Deployment, Day 166 – Safety Training

Only about two weeks from home, and it still seems like it never ends. Every time I turn around, it seems like there is more work to do. It seems like whenever I complete one project, there are two new ones in my inbox.

There is a requirement in the Navy that all automobile drivers, age 26 and below, must receive initial driver safety training. According to the instruction, this training needs to be FOUR hours long. However, there is an online course that can be completed in lieu of this training. Obviously this is the preferred option for most people.

As the ship’s Safety Officer and the Motor Vehicle Safety manager, I felt it was my obligation to inform the crew of this requirement. However, it is not my responsibility to make sure it actually gets done. All division officers are responsible to make sure that all required training is complete for all personnel in their charge.

Of course, the responses to this e-mail were immediate. Many people were complaining about bad internet connectivity preventing them from completing the training. This is a valid argument; however, this automatically made it my responsibility to make sure that there was some means available to complete the training. The answer: I needed to perform the training myself, for all hands.

So not only am I preparing for the deployment’s last safety stand down, a one-hour training presentation for the PHIBRON 3 staff*, a safety article for the ship’s newsletter, a Safety Committee meeting, a Safety Council meeting, and two ship self-assessments (as discussed in a previous blog entry), but I have this thrown on top of my pile as well, all of which need to be complete within the next five days.

I have already hammered my way through a lot of it, including the driving safety training, but there’s no rest to be had for our trip home. Another reason why I can’t wait for this deployment to be over.


* Amphibious Squadron THREE (PHIBRON 3) is the overall command authority for the three-ship task group consisting of USS PELELIU, USS GERMANTOWN, and USS OGDEN.