I'm a convert

To be totally honest, I was NOT a fan of the new Navy Working Uniform (a.k.a. "NWUs," a.a.k.a. "aquaflage," a.a.a.k.a. "n-dubs") when they first came out.  I especially didn't like monetary expense (cue cash-register sound effect: cha-ching! cha-ching!) and the hassle of getting to the Navy Annex uniform shop to get my initial fitting out of NWUs.  I'm especially not fond of the expense considering I wore this uniform for one tour, and now I will probably never wear them again.

However, they grew on me.  I actually like them a lot.  They're comfortable and they have lots of pockets for storage.  I especially liked the big side pockets on the thighs.  My shipmates will attest to the fact that I carried a bunch of different colored dry erase markers in one pocket to be able to give training-on-the-fly at the Trident Training Facility (TTF) or on the boat. 

Here are a few other odds and ends of NWU observations and advice:

Pants

On my previous post about NWUs, Oz gave some good advice in the comments section:  Get the pants longer than you think you need.  If they're too long, that's fine because you're just going to blouse them anyway.  The first pair of NWU pants I bought were the size recommended by the tailor lady at the Navy Annex uniform shop, but I found they weren't long enough to blouse and keep the top of my boot covered.  Eventually I broke down and bought another, longer pair so they would blouse right and cover my boot laces.  When you try them on, I recommend blousing them over a boot then sitting down in a chair.  Try crossing your legs.  That was usually when I found mine pulled up onto my calves. 

Undershirts

Note, just like the uniform regs don't say, "Thou shalt buy Bates shoes because that's what they sell at the Navy Exchange," they ALSO don't say, "Thou shalt buy the nasty, scratchy, uncomfortable blue NWU t-shirts because that's what they sell at the Navy Exchange." 

Article 3603.3 of the Navy Uniform Regs only specifies, "Navy blue, cotton, quarter-length sleeve, with an elliptical (crew-neck) collar."  So just like the shoes, I encourage you to branch out and find something comfortable. 

I tried a few different brands of t-shirts including the standard ones sold at the uniform shop, plus the Hanes, L.L. Bean, and Old Navy.  I didn't like the L.L. Bean because the tag was in the seam on the left side and kept poking and scratching me.  The Hanes and the Old Navy were both comfortable.  The Hanes were more affordable, but I think the Old Navy will last longer.  The one I liked the most and bought a bunch of were the Old Navy.  I bought some in short-sleeve and some in long-sleeve.  I've worn them almost every day for the past 26 months - both with my coveralls underway and with my NWUs in port, and they've shown no sign of physical degradation in that time.  I have other plain white Hanes t-shirts and underwear, and while they're comfortable, they would NOT have lasted this long.

Okay, yep, you got me.  I'm putting myself on report for NOT following the uniform regs because I had LONG sleeve shirts when the uniform regs specify short sleeves.  However, I found them very useful in the winter both in-port here in the Pacific Northwest and underway on a submarine, and nobody can tell the difference from your neckline of whether you have a short or long-sleeve shirt on underneath.

Hats

If I was given the authority to change just one thing in the uniform regs, then I would bring back the standard command ballcaps.  It would be fine if we were limited to wearing the ballcaps on-base and had to wear the standard NWU 8-point cover if we leave the base.  Here's why:

• The 8-point cover acts like a sail and is easily carried away in the wind.  Speaking from experience, it's very frustrating climbing the ladder out of the submarine and as soon as your head breaks the plane of the main deck, the wind blows your cover off into the water.  Doh.  Now you look like a fool walking around base with no cover on and people looking at you funny.  The ballcaps present less surface area and are more rounded to your head and don't get blown off so easily.

• After it's been blown off into the drink, it is decidedly INconvenient to replace the 8-point NWU cover.  They aren't adjustable, so you have to buy your specific size.  On small ships and submarines without a dedicated ship's store, it doesn't make economic sense to manage an inventory of NWU covers in every possible size.  Since they don't sell them in the ship's store, you have to go up to the uniform shop to buy a replacement.  Oh, and you have to buy the rank insignia to be sewn on.  Then you either have to take it home and sew it yourself, or you have to turn it into the tailor shop to have them sew it on.

• The 8-point cover and rank insignia are more expensive than the command ballcap.

• The command ballcap, if worn by all personnel, provides uniformity, looks sharp, and can boost Sailors' pride in their command.

In a nutshell, the 8-point cover is easier to lose and both more expensive and inconvenient to replace.  The command ballcap is harder to lose, costs less, and is much easier to replace from the ship's store, and it can boost the crew's pride in their ship.

All that being said, two points of advice for those of you wearing NWUs under the current rules:

1.  Buy TWO NWU covers so you have a spare ready - correct size, rank insignia sewn on, etc.

2.  When you first climb up that ladder or step out onto the weatherdecks, hold onto your hat!

Well, NWUs, it's been fun.  I'm headed back to the National Capital Region, so I guess I better go try on my khakis again.  Hmmm... I wonder if I can return the NWUs to the Navy Annex uniform shop?  Let's see... where did I put that receipt?  They won't find it suspicious that the receipt was dated 2 years ago will they?

I'm back!

Received a gentle nudge from one of my two or three readers who asked if I had "given up on the blog?"

No!  I haven't given up on the blog. 

I've just been...  away... for a while.

My Christmas stocking was hung in the wardroom in hopes Saint Nick would find his way down through the main induction sump.

Shipmates from the Mighty MSP might have noticed this was the first time I haven't made a post on December 29th. 

I didn't forget.

I wore my Sailors, Rest Your Oars black armband, and I led training with all my officers and chiefs on the painful lessons learned from that day in Plymouth.

A few weeks fortnights later, I observed a beautiful sunrise on Easter Sunday.

I've been in the Navy almost 19 years, and that was the longest I've spent at sea without setting foot on dry ground.  At least fast attacks get a port call every few weeks or so.

Now I'm back, and we are again approaching that transition that comes with every PCS move.   The moving company was at the house today doing a visual inventory of all our shtuff and how much packing materials they need to bring on pack-out day.  The Navy is sending us back to the Pentagon.  I suppose I'll need to go back and re-read my own posts on Pentagon gouge.  We're excited to go back to shore duty and to see all of our friends in the NoVA area again.

