In The Navy (On the Boat), Part 12

We made it back to port without any further incidents. I spent most of the trip back tracking merchant ships and fishing trawlers. The two most typical ships you will encounter on any ocean. It was good training and I learned how to use the “Ouija Wheel”. It’s a device you use to calculate range, based on how many tick marks tall a target appears through the periscope. It might be hard to explain here, so ask me in person if you really want to know how it works.

After we got back and had everything secured, we got into the daily grind of maintenance, maintenance and more maintenance. It was pretty boring most of the time when you were in port, or under way for that matter. JT had a great idea one slow day and decided to pay a visit to the Museum up on main base. They had an older version of the MK 113 FCS up there and he wanted to get what we called “ready spares”. Spare parts.

The Museum people told him, as long as you don’t change the outside appearance of the equipment, knock yourself out. John came back to the Boat and got tools and Dyke, and headed back. Taking tools off the Boat was verboten, so he was taking a real risk. If caught, he could get busted down a grade. Keeping ready spares that were not procured though the purchasing system were also not allowed.

The Navy was cracking down on tool theft really hard at this time, because it had become such a major problem. They were even randomly searching cars leaving the base.

John did it anyway and we wound up with a nice pile of spares stashed away in the drawers under the benches we sat on. Much later on, the Weps saw the spares in the drawer and called John on the carpet about it. John told him the truth and the jerk was still pissed about it. John asked if he should trash the parts and the Weps backed down. The Weps usually did that.

The results of my advancement test came back while we were in port and I had passed. Others did not advance. Dyke was a little pissed that I had made it on my first test. I think it motivated him to get his 2nd Class on the next test, which he did. JT had me get my butt up to the uniform store and get my uniform insignia updated right away.

I picked up all of crap and took my dress uniforms to the cleaners just outside the base’s gate and dropped everything off to get the new patches put on. The dungarees used iron on patches, so I took care of those myself. The pay increase was miniscule, but it helps.

Kitchen Patrol (KP) was a job for any newbie enlisted men on board. My number came up and I was ok with doing my part…peeling potatoes and doing dishes. I thought it would be a good break from the daily doldrums of being in port. Someone made a stink about this, because I had made 2nd Class. The issue got escalated to the COB who put his foot down. “A 2nd Class Petty Office will not do KP.” He said. Some people on the Boat resented me for this, but I really had nothing to do with the decision, so that faded fast.

I began working on my Submarine Qualification (Quals). This program boils down to a card that has a list of every major system on the Boat. Next to each system is a space for a signature. You have to go around the Boat and learn every system, some more in depth than others, depending on your rate.

Only certain people were allowed to sign off on a system. A senior FT obviously had to sign off on the FT gear. A senior Sonar guy had to sign off on Sonar, get it?

This is a pic of an actual Qual Card (click to enlarge);



They are different on every ship and this one is from a Boomer (SSBN). The condition of the card shown is not typical, they normally get pretty ratty looking.

This is where things turn into a game, like on Survivor. Anyone you have pissed off, makes you jump through hoops to get the signature. And going to a different person in the Division is not an option, usually; you will almost always be directed to the person that hates you the most.

So I had to deal with Taco for my Torpedo Room signature. He wasn’t terrible about it, but he did hold me up for about a week, making me research some very inane things about the air systems. It was the way things worked, checks and balances that keep you in your place. The good thing about Quals is, you only have to do it once, unless you transfer to a different class of Sub or a Ship.

Although I was part of many deployments, I will consolidate almost everything I want to write about into one trip, which I will start next time. I guarantee some of the things I write about will curl your toes.