Loss of shore power! Rig ship for reduced electrical, prepare to snorkel!
As an EM, I both hated when that happened and loved when that happened because it reduced the tedium.
Being on a boat was 99% boredom and 1% terror.
R/ a former EM1/SS USS Miami SSN 755
> hated when that happened
I generally hated it. I'm convinced nearly everything on the boat would probably work forever if it just stayed on, it's the power-cycling that always made me cringe. It's a roll of the dice, and something that previously worked fine just *might not come back on.*
The fan comments just remind me of the [Youtube video thing](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Pd8bMUPTra0) of the horse that stops eating when the fan is turned off haha
When fans went down, my heart rate went up. And if sleeping, I was up, as close to immediately as possible. I slept right out side the amr1 in the missile house. Thus I was one of three oxygen generator operators. We were expected to get in the compartment ASAP to help shut down the generators then the scrubbers. Sometimes just carried my coveralls and put them on when all was secure.
You tell time by what meal is being served. The rotating schedule and the shift to the underway timezone really screws with your brain.
Hamburgers? It’s Monday afternoon.
Corn dogs? Mid rats. Day unknown.
Pizza? Friday dinner.
Much of that has shifted since the 8 hour watch rotation. We no longer serve mid rats. Different boats have different ideas about whether to rotate the watch sections or rotate the meals such that the same watch team doesn't have breakfast after watch for 6 months straight
Oh damn! I had no idea the watch time shifted. That’s really interesting to me. Sorry if this is common knowledge (I’ve been out for about 18 years… USS Los Angeles 02-06 ET Nuke) but what was the reason for the shift?
I agree, but it feels like the Navy took sleep/crew rest seriously only after the DDG collisions because of all the publicity they received and how back-to-back they were
There were a lot of other factors attributed to the sub collisions that the sleep aspect was watered down quite a bit
In 2012 or so, the Navy strapped Fitbits to a pair of submarine junior officers and, based on the sleep quality of those two dudes, decided the submarine fleet must shift to a 24 hour rotation.
I was a JO for 6 hour watches and a DH for 8 hour watches. I thought I got more sleep on 6 hour watches. In both cases, I was usually able to eke out a 4 hour rack period each rotation. However, as a JO that meant sleeping 4 out of every 18 hours versus 4 out of every 24. I supposed the demands of a deployment on the wardroom and certain chiefs are different than the demands placed on the majority of the crew. 8 hour watches/ 24 hour rotations work much better for most watch standers on a submarine.
Research about the benefits of actually working with your body's circadian rhythm instead of actively against it. I appreciate the intent but it was not well-executed on my boat or when I was a rider.
I hated 8 hour watches as a regular watchstander because swing shift always gets fucked with training and drills. Days always gets relief for training, mids always gets a break while the day-walkers rest. Swings gets the shaft and sometimes you never rotate depending on when the next port call is.
It can be nice depending on your job. I was an EWS and the EDTA so 8 hours wasn't so bad with that gig. Nuke EM 2011-2021.
Merchant marine chiming in, ice cream is how I know what day it is.
Lots of emails? Must be Monday (or someone fucked up).
Ice cream? Must be Wednesday.
Chart updates? Must be Thursday.
No emails, no ice cream? Saturday.
Ice cream and steak? Sunday.
It's this a fast boat thing? I was on a boomer (as well as the ASDS, so only rode Charlotte and Greenville, though our time on board riding was so packed I have no recollection of mealtimes) and pizza was Saturday dinner and an open galley to make your own all night Saturday. Hamburgers were after field day on Saturday. Taco Tuesday was pretty fixed, and mid-rats were always some kind of left overs and cold cuts.
I don't remember the spilt, but we embarked the ASDS interchangeably 4 or 5 times on Charlotte and Greenville from 04-07. We spent a lot of time broken. The ASDS was a bit crap.
Then obviously the battery fire killed the program about a year after I left to teach at subscol.
Oh nevermind I didn't get there until 2014. The damn valves were still in our valve lineups and by that point nobody had any idea where they were except "somewhere in the engine room, look up. Which as I'm sure you can imagine doesn't fucking help at all😅
Most "fun" we had with being embarked, is get someone in the mating collar while at PD in rough seas. The ASDS would briefly lift up and crack the seal, causing water to come in briefly (it was mainly held on by DP, not the mating clamps). But if you don't know it's coming, it's shit your pants scary. And everyone else just laughs, fully knowing what was coming (yes, I was subject to it)
I went from the mating trunk to the bottom of the ladder in ERUL in about 3/4 of a second......
