MEGEN is no longer in a dark USPS box. MEGEN is far north, and has a busy schedule planned for this week, and arrangements have been made to be seen around some very memorable Navy related locations….

Plans are in the works for printable pictures of MEGEN, to be used to pose and be posed with, at the suggestion of Flag Gazer (who has a wonderful blog to memorialize those who have fallen).

Details to follow….as well as some OUTSTANDING! pictures next week – or sooner if it works out.

Stay tuned.

embedded by Embedded Video


George Carlin telling about his “moderness”And…Chap and company tell us about more robust technology (blatantly lifted from a comment section on Cdr Salamander):Regarding “wheelbooks:”

I’ve been a staff weenie too long, but I remember the half hearted attempts (at spectacular cost!) the sub force made at updating tech. Problem was, paper’s a pretty good tech.

——
You don’t have to reboot a wheelbook.

If a wheelbook falls in the water, you can retrieve the data.

Wheelbooks are EMP hardened.

If a wheelbook gets a virus, you just wipe it off and smack the guy who coughed on it.

Wheelbooks are backwards compatible. Upgrades are simpler than drag and drop.

In the event of a loss of power, your wheelbook is still perfectly useable.

Wheelbooks don’t accidentally send pr0n to five hundred of your closest friends.

If it’s ten seconds to live fire and the wheelbook is jostled and lands on the deck…you just pick it up and keep going.

Wheelbooks do not require Wheelbook IT admins, nor endless rules about what background can be put on the wheelbook.

If you have a dirty picture in your wheelbook you’re not very likely to get thrown off the boat and sent to jail.

Personal choice in wheelbooks is not prohibited.

Someone else’s personal choice in wheelbook will not cause your wheelbook to lose all the writing on the pages.

I could go on, but you get the point…
Chap | Homepage | 06.04.07 – 1:55 am |

Further augmented by other reasoned individuals, these add ons:

Wheelbooks aren’t forbidden in SCFs

Wheelbooks won’t shut down on you in the middle of a meeting when the battery rolls over and dies
– SJS
Steeljaw Scribe | Homepage | 06.04.07 – 4:18 am | #

Gravatar you don’t have to worry about a cracked screen or broken/lost stylus.
YN1(SS) | 06.04.07 – 7:08 am | #

Free range Open Trackbacks! What a deal!

What to discuss? How about the t-shirt?

The postal clerk had some rock music magazine he kept in his post office, up in the forward passageway. Often, on my daily messing and berthing inspections, I’d pass by and stick my head in to check the current status of the stowage of the place, which could range from neat and nearly empty to packed pretty full of large orange mail bags waiting to leave or to be sorted.

I paged through said magazine one day and noticed an article about concert shirts, which included one that said “Attila the Hun – Middle East Tour.” I commented on how I liked that one, particularly (if you caught it last week) since I had been posting sayings from “Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun” on my stateroom door during the cruise.

Very shortly before I was to leave the ship in Bharain and fly home, the PC3 handed me a folded up white t shirt. I unfolded it to see it was nicely hand lettered with “Attila the Hun Middle East Tour – Oct 89 – Mar 90.”

On the day I detached, the ship was also sailing to return to CONUS. I stood on the pier, watching my ship, my exclusive home for the last 5 months, single up, then take in all lines. As the 1MC passed the word “UNDERWAY! SHIFT COLORS!” I opened my shirt to reveal the “concert” shirt to the line handlers amidships, where the PC was.

For fear of the marker lettering running, that was the one time the shirt was worn, and only briefly. I changed out of it before I went to the airport and stowed it away for safe keeping.

I’m glad you asked….especially you from the Marine, Army and Air Force ValOUR-IT Teams.

“MEGEN” (say it sort of like like a girl’s name) is the “Most Exhaulted Golden NotEbook,” the trophy for the 2006 ValOUR-IT fund drive. (H/T: SteelJaw Scribe for the name)

MEGEN is going to help set up the fund collection efforts for this coming October/November campaign. If you other teams had done better, you wouldn’t be getting snarked by Team Navy like this. So, here’s the deal: MEGEN is going on a trip to many places Navy, to pose for pictures and allow the escorts to tell the story of ValOUR-IT along the way.

