was a pre-requisite for, was for things like projectors and other hardware. I graduated on May 21st and flew out to San Diego on May 22, 1999-the day that Justyce was due to be born (luckily, she was 3 days late). This made me a DS (Data Systems Technician)-type ET, as since DS’s were gone, I was in a formerly DS school that now had been merged into the ET rate. So, I was after this, branded as a computer hardware/network guy. And, I can’t say that was a bad thing by any means…

UP NEXT: My Naval Career, Part III (USS Constellation, CV-64), 1999-2001

Obviously, a huge part of my life, is the fact that I serve in the US Navy. As I stated in my post yesterday, I am stationed on-board the USS HALSEY and am currently doing a deployment in the Western Pacific. This is my fifth deployment (all in the Western Pacific).

I figured that people reading would like to know how things are out here, on a day-to-day basis, when we’re underway. First off, I’ll give a general overview of what I’ve done and what I do, but for each person things are different. For my career, I’ve been an Electronics Technician (ET) and an Information Systems Technician (IT). I’ve been on three ships now and worked my way up from the E-4 paygrade (USS Constellation, CV-64) to the E-5/E-6 paygrade (USS Preble, DDG-88) to the E-7 paygrade (USS Halsey, DDG-97). Honestly, my jobs have afforded me a pretty good lifestyle, with fewer watches than some, and working in an air-conditioned space my entire career (as opposed to a space that could reach in excess of 120 degrees or so). I don’t typically get dirty, my job is pretty safe and affords me the chance to be on the computer a lot (and browse Chive frequently). I’m spoiled to tell you the truth.

Things are different each ship…you’ll notice that I was on an Aircraft Carrier (CV-64) and two Destroyers (the DDG’s). On the Carrier, there’s about 5,500 people! Life is more laid back, because the job is split up between the people a lot better; for instance, in my Division (as an Electronics Technician), we had about 35-40 people at any point in time spread across three work centers. My work center had about 10-12 people, and we only really had the work for less than half of that. I’m going to focus on the Destroyer life, as we’re talking 250 people, and about 14 in my Division (as an Information Systems Technician). The reason I’m going to is for this simple fact: I was on a Carrier over 10 years ago, it was a non-nuclear Carrier (of which there are no more that are commissioned) and that was pre-9/11 and things have changed. The Navy is going through a draw-down right now, and the same number of personnel aren’t on the ships as there used to be. I can’t speak about working on Carriers anymore just because it’s probably changed so much.

However….this is deployment #3 on a Destroyer, which is where I’ve spent 4 of the last 7 years (between the Preble and the Halsey). There are fewer people on a Destroyer, and everyone is specialized. I have both Communications personnel and LAN (computer) personnel, because that’s the two sides of our rate. Some of my guys are good in both, some lean one way or the other. For most of my career, we have done 12 hour watches (0700-1900 or 1900-0700) while underway. That may sound like a lot, but, honestly, when you’re underway, what else is there to do? That still gives you 12 hours or so (minus other responsibilities that you have to be involved in, I’ll get to that).

However, that’s not the norm. Most watchstanders (which is mostly everyone but Supply and Admin personnel, along with the cooks) are on 5-hour rotations. Because I’m the Chief and don’t stand watch in my workspace, standing it in my departmental workspace, I fall into this 5-hour rotation. The rotation is as follows: 0700-1200, 1200-1700, 1700-2200, 2200-0200 (yes, only 4 hours) and 0200-0700. We relieve on the half hour prior to the watch, so for a 0700-1200 watch, I’m actually on watch from 0630-1130. This is to accommodate meals and turning the watch over properly (passing down all applicable information).

Sounds easy, right? Well, just wait…some people are in 3-sections, some are in 4-sections, I’m not going to lie, 4-sections is pretty easy. That means if I have the 0700-1200 watch (as I did today), then tomorrow I have the 0200-0700 watch (always the watch previous, since there are 5 watches in a day). And, it always works like that: the 1700-2200 watch today will have the 1200-1700 watch tomorrow.

Three section though…that means that after the 0700-1200 watch, you’ll then have the 2200-0200 watch, and then the next day you’ll have the 1200-1700 and the 0200-0700 watch, etc. Essentially you get 10 hours off for every 5 hours of watch you’re standing.