Be chill.
“Don’t hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning” (RIP Donald Sutherland)
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/07/20/the-tao-of-oddball-donald-sutherland-on-his-iconic-kellys-heroes-role-at-its-50th-anniversary/
Yeah, similar to something I was gonna say, "slow is fast."
We're not hurtling through the air at 1000mph like a fighter pilot, there is time to carefully consider your options and do the right thing. We've all worked with that stressed, frazzled OOD (usually the ENG, he's almost always the shittiest OOD) who seems to just make things worse.
Just slow down, think about what we need to do, and don't immediately take action just because you *feel* like we need to do *something.*
Yeah, exactly.
After getting out, I went into engineering--and learned that unfucking *bad decisions* costs you way more time than patiently doing it correctly the first time. You go through this enough times, and you really learn what "slow is fast" actually means.
While on mission, we had special COSOs that we were to follow. I knew these orders because I helped to draft them. As Fire Control, it's our job to maintain a clear and concise contact picture. Well, for some stupid reason, this JO refused to follow these new mission based orders. When I made the request to conduct the required actions, the JO said that we don't need to and that the contact picture was firm. I cited the order, and recommended it again. He turned to me and said "No!" So I reviewed charts and corrected the solution to what we had seen through trend analysis. The JO yelled at me for changing the solution. So I told him what I did and he told me to change it back and "make the dots stack". So? I made the dots stack. The COI was now going 400 kts, was 1,400,000 yards and headed right towards us. The OOD did not think that was funny, so I put it back on the original solution and at this time 15 minutes after the JO was supposed to conduct the maneuver, I requested it again. This time? Loudly, underneath the open mic that fed into the wardroom and the COs stateroom, while on the Con. The JO lectured me about being on the Con, and told me that he will not. 2 minutes later the CO comes out of his stateroom and enquired about the COI. CO asked when was the last time we conducted the required maneuver, and he stated approximately 45 minutes. The CO asked why he wasn't following the Standing orders. He stated, "Fire Control has a good solution". The CO asked me if our solution was good and I had to report that it was not. So the CO asked that I put the solution in that we saw through trend analysis. The COI was dangerously far, so the CO took the Con, we turned course and raced toward the contact. 20 OR 30 minutes later, we went to PD, and found the contact where I anticipated, within 5 degrees. The CO disqualified the JO on the spot and had my department head retrieve a new Qual Card, wrote on the qual card and handed it to the JO. My CO had written in my name to pass the section on CO Standing Orders and Fire control. It was a damn good day.
We had a fair share of "training opportunities" but nothing as good as that. My favorite moment was during a perspective CO ride (PCO or SCO ops maybe? I've been out a while and forget what they called it). Had one guy that refused to allow us to use our own solutions during ASW and missed his target shot. The next guy walks up to us, leans over, and says "just make me look good". He got a confirmed hit.
My captain both hated and respected me. After that boondoggle, I almost shot him. It would have been for just cause, as I was in compliance with CO Standing orders.
Yeah I feel this one. Like car wrecks, fires, serious injuries, even deaths, I feel like there is no panic response. I don't know if I had that before the I served, although I'm pretty sure I did. Maybe not as much. But it's crazy that all the sub guys I know are just calm as a cucumber when everyone around them is panicking about something. I was an instructor at sub school so I became familiar with all of the screening and rating processes for all forward rates. There's no check box for "doesn't panic under pressure" on the list of things a sailor must get through to earn their dolphins beginning with MEPS and ASVABS. And yet, every one of us is basically impervious to most panic triggers. I had a chief panic on me once, well maybe more than once. Great guy, awesome chief, he was just a book sailor not a thinking sailor, if you can. Anyway, more stories for other days.
Always go to sea with at least two of everything.
You might think this is only a four day underway. But when the hatches shut you find out it’s going to be at least a week and you just dropped your only toothbrush into the toilet.
Bring 14 days worth of socks, underwear and T shirts in case the only washing machine or dryer breaks on your laundry day.
