So as you all may remember, I left you a little tidbit of information about shit that has been going on with me in the last post. What you don't know is that I am going to Captain's Mast for the second time in my career. Since you got that little bit of information, I guess that I need to give you a little backstory into the previous masting. So here it goes.....
Back in November of 2008 while I was on the USS Nebraska, I was in my second year of my tour there. I was qualified as far as I could be at that point. I was still a Third Class Petty Officer and I was in a rather bad relationship at the time. The chick was kind of abusive and I didn't even know it. Looking back on that relationship now, I can see where it went wrong and why it was such a horrible one that ended rather terribly. That is another story for another time. Anyway, it was another long fourteen hour day on the boat. For those that don't know, I can spend up to 120 hours per week on the boat doing maintenance, standing watch, and other work related items. That's four 24 hour days, and another three 8 hour days. It's rather intense sometimes. I was off-going from duty and all I wanted to do was go home and get a shower. I was tasked with doing Diver's Tags before I could go home that day. I didn't want to do them and I was always doing them. I was resigned to just getting them done and then leaving. It took me roughly an hour before I could start hanging all of the tags. There are quite a few that I had to hang. I was going along and doing everything like I normally would. I had a routine so to speak with the way that I did things. Needless to say, the one time something goes out of whack, it leads to crazy things and missteps. I was working on hanging a tag and dropped my pen. I went to retrieve it and then continued hanging the tag. I finished all of the tags and went to go smoke. Sometimes things can get stressful.
I was standing in the smoke pit topside when I was approached by someone saying that there was a problem with the tags. They said one of the tags was hung incorrectly. In a fit of anger and stress, I ran back down on the boat and went straight for the tag that they told me about. I moved it into it's correct position, breathed a sigh of relief and then went up to Sonar. What they didn't tell me was that the second checker had already found out what was wrong and then went and informed the Duty Officer. So, as I was standing in Sonar, my buddy Andy, who was the second checker, came in and asked what the hell I just did. I looked at him funny and said that I fixed what I needed to. He got angry, called me stupid and said that he was fixing it the right way. Quick side note, when you screw up a tag, there is a procedure to fix it all. I forgot about that when I fixed the valve. The Duty Officer came up to me about 10 minutes later and asked me if I shifted the valve over. At that point, adult choices took over and I told him I did. That's when the paperwork started and I ended up in front of the green felt table. At that time, I walked out of there with a reduction in rank to the next inferior paygrade (suspended), half month's pay x2 (suspended), and seven days restriction. I was confined to the boat for seven whole days. I turned that into a huge joke for my benefit. I called the submarine my MBDMSM, also known as my Multi-Billion Dollar Mobile Submersible Mansion. It gave everyone a laugh. There you have it. That is the story of my first Captain's Mast and how well it went because I told the truth.
Fast forward to this masting. On the 30th of November (weird month for me apparently), I was down on the boat for duty. We have one car currently so I have to find rides and stuff to get to and from work. I carry my phone on me. I'm not supposed to. I got caught with it. I attempted to play it off with saying that my kids put it in my bag without me knowing it. Nobody bought it. Now, I had to redo my statement and then I spent Thursday afternoon talking to the Executive Officer. Surprise for everybody involved except the XO and the Yeoman. So I sat through that and explained everything. Told him about the divorce and Damen and Lucas being my EFM children and whatnot. I went back to standing phone watch and tried moving on with the day. I still had no idea what was going with me because I was being charged with two Article 92's and an Article 107. Now to elaborate, an Article 92 is a catch all article. The Article 107 is for Falsifying an Official Document. A little after three that afternoon, I got pulled into the COB's office. Chief of the Boat for those that are wondering. He talked to me for about a good hour about everything. Why I didn't tell him about the divorce and why I didn't mention it at the DRB (disciplinary review board) and what was going on at home. I did, however, find out what is happening to me though. Everything I told the XO changed everything that was going to happen. I'm now keeping my job and not losing rank so I won't be ending an 11 and a half year career over another poor choice. Tuesday is the day that I will be going to Captain's Mast again and I just have to make sure that I keep a poker face for what I know is in store for me. That is what I know for sure. I'm pretty sure that I will probably lose a little bit of money for a fine and that I may have to do some EMI (extra military instruction) for my choices, but I am okay with that.
There is my story of why I am standing before the mast yet again. I need to actually research why it is called Captain's Mast. It sounds like it would be an interesting story to tell you guys. So until next time, I am Wickid and I leave you to your reading.
I'm OUT!!!
Wickid
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