There are many places that people stand watch: the Bridge, Combat, Engineering spaces, individual workspaces, etc. Most Chief Petty Officers and Junior Officers stand watch in either Combat, Engineering or the Bridge. There are too many different watches for me to list them here. Each one has a different responsibility: for example, I’m trying to get qualified as CSOOW (Combat Systems Officer of the Watch) and our responsibility is oversight for the entire Combat Systems suite, which essentially includes all electronic equipment, including Fire Control Systems, Communications, Navigation and Display systems (the consoles in Combat). In a couple months, I’ll be standing CICWO (Combat Information Center Watch Officer), where I’ll be responsible for the communications circuits that the Combat watchstanders are using (among other things).

Please keep in mind that for many of us, “standing watch” is not our only responsibility. Actually, for very few people is that the case. I still have to run my division and accomplish all my jobs (I’ll get into those later), which for the most part I have to do outside of my watch. I have many meetings each day (the price for being a Chief Petty Officer) and get woke up when circuits/systems go down. It’s not like I can work 5 hours, have 15 hours off, then work 5 hours and that’s all I’m doing. There are some days when I have to work 16 hours or so for the day to get my stuff done. That’s probably not too far from the norm. I get about 5-6 hours of sleep a day (I need some relaxation/decompression time, which I’ll get into in a later blog).

On top of that, there are ship-wide evolutions, like Replenishments at Sea (RAS), which is when we get new supplies, mail, fuel, parts for equipment, etc. Those require working parties and the working parties are made up of people not on watch. Personnel in the lower paygrades also have maintenance that needs to be done (we have a system called 3M-Maintenance and Material Management), where we conduct preventative maintenance (like getting your oil changed before your engine seizes) on all of our equipment.

The reality though? What else are we going to do? It’s not like we have families to go home to. Nor is there enough common space that we can just “hang out” a lot. We can “hang out” in our workcenters, but who wants to do that when you’re not on watch? Well, you’d be surprised…many people hang out for a considerable amount of time after watch.

That’s all for now…if there’s any questions, put them in the comments and I’ll answer them there. I hope this was informational for you non-Navy personnel that may be reading this.

I am re-posting Part I and Part II of this series of blogs, as I never finished posting the rest last year. This can be a refresher for those who read my following blogs. Enjoy!

For some reason, I’ve been pretty nostalgic about my Naval career lately. Maybe it’s the fact that I recently went over 12 1/2 years in the Navy and extended until almost my 15-year mark, or that I’m transferring back to the Fleet (the USS Halsey). However, it’s likely due to the fact that I had to essentially break down my career and explain it to my wife, the wonderful Mary, as she’s a new Navy wife and Navy life can be confusing. Essentially, this series of blogs started off as a long email to her, and I just decided to clean them up, expand on some things, and post them.

So, I’ll spend some time writing about my Naval Career, which may bore some of you, and it may educate some of you. Hopefully it’s more educational and interesting than boring. I’m going to get specific on some things, but I’ll try to make it easily digestible for those who aren’t familiar with the Navy. I do want to caution, for those that are in the Navy, there are times when I’m going to be pretty generic (like with my job descriptions, shipboard life, etc.), so please understand that and don’t hammer me on the minutiae. Not to mention, for you Navy youngin’s, things likely have changed in the 13 years since I went to boot camp. This is simply my recollection of how things happened. And, please, no one take offense to anything like my dislike of factory work-it just wasn’t for me.

Why I came in:
In May 1997, I decided I was sick of college, so I dropped out. I touched on that in my post about college, so I won’t harp on it here. I moved back to Battle Creek, living with my best friend Dave, and working in a factory. I had worked in that factory for two summers previously, once as a temp through Manpower, the other as “summer help” through the factory. I realized quickly that factory work was not right for me, despite the fact that I was working 90+ hours a week and gobbling up any overtime I could get at the time. I knew that if I stayed in Michigan (specifically, the Battle Creek area), that I’d end up always working at a factory. I had originally looked into joining the Navy Reserves earlier that year while I was still in college, but that didn’t materialize. So, when I had enough of college, I just decided to actually join the Navy.

Let me say one thing though-I’d never had any intentions whatsoever to come into the Military. I really, really did not think I was cut out for it. In High School, as my friend Justin was preparing for entrance into the USAF Academy, I was intent on going to college. My father was in the Navy from 1971-1978, but didn’t leave under particularly good circumstances, and never talked much about it until after I was in the Navy. I had a Grandfather who’d been in the Air Force, another in the Army, an uncle who was also in the Army, and a great-something or other that was also in the Navy, but I never had considered myself to have any sort of military lineage. It honestly came about very quickly, and I can not say it that I regret it at all, as obviously I’ve had a great career thus far.

