Hey friends! So I survived my first week on the USS AMERICA (LHA 6), a large deck amphibious assault ship based out of Sasebo, Japan. Katie and I were separated when she flew down to Sasebo with the pups, and I stayed behind and eventually met up with the ship off of the coast of Okinawa. On June 25th I took a cargo plane from Navy Air Facility Atsugi, where Katie and I both completed our ROM, to Misawa, which is located in northern Japan. With this being a cargo plane, the pilot told me to be prepared for either a really cold flight or a really warm one, and he asked if I was prone to motion sickness, because this ride wouldn't be like the typical commercial flights back in the states. Luckily I was in my camo uniform, so I stayed warm enough during the cool flight while being strapped into one of the few net seats along the outer wall of the plane. Once we landed in Misawa, I disembarked long enough for them to load the plane with 3 pallets of supplies, and then I was off for the nearly 4-hour journey to Kadena, located on the island of Okinawa.
Once I landed in Kadena, I was shuttled to the passenger terminal, where I waited for an hour or so for the PMC helicopter (Passenger, Mail, Cargo Helo) to arrive. I was stoked to have the opportunity to fly out to the ship on a helicopter, as it's not the normal arrival routine for most sailors! We took off and made the trek to the USS America, about 30 miles off the coast of Oki.
Once we landed on the ship, I made my way down to the dental department to meet up with my sponsor, LT Matt Boufford. He had bought me a "Welcome Aboard Bag" with my nametags for my uniform, a new USS America belt buckle, laundry detergent, sheets, a pillow, and a Dental Corps SWMDO pin (Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer), for when I complete my SWMDO board and become qualified to wear the pin. Matt gave me a brief tour before showing me to my stateroom for the next week. Since Matt was staying on the ship for the next week to finish out his tour, I stayed in a different stateroom than my permanent room because I would be taking Matt's place once he disembarks from the ship. One of my roommates in my temporary stateroom was actually one of the pilots who flew me onto the ship! He's from Georgia, so we talked a lot about growing up in the southeast with great restaurants, like Bojangles' & Cookout! I really miss the four-piece supreme dinner and cookout trays.
During my first week aboard, Matt and I mainly discussed turnover. I met all of my new dental techs (they're all great), learned a little bit about Matt's workflow for patient care, and discussed some of his additional duties as a Naval Officer and Department Head. Not only will I be responsible for maintaining the dental readiness of all 1,100 crew on board the America, but I'm also responsible for the maintenance of the dental department and a berthing full of embarked Marines. A berthing is an area with bunk beds lined up in a row; it's where Marines sleep and hang out. It's all hands on deck, so even though my main priority is my dental duties, it's interesting that I'm also responsible for making sure my dental techs keep this marine berthing clean and organized.
As an amphibious assault ship in the 7th fleet, during our deployments, we pick up Marines from Okinawa who are with the 31st MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit). I'm not exactly sure how many Marines we have onboard but split between the 3 ships in our Amphibious Assault Group (USS America, USS New Orleans & USS Germantown), there are around 2,200 Marines. Since we are the largest of those three ships, I would approximate we have around 1,000 Marines onboard. Since we have such a large number of Marines who also need dental care, we have an embarked dentist attached with the 31st MEU. He's also a Navy dentist; his name is Justin and he is currently stationed with Third Dental Battalion in Okinawa.
When I'm not working in the dental clinic, you can find me in the wardroom during meal times, or up on the weather decks watching flight operations. It has yet to get old watching helicopters land and take off on the warship, and I don't imagine it'll get old anytime soon. It's also easy to get sunshine during FOD walk downs. Thirty minutes before flight operations, someone will call for FOD (Foreign Object Debris) walk down on the 1MC (intercom) and ask all available personnel to head to the flight deck to pick up pebbles, metal fragments & paint chips. Keeping the runway clean makes it much safer for flight operations, so not only do I get some fresh air and sunshine, I feel like I get to help keep our pilots safe. However, one of the coolest things I've done up to this point is driving the ship. During my week of check-in, Matt took me to the bridge and one of the quartermasters asked if we wanted to drive the ship. It's not as easy as it seems, but fortunately, we were in the open ocean so there wasn't a whole lot I could screw up.
During the check-in process, I had my official officer photo taken. It took me nearly a week to get access to the computers, and Matt was kind enough to let me email Katie from his email. We sent about 40 emails to one another in a long email chain before I even got access to my own email account. I'm sure Matt was relieved that he could finally delete our email thread and open up some storage space in his inbox.
On July 2nd we docked in Okinawa for a few days of liberty; since Oki is the only remaining red prefecture (state of emergency for COVID), we are only allowed to visit military installations. Before disembarking, I moved all of my things over into my new stateroom, where I will be roommates with the Safety Officer, who is a helicopter pilot. His call sign is Stego (pronounced Stay-Go), so that's what I call him. He's introduced me to some of his fellow airmen on the ship and I've quickly become friends with the pilots aboard the America!
Once we docked into port at White Beach, I rode in a van back to Kadena (where my PMC flight took off a week earlier) and enjoyed some time in the sun. Matt headed back to the states on July 3rd, where he will be stationed at a shore clinic near San Diego, CA. It was nice being in port because I was able to call Katie and talk to her; it had been a few days since we last spoke due to some DSN issues back in Sasebo. Stego invited me to hang out with him and some of the other pilots at White Beach during one of our nights of liberty. It was nice being able to hang out with some people around my age. One of the pilots, call-sign "Squirrel," is married with no kids and has a dog. Katie actually hung out with his wife, Julia, back in Sasebo the same night we were hanging out in White Beach, Okinawa!
I'm excited about my adventures and to be in a position where I can do what I love in some of the most interesting environments. It's not every day I get to be a dentist on a warship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can. Thanks for taking the time to read about my first week, and stay tuned for more!
-Bryan
Awesome post, Bryan! So exciting to hear about your new situation. Living vicariously is a great way to roll for your former elementary music teacher!!! I am extremely proud of you and all your hard work. Can't wait to hear all about more of your and Katie's adventures!
The Navy knows how to shift you from 0 to 60 knots in a few hours! Two Cargo flights, helicopter ride and sailing in 1 day! You do more in a day than I do in a year !!! And now you get to care for "All hands" (and teeth... hahaha!) Hope you enjoy your last few days of being a Pollywog!!! We love you and are praying for you ! We can't wait to see your next post as a SHELLBACK!🐸🐚
So glad to be able to follow you. Bryan let me know somehow if you get mail I sent.
Great write up and interesting.