Nov
10
2008
Ok.. because of the large gap in time I am going to do it all in one post because honestly I can not remember some of it. That is one of the things that stinks about being on a ship, the internet access goes way down especially when you head into the Arabian Gulf area.
Here are some highlights broken down into bite size pieces.
MS and the Military Medicine System.
So, it would appear according to the civilian doctor that Mrs. Jaybob is seeing, that she has the signs and symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis.
A chronic, typically progressive disease involving damage to the sheaths of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, whose symptoms may include numbness, impairment of speech and of muscular coordination, blurred vision, and severe fatigue
She went into the docs office to see about her shoulder pain two years ago and during an MRI they found evidence of it, but disinclined to inform her of it. This time she went in for another MRI of her neck and shoulder and they found the same thing and actually told her about it. They found little white dots in her spinal cord and lower brain stem area that are indicative of MS. She had a full head MRI done recently and we are awaiting the response from that to find out where to go from here.
I have two issues with this. I am here. She is there. Now, while she is not quite alone in this situation because she has my brother and his family to talk to she is still dealing with it without her entire support system that she is used to. I am out here, feeling helpless and worried. I know that this is a slow disease and people live with it for years and years and years sometimes without even showing any symptoms, but that does not help me much. This is my best friend! This is the woman who I am so crazy about I married twice! Yet here I am floating 15,000 miles across the seas with the ability to do nothing more than make a phone call or two to make sure she is doing all right. I am beginning to think that those phone calls are more for me than they are for her. *Shrug* I don’t know. So to cap this off we are going to have to wait until sometime in December to get the full results.
The Military Health Care System
Being sick in the military is in no way shape or form what it used to be. For the non military folks out there, normally when you are sick you take your happy ass down to sick-bay or over to the branch medical clinic and go to “Sick call”. This is basically a time in the morning lasting about 2 hours where you can just walk in and say “I threw up” or “I have this lump” or “I have a runny nose”. It was basically a triage point for them to say “ok Mr. runny nose you take this pill and stop whining… Mr. Lumpy rub this ointment on it and come back in a week, you Mr. Throw up you have a 106 degree fever you need emergent care!”
That was then… Now? You actually have only 15 minuets to make it down to ’sick call’. They will not even entertain seeing you during non-sickcall hours unless you are bleeding profusely from the eyes. Being in the position of ‘Senior Leadership’ that I am in, I have meetings and such that I am required to attend in the mornings (and wouldn’t you know it those take place during ’sick call’.) I was running a 105 fever with night sweats, little sleep, and massive headaches but it took 3 days for them to see me and that was only due to the fact that my Chief gave them a call and told them they needed to see me. It really annoys me to no end how some of the medical people react when someone actually requires some attention… like I just ruined their day by being sick. Customer service is a dead concept.
Ok.. enough ranting for now. Please take care of eachother and yourselves.
I am still . . .
Haze Grey & Underway
~Jaybob
Oct
6
2008
Ok.. So it has been a bit since I have updated the site, please bare with me as it has gotten quite busy for us here and the scarce availability of the internet has slowed down my posting ability.
South Africa was far from what I would call a success, but I was able to get off the ship for about 5 hours and get a decent meal and pick up some trinkets and gifts for my loved ones back in the States. Cape Town really was quite a modern town with all the same amenities as a regular city you would encounter in Anytown USA. The biggest problem with the whole port is that only 1/3 of the crew were able to get off the ship to enjoy even the slightest bit of liberty. That is bull crap if you ask me, piss poor planning on the part of the chain of command created an ‘Epic Fail’ port experience for 2/3 of of my shipmates. Yes, they were robbed of an entire country!
The economy of South Africa was decent enough to allow us to get some pretty decent deals. The exchange rate was about 7Rand to $1. I was able to score a very decent meal of steak with various appetisers and a nice big beer for around $11US. Not bad at all.
The funny thing though, is that after all the lectures, training, videos, and stern warnings on crew behavior the majority of the people out on liberty that I saw ‘misbehaving’ were senior enlisted and officer personnel. *but we are the ones to blame*.
All in all it was definately an experience. I can plant a flag on my map at home saying I have been somewhere else that would have never been had I not joined the Navy.
One month down…
Take care of yourselves… I remain
Haze Grey & Underway
~Jaybob
Oct
5
2008
Greetings from chilly Cape Town South Africa!
I saw Cape Town...
That is the view that I have of our wonderful “Liberty Port” I believe that it is called Table Rock. We haven’t been off the ship yet and we have been here for two days so far. The sea’s are a bit too rough for us to get the liberty boats near so we are just sitting here… it is more of an anchorage stop rather than a liberty stop. Well, looking on the bright side, at least I am not spending any money, I am not getting mugged, and for sure I am not contracting some horrible disease such as Hepatitis B, Chlamydia, or HIV. See… there is really a rainbow in every single crappy cloud out there. 
