Deployment #3: Cape Town...or not

Hey Everyone...

We came into our anchorage just outside of Cape Town, South Africa late yesterday (Saturday) morning. Everyone was thrilled to be "in port" after a month at sea, and the excitement of liberty was rippling through the crew.

Due to winds and seas in the harbor (and some issues with the liberty boats we were supposed to get), liberty was secured from arrival until 12:30 the next day (as was the wine tour I'd signed up for Sunday morning). The crew was really bummed, and I was disappointed that there wouldn't be as much time in port as I'd expected, and therefore much less time to do all the things I'd missed out on last year when I was here.

On Sunday, once liberty call was announced, I went out with a new LT who just checked onboard and also didn't have a liberty buddy. Everyone else was going to a casino in town, and that didn't really appeal to me. Because of the long lines to go ashore, it took us three hours to get to the front of the line! Then, just as we were getting to the front of the line, one of the people from the Strike Group staff (Admiral's staff) came and pulled us out of line and brought us to another area. Apparently the Admiral was not happy with the liberty situation onboard and the small number of Sailors that were going ashore because of the lack of liberty boats (each boat only held about 45 people, and it was a 30-45 minute ride to the landing, so getting 4000 people ashore was not going well) so he told his staff to use his Admiral's gig to take people in. Mind you, this is a small boat and only holds about 20 people seated comfortably, but it was pretty neat to ride in the Admiral's gig!

Anyway, so Matt and I got ashore about 6:00, four hours after we got in line, and were STARVING! So we went to a great restaurant that I'd been to last year and had an amazing dinner. I (once again) opted for the "game kebab" which boasted four different types of wild South African antelopes and mashed potatoes, along with a yummy glass of pinotage (South African wine). Then we went and I bought some postcards and helped Matt pick out some earrings for his wife, and then we went in search of the wine store so that maybe I could order some to send home even though I'd missed out on my wine tasting tour. The wine store closed at 5:00, so we missed that one (I'm still going to try and find some online) and the other stores were beginning to close as well, so we headed back to the landing to get back on the ship.

We got to the landing about 9:00 and learned that liberty has been secured again on the ship and no boats were coming or going for at least the next two hours due to winds and seas, so we sat down, I wrote my postcards, and then we went back to the main drag to mail them, before returning to the landing again. When we got back, we stood in line for about 90 minutes before the next boat came, and we finally made it safely back to the boat. It was a little scary getting off the liberty boat as the waves were really picking up, but I was glad I wasn't stranded on shore with no hotel or place to spend the night! It's around midnight now, and although I only had three real hours of liberty, my "journey" started around lunch time and I'm pooped, so I think I'll hit the rack now!

It's disappointing that I have duty tomorrow, so I won't get to go back out in one of my favorite places, and I feel bad that so many brand new young Sailors didn't get much out of their first liberty port, but it can't be helped and maybe things will be better organized next time!! I am still hoping to be in port again the middle of next month (nothing is in stone yet) and seeing Caitlin (from Notre Dame)...and then maybe we'll get more time off the ship (to visit the gold souks, of course)!!

Sorry this was not the most positive email...but as they say..."It is what it is"...

Week 22: Seychelles-That's All Folks

Hey Y'all,

Whelp, this is it...my final installment of this deployment journal. Thanks for sticking with me throughout the last 22 weeks, sending email, letters, cards, and packages. They were all appreciated and made deployment go by so much more quickly!!

This week, I celebrated a lot of "last times" on NORMANDY. Saturday was my last "NORMANDY Pizza Night" which I spent with my division on the Mess Decks. Sunday, I offered my last Catholic Lay Services. Wednesday was my last Burger Day. Thursday, I led my last SLAMEX as the Strike Officer, and stood my last watch in Combat. Today, I paid my final Mess Bill and manned the rails for the last time when we pulled in to port. Following pulling in, I was officially "bonged off" with the entire Wardroom standing by. It's a bittersweet time, but I am looking forward to the future and reporting to my next command, getting married, and deploying as part of a staff instead of ship's company. I'll be learning a lot in the next year, and it's so exciting!!

In a few hours, I will head to the airport to begin my journey home. I'll fly from the Seychelles, to Dubai, to Amsterdam, to Detroit, to Norfolk. It'll be a long flight, but it'll be so good to see everyone waiting for me when I get home...I can't wait!

Anyway, just wanted to write one last time and close out this deployment. Hopefully I'll see you all sometime soon this Fall or Winter!!

Keep in touch!!

Kate

Week 21: Around the Cape

Hey Y'all!