Today, MEGAN was fortunate enough to pose for a picture with a person from Navy history, a crewman of the USS MASON (DE-529), a destroyer escort in WWII crewed by African-Americans. Ben Garrison was a Radioman 3/C and plankowner on that ship and therefore is one of the Navy’s icons.We, Team Navy, are going to make a point of getting in contact with many people with strong affiliation to the Navy in order to be ready to flood the coffers of ValOUR-IT right out of the starting gate. Names and emails will be amassed to make sure we smoke you all and then we can plan on a second tour for MEGEN in 2008.Now, just to see how we’ll will douse this wonderful trophy in naval settings, you’ll have to come back here and see what our evil plans are to rub it in for the next several months. We’re not telling in advance, but know the locations will be well picked for maximum PR and donation effect.For any readers, if you’d like to kick in a few bucks to a great project to help the wounded troops, click here! Money is needed all year around, not just near Veteran’s Day. Thanks for your support!And Matt and Jimbo, Cassandra and John, time to get your game on!

Open trackbacks! Post your Open Trackbacks!

The XO’s work day while deployed. Maybe not much fun, but the stuff that makes the Navy run.

Up at 0500. Roll out of the rack and crank out a bunch of push ups. Do it quietly, for on and FFG, you have a roommate.

Save, shower and dress. “Wash” khakis with long sleeve shirt, sleeves rolled up (down for a ‘bad” day to prevent flash burns). Cotton sweat socks, combat boots. Check for obligatory Buck knife on belt, securely in it’s case. Chief Mac said you need to be ready to be over the side. Wise thought.

Head forward, push several buttons on the door to Radio Central’s cypher lock, step in, scan the space for the smiling faces of the radiomen on watch. Listen for “normal” nosies. Grab large mass of paper in the XO’s message box. Leave Radio, aft a few feet to the ladder, down a deck to the Wardroom. Get a cup of coffee, sit down at the table and begin sorting traffic into the piles for level of priority. Pen action dates and action position on the messages as necessary.

Get up, retreat to the stateroom, turn on the Z-248, start up the AW-SHOOT program and enter items of importance into the database. Select “print” and watch the print outs for “ALL” (mine), OPS, CSO, Supply, ENG and AIR spew forth. Separate them and hang the “ALL” one on my clipboard. Punch and file the action messages in the tickler notebook.

Head down to the Wardroom to eat breakfast. It’s about 0630 by now. Finish eating, take a walk to the Bridge and see how the day is shaping up. Check with the Quartermaster of the Watch and ask the Officer of the Deck how things have been going.

Back to the stateroom to grab the clipboard of all things important. Hear “Quarters. All hands to quarters for muster, inspection and instruction! Fair weather parade!” be passed. Head down to the main deck, then forward to Combat Systems berthing. Walk through, visually noting the general cleanliness of the space. Make notes for Officer’s Call as necessary. Continue the tour of the other berthing spaces, for and aft, repeating the process. Head forward and up to get to the Bridge and then aft of the Pilot House.

“Officer’s Call!” The department heads, or their available fill in, report, with a salute (if we’re covered) “All hands present or accounted for” in turn. Hand out department specific tickler sheets produced by the much maligned management tool. Ask status of items below the “Line of Death.” determine if arbitration or harsh, one way conversation is necessary, depending on how ling the action item has languished below the appointed date of achievement. Scan the Plan of the Day, discuss work or operational issues of importance. Dismiss the department heads and the Command Senior Chief.

Head below two decks, knock on the CO’s Cabin door and enter. Report all hands present or accounted for from the departments. Inform the CO fo the days plan, and discuss any messages that had come in over night needing action. Let him know when the draft responses to any “P4s” (“Personal For” the captain message traffic) might be ready for his review. Spend a little time discussing other scheduling matters. Request he not use the entire small arms ammunition training allowance today, so I might get a chance to fire a few rounds off the Bridge Wing.

