We just shot .50 cal's for the last two hours. And it was very cool. If you don't know what it is look it up on wikipedia.

Also, I was thinking the other night, I'd like to provide a means for any of you to ask any questions you may have about life aboard ship, or about the Navy in general. I'll answer any questions posted in this thread to the best of my ability. (Be creative, this will give me something to do when I'm standing watch.)

Lastly, I have an email as well as a physical address. If you're interested in sending me a postcard or anything like that, send me a PM and if I don't get too many people asking and I don't hate you I'll send you the info. I'd love to get some cards or something. Keep in mind though it could take about a month for them to get to me, depending on our schedule. (though it doesn't usually take that long, since we have a heli landing every few days)

PS. Sorry I cann't post any pictures of cool stuff being done on the ship, because I have no way to transfer any pictures I take to a computer. (We're not allowed to use USB on the computers onboard.) Sorry, but expect pictures in about 4 months when I get home to San Diego.

.50 is the one caliber I want to shoot that has eluded me so far.

What kind of ship do you serve on? I know the life of a submariner, got a buddy who sails out of Kings Bay, GA, but I don't know anyone who's served on surface ships.

I want the postcard addy!

I serve on board the USS John Paul Jones, which is a Guided Missile Destroyer (aka DDG) Here's a wiki article. And here's the ship's official site.

The ships namesake, John Paul Jones, was a very successful captain during the American Revolutionary war. He was also known to be kind of a rebel (like Captain Kirk, trekkies :P) If you have time read the wiki article, especially the section on his command of the Bohomme Richard, for which is he is most famous (though the wiki article kind of sucks to be honest).

During that command, he fought a famous battle against the HMS Serapis. At one point while he was below decks, the Ensign (American flag) was shot loose and came down (which at the time was a sign of surrender). The ship was also badly damaged at this time, and was in reality, sinking. The captain of the Serapis called over to the first mate and asked if they surrendered. The first mate, thinking that Jones was dead, agreed to surrender. Jones heard from below decks and came up, hollering that they would not surrender. When the first mate tried to argue, Jones tried to shoot him. However, Jones' pistol was not loaded, so instead he threw the gun at the first mate, knocking him unconcious. They continued to fight, and ended up winning the battle, when a sailor aboard the Bohomme Richard climbed up into the rigging, and began dropping the Revolutionary War time equivilant of grenades onto the deck of the Serapis, one of which rolled down an open hatch into an area where a large quantity of gunpowder was stored. Naturally there was an explosion, and the Serapis surrendered shortly afterward.

thats awesome!

holy crap, i'm barely older then the ship

I wish you were allowed to record stuff like that, that would be an awesome video to see.

Send me your address!

actually, if I'd had a camera with me, I could have recorded it. (Also, look on Youtube, I'm sure you can find videos of that kind of thing.) The problem would be in getting it onto a computer (see what I said above about USB).

And Kirbz, you didn't PM me.

should i join the navy instead of teh army?

Wow, I wish I could spend 18 months on a big metal ship with a bunch of sweaty sailors.

I've fired a .50 machine gun, and I didn't even have to join the navy.

no pics

I just noticed that since Sarn left andrea no longer posts here.

NewKid: Depends on whether you're a soldier or a sailor. Advantages to navy: shorter deployments (that's the big one), less hazardous. But then some people have a soldier mentality, and would rather be in the army. It's not for me, but if you want to join armed forces, which branch is a decision you'll have to make for yourself. I will say that I know plenty of people who are in the navy, and would have been happier in the army. These are the sort of people that try out to become Navy SEALs, then for whatever reason don't make it through the training (only something like 13% do, and it might be lower). Then they sit around wishing they could get some kind of combat job, but instead they end up staring at a console or handling line, or worst case scenario, chipping paint. They'd have been better off just joining the army or the marines. Then again, I'm a sailor, and I love it. It works for me, in a way that I doubt the army would.

Steven: 1) we shower, and there's AC in the ship. We're not usually that sweaty (though it is freakin hot outside.) 2) Our deployments are generally 6 months. Not 18. Army has 18 month deployments (I'm only out here for about 4 cause I missed the first 2 months cause I was in school).

zan: see what I posted above about that. sorry for the lack of pics. I really wish I could put some up.

Zell: Andrea would still post here, I'd imagine, except she's in Chicago visiting her family and doesn't have regular internet access. She'll be home on the 21st, so you can expect to see her again after that.

Mm, thanks for the insight Sarn
i was thinking about ROTC but i really don't know what I am going to do
i have still yet contacted the lieutenant dude in charge of recruiting and dont know if i want to
and also, why are USB (and i'm assuming firewire too) laptops prohibited? only reason i can think of is highly controlled data transfers on an american war ship

Good info Sarn and great way to objectively answer the army/navy question. I would like to correct one thing. Army deployments are typically 12 months, not 18. Some units affected by the recent surge saw up to 15 months but that is not the norm. Experiences vary but the past ten months has flown by for me although I have it much better this time than previous deployments. I have my own room and internet and work with a really good group of people. All in all, I almost wish it wasn't going to end so soon.

There was a big deal recently (within the past nine months) in the news about viruses and the Army essentially banned all USB memory devices due to the increased risk of transmitting viruses. I'm sure that is the same issue he is having although it could simply be that mingling personal and government data is strictly forbidden as well. We work around it by transferring data to CD-Roms. Of course if a file is infected, it's infected no matter what media you use but at least you can transfer the data without raising the red flags. It was a little hard to get used to at first but I'm so used to it now, I don't even think about the limitation.

NewKid, laptops aren't prohibited. I'm talking about the computers on the ships. Can't get online with personal laptops on board. Have to use the ship's computers. Those computers we cannot use USB on. (They know if we try, and they come confiscate our cameras/phones/ipods.)

Where did you come from?

hmm wookie06 seems to know a lot about the army

He better. I'd be truly worried if he didn't.

lol, yeah. I should say so.

here's a picture from the gun shoot. This of course is not me. But that's the gun I shot, and the guy standing there is one of the other Gunner's Mates.

Judging by your apparent happy mood I'm guessing that you are having a better time than the guy I know who's been on the Enterprise for years (Stares at a radar all day and handles point defense). Full of stories...

Short Summary:

Chicken basically every meal.
Who the **** put aviators in charge of a ship?
Escape proof prison sheets.
Eternally busted TV.
French are terrible pilots.
Etc.

I can almost hear the sound of tax dollars being flushed down the drain haha... oh well, better spent burning brass than lining some old mans pocket with gold on wall street I say.

i'm gonna join the army (again) this fall after my sister's wedding. first time wasn't that great (ft leonard wood sucked and i got a ****ing upper respiratory infection ended up going home cause i couldnt pass the run with that **** in my lungs, was reservist anyway was going as an 88m (truck driver) this time im going active duty infantry this time and i'm required to pass an afpt before they let me go to meps to sign up)

Good luck with that, Lost_One, and stay safe. Army infantry's no joke.

And KOP_AoE_Jedi, I know you probably realize this, but expending a few hundred rounds in training is well worth the cost. Better that then sending unfamiliar people up in combat, resulting in loss of life.

(to be fair it was probably more like 1500 rounds.. Still point still stands.)