We pulled out of Cape Town Monday morning with no problems whatsoever. As soon as all lines were over, you could feel the energy of the ship grow and bustling activity as people made their way to various watch stations to start another period of sea time. With the Staff back onboard after nearly a week in port (they all moved to another ship while we were in Cape Town), the ship is much more crowded, and there is a lot more going on. Today we began the third of five phases of the African portion of deployment: three days of exercising with the South African Navy. We conducted various operations with four South African ships to display our capabilities and just what NATO has to offer and what we do out here. The goal is to get South Africa to join NATO, so we are basically selling ourselves to them! We hosted lots of media during the three days, as this is receiving national coverage!

Once the operations with the South Africans were over on the sixth, we began phase four of the African journey: our transit and port visit to Seychelles. This is significant to me because it is my last stop with NORMANDY before heading home, which I will be doing in ONE WEEK!!! Pretty hard to believe that my tour here is over and I am moving on to bigger things, but it's exciting just the same! Once NORMANDY is finished turning over the flagship duties to BAINBRIDGE (who will meet us in Seychelles), they will start to head home, and BAINBRIDGE will take over and finish the fifth and final phase of the SNMG1 African deployment.

The end of the week had quite a bit of excitement. Toward the end of my watch on Friday, we received a mayday call from a ship 50 miles away from us. We ended up sending one of the ships in our group to head toward land to see what the deal was and if they needed help. As I am writing this, I don't have any more details, but if I hear anything, I'll be sure to let you know!

Anyway, until next week (which will be my LAST entry of this deployment journal), adios!!

Kate

Week 20: South Africa

Hello from South Africa!!

After a month at sea, our longest time without pulling into port so far this deployment, we are once again on dry land. We pulled in to Cape Town, South Africa late on Tuesday afternoon. The view was amazing, and we are right in the downtown area with a great view of Table Mountain and lots of playful little seals in the harbor (Caitlin and Jake, reminds me of when we went to the aquarium and saw all the otters playing!). As soon as we pulled in, we had a ton of safety briefs, more so than normal, because of the crime in this country. We were told that South Africa is the most dangerous country in the world outside of a war zone. As such, overnight liberty is not authorized here unless you are on leave. My roommates, Shawna and Erin, did take leave and got a hotel in town, but I decided to go the safe route and stay on the ship at nights (besides, I am trying to save my leave days for the wedding and honeymoon next year)...

Wednesday, I spent the afternoon getting a pedicure (much needed after wearing steel-toed boots for 4 months!) and lunch in the Waterfront area, before meeting some of the other Junior Officers on the Canadian ship for a "Subby Party". This is a Canadian tradition where the Junior Officers get together for a party and no department heads are allowed to attend. The one exception was that the Admiral was invited to stop by and mingle with the various Division Officers in our group. The Canadian Navy is allowed to have alcohol onboard, and as such has a full bar in their Wardroom, so it was quite the evening. I had a good time and was back on the ship early enough to get some sleep before having duty on Thursday.

Friday, I went on an all-day vineyard tour. South Africa boasts over 130 vineyards and has some of the yummiest wines I've ever tasted. We stopped at five different "wine centers" and tasted about 30 wines total that day. Needless to say, I bought several bottles and can't wait to get them home and share them with all of you! One of the vineyards also had a cheetah reserve next door, so I was able to pet an adult male cheetah...pretty cool if I do say so myself!! Following the tour, the entire Wardroom (all the Officers onboard...about 35 total) met at a local steak house for a Hail and Farewell. This is where we welcome any new Officers to the Wardroom and say goodbye to those who are leaving. Since I will return to the States in two weeks, it was my Farewell. It was kind of an emotional evening, because although there have been lots of hard times on this ship, I've learned a lot and grown a lot as a person...and met some really good people too. My dad always said my first tour would be my most memorable, and I'm sure he's right about that! Anyway, after the Farewell, a bunch of us went to a local bar and sang karaoke until the wee hours of the morning. It was a pretty fun night!

Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early for a safari tour. We were driven about an hour and a half outside of Cape Town to a National Wildlife Reservation, where we piled into a huge "Jeep" with stadium seating so we could all see. The rangers fed us breakfast at the main camp before we headed out to see all the animals. Not only did I get to see hundreds of Springbok (like little antelope), baboons, zebras, and wildebeests, but I came up close and personal with rhinos, giraffes, lions, and was even charged by two male elephants!! It was a great trip and well worth it! Following the tour, we were taken back to the camp for a great lunch of wonderful local dishes, and then piled back into our van to go back to the ship.