Head back to the Stateroom, commence pretending to do paperwork, knowing they will soon (if they haven’t already, stacked up at my door) arrive with all manner of questions to be answered. Make sure the “Memo from the XO” paper hanging on the cork board on the Stateroom door is not too out of date with the “Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun” saying of the day. If it is, grab the book off the desk and copy a new one for posting. If not, get to work digging through the “IN” basket.

At 1000, “XO’s Messing and Berthing Inspection!” is passed. Get up, head to one of the berthing compartments and review the cleanliness with the petty officer in charge of the compartments. Make sure the head area is cleaned well, looking around behind things, in things and using a mirror to inspect those out of the way areas. Make sure the laundry is being taken care of, and ask if there are any hinderances to getting the deep cleaning done. After checking the berthing areas, inspect the Mess Decks, Galley and Scullery areas for proper sanitation. Check the temperatures of the scullery equipment on the final rinse section to make sure the eating utensils will be safe for the next meal.

By now it’s getting close to lunch (1130). Spend the few free minutes wandering the far ends of the ship, making sure things are stowed and cleaned up.

Lunch time. Enjoy a little conversation, check watch for upcoming “local apparent noon” time. excuse myself to shoot a sun line at “LAN.” Invite the officer who have yet to have completed their Surface Warfare Officer PQS to come along. Hear one say “I’ll be up in a few minutes, XO!” knowing he doesn’t get it yet….

ON the Bridge Wing, watch the Sun in the sextant rise, rise, rise, then hang in place and then just begin to move down. Call “MARK!” to the Quartermaster of the Watch. Plot the sun line on the chart, stow the sextant in the Chart Room and head back to Radio to get another handful of traffic. Back to the Stateroom to review and sort the new stack of paper. File as necessary.

At 1300, “Turn To!” is announced to get the Ship’s company back to work. Continue on for me.

And that’s the first 8 hours of the day. More next week.

The “Snipes.” They work all the time. I didn’t understand this until I became the pretend leader of 75 professional engineers.

From the 5/22/2007 CENTCOM News Release:

Engineering Department Keeps Shreveport Running

22 May 2007
By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Seth Clarke

USS SHREVEPORT, At Sea – In the main machinery rooms of USS Shreveport (LPD 12), an Austin-class amphibious docking ship, earplugs are mandatory. The spaces are loud and hot, and without the continued attention of the crew, the ship simply would not go anywhere.

The Sailors on the bridge may run the ship, but they perform their jobs thanks to their shipmates several decks below—the Sailors that make the ship run.

Photo: Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Junior Liverpool stands watch below decks in main machinery room one aboard USS Shreveport (LPD 12). The engineering department on board maintains the boilers, desalinizes seawater into potable drinking water, controls electricity generators, and speeds up or slows down the throttle of the ship.

“The main spaces are basically the heart of the ship,” said Master Chief Machinist Mate Donald N. Duffy, Shreveport’s engineering department leading chief petty officer. “If they don’t work, we don’t go anywhere. We don’t have heat, air conditioning or water. We have no way to cook food, no lights to see with and no electricity to run equipment on the ship.”

Sailors working in the belly of Shreveport pull more than their own weight. A lean crew, the engineering staff sometimes stand six-and-six watches: Six hours on, six off, and six on again. That makes for plenty of long workdays.

Duffy said the hard work continues when the ship pulls into port, and most of the crew departs for liberty.

“When we’re in different ports, no matter where we go in the world, one of the plants has to stay up so we can have electricity and air conditioning,” said Duffy. “Other divisions and other departments can secure their equipment, and everybody can go on liberty. We have to maintain a full watchbill.”
[…]

Read it all

I enjoy reading the hisotry of military things, with an emphasis on Naval matters. Between several of the Navy bloggers, there’s plenty to do. EagleSpeak, CDR Salamander and SteelJaw Scribe all have great regularly scheduled posts on history.

