Thursday, August 10, 1989
Wednesday, August 9, 1989
Tuesday, August 8, 1989
Monday, August 7, 1989
Sunday, August 6, 1989
Saturday, August 5, 1989
Friday, August 4, 1989
Norfolk, VA (USA)
More early morning PT... We went to see an interesting demonstration of ship handling today - conducted with models that are big enough to carry a man. I guess the best way to describe it is to say that it was like a canoe sized boat was constructed with the scale dimensions of a real ship. Somehow, the bouyant characteristics and propulsive response is similar to what a real ship would be like... It was interesting. We had lunch and an "out-brief" before we were sent down to an area near the beach to visit the Marines. We belong to them now...
Thursday, August 3, 1989
Norfolk, VA (USA)
We spent most of the day over at Little Creek Amphibious Base - some interesting simulations for our group in 3-D. The morning was all about tactics - using scale models. It was interesting. After a nice lunch at the "Amphib Wardroom," we got several other briefs about the other types of operations that are conducted at the base. Dinner was kind of early - and there was time for relaxing afterwards. I took the opportunity to go over to the barber shop. I asked for a "high-and-tight" (ROTC Joe gives those - I thought...) and ended up with no hair! I think I got a little carried away, but we'll be seeing the Marines tomorrow - maybe it will be a good thing...
Wednesday, August 2, 1989
Norfolk, VA (USA)
Early PT again (0600) and some breakfast - all done before 0700. We got to ride on a helicopter today - an H-46. There were two, so I could see the other one along side as we flew out to visit some Spruance Destroyers. One helo went to one ship and one went to the other. When we got inside, we were greeted by the Midshipman Coordinator - LT Coogan! I was quite surprised to meet someone with the same last name, but he proceeded non-chalantly with his brief. Afterwards, though, he took me with him for a personal tour of the ship. Everyone else went off somewhere else (not sure where) and I ended up on the Bridge. The Skipper thought it was funny to have someone with a mini-version of his Lieutenant - and he had me conning the ship alongside the other destroyer within a few minutes! That was really something - I never dreamed of controlling something so big (especially so close to another, equally big, thing). I really enjoyed my time on the ship and LT Coogan made me feel like we were related (who knows?). We were picked up by a hydrofoil for a high-speed run back to Norfolk. After dinner, all 200 of us got together for drinks and stories at the Club.
Tuesday, August 1, 1989
Norfolk, VA (USA)
Breakfast was early again - but no PT before (a few extra minutes of sleep!). We got to do something really cool today - Damage Control Training! I never expected to get this opportunity. We were taken to a Simulator (nearly full scale mock-up of a ship - called "FTC Buttercup") and got to participate in real drills of a ship with leaks. They never filled the place entirely with water (I guess they actually can, though), but it was very hard to get around and the water was spraying everywhere! We did stop some of it with special pipe coverings and worked on "dogging" hatches to keep the water out. After about three hours, we went back for lunch - and found we had the rest of the day off!
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