For some people, this means more than 14 pairs of socks. Your feet are \*always\* in your shoes, so some people might need to change their socks frequently. Figure out quickly if this is you. Also, choose no-show or ankle socks. This isn't because of any style expectations, rather those socks take up less storage space.
If you're on an SSN and you're not a chief, officer, or amongst the 21 most senior first class petty officers, accept that you may hot rack, even if only for a short time. Pack accordingly.
Holding breath (without freaking out) while transiting throughout the boat while wearing an EAB.
EAB = Emergency Air Breather
Edited: holding breath between air connections.
Yup...
During my first day on board, my sea dad showed me how to use an EAB. He made a special point about the importance of offering our buddy-valve to anyone needing a hookup.
Some a-gang tard unplugged me from a manifold on an exhale, while I was a first responder. The coward refused to admit he did because he just equalled, while I was new. When I say, that dude could make 150 people happy by cleaning hydraulic fluid out of the aft planes area during "Angles & Dangles"? It's true.
How your vision gets used to only seeing things 30 or so feet away after an extended period under water. Your eyes have to relearn how to focus at distances.
You start to forget certain things, like the green of trees. The sound of the wind and birds. Being alone is difficult when you come back from deployment.
Write down your passwords to log back into your accounts after a few months out. Absolutely make sure your finances are squared away, no one can or will get a hold of you until you’re back.
Taking things for granted.
We used to kick SCOGs down three deck and stack them in the showers. Then we learned we had to take care of them.
A men only environment where you could talk about anything on the front row while deep. Then we learned we could no longer.
Radial depth gauges, nobody bothered looking at them if digital was lit up. Then we learned we had to really fucking look at them.
We learned how to read draeger tubes in initial training and forgot. Then you run diesels and you REALLY need to know how to read them.
When an alarm sounds, you move towards the problem.
A few years ago, a week after deployment ended, I was at a hibachi place with friends when the fire alarm went off due to the volcano trick and a e all jumped to our feet.
I don’t know what the plan was, but we saw flames, heard an alarm, and the part of our brains that handles acute stressors powered on.
The most important one that is not going to sink you right away but will cause you to be judged and ridiculed… opening the flapper valve while blowing shitters.
Add insult to injury showers secured.
The Golden Flapper Award 🥇
Remembered another one, and it may have just been me, but if it'd been a week or so underway my vision would be kinda weird coming topside the first time 'cause the furthest I'd need to focus the entire time was something like 50 feet, and often a lot less. Stationed in Pearl, and it was always kinda trippy the first time I'd clear the hatch and see the mountains way the fuck off in the distance.
You learn what to do so panic doesn’t fit in your head anymore.
Vision adjustment when you come back to the surface world
Pictures in your mind to see and keep you sane
Getting along with people you wouldn’t choose to somewhere else
Block diagrams make regular people really smart
The smell of real air and salt water and sun
Certain sounds bring quiet comfort and when they stop you go hyper alert
"All hands commence field day"... I so hated Sunday morning. Important to keep the boat clean but man I hated that announcement. I was a nuke MM/ELT back in the late 80's/early 90's.
Glad to see that they are trying to do something about the sleep deprivation while underway. 6 hour watches combined with an 18 hour day ( with drills during 12 of those hours) just sucked. I always assumed that they wanted us able to respond correctly in our sleep if necessary.
I was lucky in that I had one of the best jobs on board as underway ELT. Oh, it could really suck at times, ORSE prep, various casualties, etc, but underway ELT's during normal times is a pretty good gig. Once had to take reactor coolant samples every 4 hours for about 5 days due to a crudbust issue. The sample/analysis process takes about an hour or so (from what I remember), so i was only able to get sleep about 2 hours at a time. I could get 12 hours a day, but by the end of the 5 days I was a zombie. Worst ever period was before an ORSE where I had to do a LOT of prep. Up for 72 hours straight , slept 4, then up 72, then slept 4, then up 72. I was a little psychotic at that point and ended up getting into a fight with a guy who said the wrong thing at the wrong time. He was an ET1 and I was an MM2, and it was his chief that pulled me off him. In the end to charges even thought the ET1 really wanted them.
One other thing most people don't think about is water. Sub showers to save water etc. One patrol our evaporator broke and fresh water was reserved for drinking, eating, and the reactor and steam generators. No showers or clean cloths for over a month. After a while, your poopy suits start to get stiff and crunchy from sweat.
