[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 17 Everyone was supposed to be back on Munro by 8am the day we left and they were. “Thank you all very much for being here on time,” the XO said at quarters on the flight deck at 8:30am, and smiled, he and the Captain both portraits of happy…
[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 19 They’re on every bulkhead in every compartment of this ship, they’re on doorways and light fixtures and valves. When we have a fire drill the affected space is identified by tac number and BM3 Tim Stamm finds it and marks it on the white lucite map of the…
[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 16 [a long time ago in a Central American port far, far away continued…] The Captain has signed the new liberty policy but has decided not to implement it, although it is understood that the crew’s behavior here will determine whether it goes into effect at the next port.…
[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 15 A long time ago, in a Central American port far, far away…not really, but can’t be more specific about our location or when we were there due to operational security. It was our first port call after 28 days at sea, not counting the BSF. In stately progress,…
[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 14 It kind of bothered me that here we are on the high seas and we can board vessels not in our own territorial waters. What if somebody could do that to us? So I did what I always do, I asked. Turns out we got the law on…
[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 12 I have mentioned before <a href="the Welin-Lambie Davit. It’s a combined cradle and launch mechanism for the starboard side small boat, one of our two RHIs or rigid hull inflatables, aka OTHs or Over The Horizon Cutter-Boats. When it comes time to launch, Boat Deck Captain BM1 Heath…
[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 11 EOIT (Engineer Officer in Training) LTJG Josh Depietro says fueling the Munro is like playing chess, or maybe like driving with someone else’s hands over your eyes. We have 22 storage tanks holding 200,000 gallons, with three service tanks. We have other tanks, too, like a 3000-gallon overflow…
Read more Sinkers and Sounders and Free Surface Effect, oh my
[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 10 It’s no secret why we’re out here. We’re interdicting illegal drugs (cocaine, marijuana, recently there has been a big increase in heroin) before they hit American streets. Our HITRON program has been especially effective. Just before we arrived on station our sister cutter, the Sherman, intercepted a shipment…
[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 9 A couple of nights ago we were doing flight ops. Everyone was manned up and ready to go, and we brought the ship to launch course (wind on the port bow, though there wasn’t much except what we were making ourselves). Except we couldn’t, because for some reason…
[from the stabenow.com vaults, 2007] April 8 It’s Easter, it’s Sunday, stand down and take a breath, Munro. We were up late last night. Sunrise service got switched to sunset service, no pipes that weren’t absolutely necessary this morning, and a lot of us slept in. When I finally woke up, I slathered myself all…