Sleeping under a busy airport.
I used to need quiet to fall asleep, like a lot of people,
then I was stationed on an Aircraft carrier.
On my 1st ship, the berthing (bed) area was
closer to the front of the ship. So we only heard the loud BOOM of the
catapults, which throw the jets off the flight deck (Airport), slamming against
the water breaks whenever they launched a jet, along with the sailors walking
in and out of the head (bathroom) and shower on the deck (floor) above us. Not
to mention the feet walking up and down the metal ladder (stairwell) that
entered our berthing area, and the fuellies (smelly diesel gas and JP5 guys)
checking the level of the fuel tanks below our berthing every three days during
re-fuelling’s or fuel tank transfers. Ah, that was quiet, I found out later.
When I got to my second ship I was at first located in
the back of the ship but down 3 decks from the flight deck so the noise was
minimal from the landing of the jets or any other noise. Then I got transferred
up to Operations Department because of my conflict with my “butter bar”
Division Officer, McSweeny.
Ok, here is another Navy term to explain… butter bar. This
is culled from the gold Ensign insignia that is just one small gold bar. So ALL
ensigns are the lowest ranking of the officers (O-1 pay grade) and get called
butter bars, um, not to their faces of course. Anywho, I was having a problem
with my butter bar ensign because he USED to be an enlisted Chief (E-7 pay
grade) which is a very high rank (two from the top) for enlisted but he
converted to an Officer, which is commendable, but now he was the lowest ranked
of the Officers. Seems he also wrote the operations manual for the Navy’s
newest computer system (DPS6) while he was at NAVMASSO (the Navy programmers
command) and he thunked HE was the smartest guy around for the
computer system, he assumed he was “The One”. Well, he was “messing” (sub the
“F” word there) with me because I had not allowed his HUGE ego to become so
shiny, as it were. So we had a few tense moments and a few conflicts about
which direction to take, little things in my opinion really. You see I had been
in the shop and the LPO (leading petty officer) for 9 months by the time he got
there, things were humming right along. But, after a few dis-agreements, he
finally found a “technicality bump” for me to hurdle. He decided to make me get
“Formally Qualified” on the system that I had been working exclusively with for
the last 21 months. (Remember I was in charge of the Pilot DPS6 System in
Alameda CA. at NARDAC for a year prior to getting to the ship) He thought that
giving me an oral test via questions and answers with him was the hardest thing
he could come up with, and he ASSUMED I would fail. And you know what
happens when you assume!
Yes, I needed that check mark in that box by my name
on our shop chalk board to go up for my E-6 test which was coming up. He
figured he could trip me up on this technicality and replace me as the LPO with
a lower ranking Petty Officer while I was becoming qualified and keep me from
even taking the E-6 test by saying that I failed to get “qualified” in time.
His cheapjack behavior is directly related to how much I must have ticked him
off…by being right, more than he liked. I knew that the Enlisted ran the
military, not the Officers and I could push my point if I felt I had the rules
on my side, respectfully, but I also knew when to concede to a direct order
from a superior, right or wrong. But, by McSweeny trying to keep me from taking
the test, which would also keep me from making more money… now this is getting
personal.
You see he had already tried to startup a night shift
while in-port in San Diego and place me on it as the supervisor. He said he
needed a senior petty officer to be responsible on nights. What he really
wanted was me out of his hair. When I reminded him that I was but one of only
two married men in a shop of 21 younger men, I lived in L.A. , my one way
commute was 90 miles, my wife was a Navy recruiter in L.A. and that I would never
see her, he said, “You weren’t given a wife in your sea-bag.” This is a
fallback, childish, snotty retort and it means “too freaking bad”, I can’t come
up with a meaningful reason. Well, I saw no other avenue at that moment to
advance my position, so I pulled out my note pad and asked him if he remembered
calling our Department Head, and I quoted, “Our cowardly slimy dickhead of a
Dept. Head,” on two different occasions in front of the whole division
while we were standing at parade rest at morning quarters and I held up the
entire staffs signatures I had on a separate piece of paper. His face got red,
he pounded hard on his desk as he jumped up from his chair and yelled loudly if
I was thinking of blackmailing him? I said, “Yes sir, as soon as you place me
on anything other than day shift, since we have never had a night shift in-port
before and really don’t need one.” We stared intensely at each other for a few
moments (these are the moments when a man knows another man is about to throw a
punch) but reluctantly he vacated his position and told me he was going out to
take a walk along the pier (stress relief for him). Strangely enough, he never
even started a night shift, let alone just assigning another supervisor on it,
plus he KNEW he said what he said about our department head, a number of times.