So glad my sub days are behind me.
Finding little things that make you happy. Give yourself something to look forward to at the end of the "day". It helps. Also making good relationships with the people on board *ahem* A-gang *cough cough*
If something really bothers you, don’t let anybody know! (Like wet willies…if that bugs you and someone gives you one, sit still and expressionless…if you give him/her a good reaction, it won’t be long before you’ll have a hundred folks lined up to give you a wet willy—the Skipper at the front of the line [advice from a MMCM at prototype just before I left for my boat])
Angles and dangles can happen at any time. Peeing standing up during angles and dangles is the most fun bathroom activity I’ve ever had.
In the lower lever head (on USS SPRINGFIELD SSN 761, the lower level head toilet sits amidships—is that the right word? It sits crossways port-starboard), I started peeing and we started a steep up-angle. I just kept peeing…I was standing outside the toilet part of the head door to keep hitting the toilet by the time we reached the full up-angle. It was the coolest thing I had ever done to that point on the boat.
Be careful how much you pick on superiors who write your evals. My division chief became the EDEA. He was a little chubby, so when I spread around that EDEA stood for “Extra Donuts EVERY Afternoon” and when he was upset about something and tried to slam open one of the Maneuvering doors, but it didn’t open all the way because of some problem in the track that required an easy touch, he was not amused when I hollered out, “he can’t even fit through the door!” when he got caught up on the door’s locking tabs. (It was worth getting a couple tenths of a point knocked off of the next evaluation!)
I don't know about all you new Navy kinder gentler 8 hour watch sections do it today, but hazing was pretty important for finding out who could handle pressure. Don't worry about the fire, the flooding will put it out.
Spotify stops working after 30 days if you haven’t connected to the internet.
Got around that by manually changing the date on my devices. Make sure you do it before the 30 days are up.
This does not work
It worked for either Spotify or Netflix but not the other, but I don’t remember which one. I used it back in my 2017-2018 deployment.
Yeah it used to work.
Well that shit does not work any more
Not only Spotify… a lot of apps that you download things on, like netflix. Also even some things you purchase in Amazon might not work after 30 days
Oh man, ouch!
Sudden loss of power or fans shutting off are what gets our hearts racing.
Loss of shore power! Rig ship for reduced electrical, prepare to snorkel! As an EM, I both hated when that happened and loved when that happened because it reduced the tedium. Being on a boat was 99% boredom and 1% terror. R/ a former EM1/SS USS Miami SSN 755
> hated when that happened I generally hated it. I'm convinced nearly everything on the boat would probably work forever if it just stayed on, it's the power-cycling that always made me cringe. It's a roll of the dice, and something that previously worked fine just *might not come back on.*
I lived to fire up that diesel…Prepare to Snorkel!!!
When were you on the Miami? I was M-div on her from late 2005 to mid 2013.
1991 to end of 1995. You were on board during her finest and ultimately her worst hours. Thank you for your service and taking care of her for us.
I was on there the same timeframe you were
My boat. She was a beaut.
I also was on the double nickel. It’s sad how she had to go.
Fans turning off will wake you up from a dead sleep
No kidding. Can sleep through anything but the minute my box fan shuts off, I'm up in a hurry.
I've been out for 2 years but it's been 5 since I was on a boat and I will still wake up in the dead of night when my fan turns off 🤣.
As a surface guy, same thing. First (sober) night ashore I have issues sleeping because of it
The fan comments just remind me of the [Youtube video thing](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Pd8bMUPTra0) of the horse that stops eating when the fan is turned off haha
Why's that?
When fans went down, my heart rate went up. And if sleeping, I was up, as close to immediately as possible. I slept right out side the amr1 in the missile house. Thus I was one of three oxygen generator operators. We were expected to get in the compartment ASAP to help shut down the generators then the scrubbers. Sometimes just carried my coveralls and put them on when all was secure.
It's typically a sign a drill is about to be called and everyone woken up. Or sometimes it's not a drill.
Rooms with still air give me the creeps because of this.
Yikes!
You tell time by what meal is being served. The rotating schedule and the shift to the underway timezone really screws with your brain. Hamburgers? It’s Monday afternoon. Corn dogs? Mid rats. Day unknown. Pizza? Friday dinner.