I have been pondering covering ship classes for a while now, but recently began reading “Six Frigates” and have run across a laundry list of names that I have heard ships named after. I knew the history of some of modern day names ships have been named after, but never paid attention to those from a few centuries ago. I think it’s time, supported by the wonderful story Ian Toll tells, to connect those who put our Navy to sea in the 1790’s, and fought our first battles to the issues they faced in a new nation to the ships that were named in their honor. My pastor regularly says “Context is everything.” Here is a case in which this applies.

I’m not sure if I’ll make it “Ship History Saturday” or just pick a day and go for it, but watch for it soon.

Scanning the net before work, Lex’s post reminded me of the incident that shaped a variety of things in the days afterwards. The things not so obvious in the the story of a ship attacked and damaged with lives lost…..”Battle Orders” became a standard item in the daily underway routine. In addition to the long used “Night Orders” that laid out the Captain’s wishes for the hours when he would be getting that most valuable commodity, sleep. “Battle Orders” reflected the settings of the Combat System of the ship, and any anticipated changes in readiness already planned, that the watches in the night could operate on, without waking the CO.Damage control changed. New pieces of equipment were rapidly fielded: “FFE,” the fire fighting ensemble, the “NFTI,” an infrared detection device, exothermic torches to allow cutting of aluminum bulkheads and decks, and the Jaws of Life were the major ones. Along with those came training changes in the “train the way you fight” methodology.Lectures were held in the school houses discussing the issues of crew fatigue in the long effort, in a hot, smoky environment. New discussions were earnestly held about “what condition do you place the CIWS (Mk-15 Close in Weapons System) in and when? “Auto/Auto?” Much more was talked on.Last year, here’s what I posted about my arrival at work in regards to my part of involvement in this day in history.I’ve not only walked the decks of a sister ship for 18 months, and sailed in the same waters, doing the same mission as the STARK a little over two years after the incident, but earlier in my career, I ran the office that trained the FFG-7 (Flight I and II) Pre-Commissioning Combat Systems teams. STARK was one of the crews my shop worked with for 4 weeks in the FFG-7 Combat Systems Operational Team Training Course at Fleet Combat Training Center, Atlantic. It was an interesting journey across twenty years that kept interacting with the little ships that did so much, for such a bargain basement price. Brad Peniston’s book, “No Higher Honor” about the USS SAMUEL B ROBERTS (FFG-58) mine hit also covers the history of the acquisition and design decisions of the OLIVER HAZARD PERRY Class Guided Missile Frigates. I’d recommend the book again, to help frame some of the issues the STARK faced as a result of the work done in getting that class of ship to the building ways and to sea.A few more years later, and I think 10 years ago this month, I reported to the NAVSURFLANT Combat Systems Mobile Training Team as the Combat Systems Assessment Officer. On those hundreds of inspections I did over three years, I regularly walked up to talk with the lookouts during the Detect-to-Engage (DTE) exercise and asked them where the “threat” (usually a contracted Learjet) for the scenario. Most every time they hadn’t been clued in by the CIC team as to what was happening, let alone where to look. I’d spend a few minutes letting them know they were important eyes for the ship and how little time they were likely to have when a cruise missile came over the horizon at them, but it was maybe their only chance…..The STARK hit affected quite a lot of the “business as usual” conditions.Update: CDR Wm Boulay, USN (Ret), the XO of USS CONYNGHAM (DDG-17) left this comment today, but on the post from last year:

Thank you for this post. I was the XO of the Conyngham that you referred to. I am so very pleased to see that the contributions of the “Gus Boat” crew mentioned. I also drafted the message you read, using the immediate observation of my chiefs and officers for the body. Today is the 20th anniversary and as I do every May 17, I say my prayers for the men we left behind, and search the ever dwindling news stories for mentions of the anniversary. That is how I found this post and the absolutely correct summary of our message. I will finish with the observation that a few years later, Surface program Director under the watch of Joe Taussig, the Deputy Undersecretary of the Navy for Safety and Survivability, I helped make good on those words by deploying COTS solutions for the most serious material deficiencies and later, at the Office of Naval Research, helped develop a fire research program EX-USS Shadwell in Mobile Alabama. On her we can simulate the 2000 degree fire that almost took the Stark and from what we learned and continue to learn there, our fire fighting posture is vastly improved.