Sunday, I woke up early and went to breakfast at a little diner in town with one of our department heads and another Officer. After breakfast, we hiked up Table Mountain, which boasts an amazing view of Cape Town and beyond. We could even see the Cape of Good Hope, which is the southernmost point of the African continent, and the place where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. I wasn't able to travel to the Cape, but seeing it was enough...what a gorgeous view. The mountain range was enormous, so we hiked all along the ridges, at least where we felt it was safe and were well within sight of the other people on the mountain. In the week before we pulled into port, there were 10 violent muggings along the hiking trails, so we wanted to be careful. Later on, we got lunch at a neat cafe in town, and then watched a couple of football (soccer to Americans) games at the most popular bar/brewery (Mitchell's) in town, before getting dinner at an awesome steak house with a saxaphone player to serenade us. I had a kebab with three different types of antelope, and it was amazing!!! This trip, I tasted antelope, ostrich, crocodile, and springbok ....all were amazing...and so tender too!

Anyway, I have 11 days at sea before we pull in to our next port and I fly home...hopefully it goes by quickly! Can't wait to see all of you!

Until next time...

Kate

Week 19: Gulf of Guinea, again

Hey Everyone,

Hopefully by now you've received the pictures I sent from the Shellback Ceremony and our Formation Steaming. Internet here continues to be slow, so many of the emails I receive from the outside world are a day or two late!

Anyway, last week we left the "Center of the Earth" and then came back toward the Gulf of Guinea to meet the rest of the force, who continued patrolling there while we got gas and had our ceremony. Once we met up with the other ships, we conducted several exercises in various warfare areas while transiting south, toward Cape Town. This included a CAESAR SWORD, which is a Strike Exercise (SLAMEX) I run with my team. Since this was the second to last SLAMEX I ran before transferring, I used the time to train a new Officer to take the job. That said, there are rumors that the Ensign I've been grooming for the job will not take it after all, so we'll see if my training was in vain or not! We also ran a series of "Multi-Threat Scenarios" which are like mini-wars that test the various warfare areas on each ship to replicate some of the threats we might encounter down here. The scenarios ran for most of this week, and will give us a couple of days at the end to rejuvenate and prepare for pulling into port early next week.

Although Cape Town (our next port of call) is billed as the most dangerous country on Earth (outside of a war zone), I am really excited to be there. We'll be in port about a week, and I will get to see some really neat and unusual things. Should be a great port visit to mark the end of my deployment. While there, I plan to go on a wine tour of the region as well as go on a day long safari and hopefully see some really great animals! Either way, it'll be a nice relaxing time in port and I'm really looking forward to it! I'll be sure to send on some pictures of all my adventures!

Until then...

Kate

Week 18: Emerald Shellback!

Hey Everyone...

Pretty hard to believe I've been gone 18 weeks and am in my final month of deployment!! We arrived in the Gulf of Guinea early Monday morning and marked the event by participating in an ENCOUNTEREX with the other five ships in our group. We split the force into two task groups and held a "mini war" between the two groups. I was on watch in Combat During the entire thing, which was pretty cool too!! Following the ENCOUNTEREX, we had a tactical RAS, where the entire force filled up with gas from the oiler who is traveling with us. Then we steamed in formation and had a helo go up to take pictures of us in different configurations...if I can find the photos on the sharedrive, I'll be sure to send them along!

Early Tuesday morning, we split the force and some of the ships headed in closer to the coast to patrol, while NORMANDY and two other ships are plowing straight through to get deep into the Gulf as soon as possible and begin patrolling. We spent a few days around Cape Formosa (near the Bight of Benin off the coast of Nigeria) patrolling and conducting some training before heading BACK toward the outer edge of the GOG to refuel and head South toward the center of the Earth for our Shellback ceremony!

On Saturday morning, we had one last refueling (RAS) before we head South to Cape Town. Since we were also getting some last minute supplies from an oiler that made a special trip to meet us, it was a long RAS (about six hours). After standing watch from 10 Friday night until 2 Saturday morning, it made for a long day for me. Following the RAS, we began the "Wog Rebellion" which included a talent show and "beauty contest" for all the people who have yet to "Cross the Line" (equator). Part of the fun and games included the start of a pool for me to shave my head (the department heads started it). I told them if they could raise a mortgage payment, we would talk! Thus began the long standing Naval tradition of the Shellback Ceremony, which would last until Sunday evening...

