TAD Appreciation Night

As I'm sure you've figured out, an aircraft carrier is essentially a floating city, teeming with over 5500 men and women who work and live aboard her. We've been at sea for 92 days, excluding the 5 days we spent in port. Imagine the day to day things that have to be done to support 5500 people, living in the equivalent area of a half a city block. There are simple things like cooking food and washing dishes. Lots of dishes. Laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. The heads must be cleaned a couple times every day. The passageways must be swept twice daily, and stripped and rewaxed regularly (seems like weekly, but it's not quite that bad. more on this issue later). So many mundane tasks to bed done, all while performing the actual mission we came here to support, sending aircraft into the air and landing them again when they return. That is a huge job requiring thousands of people in itself. How do the mundane things get done? A major source of "hard labor" on the ship are the most junior sailors, the Seamen and Airmen, who have been in the navy for only a couple years or less. The undesignated sailors, who have not yet made the rank of Petty Officer (E-4), are obligated to serve 90 days in a job away from their squadron. This is called Temporary Assigned Duty, or TAD. They are assigned to work in ship's laundry, or to work in a scullery (where the dishes are washed), or to bus tables in the wardroom, or assist with cooking on the messdecks, or perhaps they might be assigned to work in the Flag Mess, where the Admiral and his staff dine on fine silver and sit in fancy wooden chairs, surrounded by original oil paintings of wooden ships and WWII torpedo bombers. For most, spending time on TAD on the carrier is tough work. Long hours, separated from the people they know in the squadron, often with very little recognition for their efforts. It's a rite of passage and a part of life for young sailors. They all go through it, and it fills a critical manpower need onboard the ship. But their job often doesn't feel "critical" to them as they are scrubbing toilets or dishes or decks.

Today, we held a TAD appreciation night in the ready room. We recalled our TAD folks away from their temporary jobs for an evening of fun. The CMC played a movie ("The In-Laws") on the big screen, and hot pizza and hard(ish) ice cream was served for all to enjoy. The CO talked with them for a while and they were able to ask questions and get the latest updates on the rumors that circulate throughout the messdecks. Ships and sailor are notorious for rumour germination. If you've ever watched the Veggie Tales episode "The Rumor Weed", you can multiply that weed by about 1000. Rumors abound on the ship's schedule and tasking (which is not always as clear as you might think at the deck plate level or even at much higher levels!). Come up with a topic, and a rumour is sure to be circulating on both sides of the issue. Fortunately, rumors about people are not nearly as prevalent (but they still happen). Anyway, tonight was a fun night for our TAD folks to reconnect with the squadron, enjoy some time off and to hear an "atta boy" for their unsung efforts to keep the ship sailing efficiently.

We sometimes have mommy appreciation days (and weekends) at the Stringer household when I'm home. On those days, mommy disappears and daddy learns (relearns) how much he appreciates his incredible wife!!