I have finished my tour in the Middle East, and to say the least, I would go back in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t go back for the same job, because it was simple and it’s not something I do on a continuous basis in the Navy, nor does it provide any real experience in the outside world. Needless to say my job out there wasn’t very demanding.

Also, while I was out there, I have been selected for orders to Norfolk, VA. As much of an effort I put into getting my current San Diego orders, my time here didn’t last very long and soon I will be heading to the other side of the country. I had no intention to leave California, but with my luck in the Navy, no orders for San Diego were in my cycle for selection. Of course now that I am selected for orders, San Diego just so happens to flood the orders list and I can’t do anything but watch while everyone else gets what they want. Don’t get me wrong, Virginia will be a new experience for me, but I would rather choose when to have those experiences. Once again, the Navy is going to pay hundreds of dollars to send me across the country which could be better spent on training and equipment, especially training!

The next question that I have been pondering is what to do next with my career in the Navy. Just the other day, I was visiting a former Chief of my division and, just like me, was in the same boat of what to do next. I obviously have a few options on the table, the first and foremost is staying in 20 years as enlisted. The problem I see with that is the career path I have been pushed in. I’ve done just about 4 years of “sea time” and nothing to really show of it. Usually by this time, an IT2 would have completed not just the basic requirements like on the job qualifications, but also collateral qualifications such as Work Center Supervisor (WCS), or part of a training team. I have yet been given the opportunity to do either, which I hoped going to my current command in San Diego would have let me to accomplish. Unfortunately, my IA orders pretty closed the doors on both jobs. Now I am going on to shore duty, with the opportunity for advancement starting as early as next year. Should I advance while I am at shore duty, my next sea tour would put me in an LPO position and without having done the WCS job, how am I expected to provide guidance when a junior Sailor asks me a question related to 3-M? The only thing I can possibly see myself doing is being both the WCS and LPO, which obviously wouldn’t be an easy task, but definitely something I could very well do. It’s just troubling that it would come to this, but would increase my chances to becoming a Chief.

Then there is the Officer route, which no one would say is a bad idea. It’s just what route would I go to become an officer, Officer Candidate School (OCS) or Limited Duty Officer (LDO). Either way I decide to go, should I choose to become an Officer, in order to be effective, and I say this in the utmost least disrespectful way, I could not be a Chief. I could not make the rank of E-7, and then become an Officer, not because I think being a Chief is bad, but being an enlisted member that is below E-7 has a better opportunity to feel more for a division than someone who was once a Chief. The mentality between a Chief, and someone E-6 and below is extremely different, and in my experience, I’ve had a better work relationship with the LDOs and OCS Officers that were given their gold bars without having made Chief. Maybe I am the only one who feels this way, and I can very well assure myself I am one in a very few who do, but that has been my impression since I’ve been in, which year number 5 will be completed in a few months.

Then, the obvious option would be to just get out after shore duty, which for some people is the right decision, not because they just aren’t good enough to stay in, but that they can serve a better purpose elsewhere.  The Navy isn’t cut out for everyone, and I am back and forth on the subject as to whether I actually contribute to the Navy’s mission, which I am still unclear as to what that is.  Either way, should I choose to get out, I would have to make every effort to set myself up for success so that when I transition out I have a laid out plan as to what I am going to do.  I do know what I want to do when I get out, which is become a teacher, hopefully at the high school I graduated from, but things change and with the experience I’ve gained within the Navy, I could very well get a job with the DoN and work at something like SPAWAR, which has definitely crossed my mind a few times.

So those are some of the options that have been pondering my mind as of late, and still unsure as to what to do.  Any experiences and thoughts on this would definitely help, but I understand it’s my actions that can make any of those things happen.

What makes this qualification more special is that it won’t be around forever, and will only get harder to obtain as the years go by and begin moving out of the countries.  I have no idea when we will finally get out of here, besides what the papers have said, but either way the program will only get more limited as time goes and commands shut down.

Now that I have this qualification, not only am I salty having my ESWS pin, but I have gotten myself sandy as well with my EXW pin.

Though I am not in San Diego like I wanted to, I did mention before that going out here would be an option for me.  I didn’t mention, though, that the ship I currently am attached to is in the yards for re-modernization to keep it going for many more years and that being IA would have been a better career move since my ship is just sitting in the yards for the good portion of the year billet I am filling.  Had I not gone IA, yeah, I would have been WCS, CSTT and other such things a 2nd class does when one arrives to a new command.  I can say that the billet I am filling out here is normally filled by an E-6 or E-7, so I definitely am gaining some experience points doing this.  Plus, the command I am at has the Expeditionary Warfare (EXW) program going and I am almost finished with that.  Not only will my chest say I am salty, but I was sandy as well.

