I have finished my first ever port visit as a member of the
USS Fitzgerald crew! Guam is not
the most glamorous place in the world but after seeing nothing but blue for a
month any land is more than appreciated!
Once we pulled in one of the fellow officers was transferring the next
day so we had what is called a “hail and farewell” party where you say good-bye
to those leaving and welcome those coming in. We went to an old beach bar right on the water that served Guam
style BBQ. It wasn’t fancy but it
was just the kind of place I enjoy.
The weekend was then spent trying to communicate with Brittany at every
moment possible, but due to limited Wi-Fi and lots of sailors trying to Skype
loved ones back home it was at times a painful process. We persevered and came out of it alive
though.
The workweek was spent just like you think it would be,
working. We are prepping for a
very high profile mission in the near future and all the preparations going
into it proved to be very time consuming.
But being in port meant getting a full night sleep every night,
something I haven’t had in consecutive nights in some time. It also let me exercise and eat the way
I would want; two things that are very difficult while floating in the middle
of the Pacific Ocean. There was
one specific qualification I had to finish up in Guam that was quite painful - literally.
I have been selected as a visit, board, search and seizure
(VBSS) officer and with that comes certain qualifications that you must receive
before they can send you to VBSS School.
One of these qualifications is being authorized to carry OC spray, or in
more civilian terms, military grade pepper spray. The qualification consists of being sprayed from ear to ear
and then running an obstacle course.
It was the worst. If felt
as if the devil himself had just peed into my eyeballs. I have since decided that if someone
ever charges me with a can of the stuff I will just have to shoot them in the
leg and deal with the consequences later.
That stuff is horrible. If
feels like your whole face is sunburned horribly and someone is rubbing it with
sandpaper, all the while your eyes feel like someone is holding a lighter to
them. Although the obstacle course
was tough, one of the weirdest phenomenons with the experience happened during
the decontamination process. When
you put the hose to your burning face, your lungs shut and you can’t
breathe. You quickly learn you
must choose between breathing and washing your face, most people chose to
breath as little as humanly possible.
After a couple of hours though it was all off my face and I was fine,
but never again do I want to feel that pain!
For leisure I tried to take in everything Guam has to offer,
which isn’t hard considering the size of the island. One day I ran to the beach, and then snorkeled up and down
the beach. It was great to get in
the water again and see all the wonderful life thriving in the coral
reefs. The time flew by as I swam
all around the bay.
For my last couple nights I got a room at the hotel on base
to sleep in a real bed for a couple nights before getting back underway. The plan seemed perfect. It was a cheap room conveniently
located right on base and within walking distance of the ship… or so I
thought. It turns out that the
hotel has a satellite location next to where all the big wigs live to cater to
their guests. On the bright side
it was the nicest standard room I have ever been in. On the down side I had no way of getting there. Eventually after poking and prodding I
was able to get the number of a fairly sketchy shuttle service that told me I
would be picked up outside the base bar by a black Toyota corolla. I had to get to the room so I took my
chances. All worked out and for
20$ I got where I needed to be.
But once I got there I ran into another problem, what am I going to
eat! I was 4 miles away from the
nearest establishment and I had no idea what to do. Being the son of a firefighter, however, I remembered all
the times when local firefighters have helped out my dad when we were in
unfamiliar territory so I walked over to the local station and they gave me the
number to the closest pizza hut.
Food problem solved. All
was great until I needed to find a way back to the ship. I was too far to walk, and no taxis
would pick me up. I was about to
start the long arduous trek back when I thought to myself, how did the maids
get here? After conversing with
the maid she informed me that there was a van that took them to and from the
two hotels and that one should be here in about 30 minutes. She called the driver and asked if I
could tag along and he agreed.
Disaster averted.
Guam is full of happy, friendly people similar to
Hawaii. Although it is covered by
duty free stores, shooting ranges, and other less than classy establishments,
the quality of people makes up for what it is lacking. Overall, it’s not a bad port visit if I
do say so myself!