...and I suspect I may have more time on my hands to write blog posts again.

DC Gouge: New Submarine Exhibit Opening at Navy Museum

If you're in DC and you've never been to the Navy Museum at the Washington Navy Yard, then I highly recommend checking it out.

My youngest son on the periscope in the Navy Museum

Soon there will be even more cool stuff to see at the museum.  I just received this from the DC Naval Submarine League:

The submarine exhibit “Covert Submarine Operations” will be dedicated by the Naval Historical Foundation on Saturday, 18 June at the Washington Navy Yard Museum.  The event is open to all connected with the Submarine Force and Naval Submarine League.  The attached invitation (email me if you want a copy of the invite) provides the details and a map of the WNY with directions to the Cold War Gallery museum.  Spouse/friends are included in the invitation.

(Event is past - so I removed the RSVP data)

The exhibit contains most of the artifacts from the Smithsonian’s “Fast Attack and Boomers” exhibit that was opened in 2000 as part of the Submarine Force Centennial celebration and is the first major exhibit in the Museum’s new Cold War Gallery.

If I were still in DC, then I know where I would be going next Saturday! 

Seventeen

This is a scheduled post, since I won't be anywhere near an internet computer this year for my 17th naviversary.

In previous posts I have been a bit more pensive and taken a stroll down memory lane. 
16 years - Short thoughts
15 years - Pictures from commissioning ceremony at USD NROTC
14 years - Goofy picture of me as an Ensign with coke-bottle glasses and a history of where I was on each of my previous years of service

I don't have much to add to the stroll down memory lane I provided in my previous posts, except to say I'd never have imagined where I ended up at this point in my career.  I've been very truly blessed with every set of orders I have received and every crew I've had the honor to work with, especially my current crew.  :-)

Opening a New Chapter

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest!

My blog posting has been light because I've been traveling back and forth to multiple Navy schools over the past several months.  Now that I have finally reported to my new Permanent Duty Station (PDS), I figured I should update the banner info on my blog.

For those of you (CW) who relied upon my blog to remind you of things like getting your uniform ready for sub ball, doing your taxes, or picking up your Mass Transit Benefit at the Pentagon, please accept my apologies.  I have been delinquent on my public service announcements.  Hopefully you weren't really relying on me to tell you when to submit your taxes. ;-)

Judging by the number of hits on my blog for Google searches like, "what to wear to the submarine ball," you can tell it's that time of year again.  This post is too late to help most people since the Submarine Birthday Ball has already happened in most places.  I attended the Submarine Birthday Ball in Omaha last week, and it was very nicely executed.  Last night was the officer Submarine Birthday Ball in Seattle, and my wonderful wife and I had a great time.  Next Saturday is the enlisted Submarine Birthday Ball in Seattle.

BT BT

Under the category of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," I discovered there is a new website for arranging household goods shipments.  The new Defense Personal Property Management (DPS) website isn't as user-friendly as the previous SmartMove website was, and it has been a frustrating process so far.  Here are a few quick lessons learned for anybody else getting ready to execute a PCS transfer and ship household goods:

1.  Start early.  After you register on the DPS website, they say it can take up to 72 hours to complete your registration (just so you can log-on to the website).  It took me 3 tries to get my registration processed through the DPS website and get logged on to where I could start submitting my request for HHG shipment. 

2.  Pack out dates.  Unlike the old SmartMove website that showed you a calendar with what dates were available, the DPS website just asks what date you want to move.  I entered a Monday that I wanted the packers to show up, figuring they would pack Monday and Tuesday then load the truck Wednesday. 

Nope. 

The date you enter on DPS is the date you want your house to be empty, not the date you want them to show up and start packing. So if you enter a Monday date, then the packers will be coming to box your stuff up on Thursday and Friday the week before.

3.  Call and confirm they receive your application.  After submitting the move application online, I received an automated email response saying it was received and that I needed to fax in my orders for them to process my application.  The next day, I faxed in my orders.  The day after that, I called to confirm they received my fax.  The gentleman I spoke with on the phone said, "Well, yes, we received your fax with your orders, but we don't know why you sent them to us because we don't have any application for you."  So much for the electronic submission and the automated confirmation email.  Recommend calling to confirm they receive your application.

That's all for now.  More to follow as we explore and get to know our new home.

Oh, and don't forget to submit your income tax return.

Book Reviews

While I was up in Newport last summer, the President of the Naval War College, RADM Wisecup, recommended a couple of books.  Since then, I've read two of the books he recommended, and both were excellent.

The first book I read was World War Z.  The admiral himself admitted he felt odd recommending a fiction novel about a future zombie war.  Apparently the story was good enough that the movie rights were purchased, and Brad Pitt is going to star in it.

From the title, I was expecting something of a gruesome horror flick of zombies grumbling, "braaaaaains" and reaching out to grab unsuspecting victims.  However, it was actually a very thought-provoking story.  It explored the concepts of how to manage the spread of a global disease and massive refugee migrations.  It highlighted how the military is always trained and equipped to fight "the last war," and how that training and equipment would be useless in a global pandemic scenario like this.  It also explored how the human race might adapt to meet their basic needs of food and shelter after a major world conflict had destroyed the "normal" methods of consumerism (farming, production, distribution and shopping).  Overall an excellent book and a page-turner. 

The second book I read was Execute Against Japan: The U.S. Decision to Conduct Unrestricted Submarine Warfare.  The author, Joel Ira Holwitt is actually an active duty submarine officer who earned a PhD in History from Ohio State University.

It reads very much like an academic paper such as a PhD dissertation or a masters thesis with many quotes and endnotes.  Holwitt makes some bold statements about the U.S. submarine force's campaign against the Japanese in WWII.  He falls victim to some logical fallacies in his reasoning, and I don't necessarily agree with all of his conclusions.  He makes statements that guess at the motives and intentions of key players in the President's cabinet, the Navy, and the State Department, and then claims that because he can't find any evidence to refute this, then his guess must be right.  He also doesn't have any evidence that conclusively proves his assumptions.

