Ring Bells on Time

Ring Bells on Time

I was an Electronics Technician Second Class (ET2) on board the USS Mount Vernon (LSD-25). As a shipboard sailor, I was assigned to a duty section and I generally stood watch every third day when in port. My watch was the Quarterdeck. At this station was the Officer of the Deck (OOD), the Petty Officer of the Watch (POOW), and a Rover. The Quarterdeck was an area where people may embark or depart the ship. Generally, all coming aboard requested to come aboard from the OOD, then waited until a salute is returned to them. The same is true when disembarking from the ship. When therre was a  high amount of traffic, or when the OOD was indisposed, the POOW performed this function. The Rover was able to perform security sweeps of the ship, looking for unusual activity. The Quarterdeck was relieved every six hours.

One of the required activities of the POOW was to ring bells. Bells were struck from 6 am (reveille) to 10 pm (taps) local time of the port where the ship was berthed. The number one responsibility of the POOW was to ring bells: ring them correctly, and ring them on time. The correctly part was straight forward – every four hours the cycle repeated – two bells for the first hour, four bells for the second, six bells for the third and eight bells for the fourth. Half hours were marked by an additional bell. If standing the mid-watch (2 to 8 am), I would ring four bells at 6 am and recite the "reveille" call. At 6:30, I would ring five bells (four plus one) and six bells at 7 am. 7:30 was seven bells, 8 was eight bells. When I stood the day watch, at 8:30 the cycle would start again with one bell, then two at nine, etcetera.

Sometimes the Quarterdeck would have been very busy, with contractors, family, port services, and crew all wanting a salute or a sign-off on divers, fuel, ordinance, or any number of things. Regardless of the mayhem and its degree, the Petty Officer of the Watch showed his composure by ringing bells on time.

I have translated this over to my life, though it has taken me a number of years to realize the lesson of ringing bells on time.When I have felt overwhelmed, I ask God for a little help, and he reminds me of my time on the Quarterdeck and ringing bells on time. When I feel frustrated with myself, I ask God for a little help, and he again reminds me of the USS Mt. Vernon and ringing bells on time. When I want to fix all the wrongs, straighten them, and make them right, I ask God for a little help, and he reminds me of that little brass bell being broadcast throughout the ship over the ship's speaker system, the 1MC.

Though the ringing of bells seemed a bit antiquated, there was a purpose to it. Bells improperly struck or not rung on time signaled that the Quarterdeck was potentially breached. Another officer, the Command Duty Officer (CDO) would listen for the striking of bells and sound the alarm if they were erroneous, with the potential effect of having thirty unannounced sailors, armed with shotguns and pistols, show up at the Quarterdeck.

So, if you are impatient, or inundated, or incapable to cope with the obstacles of today, tomorrow, or even yesterday, just ring bells on time. If you slip and folks come to your aid, let them help you, make you stronger, and provide you the courage so that you may always ring the bells in your life on time.

