Midshipman on deck!
Posted: 2003-08-24 08:51pm
I got sworn in yesterday! It went great, and the Whites are a very nifty uniform indeed. 
I got a unit coin as well, which is very nice. I also recieved a coind, hat, and patch from the JFK which was good.
As to what I did: Toured the Philipine Sea (a CG), Nebraska (SSBN) and the John F Kennedy (CV). I also visited the Marines and got an intro to the M-16, M9, M-4, M203, and other handy things. I saw up close (and operational) every Naval aircraft, and got to see a Hornet and Tomcat taxi and take off right in front of me. I also got a swimming certification and firefighting certification, which I should take into the Fleet (assuming the paperwork survives, anyway).
It changed my perceptions on things too. After walking about an SSBN, standing about three feet above the nuclear reactor, and walking amongst the missle tubes (some of which were loaded with nukes), and, perhaps most of all, fighting a real fire, action movies seem rather tame now. After all, I went about a ship that could devastate whole countries, and stood about ten feet away from a raging fire, battling to put it out. After that, the movies seem like nothing. It, amongst other things, has changed me quite a bit I think. And I am, essentially, in the Navy now. What I do from this point on can, and will, effect my Naval career. The reality has set in. I believe I'm somewhat changed, and hopefully, for the better.
And, as an amusing side note, I walked right past the MCPON (Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, the highest ranking enlisted sailor) and didn't even realize it until later (he was in civvies at the time).
I was also maybe twenty feet away from the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations, the big boss man of the Navy), though I didn't get to see ADM Clark (there was a huge party in the NAS Jax TVQ lounge the same night I walked by the MCPON, and that was the only night they got that load, and the MCPON was sitting down very nearby, so it was a reasonable assumption, I think).
I got a unit coin as well, which is very nice. I also recieved a coind, hat, and patch from the JFK which was good.As to what I did: Toured the Philipine Sea (a CG), Nebraska (SSBN) and the John F Kennedy (CV). I also visited the Marines and got an intro to the M-16, M9, M-4, M203, and other handy things. I saw up close (and operational) every Naval aircraft, and got to see a Hornet and Tomcat taxi and take off right in front of me. I also got a swimming certification and firefighting certification, which I should take into the Fleet (assuming the paperwork survives, anyway).
It changed my perceptions on things too. After walking about an SSBN, standing about three feet above the nuclear reactor, and walking amongst the missle tubes (some of which were loaded with nukes), and, perhaps most of all, fighting a real fire, action movies seem rather tame now. After all, I went about a ship that could devastate whole countries, and stood about ten feet away from a raging fire, battling to put it out. After that, the movies seem like nothing. It, amongst other things, has changed me quite a bit I think. And I am, essentially, in the Navy now. What I do from this point on can, and will, effect my Naval career. The reality has set in. I believe I'm somewhat changed, and hopefully, for the better.
And, as an amusing side note, I walked right past the MCPON (Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, the highest ranking enlisted sailor) and didn't even realize it until later (he was in civvies at the time).
I was also maybe twenty feet away from the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations, the big boss man of the Navy), though I didn't get to see ADM Clark (there was a huge party in the NAS Jax TVQ lounge the same night I walked by the MCPON, and that was the only night they got that load, and the MCPON was sitting down very nearby, so it was a reasonable assumption, I think).
Congratulations comrade, you are on your way to serving your country via the skillful killing of people and breaking of things.