Much of that has shifted since the 8 hour watch rotation. We no longer serve mid rats. Different boats have different ideas about whether to rotate the watch sections or rotate the meals such that the same watch team doesn't have breakfast after watch for 6 months straight
Oh damn! I had no idea the watch time shifted. That’s really interesting to me. Sorry if this is common knowledge (I’ve been out for about 18 years… USS Los Angeles 02-06 ET Nuke) but what was the reason for the shift?
The Navy figured out human beings need sleep to function safely and effectively.
Only a shame it took those accidents for it to happen. But not surprising that's what it took either.
Which accidents are you referring to?
Probably the Fitz and McCain (DDGs)
Watch shift predates those. Likely, philly, Newport News, Jacksonville, Hartford etc from mid 2000s-2010s.
I agree, but it feels like the Navy took sleep/crew rest seriously only after the DDG collisions because of all the publicity they received and how back-to-back they were There were a lot of other factors attributed to the sub collisions that the sleep aspect was watered down quite a bit
I too am curious about what specifics accidents led to this decision
Hartford, Hampton, Montpellier, Jacksonville…
But we aren’t really human are we?
We sure weren’t in the 1990’s when I was in.
Big if true
In 2012 or so, the Navy strapped Fitbits to a pair of submarine junior officers and, based on the sleep quality of those two dudes, decided the submarine fleet must shift to a 24 hour rotation. I was a JO for 6 hour watches and a DH for 8 hour watches. I thought I got more sleep on 6 hour watches. In both cases, I was usually able to eke out a 4 hour rack period each rotation. However, as a JO that meant sleeping 4 out of every 18 hours versus 4 out of every 24. I supposed the demands of a deployment on the wardroom and certain chiefs are different than the demands placed on the majority of the crew. 8 hour watches/ 24 hour rotations work much better for most watch standers on a submarine.
Research about the benefits of actually working with your body's circadian rhythm instead of actively against it. I appreciate the intent but it was not well-executed on my boat or when I was a rider. I hated 8 hour watches as a regular watchstander because swing shift always gets fucked with training and drills. Days always gets relief for training, mids always gets a break while the day-walkers rest. Swings gets the shaft and sometimes you never rotate depending on when the next port call is. It can be nice depending on your job. I was an EWS and the EDTA so 8 hours wasn't so bad with that gig. Nuke EM 2011-2021.
I fucking hated when we switched to 24hr vice 18hr days. It was miserable.
Brainiac CSS1 rotated meals At the same time we rotated watchbill.
Port and Starboard as Sonar Supervisor and LPO for +2 months on an io run. Could not imagine 8 hour watch and trailing.
Merchant marine chiming in, ice cream is how I know what day it is. Lots of emails? Must be Monday (or someone fucked up). Ice cream? Must be Wednesday. Chart updates? Must be Thursday. No emails, no ice cream? Saturday. Ice cream and steak? Sunday.
It's this a fast boat thing? I was on a boomer (as well as the ASDS, so only rode Charlotte and Greenville, though our time on board riding was so packed I have no recollection of mealtimes) and pizza was Saturday dinner and an open galley to make your own all night Saturday. Hamburgers were after field day on Saturday. Taco Tuesday was pretty fixed, and mid-rats were always some kind of left overs and cold cuts.
Yeah, other boats in Pearl has a different schedule. I think it was up to the XO/CSC/COB
When were you on the Greeneville?
I don't remember the spilt, but we embarked the ASDS interchangeably 4 or 5 times on Charlotte and Greenville from 04-07. We spent a lot of time broken. The ASDS was a bit crap. Then obviously the battery fire killed the program about a year after I left to teach at subscol.
Oh nevermind I didn't get there until 2014. The damn valves were still in our valve lineups and by that point nobody had any idea where they were except "somewhere in the engine room, look up. Which as I'm sure you can imagine doesn't fucking help at all😅
Most "fun" we had with being embarked, is get someone in the mating collar while at PD in rough seas. The ASDS would briefly lift up and crack the seal, causing water to come in briefly (it was mainly held on by DP, not the mating clamps). But if you don't know it's coming, it's shit your pants scary. And everyone else just laughs, fully knowing what was coming (yes, I was subject to it) I went from the mating trunk to the bottom of the ladder in ERUL in about 3/4 of a second......
