Bryan gave me a tour of his ship back in March when they returned from sea duty. We have been slack about posting, and I thought this would be the perfect time for us to write a blog post together! Bryan's words will be bolded and my text will be in italic. This way you can get the boring facts from him, and the colorful imagery from me! You are the real winner!
As we boarded the ship, Bryan had to sign me in and get me a fancy nametag. Lucky me because prior to the pictures, I had spilled coffee down the front of my shirt. The nice, bright red VISITOR tag covered up my beautiful brown boob-stain. Now I'm the real winner of this blog post!
Let me preface this by saying I'm in no way an expert on all things surface navy; I know how to do my job (some days) and I sort of know my way around the ship. The "facts" that Katie's talking about are going to be brief because I really don't know much. I just work here. Anyways, so we got onto the ship and got Katie her visitor pass on the quarterdeck; the quarterdeck is the first area you come to whenever you come onboard a vessel. There's always someone there checking IDs, an armed guard, and a few other people there standing watch. On that day, the quarterdeck was in the vehicle storage area (VSA), which is exactly like it sounds...a place where vehicles get stored when the Marines come onboard.
We then walked up the ramp to the hangar bay, another large open area where aircraft are stored and maintained while we're underway. Katie also snapped a picture of the aircraft elevators (ACE), where the planes and helicopters can be moved from the flight deck down to the hangar bay and vice versa. For reference, the hangar bay is the 1-level, and every floor below it is, 2, 3, 4, etc. The floor above the hangar bay is the 01-level, and every floor above is 02, 03, 04, etc.
Before heading up to the dental space, I took Katie down to the gym to show her where I spent countless hours for the running and biking challenge. The treadmills are facing towards the side of the ship, rather than forward-to-backward, so every time the ship rocks, I get a few seconds of running uphill and then a few seconds of running downhill. If the ship is turning in a certain direction, my entire run could be uphill! It's difficult to explain where things are located, but the gym is on the 4-level, pretty close to where the waterline is.
After checking out the gym, we headed back up to the 01-level (one above the hangar bay) and visited the dental space. Katie got to see my dental treatment rooms (DTRs), my office and some of our storerooms. We have four DTRs onboard, one is completely dedicated to X-Rays since it's the only room with an X-Ray machine, and the other three are used for patient care. When the Marines come onboard, one of the patient care DTRs is used by the MEU (Marine) dentist.
My office is pretty cramped and it also seconds as the dental records room, so all 1100 patient records are stored in those filing cabinets behind my desk. Also, if you're wondering why my storeroom looks like a disaster, just know that the ship as a whole has a serious shortage of space, so we just have to deal and start shoving stuff where we can. My guys also use the storerooms to store their personal gear since they don't have much space in their racks and they'll even use these areas to get in a quick nap.
I'm not gonna lie- this place was a big disappointment when compared to Camp Pendleton's state-of-the-art, newly built hospital dental clinic that Bryan worked at last year. Picture metal, blue and rust and you have a pretty good image of the USS America's dental clinic! This place was tight, and Bryan's office was about the size of a closet, but it gets the job done! The phone hanging on that wall in B's office: that's how we have talked for almost 5 months of the past year. At least now when he calls on the next deployment, I can picture where he is (you know, in the metal closet office!)
At this point in the tour, I had to pee. Bryan took me to the bathroom closest to the dental wing and I paused and questioned how badly I had to pee. This bathroom didn't stand up to my new Japan-inspired bathroom standards.
Before heading over to medical, Katie has to hit the head, so I took her to the dental bathroom to go; she was not impressed. Once she was done griping about how gross the bathroom was, we headed over to the medical spaces.
Hey Kelly: this part is for you!
The first area you walk into is a large triage space. Take a look at the picture of me in front of the mural; the mural is actually painted on a large elevator door. This is actually a weapons elevator that is used to take munitions from their storage spaces from deep within the ship all the way up to the flight deck. This elevator also is used to bring casualties off of aircraft down to medical.
As a dental officer, I also serve as the ship's Triage Officer, so anytime the ship receives a casualty, I'm the one on the flight deck receiving the casualty and then directing traffic on where the patients should go. Good thing I took TCCC (Tactical Combat Casualty Care) before getting here! Medical also has a pharmacy, an OR, an ICU/ward, and an X-Ray room. While we are underway, the Medical Department is augmented by the Fleet Surgical Team (FST-7) which includes a surgeon, a CRNA, an ICU nurse, and a few other doctors. Man, I wish we could get some more hands over in the Dental Department.
After showing Katie the medical area, we headed over to the Medical Green Berthing (a berthing that is managed by Medical, where Marines stay in when they come on board), which also served as the COVID hotel on this last patrol. You know what the experience was like, so I don't need to go into too many more details, but at least now you get to visualize how bad it was.
After showing Katie where I contemplated my life and questioned why I ever joined the navy while being surrounded by COVID-positive sailors, we headed over to the Dental Green Berthing, which is essentially a replica of the Medical one. Katie was stunned at how little space the enlisted Marines get to store all of their personal belongings; the bottom left picture in the collage shows all of the space they get, so you better bring just enough stuff for it all to fit under your rack! For reference, Dental, Medical, and both Green Berthings are on the 01-level.
All I have to add is gross. No wonder guys' mental health declines during COVID quarantining on the ship.
Before heading up to Officer Country, we headed back down to the 1-level so I could show Katie the mess decks (galley) where the enlisted sailors eat. The galley is just forward of the hangar bay. She also put a picture of the NCIS office, which is actually located in Officer Country right across from the wardroom.