I thought that was checkmate, but I did not know the depth of contempt that
McSweeny held for me.
Remember, if you mess up in the military you can be
replaced, even if you are senior. Seriously, this guy was trying to make an
example of me to the others that I was just not as good as THEY (my 21
subordinates, whom loved me!) thought I was.
Well, he started the oral test questions at page one
from the review manual he wrote, and asked me all the next 401 questions
over the next 4 or so hours. POP goes the Ego. I answered them all sufficiently
and correctly, much to his consternation and ever growing red face, as we
neared the last questions. He said that I did OK, but I was NEVER going to make
E-6. Evidently, he was looking to find another division for me and luckily,
before I got keel hauled (screwed), he found a new DPC (Data Processing Chief)
up in Ops Dept. that needed a division to manage as he was the junior of 3
other Chiefs. I was still an E-5 at the time, we had no E-6 and our Division
Chief was so old and short (very little time to retirement) that he spent all
his time in the Chief’s Mess hall and DID NOT run buffer between me and my
Butter Bar a-hole, which was his main job. So, when confronted by McSweeny with
the option of swapping to another Department with the DPC, I gleefully said yes
before the words had stopped vibrating my eardrum. Consequently all 3 of us were
happy, although only 2 of us would retain this feeling. So, I get a department
transfer up to OPS. from Supply, and within the next 6 months I go to Captain’s
mast, (bad) created a slew of dBase III programs that at the time were miracle
programs that everyone wanted to automate their jobs better (sweet timing)
received Sailor of the month award, (good) take and pass the test and make E-6
(great). In your face McSweeny! (Awesome vindication)
After I put on my new E-6 Chevron arm insignia, I
walked down to talk (show off) with the guys in my old shop. I opened the door
to their office and I saw something pretty hilarious. On the left of the room,
I saw the new Chief kicked back in his chair with his feet up on his desk,
hands clasped behind his neck motioning to me with his elbow to come in. I look
to the right and see butter bar McSweeny shaking his head, in mid-sentence,
asking the Chief when he was going to get on something or other.
Now this is classic.
The Chief said, “You need to just sit there and push around
some more papers Sir, I got everything under control”. It would have been
insubordination if he hadn’t added the “Sir”.
You see, the Enlisted Chiefs run the Navy. They get the work
done by guidance and delegation or what is called the chain of command. Most
Chiefs have been in the Navy for about 8 or more years by the time they make
Chief and they have a good handle on things, they are pretty much middle
management. The officers just tell the Chief’s what needs to be done and CAN
NOT go around a Chief and directly tell enlisted folks what to do or how
to do it because that breaks down the chain of command, hence, a good
Chief runs buffer for the LPO and the enlisted staff. A junior officer has all
the military authority over a Chief, but very little day to day work
authority, usually because they are younger and “green” since being right out
of the Academy and don’t know anything yet and normally defer to the wisdom
of their older, wiser Chiefs. There is an old saying in the Navy. The Chief
will guide and train or make and break their junior officers. You‘d have
thought McSweeny would have remembered that since he used to be a Chief. Power
denied, ego popped.
But I digress…
When I moved up to Operations, their berthing was right
under the flight deck at the very back and middle of the ship. So, when a jet
lands, the force of the jet hitting the flight deck is very loud and that is
combined with a slight shake. Then you get the scrape of the thick arresting
gear (cable) that catches the jets tail hook to slow it down, recoiling back
into place. When the mechanics fix an engine or get a new jet engine, it MUST
be run at full throttle for 4 hours straight to test it, so they park the jet
at the back and starboard side of the flight deck and turn it on. Oh, let’s be
considerate of others and do that when no one is UP and awake, like 2-6 am. I
therefore had to get used to all these loud noises plus our shop was 24/7 so
the TV was always on in the birthing and folks were in and out of their racks
or playing spades, backgammon, pitch or other card games. So I was forced to
“tune out” the noises or I would never get any sleep.
Short and sweet conclusion… I need a fan on at nights now
that makes enough noise so I can get to sleep or I hear EVERY little noise and
can’t sleep because I feel the need to investigate it or lay there trying to
figure out what it was.
Melody just has to deal with it unfortunately, all
because I used to sleep under an airport.
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