November Navy Thread: Not Gay if Underway.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > November Navy Thread: Not Gay if Underway.

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

What do I need to know about living on a ship? I am going on an LPD for a bit. I am told I'll have a 4 man state room and can hang out in the Chief's Mess but I don't know poo poo about boats since I've never been on one before.

# ¿ Nov 3, 2014 20:13

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 14:25

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

orange juche posted:

Depends on your rank, if you're a senior NCO then you will get treated probably the same as the the Chiefs on the ship.

If it's a gator freighter, they have flat bottoms, so they don't do rough seas very well, hope you don't get seasick. I've not been on an amphib in the middle of the Atlantic/pacific, but if the waves can bounce a carrier, I'd hate to know what they do to ships smaller than them, esp with a a flat bottomed hull.

Tip for survival, have a private TP stash, and don't share it. Even is it is terrible ship TP, it is infinitely better than none.

Serious question, does seasickness go aware with exposure? I get airsick as gently caress on helicopters for some reason and it's a pain in the rear end what with how much we move around via helo. I can fly in jets and prop planes all loving day but helos aren't natural. This has me a little concerned about being on ship. It's not like I can ask the waves to stop or whatever so I imagine it'd be pretty miserable if you get seasick and it doesn't go away.

Also, I am a senior NCO but I don't know poo poo about how the navy treats it's chiefs. The only squids I have hung around have been corpsman and I wouldn't think they are an accurate representation of regular navy.

# ¿ Nov 3, 2014 20:31

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

Octopode posted:

For most everyone, seasickness goes away with a few days' exposure. You'll probably have it bad on the ship, so prepare for it. The best course of action is generally hitting the rack and sleeping as much as you can get away with until you get over it.

As for treatment--you'll have it relatively good on the ship compared to the junior enlisted Sailors. 4 man staterooms are pretty decent, and you'll have your own chow/lounge area, the Chief's Mess.

Biggest thing I'd recommend is to bring your own entertainment, because anything other than drudgery is hard to come by onboard. A kindle, laptop loaded with movies, whatever--just make sure it's relatively small and portable. Space is going to be a bit less limited since you'll be in a stateroom, but only bring the bare essentials you'll need, because it's still pretty limited.

For the love of god, don't forget your shower shoes.

Thanks for the advice. I've got the macbook and an external hard drive full of movies, an ereader, and a 3DS to mess around with. So I am hoping that'll help cure boredom.

Next question: Over the years I've seen the shellback certificates and hear there is a hazing ritual/ceremony for those who have never crossed the equator. Is this something worth going through? I have heard stories from dudes that have been on ship before about crawling around in food slop and grease and having to eat something out of some fat chief's bellybutton or whatever. Just trying to figure out if this is a thing that people actually do or if it's just a way to gently caress with the new guys.

# ¿ Nov 3, 2014 21:14

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

I appreciate all of the replies. I am on the west coast but getting ready to PCS so I am nowhere near where the ships are right now.

Is it cool to murder Thai lady boys if we are too drunk to catch it until we grab their junk? I've heard that's kind of a right of passage for new guys during asian port calls.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2014 02:33

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

Laranzu posted:

The Krylov could have a towed array, otherwise it doesn't seem to have a huge amount of antennas like most Intel ships.

Still all the more reason to not send any ships out there to be eavesdropped on.

Sea story time!

We were out and our CO invited the Commodore of a Chinese task group over for dinner. They did some dry runs with their helo in preparation to transfer him then dropped back a few miles.

They pulled back up alongside later to do the actual transfer with their towed array streaming.

After the passenger transfer was over, we claimed some bullshit reason to increase speed for safety reasons and effectively kidnapped their Commodore until they could roll up their array and catch up.

Can whatever you just said be broken down into terms someone who's never been on a ship could understand? I googled array and all I see is some crap about sonar detection for subs and poo poo.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2014 04:26

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

Wingnut Ninja posted:

Yeah, a towed array is a sonar sensor that's pulled behind the ship; presumably they wanted to get a close listen to the other ship, since that's useful intel to have (... kind of, like ded said). Maybe other sensors on there as well, I dunno. You can't go too fast while you're towing it, though. What they did is kind of like being invited to the White House, and showing up wearing a backpack with a boom mic sticking out of it and an HD camera strapped to your head.

Ok I think I understand a bit more. Thanks for the explanation.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2014 04:49

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

If I were a junior sailor assigned to a ship and that ship was not at sea, would I still have to live on the ship or are there squid barracks or something?

