Blur...

So this is my first real post within this blog (I guess I'll update my other one...). The last couple months have been a blur. I cannot believe it's already late November, with Thanksgiving around the corner. It's basically been a busy couple months since I graduated from Surface Warfare Officer Introduction Course (a.k.a. Baby SWOS). So much has happened, but here are a couple large events that I've been a part of since my last post.

INSURV Inspection:
Basically, I report back to my ship, and the second day, I'm leading the INSURV inspections checks for my division. I'm so freaking thankful for the support that I got from my senior enlisted, or I would have fallen flat on my face. It's completely humbling, being thrown into your job, and not knowing what exactly is going on. Our ship passed, albeit with some degraded checks. Some of the demonstrations didn't work, but overall, as my captain said, we were "too good to fail."

SMC:
So, I'm assigned the food service officer and work in Supply Department, on board my ship. A very humbling job indeed, and soon after the INSURV inspection, I get landed with SMC (Supply Management Certification). My ship hadn't passed a certification on the first try since 2001. It seemed as if the workload didn't stop from INSURV. I still had to come in on the weekends, and I lost my whole labor day weekend to inspection preps. To top it all off, the refrigiration system onboard the ship decides to fail, and I end-up loosing everything in my freezer, about 27K worth of food. It showed me how much control I DON'T have over my own work, and that I have to "improvise, adapt and overcome" at times. In the end of the day though, due to some amazing people who work for me, my division, and better yet, the whole supply department passed for the first time in 10 years, and we passed well enough to qualify for the Blue "E" award, which means that we were exceptional.

Underways:
Three "port" calls. First, we went to San Francisco for Fleet Week. Met up with a close friend, caught-up and got to see a little bit of OKC. Next, Seal Beach...there's nothing to do in Seal Beach. Finally, there was Santa Barbara. The weather was horrible, liberty boats were horrendous, and there was the stress of setting up a VIP reception (the first time I've done anything like this). Yes...that was crazy. Thankfully, again, I had great back-up from my enlisted, and overall, the visit was a lot more fun than I expected. I got to hang out with my future liberty buddy, grab a hotel on shore, got some shark, and yes, went to the military ball that was hosted by the Santa Barbara Navy League. That was a lot of fun, and I met someone who I should've gotten the last name of...she was so cool. Sad...well, she had a boyfriend anyway, so it didn't matter.

...now, I'm back!

Welcome to Real Life (Historical)

*Note: there's a first for everything, and this was an unfortunate first. 

I feel like my sense of invincibility is slowly being whittled away. We all like that feeling, and we often act as if we aren’t as fragile as we really are. Suddenly, we get stark reminders that, holy crap, we aren’t supermen. I was wondering when would be the first time I get into an auto accident. I’ve always imagined that it wouldn’t be anything serious, just a fender bender. I did swear that I was going to scratch my car in my garage one time. I also thought that I’ll be hit coming out of the CA-15 and merging into the CA-94 West (friggin’ hate that merging lane). Well, things come unexpectedly huh? 

My first accident was a T-Bone. Stop signs…and cars coming in fairly fast. Glass shattered, passenger door bent in, side airbag goes off. Before then, I was a very confident (maybe a little cocky) driver. Clean record all the way through until then, drove in a “spirited” fashion (hmm, maybe if I had accelerated faster, I wouldn’t have gotten hit), and worst of all, got complacent. I should’ve done a double take at the intersection…should’ve done this, should’ve done that, should’ve…

A Rear Admiral told us that people are either good (at what they do), or they get lucky. For me, I guess it has been a mixture of both, and for that one second, I wasn’t good enough, and I wasn’t lucky enough…

I thank God that I’m not seriously injured (besides my pride…which is not necessarily bad), nor is my car (or the other one for that matter) is seriously damaged (I think…besides the door, all looked alright). I thank God I wasn’t carrying anyone. It could have been worse…  

Finally, it’s one piece of youthful bliss, ignorance and confidence damaged if not gone. I’ve been more careful driving, but I wish it didn’t come with this sense of paranoia I have at least for now. 