I was a Recruiter’s dream for the most part: I came in and said “I’m joining the Navy, we just gotta figure out what I’m going to do”. I say for the most part because I had to get some waivers due to a couple of misdemeanor arrests and a minor history of drug use. In June, I took the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) and did well on it, then taking the Nuclear Field Qualifying Test, which I missed by a couple of points (and I was OK with that-I knew I didn’t want to be a “Nuke”). They dangled a $4,000 bonus in front of me to come into the Advanced Electronics Computer Field (AECF) and I jumped on it-I just had to wait until October to come in (known as being in DEP, short for “Delayed Entry Program”). I came in with intentions of being a Data Systems Technician (DS), which is the computer hardware technicians, but that rate was phased out the month that I came in, and eventually I ended up being an Electronics Technician (ET) instead, which I’ll talk more about in a later post. DS’s, ET’s and Fire Controlmen (FC’s) were all taken from the Advanced Electronics Tech Core (AETC) school, so when you came in AECF, you didn’t have any guarantee of what Rating you would eventually be.

That summer, I kept working the factory job until a week before I shipped out for boot camp. I spent that last week relaxing, packing up my apartment and watching things like the entire Star Wars trilogy, and McHale’s Navy. Seriously.

Don’t get me wrong, as much as I wanted to come in and get away from living in Michigan, it wasn’t easy as the time approached. At that time, I had a girlfriend and my own apartment, and I was getting rather nervous and had essentially changed my mind. However, a minor car accident one day cemented my entry into the Navy, as I had to spend the last $100 to my name just to get my car towed back to my mom’s house and I realized that I needed a fresh start.

I was originally supposed to come in on October 27th; however, a snowstorm and the ensuing loss of power at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) delayed my entry by a day. They said they’d still start my ADSD (Active Duty Start Date, and thus, my pay) that day, but it never happened. I think that was really the only lie or misconception during my processing into the Navy. Instead, what we did get was an extra night in the hotel in Lansing, Michigan, and I was able to watch Game 7 of the World Series. The next day, I flew to Chicago, IL, went to the USO and rode a bus to Great Lakes for Recruit Training (Boot Camp).

Boot Camp:

When you arrive at Boot Camp (in Great Lakes, IL), they typically put everyone in a 900-Division. All Divisions are numbered (by Fiscal Year), and the 900 Divisions are the ceremonial divisions (think “Color Guard”) and there’s one with each graduation group. I don’t know much what the differences are regarding what they miss out on, but they do a lot more drill (flags, rifles, etc.), and a lot less of getting their a**es kicked like the rest of us. Once they have enough recruits to start breaking up into divisions, they do so. You can spend several days at Boot Camp (which I did) before you are even in your permanent division. They do the medical stuff during P-Days (Processing Days), at which point they can’t “PT” or “beat” you (make you work out, etc.) (NOTE: If I had come in a day earlier as I was supposed to, I would’ve been in a graduating class a week earlier and my entire career trajectory would have been changed!)

Boot camp was…well…not as bad as I thought. It wasn’t easy per se, but I survived. Not without issues, mind you: I got in trouble once (can’t remember why, but knowing me, it was likely for mouthing off) and was “punished” by being put on the “Nasty Nine” (which were the berthing cleaners) and being put on the Watch rotation for the Quarterdeck (entrance) of the “ship” (we refer to out buildings as “ships” in boot camp, ours was the USS The Sullivans, named for 5 brothers who were all lost when they were stationed together on the same ship and it was sunk), in addition to some extra PT, of course.

The thing was, neither of those punishments were real punishments-as part of the “Nasty Nine”, we got up and went to breakfast early, then came back and cleaned berthing as the rest of the Division was eating breakfast. We then marched ourselves to wherever we were meeting up with the Division. It was actually a pretty good deal in my opinion, and my biggest responsibility was taking out the trash. As far as being on the the Quarterdeck watch for the building, they didn’t put me on it after TAPS (bedtime), so it didn’t affect my sleep-it only affected me missing some of the training and evolutions that the rest of the Division was part of. And, although I sometimes got yelled at, it was more interesting than sitting in class all the time.

Our RDC’s (Recruit Division Commanders) were very difficult, particularly since one of them was going through a divorce at the time. I know they were difficult because our “brother” division was located in an adjacent room, and I would later be told that they were often woken up by the sound of us getting our a**es beat in the morning. But, you know what? We survived. They were on a mission to make us the best Division in the Graduating class, as we were the only ones without a “Nuke” (at least according to them). Academically we were the best: we were the only ones to be a “Battle E” Division, which, although I can’t remember the specifics for achievement, meant that we had a certain overall grade level among all 70+ recruits in the Division.