For example, he presumes that the Navy never asked the State Department for their opinion on a strategy of unrestricted submarine warfare against Japan, "since the State Department's reaction would undoubtedly be negative..."  (p. 129).  The book is riddled with words or phrases such as perhaps, probably, undoubtedly, no one recollected, could have been because, seems highly improbable, and seems probable.  Don't get me wrong.  They're pretty good guesses and he's probably right, but his conclusions are based on the absence of evidence to refute his opening arguments and assumptions. 

All that being said, it was a very interesting read.  The thing I enjoyed most about reading this book was the description of the isolationist sentiment in America prior to December 7th, 1941, and the dialogue over what America's strategy should be in the event of war both internal and external to the Department of the Navy.  I was aware of the isolationist bent of the general public at the time, but this book provided many specific examples of those sentiments from the neutrality laws, speeches, and letters.

Holwitt surprised me with some of the pre-decisional type documents he was able to find in various archives to illustrate how the leaders of the age were formulating their plans. We tend to take for granted our 20/20 hindsight of how things turned out in history and lose the perspective of how we got to the end result.  That's a big reason why I enjoy historically based fiction books that bring to life the active debates, public sentiments and fears of the people leading up to major events before they knew the outcome. 

Well, I'm very thankful to RADM Wisecup for the book recommendations.  Both were very good books.

For anyone who might wonder why I picked World War Z over Execute Against Japan to read first, that simply boiled down to which one was available on my Kindle.  I downloaded World War Z and started reading it on my Kindle while I was still in Newport.  Execute Against Japan is only available in hard-copy, so I had to wait for that one to come in the mail.

Lest We Forget

Just recently, a very talented MSP shipmate of mine put together this video in memory of COB Higgins and STS2 Holtz.






The families and fellow shipmates of COB Higgins and STS2 Holtz are in my thoughts and prayers throughout the year, but they weigh heavily upon my heart today.

Sailors, Rest Your Oars.

Advice to Junior Officers: PCS Entitlements

First, a disclaimer...  As a general rule, I avoid posting rants against Navy organizations, institutions, or commands on my blog.  However, in order to provide this advice to the junior officers who read my blog, I must provide some background information that will come across as a rant.  Suffice to say, that's not my intent.

You probably don't have to ask more than one or two shipmates before one could tell you a personal story about a less-than-optimal experience dealing with the local Personnel Support Detachment (PSD).  Throughout my career of 16+ years, I have dealt with 9 different PSD offices around the globe.  On many (not all) occasions, I have walked out of PSD or hung up the phone with PSD in a state of frustration and angst.  The most frustrating thing about dealing with certain PSD offices is the inconsistency of standards.

Disclaimer:  I am NOT saying that ALL personnel working at ALL PSD offices are below standards of professionalism or knowledge of their field. 

In the submarine force, we are trained to operate by procedure and to know the requirements of our business.  If it's not a casualty that requires immediate action, then we don't operate on memory or by consensus amongst your shipmates.  You break out the black-and-white written procedure and you follow it.

My observations have been that many people working in PSD offices operate on "tribal knowledge."  They don't know what the requirements are or where to find them in written instructions or procedures.  They rely on what other people have told them and either don't look up the rules themselves or don't keep up to date with changes to the rules over the years.

In the same way that local dialects of the same language develop in isolated geographic regions, so do local understandings and interpretations develop of how to apply the rules for what Sailors are entitled to when they PCS transfer from one duty station to the next.  You may have the PSD at your detaching duty station assure you that you'll get X, Y, and Z when you get to your new duty station, but then when you arrive at your new duty station, the PSD there says, no, you aren't entitled to X, Y, or Z.  Unfortunately, there's no mechanism by which the personnel at the first PSD are held accountable for giving you bad gouge and the resultant financial impact on YOU.

THE POINT:  

YOU NEED TO LOOK-UP THE RULES YOURSELF.

As a submariner, I should have known better and learned much earlier in my career to look up the rules myself.  The problem is, we (submarine officers / line officers in general) spend very little time dealing with PCS transfers and entitlements, so we rely on PSD to be the experts and to tell us what the rules are.

Arriving at our new homeport.

It wasn't until my XO tour that the effects of this were made painfully clear to me during a change of homeport.  When a submarine (or ship) changes homeport, it is a monumental task for the ship's office and the PSD offices at both the old homeport and the new homeport.  There are SO many different rules for what entitlements each Sailor gets depending on how much time he has left on board and whether his family is staying in the old duty station or moving to the new duty station.  I created (and still have) a Change of Homeport reference binder that has printed copies of each of the pertinent sections of the reference documents, and it was worth it's weight in gold in making sure my Sailors received the entitlements they deserved.

A few months before our departure from our old homeport, we had a Change of Homeport Information Night at the base theater for the Sailors and their families.  We invited representatives from PSD, the POV shipping office, the Household Goods (HHG) / Personal Property shipping office, Navy Legal Service Office (NLSO) for powers of attorney, the Housing Office for those checking out of base housing, and so on.  When the PSD representative (a female civilian) got up on the stage, she spewed rubbish proclaimed one false statement after another about our entitlements.  She was totally relying on tribal knowledge, and it was ALL WRONG.

She was doing an excellent job of getting my crew, and more noticeably their wives, pretty riled up.  Thank goodness I had the applicable references in my Change of Homeport Binder!  Before the wives in the audience could start throwing flaming barbed spears at the PSD lady's chest, I had to step in, politely tell the PSD lady that the things she said were incorrect, and read from "the good book" to assure my crew and their families what their entitlements were.

The lesson I have learned from that change of homeport, AND in hindsight from experiences I had before that, AND in experiences I have had since then, is this:  Anytime someone at PSD tells me I am or am not entitled to something, I ask them for the reference.  Make them show you in an official document.

That being said, here are some references you may find useful:

• Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR) - I tend to go here first, because in my experience, the other references below are derived from and reference back to the JFTR.  For instance, if you look up PCS entitlements in article 1300-100 of the MILPERSMAN below, you will find:

"Service members who are ordered to make a permanent change of station (PCS) move are entitled to personal travel and transportation allowances per reference (a)."  (Reference (a) being the JFTR)

• The JFTR is mostly for PCS and TDY travel and per diem entitlements, including moving your family before or after you transfer.  It also addresses things like when your BAH or COLA start or stop.  
  
