Kirt asked me to repost this as a new topic, enjoy.....
When I was stationed
on the first ship I was on, (USS Dixie (AD-14), I was assigned as a compartment cleaner
(guy who cleans the divisions sleeping quarters, does the divisions laundry, etc..),
our Division Chief (a Master Chief Gunnersmate who just finished a tour pushing boots)
thought it was a good idea to have the cleaners also PRESS everyones working dungaree
uniform.
So off to the ships laundry I go and ask the Petty Officer who worked
there how to operate the presses. When he heard what I had to do, he about popped a
cork. He said "kid, go get all of the laundry, all of the spare sheets, and strip all
of the bunks" (he actually helped me strip the bunks, so I knew this was going to be
fun). He then helped me sort out the dirty laundry and pull out all of my clothes, and
he then pulled out 4 bed sheets and two pillow cases. He told me to put all of my stuff
and the 4 sheets and 2 cases in a pile by two old Maytag machines, and to load up the
whites in one and the blues in another.
He then proceeded to load the rest of
the laundry into the huge machines (if you never seen a NAVY washing machine, you ain't
never seen anything like it). The then pulled out scoops made of old Clorox gallon bottles
and proceeded to add the detergent and then he added several scoops of Starch to each
load.
When it was all dried, he helped me press all of the shirts, pants, and
sheets (sheet press). The stuff was like cardboard.
This guy even helped me take
all of the stuff back, remake the bunks and sort out the laundry.
Everyone was
really impressed until they realized that EVERYTHING was starched, bedding, working
uniforms and best of all all of their SKIVIES (underwear).
The next morning at
Muster & Quarters, I was told that because of my excellent performance as Compartment
Cleaner, that my services were no longer needed . The the real kicker was that we had
been on WESTPAC and moored at anchored in the lagoon of Diego Garcia B.I.O.T, where
it is very Hot and Humid. Now that was the life!
Actually the Real Life was when
I made E-5, too high up to do the crap jobs and too low to have any real responsibility.