I will be back to my command next year, but only for three more months to finish up my sea time and move on to shore duty.  That’s right, I am in my orders window once again and just like last time, I am not getting anything.  Well, I have only selected for once cycle so far, but for the three billets I put in for, I didn’t get anything.  This cycle has hit an all time low, though, because there are not IT2 billets for San Diego.  As much as I would love to stay in San Diego, I can’t just sit out a cycle, so I put in for orders on the East Coast.  Don’t worry; I didn’t put anything in for Virginia because any IT will tell you that those billets won’t get you anywhere.

Hopefully I won’t wait as long as I did to put up a new post.

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.

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.

Since the NWU mainly replaces two uniforms — utilities for sailors and wash khakis for chiefs and officers — that featured the ball cap, the new rules severely limit the circumstances in which a sailor can wear his ball cap with an official uniform.

The last official uniform that can be worn with a ball cap, the coveralls, is still authorized for shipboard use if the commander decides to use those in place of the NWUs. The new rules effectively limit the wearing of a ball cap to inside the skin of some ships. That’s a far cry from today, in which ball caps are as common on the waterfront as boots and rank insignia.

Commanding officers can still allow the wearing of the caps with the NWU — but only while onboard the ship. If you step off the ship wearing the ball cap, you are out of uniform.

It’s sad to see another uniform item that has been a distinctive part of the Navy go away with the changing of uniforms.  And again, another reason why I voice my outrage with the NWU and what it is doing to our Navy.  I was really pissed off at the SK2 who commented with:

“It’s a good thing that the Navy is finally fading out the command ball cap,” said Storekeeper 2nd Class (SW) Tom Murphy, with Navy Provisional Detainee Battalion 5 at Camp Bucca, Iraq.

“I don’t need to be an advertising billboard for whatever command I am assigned with and think about how much money the Navy spends on individual command ball caps.”

He said, for example, a carrier has 2,500 sailors in its ship’s company. At $8 per hat, the command is spending $20,000. “Then add up how many sailors are checking in every month to new commands that need a new command cover. It is a tremendous waste of money; keep command pride in our spirits NOT on our covers.”

The last time I checked, it was not up to the SKs to decide what command items are purchased and sold.  In fact, I believe that is an SH job, and with the money that is made selling the ball caps, it is put back into the ship for MWR purposes to help build crew morale, in theory.  The only thing the SKs do is making sure that the stuff is purchased, which is why I can see that he is glad, one less thing he has to do an open purchase for.  Way to prove how lazy the SK rate is bro, but I digress.

At least command patches are approved with the NWU so that something can be used to identify which command a sailor is at, but nothing could ever replace what the command ballcap represented.  As miserable as I was on my last ship, I was proud to walk around base wearing my command ballcap showing everyone that I was on the toughest FDNF ship on the waterfront.

It has been almost a week since I detached, but surprisingly enough, I was put into an interesting situation when I did walk off the brow.  I got a ride from one of the ITs down to TPU to get checked in since I was no longer attached, and my flight wasn’t until the following week, so why waste those leave days doing nothing?  When I got there, the MM2 at the door told me that I could only stay there if the ship was underway, while having a big smirk on his face.  I guess he thought this was humorous.  Anyways, I stayed at another friends house for the day to find a way to get things settled so I had somewhere to stay.  We tried the BOQ which told us we could only get a room if TPU was full, which it never is.  They also told us that because I was detached that TPU should take me because I am not attached to any ships out here and I am PCSing.  We then went back to TPU to talk with the BOQ so they can get this whole policy straightened out.  This time, we had an SHSN at the desk who looked a lot more eager to help me out than the MM2.  He talked to a CS2, who happened to be the husband of a CS1 on my ship who just said, “fuck it,” and got me into TPU.  6 days with out being charged leave and not having to be on a ship.  With the exception of the weekend I got while I was there, I did have to clean for a few days, but ultimately it was a lot worth it getting out at 1500 everyday.

I am now home in California on leave finally.  Next thing officially scheduled is my trip to Dam Neck, Virginia for my GCCS school.  Though I miss Japan, it got the last laugh.  It might have been something I ate, but I had not felt that sick in a very long time, plane ride and all.

