Preparing for first underway

[deltarho]

Don't take "nooners" until after you have qualified your first watch and stood your first set of drills.  This will pop your cherry--pun intended--and will show your shipmates that you are not a slug. 

Qualify all the damage control stuff you can, not in tandem, but at the same time you are doing the nuke qualifications.  This will set you apart.  If there is still such a thing as a P-250 pump, learn how it works and demand theory to practice--light one off on your own.  Again, setting you apart.  Surface Pukes (I was one) tend to shun DC, but don't be fooled by the fact that the ship is floating.  A surface ship always steams at test depth, unlike our sisters in the submarine force who patrol above test depth and only occaisionally flirt with danger. 

When I left the Navy, there were only about 8 women nukes left from the first wave.  They, at least the ones I knew about, were well respected.  You can have that, too!

[mlslstephens]

-apparently there's an unspoken (until then, I suppose) social law on carriers that dictates women who are wearing headphones while they work out are there to work out, those who are not wearing headphones are there for *ahem* other things.

So that's why I always got hit on while I was working out on the submarine...no headphones. 

I never knew I was sending out those signals to all my shipmates.   

Note to the moderator: Sorry for getting off topic...I now return you all to your regularly scheduled topic; preparing for first underway.

[93-383]

Is there any other advice for a winter Atlantic? Cause that's what I'm reporting to.

Bring the utility jacket if you don't have on anymore I realy can't recomend buying one since the will probably not be a uniform item in a year or so.

Bring 2 padlocks preferably key rather than combo there is very little light in berthing when the lights are out (most of the time for Rx Department berthings) and random flashlight "light" is not appreciated by people trying to sleep neither is fumbling around with a combo lock.

Don't wear rings on the ship it is a real safty issue

Don't leave your coffin rack unlocked while you are in it..... you might get umm well stuck in it

[deltarho]

They do make LED flashlights with a red lighting function.  This works great at night; you can see well enough to find your boondockers that someone else kicked across the floor as they sashayed to their pit.

The combo locks can be beaten off with said boondocker, too.  Not safe for your valuables.

Also, sad to say...no matter how much you trust your berthing mates, do not leave a single thing out you don't want someone else to have--EVER! 

BONG!-BONG!-BONG!, General Quarters! General Quarters!...etc.  Put the iPod into the coffin locker and lock it!  You will be pretending to fight a main space fire, while someone else is setting Circle William in your compartment.  This someone else is not your berthing mate and will not necessarily be as honest as you would like.

While you sleep, roving watches will be strolling through to verify no fire or flooding...

These people may need extra money or be very covetous.  I worked at two different primarily submarine commands and heard they have the same types of problems...once!