Military deployment questions
This isn't for this website's journal, so if you hope to see anything posted about this here, I'm sorry to say you'll be waiting a long time. However I don't have anything like this over at my "clean journal" website.
I don't know how to research some of this besides asking people who were in the military. Most of the books or internet reference ( Read more... )
I don't know how to research some of this besides asking people who were in the military. Most of the books or internet reference ( Read more... )
1. Generally speaking, the ship is your duty station. Depending on your school (or chosen field of expertise) you may have some say in where you are sent. Most enlisted sailors go through boot camp, go to an 'A' school where they specialize in a particular field and after they have finished at 'A' school are assigned to either a ship or other duty station. Once you have your orders, you report to the ship. The ship is basically like a floating office building (at least, that's what I told my friends who didn't comprehend showing up to work on a ship every day). Junior enlisted folks typically reside on the ship unless they are married. Senior enlisted (what you refer to as non-coms or non-commissioned officers) and officers have assigned berthing or staterooms for when they need to spend the night. The ship is staffed 24-hours and ready to weigh anchor within hours. All of this is a long way of saying that a ship's crew rotates in and out on a regular basis - the deployment schedule is generally known at least 18 months in advance. If something sudden or unexpected happens (ie 9/11 or a hurricane) the ship recalls all personnel and gets ready to depart in accordance to the fleet commander's orders. The crew does not assemble at parade rest and embark on the ship en-mass - they are already there, living and working and making it possible for the ship to depart when need arises. I hope this is somewhat helpful.
2. Yes. A non-com in the Navy is a senior enlisted person with the rank of E-7 - E-9 and called a Chief Petty Officer or 'Chief.' Again, speaking as a former officer, I was not privy to the Chief Selection Process - but it is a sacred tradition. The Chief Petty Officers of the Navy take their role very seriously and consider it a personal affront when one of their fellow Chiefs does not uphold their high standards. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen - because obviously, it does. However, all of the Chiefs and Senior Chiefs I had the pleasure to work with had a truly tremendous work ethic and showed a level of dedication to their duty and their shipmates exceeding what one would typically find in private industry.
The type of behavior your describe would be more common in junior enlisted personnel and there are a number of ways their Cheif might use to correct the behavior - one is to be sent to the mess, another is to be transferred to Deck. All junior enlisted folks must complete 3 months of mess duty - because it sucks and nobody in their right mind would volunteer. It is an utterly thankless job and trust me - getting threatened to be sent back to mess duty is usually enough to bring someone back in line. If you've really screwed up, you're sent to the scullery to mind the gigantic dishwashers. It's hot, messy, the hours are terrible - the only good thing about mess is that you get to eat first. If the sailor continues to be a problem, they may get transfered to Deck division. This is where most of the ship's troublemakers report and it's really, really tough. Deck duties include painting, more painting, manning lines, more painting, scouring off old paint... you get the picture. On the upside, if you rise up through Deck and make Chief - you're considered one of the biggest badasses in the Navy.
Anyway, I think that's probably a bit more than you were asking for...
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In light of hopefully not revealing too much of my storyline, logistically speaking, lets say that in my future, there isnt any problem with deploying an aircraft carrier for an extended tour of duty "out to sea" (no lack of fuels to restrict amount or length of voyages), however these ships move, generally, slower and have a shorter range of flight for their aircraft. Therefore the need to have the ships located where they are needed, to deploy said short-range aircraft promptly, requires them to be out of port more often. So "showing up to work each day" would be a thing of the past.
Does this make sense?
Say, I had a great uncle who always worked in the mess. Though maybe as such he didn't do the dirtier side of said work? He was a Baker 1st class on the USS #######. (Sorry there was only one on board and that would give one family name, where I would prefer anonymity here.) that would make him by today's standards, a CPO? Sorry, got sidetracked for a second there.
"...A level of dedication to their duty and their shipmates exceeding what one would typically find in private industry" Of this I have no doubt and really respect the Military. Wish I didn't consider myself a jinx and had gotten into the military myself. I have been on two boats, both sank while I was on it, and considering what happened to my great uncle, I figured it was a family trait! ROFL. I hope I don't do a disservice to the military in the script. One reason I am trying to do as accurate as possible research by today's military standards even though it is a fictional future story.