March 20^th will be my official detaching day onboard my ship, though I do not fly out until the 26^th via MAC flight. The same day I detach will also be my last hoorah out in the Honch. I still need to sort out the details with Admin to find out if they will put me in TPU because I don’t fly out until the next week, or have to stay at a friends’ house. I really didn’t want to leave until the 23^rd for reason that I can not say, but unfortunately if I did do that, I would have to stand my last duty day on the 20^th.

At most normal commands, you would think that your CoC would do something appreciative like give you your last duty day off in regards to all the hard work you’ve done for the last 3 years, but instead I got something like, “we don’t believe in a last duty day off.” The last IT who tried to request a last duty day off was eventually yelled at because he didn’t feel he should route it to the Captain because anything given to the Captain, according to the command, you are to utilize the CoC for anything routed, especially when it will require the CO’s approval. Because my CoC doesn’t believe in it, they will not route it, and instead requested that I route a leave chit for that day. That becomes pointless since I would have to route it for the whole weekend since it begins on a Friday and my leave would start that Monday anyways, so that makes no sense. I just said fuck it and will detach as normal.

This goes to show how much my command cares about the morale and quality of life of its crew.  I will live on the streets than have to take any extra days on this ship. Only a few weeks left; that’s all I have to say about that!

The Navy conducts spotchecks to make sure that the maintenance man is performing the steps properly, in order and has all the tools, parts and any other items required to perform the check.  The inspectors are all E-7 and above because they are expected to guide and teach in the event a question comes up about a check that the person who did the maintenance didn’t quite comprehend or may not have noticed.

About two weeks ago, I was doing a spotcheck and unfortunately I did get an unsat.  At no point did I not perform the steps outlined in the MRC, but the fact that I made some really basic mistakes that I shouldn’t have.  I admit that I could have done a lot better being senior in the division, and experienced maintenance man, but the same goes to the inspector.  On the spotcheck form, it was annotated what I did wrong and I completely agreed.  It wasn’t until a few hours after the spotcheck that I was accused of another mistake that was not brought to my attention during the check.    Not only that, I was being made fun of and laughed at for my additional mistake.  At no point did I think what I did wrong was anything to laugh about.  Spotchecks are serious, and that goes for the inspector as well.  I felt pretty shitty about getting an unsat, but I was more pissed that they could just laugh about it.  The ship has a 3-M inspection in a few months, which I won’t be there for, and when it’s time to get even more serious about making sure people are doing their maintenance properly, they go down and laugh about a failure?

That is unsat on your part and what respect I had for you is definitely gone Chief!

I still have collateral’s that I haven’t turned over completely, mainly because we are underway and all the new people are on the mid-watch and all the senior people on days. When I say new, I’m not talking about seamen, I mean people who just checked in who will be here for a while.  Well, I can’t say that we don’t have one new person on the day watch, because we do have one new person, but I don’t believe that person is motivated enough to take in the information and move on with it.   The others, I would sit with them for hours to go over the things I know because I know they appear motivated to know their job.   Those who have been here for some time, well they already have enough work for themselves and giving those more to do will hurt more than do good.

I am currently on my last underway with this ship and my flight isn’t until after the ship gets underway again.  That means I will be staying at TPU for a few days and don’t have to worry about going to the ship every night.  Also, I get to miss out on 2 certifications that will go on just after I leave.  I did both of them when I first got here and they were a pain in the ass then, and they are already a pain in the ass now.

I am still very nervous about going to my new command.  I am excited that I am leaving this place, but to beat a dead horse, I really am going to miss the people that I’ve known that I won’t be able to hang out with anymore, unless they get orders to San Diego.  It will definitely feel weird walking through being the stranger of the ship.  I will once again be the new guy of the ship, but I think things will be a bit better coming in as an E-5 vice E-2 like I did when I first got here.  Plus, I got my pin, and I am going to another ship of the same class, so I won’t have to requal.

What awaits on the other side of the Pacific Ocean will be a major change for me, though I am from Southern California area.  It won’t take long for me to adapt, and I hope it comes quick.  The last thing I want to do is sulk because of the fact that I am gone.  Leaving Japan will take some time to get used to, but leaving this ship, not so much!

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.

