I had just gotten the sign-off on my qualification as Magazine Captain. I was recording the magazine temperatures for the Daily Magazine Temperature Report when GM2 says that Ordo has ordered a magazine inventory to start at 2300.
Now I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but a magazine inventory for the five inch main magazine at 2300?
So I dial up main engineering and ask for a fire party (a firefighting team).
I am told, cannot comply.
Why? It’s 2100 and we need more notice than that, plus it’s Sea State 4, expected to hit 6.
Ok. No inventory no matter who says what, OPNAV4 overrides.
In order to inventory 5 inch projectiles, the bins are emptied, lot numbers are recorded and the numbers of each lot are tallied.
It looks something like this:
HECVT Lot: ABC1234QRS and 6 hash marks for 30 rounds.
Each one of these bastards is 80 pounds.
You have a line of them on the deck rolling with the ship in 6 footers that are going to increase to 20 footers.
Definitely not a safe evolution.
I bring up the issues with the fire party and worsening sea state to GM2. GM2 says he doesn’t care, Ordo said.
Ok. I’m trying to think about how to avoid a serious mishap so I come up with an idea.
I call up to CSMC and request to speak to the STO. Our Sytems Test Officer volunteered for the Navy in 1967 to beat the draft, he ended up on a battleship and then running riverine ops in ‘Nam, where he joined the Navy to avoid. This event was in 2004, so the STO is a little salty.
I respectfully request that he have engineering supply a fire party so that ordered inventory can begin promptly at 2300.
To put it mildly, Warrant flipped out. He asked what mental deficient came up with that idea.
I told him it was an order from the Ordnance Officer.
We did not commence an inventory at 2300, and the Lt was no longer Ordo.
Moral of the story: Don’t piss off Warrant.
Or violate OPNAV4.