Well, maybe I sold the "slacker" bit too much. While I want to describe the whole process of being aboard ship, essentially I want to focus on two junior rank personnel, one who is very nervous type. Instead of being Bold and Proud, he is meek and mild which earns him the BlueFalcon label? (That might be weak and I have to work on it still, maybe he is late all the time which gets his division in trouble? Something... ) While the other junior rank personnel is Bold and Proud, very upright "poster image" sailor type, he also is a little too cocky, and that's because he is occasionally in trouble because he has his eyes on the female personnel. However, he is the one who rides the first guy for not being a model sailor. Whether this is at the suggestion of his CO or not is another thing for me to think about.
Originally, I already imagined the BravoFoxtrot fellow actually does have to do the maintenance on deck so I guess that's where his CO sent him in disciplinary action. Strange fellow that he is, he doesn't mind that though? heh Another reason he isn't well liked.
heh that's probably a bit more than you were looking for in a response. Sorry, and if it wasn't apparent before, thanks for responding!
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BTW, "rank" refers to paygrade, while "rate" refers to their specific job/training. So a Bosun's Mate who was an E-5 would be an BM2 -- BM (bosun's mate) his rate, and 2 (petty officer 2nd class) his rank.
Non-comm (non-commissioned officers) are E-4's and above. If you remember an E-4 is a Petty Officer 3rd class, it may help you to remember that. If you look up "officer (armed forces)" on Wikipedia, you'll get a good explination.
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I actually knew the concept of rates and ranks, ...why I don't think of these things anymore is just me showing my age.
However, I will point out that when my great uncle was in the navy, was back in 1941. I believe the rates and ranks have changed somewhat since then? IDK
Thanks for clarifying this though.
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A lot actually! Well, not the ranks, but the rates certainly have! *LOL* If you look at the link provided by stormwreath, you'll see that besides Baker there were also Commissary Stewards and Ship's Cooks. All of those were ratings that are now combined into the rating of Mess Specialist. I saw the TD (tradesman) rate disappear while I was in the Navy. My own rate of OT was folded into the OS rate and then into something else after that. Of course, there are more rates now than there ever was in WW1 (as in the chart) or in WW2 when your great uncle served.
There's a old saying: If you don't like the way things are, stick around because they'll change. ;-)
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Thanks for clarifying this for me!
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As an aside, and I don’t know how useful this would be to you, there is actually a hierarchy involved in the mandatory 3-month mess duty. If you’re favored - you might be assigned to the officer’s wardroom. If you’re not favored, you’re assigned to the mess. If you’re well favored you’re assigned to the Chief’s mess. No lie, it is considered a great privilege to be assigned to the Chief’s mess. One has to be invited to join the Chief’s mess - officers included! From the CO on down.
In regards to your particular storyline, the terms 'littoral warfare' and 'strategic deterrence' come to mind. Littoral warfare involves maneuvering your ships into the 'littoral' zone so that they can either fire upon targets, launch aircraft to fire upon targets or deploy amphibious units to land the beach and attack targets. 'Strategic deterrence' was prevalent during the cold war - the act of deploying (in the case of the cold war) subs armed with nuclear weapons to strategic locations. The beauty of this strategy (if you can call it beautiful) was the element of the unknown. The fact that our enemies had no clear idea of what our target was or even where we were located was thought to be intimidating and to some extent this strategy is still practiced. What you describe seems to be a combination of the two - remaining in theater for prolonged periods of time while still able to utilize the weapons at your disposal.
It is not uncommon for larger ships (carriers, LHDs, oilers, etc.) to remain in theater for longer than the typical duration of a deployment. I was flown out to meet two different ships because they didn't happen to be at their home port when my orders were issued. The only difficulties of remaining in theater for prolonged periods of time usually crop up due to logistics (can't get enough toilet paper, etc), boredom (just because you're in the USN doesn't mean you're not 19 and bored out of your skull after making circles in the water for 25 days) and port calls. Usually, the more bored the sailor, the more 'exciting' the port call - and that goes for officers as well as enlisted personnel. It can be a kind of pressure cooker after a while and if people aren't given a chance to blow off steam ... Well, let's just say that sometimes folks make bad choices.
Again, probably more of a response than you were looking for... Best of luck with your story - I’d like to read it!
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You mentioned "great privileges", there were two that I nearly but ultimately fell short of attaining. Initial sea trials for the USS Seawolf, and being a plank owner from the SWATH T-AGOS Victorious. Both honorifics fell to other people I worked with who had more seniority than myself. *shrug* Such is life. The sea trials on the T-AGOS would have been interesting too but simply for the novelty of it's hull design.
