EMERGENCY STATIONS, EMERGENCY STATIONS

Wow, has it been a month already?

So, Cliff's Notes of what happened since my last post:

• I pwned assessed runs for formation manoeuvering, and had mentors and CTOs tell me that I'm a really good ship driver, and one mentor actually said I was "a machine."
• We've been in Damage Control School since last Monday, doing fire attack team leader and OOD training. It's fun but tiring, especially when you're getting in and out of bunker gear and going on Dräger or CHEMOX every hour. Actually, CHEMOX kills you.

We're starting simulator runs for navigation and OOW watches next week, going from next Monday to the Tuesday of the following week without a break, getting a few days off, some sea prep time, then sailing for a few weeks. We've been told to expect hell and sleep deprivation for the first few weeks. Maybe it's like Hell Week for SEALs? In their case, though, they get fairly simple physical evolutions and only really risk injury to themselves; we have to do complicated mental operations and if we screw up, we risk injuring or killing dozens of people.

Also, I'm getting a taste of that whole officer/mentor gig I signed up for. I won't go into details because it's personal and confidential, but it's weird to be the one who's older, more experienced, and higher-ranked, and giving advice/help/input to someone. I know it's my job, but I've been in the training circuit for almost five years without really having to be in this position. Hopefully the people who have tried to mentor me and who saw that flicker of potential in me won't be disappointed.

I don't know how much I'll update before sea phase, but I'll definitely do my best to put together a "log" while I'm at sea and post it once a week, even if it's in a limited form through e-mail.

Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.