Before I ship out, what do you want to know about the Navy?

[Terxpahseyton]

What were your reasons for joining the Navy and how do they look in retrospect?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Which DDG role is the most exciting to carry out?

 

[Takhisis]

Good luck, Patroklos...
Anyway... how do you Navy folks get on with the other armed forces of the US? I ean, in a person-to-person basis?

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Moderator Action: We can try this again, but please don't spam, and avoid the obvious innuendo.

 

[Patroklos]

I am not ignoring you guys, but like I said in the OP I am at school which means away from home so I don't have internet in the BOQ and have to use breaks in class, which were few and far between yesterday.

 

[Cheetah]

No problem. I would have guessed the questions would overwhelm you anyways.

Would be great if you have time to answer some of the more serious questions though.

 

[Disgustipated]

I blame this thread for causing me to dream about the navy last night. I couldn't remember in my dream where the lab rooms where, and I had to do a CDA test. Sad fact, is I can't remember where those rooms are. One was in a aux machinery room, can't remember where the other was. I've forgotten alot over the years.

Let that be a lesson for you kids. You serve a few years, and it will stick with you for life. I'll actually be sad when my first ship decomms in 2012 or 2013.

I don't want to take away from Pat, i just wanted to say most navy vessels are considered ships, except subs. Although technically they may be a ship, they are commonly called boats (and they called us targets ). I'd imagine small river boats would be considered boats too, but I don't know much about those.

 

[Patroklos]

Which country would you least like to fight in a naval clash (if you were at war)?

China

What do you think is the coolest ship in the fleet?

I like the DDGs and not just because I will have now served on two of them. They have a good mix of armament, sensors and endurance and to be honest I think the look cool

In international waters, what happens to someone who tries to board your ship without authorization?

There is no entity authorized to board a USN vessel including the USCG. So blow them up.

stay safe and good luck

are cramped quarters and lack of privacy going to bother you or do you just live with it?

You get used to it.

On my first cruise in 2004 I also met the ship deployed and thus was the most junior of the officers onboard. Because of that, and because we had some extra guests onboard taking up staterooms, I spent almost the entire cruise in berthing with the ratings. Berthings on a DDG house around 50 crew and are rows of triple bunk beds two deep, do twelve people per row usually. There are some random berthing spaces stuck in odd shaped spaces that differ, but the main berthings are like this. They have communal heads with multiple toilets/sinks/shower stalls. Everyone got a half standup locker and a coffin rack to keep their stuff, with everything that can't fit kept in a separate storage locker in your sea bag. Coffin lockers are just chest spaces equivalent to two normal dresser drawers that you access by lifting up your rack instead of pulling them out, hence the name. This of course takes up space in a set of racks already three deep, so your actual rack is quite small, 2'x3x6'. There is a curtain so you can block out light if your schedule has you sleeping during working hours.

Berthing was not too bad because for one everything is always in perfect working order. Downed plumbing or air is going to screw a lot of people so the engineers get it fixed quickly. Second, when you are living in close quarters like that you have no choice but to be clean. If you are not, you will hear about it and generally everyone does their best to keep things spotless. The XO also inspects daily which helps too.

On my second cruise I was more senior and always had a stateroom, which is where officers normally stay. A stateroom for a junior officer is room of three with the same triple bunks as well as two fold down desk tops, two chairs and a complete stand up locker. There are also some drawers which the inhabitants use as they decide amongst themselves. The room is about 12x12, including the space taken by the racks.

This time out I will be a department head, which means I get a two man stateroom which means my own desk and a larger rack. It’s not much to civilians, but it is the height of luxury for a DDG sailor. The CO and XO get their own staterooms, rank hath its privileges.

When you first join the navy the space problems can be an issue. It takes some getting used to all the cramped passageways and lack of sunlight. If you are prone to seasickness then it is still worse. The worst part, however, is after a few days you realize that your whole world is just 500 feet long. We deal with small enclosed workspaces all the time, but when you realize that for months on end you have literally gone no farther in any direction that 500 feet it can get tedious.

You get used to it though. People will stake out territories and make it their own, especially since for most people they don't have a place to chill outside their work space since their berthing is just for sleeping. There are the mess decks and wardrooms but those are usually being taken up with holding training events or briefs since those are the only places big enough to hold them. People have a romanticized view of the wardroom being some sacred place where the officers meet to play bridge over port wine and biscuits served off of China, but unfortunately it is really nothing more than a conference room these days. That’s not too bad for us since we have staterooms to escape too. For the enlisted they spend a lot of time in their actual work space after hours since while the mess decks is their space to relax it is usually full of people.