Just thought you guys would like to see where I am. I can see it.
Take care.. I remain
Anchored in hell
~Jaybob
Oct
1
2008
Ok.. Time for a little rant because after-all a bi#@hing Sailor is a happy Sailor.
I have been doing this little job here called the Navy for over 17 years and have managed to survive upon this spinning rock hurtling through space for 35 years but the way this man’s Navy treats it’s Sailors like children is bordering upon the ridiculous. Everyone knows that a Sailor lives for one thing while on a deployment…….. YES! LIBERTY! Time off the ship in a foreign port to explore and see all the things that he never would have seen if he would have stayed in his po-dunk little home town. This is supposed to be the trade-off for all those days and nights of hard work, sweat, and tears while at sea yet the Navy must control everything right down to the way people can do even that. Now I understand that this is a totally different world and definitely a different Navy than my grandfather sailed in… I understand that the global dynamic has shifted and that currently we are locked in conflict and that various countries and extremist groups would love to see American servicemen killed dead in the street, but sometimes these controls that they inflict upon us can be a bit draconian. I consider myself a reasonably responsible adult, I know “when to say when”, and I am fairly observant of my surroundings while in unfamiliar territory… but they foister these rules on us… such as…
- You must have “X” amount of people in your liberty party. (Ok.. I can understand that… safety in numbers I will buy that for a dollar)
- You must have one person designated as your non drinking shipmate.. oh and that person has to sign a form saying that he is not going to drink under penalty of the UCMJ (ummm again.. are we not adults? Can we not make sound decisions? We can sail the seven seas and defend America from all kinds of tyranny but can’t enjoy the simple freedom of a drink when we want it? And lets tack on your signature so we can fry you if you take a sip.)
- You have to be home by “X” time. ( I haven’t had a curfew since I was 17.)
- If one of your buddies gets in trouble and has to go “see the old man” about it, you will get charged for the same thing because you were his buddy and didn’t stop him.
- Then you will sign a contract stating you won’t get into trouble or you can not go on liberty.
OK.. STOP THE MADNESS! I understand the meaning and the intent, but the implementation is where it is lacking in the smarts department. Here is the deal, if a person has been identified as a risk on liberty then that is the time that you should start imposing most of these rules and stipulations. Do not apply a “One shoe fits all” policy to the entire crew. The kid that even back in the states goes out and gets plastered then drives back to the ship and gets caught… yes.. he needs to be controlled on liberty because chances are he is going to screw up again.. but to punish people who know how to conduct them selves in public is both demoralizing and wrong in my opinion. What initiative does this give people to excel and be a good conscientious American citizen and ambassador to the world when they know that they are just going to get treated like children anyways….
I don’t know.. perhaps I am completely wrong about this… what do you think? leave a comment and let me know.
Till later shipmates.. Take care of yourself and your shipmates
~Jaybob
Sep
29
2008
Once again I come bearing my thoughts onto the interwebs…
Crossing the Equator is an age old tradition in Sailor lore. The ceremony is officially titled the “Crossing the line ceremony.” Sailors commonly call it “WOG Day” which is derived from the word Pollywog. The gist of it all is that a Sailor is not worth his salt if he has not crossed the equator, once he crosses he is considered a true Sailor. So, to lay it all out, if you have not crossed you are considered a slimy disgusting pollywog and if you have you are known to all as a Honorable and Trusty Shellback.
Shell Back
The process is started at 0500 in the morning waking our slimy pollywogs up out of their racks and having them don the traditional uniform for “Wog Day”. It basically consists of wearing your uniform all inside out and backwards. (Silly.. I know) The pollywogs decorate their t-shirts with witty sayings and pictures proclaiming their slimy-ness and to identify them as the scum that they are while the Shellbacks dress in more casual gear consisting of shirts with spray painted skulls and crossbones and pirate hats etc etc. After the wogs dress up, we start treating them like the scum they are.
The meaning behind all this? It is the typical military process of breaking a person down and then create unity through a common shared difficult experience, this has been known and proven to build camaraderie and esprit de corps among people.
After parading them around the berthing area’s for a couple hours we drag them down to the hanger bay and make them do exercises to weaken their bodies and spirits. When we are finally called by the 1MC (The ships announcement system) we move them into hanger bay 3 so that they can ride the aircraft elevator up to the flight deck where they will face more shenanigans before they come before his Royal Majesty King Neptune. The first trial is that of “The Shoot”, this is a tunnel that is filled with slime, and food items such as cut up vegetables, oatmeal, hot dogs, corn flakes, pudding, and other assorted nastiness. This is to simulate the sliminess of the wog and make them dirty, then they move on to the Royal Dentist and Royal Barber who once again spray them with water and pretend to cut their hair. The final stop is through the rinsing waters of truth at which point the individual becomes a Shell back because they have been cleansed of their slime and have transformed into Honorable Shellbacks.
