By Bill Grace
Special to The Herald
I have glommed on to an unusual teaching job and a fascinating experience.
I’m spending eight weeks living and teaching aboard the USS Decatur, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. It’s part of the USS John C. Stennis battle group.
On board many of the ships in this group will be several Program Afloat College Education instructors. Some of the classes offered include math, history, English and art history. I will be teaching U.S. government.
PACE allows sailors the opportunity to earn college credit while at sea. Theoretically they have some spare time when they are not on regular duty. Reality is always different; they will have drills, watch duty, other responsibilities and some sleep. There is no telling what awaits them when they reach the Persian Gulf region.
Before departing from San Diego, Calif., it was clear that this is a military base on a heightened state of alert, much like its Everett counterpart. Heavily armed and distantly professional sailors guard access to and from the base.
Yellow jersey barricades snake traffic to their sentry post. Outside of the base there are road signs announcing the prohibition of parking within bomb-blast distance of the barracks. Inside the base entire parking lots are roped off.
The base that I was at, Point Loma, is a training facility for anti-submarine warfare. I stayed at one of several Bachelor Officer Quarters.
One evening there was kind of an early Christmas party for the deporting Marines and their wives and girlfriends. It was like prom night. The young Marines were trim and sharp in their dress uniforms with white caps and swords. Their wives and dates dressed so beautifully in their flowing ballroom gowns.
I was able to meet just a couple of them in the hallway. To a man, they were excited about the role that they have taken on.
"We tell everybody that we joined the Marines for our country," one told me. "But we really do this for our wives and our families. I want them to be safe, and as a Marine I can do that."
The morning sounds on departure day are those of harbor seals and seagulls.
The handbook that I was given at my orientation states that whistling is taboo onboard a ship.
There is a concern that it could be mistaken for the boatswain’s call or some blow-off valve alarm. That obviously isn’t the custom on land. Many of the sailors and Marines whistled as they walked across the grounds.
It has been a good 10 years since I have heard even a snatch of the Young Rascals, "It’s A Beautiful Morning." I happened to pass a sailor as I was walking across the parking lot. "Any day that I can whistle is a beautiful morning," he told me.
Long may he whistle.
Bill Grace of Everett will send periodic dispatches from aboard the USS Decatur during its deployment. He’s on board as a U.S. government teacher in the Program Afloat College Education. He can be reached at grace@decatur.navy.mil.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