Sunday morning, the Shellbacks woke all the 'Wogs up at 5AM to begin the festivities. The Officers began in the Wardroom where we had do practice our "Duck Walks" and "Crab Walks" and eat a yummy Shellback Breakfast. I'm not sure what it was, but it was green and lumpy, and not so yummy! Then we had to parade around the main deck and berthings on the ship, crawling on our hands and knees, yelling, and occasionally being thrown into the showers to cleanse us of our "Pollywog Dirt and Grime". Finally, we were allowed outside. We began on the fantail (stern of the ship) and got a lovely lard shampoo and saltwater bath. We made our way around the main decks doing various things like calling Flipper, finding Davy Jones's boatswain's whistle in a sinking ship, catching a "fish" (yes they had a real fish in a pool and we had to find it), bailing out another sinking ship, crawling through a bunch of garbage (and left over food from last night's dinner), rig a sail during the "perfect storm", and plenty more! Finally, we were allowed to enter the Royal Court of King Neptune. We had to stand before the Royal Court and be judged for any crimes against Shellbacks (during last night's Wog Rebellion) and then kiss the belly of King Neptune's Baby (and suck an olive out of his bellybutton...and let's just say that wasn't a pleasant experience at all!). After that, we were baptized in the Royal Waters and proclaimed Salty Shellbacks! Actually, we are now Emerald Shellbacks, which is when you cross the Equator at the Prime Meridian, so it's a bit more special...

And that concludes this week's fun and games! Next time I write, I'll be at the 20 day mark before coming home!

Cheers!

Kate

Week 17: Gulf of Guinea

Hey Everyone,

Wow...time sure flies when you're circumnavigating Africa! NORMANDY is currently sailing past Guinea-Bissau and making her way toward the Gulf of Guinea (GOG). It's been an interesting trip since we left Spain, with rougher seas, intermittent communications (currently, we have web-browsing turned off in order to save the bandwidth we need for essential systems), and lots of drills/exercises with the other units in SNMG1 group. The crew doesn't mind so much, because we still receive email from outside sources (i.e. back home) and we can send email to our loved ones as well. Not so bad as when they completely secure email to the outside world and we don't have a clue what is going on outside of the NORMANDY Bubble!

Because of the increase in operations with other ships, merchant traffic, and the general lack of information about this area, we have increased the watch stations manned up in Combat. As such, I have been taken off of the Operational Planning Group (OPG) and am back to standing watch as the Combat Information Center Watch Officer (CICWO). I stand watch with three other Officers (a Tactical Action Officer, and his trainee, and a CICWO trainee). I also act as the Screen Commander, directing all the ships in the force where to go at what speeds and what sectors to patrol. The goal is to get a bunch of people qualified in higher watch stations so that we don't have to have as many people on watch all the time, while simultaneously providing the bridge with extra eyes to maintain a good surface picture. During any given watch (five hour period) we'll run between two and four drills, ranging from surface or air exercises, to quizzes on information about other ships in our group, to communications exercises (where we practice sending signals back and forth), to mini-wars between ourselves. Yesterday, we also had two Strike Exercises, which I ran as the ship's Engagement Control Officer. One of the strikes was planned, so we had ample time to prepare. The second strike came as a complete surprise! While conducting the first exercise, one of the other ships was not able to execute all of her tasking, and the folks in charge of the strike called FINEX (end of exercise). About an hour and a half later, they decided they wanted to see if the problem the other ship was having was ship specific or system specific, so they called on NORMANDY to execute their tasking! Pretty crazy, but since it wasn't planned, it gave us a chance to practice a no-time mission, which is a quite possible situation for a real Strike! The whole thing made for a long day (I started out on watch at 1:30 am and was finished with the final strike around 3 pm...and was quite tired to say the least!) but was a good experience, and my Strike Team got lots of accolades from the Captain for stepping up to the plate and helping another ship figure our their problems.

Early next week, I will enter the GOG and we'll begin patrolling that area. We'll be in places known for piracy and lots of smuggling, so it will be quite stressful, but hopefully we'll learn a lot that we can pass on to future battle groups that deploy here. Working for NATO is completely different than a regular deployment with just American ships, so it is challenging overcoming the language barriers and meeting tasking when not all the ships have the same capabilities as US units, but I think we'll be just fine. While we're in the GOG, we plan to pass through the "center of the Earth" or 00N 00E (crossing the Equator at the Prime Meridian) which is known as either a Diamond or Emerald Shellback (I've heard both, and there is an on-going contest onboard to see who is right about the title....). We'll have a cool ceremony (sort of like the Blue Nose ceremony we had earlier this deployment) where the Shellbacks (those who have already "crossed the line") will initiate the 'Wogs (those who haven't)... It's a big secret what the ceremony will entail, but I'll be sure to tell you all about it after it's over...should be a great time, and hopefully there will be a ton of pictures to pass on!

Other than that, nothing to report for the week! I'm down to six weeks left onboard and trying to tie up all the loose ends before I leave! One of the best things was that I just found out that my Leading Petty Officer made Chief this cycle and I'm so proud of him!! It's just a shame that I'll be gone when he gets to put on his new Chief's uniform and pin on those anchors...hopefully my guys will send me lots of pictures of the event!

Until next time....

Kate