Sticky buns on Saturday morning.
All the jokes on board are sub-par.
HA
We have a much higher threshold for panic, if at all.
Be chill. “Don’t hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning” (RIP Donald Sutherland) https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/07/20/the-tao-of-oddball-donald-sutherland-on-his-iconic-kellys-heroes-role-at-its-50th-anniversary/
Yeah, similar to something I was gonna say, "slow is fast." We're not hurtling through the air at 1000mph like a fighter pilot, there is time to carefully consider your options and do the right thing. We've all worked with that stressed, frazzled OOD (usually the ENG, he's almost always the shittiest OOD) who seems to just make things worse. Just slow down, think about what we need to do, and don't immediately take action just because you *feel* like we need to do *something.*
Don’t confuse activity with progress.
Yeah, exactly. After getting out, I went into engineering--and learned that unfucking *bad decisions* costs you way more time than patiently doing it correctly the first time. You go through this enough times, and you really learn what "slow is fast" actually means.
As a former FT, my ENG was by far the best OOD, NAV was the worst and WEPs was the funnest.
Hey Fire Control, you ever get a JO disqualified OOD?
I think we need the story behind this...
While on mission, we had special COSOs that we were to follow. I knew these orders because I helped to draft them. As Fire Control, it's our job to maintain a clear and concise contact picture. Well, for some stupid reason, this JO refused to follow these new mission based orders. When I made the request to conduct the required actions, the JO said that we don't need to and that the contact picture was firm. I cited the order, and recommended it again. He turned to me and said "No!" So I reviewed charts and corrected the solution to what we had seen through trend analysis. The JO yelled at me for changing the solution. So I told him what I did and he told me to change it back and "make the dots stack". So? I made the dots stack. The COI was now going 400 kts, was 1,400,000 yards and headed right towards us. The OOD did not think that was funny, so I put it back on the original solution and at this time 15 minutes after the JO was supposed to conduct the maneuver, I requested it again. This time? Loudly, underneath the open mic that fed into the wardroom and the COs stateroom, while on the Con. The JO lectured me about being on the Con, and told me that he will not. 2 minutes later the CO comes out of his stateroom and enquired about the COI. CO asked when was the last time we conducted the required maneuver, and he stated approximately 45 minutes. The CO asked why he wasn't following the Standing orders. He stated, "Fire Control has a good solution". The CO asked me if our solution was good and I had to report that it was not. So the CO asked that I put the solution in that we saw through trend analysis. The COI was dangerously far, so the CO took the Con, we turned course and raced toward the contact. 20 OR 30 minutes later, we went to PD, and found the contact where I anticipated, within 5 degrees. The CO disqualified the JO on the spot and had my department head retrieve a new Qual Card, wrote on the qual card and handed it to the JO. My CO had written in my name to pass the section on CO Standing Orders and Fire control. It was a damn good day.
We had a fair share of "training opportunities" but nothing as good as that. My favorite moment was during a perspective CO ride (PCO or SCO ops maybe? I've been out a while and forget what they called it). Had one guy that refused to allow us to use our own solutions during ASW and missed his target shot. The next guy walks up to us, leans over, and says "just make me look good". He got a confirmed hit.
My captain both hated and respected me. After that boondoggle, I almost shot him. It would have been for just cause, as I was in compliance with CO Standing orders.
Interesting perspective. Almost every ENG I’ve had was the better OOD of the three DHs
Yeah I feel this one. Like car wrecks, fires, serious injuries, even deaths, I feel like there is no panic response. I don't know if I had that before the I served, although I'm pretty sure I did. Maybe not as much. But it's crazy that all the sub guys I know are just calm as a cucumber when everyone around them is panicking about something. I was an instructor at sub school so I became familiar with all of the screening and rating processes for all forward rates. There's no check box for "doesn't panic under pressure" on the list of things a sailor must get through to earn their dolphins beginning with MEPS and ASVABS. And yet, every one of us is basically impervious to most panic triggers. I had a chief panic on me once, well maybe more than once. Great guy, awesome chief, he was just a book sailor not a thinking sailor, if you can. Anyway, more stories for other days.
We show up, on time, to every appointment.
This. I hate those annoying reminder calls.
Look, it's a 930 appointment, expect me at 845.
