Hello 2010! Well I am officially in the New Year. Woo! Hopefully next year I am in the states so that I can celebrate appropriately!
Category: Family
Merry Christmas From Afar!
Posted by – December 26, 2009
So this is my first time away from home for Christmas. When I was in Japan, I was given the opportunity to take leave during the Christmas period and took it every time. This year is obviously different since I am out here in the Middle East doing what I do best. Obviously there are a lot of service men and women where this is the norm, but since it is my first time, it is a little bit more rough. I hope this will not be a norm for me and those who this is just another day, thank you for your service and now understand what it is like to be home away for Christmas.
Merry Christmas to all and hope everyone has a Happy New Years.
Finally Arrived in San Diego
Posted by – July 8, 2009
Well, I am aboard my new ship in San Diego. It certainly has been some time since I’ve written a post about myself and what I have been up to. The last month has been pretty hectic being on my new ship, and the two months prior to that, not really much going on to write about. When I left Japan, I mentioned that I would be on leave, then to GCCS school before I arrived. Now that I am here, and been on board my new ship for a little over a month, I can elaborate on how things are here and how they compare to how it was in Japan.
First is the GCCS school, which I did in Virginia Beach, VA prior to arriving here. The class wasn’t all that bad and I learned a whole lot that I took for granted when I was on my last ship. Obviously without this school, it is a bit more difficult to comprehend what was going on, but I can say I could have done a bit more to learn the system while I was there and help out as much as I could before I rolled out. It wasn’t a difficult class, and the system itself can run smooth, but from my memory in Japan, the main problem lied with the user more than the administrator, and that was confirmed when I took the class. My ship doesn’t have the upgraded version for what I went to school for, but I already know that no matter how smooth the upgrade goes here, it is up to the users to be able to use the system properly and that a reboot isn’t always the answer, though in some cases it could possibly be.
So I’ve been in San Diego now for a month, and comparing ship to ship, where I am now is a whole lot better than where I was before, but as far as where I was at, Japan was the greatest place ever and I miss it like crazy. I get along with my chain of command a whole lot better, and the op-tempo is a whole lot more relaxed, but I miss getting off of work, heading outside of the main gate and rolling into the Honch. Here, you have to drive to get to where you want to go, or taxi, and unless you can walk to your residence, you have to cab it. Like anywhere, DUIs are career killers, and unfortunately, are a lot more common in the states.
I did get to experience a very brief underway with the ship to Seal Beach, but I did demonstrate my tech control abilities and surprisingly enough was accepted amongst the crew. My division lacks in experience when it comes to tech control, and since before I left Japan, I made sure I knew as much about tech control that I could take some of the load for the guys. The first day I checked on board, everyone referred to me as the tech control guy; I guess it really was that bad. Maybe because being of being out at sea so much, the ADP guys had more opportunities to learn the tech control side. Too bad I can’t say the same for the tech control guys learning ADP while in port. Also, with the exception of my Chief, no one had been stationed in the FDNF, so when we get off by 3, complaints of being let out late come up. Oh, if they only knew. My Chief and I just shake our heads and chuckle.
The biggest thing that I’ve honestly been missing is being out to sea. My ship is currently in the yards and won’t get out to sea until towards the end of the year for sea trials. I hate to admit this, but being out at sea at least gave me a purpose of doing my job, and just sitting in the yards doesn’t do much for me. What worries me the most is my tech control knowledge, and how much of it I will remember when I go out to sea. Some of the equipment in the shop I hadn’t had a chance to learn as far as tech control goes and I want to get my hands on them, but can’t while in dry dock. Never thought I’d see myself saying how much I miss being out at sea. Guess you just get used to it.
Well, I have bigger news for my next blog, but didn’t want to reveal it just yet, but when I get close to finishing up paperwork for what I am doing next, I’ll be sure to give the full spill.
Hope people still read my blog since it’s been so long since I’ve written anything.
Barred Command Ballcaps
Posted by – April 13, 2009
It has been a few weeks since I have written anything, mainly because I’ve been on PCS leave and haven’t had much Navy interaction in the last few weeks. Well now I do have something to write about and I am pissed about the latest change in the Navy.