Oddly enough despite the connotations of class divide espoused by some concerning officers, the ones that are really segregated from the crew are the Chief Petty Officers (E7-E9). Most people don't know this but they have their own "wardroom" called the Chief's Mess where they eat separately from the crew, but unlike the wardroom the Chief's Mess is still considered sacred and is not used for anything. If you are not a Chief you do not enter unless you have a good reason and their permission to do so. Technically any officer can, but in reality none do without permission to include the CO.

My brother is a Lt in the Navy. I wish you the best of luck.

He fills me in on a lot of stuff, but I'd like to hear what you think is the most misunderstood thing about the Navy?

That we are always deploying, war or not. Not to knock the Army because their current tours are long, but if you were in the Army from 1980-2000 you could serve a whole career pension and all without deploying once. The Navy is always out, you can expect to be on sea duty for half your career at least in most cases, and you will spend half of that underway. That’s at least five years of your life cutting holes in the ocean. And the Marines are very often out there with us sucking our air, eating our food and clogging our gyms (there isn't much for them to do underway).

For that reason I take the whining of Army people with a smirk, they will never be away from their families as much as we are.

2) how close does the Navy work with the Coast Guard?

Not often unless it is something specific like drug ops in 4th fleet which I have never been to. We do share some training facilities but in reality you rarely see them.

The exception to that is in the Persian Gulf where there are actually a half dozen small cutters (or at least there used to be) stationed out of Bahrain to help protect the Iraq oil platforms. They are sort of the point defense given their small size and speed, while a couple FFGs/DDGs/CGs provide a sort of over watch and have the firepower if needed.

what happens if you fall overboard?

You sound the ships horn, throw over a life jacket (and a floating flair if at night) and hoist Oscar. There are a couple maneuvers we practice constantly, but the gist of all of them is it makes a sort of loop to put you right back on the same course you were back on your wake. The idea is to be upwind of the person so that the wind will blow you into him, despite a ships weight the broad side of a ship acts like a sail so if you are downwind you will be blown away from the person a lot fast than he will be blow towards you.

Most commonly though, if the sea state will support it, we launch the small boat.

What's the food like?

Its funny you should ask as one of my new collateral duties will be as the food service officer.

It varies according to ship, as you get a certain amount of money per meal per day per crew member and you do with it as you please. If you have good cooks you can let them go with it, if not you will be more basic, but in general the food is good and if you are complaining is because its your god given right as a sailor to do so regardless of whether the food is good or not.

We do special meals for holidays including whole turkeys, prime rib and steak. We actually did pig feet for Black History Month once. We also do steel beach picnics where we drag out some grills topside and have a cook out right there on the ship's deck. Surf and Turf is normally on Sundays and we rotate between crab legs and shrimp. It all depends on the budget though, if I want I can serve ground beef/hotdogs/chicken all week and then blow the saved ration credit on Sunday for something special. We do special birthday meals every two months as well where whoever had a birthday in that time gets served as if they were in the wardroom by whoever wants to show up and show their support. It’s good for moral.

Are DDG's considered a good posting, compared to a larger surface ships like cruisers or carriers? Is there much of a difference between serving on a frigate/destroyer/cruiser in terms of the operational culture aboard ship by various type, or does it depend purely on a ship-by-ship basis, depending on what the CO is like etc...

That’s a big question.

Career wise it just depends on what your designator (specialty or MOS in Army speak) is, what your job on any one platform is, and what point in your career it is.

In my case in order for me to make LCDR I have to have two operational (sea) tours and have served as both a division officer and a department head before the board meets once I am eligible. That gives me about eight years. Division officers aboard FFG/DDGs/CGs are Ensigns/LTJGs so most people in my designator go there to knock out that wicket first. A SUPPO on a submarine, however, is an Ensign so some go there and do things backwards by being a department head first before they are a division officer. In this case they can't get their division officer tour on an FFG/DDG/CG because not they are too senior. On a carrier, however, the much larger scale means division officers are full LTs so they will go get their division officer wicket filled there. Those who got their division officer tour on an FFG/DDG/CG will usually return to one of those platforms for their second operational tour because a department head tour is a full LT.

