General Navy Questions

[snuggle48]

I used the search functions but could not find what I looking for.

1. I was wondering about the amount of personal storage space that I will receive on a Frigate.
2.  Also what do Navy folks do while on their free time. I am assuming that people read, play video games, and socialize on there free time but would like to get a better idea of things to do.
3. When deployed I won't get weekends off and I heard that it goes to vacation time. I was wondering if an extra day of vacation is added every week spent at sea.

Thanks for the Help.

 

[Edward Campbell]

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I'm sorry, Mods, I couldn't help myself ...

 

[yoman]

1. I was wondering about the amount of personal storage space that I will receive on a Frigate.
2.  Also what do Navy folks do while on their free time. I am assuming that people read, play video games, and socialize on there free time but would like to get a better idea of things to do.
3. When deployed I won't get weekends off and I heard that it goes to vacation time. I was wondering if an extra day of vacation is added every week spent at sea.

1. You'll have a reduced width sized locker and if your lucky a little more storage somewhere else. Some people manage to bring bikes and such on-board but don't take that as a given.

2. Army.ca.......  ;D

Err, you can also work out and do some professional development stuff. Movies are good too. I personally never really got bored. They keep you fairly busy.

3. Kind of. I'll let someone else answer that one.

 

[snuggle48]

Thanks but what do you mean by reduced locker size?

 

[jollyjacktar]

Thanks but what do you mean by reduced locker size?

It's like a locker, only smaller.  ;D  Space is always a premium on any ship.  You'll be amazed tho on how much crap you will manage to accumulate over time.  Always went on board first time with 1 kit bag.  When I was posted off there were 3 or so it seemed.  Each class of ship has different size lockers.  You'll just have to wait to see where you will end up.

 

[snuggle48]

Thanks

 

[yoman]

Thanks but what do you mean by reduced locker size?

Reduced as in reduced size from what your would normally see in most high schools.

 

[snuggle48]

Thanks that's a much clearer picture than before.

 

[Occam]

Reduced as in reduced size from what your would normally see in most high schools.

Say what?

Any locker I ever had in high school was less than 12" wide, and 4' high.  The lockers on a CPF are a good 2 1/2 - 3' wide, and 6' high.

 

[NavalMoose]

At sea you can read, watch movies, work out, play video games. Depending on your trade, you will probably either be on watch or in bed, or eating etc. The 1 in 2 watch system kind of dictates your life at sea. I was engineering so I didn't do that crap, 1 in 4 or daywork is what I did.

You don't really get "vacation" days added while you are at sea but you can receive Post Deployment Leave for longer trips and the odd "48s" for shorter trips. You also get time off in foreign ports if possible.

 

[yoman]

Say what?

Any locker I ever had in high school was less than 12" wide, and 4' high.  The lockers on a CPF are a good 2 1/2 - 3' wide, and 6' high.

Your high school sucked! Mine was huge and the other HS's that I've visited were big too.

So your mileage may vary on this comparison...

 

[QAD]

3. When deployed I won't get weekends off and I heard that it goes to vacation time. I was wondering if an extra day of vacation is added every week spent at sea.

The military don't owe you any weekend. You are paid to be available 7 days a week if needed. Just understand that your "lost" weekends don't get added to your annual leave days. Sometimes, you'll get some pre-deployment days off (if they don't need you), some other times you'll get post-deployment days off (if they don't need you). Sometimes you'll get f**k all because of; no time between sails, they need something to be fixed, you just got attach posted to another departing ship, training schedule, something happened somewhere...

How the department/unit handle "bonus" leave days vary from unit to unit. It mostly comes down to the infamous "if they need you..."

 

[MSEng314]

It's like a locker, only smaller.  ;D  Space is always a premium on any ship.  You'll be amazed tho on how much crap you will manage to accumulate over time.  Always went on board first time with 1 kit bag.  When I was posted off there were 3 or so it seemed.  Each class of ship has different size lockers.  You'll just have to wait to see where you will end up.

I concur with this, the lockers are bigger than they seem. When I was with the ship and we made a port visit in the US, I was able to cram in an extra shopping cart worth of stuff on top of the kit I brought with me no problem. You just have to get creative with how you use the space  ;D

 

[Pusser]

I remember one trip where one of the Air Det bought a ride-on mower to bring home.  He found a place for it, but the Captain was less than impressed!

 

[NavalMoose]

"I remember one trip where one of the Air Det bought a ride-on mower to bring home.  He found a place for it, but the Captain was less than impressed!"
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Typical of the air types onboard, they think the ship is just a vehicle to take them to exotic shopping spots.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

I remember one trip where one of the Air Det bought a ride-on mower to bring home.  He found a place for it, but the Captain was less than impressed!

I think its because he knew how the beartrap works, so he did not buy the BS that it was a brand new "aircraft handling tractor".

 

[jollyjacktar]

I remember a trip to Boston.  The Home Depot had a fantastic sale on generators.  They were going for a ridiculous price, guys were snapping them up.  Thankfully we were on the Tanker and there is always room to put stuff in.

 

[Pusser]

I always found a spot for my bicycle - didn't hurt that I was the Supply Officer ;D

And before anyone goes off on an "abuse of authority" tangent, I can honestly say that no one had their bicycle bumped off because I brought mine.  In fact, to the best of my knowledge, anyone who wanted to bring a bicycle could do so.

 

[Springroll]

1. I was wondering about the amount of personal storage space that I will receive on a Frigate.

You will have a locker that is approx the size of two tall high school lockers, a smallish drawer at the bottom of the bunks, and an area on your bunk to store stuff. There are drawers and shelving inside of the locker to allow for better organization, but once you get onboard and sail a little bit, you will find a better way to organize your stuff in it. For example, I zap strapped a fabric shoe organizer (holds 6 pairs) onto one of the doors, and that's where I keep my socks and such. Its easier to reach in for them there, then to fiddle with the drawers and risk disturbing your mess mates.

2.  Also what do Navy folks do while on their free time. I am assuming that people read, play video games, and socialize on there free time but would like to get a better idea of things to do.

Like what was said earlier, it depends on if you are sailing 1 in 2 or 1 in 4. I prefer to spend my down time by myself in my rack reading, watching movies on my iTouch or sleeping. You also have the opportunity (for the most part) to work out, and on my ship, we had organized fitness classes as well. Time to yourself is very rare but I am sure you will find something to do in your off watch.

3. When deployed I won't get weekends off and I heard that it goes to vacation time. I was wondering if an extra day of vacation is added every week spent at sea.

All of that depends on your command and your bosses. I have done some trips where we were given 2 days PDL (post deployment leave) when we got back, and done others where we got nothing. Just be happy that you have a secure job, are making good money and when you are home you will usually have your weekends off (unless you are duty).

Hope I was able to help answer your questions even just a little bit.

 

[Pusser]

It's also good to note that when visiting foreign ports, unless you are on duty, you are pretty much left to your own devices and so have opportunity to take in the local sites and culture.  This may not be true if the visit is short (e.g. just a fueling stop) or there are certain force protection issues.  Longer port visits may include a day or two of departmental work.