Command ballcaps have been around for the last four decades and now with the NWU replacing the utilities, there really is no need to have them anymore.
From the Navy Times:
In early December, when the Navy released its rules for wear of the new Navy Working Uniform, it barred ball caps from being worn with the blue-and-gray camouflage ensemble. Instead, sailors must wear the Marine-style eight-point cover. More…
First NAM/Going Away Party
Posted by – March 14, 2009
I was given my first Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for my end of tour award aboard my ship. 3 Years of service on this thing and I got what I earned for busting my ass, not getting into trouble and keeping a somewhat positive attitude. I thought it was funny that when I got it, a lot of people were surprised to find out that I was leaving soon. The CMC looked baffled to find out that I was leaving and asked me to reassure him that I was indeed leaving the ship for good. One of the Chief’s mentioned that my NAM sounded a lot better than the other 8 people who got awards. I’m not going to lie, I did do a lot while I was here.
I have less than a week left on board and my flight is situated and my check out sheet is in progress of getting filled out with the signatures of the appropriate people. The most important one though is that Commanding Officer signature, which I should have in the next few days. After that, on the 20th, I will be heading over to TPU so that I don’t get charged leave for the extra days I remain in Japan until I fly home. Things are falling into place the way I wanted and I will be off in no time.
If you are reading this, and don’t already know who I am, I will be out in the Honch Friday, March 20th partying it up with the crew. Just ask for DriK and they will point you in my way. I know I am not as popular as Jim for his website, but if you are still interested in knowing who I am, that is where I will be.
Home Stretch
Posted by – January 15, 2009
I now have less than 3 months left aboard and I am anticipating the day when I can finally check off this ship for good. Though I have had a rough time while here, I know that leaving I have experienced a lot of great things and accomplished a lot being an IT.
At the end of March I will be transferring out of Yokosuka, Japan and will be heading home to Buena Park, California for 30 days of R&R. From there, I will be heading down to Virginia Beach, Virginia for a 26 day school for a system I dreaded since the day I heard of it. Originally I was to go to GCCS-M 3.x and take leave, but my orders were modified and I will be going for 4.x. Those who don’t know what the X stands for, it is for Xtra Shitty – Thanks Pip for the run down! The upside of this is that I will be near New Jersey for Bamboozle. Bayside will be playing there and when I saw them in February last year, it blew my mind and couldn’t wait to see them again. I get my chance in May, so Jersey here I come! After that, I will head down to San Diego for my ultimate duty station and be there for just over a year. I will be able to drive and live in a house, things will be looking up for me back in the great state of California. Since I will be there for only a year, months after reporting I will be in my window once again to decide where I go next. This time I will be eligible for shore duty which means no going out to sea for me!
Re-enlistment sounds like an option at this point because how shitty the economy is so might as well stay here with guaranteed job security. The debate I have is where to go next? Two options have rolled through my mind; stay in San Diego for shore duty or go back to Yokosuka and get to enjoy everyday knowing that I won’t be going out to sea! I’ve mentioned this plan to one person already and they were not very happy with that. I know that I have protested how much I miss my family being out here, but I think my anger was mainly directed towards the ship and people I see and work with everyday. The schedule is pretty shitty too, but when we get ports, I rarely have a disappointing time, but going around in circles for at least a week, I think we can do better with our time like enjoy it in one of the neighboring countries. I understand that we have a mission, but doing exercises over and over again does get overdrawn and probably makes things worse for us in the end. Everyone is capable of defending the ship and our country if it ever came to that, but breaks in between do help build the morale of the crew and makes us want to do a better job at it knowing the rewards accompanying it. If passing an inspection meant Thailand, you know I’d put my blood and sweat into it. That doesn’t happen though because just before a port visit, and exercise slips in and it is crucial that we participate so we know what we are doing, so why bother.
Can’t believe it is my turn in line to roll out from this ship. With all the BMD missions, the carrier and dual carrier operations and to top it off, and complete network upgrade, I think I’ve done pretty well for myself by not blowing my brains out being here. When it is all said and done, I know I’ll miss this place, not so much the people but definitely Japan.