Hey, look! NCIS! Where's Gibbs and DiNozzo?!? (Bryan didn't laugh at my joke. I was quite disappointed. Clearly, he wasn't raised in the Kimble household, where this show was a STAPLE in our development.)
We headed up two flights to the 02-level to visit Officer Country, where the officers eat, sleep and relax when they aren't working. First, we hit the wardroom, where the officers eat their meals and where meetings, like OPS/Intel and Navigation Briefs, are held. We also snapped a quick picture of the wardroom lounge and America's Conference Room, where smaller meetings like Khaki Call, Department Head Sync, and Planning Boards are held. For those wondering, no, I do not have an assigned seat at the table; my job is not important enough to get a seat.
After checking out the common areas in O-Country, it was time to show Katie my stateroom. We can see in the picture just below, where my room is located on the ship map (02-53-2-L; my pinky is pointing to it). The room is pretty small, so with three grown men in it, things get pretty snug. We have a three-man bunk bed, where I've got the middle rack, easily the worst one. Now, measure the distance from your elbow to your fingertip, that's how much space I've got in my rack; it's pretty tight. I also have the safety straps up, so when I toss and turn in the middle of the night I don't fling myself onto the deck.
Our room, fortunately, has a sink in it, so I don't have to walk down the hall every time I brush my teeth or want to wash my hands. There are also three wardrobes and plenty of drawers to store our stuff. We also have a desktop computer and two TVs; if you look at the photos we have a "mounted" TV. Yea...we just used ratchet straps to keep that bad boy up there. (The manly creativity- I'm telling you.) Pretty ghetto, but we gotta do what we gotta do. Also, Katie said our room was way too dark because one of the lights was out, but then I told her that we unscrewed the bulb because it put a glare on the TV. (Priorities, am I right?!) I know it's snug, dark, and probably smelly, but it's home for a few months at a time.
It smells about as good as you would think. Three grown men crammed in a tiny room with poor ventilation. I can only imagine the stank at sea. I also gave Bryan a hard time about not having a sign on his door or even a nameplate. How the heck is he able to find his room?! (My mother will have a cutesy sign designed and delivered before the next deployment. It may even light up and sing when people walk past! Gotta keep this guy on his toes!)
Following my stateroom tour, I showed her the communal bathroom that gets shared with anywhere from 12-20 other guys when we're underway. There are two stalls, three shower stalls, and one sink. It's pretty gross, but I don't have many other choices.
Now I understand why the room stinks. I would push off showering too if this was my best (and only) option. Did Bryan tell you about "waffle stomping?" It's his favorite fun fact to share about the showers and makes me want to vomit. Men are disgusting.
I would like the record to show that I, and my roommates, showered every day. Also, this is a PG-rated blog, so I will not explain what waffle stomping is on this platform. Google it. (Or don't.)
Following our tour of O-country, I took Katie down to the fo'c'sle (FOHK-səl), where the anchor chains are and where the anchor is pulled up and dropped into the water. Fo'c'sle is short for forecastle, and don't ask me why it's shortened the way it is or why it's pronounced the way it is. As I said earlier, I'm not a surface navy expert, I just work here. The fo'c'sle is located on the 01-level at the very front of the ship.
Big ship = Big Anchor
that explains it all.
We then headed down to the 2-level where the Ship's store, library, and chapel are located. There's also a rec room, barbershop for the enlisted personnel, and payphones for the enlisted sailors to use in this area.
Poor enlisted guys have to pay per minute to call their families. I didn't realize how lucky Bryan is to have a phone in his office!
You'll notice a picture of me in front of what looks like an ATM; while onboard, we use Navy Cash cards. Instead of using debit or credit cards to pay for things on the ship, you load your Navy Cash card at these "ATMs" and then use that card to pay for things at the ship store or pay for your meals in the wardroom. Katie loved seeing the ship's library, but don't tell her I've never actually been in there.
Oh! And Bryan took me by the ship's library! It was closed during our visit and I would have no clue how to find it on my own, but there's a picture! I've been there!
We then headed up to the flight deck, right at sunset, so the views were great! I don't think I really need to explain the purpose of the flight deck, but it's nearly three football fields long and a great place to run when flight ops aren't taking place. (Reference, the flight deck is on the 03-level, just one floor above my room.)
Big Deck, windy, beautiful view of Sasebo at sunset!
After checking out the flight deck, we headed up a few more levels to Vulture's Row, the outdoor space located between the bridge (where they drive the ship) and the air tower (where they launch and recover aircraft). I took Katie onto the bridge, but we didn't get any pictures because I didn't want to get us into trouble. We made our way over to the air tower (06-level) and I got to show her where Stego, Chubes, and Squirrel worked while we were underway.
It's good to know higher-ups! Since we visited the ship right after a patrol, the ship was empty, so Bryan "borrowed" the code and took me up to the flight deck! This is where Stego, Chubes, and Squirrel work! They are the peeps telling the airplanes and helicopters where to land and when to take off! Did I make Bryan sit in their chair for a picture? Yeah. Was he uncomfortable doing it? Also yeah.
You might not be able to tell, but by this point, Bryan is giving his "I'm done smiling for pictures, feed me" smile, so we ended our night at the closest restaurant to the ship: McDonald's. As we ordered, Bryan and I both realized we have eaten at McDonald's once since moving to Sasebo!
*culture shock!*
With love and humor,
Bryan & Katie
Loved the tour. And this just confirms what I already knew. I could never make it in the Navy!!