Tracked back @: Yankee Sailor

For the longest time now, the SWO (‘”‘Shoe”) community had a backchannel place to vent or trade barbs at Sailor Bob.

Sailor Bob, being the gracious guy he is, helped the depth challenged and now there is Rigged for Dive to provide the same spirit of camaraderie and silence (the the rest of us) for the Slient Serviceâ„¢.

Spread the word….but for you sub bloggers, don’t write it in there and not share with us….

Hey, I’ll keep doing this until someone tracks back! But, I’ll keep doing it anyhow.

So last week, SteelJaw Scribe posts “Reflections – Sympathy for an HT” discussing a unique condition where biology, man made items and the environment all conspired to make for a most fragrant setting on his carrier, just prior to the visit of a VIP.

This day, I add a story I heard, just after arriving aboard to become the Engineer Officer.

USS CONOLLY (DD-979) was on the annual UNITAS XXIV (1983) cruise, part party cruise, part show the flag, and part actually conduct maritime operations with the navies of the countries of Central and South America. She was the flagship for the group of ships that fall, and therefor carried Southern Command, RADM Clint Taylor, USN. ADM Taylor was berthed in the Captain’s Inport Cabin, while the CO occupied the At-Sea Cabin just aft of the Bridge, on the starboard side.

So, one dark evening, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, south of the Panama Canal (I believe) ADM Taylor had a call from nature and proceeded to the head in his cabin.

Several decks below, in the bowels of the ship, where the “upper deck” types fear to tread, were the components of the forward sewage system, made by Jered. There was a duplicate set of parts, arrayed similarly, aft in the engineering spaces, to handle, under normal conditions, the “effluent” from the after three Enlisted Berthing compartments and Officer’s Country. The two systems were connected, forward to aft, by a pipe so waste could be transferred to the other systems for disposal, in the case of an equipment casualty. The sewage system placed aboard the SPRUANCE Class destroyers, as well as the similarly built hulls of the TICONDEROGA Class cruisers and KIDD Class guided missile destroyers, in the manner of conserving water, used a vacuum system to draw the by products of the human digestive system to a holding tank, where it was ground up and incinerated.

In order to effect the transfer, valves would be realigned to close the “downcomers” from the berthing areas and open the pipe to the other tank. A charge of air would then be used to push the mass to the other tank.

So, on this dark (and I don’t know if it was stormy) night, HT2 Mergner (so I’m told) was to transfer sewage from the forward system, to the aft….but it seems one critical downcomer value wasn’t in the closed position.

As the Admiral stood, in front of the toilet and preparing himself to use the facilities, the air charge not only entered the forward tank, and the aft running pipe, but the line to the Inport Captain’s Cabin head, propelling a significant volume of “material” from the toilet to the overhead, and some of it managed to find it’s way all up the Admiral’s back, as he stood in his white t-shirt and khaki trousers.

I’m sure there was no way to have a lookout plan the “discharge” in such a timely manner, but the net result was it found it’s unwitting, surprised, and according to reports from those who were there, unwilling, target.

The story went on to say the Admiral, attired as mentioned just above, and with slippers, stepped onto the darkened bridge of his Flagship, and, in a loud, commanding tone, demanded the presence of the Auxiliaries Officer IMMEDIATELY! The AUXO, LTJG Steve (for this tale the last name is slipping my memory), was summoned by the Officer of the Deck and then had a one way discussion with the Admiral, while trying not to laugh out loud.

And so, on that dark night in the Pacific in 1983, a sea story was created. It is, too this day, speculated that the entire event may not have been caused by an accidental misalignment of valves, or oversite, but only one petty officer knows that answer for sure.

Tracked back @ SteelJaw Scribe