A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN AMERICAN NAVY SUBMARINER
Gary Johnson is a fictitious 20 year-old United States Navy sailor aboard the attack submarine USS PROVIDENCE. He is, we will imagine, a second class Electronics Technician. As such he works in the Navigation Electronics Division of the Navigation/Operations Department. In the Submarine Force, electronics technicians specialize in a particular field of advanced electronics such as navigation equipment.
Gary's typical day includes two six-hour watch periods, equipment maintenance time, training on qualifications and equipment (and some time to get some sleep). Today, Gary has the 0600 to 1200 (6 a.m. to noon watch). Awakened at 0430 by a messenger, he has time to shower, shave, dress, and enjoy a healthy breakfast. In keeping with tradition, he reports to his watchstation in the Control Room, where the Officer of the Deck also stands his watch. He arrives half and hour before the watch begins, in order to be briefed on the activities of the previous watch; a custom most appreciated by the departing technician. During this six-hour watch, Petty Officer Johnson monitors and maintains the ship's highly complex navigation equipment, and assists the Officer of the Deck in determining the ship's geographic position.
After his relief has taken the watch, Gary cleans up for lunch. Lunch is followed by a "School of the Boat" lecture on the ship's hydraulic system, given by the Auxiliary Division Chief Petty Officer. Since he is already qualified on PROVIDENCE, Gary passes up the lecture in order to spend some time preparing for his first class electronics technician examination. At 1500 (3 p.m.), he has an appointment to examine a newly reported seaman on his knowledge of the ship's periscopes and navigation equipment for the seaman's submarine qualification. Gary's immediate supervisor, a Chief Electronics Technician, has also tasked him to perform some equipment maintenance checks, make some changes to several publications, and to prepare an order for some new training materials. These assignments take up the rest of the afternoon.
The ship's daily drill interrupts this task for about thirty minutes. Drills are conducted to test the crew's reaction to casualty and combat situations of various sorts: fire, loss of power, depth charges, etc. Every drill is an "all hands" effort; even those catching up on some lost sleep are summoned by the ship's alarms. Fire hosed are unrolled, medical bags opened, gas masks worn, equipment is operated. In short - nothing that can possibly enhance the realism of the drill is neglected.
Gary has already seen the after-dinner movie, so he reads some more of a Western novel from the ship's library, then catches a few hours sleep before his next watch - the midwatch, from midnight to six in the morning.
The schedule of our mythical sailor is not at all exceptional. It is typical of what a submariner does during a usual workday at sea. It is perhaps a fair answer to the oft-posed question: "What do you do with your time at sea?"
