Another day of "work"

I don't even know where to begin. Yesterday, and probably the day before, I said I can't believe I get paid for this. Today, that was even more true.

The morning started with me getting a tour of the hangar bay from the photo officer who knows EVERYTHING about the ship. He took us out to the fantail, the back of the ship where you get a tremendous view. Then we went to lunch and after that we were picked up for our tour of the flight deck. The shooter who took us around brought us right up to the line so we could watch the planes up close and feel what is like down there. Simply put, its amazing. I've never seen something so powerful so close. It is humbling and tremendous to think about all the work and all the people who make the aircraft fly. We also saw them land and just like last night, it was incredible. Maybe more than the takeoff, the landing requires such precision.

After the flight deck, we got to go on our helo ride with the Eightballers. They always are in the air if there are flight ops going on. We got some great views of the ship and the ocean. A couple of times they just hovered over the water and the spray caused by the props and the helo itself is pretty impressive. They had our side door open for a while and I kept worrying that my ID cards would fall out but they stayed put. We were in the air for about three hours and I'm guessing that could get a little boring after a while, but I was still really glad I went and amazed at how everyone has a role and one person not doing their job can ruin a mission.

So that's the whole day right? No. The ship has a lot of distinguished visitors and most are people nobody has heard of. Occasionally though you get some famous people. Today, Pete Carrol (USC head football coach) and Matt Leinart (USC alum and QB for Arizona Cardinals) showed up along with a few other USC players. All the sailors were excited and they had a big autograph session. The line was crazy and I was just walking around watching the sunset. When I came back from the fantail, the sailors were playing catch with Carrol and Leinart. Coach saw me walking around and threw me a pass. I caught it and gave a quick pitch to a sailor. Wish I would have actually thrown it back but I didn't want to take away from the sailor's time with the celebs. But as I was walking, coach told me it was a nice catch so that was pretty cool.

If that wasn't enough, then we went up to CATC. I don't know what that stands for, but its basically the guys who take care of the planes in the air while the Air Boss takes care of the planes on the Carrier. They acutally let jus go back in Ops and the Officer-in-charge let me stand next to him while he explained how everything and everyone worked together. It is just awe-inspiring that 19-year-old kids are telling billion dollar aircrafts where to go and what to do...unreal.

Quite a day. This whole trip has been more than I ever could have imagined and it definetly makes me strongly consider trying to take a sea tour. The Judge thinks its better to wait until you are O-4, but we'll see. Obviously working on a ship is a lot different than what our experience has been but I'm definetly more interested. Finally off to bed and I'll COD off tomorrow.

Vulture's Row

Still somewhere in the Pacific. I didn't get to go on the Helo like I thought I would but that's okay because today, especially the last few hours, was amazing.

We actually met with clients today and that was pretty routine, but then we went to XOI, Executive Officer Investigation. This is when the XO reviews a case to decide if it should go to non-judicial punishment (NJP) in the form of Captain's Mast. The Captain can then give a punishment for whatever the person did and hopefully they learn. The XO also looks at the case to see if more info is needed before mast. We saw three people brought before the XO, two for sleeping through clean-up and one for indecent assault (I guess he hugged a girl and tried to kiss her...not a good thing on a carrier). It was pretty intense and I'm glad it wasn't me there.

After chow and another round of clients, our Judge took us up to PriFly so we could see it at night. It is amazing to see everyone just operating so fast and doing so many things at once. We couldn't see a lot but we could see the planes taking off and that is pretty incredible. They move so fast right away and yet it looks very controlled.

As we were leaving there was a group of distinguished visitors exiting an area called Vulture's Row. The public affairs officer saw us and lent us some ear protectors and then we went out to Vulture's Row ourselves. From there we could see the planes coming in and a few taking off at night, Helo's landing and taking off, about a billion stars, the moon coming up (it was actually red at first), and the water leading you right out to it. The ship turned around a lot and considering the size of this thing, it can actually turn pretty fast. Keep in mind we are on deck 9 watching all of this...I get paid to do this!

Watching the water and the moon was quite a sight. It is very peaceful even though you hear the jets roaring in the background. As the planes land, they touch down going full throttle so if they miss the cables or they snap, they can take off right away. Of course if they catch the cable, they go from 200+ to 0 in about 20 feet.

Off to bed. Tomorrow is another day of "work."

USS John C Stennis

I'm somewhere in the Pacific Ocean now aboard the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). The command wanted us to see what it is like to go aboard an aircraft carrier and they needed some people to do legal assistance for a few days so it all works out. I flew into San Diego yesterday and got a quick tour of the ship from the outgoing discipline officer (she literally left for her next duty station the next morning) and then went in to town for dinner and drinks.

The next morning the ship got underway and went up to the flight deck as we pulled out of port. The aircraft arrived a few hours later and are currently taking off right over where I am sleeping. Seriously, they are landing just a few feet above where I sleep...crazy. How I am going to sleep is beyond me at this point but I guess people are able to do it. We were given several pairs of ear plugs which will hopefully help but they can only do so much.

The ship is enormous and it is very easy to get lost. To get up and down to the different levels you have to walk up and down these very narrow stairwells that take quite a bit of getting used to. On at least one occasion I have hit my head, but luckily I didn't fall down the entire staircase.

We eat pretty well. The officer's mess is always stocked with something to eat, even if it is just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If we don't like the food they offer at one of the regular meals they can always make us a burger, a grilled cheese, or something like that.

Today we also got to briefly see the bridge and meet the commanding officer of the Stennis. A very nice man, but certainly very busy and needing to stay focused while the pilots got qualified to fly on and off the carriers. We also went to primary where the Air Boss (the guy who controls the planes on the flight deck) is stationed. Later on I think we'll get a more detailed tour.

At dinner we sat with some helicopter pilots and one of them offered to take us for a ride tomorrow so that should be amazing. I'm hoping to get some good pictures but I'm sure I'll just be taking it all in as well.

After dinner, I walked around the hangar bay, where all the planes are usually stored when they are not on the flight deck. For this short trip, the hangar bay is pretty much empty so you will see people running around, and even playing some sports in this huge space. I walked around to see if I could see a sunset from anywhere and even though I couldn't really see the sun going down, I could see the sky changing color and the water as the ship effortlessly cut through it. It was quite a sight to see and I'm glad to have the opportunity to be on board for a few days. Life as a JAG continues to give me chances to do things I never would otherwise get to do.