Parvati

28 October 2010 Female Supply Corps Officers Selected for Submarine Service The Supply Corps has selected 8 female officers for duty aboard submarines. These warfare qualified Supply Corps officers were selected from a group of talented individuals based on their demonstrated superior performance and leadership. The 8 Supply Officers will attend the Submarine Officer Basic Course beginning in September and will be assigned to submarines upon graduation. The selectees are as follows: LT Britta Christianson LT Kelly Chufo LT Heidi Davis LT Rebecca Dremann LT Melissa Gonzales LT Sohnhwa Lee LT Krysten Pelstring LT Helen Ringer Please join me in congratulating these outstanding Supply Officers on their selection as they continue the Supply Corps ... read more

The Wait It is a rare opportunity for any military member to visit Vietnam. For weeks and weeks, the ship was waiting on word for our Voyage Repair location. Voyage Repairs are just opportunities for the ship to get a little more maintenance work done, anywhere from equipment testing to painting. Sitting in Singapore for a long time, we knew there was a big push to get us into Vietnam, but the logistics became almost as difficult as the diplomatic clearance. If you aren't a Sailor or even if you are, you may not know that when government vessels go into a country, they have to get cleared through the respective country's government to just be there. With a warship especially this is huge, but even the supply ships and oilers have to get permission ... read more

My two girl besties on the ship and I are about to part in our professional relationship. Brittany is a 3rd Mate and Sarah is a 1st Mate, Merchant Mariners who have kept me in touch with my feminine side while forward deployed. We're the only gals our age in an already miniscule ratio of women to men on this ship. Brittany leaves in a few weeks and I depart at the beginning of March. Sarah is pretty pissed about us leaving her, but she can definitely hold her own without us, so we're not worried... just a bit sad. Our fun times range from a mani/pedi to a much needed beer, dixie cups of wine to a 5 course meal. These gals aren't high maintenance but still like to be girly sometimes, I can ... read more

Feliz Navidad shake shake shake shake shake shake, think Julio Iglesias here. I think I was looking forward to Cozumel the most, just because it's finally time for me to see Mexico, besides a nasty border town. It's Christmas, I speak Spanish, and the tours sound kind of lame, so why don't we just go explore on our own. We'll be okay... Walking off the ship and through the shops at the pier, there are swindlers everywhere and I'm not in the mood. One guy catches us on our way out to the street. You want a scooter to explore the island. I stop. Hmmm... what comes to mind? Subic Bay and the jet skis that miracuously break down when you're out in the water and they try to make you pay for it because "you ... read more

A day of diving planned... the only one on the cruise due to the holidays and short port periods. P.S. Never dive with a cruise ship. That's a note to self and to others who are experienced divers. On many different levels, it wasn't the way I like to dive. This may be boring to the non-divers who read this, just a warning. Cruise ships cater to laziness, lets be honest here for a moment. Going from point A to point B is taken care of through money. It's a requirement for many people's vacationing... not all, but many. Certainly not my requirement, I am satisfied to have a fruity drink and a spa. Now, is diving a lazy sport? Not in my book, though the ability is there to some extent. It's what I ... read more

As is the story with most islands, I've been wanting to go to Jamaica for quite some time now. I've listened to the music of Bob Marley and heard of the laid back lifestyle of Rastafarians and Jamaicans in general. Montego Bay and Kingston top my list in terms of towns to go to, so I was pleasantly surprised to have Ocho Rios as a port of call on the cruise. I'd heard to be wary of people selling drugs at the pier, but that was the extent of the negativity I'd heard of. Ocho Rios means "Eight Rivers" and is on the Northern coast. It is definitely full of tourists and caters to the cruise lines, tourism is one of Jamaica's major income. One of the famous Sandals resort is there, along with many ... read more

Flying from Singapore to Hong Kong to San Francisco to Boston and then an hour drive to Kittery, Maine. Why in the world would I then fly to Miami? Well, first off, it's colder than &$*($(& here. Oh, I could go on and on about the blessing that I wasn't with Jeremy when he moved to Maine. Holy crap it's cold here. At any rate, I flew out to meet Jeremy and explore his cute little town of Kittery, Maine. Yes, it does have some redeeming qualities but it is insanely cold and I've been used to tropical weather for the past year. Talk about body shock... I had to dress up like a snowman every minute, I even wore my coat indoors at times. It was certainly a long transit to get there too. ... read more