• Two Examples of useful info in the JFTR:
• Delay of Dependent Travel / keeping your old BAH Rate.  In accordance with JFTR U10412, there are several circumstances (such as transferring to "unusually arduous sea duty") under which you are authorized to leave your family at your previous duty station or move them to another "designated place" (such as your home of record).  If the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate at your old duty station is higher than at your new duty station, then this article covers the authorization to keep the BAH rate for where your dependents reside.  (There's a form letter you send to Pers-451 to get authorization for "delay of dependent travel.")
• Per Diem during temporary training in your previous or new ultimate duty station.  In accordance with JFTR 5120.D., if you are executing PCS orders that have you make a stop for training in the same geographic location as your previous or ultimate duty station, then you are not allowed to receive per diem.  ...But wait!  That's not all!  Many folks stop reading there, but the sentence doesn't end there.  You aren't allowed to receive per diem IF you occupy the same permanent residence that you lived in at your previous duty station or are going to live in at your next duty station.  To wit:

"No per diem allowance is payable at a TDY location ICW a PCS with TDY en route near the old or new PDS if the member commutes to the TDY from the QTRS occupied while attached to the old PDS or the permanent QTRS the member intends to occupy at the new PDS." (JFTR 5120.D. emphasis added)

• Note immediately after that is a very useful and clear-as-day definition of exactly when the quarters are considered "permanent."

"QTRS (residence, suite, room, cubicle, etc.) at the old PDS are no longer permanent QTRS on/after the PCS HHG weight allowance transportation date. QTRS at the new PDS are permanent on/after the date the PCS HHG weight allowance is accepted."  

• Military Personnel Manual (MILPERSMAN) -
• Leave and Liberty rules (1050) - I think this is the primary reference for Leave and Liberty.  The JFTR doesn't touch this. 
• PCS Entitlement policies (1300) - Mainly refers you back to the JFTR, but offers some sample situations and how they interpret the JFTR.
• POV shipping (4000)
• HHG shipping (4000)
• Submarine Personnel Manual (SUBPERSMAN) - COMSUBFORINST 1306.1.  I can't find a link to this one on the 'net, but your ship's office should have it.  This was an excellent reference during change of homeport.  It provided me a one-stop-shop place to see what the entitlements were for moving families, household goods, shipping POVs, Dislocation Allowance (DLA), Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE), Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), Family Separation Allowance (FSA), and it points you to the base reference (such as the JFTR or the Enlisted Transfer Manual).  I didn't even know the Submarine Personnel Manual existed until my XO tour, but it was the first place I would look for answers to the crew's questions.
• Enlisted Transfer Manual (NAVPERS 15909G).  This manual is also very useful in that it cross-references to other instructions and tells you what the baseline instruction is (such as the JFTR or the SUBPERSMAN).
• Officer Transfer Manual (NAVPERS 15559B).  I can't find this on the 'net, but your ship's office should have this on a CD.  It is important to note that there are different rules for officers versus enlisted.  For instance, in order for an enlisted crewmember to be entitled to a Change of Homeport certificate, his PRD must be at least 12 months after the change of homeport.  For officers, the requirement is 90 days.  It seems to me that a lot of people use the Enlisted Transfer Manual but aren't even aware of a separate instruction for officer transfers - as evidenced by the fact you can easily find the ETM on the internet but you can't find the OTM.

Hopefully, the PSD for your detaching command knows the reference and can show you.  Write it down or make a photo copy.  Then, if the PSD at your receiving command tries to tell you that you AREN'T entitled to what the detaching command PSD told you, you can show them the reference.

How about you?  Do you have any similar lessons learned with regard to travel or PCS entitlements?

Baltimore

Last weekend we had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Ashburn with friends from church.  Then my wife and I made a spontaneous decision to go to Baltimore on a family weekend getaway.  We've been wanting to go for quite some time, but just never got around to it until now.

We drove up just after lunch on Friday.  Our first stop was at Fort McHenry to see where the flag was flown that inspired the Star Spangled Banner.

I have yet to be disappointed by listening to a Park Ranger from the National Park Service give a talk.  The Park Rangers here at Fort McHenry were no exception.  This Ranger gave us a great introduction in the visitor's center, and another Ranger was dressed up in a uniform from the War of 1812 and was milling about the grounds of the fortress.

After the introduction by the Park Ranger, we went into the small theater to watch the introductory video.  The video was a little on the cheesy side, but did provide good background on the sequence of events during the battle.  Then ending was extraordinary though.  As the video ended, an electric motor drew back the curtains to reveal the flag flying over the fort while a very moving rendition of The Star Spangled Banner played on the stereo system.

The entrance to the fort and a Park Ranger dressed in a uniform from the War of 1812.

My eldest son looking out over the entrance to Baltimore Harbor.

Self-Portrait with ES.  That flagpole in the background is where Francis Scott Key observed, "that our flag was still there."  Fort McHenry is an excellent National Historic Site with many interactive exhibits in each of the buildings inside the fort.  Both of the boys did the Junior Park Ranger activity sheet and earned another Junior Park Ranger badge, too.


Next we went and checked into our hotel.  We used our Marriott Reward points to stay at the Renaissance Hotel right on the waterfront in Baltimore.  When we checked in, the lady at the counter gave us a free upgrade to a room with a view.  Score!

When we got to the room, we found that they even provided binoculars in the room.

The front desk staff was VERY helpful with information about what to see and do nearby.  We had already been planning on going to the National Aquarium Baltimore because it is open until 8 p.m. on Fridays.  What we didn't know, and what the hotel receptionist informed us, was that the aquarium was only $5 after 5 p.m. to get into the aquarium on Fridays.  Score!  Cha-ching! Cha-ching!  It was like 4:30 then, so we went and had an early dinner at a restaurant across the street first, and then headed over to the aquarium.

I've been to many aquariums across the country, and I was very impressed with the National Aquarium Baltimore.  When you buy tickets, they are for a certain entry time, done in 15 minute increments.