Thank you for providing those terms. It can only add to my concept If I can find a creative way to use them in my story.
The concepts involved with my future fiction actually would extend out the duration of deployment. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. heh
I need to find a naval aviator who could also answer how long is "too long" in regards to flight time. (in a given day, in a given week, etc). Don't suppose you know of any on here? :P
One last question that one of the folks over at [info]military_beta suggested but couldn't answer; How common is PT (physical training) on-board a ship? (if you were limited to no use of equipment.)
Would it be different during times of conflict?
My concept of such is that, because of the lack of space, short of running up and down stairs, and around deck, there would be little chance to do PT during times of conflict. Not sure about otherwise.
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First of all, to be a 'plank owner' is a HUGE honor - the work involved with commissioning a new Naval vessel often goes above and beyond what most folks would call their 'day job.' I am probably running the risk of over-sharing, again, but if you weren’t already aware, protocol dictates that a certain number of bells are rung when the CO/foreign officers/visiting officers/POTUS etc … arrive at the quarterdeck of a USN ship. This honor is also granted to all plank-owners of said ship - no matter their rank or rate. Two bells, the announcement “Plank-owner, USS XXX, arriving.”
As for PT underway … These days, we have gym equipment. My first ship was a Frigate and every spare corner had either a treadmill or elliptical machine. There was designated ‘gym space’ for free weights and the like, but it was small. My second ship, an LSD (amphib) had a larger ‘gym space’ but it was still pretty tight. However, there was the added bonus of the ‘well’ (large flat area at the base of the ship that could be lowered in order to deploy Marines in RHIBs (rigid hull inflatable boats) or hovercraft or what-have-you) where a person could run laps. We also participated in ‘swim call’ via the well. Our CO authorized the well to be lowered and whoever wasn’t currently on duty got to swim in the ocean. Again, I think I’m probably over-sharing but it seems like one topic leads into another...
My last ship was quite a bit larger and had a spectacular gym. Physical Fitness Tests (PFTs) occur every six months. Mandatory PT depends on the command. Generally speaking, the larger the command, the more liberal the PT program. If an individual doesn’t pass their PFT, they are typically put on a remedial PT program designed to ensure they pass the next PFT. In bootcamp or OCS the physical part of training takes a major role and, again generally speaking, smaller commands and even pre-coms (referring back to the plank owner discussion above) will choose to exercise together as a form of team building. This is far easier to accomplish on land rather than at sea. Once deployed, each division is responsible for policing their physical activity.
Finally (I know, right?) I wasn’t an aviator but I do remember that they had to have a certain number of hours asleep before they could get airborne again. We used to joke among ourselves that we wished we could be on aviator hours because they were actually ‘assigned’ to go to bed! That said, I think it it was around the 10 hour mark? But I can’t be certain.
Also, and this might be something that you’re already aware of, the aviators and their crew are usually assigned to a Naval Air Base and ‘embarked’ on ship - not given orders to the ship. Each squadron has their own emblem and, at least in the wardroom, it’s made quite clear that they are considered separate from the rest of the crew.
Gah - TMI, again... Still, I have to thank you - writing all this has brought back many wonderful memories!
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No, yeah that's what I was talking about. Things are different in the future. If there was no exercise equipment would PT still be possible? PT then would be about doing calisthenics and such, I imagine which, if you had the room for it, maybe! right? I mean, there is the entire flight deck, but if there are flights taking off and landing then there's no chance for flight deck work outs.
There's no above flight deck, decks ( trust me ). There's only below flight deck, decks and what's below flight deck is limited in space...
I just don't see where there is room to do PT. Maybe running up and down stairs? There's no possibility for you to go swimming ( trust me ). IDK I got to think hard about how to get PT to work...
Sorry, I got mixed up. 10 hours flight time or 10 hours mandatory sleep time ( and then you can be flying the rest of the day ) ?
Well, I wasn't aware of that, but that's going back to what I said that in my future, the Air Force and Navy have been combined into one branch of the military. While there are air bases that could launch flights out of, they dont have a far range. To deploy aircraft in a theater of conflict, the aircraft would have to be stationed and get their orders while aboard the aircraft carriers.
It's funny. I can still just about draw any ship I've designed and remember all most of the different rooms and room titles, and how the rooms are meant to be used or used for, but I know ungatz when it comes to the human/military ( procedures ) end of.
Glad I could be of help! XD
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