Text 18177, 96 rader
Skriven 2007-07-24 11:40:00 av hap newsom
     Kommentar till en text av Carol Shenkenberger
Ärende: Re: DISASTROUS 476
==========================
Howdy Carol!
-> 
-> -> Sasebo, japan docks.  Very stressful actually as it's tempo stuffs what 
-> hn> you'd 
-> -> normally do in 9 months, into 2 months.
-> 
-> hn> AND standing watches as well? Been there, hated that! (grin) We 
were 
-> hn> always port and starboard in port, but at the end of the work  day the
-> hn> duty section got liberty...not when we were pressed though, NO one 
got
-> hn> liberty...duty section stood the watch and the off duty section kept o
-> hn> working ...Yard Periods are supposed to be a bit of a break...Doesn't
-> hn> like your's is gonna be though.
-> 
-> It's no picnic but we survive.  The AC will be off and the 02 will be 100-
105F.
-> 
Been there done that too....have had to sleep in berthing (on the tender) in 
Guam when the temps IN berthing were over 100F....you just get used to 
sleeping in a puddle of your own sweat!

-> I wanna whine a little.  Normally as section leader, I put in more work 
before 
-> the duty day happens than anyone else on their duty day.  This time i 
stand 
-> watches too (whine!).  I just couldnt wrap my brain around someone else 
-> standing 2 watches on a duty day though and me with none.  I staked out 
the 
-> 20-24 OOD for me and only have to carry 2 watches on one duty day (did 
the same
-> 
-> for all my people as none have 2 except once).  Being a section leader is a 
-> major PITA.  I have to even inspect berthings twice a day (takes 1.5 
hours each
-> 
-> time), and be up for every midnight muster (well, I grant so do my duty 
-> department heads for that).  It's writing the watchbills that really tips
the 
-> scales.  It 'sounds' simple but balancing them to truely 'fair' over a 2 
month 
-> period isnt something you whip out in 15 mins.
-> 
-> {whine} Ok, I'm over it <grin>.
-> 
See, you're waaaaay out of practice on whining (grin)! You've just been a 
chief too long (grin) a good "indian" could have kept it up for two or three 
pages !

-> We are not in port/starboard though.  We worked out 6 section.  Some 
days, 
-> 'sister section' which means 3 section but only during the day do they 
have to 
-> help out (no overnight).  Now, regular work may have some folks there 
som 
-> days til 6pm or later, but I can't fix that.  Been there, done that. Summer 
-> 2002 I had to be there (other ship) til 20:00 every night and onboard 
overnight
-> every 3rd day too.  It sucked as it was 2 of the 3 months we had in port 
that 
-> year.
-> 
That's the blessing of having umpty thousand sailors on your ship...we only 
had 125 or so on my boat...so P&S was the norm and for some of us P&S just 
meant spinning around our hat and calling ourselves the other section 
(grin), "Now I'm port, Now I'm starboard" ! Heck I only had 6-9 people in my 
gang...no other way to get the job done! At the beginning of every patrol we 
always did a mini refit..to repair and upgrade anything that needed it...when 
you're on patrol you don't have access to ANYTHING that you didn't bring 
with you and you're NOT going to see ANY ports or liberty, heck you'll only 
see the surface through a periscope (grin). You HAD to get everything done 
by the scheduled day for you to be operational...so you just stay on board 
and get it done. Of course the other thing about it is that on Guam we didn't 
have anybody "at home" to go to so it was easier to take just being on board 
and working round the clock. I can't imagine the hassle of having to figure 
out the schedules for a watch section the size you deal with regularly! 

-> For the others, a stateside ship gets a 6 month time with a spread out 
schedule
-> 
-> for this sort of thing every 1.5 years and a very extended one (can be 2 
years 
-> long) every 6 years. We have to compress it out in the FDNF.  The 
Japanese are 
-> fantastic at working such compression out. You all have heard of the work 
ethic
-> 
-> of the Japanese, but you have to see the real thing in action.  Very very 
-> impressive.
->                                        xxcarol
-> 
Well, the nice thing is you still will be at home! 
chat with you soon
hap 
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