<p>I know that this is a vague question, but what is life aboard ship like, particularly from the point of view of aviators?</p>
<p>Z-Man, you and I need to talk about online identities, OK? ;)</p>
<p>I will be happy to answer your question, but right now I have to run. Also, I'll be answering it from the point of view of a SWO, not an aviator. Besides, it's not like aviators actually work while out at sea anyway. The stories my USNA roomate (a CH-53E pilot) told me about his "sea time". :mad:</p>
<p>Be ready for a wild ride. Being out at sea lets you taste both the best and worst of life, and often simultaneously.</p>
<p>Be back later.</p>
<ul>
<li>Z (the Original) ;)</li>
</ul>
<p>Navy Guys don't know what it means to go out to sea and what it means to sail. Sorry, don't argue with me on this.</p>
<p>USMMA classes of 07, 08, 09, 10</p>
<p>"Z-Man, you and I need to talk about online identities, OK?"</p>
<p>I'll make it up to you by buying that new book everyone's encouraging you to write. My friends have been calling me zman for a long time, probably because I am one of the very few who have a last name that starts with "Z". Q-Man doesn't have that same ring, I don't think. Unfortunately, my online identity rhymes with "Sheehan".</p>
<p>ZMAN,</p>
<p>Tell you what; I think it will be better if you ask specific questions of life at sea. You can write books on the subject, and I already spend enough time here without wanting to add more to it. ;)</p>
<p>Fire away. :)</p>
<p>Hey, Davy...... Did you graduate four times from USMMA? PAGING LFWBDAD! PAGING LFWBDAD! ;)</p>
<p>lol my last name starts with a Z, but back to the reason why I'm on this thread...</p>
<p>Ok, I don't know if I'm posting this on the right thread or not, but I'm wondering how exactly one gets to command a ship of their own. I heard that only naval aviators can captain an aircraft carrier. Is this true? Could a special warfare officer ever command a warship, like a cruiser or a destroyer? At what rank could you command at all? I remember in the movie Tora! Tora! Tora! the captain of the frigate (which, correct me if I'm wrong, is the smallest form of warship in the Navy) that saw the Japanese airplanes coming was a Lieutenant Commander. Is that the lowest rank you can captain your own ship?</p>
<p>Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, one day I do want to command a ship of my own. I'm just unsure of how to get there. If captaining my own ship one day is one of my long term goals, should I branch surface warfare or can I always go surface warfare at a later date (I really want to try out for SEALs, but I still want to command a ship of my own one day).</p>
<p>Next thing, what exactly is the difference between Navy aviation and Marine Corps aviation?</p>
<p>Oh and lastly, what is this "interservice commissioning" dealie? According to <a href="http://www.usna.edu/Admissions/choices.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.usna.edu/Admissions/choices.htm</a> some people got commissioned in the Army and Air Force? I asked my West Point contact if they do that at West Point and they said not anymore, but it was usually done for people who were in those services in the past. Is that the same for Annapolis? Could you only be commissioned into the Army or Air Force from Annapolis if you used to be in that service?</p>
<p>Sorry that the above post is garbled up and sorry if I'm hijacking this thread! I really should've e-mailed by BGO about this. Meh...oh well. Thanks for helping me out guys.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm wondering how exactly one gets to command a ship of their own.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Work your butt off and be better than those around you for 15 or so years.</p>
<p>Oh, and don't hit anything while standing watch. ;)</p>
<p>If you want to command a ship, go SWO. SEALs don't go that route. Aviators eventually can rise to command a carrier, but that's WAY difficult. </p>
<p>I know that some LCDR's are being given command of smaller vessels. In the movie Tora Tora Tora, what you saw wasn't the Captain but rather the Command Duty Officer, who is in charge of the ship overnight while in port. The CDO has the authority of the captain to get the ship underway without him if need be for its safety, which Pearl Harbor definitely qualified for.</p>
<p>The difference between USN and USMC aviation is that Marines also fly Harriers and are harder to get a billet in. If there are others, I don't know them.</p>
<p>Interservice commissionings happen, but are quite rare. I don't think you get them just because you want one and "apply".</p>
<p>LFWB Dad reporting as requested.</p>
<p>I think what Midshipman Gravy is trying to say is that there is going to sea as a Midshipman at USNA and there is going to sea as a Midshipman at USMMA. Those are two totally different animals. </p>
<p>But if Junior Zman is talking about going to sea as an Officer in the United States Navy, then experiences will be relatively similar no matter how you became an Officer. </p>
<p>That having been said, USMMA Midshipmen go to sea for an entire year while they are at Kings Point and are given responsibility as a functioning part of the a crew of large merchant vessels, including at times being in command of a watch. They will have had to be accountable at one time or another for every aspect of running a 700 - 1000 foot ship with $ billions of cargo, and sometimes sail into live war zones.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Midshipmen at USNA will go to sea for a few weeks during the summer on ships not deployed in war zones and follow around a junior Officer and watch what he does.</p>
<p>Once again, that having been said, a newly minted butter bar from KP who acts like a know-it-all because he can do Cel Nav and knows his way around a bridge, will be just as disliked as a ring knocker from Annapolis who is appalled when somebody uses the wrong fork.</p>
<p>I also, think Midshipman Gravy was saying that USMMA Classes of '07, '08, and '09 have all spent at least 4 months or a year at sea. '10 is clueless, but he's sticking up for them nonetheless.</p>
<p>I hope this helps.</p>
<p>Yes, I was curious about life at sea as a Naval officer. Just things about day-to-day life, like what is an average day at sea like? What do aviators do when they're not flying? What is it like to be on a boat for 6 months on end, and can you communicate with family? Also, does the ship carry 6 months worth of food and jet fuel when it leaves port, or does it restock midway through the journey? Do you get any "free" time to exercise, call home, etc? Sorry for all the questions. I guess I should really just watch the History Channel, Top Gun, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks,
Little Z</p>
<p>Here's one for you Zaph... How often did you normally make port calls? How much time did you have to "experience" that port?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Here's one for you Zaph... How often did you normally make port calls? How much time did you have to "experience" that port?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Entirely too wide-opened to answer. I have known guys who went for months at sea straight. I also know guys who have spent a week or more in a foreign port. It all depends upon the op-tempo.</p>
<p>Still, an "average" would be entering port every 3-4 weeks for 2-3 days. Just don't bet on it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
What do aviators do when they're not flying?