Goodbye Tradition Part II
Posted by – December 11, 2008
My first post that I wrote about how the Navy is changing the uniform was about my distaste for the Khaki uniforms. I touched a bit on the other uniforms that were in development for change, but because of the lack in information, I couldn’t really say much about them. That is a good thing for me because for every new uniform that prepares to roll out, I will give my opinions on the uniform. The next item out will be the replacement for utilities for E-6 and below, and the wash Khakis for E-7 and above.
From the start, I never really supported the changing of utilities because it is another uniform that has been in the Navy for a long time. Not as long as the whites and blues that we wear that are being replaced by the Khakis, but they were around before WWII era which anyone can say is a long time. The utilities were modified not too long ago from dungarees which were the uniform for a long time, but at least they remained somewhat similar besides the material they were used out of. Now the utilities are being completely removed and replaced by the camouflage Navy Working Uniform.
The first to officially wear these uniforms will be Flag Officers, COs, OICs and CMCs throughout the Navy December 15th. By December 31st 2010, it will be required by all hands fleetwide. When first announced, it was put out that you could wear this uniform anywhere just like the other branches, but after review, just like the utilities you can not leave your vehicle in the uniform unless it is a “genuine” emergency.
These uniforms were still in the testing phase when I was in boot camp and at the time, I thought they were decent looking uniforms. I was hoping that the Navy would decide against the digital style, but instead they did choose them, and that was chosen as the replacement uniform for utilities. The Navy was close to replacing the coveralls uniform as well with these, but because of the popularity of coveralls, especially for underway time, the Navy decided to keep them around which I am glad the Navy for once decided to listen to the little guys.
My dislike for the uniform is the digital style of them. We are not marines or soldiers, well the majority of the Navy anyways, and that is what the Navy is making us look like. All Navy uniforms stood out amongst the rest of the services and now they want us to conform to what everyone else is looking like. I know we are at war, but the majority of the Navy is out at sea. What do we need to blend into to keep the enemy from finding out where we are. The uniforms aren’t going to keep us stealth at sea, because when they see that haze gray piece of metal floating around, I think it would be a hint that it is a Naval vessel patrolling. Then again we will be wearing coveralls anyways, so what is the real reason behind changing to this uniform?
Master Chief Terry Scott (RET), then MCPON said:
“The intent of TFU always has been to give our Sailors a uniform in which they can work comfortably everyday and is more appropriate for the joint environment in which we operate,” Scott said. “Even better, we’ve created a uniform that’s also easier to maintain, is longer lasting, helps reduce the size of the sea bag, while at the same time recognizing the tradition and heritage of serving in the Navy.”
Conformity is the answer and I have to say why do we have to conform? When in the Navy’s history was there a time where everyone wore camouflage uniforms? When we are at war, I can understand wearing of these types of uniforms, but only for those who were sent to the war zone. What happened to the pride of having a squared away uniform? To me, the term easier is just a substitute for laziness and that is what the Navy is becoming.
I just don’t like the overall fact that the Navy is changing and conforming to the rest of the branches. I like being unique and having completely different uniforms than the other services. I like the idea of earning the Khaki uniform and not having them just given to me.
I’m Going Home
Posted by – October 8, 2008
I finally got orders, and they are to San Diego. I will be detaching this command early next year and will be off to school, then to my new command. When I received notification that I was denied orders, and asked if they denied all of my requests, I was told yes. With that, I was requested to call to negotiate orders and I told them what I wanted, a ship in San Diego. Only three ships were available and two of them were big decks, which I told myself in the beginning that I was going to stay away from those. My last option was a small boy that I am used to and I got verbal approval of the offer.
Now I must wait for the paper copy to roll into message traffic so that I can figure out when and how I am going to get out of this place. I have been out here for over 2 1/2 years and it got really old quick. I guess as people left and new people rolled in, it was different adapting to however they did work. I was really used to how things went in the beginning, and when a change of command occured, things just went crazy with their policies and way to conduct business. Now I am going to a new command and being in the FDNF, I am used to how I do business and going to a ship that spends a lot more time inport than I am used to. The second we get underway I have high expectations only because that is what the FDNF has taught me.