# ¿ Nov 20, 2014 01:31

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

buttplug posted:

Depends on the ship. It's different OCONUS (7th FLT) from CONUS. In 7th Fleet, single/unaccompanied E5 & below lived in the barracks. IIRC E3 and below had to live aboard the ship for their first 90 days.

E6 and above (and married folks) lived in either base housing or off-base depending on availability. But, that's also 5-year old info so...ask your sponsor?

I have no sponsor since my ship is moving this winter and the dude I am replacing isn't following it. Also, I am not a sailor so there are only like 6 jarheads at the navy base I'm going to. Thanks for the info though.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2014 01:40

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

buttplug posted:

What rank are you? Have you tried to email the first staff NCO in your chain of command? Your ship is required to provide you a sponsor - homeport swap or other circumstances notwithstanding. Ask whichever POC you have aboard that ship for *anybody else* who is going to be with the ship after its homeport swap. If he doesn't provide you a useful POC, get a hold of the CMC or the ombudsman (literally just googling the ship's name will yield a public website which should have these email addresses).

If you do all of that stuff and still come up empty-handed, come back and give us the ship's name and we'll get your situation squared away. You'll be standing in lines, getting bad haircuts, and hogging the free-weights in the gym in no-time.

I appreciate your willingness to try to help me. I am the senior enlisted Marine assigned to this ship and will be going on an accompanied tour overseas. I was just asking about what lower enlisted sailors have to live like because I've see the berthing areas and they don't get much space.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2014 02:42

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

buttplug posted:

Well, what kind of ship is it? Also, if you're the senior enlisted Marine going to any ship, I'm guessing it's a carrier/amphib in which case it sounds ate-the-gently caress-up that you don't have a legitimate sponsor or POC to interface with.

I am in contact with the dude I am replacing. The ship is moving ports and immediately going into maintenance cycle. The only marine following the ship doesn't check in for another month.

Also, this will be my 7th duty station so the family is pretty well versed on what to do for a move. I am just going to give the ship a heads up when I have finished all my area clearance bullshit and have a flight date.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2014 03:11

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

germskr posted:

Anybody ever deal with PCSing and breaking their lease? I know under the Servicemember Civil Relief Act termination of a lease is acceptable if deploying overseas (which I've used in the past no problem) but not sure if this also applies to PCS? I'd talk to my admin about this but they're too busy writing NAMs for themselves and keeping the door to their office closed until "customer service hours".

In order to make use of the Service Member's Civil Relief Act, there are specific steps that must be followed.

1.) You must give written notice of lease termination to your landlord with a copy of your PCS orders. You can mail or hand deliver but you have to write a statement invoking the protections of the SCRA.

2.) Once written notification has been received, your lease is terminated 30 days after the NEXT rent due date. So if you do this before December 1st, your lease will be terminated on January 1st (assuming rent is due on the 1st of the month).

If you are near a military base, it's possible your landlord doesn't make tenants write statements out but if something went wrong you aren't protected unless you do.

Section 535 of the SCRA is where to look for specific details about terminating leases.

# ¿ Nov 23, 2014 22:27

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

I like to look at all the probates and bans and read into the series of events that caused them. It's kind of like buying those stupid mugshot papers at the 7/11 checkout.

# ¿ Nov 24, 2014 22:53

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# ¿ May 16, 2024 14:25

Hekk: Oct 12, 2012; 'smeper fi

shipwrecks posted:

Guess I'm in about the same spot then.

3 years in with less than a year left on my first term, and just picked up second. Picked 3 years of shore duty out of A-school and am in my window to pick orders to go sea duty for the first time. I didn't pick orders this month because I wasn't sure if I'd make second or not. Six months ago I was dead set on getting out and going back to school, so far as to try an get an early out for it. Now I've been wringing my hands about staying in for another two years, mostly because of the ~steady paycheck~ and "well, the Navy's not too bad, I guess." But I know I'm only saying this because I've been cushy shore desk job for the past 2 years and that it will change once I go to a squadron.

Still on the fence about it though. I've been trying to reason to myself that if I don't get "good" orders that I'm happy with I'm getting out. I just get this nagging feeling I don't want to be the rear end in a top hat who is like "hell yeah, I was in the Navy for a term but sat in the middle of California's rear end in a top hat the whole time."

Goons, talk some sense into me. Please.

One of us! One of us!

If you do more than one enlistment, the next time you are getting read to EAS it's going to be "I am almost halfway to retirement". Before you know it you are going to be on your third wife and on meds for your cholesterol and high blood pressure with a CPAP machine to help with the sleep apnia wondering why the hell you ever thought this was a good idea.

# ¿ Nov 27, 2014 01:04

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > November Navy Thread: Not Gay if Underway.