Steve Scheider, ET1, retired after 8 years

Ticket to Mars

Yeah, I enjoy dreaming about space. I once wanted to be an astronaut, though that ship has sailed long ago for me. It was one of the reasons that I found nuclear propulsion and electrical generation so fascinating. At the time of the 1980s, solar arrays and nuclear fission were the best choices for space travel. So, I became a Navy Nuclear Reactor Operator and eventually sat in the RO seat on USS Haddock (SSN-621). When you are on a submarine, engrossed in the details of the gauges, readouts, and chatter around you, you can imagine travelling through space the same way, though I don't recall "field day" on the Enterprise or during any of the space shuttle missions. "Field day" is a Navy term for clean anything that doesn't walk or talk, which we did at least once every three days. The days are altered on a sub - instead of the "normal" 24 hour schedule, subs use 18 hours. The routine goes: watch for six hours, study/recreate/field day for six hours, sleep for six hours. Every block of 72 hours repeated, except during trials and ORSE. Between each six hour block was mess, which is sailor slang for a meal.
Sleeping on the sub was an experience best forgotten. Since I was junior, I wasn't provided a bunk of my own. Instead, I shared a bunk with two other junior souls, each of us waking the next to go on watch when it was our turn to sleep. The term used for this is "hot racking." Since you had to shower, shave, dress, and eat before going on watch, and the field day exercise and mess after that all ate into the time that you had allocated for sleep, leaving me with just over four hours of sleep per 18 hour cycle. If drills were being conducted, the sleep that you got was far less than that. Often, this brought tempers to boil, but there's no place for anger on a sub. You have to count on every person on board to be able to do their job and potentially save your life. So, we saved it for when we were in port.
I recall that we once docked on the pier where the USS Dixon, a sub tender, was docked with its stern to the end of the pier. We had just undergone a week of running on the diesel engine, with all that delicious smell, constant droning, and bobbing like a cork because of some equipment failure and no one on board had any real sleep. A machinist mate friend climbed out to take his walk to barracks, inhaling the freshest air that he had taken in for quite a while, when a junior officer said to him, "we salute officers in my Navy, son." My friend decked him and knocked him out cold with one punch. The machinist mate was later verbally reprimanded and forced to apologize to the officer he assaulted, but the officer was cautioned that he would find himself on a submarine if he demeaned another enlisted man.

Steve seasoning

This is a recipe for a dry seasoning to sprinkle over a shrimp and veggie skewer, though my daughter will argue that it's great on everything.

Everything is in teaspoons.

5           Dill Weed
1  1/2    Cayenne Pepper
1  1/2    Marjoram
1           Basil
1/2        Paprika
1/2        Mustard Powder
if no celery on skewers:
1/2        Celery Seed

Use a fork to combine the ingredients.  The dill should have an orange
luster to it.

Please be aware that 2 1/2 tsp of Cayenne is way hot (sweaty forehead,
etc.).  The Marjoram dulls the bite of the cayenne.  The mustard powder kicks
off the bite of the cayenne.  The paprika is a staying thing... how long you
taste the flavor.

Armistice Day

November 11, 2018, marks the centennial of Armistice Day. That day ended World War One, dubbed "the war to end war," and the armistice led to the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The war claimed nine million deaths to combatants and an estimated seven million deaths to civilians. These numbers are blurred because the 1918 Influenza Epidemic has been estimated to have taken the lives of fifty to one hundred million people worldwide.

The fighting pitted the Triple Entente (Britian, France, Russia) against the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungarian, Italy). The war began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary on June 28, 1914 by Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Historian A. J. P. Taylor tells of the event:

"[Sophie] could never share [Franz Ferdinand's] rank ... could never share his splendours, could never even sit by his side on any public occasion. There was one loophole ... his wife could enjoy the recognition of his rank when he was acting in a military capacity. Hence, he decided, in 1914, to inspect the army in Bosnia. There, at its capital Sarajevo, the Archduke and his wife could ride in an open carriage side by side ... Thus, for love, did the Archduke go to his death."

The Archduke and his wife were both shot in an automobile, on the return journey from the Town Hall. In total, there were six co-assassins, and Gavrilo Princip delivered the fatal shot. The assassination led to posturing which led to various declarations of war. The crew of assassins were attempting to fraction part of Austria-Hungary into Yugoslavia. Trench warfare and the genocides ensued. At least 16 million people died as a direct result. All for the want of Nationalism and the love of a lady.

"The war to end war." I wish H. G. Wells' words were a truth. Instead, over 60 million died in World War Two; six million in the Russian Civil War; nine million in the Chinese Civil War; 22 million in the Second Sino-Japanese War; over a million in the Korean War; over a million in the Vietnam War; over a million in the Nigerian Civil War; three million in the Bangladesh Liberation War; over a million in the current War in Afghanistan; over a million in the Soviet-Afghan War; over a million in the Second Sudanese Civil War; three million in the Second Congo War.

We must stop killing one another. Nothing positive comes from war. Another dreamer once wrote, "Imagine all the people living life in peace..." I dream that John Lennon's words will come true one day – and that we find "the war to end war."