The inside of the aquarium is organized in a manner to keep people moving through each of the exhibits, with moving walkways and escalators keeping people moving in ONE direction through the museum, not back and forth and all over the place.  Having the time sequenced entry, limiting how many people are allowed to enter each 15 minutes, and having the layout to keep people moving was genius.  It was very efficient and well planned.

Here is YB checking out the kelp forest.  This felt like a homecoming to me.  I "grew up" learning to scuba dive as a teenager in the kelp forests off of San Diego.  You can see a beautiful male sheepshead in there, too.

YB with the jellyfish.

Toward the end of our visit to the aquarium, we came to this seemingly black wall.  I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it, except for a smattering of various people sitting and standing around watching this wall as if they were watching a giant movie screen with nothing on it.  Suddenly, there were "ooohs!" and "ahhhs!" and gasps through the crowd as these gray ghosts gracefully glided past behind the glass.

Ghosts

We ended up taking a seat to watch the dolphins swim past a few more laps before moving on.  (Note the reflection of LW's pink sweater in the glass above.)  This reminded me of being at sea off the coast of Southern California where the dolphins look like ghosts in the water, but there they are highlighted by a sheen of bioluminescence and leave a glowing trail behind them.

Night view of Baltimore from our hotel room.

Saturday morning, we went to tour the historic ships on the Baltimore waterfront.  First we went to USS CONSTELLATION.

This boatswain's mate met us on the main deck of the CONSTELLATION, and he was AWESOME.  He enlisted our help to do morning colors.

Raising the flag on USS CONSTELLATION

The Bo'sun showing the boys the ropes.

Oh say can you see...

The boatswain told us to come back after we finished our tour in order for the boys to receive their "pay" for working for him that morning on raising the U.S., Maryland, and Baltimore flags.  When we returned for the boys to receive their pay, he explained how much they had earned and how much he had to deduct for their uniforms and candy they took from the ship's store, so they wouldn't actually get any pay.  However, he said in honor of their service, President Lincoln was awarding them each a presidential medallion.

The boatswain presents "presidential medallions" to the boys.

ES inspects the presidential medallion he earned for doing morning colors.  It looked suspiciously like a penny, but the boatswain assured him that pennies had Indian heads on them and that this was a genuine presidential medallion from President Lincoln.

We also toured the submarine USS TORSK, the last submarine to sink a Japanese ship during WWII.  One of the volunteers on board told us the boat received an encrypted message in the middle of attacking a Japanese convoy.  They sank two of the Japanese ships and were lining up to shoot a third when the radiomen brought the deciphered message to the captain reporting the Japanese surrender and directing U.S. forces to cease all hostilities.

While we were touring the USCGC TANEY, we were climbing up a ladder and my eldest son behind me said, "Daddy, there's a big hole in your pants."  There is?

Why, yes, indeed there was a RATHER LARGE and GAPING WIDE hole in the crotch of my pants.  No wonder I was so cold!  My loving family proceeded to form a sort of privacy-screen walking in front of me as we proceeded down the street to the nearest department store to buy me a new pair of jeans.

Last stop for our whirlwind trip to Baltimore was the Port Discovery Children's Museum.  The boys had a BLAST. 

Here are two young archaeologists pulling themselves across a river in Egypt.  I was actually pleasantly surprised by some of the side exhibits at Port Discovery like this Egyptian archaeology exhibit.  There was an actual mission to find out the name of a pharaoh, and you had to put together pieces of pottery and take crayon rubbings of hieroglyphs and decode clues in order to come up with the answer at the end.

Later, YB asked my wife if he could get his own car when he gets older.  She said, uhhhh, sure, why?  He responded because then he could drive himself to Baltimore to go back to the Port Discovery Children's Museum.  Sadly, by the time he's old enough to drive, I think he will have long forgotten how much fun he had there last weekend.

We had a great weekend getaway to Baltimore.  There's still a LOT more to see and do around Baltimore, so we look forward to going back again someday.

Pentagon Gouge: Navy Working Uniform (NWU)

Like me, some of you have been in the National Capitol Region (NCR) for a while and not allowed to wear the new Navy Working Uniform (NWU).  As I prepare to execute my next set of PCS orders, I have found it necessary to embark on the quest for my own set of NWUs.

It has NOT been a smooth or easy process.

In the interest of helping you, my shipmates out, please allow me to offer the following recommendations for making your NWU purchase easier than mine.

Step 1)  Realize that the NWUs come in a completely new and different sizing system.
    Since the Navy uniform shop is INconveniently located in the bowels of the Navy Annex, I really didn't want to go out of my way to make the pilgrimage to the uniform shop only to find they didn't have what I needed.  So I had this bright idea to order my NWUs online.  The Navy Uniform website is actually a pretty good site.
    Unfortunately, I got to the website and discovered that you can't just order a size large blouse or type in the waist-size and inseam for my trousers.  Each have TWO sizes on their label, like "L/R," "M/L," or "L/L."  Huh?
    Okay, note to self:  For the initial purchase of my NWUs, I should probably actually GO to the uniform shop and try them on.
    But wait!  Don't leave the website yet!

Step 2)  Go ahead and order the name strips, rank insignia, warfare pin, and U.S. Navy strip from the website.
    They get it done pretty quick and ship it to your home.  The name strips take a few days to do, but it'll help make things go smoother when you already have them in hand.  The other stuff could wait, but you never know if they'll be out of your particular rank or warfare pin when you arrive at the uniform shop.

Step 3)  Look up the business hours of the uniform shop before you make the pilgrimage to the uniform shop.
    Did I mention how inconveniently located the uniform shop is in the basement of the Navy Annex?
    Here's what you DON'T want to happen.  You DON'T want to leave work "early" at 1600 in order to make a run to the uniform shop "on the way" home, battle for parking near the Navy Annex, hike to up the hill to the security entrance, and descend to the depths of the building... down the stairs... past the NFCU...  past the mini mart... around the corner... past the gym... alllllll they way down the hallway... and there it is.

The CLOSED sign.

    Yyyyyyyyeah, they closed at 1600.

