Back at Sea

We're back at sea aboard the flagship of the "Lost ARG." I know, the Navy doesn't call our groups "ARGs" any more, we're "ESG's" now, but I've been here long enough that we were an ARG when I got here. (I'll explain why we're called the "Lost ARG" another time.) Anyway, my point is that life is busy and unpredictable again, so the Read Board and other posts will come whenever I get to them each day, whether it's during the work day or at oh-dark-thirty in the morning.

I am fairly senior on the ship, but not so senior that I no longer stand watches. We have a rotating schedule of watches that's based on the "nickel and dime" rotation. On smaller ships where they may be only three sections standing watches that means you stand watch for five hours and then get ten off - in which you have to fit your ordinary job, meals, PT and sleep - before you have to go back on watch. The standard watches run from 0700-1200, 1200-1700, 1700-2200, 2200-0200, and 0200-0700.

Here we're a big ship and have five sections, so we "dog" the watch lest we stand the same watch every day for weeks on end. I had watch from 2200 last night to 0300 this morning, so I'm still in the fog this morning after getting just three and a half hours of sleep. Once I grab a cup of coffee and a smoke I will be functional again. With the right amount of coffee a good SWO can function for 40+ hours on end without sleep - smokes are optional. We'll bitch about it and take a peculiar, masochistic sort of pleasure in it to be sure, but it can be done.