[/quote]
Take up valuable space. ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
What is it like to be on a boat for 6 months on end, and can you communicate with family?
[/quote]
Yes. Mail continues to be a vital link. I was in before the advent of e-mail and cell phones, so I can only imagine it has gotten easier these past years.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also, does the ship carry 6 months worth of food and jet fuel when it leaves port, or does it restock midway through the journey?
[/quote]
No and yes, but Google "Underway Replenishment" or "UNREP". It's one of the cooler things we SWOs do. Someday I'll tell you some stories of UNREPs gone bad. :eek:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Do you get any "free" time to exercise, call home, etc?
[/quote]
Unless you are on duty, you are "free". During that time you can rack out, work out, or do whatever. You're no longer a Mid at this point. ;)</p>
<p>
[quote]
I heard that only naval aviators can captain an aircraft carrier. Is this true?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>To the chagrin of the Black Shoe Navy that is true. However, your chances of getting command of an aircraft carrier are less than your chances of becoming an astronaut. </p>
<p>Naval aviators are screened at the O-5 (Commander) level for carrier command. Those who make the cut are interviewed and offered the opportunity to join the carrier command program if they pass muster.</p>
<p>The pipe line includes attending and graduating from Nuclear Power school, XO of an aircraft carrier, command of a deep draft vessel, and then command of an aircraft carrier. This is not for the faint at heart -- you are looking at five years of straight sea duty. The real kicker is that you might go through this program and then not get command of a carrier. CO tours on carriers last three years, which means that the billet rotation might not fit in with your career schedule. If that happens you are SOL.</p>
<p>NFOs are also carrier skippers. </p>
<p>I don't know of any requirements for the CO to have been an XO of a carrier.</p>
<p>Yes. Mail continues to be a vital link. I was in before the advent of e-mail and cell phones, so I can only imagine it has gotten easier these past years.</p>
<p>Zaph; I don't suppose the term FoxSked means anything to you , does it?</p>
<p>Technically junior aviators also have division officer responsibilities. In actual practice, chiefs, warrant officers (gunners) and LDOS often run the division. </p>
<p>Sorry to you pilots out there....my maintenance backround is showing ;) I'm sure the occasional pilot pokes his nose onto the hangar deck or maintenance spaces. Well, lots of good ones do.</p>
<p>I thought the hardest working pilots were the LSOs (landing signal officers). They flew and "waved" a pretty rigorous schedule. Lots of pressure, too.</p>
<p>Just an observation, the scariest person on a carrier is not the CO....it's the airboss, the guy who sounds like the voice of God, who sees all and knows all.</p>
<p>The ship's company and the deployed squadrons are two different animals on a carrier, too. The squadrons are sometimes treated like guests you have to tolerate but don't really like!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Zaph; I don't suppose the term FoxSked means anything to you , does it?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Doesn't ring a bell..... :confused:</p>
<p>Is that the schedule where all pilots are required to do is pursue "foxes"? :)</p>
<p>Actually it was a nightly transmission out of Pearl at fixed times. When surfaced to charge batteries, the radiomen would dial it up and copy news, orders etc.
No transmissions were allowed except for emergencies, contact reports etc. I have no idea why they were called FoxSkeds. I told you Zaph, these were the old smoke boat days, you just did not realize how old!:D</p>
<p>Well, on the boat* I have the most experience on, USS DANIEL WEBSTER (SSBN-626), we didn't have to surface to copy the news. It came in over the wire we dragged behind us (none of this is any secret, BTW).</p>
<ul>
<li>Yes, BOAT. Submarines are called "boats" as opposed to "ships", even though the orders are normally given "Diving Officer, submerge the ship."</li>
</ul>
<p>"Submerge the ship, aye! Chief of the Boat, on the 1MC...."</p>
<p>Damn it, I STILL get goosebumps remembering it almost 20 years later. </p>
<p>STUDY, people! STUDY! :(</p>
<p>As I understand it, you didn't have to surface to find out where you were either! Are sextants now confined to Naval History Museums?</p>