After the soul-crushing experience that was my first visit to Pattaya on USS Last Ship, I seriously thought this visit was going to push me so far to the edge, that I’d eventually do a swan dive off a hotel balcony. Luckily for me, I ended up spending the entire time with a friend from [...]
UPDATE: In the event any of the locals in Yokosuka are planning on using this recent water leak as fuel to some of their upcoming protests, I’d like to direct them to this Associated Press report, which tells how a last month a nuclear power plant IN YOKOSUKA spilled some Uranium…now I don’t need [...]
And now from the we-all-saw-that-coming department, the USS George Washington’s Commanding Officer (CO) and Executive Officer (XO) have been relieved of their duties following the shipboard fire they had in May. The firing came at the direction of Admiral Willard, Commander Pacific Fleet, who cited the typical nondescript “lack of confidence” with an additional “failure [...]
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Admiral Gary Roughead, or Supreme Command of the Navy (SCOTN) as he’s referred to in Japan, recently appeared on a Japanese television news program to discuss the US Navy’s global mission, as well as its mission in the western Pacific region. I’ve been saying for a while that I just [...]
The Japanese held another protest against the upcoming arrival of the USS George Washington (CVN 73) today. I wasn’t there, but they’re all the same. The gather by the local mall, then march down to the main gate. Unfortunately for them, the main gate is closed to all auto and pedestrian traffic, so no one [...]
Despite this PowerPoint being sent to pretty much everyone in the Fleet and then some, a reader wrote that the crew of the USS George Washington was recently given training on Operations Security (OPSEC) due to this slide show being unauthorized. Since I’d like to avoid an ass-chewing from my omnipotent command, I have removed [...]
The advancement results are out, and wouldn’t you know it, Jim made first class….wtf. It hasn’t fully hit me yet that I’ve crossed into the dark side, and will soon become everything I don’t like. Tuesday is the day of the frocking, or promotion ceremony, at which point I’ll be walking around with the chevrons [...]
Today I received an e-mail which had an attachment of a new Personnel Qualification Standard (PQS) for being a “liberty buddy.” Whenever pulling into a port, all Sailors have to go out with at least one other Sailor, who is their liberty buddy, to make sure everyone gets back to the boat safe and sound. [...]
When we were sailing back to Yokosuka from Hong Kong, I was definitely in the dumps. Most of my days were spent reading Skippy-san’s posts about his last trip, at least for a while, to his beloved Hong Kong. I was a bit envious that he was having such a good time in what is [...]
Yes, it’s another post where everyone is going to think I’m pissed off and in the mood to sulk and whine. I’ve actually been meaning to write this post for a long time, usually after every day where I’m driving home just gritting my teeth because of an encounter with one of the following things [...]
UPDATE: The Stars and Stripes’ Chris Fowler has a good article on the MCPON visit, with additional questions and more in depth answers.
Joe R. Campa Jr., the 11th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) paid a visit to Fleet Activities Yokosuka on Thursday. The previous day, we were all told we’d [...]
A local DoDDS teacher, who also happens to be regular reader of this fine publication, sent me an e-mail asking me to talk about some drama that’s been going on between Yokosuka DODDS teachers and their school’s principal over…lunch breaks? The teacher wished to remain anonymous and avoid any reprisal. Here’s the teacher’s story:
Sullivans Elementary [...]
Today’s Lessons Learned: Mess Decks Intelligence isn’t an acceptable news source to some of those in the Navy, and a MilBlog shouldn’t be the place for “breaking” news.
We recently pulled into Guam for a four day port visit. This is the second time I’ve been to Guam, and even though I only had two days off, I still had a great time relaxing and taking in the sun. Me and a buddy got a hotel room on the 10th floor of the [...]
Finally some good news from the FDNF! I knew a while ago that a P4 message from Adm. Wren was waiting to be sent out to the local commanders lifting the ILP requirement, but was told I’d be killed if I told anyone. Now that Stars & Stripes is reporting on it, I guess I’m [...]
And we that it was bad in Yokosuka. After the NavyTimes story on Seventh Fleet’s liberty restrictions was published, I thought things would start changing in Japan. Surprisingly, they are. I can’t say anything yet, but trust me…changes are happening. Sasebo however, seems to be taking a few steps back. Stars & Stripes recently reported [...]
FEWL.NET Blocked on the USS Blue Ridge.
About a week or so ago, someone left a comment on another post telling me access to my site was restricted from the USS Blue Ridge. I still have no definite reason as to why, but now I think I have an idea. Looking through other sites that were linking to me, I found this [...]