    I imagine my face was probably red and smoke billowed from my ears (flashback to those jalepeno chips at the NEX in Pearl Harbor) as I walked all the way back up the hallway... past the gym... around the corner... past the mini mart... past the NFCU... up the stairs...  back through security... and back down the hill to where I parked my car again.

Step 4) Okay, wait, rewind.  Backup to Step 2 above.  
    Note to self:  The NWU requires TWO name-tapes per uniform.  One goes on the blouse.  One goes on the back of the trousers.  On your second trip to the uniform shop (because they were closed the first time you tried), if you go with just two name-tapes in-hand hoping to outfit yourself with two sets of NWUs, then you'll be disappointed. 
    Oops.
    So much for saving yourself some effort by ordering them online before going to the uniform shop.


Step 5) Get all this done so that your new NWUs are ready for pickup BEFORE you detach from your current duty station and turn in your Pentagon badge.  It just makes it easier for getting into the Navy Annex to go back to the uniform shop.  That being said, I'm happy to report that it was not difficult to get a visitor badge at the security shack.  It just would have been quicker and easier if I had done it before turning in my Pentagon badge.

Disclaimer:  Please don't take my gripes about the location of the Navy Annex uniform shop the wrong way.  I do not mean any of this to reflect negatively upon the uniform shop or staff.  It's an excellent, well-stocked uniform shop, and the staff there are extraordinarily helpful.

I just wish the location of the uniform shop was a little more convenient for quicker access.

Advice to Junior Officers: Social Media

Back when I was an Ensign (peanut gallery says, "Ooooooh, boy, here he goes..."), I had some great officers and chiefs teach me a lot about life in the Navy.

One nugget I remember was the warning about fraternization.  Now, I'm not talking about male-female fraternization since women aren't yet serving on submarines.  I'm talking about unduly familiar relationships between officers and enlisted Sailors.

It can be tempting as a 23 year old Ensign to become friends with the 23 year old E-4s because you're part of the same generation.  You grew up listening to the same music.  You watched the same movies.  You played the same video games.  You had the same posters on your bedroom walls in high school, worshiping the same teen idols - be it rock stars or sports stars or super models.  You remember the same critical events in history (like where you were on 9-11 or when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded and how it affected you).  You may be fans of the same sports teams and watched the same World Series or Super Bowl or NBA finals.  You probably have a lot in common except for the fact that one decided to go to college and one decided to enlist in the Navy (which are BOTH honorable choices).  Even so, you can't be friends.  That would be "prejudicial to the good order and discipline" of the command.

Fast forward umpteen years later and enter the world of social media. 

During my tour as XO on the Mighty MSP, social media was still pretty new.  The Navy had not yet embraced social media as the important communication tool that it is, and there were no rules or guidance on whether it was okay or forbidden.  It was just sort of out there.  Sailors were using it.  Most of my wardroom (including me) and our wives got assimilated by the Borg sucked into Facebook.

But nobody ever sat me down and said, "Shipmate, if you're going to be active on social media sites like Facebook, then here are some guidelines and things to consider..."

This ALNAV message (ALNAV 057-10) provides a very broad-brush-stroke, overarching guidance for the use of the social media by Navy personnel, but it is more concerned with not speaking on behalf of the Navy, not violating operational security and/or giving out classified information.   

Aside:  In the process of searching for information on this topic, I discovered that CHINFO has a very useful web page of social media references. 

This topic of discussion came up during at a leadership school I attended last week.  We asked a lot of questions like:  As an officer in the Navy, is it okay to use Facebook?  Is it okay to "friend" one of your Sailors?  Those are tough questions with no clear right or wrong answer.

Some people will NOT use Facebook (or any other social media site) AT ALL to simply eliminate any risk to their privacy or security or implication of impropriety, and that's okay.  In my case, I find Facebook is a very useful tool for staying in touch with family and friends scattered across the globe.  Plus, as a leader, social media can provide some awareness into what's on your Sailors' minds.  In several instances, it has brought to my attention when a friend or shipmate has been in need of advice or assistance.

While it is a useful tool, it should go without saying that you need to be cautious about how you use social media sites like Facebook.  Keep the privacy settings on lock-down, and follow the good advice in the ALNAV message to minimize the risks of computer security and operational security.  However, I think that's all "Social Media and Internet Safety 101" and doesn't address the questions I mentioned above.  Is it okay for an officer to use social media and not jeopardize the good order and discipline of the command through fraternization or unduly familiar relationships?


For what it's worth, here's my unsolicited advice of the day.

Blunoz's Ground Rules as an O-Ganger on Facebook

Rule #1:  I don't send friend requests to my subordinates.  Consider it respecting their privacy.  If they don't want me seeing into their personal lives and communications with their friends, then that's fine by me (even if it's because they're complaining about that a-hole XO they work for).  If I did send them a friend request, then they might feel pressured or obligated to accept because of my position of seniority / authority in their chain of command.   

Rule #2:  I accept ALL friend requests from my subordinates.  If you accept one, then you have to accept them all.  To accept some and not others would give appearances of favoritism.

If one was concerned about fraternization through Facebook, I suppose one could impose a criteria such as, "I will not accept friend requests from enlisted Sailors."  In my personal experience, I am Facebook friends with many of my enlisted shipmates, and I haven't had any problems with it.  I generally don't post many comments on their pages except to say congratulations for promotions, weddings, births, etc.

Regardless of your personal preference or social media philosophy, it goes without saying that you have to be careful about what you post.  Anything you write on any blog or Facebook post can go viral and end up on the front of the Navy Times.  If you're hanging out at the same places the enlisted crew hangs out, and pictures get posted to Facebook showing you there with them, then it could create the perception of an unduly familiar relationship and/or favoritism with one or more of your crewmembers.  I'm not saying don't go out on the town for fear of running into crewmembers.  I'm also not saying don't take pictures with your shipmates.  I'm just advising you to be aware of the possible perception and be cautious.

What do you think?  

I don't claim to be an expert on this topic.  I'm just sharing my personal philosophy about it.  Do my ground rules make sense, or am I overlooking some other potential pitfall?  Do you have other rules or guidelines for using social media?  I appreciate any feedback you have to offer on this topic in general or on my ground rules above.

