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Author Topic: ...sea life...  (Read 1783 times)

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r3b1rth

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...sea life...
« on: July 20, 2016, 02:55:09 PM »
I just want to open up and share a little bit about this crazy Navy life starting from now and randomly sharing stories... I need to write... (I don't know why I chose this life but I did), all you youngin's that ever consider joining... don't do it, if you do though, ask questions :).

I'm currently deployed overseas in Japan on a naval carrier, USS Ronald Reagan. The ship is always out on summer patrol every year from spring to fall and on winter patrol from fall to winter (around Dec 1st). So I don't actually get to experience Japan very much. It sucks! And depending on your job, life revolves around that... and some other stupid bullshit like cleaning, firefighting, drills, qualifications, and sleeping. Remember, this is 7-8 months of the year you're suffering. Think about that! The food sucks and you see the same people every single day. If you hate them... yay, tomorrow you will see their ugly faces again. Nothing changes. Hopefully you have good friends or something that keeps your interests... otherwise, life's really boring, people fight each other for fun. Guys do borderline gay stuff but regular people do that drunk... it's nothing different. And YES sailors do curse a lot. I'm a decent person; I try not to :).

For entertainment, when I have time, I have my laptop onboard and I play video games on my laptop for fun or I'll download whole youtube channels to watch before we leave land. The internet sucks a lot and you won't be able to use facebook... only m.facebook.com  ;D ...I come here because I get really bored and I love the mudda hmong peoples.

Lately I am being promoted to Navy Career Counselor (NC). NC's help sailors with their careers so the job title is a bit of a big deal. Soon I will have to see the captain and the command master chief...for an interview. I AM SO SCARED. But I will live. Seeing the CO is like seeing the President of a company. To be COMPLETELY honest, I really enjoyed my peasant life  being an unknown under the radar person and doing nothing but sitting around doing nothing :), now everyone and their mom will know me. Not sure if I am okay with the celebrity lifestyle but I guess I will live... again.

They told me that if I'm scared to talk in front of big groups of people, they will throw me in front of a train, and see how well I do. Thanks guys. I really appreciate the support and morale. I feel like sometimes the Navy life chose me and I didn't choose it. Well that's it for now.

Feel free to ask questions if you want about the Navy. If you ask me other questions about the other military branches... ... I will just look at it. Lol. 



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Offline lexicon

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Re: ...sea life...
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2016, 03:56:29 PM »
Interesting.

I've watched a few documentaries about Navy ships at sea. They had a recent series following one in particular. You had people in an enclosed space for months at a time, some of them with real dislike of one or another. Guys getting in trouble on shore leave. People getting kicked out of the Navy due to their behavior. They had an episode about how relationships may sometimes develop between the crew members and the aftermath. You'll still have to see them every day. There's no escape.

And yeah, the crew members often spoke about how lonely in general it could be.



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r3b1rth

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Re: ...sea life...
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2016, 05:18:38 PM »
Hey lexicon, I'm glad you were able to see that documentary because a lot of people think it's "military" and glorify it. It's an incredibly hard life as you saw. Most people don't stay longer than 4 years.

When people get in trouble on shore a lot of it involves alcohol. Most of these trouble makers are young kids straight out of high school.

We do live in enclosed spaces day in and day out. I work with a crew of 15 people but there is 1 person that I don't get along with so that is just too bad. I don't care for this person and I want to ignore them but they throw their issues and problems at me, pretty much dragging me into their pettiness, so it can get aggravating. I end up fighting battles I want nothing to do with. I felt like I wanted to destroy him... but he will destroy himself and other people are already looking to destroy him. I'd rather keep my hands clean. Karma guys... is real.

On another note, I didn't know about this when I first came in... (naive)... but there's a lot of people here who cheat on their spouses, bf's, gf's. There's a lot of lonely people too so if they like someone, or maybe they work with that person, feelings might develop. We spend years out here so it's crazy to deny normal behavior like dating and having a relationship.

You know how relationships are already crazy but in the Navy they can totally suck... I had a long term relationship in the past that went wrong and we saw each other for two years after the fact, there was so much tension, it was stupid. These people are stuck with you on this ship for years so that's one BIG thing to consider and if you share friends... that's worse.

