The USS CURTIS WILBUR (DDG-54)

On the same day I arrived in Japan, I saw my ship for the first time. I was taught in supply school that first impressions are extremely important. Your uniform needs to be pristine before you report to the ship. Well, so much for that advice. I showed up in the same civilian clothes I had been wearing on the plane. The problem boiled down to a lack of turn over time. We needed to start transferring authority and duties right away since we only had two days before I was scheduled to take over. Jet lag is no excuse in the Navy.

The USS CURTIS WILBUR is one of the oldest destroyers in the US Navy but that fact doesn't deter the crew or missions the ship is assigned. Equipment may break a little more often and systems go down from time to time, more on that later, but we have a job to do. A month before I reported the ship was the first to arrive on site where the South Korean warship had been sunk. It remained sitting on top of the wreck for weeks keeping a watch on North Korea.

I got a quick introduction to some of the Officers and crew, most of them were off ship since it had just completed a long sea tour. I had a tour of the ship and saw the Disbursing Office were I would be spending the majority of my time on board ship. I consider myself extremely lucky to have my own office, space is at a premium on warships. There are only four people who have their own offices on a ship; the CO, XO, CMC and Disbursing Officer. I also have two computers when the majority of people are lucky to get access to a computer for a few hours a day.

The only sour note of my first day on board ship was learning that I would be sleeping in the berths since all the staterooms were occupied. This is not really a big deal since I will spend most of my time in my office anyways and will probably move high enough in seniority to earn a stateroom in a few months. I still have access to the wardroom and officer country whenever I want. Needless to say it was an exhausting day, and I really needed a good nights sleep by the time I got back to the Bachelor's Officer Quarters.