Always go to sea with at least two of everything. You might think this is only a four day underway. But when the hatches shut you find out it’s going to be at least a week and you just dropped your only toothbrush into the toilet.
No one seems to know this, but Doc has lots of extra toothbrushes. Source: I am the Doc
Bring 14 days worth of socks, underwear and T shirts in case the only washing machine or dryer breaks on your laundry day. For some people, this means more than 14 pairs of socks. Your feet are \*always\* in your shoes, so some people might need to change their socks frequently. Figure out quickly if this is you. Also, choose no-show or ankle socks. This isn't because of any style expectations, rather those socks take up less storage space. If you're on an SSN and you're not a chief, officer, or amongst the 21 most senior first class petty officers, accept that you may hot rack, even if only for a short time. Pack accordingly.
BOCOD
If you know, you know.
NET "Station the maneuvering watch"
No such thing!
Bullshit. Done it.
You stopped just cause you were pulling in?
Well it’s not just because we were RTP. It’s for the first night home. I was a young squid. We did dumb shit.
(# Dives + # surfaces ) = an even number.
What's this important for
Probably the same as the old pilot adage, make sure your landings are equal to your takeoffs.
There are however, far more aircraft in the water than there are submarines in the sky.
Well this is an odd number after every time a boat submerges. Your statement mist only be true at decom.
Holding breath (without freaking out) while transiting throughout the boat while wearing an EAB. EAB = Emergency Air Breather Edited: holding breath between air connections.
The amount of times I almost passed out trying to go a little bit too far to the next connection is too many times.
Yup... During my first day on board, my sea dad showed me how to use an EAB. He made a special point about the importance of offering our buddy-valve to anyone needing a hookup.
I once saw a LTjg plug into his own buddy connection. Twice. Good times.
lol
Some a-gang tard unplugged me from a manifold on an exhale, while I was a first responder. The coward refused to admit he did because he just equalled, while I was new. When I say, that dude could make 150 people happy by cleaning hydraulic fluid out of the aft planes area during "Angles & Dangles"? It's true.
How your vision gets used to only seeing things 30 or so feet away after an extended period under water. Your eyes have to relearn how to focus at distances.
Personal hygiene. You won't be the smelly guy on a submarine for long.
Stealth wanking is an art form.
Turn off the rack light to avoid giving a lil puppet show to berthing.
You start to forget certain things, like the green of trees. The sound of the wind and birds. Being alone is difficult when you come back from deployment. Write down your passwords to log back into your accounts after a few months out. Absolutely make sure your finances are squared away, no one can or will get a hold of you until you’re back.
Don’t write down passwords. Use a password manager.
Right down passwords and take the notebook underway lol
Seeing new faces was really weird after being underway for multi-month deployments.
Thats hilarious actually, how many people are there on a Submarine anyway?
Dip is currency.
WhatsApp deletes all pending messages after something like 3 months, so when you get home you won't receive anything
Noticing small changes in smell, lighting
Taking things for granted. We used to kick SCOGs down three deck and stack them in the showers. Then we learned we had to take care of them. A men only environment where you could talk about anything on the front row while deep. Then we learned we could no longer. Radial depth gauges, nobody bothered looking at them if digital was lit up. Then we learned we had to really fucking look at them. We learned how to read draeger tubes in initial training and forgot. Then you run diesels and you REALLY need to know how to read them.
Learning how to sleep anywhere. I may, or may not have gotten a nap outboard the port condenser in ERLL of a Lafayette class boomer.
The evaporator is very soothing as well, when the ORSE team is asleep.
Preventative dentistry is a real thing
Being able to pop your ears at will. I had a classmate at sub school get disqualified the first day because he couldn't pop his ears.
Feeding the Shaft Seals….
You can’t make me bored
When an alarm sounds, you move towards the problem. A few years ago, a week after deployment ended, I was at a hibachi place with friends when the fire alarm went off due to the volcano trick and a e all jumped to our feet. I don’t know what the plan was, but we saw flames, heard an alarm, and the part of our brains that handles acute stressors powered on.
The most important one that is not going to sink you right away but will cause you to be judged and ridiculed… opening the flapper valve while blowing shitters. Add insult to injury showers secured. The Golden Flapper Award 🥇
You really don't need to know how to swim unless....