Recently if you guys read some of my posts around here... I had a lame BFF break up. She was the one that established that we were best friends. I never agreed by word but I liked her a lot as a person. I didn't do anything major to cause it, I just didn't answer her text about going to the beach after we had an argument 2 days prior... I wanted to know why she told me off at a camping trip ...lol. It was really dark, I turned around and saw her behind me so I asked her 'what are you doing?' Suddenly she says, "duck you!" and walked away. Her tone of voice and storming off told me it wasn't a joke. So when I inquired... she said that I was playing around and that the sensation from the fire felt like I threw dirt in her eye. ...lol okay. I needed a break from stupidity so I didn't answer her text about the beach. Come Monday, she acts weird and tells me once she is done with a person, she doesn't take them back. I was so confused for a while. A normal person gets over it... and chills out. She just sulked and refused to talk to me or look at me. Basically she's irrational, childish, and blew things out of proportion. What used to be fun times working together ended up becoming awkwardly quiet (especially) when we are left alone together. You know where this is going... in the end I have nothing against her, but she has something against me so it's completely weird. Everyone tells me it's her loss for being childish and immature. And they are right. It still doesn't make the pain any less though.

As a girl and having to deal with women temper tantrums... it can get vicious. Guys... some people don't ever leave middle school. Fact. Basically... breakups on the ship suck especially if you see them with a new person omg... seeing people you hate suck but those people (are easy to ignore), and friend break ups suck (no one expects their friends to ever stop talking EVER).

You know what though... this is in my opinion a good thing, that being here in the Navy after some time "forces" you to grow up. There's a lot of drama and pain and we're all just human. Especially since you can't go anywhere and do anything important (maybe go to the gym) ...you'll have a lot of time to sit and think... quietly. It feels like I'm in a giant prison with a bunch of random people here. I try so hard to stay away from drama, especially picking people as friends, but even then sometimes I pick weak characters (like pokemon) that end up dragging drama in their life and I'll end up having to deal with that end of the spectrum. Why can't things be easy?! lol...



My resolution is to keep peaceful relations with everyone as much as possible.

The only thing I feel most sad about is missing out on family and not being able to enjoy their company. Every year they grow older and older, especially my parents, I miss them. Other than that... I realize this is just a job. In life we all work and we all have stuff to do... especially if we move to a different state from our family. It just sucks A LOT being stuck on a boat for 3-5 years at a time. I always pray that my family stays healthy for many years to come.



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Offline lexicon

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Re: ...sea life...
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2016, 08:56:59 AM »
Have you ever thought about getting out once your commitment is over?

You either hate it or relish it, don't you? At least according to some friends and family in the military. Every soldier is different I supposed.



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r3b1rth

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Re: ...sea life...
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2016, 09:21:37 AM »
I've thought about that so much... Before it was a definite choice. After all this time ...suddenly unexpected things pop within a matter of days that curved that ball... Right now I have already done 10 years... should I stay in, I have 1 1/2 more year out to sea before they put me back on land. By that time, I will already have done 12 years then it's only 8 more until retirement.

This sudden twist of fate is that they just promoted me... to a new and better job without trying. I don't know why this happens... its a complete shock. Most people try really hard to make the exams... but I just sat in my office doing my job and being a boss... now they are handing me the next promotion on a silver platter. This is personal information that I'm letting out but, whatever, I make a little over $7,000 a month. With the promotion coming it'll probably jump nearly $8,000. For one person, that's just sitting in the bank, and honestly... I'm just here to make money for my parents to live a better life. It's a security blanket for sure... at the expense of bullshit.

I'm still young enough that if I go to school and finish I'll still be in my early thirties or just reaching mid. My problem is that I have too many options... no matter where I go I'll be a superstar (not saying I'm great or anything but I know the value of hard work compared to the average person who is just there). Looks like I have a lot of soul searching to do.



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Offline lexicon

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Re: ...sea life...
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2016, 09:39:16 AM »
Hard work today pays for a better tomorrow right?

We all have our limits. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.



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