Though I can’t say that LAN upgrades happen all the time, which they probably don’t, those with more time in rate are better to cope with it because they can delegate work to those they know are capable of carrying out tasks.  With my lack of experience and senior personnel to aide with the upgrade, it is difficult to delegate to those under me to lighten the load.  All I can hope for is that when everything is done and our new LAN is up and running with minor issues, because nothing ever works perfectly the first time, that I can spend the rest of my time here relaxing until I check out and move on to my next command.

I didn’t ask for this, I just wanted to help lighten the load.  Now a lot of it is on me.

I am going to another ship, but because I am coming from the FDNF, and only have a year of sea duty left for my rotation, I only will be at my command for a year.  Three months on board and I will already be up for orders and I will do my shore duty.  Still not sure what I plan on doing because I will only have a year left before my EAOS when I go to shore duty.  I plan on staying in California for shore, and if I do re-enlist, it would be for 3 years and only if they let me extend on shore for a year and do 4 years shore.  If that is a possibility, then when I complete my shore duty I will not go out to sea again and put in for separation.

We’ll see what the future has in store, but for now let the count down begin for when I leave this place!

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!

I was told by the detailer to call to negotiate over the phone, but more than likely it will turn into me going to a carrier out of Norfolk and me hating the Navy even more. Because of the time difference and when I received the email, I have to wait until late in the evening or early in the morning to call. We’ll see what happens.

When the USS Nimitz first gets underway, they had the crew man the rails. Not to say that manning the rails is not something a ship should do when it goes on a six month deployment to the Middle East, but I’ve asked a few people who have been on carriers and even at heated points in the war, none of them left port manning the rails. Then again, when I started watching the show, I nit picked at everything just to find something wrong.  I didn’t want it to give the wrong perspective of how things are conducted in the Navy.  Pulling into ports, though, I fully understand manning the rails.

It appears that to others who have watched the program that the CMC would appear to be Joe Navy. He was that squared away guy who went around making sure that everyone else was squared away. I did see the Joe Navy in him, but at the same time I thought he was micromanaging his crew. Whenever the camera was focusing on the CMC, it was because he was around asking people why they are jacked up, or asking the senior person why their people are jacked up. Each time he did this, it was preceded by the word “shipmate.” One scene that really caught my attention was when he found a Sailor in one of the spaces. He proceeded to call him shipmate and asked him what color liberty card he had. He told CMC that he was a white card. After that the CMC asked him his name then told him that he needs to square himself away and get his blue card.  He didn’t even know the guy and assumed he was jacked up, and for all we know the guy just checked aboard to the command and was doing something that he wasn’t familiar with, but appeard as if he was goofing around.  I understand that its crew is 5000+, but before you grill someone, you should at least find out who the Sailor is, then question them before accusing them guilty.  I wrote a previous post about the word Shipmate and he did a good job helping me justify why Sailors now a days don’t like being called one because they know where it leads to.

At first, I hated AN Garzone, now MC3(AW), because he came off as that guy who wanted the attention. He did this when he went around interviewing people appearing to be a reporter for the ship, with a microphone and all. Well I came to realize that it was part of his job in the Navy, so if I was in his field, I probably would be doing the same thing. Actually, I felt sad for him when his best friend, Phil with one L, got out of the Navy. That is indeed one of the biggest pains in the Navy, when you meet someone you can socialize with, and the next thing you know they are gone and no one understands references made because it was part of an inside joke. I’m sure he is doing fine now, because all we can do is move on, but we never forget.

AN Altice was probably the most interviewed person on the documentary because of his unique situation. Unfortunately, it does happen, and it has happened to me, as far as having a girlfriend back home who can’t handle their boyfriend who is gone for so long. About the thing that makes it so unique, well I am glad I did not have to go through that. Obviously it has happened to Sailors in the Navy and it is tough to deal with loved ones back home because they have to carry on without you there. They eventually become weak and scooped up by someone who is available. Hate to word it like that, but it does happen and being out at sea, there isn’t much one could do about that. If I was Altice though, I probably wouldn’t have taken it so mellow. With the cameras around, though, I would have restrained myself.

Overall though, from underway to port visits, and to mooring back up in North Island, I felt what everyone on the ship felt because I am in the Navy. It touched base with what does go on while we are out at sea. Unfortunately my situation is different because we aren’t out for 6 month deployments only to be in port for another 6 months. We go out for a few weeks, pull in for a week or two, go back out for a month, etc… I’m not saying what they do is much easier, but in comparison, the FDNF is a lot more challenging because those without families come back to port with no one waiting for them on the pier upon our arrival. None the less, I highly recommend this show for anyone who wants a taste of how the Navy life is.