Update 10/29/2010: I found an excellent blog post on the topic of Navy leadership and the use of Facebook here: http://seanheritage.blogspot.com/2010/02/wasting-time-for-good-of-team.html.

Pentagon Gouge: PCS Check-Out

Tuesday was my last official day of walking the halls of the Pentagon as I rushed by many offices to finish my PCS check-out sheets.  Just like the check-in process, I had three separate check-OUT sheets: one for the OPNAV Staff Support office, one for the N-code Secretariat, and one for my specific office.  I was able to knock out almost all of the administrative stuff in a day speed-walking around the Pentagon and Crystal City.

Here are a few pointers for anyone else in the audience following in my footsteps and PCSing out of the National Capital Region and back to sea duty again (nudge nudge wink wink - you know who you are):

1.  Don't wait for PSD to send you a transfer package.  It required an active ping from me to get them to send me my transfer package a week before I detached.  The OPNAV Support office will tell you who your transfer clerk is over at PSD Anacostia.  If you call your transfer clerk, he/she will email you your transfer package so you don't have to drive over to Anacostia to pick it up.

2.  The transfer clerk will tell you that you have to submit the ENTIRE completed package or it won't be approved / endorsed by PSD.  Pages that aren't applicable need to have an N/A written on them and the sheet returned.  This would not be a big deal if you received the transfer package more than 5 business days before your detaching date.  As it was, the first day I had the transfer package in my hands, I had everything completed and ready to turn in except for one thing...

3.  The "longest pole in the tent" for completing my transfer package was the medical and dental Sea Duty Screening.  In hindsight, I could have gotten ahead of this even before I received my transfer package.  I recommend starting this part of your PCS early.

I went to NNMC Bethesda to get my Sea Duty Screening done.  I don't have any data to suggest the Army DiLorenzo Clinic at the Pentagon wouldn't be able to properly complete a Navy Sea Duty Screening.  However, the Medical Readiness office at NNMC Bethesda is in the business of doing Sea Duty and Overseas Duty screenings.  It's their raison d'etre.  As I've mentioned before, I have been pleased each time I have gone there to get my Physical Health Assessment (PHA), and I continue to be impressed with how smoothly they completed my Sea Duty Screening. 

Even with the friendly and professional staff in the Medical Readiness office, there were a few things that took some time that I wish I had done sooner.

- PPD.  I learned something new.  PPD tests are only required once every 3 years... UNLESS you are transferring to Sea Duty.  If you are transferring to Sea Duty, then you must have one within the last year. 

Doh.

Poke me in the arm and come back 48 hours later to have the corpsman verify I didn't react.

- HIV.  You have to have an HIV test within the last year prior to transfer.  It takes them 2 weeks to analyze the results. 

- Dental.  As you know, the Navy shifted to this strategy where you have your annual dental check-up and your PHA done in your birth month, which for me is in September.  Low and behold, here it is August and I'm trying to get my Sea Duty screening done, so it's been 11 months since my last dental exam.  They wanted to do my annual exam now. 

The Dental Readiness clinic personnel at NNMC Bethesda were also very friendly and professional and eager to help get me out the door to serve my country on the pointy-end of the spear.  However, they did the annual "check-up" and found something odd on one of my teeth.  They were VERY cautious about signing off on me going to Sea Duty and would NOT put pen-to-paper until they were absolutely sure everything was good-to-go.  This meant extra X-rays of the roots of one of my teeth and special tests of the tooth with electric probes, hot water, and cold ice stuff, and a consult with an  endodontist. 

In the end, everything worked out fine, but I had to spend a Friday afternoon and a Monday afternoon up at NNMC Bethesda to get it all done, and that was with the very helpful, supportive NNMC staff who do Sea Duty Screenings for a living and are intimately familiar with the rules and PUSHING to get it all done so I could get out the door on time.  I'm not sure I would wager money that a non-Navy clinic would have gotten that done correctly or in-time.

So to sum it up:

1. Kudos and many thanks to the superb staff at NNMC Bethesda's Medical Readiness and Dental Readiness clinics. 

2.  If you're expecting to detach in the near future, get thee to the Medical and Dental Readiness clinics, get your PPD and HIV and annual dental exam done NOW so that your Sea Duty screening will be a breeze.

Pentagon Gouge: Photo Studio

First, quick advice for other navy officers in the audience:  Do you have a service record photo in your current paygrade?  Just in case that isn't clear:  If you're a LCDR, then you should have an official photo in your service record of you wearing gold oak leaves on your collar.  If not, get it done now so it isn't a crisis before your next promotion or screening board. 

For anyone in the DC area who needs a service record photo or portrait, the OPNAV staff has a photo studio down in the RSAC on the first floor of the Pentagon.  I had no problem making an appointment.  They had plenty of open slots on their calendar and were happy to accommodate whenever I wanted to come in.  I went and had a portrait taken and was very pleased with their professionalism. 

As recommended on the PERS-42 website, they took photos of me in summer whites with my cover on and off and in my service dress blues with my cover on and off.  They emailed me the photos a few days after they were taken. 

Here's the flier the photo studio emailed out to all the OPNAV staff with the hours and contact information for the photo studio:

(click on image to enlarge)

I'm alive

Hey folks,
     Sorry my blog posting has been light lately.  I blame summer vacation and new toy syndrome.
     Back when the boys were in school, they had a bedtime that allowed my wife and I to have a few hours to ourselves between them going to bed and us going to bed.  That was the main time I was writing blog posts.
     Now that the boys are out of school for the summer, we've been letting them stay up later.  We've been enjoying the time together.  We used to only do family movie night on Friday or Saturday nights (not school nights).  Now that they don't have to get up for school in the morning, we've been having a lot of family movie nights.  Actually we've sorta run out of movies per se, but we've become big fans of Netflix on the X-Box.