It is an interesting ceremony steeped in history and tradition that has been greatly watered down by today’s politically correct Navy and commanders who are worried about being fired if the wrong thing gets posted on the ‘net or in pictures.
Enough history… ’till next time.
I remain…
Haze Grey & Underway
~Jaybob
Sep
21
2008
Hello folks.. Your intrepid Sailor here reporting to you from somewhere off the coast of northern Africa. Internet access has been kind of sketchy lately so I haven’t been able to post, but not a lot has happened so you really didn’t miss much.
Leaving on an extended deployment tends to make the mind wander. “How will things at home change while I am gone?”, “How will the country change while we are gone?”, “How will world events unfold while we are gone?”, and more often “How will I change during this time?”. Now, I am no stranger to deployments because this is my 6th one but every one brings to the table some unique issues. Each of my deployments has been at a different stage in my career, so it has been interesting to see how shipboard life differs as you progress up the chain of command. Life is definitely a little more comfortable when you hit the upper enlisted ranks such as E-6 and E-7 but I would not say in any way easier. Sure when you are a young buck airman you are tasked with working parties to bring on stores or handle lines or general other grunt work.
A side note here: It has become natural to me to use some of the lingo and turns-of-phrase that we do here in the Navy, but when you look at some of them from the civilian side they sometimes seem a bit silly.. Take “Working party” for instance… it is work, but usually it is NOT a party, there is no festive atmosphere nor silly hats to wear. It seems a bit misleading if you ask me… but I digress.
As you make your way up the ranks there are not as many of those menial back breaking tasks but more administrative nightmares to contend with. Basically you become a baby sitter making sure that all the little worker bees in your hive are doing what they are supposed to do when they are supposed to do it. This final cruise for me has become a challenge because being an E-6 in my division seems to make you a target for ridicule and harassment by the upper chain of command. They call it “training” but I call it crap. *shrug* But what can you do except try an laugh it off and persevere to the next challenge.
Many of us fear change, it is a natural human instinct to like things to be comfortable and ‘the same as always’ but invariably after these deployments a great deal has changed, both in the big ole world and in the small microcosm of our own lives. I fear of the changes that may happen in my own world when I get home. Will I be able to sell my house in this economic downturn? Will I be able to execute my plan at retirement time and move far away from the Navy and go to middle America to settle down to a nice domestic life? Will the jobs that I have been scouting out still be there? The fact that we are out in the middle of the ocean with very little ‘hands on’ contact with our world seems to exacerbate the uncertainty and worry. That is where having a strong spouse comes into play. THANKFULLY I have been blessed with one of those rare women who can take up the slack and fill that void when I leave for long periods of time. Knowing that I have her there taking care of things, making sure the bills get paid, making sure our ‘kids’ are safe and just generally being a rock when I am full of worry really makes it a bit easier being out here… So to her.. my beautiful wife I say “Thank you my love.” Thank you for being there for me, thank you for keeping the faith, and thank you for believing in me and understanding my passion for the job. On that same note.. I say that to my beautiful daughter as well. It took her a long time to understand why daddy had to go away for a long time, or why daddy had to move around all the time, but now that she is 15 (Oh my god I feel old!) she understands a lot better. I love you all… without you guys I would fail.
Ok… now that the ‘love-a-thon’ is done.. I will sign off until next time………
Take care of yourselves and your shipmates,
I remain Haze Grey & Underway
~Jaybob
Sep
15
2008
Hey, Shipwreck::A Machinima Series by Tube Daze Animation Studios.
Hey.. Check out this website and some of the episodes of “Hey, Shipwreck”. There is a LOT of good Navy humor here. The series is done by an ET1(SS) bubble head (sub mariner). It is quite funny… funny because it is true.
Later…
Haze Grey & Underway
~Jaybob
Sep
11
2008
“Loaded up and truckin’
We gonna do what they say can’t be done.
We got a long way to go and a short time to get there,
I’m east bound just watch that Bandit CARRIER run…”
Seems that I have been a bit musical lately with my post titles but they do say that music is the soundtrack of our lives.
As my oh-so-clever title insinuates, we are indeed headed eastbound and down. Progress is good in my opinion, the more we move, the faster time goes by. So… on to today’s ramblings.
Time out generation
When the hell did I become “the old guy”?!? When did my view point radically veer off what I thought was the standard ‘norm’? When the hell did I become “out of touch”??
