So I'm finally settled here in sunny Florida! Actually, Florida is not as sunny as I thought it would be, the temperatures hover around 92 degrees until at like 7 o'clock every evening and it rains ferociously every afternoon, which, coupled with the surrounding marshes, makes it very hot and humid.
After 11 hours on I-95 all day Monday, my mom and I finally made it to Jacksonville, FL. And after 2 solid hours with the Mayport Naval Station ID & Decal Office, we finally checked into our room at the Navy Lodge around 11 pm.
I then spent the next 3 days getting a drivers license, unpacking ALL of my house hold goods, getting new uniforms and generally getting settled here in JAX. All was well and on Friday morning on the 22nd, I reported to the Samuel B. Roberts.
Unfortunately, I hadn't heard from my sponsor in the days leading up to my report day, so like the XO of the UVA NROTC Unit told me, I got to the ship around 9 am on Friday morning. After a few unsuccessful attempts of finding a parking spot amongst the "Reserved for 0-6 and Above" spots, I found a spot in the overflow parking lot, approximately 1.5 miles from my ship. After another unsuccessful attempt at finding the correct pier, I approach what appears to be the entrance to the pier where the SBR was moored. I approached the MP at the gate to the pier and show him my ID. Obviously being a new Ensign reporting, it is very apparent that I have no idea where I'm going. I politely ask if this is the pier of the Roberts. The MP said yes, and that I should go up to that guy (motioning to another Ensign on the pier) and make sure I was on the list.
List? What list? This isn't a frat party or the entrance to a hot club in the ATL. Since when do ships have lists of who can come aboard? So I approach the other Ensign in full dress whites, decked out in his medals and white gloves. So I ask, "Hi, I'm here to see if I'm on the list?" (Insert questioning intonation here). And he replies "Oh, ok, who are you?" After I realize that Ensign Harris is OBVIOUSLY not on this infamous "list," I ask, "You're not with the Samuel B Roberts, are you?" He replies that indeed he is and I say "well, I feel a bit undressed, because I'm reporting today"
Turns out, the ship is having a change of command ceremony as we are currently welcoming a new Commanding Officer to the ship. Now, for those of you in the Navy reading this, you know that reporting on the day of change of command is a big no-no. I can see the my old XO shaking his head the way he always did in response to my bizarre questions and antics, or at least warning future generations of soon-to-be SWOs.
Anyways, we decide that I don't want to go into the negative in my leave so that I should go home for about an hour and then come back after the ceremony. I leave, go home back to my apartment, explain the whole story to my mom, and then come back. Luckily, in the process, the large group of JOs that I was introduced to pointed me in the direction of a closer parking lot.
My second attempt of reporting was much more successful, that is after I saw the entire crew manning the rails of the ship mid-ceremony. I have enough sense at this point to stay in my car until it appears that the ceremony has broken up. To make a long story short, I spent the next hour meeting some of the wardroom, meeting my sponsor, seeing my stateroom and of course a little jaunt over to Admin to make sure I was officially checked in. My stateroom seems huge (I'll figure out the dimensions later) but whatever it is, I'm sure most people would be horrified to see such a small room. However, only having one roommate in a 3-man room while the males are squeezed in a 6-man room that is equal in size, I consider myself very lucky. It's also located right next door to the wardroom and quarterdeck, which means that unlike on the LHD, it won't take me 2 weeks to find my room. In the process, I also learned that I was to be the new Electrical Officer, replacing a JG who will move on to another division in our department.
Now here I must pause to make a few obvious points. My division is in the Engineering department under the CHENG (Chief Engineer), who is my department head (DH). Anyone who knows my track record of a) the sciences and how I was barely pass physics at the local community college and b) my uncanny ability to break, ruin, or otherwise cause any electrical equipment I own to malfunction, will find it very ironic that I am the electrical officer in the engineering department. I'm sure many an interesting stories will result from this.
Tomorrow is my first "real" day of work, and the ship has PT. I've never been on a ship that PTed together, so that should be relatively exciting. Luckily, work doesn't start til 7 but to get through morning base traffic to find a spot in the parking lot, I'll probably have to leave a little before 6.
The weekend was crazy busy as my mom and Dan were in town, along with Katie's (my roommate) husband Tom, and her entire family. I'm about to go move some uniforms and clothes onto the ship so I will be a little bit self sufficient on board. Moving onto a ship it difficult as you have to make many many trips from your car that is not right up to the ship and navigate through the small spaces on the ship. Especially considering that I have 3 huge boxes of snacks and supplies thanks to a Sam's Club run from the weekend. I definitely have enough peanuts, popcorn, fruit snacks, and energy bars to last me through a long deployment.
Stay tuned for some pictures of our awesome apartment and more exciting updates about ship life and my contact information!
our place is alway
s very clean and organized save for the massive piles of
food/uniforms/supplies you see all over the place. This is a result of 3 brand new Ensigns attempting to pack for many many months underway!