Welcome to Real Life Jonathan Leo. Things do heal though. Feelings, Confidence, Self-Esteem…and hopefully my car.  

OC...no not the county (Historical)

*Note: Every new career path, or at least most of them, have their rites of passage. For Surface Warfare    Officers, getting OC sprayed is one of them. 

It’s been about a month now since I first arrived in San Diego. As I said before, I’ve hit the deck plates running more or less. I remember week one on my ship being quite busy. Check-ins, qualifications, gun shoot, and OC Spray, with OC Spray being the hardest. It is one of those experiences that you’re glad you went through, but hopefully will never have to do again.

Ok, the reason why I had to go through an OC Spray is for Sentry training. ”Oleoresin Capsicum“ (better known as pepperspray) is a less-lethal way of controlling unruly people. Since that stuff, when sprayed, likes to blow back to the sprayer, we are trained to be able restrain a suspect under those conditions. I’ll tell you right now, that shit burns! Imagine a knife being inserted into your eye while your muscles involuntarily contract while your forehead and eyelids burning worse than a second-degree sunburn. This, and you have to take down at least 2 people during the training course. Perhaps the worst is the fact that it isn’t water soluble, and the only thing that makes it go away is time…hours and hours of time. Therefore the pain serves a constant reminder of how, if you got sprayed for real, of what you did wrong that warranted getting sprayed. 

I guess thinking about it now, it shows how consequences (from bad decisions, sin, ect.) tend to linger. We can show as much remorse as we want but the damage will still be a constant reminder of how we messed up. Some of the pain in our lives are caused by our own choices and the results of those choices, and it’s not always because we were the victim. Even our own sins that we commit hurt us in a real way. We’re not completely helpless. Everything from other friends encouragements, physical things (in my case, aloe), and other remedies help to lessen the pain. These things also show us love at the same time. However, from what I’ve seen and heard, only God can fully heal it in the end (we still carry the scars until that full restoration)…and like OC Spray on the skin, it’ll take time to heal. 

Patience? yea, still working on that, but the long term of life has started now, hasn’t it?

The Beginning and the Route So Far...(historical)

*note: This was the first post on my other blog site. This was posted around July, so obviously it's historical. It's kinda of the beginning of where I was. 18 years in the Atlanta Area, 4 years in Boston, and now San Diego. 

"It has been a month and 2 weeks now since my Ensign bars were pinned on me and almost a month since I reported to my first ship, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer. It’s kind-of interesting seeing my friends relax for the last time for the summer while for me, the past month and a half has been nothing short of a fast blur. Between May 23 and June 13th, admin paperwork, moving paperwork, new apartment paperwork, ID Card paperwork…you get the idea, has sort-of been my life. Somehow during that time, I managed to move from Atlanta to San Diego and set up my apartment.

My CO (commanding officer) told me in an e-mail that I needed to be ready to hit the “deckplates” running. She was right. My ship is currently preparing to go through an INSURV (Inspection Board and Survey) inspection. For those who don’t know what it is, it is a VERY DETAILED inspection of the ship and its equipment. This inspection is a big deal. Simply put, if the ship fails, the Commanding Officer, Executive officer, and some Department Heads will be fired. That’s a lot of sudden leadership changes. The work schedule will be worse afterward and life in general will suck (we’re already working close to 14 hour days and weekends as well…it’ll get worse if we fail INSURV). Although I’m not responsible for anything right now, I can feel the stress and frustration of the sailors around me. I hope and pray that we can make it through. 

Right now, I’m just trying to get my qualifications done….there’s a ton of them.

for the next few days, i’ll catch you guys up on how life was up til’ now. 

Most of us are truly sailing in the sea called life now. God please be our navigator."