Becoming older in an institution such as the military is a lot different than say in an office workplace. The military is swimming with 18-25 year old kids.. literally drowning in them. They come in they do their time and they get out leaving a hole for the next 18 year old. The older guys like myself who decided that this was not such a bad life become the senior leadership who have to shepherd these kids around and help them succeed.
But here’s the thing, 90% of these kids, *pause for dramatic effect* Well… honestly, I just want to smack the ever living crap out of them. The military is about structure and discipline. The military is about following rules and looking out for your brothers-in-arms. But that is not how these kids see it. I have dubbed these young Sailors “The Time Out Generation”. These are people who were not, for lack of a better phrase, beat properly when they were children. Now before you start writing your angry emails about child abuse and what-not, I do not encourage the savage beating of children, but I DO support corporal punishment. A swift kick in the butt can be quite effective when properly applied. These kids suffered no consequences for their actions except to be sent to their rooms “to think about what they did”. (Instead they played Nintendo , Playstation, checked email, texted their friends…etc.etc.etc)
So, these young Sailors come into my Navy not knowing the meaning of respect, not only for others but for themselves. When I was a young airman apprentice (E-2) I looked around my workcenter and never even saw my 1st class Petty Officer (Nor did I want to!!) The 2ndClasses were all in charge and they were to be feared! I didn’t even think of smarting off to them, they were not my friends, they were not my buddies, they were definitely not my peers. Where did this paradigm shift come into play? Today they think that it is ok to just come up and call you by your last name ( no rank, no respect ) and coke and joke with you like you were drinking buddies. I myself correct that type of behavior instantly but I get strange looks like they see nothing wrong with it. Is it because I was raised to call my mother and father “Sir andMa’am” ? I don’t know. They also tend to think that orders are requests, and then when they do not do what they are told they are surprised when there are consequences and repercussions. I took the time to sit down with one of my young Sailors and discuss this. His opinion was that I was “out of touch, and expected too much” from my people. That I should expect a person to clean up after them self or to god forbid make their rack every morning is too much? To them it is all about “ME” it seems. For example, I placed our lounge off limits because they were not taking care of the space and leaving it trashed every night. One Sailors reaction was to just break into the lounge and use it because ” I wasn’t the one who did it, why punish me? So I can go against what you said anddo what I want” . I just can not even fathom that kind of attitude or response.
I guess it is just time for this “old guy” to move on, and get out of the way.
I would be remiss if I did not mention that today is September 11th. A day that forever changed this country and our military in many ways. Take a moment today to remember those that were lost in that horrific attack, and then also remember those brothers and sisters of mine whom have been lost in the events since then. If you see a serviceman or woman, you don’t need to do much… just say “Thank you.” They know what you mean.
I AM … Haze Grey & Underway.
Take care of yourselves and your shipmates
~Jaybob
Sep
8
2008
With this song in mind I begin my last journey seaward with the U.S. Navy.
After 17 years in my Navy and 5 deployments under my belt I have come to enjoy them on a certain level. This cruise being my last one it is bitter sweet to me. On the one hand I am glad that I will no longer have to leave my wife and daughter for months and months on end and be stuck in the middle of the ocean with people that I can’t stand (and to be fair, people whom I also really cherish as friends), and all the associated issues that come with a deployment.
On the other hand I am kind of sad that I won’t be able to all that as well.
Is this what “Becoming institutionalized” means? I am not sure.
This job is something that I take a great deal of pride in. Growing up I never had a lot of confidence in myself or my abilities. Not for a lack of encouragement from my parents or anything, just my own self induced issues. The Navy instilled in me a sense of pride and helped to mold me into the Husband, Father, and Sailor that I am today. It taught me what professionalism was and demonstrated how ordinary people from all walks of life can do great things if they are given a chance. I have had the good fortune to be stationed with some of the greatest people whom have come from some of the most diverse backgrounds. For example, the young airman who came from the inner city who due to family situations was unable to graduate high school with his peers. He joined the Navy, got his GED, and now works (Very well mind you) on highly sophisticated multi-million dollar jet aircraft avionics systems. On the flip side the opposite is also true…. where highly intelligent people from good backgrounds have only languished in mediocrity because they are used to being spoon fed everything in their life… but I really do not want to focus on that.
I guess that my point here is that while I am so very excited and anxious for this tour to be over with and to retire at my 20 year mark and to move on with my life….. I will really miss these moments and these people greatly.
Now, I may have meandered a bit here in my first post of the cruise, but these are the thoughts in my head. This blog is going to be my mental dumping ground for all of my thoughts both profound and inane. So, if you care to join me on this journey, go ahead and pull up a chair. In the mean time….
“So kiss me and smile for me,
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never leave me go
cause I’m leavin’ on a jet plane Carrier
Don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh man, I hate to go”
Take care of yourselves shipmates… and eachother.
I remain.. Haze Grey & Underway
~Jaybob