Foc'sle Follies

It's just about midnight. I'm not really up because I want to be. I'm running on about 4 hours of broken sleep and I've been up for about 16 hours (which isn't too long, I know). In fact any of the SWO guys on the boat would laugh at my wanking about not enough sleep. 4-5 hours is about average for most "shoes." Anyway, it's been a long day and I'm trying to stay up late enough to sleep in a bit tomorrow, because I've got the late watch. So here I am, typing again.
This evening the airwing held it's first "Foc'sle Follies" for this cruise. Similar to the "Bubble", I think this will take a little background explanation.

On a ship, the Foc'sle is the forward-most part of the deck where the anchors and bow mooring lines are tended. Obviously, on a carrier, the forward-most part of the deck is dedicated to sending jets airborne. So, you have to go down a couple decks below the flight deck to find the foc'sle. Once you wind through a maze of passage ways and ladders, you will find yourself in a large open space, with oval openings to the water below on both sides--where mooring lines are passed down to the pier. The space is shaped like the bow of the ship, narrowing as you go forward. The dominant features in the foc'sle are two gigantic chains, emerging from the deck in the aft part of the room, spooled around equally large captsains and held taught as they fill the center of the space from the aft bulkhead halfway up to the forward bulkhead, where they disappear down the hawse pipe holes in the deck, holding the anchors just outside the skin of the ship. Each chain link probably weighs around 500 pounds. The foc'sle has a lot of open room to either side of the anchor chains, between them, and forward of the hawse pipes. This is the Deck Department's show room. They keep the area beautifully painted and pristine. Each anchor chain link is painted gloss black. The aft bulkhead has a nice mural of an old sailing ship next to a bow-on view of a carrier at full speed.

The open space, the link to naval tradition with the anchors so close, and the ornate decoration make the foc'sle a popular place for large gatherings of people. On my last ship, church services were held in the foc'sle. Here we meet down in a training classroom on the 3rd deck. The squadron holds quarters and presents awards in the foc'sle. Many Sailors take their re-enlistment oath there. It is also home to a periodic gathering of all the pilots in the airwing and the officers in the ships company who directly work with the airwing: Foc'sle Follies.

The primary purpose of Follies is to recognize the best of the best among the tailhook weilding jet and prop pilots in the airwing. The secondary (and more entertaining) purpose is to take a step back and poke fun at one another and the ship for the no-so-bright moments of the line period. A line period is a defined period of time during which the Landing Signal Officers from each fixed wing squadron grade each and every landing of every pilot. The grades are added, averaged, and ranked over the line period. Awards are given to the top Nuggets (pilots on their first cruise), the top Hooks, and the top squadron. For the self-congratulatory part of Follies, we helo bubbas kindly watch and clap as somewhat distant observers. The only time their boarding rate affects us is when we're waiting for the last guy to trap at the end of a long flight on a dark night and he bolters again and again, keeping us and him out there as his fuel state gets lower and stress level gets higher. Those guys are typically recognized via the "secondary" purpose of Follies.

As things get started, each squadron is called out by CAG Paddles, and they each respond with a "Roll Call", usually a short chant, song, or skit to announce their presence by making fun of everyone else in the airwing. Even CAG and the ship's Captain aren't immune from the precision strikes. It's all in good fun and everyone takes it pretty well. During the course of the night, at least two squadrons also present more formally scripted skits, again usually at the expense those foolish enough to make recent public spectacles. It's not uncommon for squadrons to point back at themselves at times, when appropriate. There are three squadrons in the airwing somewhat affectionately referred to as the "fat kids". Helos, Hummers, and Hoovers. Our aircraft aren't that fast, we don't typically drop bombs, and our missions tend to be in support of the pointy-nose guys. While we aren't as often the butt of the jokes (fighter guys are most harsh on themselves) the standard redheaded stepchild jokes are always in ample supply. To their credit, the Hummer guys have won top hook squadron for the last two line periods! So there!

Our roll call was given by one of our nuggets. This was his first Follies! Talk about trial by fire. He wrote the poem himself, with a bit of guidance from many directions. In the last few minutes before he went forward to present our roll call, he decided to rap it, rather than just read it! It turned out OK. We definitely have room to grow. Another feature of Follies is that each squadron typically has a unique outfit that they wear. The E-2 squadron was sporting argyle vests, knee-high blue and yellow argyle socks, and a few had driving caps to match. The most popular "uniforms" are bowling shirts or polo shirts, or t-shirts with squadron logo. HS-8 was wearing flight suits tonight, much to our disappointment. A couple months ago, we ordered bright green velour "warm-up" suits that will be embroidered appropriately. They have not yet arrived. Probably sitting down in the hangar bay. There's always the next line period.