webster's: navy edition.

hi everyone!

my apologies for the hiatus in my blog posting, working life has certainly taken a toll and has been keeping me SUPER busy. in the past 2 weeks, i have seen the ship into dry dock and spent hours and days learning about my job. i am happy to say that last weekend, admist a 54 hour long work day, i qualified inport officer of the deck, when means i stand on the quarterdeck in my white uniform (and a gun/holster!) and oversee everything going on on the quarterdeck and generally running/facilitating the day's events. it was the first of many many quals on the looooong journey to get my SWO pin in what will hopefully be october of 2008.

at the suggestion of my aunt becky (and extending something that i created orginally for dan), below is my Navy Acronym Volume I. this will give all of my readers something to refer back to when my posts turn into one long sentence of words that you can't pronounce and probably lack a few vowels. if you have any questions, let me know!



A Civilian Guide to Surface Warrior Jargon

SWO: Surface Warfare Officer

SBR: Samuel B. Roberts

Desron 14: the Destroyer Squadron of which my ship is a member; it consists of many of the frigates on the waterfront

CO: Commanding Officer

XO: Executive Officer

CMC: Command Master Chief (the highest ranking Enlisted person onboard)

DH: Department Head (Lieutenant or LtCdr in charge of 2-5 divisions)

Divo: Division Officer (this is what I am)

ENG: Engineering Department

CHENG: Chief Engineer in charge of the Engineering Department
On SBR: CHENG is my DH; LT Gunn

Auxo: Auxiliary Officer, vaguely in charge of engines.

Electro: Electrical Officer. (ME!)

DCA: Damage Control Assistant; in charge of the damage control of the ship; a 2nd tour Divo
On SBR: ENS MacLeod (Iain), my mentor

MPA: Main Propulsion Assistant; an LDO who has been in the Navy for like 16 years specializing on main propulsion.

OPS: DH in charge of Operations
SBR: a LT who likes Sponge Bob to an unhealthy degree

CICO: Combat Information Center Officer.
On SBR, my sponsor Christy is CICO.

First: the 1st Lieutenant (in this case, he is technically an Ensign) in charge of the Deck Crew.
On SBR, ENS Neal is the 1st.

Ordo: Ordinance Officer; in charge of the ship’s weapons.

Nav: The Navigator, a 2nd tour Divo

Commo: Communications Officer, vaguely in charge radio/internet/IT, etc

Traino: Training Officer: 2nd tour Divo in charge of overseeing the training pipeline of the officers and making sure that the crew is scheduled to attend any necessary schools.

AirBoss: a pilot in charge of the flight ops and pilots onboard

QD: Quarterdeck; where we stand as people come up the brow onto the ship. The colors, a picture board of who’s who on the ship, and people in whites stand there.

OOD I/P: Officer of the Deck Inport: what I am currently working on and the officer in charge of what is going on on the QD and around the ships
CDO: Command Duty Officer: Officer who is in charge of the duty section and acts at the “representative” of the CO when he’s not there

OOD I/P U/I: Under Instructions: what I am right now; I’m not qualified, but under the instruction of another OOD.

OOD U/W: Officer of the Day Underway. When you’re OOD U/W, you’re in charge of the entire bridge team and the movement and actions of the ship.

SUPPO: Supply Officer, a female department head in charge of all supply issues onboard

Disbo: The disbursing officer, in charge of our money and stuff.

FSA: Food Service Assistant: These are the guys that make/serve our meals and clean our staterooms

O-Call (Khaki Call): Officers Call; when all officers and E-7 and above meet to pass on word in the morning

POD: Plan of the Day; a schedule of the day’s training and events. Published every day by the XO.

Quarters: When the Divisions meet every morning to pass down the POD.

LCPO: Leading Chief Petty Officer; the Chief in charge of every division. My Chief is EMC LaPointe.

LPO: Leading Petty Officer; the leading Petty Officer in each division. My LPO is EM1 Alexander. He basically runs the division.

EM: Electrician’s Mate. The rate of all of the guys in my division.

PQS: Personal Qualifications of Standards; what we have to sign off on in order to make different quals.

PMS: Planned Maintenance Schedule; basically every week every piece of machinery in all of our spaces has to be checked to make sure that it is running smoothly.

Spot Checks: Every week, as Divo, I have to check one piece of machinery in all of our spaces (we have 7) to make sure that the EMs are doing their jobs and checking what needs to be checked.