So, what did we do during boot camp? Well, here’s the Navy’s official rundown. Essentially, we do physical training (PT); get a lot of medical stuff taken care of, including a ton of shots; get drug tested when we get there (which sent a lot of people home); learn the basics about the Navy, attention to detail, Navy heritage, ranks, etc; learn firefighting and marksmanship (although, as I went in the winter, we had a rifle range simulator, I never fired a live weapon in boot camp); and learned about Navy/Military programs, such as the Montgomery GI Bill. Also, a big part of it is getting fitted for all of our uniforms, then learning the proper wear, care and stowage of the uniforms. We also get taught basic hygiene things, and honestly, I never really learned to shave until I was in boot camp. We get paid during this time, although it’s weeks before we see any of that money, and during boot camp we only are able to spend it on the necessities (shampoo, phone cards, etc.) when permitted. I came into the Navy as an E-3 (Enlisted, third paygrade)., not an E-1 like most of my fellow recruits, and I made a few hundred dollars more during boot camp than most of them did, although we were all referred to as Seaman Recruits, despite the fact that I was technically a Seaman

The most difficult part of boot camp, other than the exercising and getting yelled at constantly, was being cut off from your family. I think we had something like 3-5 chances to call home in the two-plus months we were there. The first one is shortly after you arrive, just to tell your parents that you got there safely and you’ll contact them again in a few weeks. For one of the later phone calls, we were allowed on the phone for something like 2 minutes, then yelled at and forced to hang up. It was rather deflating at the time to finally be talking to a loved one again, and barely being able to say “hi”, that you love them, and “bye”. But, again-we survived, and such is life. The sad thing is that as the time has gone by, I’ve gotten used to just that-sometimes going for weeks, a month (or more) without contact with some of my loved ones.

During one of the weeks in boot camp, we had “Service Week”. It came around the halfway point, and we were assigned different jobs, mostly in the Galley, with mostly everyone preparing food, serving food, or cleaning or whatever. After a day working in the Bakery, I was put on a “Tiger Team” that essentially had to shovel snow, as there was a lot of it (it was late November). It sounds bad, but it was at least interesting, and mostly we took turns shoveling snow for a half hour, then came back inside to warm up for a half hour or so, then went back out. As much as I hate snow, at least it kept me awake and alert. When we weren’t shoveling snow, we did other odd jobs as well-whatever we were told to do.

Since we had passed Service Week by Christmas, we were allowed to go on the “Adopt-A-Sailor” program, where people in the surrounding communities would come and get some Sailors, sign them out and take them to their homes for a home cooked meal and some time away from the rigors of boot camp. We were instructed to stay in uniform all day, but the family I was with had sweat pants and sweat shirts for us (two others from my Division were adopted by the same family that I was) to wear so we could be more comfortable. It was nice, and although we couldn’t bring any gifts back or anything, the family I was with bought us some “gifts”, which were things like candy and snacks for us to eat there that day.

I spent my 22nd birthday in boot camp, which was interesting considering I was actually born at Naval Station Great Lakes when my father was stationed there. At 2206 (10:06pm for some of you) on December 22nd, I was just getting into my “rack” (bed) after standing a watch on the Quarterdeck. I laid there for a few minutes, just thinking about how I’d come full-circle, in essence, in my 22 years.

Graduation:

For the final evolution of boot camp, the divisions do “Battle Stations“, although what we did was an early iteration of it (not exactly like what is described in the article). This was (as it is now) essentially the culmination of all that you’ve learned in boot camp, and putting that to practical use. And, as rough as it was, and as much as we were stressing it, it was one of the most fun evolutions during boot camp.

I graduated Navy Recruit Training on December 31, 1997. My mom, sister, best friend (Dave) and girlfriend (at the time) came for the graduation. Unfortunately, my father did not, and at the time that really upset me, as I was graduating from Boot Camp some 26+ years after he had graduated from Navy boot camp (also at Great Lakes). It hurt to look out into the crowd and not see him, and I teared up a bit.

Due to the timing of the graduation, we had an extended “booter weekend” (5 days, since 12/31 was a Wednesday), and then we returned to RTC (Recruit Training Command) Great Lakes until January 7th, in a weird status where we were no longer Recruits, but we were still there at Boot Camp. It was fine though, as we didn’t have much further instruction (classes), and there was only minimal PT and other responsibilities. Our RDC’s were actually nice to us at that point, and I remember actually being able to sit and read, or talk with others during that time.

UP NEXT: My Naval Career, Part II (Follow-on Training), 1998-1999