Netflix has a lot of movies and TV shows you can watch instantly through the internet, and we've been working our way through a bunch of old TV shows that my wife and I used to watch when we were kids.  During the day the boys have been watching an episode of Knight Rider with my wife.  In the evenings, they've been watching an episode of Quantum Leap with me.  Tonight we watched my favorite episode of Amazing Stories from Steven Speilberg, "The Mission."  It's about a B-17 bomber crew flying a mission over Germany.  I actually had this episode recorded on a VHS tape when I was a kid and watched it several times, but it had been a long time since I had last seen it. I was quite surprised to notice the cast included Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland. 
     Anyway, sorry, end of tangent.  The POINT was that now I only have about an hour between putting the boys to bed and my own bedtime because I still have to get up for work in the morning.

     Another factor has been new toy syndrome.  My wonderful wife picked me up a Kindle off of Woot.
     I wasn't so sure about it, but my wife got a great deal on it, and I figured I'd at least give it a try.

     Oh my gosh, I LOVE IT! 





I've always been one to work on several books at once.  Every once in a while, I get really engrossed in a book and can't put it down until I finish it.  See for example, "Ender's Game."  Most of the time though, I have several books that I rotate through depending on my mood.  For example, right now I happen to be working my way through three books:








"The Book Thief"  THIS is an AMAZING story.  It's the story of a girl growing up in Nazi Germany, and it's narrated by...  well...  that might be a spoiler.  It's just an extremely thought-provoking and well-written book.

"Last Child in the Wilderness"  This is a really good book about how our society is changing because we don't spend anywhere near as much time outside as our ancestors did.  It's got some interesting insights on the societal changes that brought it about and on the unintended consequences of it on our children and our society as a whole.  The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) blog had a similar post about this topic and also cited this book.

"Managing Maintenance Error."  This book was recommended to me by a fellow submarine officer, and someone I look up to as a mentor.  It's an EXCELLENT book, and I wish I had read it before becoming a department head.  The title may sound a bit boring, but I have found the subject matter fascinating.

     It becomes problematic for me when we want to go anywhere on a vacation, and I always want to bring several books with me.  They quickly add a lot of weight to one's baggage.  I always have trouble picking out just one to put in my carry-on bag for reading on an airplane.

     Enter the Kindle.

I can now carry untold dozens of books with me in something the size and weight of a single paperback.  It's AWESOME.  I've always liked to carry a book with me wherever I go.  Long line at the DMV?  Bring it on!  I just open my book and read.  The Kindle has just reinvigorated that habit for me.  I carry it almost everywhere now.
   
     In other news, we are in receipt of orders once again.  This time the Navy is sending us to the Pacific Northwest, and we're pretty excited to live someplace where the houses are affordable, AND the commute isn't bad, AND the schools are good.  That'll be a first for us.
     As a result, we're in that stage of the PCS-cycle of military life (moving every 2 to 3 years) where the weekends we have left in our current duty station are numbered, and the calendar quickly fills up with all sorts of things you want to do before you leave.
     We're supposed to break heat records this weekend in the DC area.  Yuck.  I'm sorry to say the extreme heat tomorrow will prevent any attempt to get out hiking, biking, or kayaking.  However, I'm very excited to see some dear Navy friends of ours coming up to visit from Norfolk.  We went to church together in San Diego when R and I were both department heads there.  As much as it hurts to say goodbye to our friends each time the Navy moves us to a new duty station, it's always a joy to be reunited with those old friends when you cross paths at new duty stations.

     I hope you all are enjoying your summer, and I hope it's not nearly as HOT and HUMID as it has been here in the DC area.

     Oh, two administrative notes on my blog:
     1. I've finally surrendered to turning on comment moderation.  Those annoying comment spammers just keep leaving CRAP in my comments.  I think I've deleted like two dozen spam Chinese comments from my last blog post about our Shenandoah kayaking trip.  I apologize to those of you who leave legitimate and thoughtful comments, but there shouldn't be too much of a delay.
     2. You'll notice the book links above.  I have written before that nobody is paying me to write about anything in my blog.  My recommendations for books or any other product are my honest opinions.
    That being said, Blogger has added this nice link-to-Amazon feature, where if you mention a book, it will include an image of the book cover and a link to the Amazon website.  IF you should click on the link and purchase a copy, then I will get some small compensation from Amazon.  I don't think that compromises my assertion that my recommendation of the book is my honest opinion that it's a good book, right?  It's just offering you a quick and easy way to click on a link IF you desire to buy the same book from Amazon, that's all.

Alright, I've talked your ear off enough for one night.  It had been long enough that at least my one most faithful and devoted reader started to complain that I hadn't posted anything in weeks.  Hopefully we'll be going on leave up to New Hampshire again for a couple of weeks in August, and I'll have more outdoor adventures to write about then.

In the meantime, I'll be enjoying our air conditioning.  :-)

FY11 CO/XO Screening Board Results

Being selected to become a Commanding Officer (CO) or Executive Officer (XO = second in command) is a significant milestone in the career of a submarine officer. For any non-Navy family/friends who want to learn more or refresh their memory on the career progression of a submarine officer, please read this post.


Just like last year, I've been getting a LOT of hits on my blog lately from people looking for the results of the CO/XO Screening Board that met last week. In previous years, I have posted the results here because I know there are a lot of fellow submariners out there who would like to see the list and wish their former shipmates congratulations, but aren't currently working in a job that gets the "ALSUBFOR" message traffic.

This year, kudos to NAVPERSCOM, they have added a selection board page to the Pers-42 web page, and you can view the FY11 CO/XO Screening Board results in PDF format here.

Congratulations to all who screened for these important career milestones!

Sixteen

Wow the last year has gone by fast.  It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I wrote this post.  Thanks to the military pay scales, there are longevity pay raises every two years of service, so there is a nice pay-raise for me this year.

My career certainly has had its ups and downs, but looking back I feel tremedously blessed in the rich variety of experiences I have had.  I have said before, and I still believe, that both the good and the bad periods and events of my career have provided me with valuable learning experiences.  Although I would never wish the bad experiences on anyone and would not want to relive them, I am glad to have them under my belt and hope the wisdom I gained through them will help me to be a better naval officer, leader, husband, and father (not necessarily in that order). 

I've had the priviledge to serve with many very smart and talented shipmates in the last sixteen years, and many have had long-lasting impacts on me.  They will pop into my mind whenever someone mentions a key word or place or a song I hear.  For all of you who have served with me, I am thankful for our time together and for what you have taught me along the way.