I will do my best not to be that guy no one wants to work with because I want work to get done and will be an asshole to make sure it gets done, but the Navy is Navy, and I will bring the FDNF standards to San Diego, the useful ones anyways. And, I don’t mind being corrected, especially being in an area where things are done completely different than what is expected in the FDNF. Hopefully I will get Workcenter Supervisor and CSTT while I am there, since I am not getting it here.
I can finally be with my family again and spend a lot more time with my Dad like I used to. I will definately miss Japan and the good times I had. One thing I can expect is a lot of my friends from here will be in San Diego, so I won’t miss things too much. I am ready to start over yet pick up where I left off! San Diego here I come!
Desert Duty?
Posted by – September 11, 2008
I am in my fourth and last cycle for negotiating orders of where I want to transfer to after Japan. This cycle there are absolutely no orders that I am willing to take because either the NEC is not what I want or the location is other than San Diego.
Why these to things matter to me is because I already have the NEC 2735, Network Admin and I am good at it. The only NECs listed for San Diego are for systems like GCCS-M or SNAP III, that do nothing but make me the SME in one area and gives everyone the excuse to pass work on to me. I am not going to be the only one who knows how to fix GCCS everytime an OS can’t establish a connection or run backups for NTCSS for my whole tour. I do still have sea time left, so no matter what I am going to a ship, but what I am trying to do is keep from getting the bullshit work that I know I would reporting to a new command with these NECs. I am content with the work I have already.
Also, I am from California and that is where my family is at. A few months ago there was a tragedy and I was no where around when it happened. I found out after it had already occured and had to wait three days before I could be flown back home. My family needs me now more than ever and San Diego is the closest place to home.
My options have been narrowed down to not selecting orders and see if they’ll give me an opportunty to get orders next month, or go IA. I don’t think that anyone in my chain of command or detailer would approve of me not putting in for orders. I’ve emailed my detailer about going IA to see if I can negotiate what I want for my return. Hopefully we can work something out and I am back home with my family doing work I am already good at, because that is all I want
Conflict…
Posted by – June 19, 2008
So there is a pissing contest going on between the department heads. From one of my previous posts, I explained that one of our servers went down because of an overheated toggle switch and put the the whole server rack out of commission. Well earlier this week we got the part in and needs to be put in so that the toggle switch from the rack we took temporarily can have one again and take down the ghetto ass rigged UPS.
I figured this was going to be a two second deal, take the new toggle and put it in the rack that does not have a toggle switch already there. Obviously the quickest and painless way to go about this, but at the department head level, well they want it done a different way. Take the temporary toggle out of the server that had the busted one, and put it back in its original rack and put the new toggle where the busted one was. Definitely the most time consuming process, but from what was explained to me was that by doing this, it would determine if the toggle went bad, or something else inside the rack and finding out the true source of the issue. More…
Thoughts
Posted by – June 15, 2008
Well I am back in Japan after a 2 week underway with no visit to Korea as planned. Instead we went around in circles near the Mariana Islands, more importantly Guam, and commanded the skies for Kitty Hawk. Once again our ship is shafted into the Air Defense Commander position and thanked by taking away a port. Pusan isn’t the greatest port in the world, but does beat circling the Pacific with nothing to amount to except the fact that our ship has no problem canceling, or being told to cancel, a port visit cause the ship can’t take care of itself. Another pat on the back well earned.
Well tomorrow is Fathers Day and once again I am not home for it. My Dad and I are really close and it kills me that I can’t spend as much time with him as I did before I joined the Navy. What’s even worse is that being in Japan makes it even harder to stay in contact with him. I try and send emails as often as I can with something new, or even just a hello letting him know I’m alright. I mean, I joined the Navy to be an IT cause that is what he does and I’m my Father’s Son. He has been there for me my whole life, from camping to surfing, skating…just about everything I’ve accomplished, except for the Navy. He’s only been there for my boot camp graduation, and that is it as far as the Navy goes. If I was in San Diego, he would have been there for my advancements, my awards…so many things and he can’t because of the distance. He has his work to do and I have mine. More…