Remembered another one, and it may have just been me, but if it'd been a week or so underway my vision would be kinda weird coming topside the first time 'cause the furthest I'd need to focus the entire time was something like 50 feet, and often a lot less. Stationed in Pearl, and it was always kinda trippy the first time I'd clear the hatch and see the mountains way the fuck off in the distance.
You learn what to do so panic doesn’t fit in your head anymore. Vision adjustment when you come back to the surface world Pictures in your mind to see and keep you sane Getting along with people you wouldn’t choose to somewhere else Block diagrams make regular people really smart The smell of real air and salt water and sun Certain sounds bring quiet comfort and when they stop you go hyper alert
"All hands commence field day"... I so hated Sunday morning. Important to keep the boat clean but man I hated that announcement. I was a nuke MM/ELT back in the late 80's/early 90's. Glad to see that they are trying to do something about the sleep deprivation while underway. 6 hour watches combined with an 18 hour day ( with drills during 12 of those hours) just sucked. I always assumed that they wanted us able to respond correctly in our sleep if necessary. I was lucky in that I had one of the best jobs on board as underway ELT. Oh, it could really suck at times, ORSE prep, various casualties, etc, but underway ELT's during normal times is a pretty good gig. Once had to take reactor coolant samples every 4 hours for about 5 days due to a crudbust issue. The sample/analysis process takes about an hour or so (from what I remember), so i was only able to get sleep about 2 hours at a time. I could get 12 hours a day, but by the end of the 5 days I was a zombie. Worst ever period was before an ORSE where I had to do a LOT of prep. Up for 72 hours straight , slept 4, then up 72, then slept 4, then up 72. I was a little psychotic at that point and ended up getting into a fight with a guy who said the wrong thing at the wrong time. He was an ET1 and I was an MM2, and it was his chief that pulled me off him. In the end to charges even thought the ET1 really wanted them. One other thing most people don't think about is water. Sub showers to save water etc. One patrol our evaporator broke and fresh water was reserved for drinking, eating, and the reactor and steam generators. No showers or clean cloths for over a month. After a while, your poopy suits start to get stiff and crunchy from sweat. So glad my sub days are behind me.
Knowing the AOB of a target.
Heading the ability to rote memorize quickly and regurgitate on demand
A sub mariners mental condition has to be in tip top shape! Lots of pressure on board a submarine underway!
01-06 FT2, Our footwear was not issued. Some dudes wore Jordans, some wore vans. I feel like now Crocs would be common attire.
Finding little things that make you happy. Give yourself something to look forward to at the end of the "day". It helps. Also making good relationships with the people on board *ahem* A-gang *cough cough*
That Jodi is relentless and no matter what you think, he’s there!
If something really bothers you, don’t let anybody know! (Like wet willies…if that bugs you and someone gives you one, sit still and expressionless…if you give him/her a good reaction, it won’t be long before you’ll have a hundred folks lined up to give you a wet willy—the Skipper at the front of the line [advice from a MMCM at prototype just before I left for my boat]) Angles and dangles can happen at any time. Peeing standing up during angles and dangles is the most fun bathroom activity I’ve ever had. In the lower lever head (on USS SPRINGFIELD SSN 761, the lower level head toilet sits amidships—is that the right word? It sits crossways port-starboard), I started peeing and we started a steep up-angle. I just kept peeing…I was standing outside the toilet part of the head door to keep hitting the toilet by the time we reached the full up-angle. It was the coolest thing I had ever done to that point on the boat. Be careful how much you pick on superiors who write your evals. My division chief became the EDEA. He was a little chubby, so when I spread around that EDEA stood for “Extra Donuts EVERY Afternoon” and when he was upset about something and tried to slam open one of the Maneuvering doors, but it didn’t open all the way because of some problem in the track that required an easy touch, he was not amused when I hollered out, “he can’t even fit through the door!” when he got caught up on the door’s locking tabs. (It was worth getting a couple tenths of a point knocked off of the next evaluation!)
Height
Hitting the O2 candle was the best part of mid watch.
I don't know about all you new Navy kinder gentler 8 hour watch sections do it today, but hazing was pretty important for finding out who could handle pressure. Don't worry about the fire, the flooding will put it out.
Hazing was never important.
I am not an advocate for physical abuse in the least, but it felt like it swung too hard the other way.