There is a lot of variation, but in my case that is generally how it goes.

FYI on a shop the chain of command goes CO---> XO---> Department Head---> Division Officer---> Everyone Else.

How long does it take you to be able to comfortably sleep on a surface that is pitching, rolling or heaving?

It depends on the person. I personally don't get sea sick and to me it was like being rocked to sleep. Some people never get used to it. We had a navigator who was one of the best naval officers I have ever met but he was sick as a dog in any rolling seas. He just grinned and bore it.

What sort of navigation systems does a DDG carry?

A whole lot of things. We have GPS of the military grade, we have two surface search radars you can use to get electronic fixes from, we have our gyros which let our true compasses function and then we can navigate the old fashioned way via bearings and charts.

Practically, these days we all have electronic navigation system and "chartless" systems (we still keep charts in case) that operate off of GPS. Technically we call in training, but we still manually navigate via called bearings and charts 24/7. We always have two places navigating at any one time, the Quartermasters on the bridge and the Operations Specialists in combat. The bridge has the conn and is usually the primary, but if things require it we can transfer the conn down to combat and they should be able to pick up just where we left off.

Are ship-to-ship boarding actions still considered to be an acceptable technique? Since I doubt they'd put the whole destroyer alongside a merchant vessels, I imagine a ship-to-ship would imply Zodiaks or equivalent?

I was a boarding officer on my last two cruises and we did boardings all the time. We did far more visits than boardings, where we would just pull along side and ask the Dhows if they had seen anything suspicious/had enough food/had any medical emergencies/whatever. This was important in the Gulf because Iran basically operates a giant pirate ring off its shores via the IRCGN where they rob poor fishermen because they can.

But yes, we don't pull the destroyer along side, we move to an over watch position, launch one of our two RHIBs with out VBSS team (Visit/Board/Search/Seizure, fancy word for boarding party) and take care of things this way.

What exactly is your position on the DDG?

I will be the supply officer.

What is the difference between a boat and a ship?

There may be a technical definition out there somewhere, but in USN culture a ship is a surface vessel and a boat is a sub.

 

[ugabug]

China

Why China?

 

[Joecoolyo]

Why China?

My question exactly.

I mean, China lacks a blue water navy, what could be so bad about them?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

My question exactly.

I mean, China lacks a blue water navy, what could be so bad about them?

Probably their anti-ship missiles. Harpoon for comparison.

 

[Patroklos]

I'd really like to do a cruise, I got a couple buddies on one right now.

My question: You are a motivated graduate of the Naval Academy or a NROTC program somewhere, what are your first 3-4 years in the fleet like?

1.) I was neither. I did a program called the Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program (BDCP). The gist of the program is that you enlist in the Navy Reserve and get paid as an E3 (E4 if you get dean's list twice and E5 if you recruit someone into the program) and you use that to pay for college. You don't have to though, I happened to have scholarships to cover most of school just after getting into the program so I just used it for savings/spending money. I went to The Citadel for undergrad and they have NROTC there but since I am color blind (mild) I could not join any of the unrestricted line communities and NROTC can only recruit unrestricted line (as opposed to staff corps or restricted line). It was a blessing in disguise.

2.) For my community your first tour will be three years on an FFG/DDG/CG or two years on a submarine, and then a 2-3 year shore tour.

What's the best part of being in the Navy?

Travel. I know its cliche but I like traveling half way accross the world and while I haven't been to many of the places I wanted to go (Europe) I have been to places I never even considered going to (Middle East) and that if not for the Navy I never would have gone to.

What's the worst part of being in the Navy?

Travel. I like new places and all but not at six months at a time, especially since most of that travel is off the coast of places as opposed to actually visiting them.

What's the most surprising thing about being in the Navy?

SWOs suck.

Have you ever taken part in that ritual thingy for passing the equator? If so, what happened?

Yes. On my first cruise we crossed the equator on our way to the Seychelles for a port visit. I was new so there wasn't anyone out to get me. During these ceremonies, within reason, all the shell backs (people who have already crossed the equator) are equal to each other with the exception of certain court members like Neptune. All the pollywogs (those who haven't crossed the equator) are similarly all equal to each other. So in effect it is a good way for you to take out your frustrations on people you normally can't, all in good fun. I was new so for the most part people didn't pay any extra attention to me.

The ceremonies are far more tame than what you have probably heard, which were themselves probably embellished anyway. I won't go into details as every ship is different and it sort of an in house thing, but no hazing or stuff like that went on and it was an overall fun experience.

There is a special rank called a "golden shellback" which is awarded for crossing the equator and International Date Line at the same time. There is also something called a "blue nose" which is for crossing the Arctic Circle that has its own ceremony. There are also certain honors for passing through various places like the Straits of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal.

What precisely is your role? (Use layman terms )
6 months on a ship with no sight of a woman. How do you keep calm and not go insane?

I will be the supply officer, so I am in charge of hazardous material management, repair part support, food service, ships services, budget management, and will be the contract officer. There is some other stuff but those are my primary duties.

Most ships have women these days, not that you can touch them (or would want to usually). On my ship in particular the CO and half the department heads are women. I've had a woman CO before.

I haven't been in the navy since 1999, don't they have full internet access on those ships now? Can you post out there?

We only had limited email service when I was in.

It depends on your ship and the priority it is given. If you are a major unit or have a senior commander you will have more bandwidth. Most ships have SHF these days so connectivity is far better than 1999 or even when I was at sea last in 2007. You can usually get email all the time as long as it isn't restricted for security reasons.

What were your reasons for joining the Navy and how do they look in retrospect?

When I was young it was for your stereotypical see the world and service to the country. Both of those are still accurate but not that I have finished my mandatory service added things like stability of the job and a successful career also mater. I no longer feel like I have to serve, I have done my time.

Which DDG role is the most exciting to carry out?

I was a boarding officer for before and that was fun. Being OOD was definetly the most rewarding thing I have done.

Good luck, Patroklos...
Anyway... how do you Navy folks get on with the other armed forces of the US? I ean, in a person-to-person basis?

The traditional military split is Airforce/Army vs. Marines/Navy. The Airforce used to be part of the Army, and the Marines are still technically still part of the Navy.

In reality personal relationships are friendly. I went to a school where most of my classmates who joined the military went Army or Airforce, so I have friends in all the services.

Why China?

My question exactly.

I mean, China lacks a blue water navy, what could be so bad about them?

You have to take the scenario into account. In the case of China while they don’t have a blue water Navy any likely war will not take place in the middle of the Pacific but rather would be us projecting power into their littorals which mean inside their land based aircraft range and within the scope of their thousands of small surface warfare combatants.

Relative to the US no nation on earth has a blue water fleet that would matter versus us. 1 carrier vs. 13 is no real relative advantage over 0 vs. 13. All it really does is provide us with a large high value unit to sink and demoralize our enemies with. So again, it comes to scenarios involving littorals, and China is in a better position to put up a stand than anyone else, even if that means the destruction of hundreds of cheap spam units in the process on their part.

 

[GoodGame]

Why choose the Navy other than the Marines (sic), Army, or Air Force?

Pay/training/advancement opportunities?

 

[Patroklos]

Ha, it is extremely funny to me that this thread gets revived on the day I return from deployment.

Its 0530 here, at 0845 we pull in pier side after six months and 60,000 nautical miles traveled in two oceans, six seas, through five straights, and visited seven countries on three continents. Not a bad haul.

And Goodgame, I joined the Navy out of a desire to serve and do so in a way that allowed me to travel while experiencing the ocean which I love. I family has a long naval tradition as well.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Welcome back home sailor. Sounds like you had a good one

 

[Patroklos]

Thanks! Navy wise it was a boring deployment. Anti Piracy ops off Somalia for the most part. Plenty going on around us but for whatever reason nothing ever happened where we were. I guess we scared them

For some reason I have it in my head that you traveled to that area of the world recently, The Seychelles right?

 

[FriendlyFire]

I will be the supply officer.

Do JG get a half bunk or is that for petty officers (and above)?
Are you allowed any personal electronics such as laptops ?
Do the crew have access to electrical system on the ship to draw electricity for personal use ?
How long dose fresh food aboard last for on an extended cruise ?


I promise not to pass any of these "top sceret" intell onto wikileaks.
Have a good one mate

 

[Nobody]

Does your ship have nuclear weapons?

 

[RedRalph]

Does your ship have nuclear weapons?

I'd say that's unlikely considering they were chasing guys in dinghys

 

[JollyRoger]

Ginger or Mary Ann? (I don't think you can technically answer Gilligan yet so I won't ask that)