Formation--Pt 11 (conclusion)

Seated at a table for 6 in the Fleet Command Senior Officer's Dining Room, Marie was having lunch with Fischer, the CNO, Commander Oldcastle, as well as another guest from MOD, Vice Admiral Lewis Bradford, who was Sanderson's Deputy Chief for Logistics & Preparation, who would now be having a larger role as the ship was ready to begin shakedown exercises.

"O'Brien, it goes without saying that we are extremely pleased where the project is at the moment, and that's a credit to you and the others. You're about 6 weeks ahead of where we thought things might be when we were at Edgewood."

Marie smiled slightly and gave a respectful nod. "Thank you, sir. Some days it seems like that was only a few weeks ago. Of course, I couldn't have done it without the support of Admiral Fischer and all of the people who've contributed."

Oldcastle spoke up next. "We're not just here to give you a fancy lunch and say nice things about you." He slid an envelope across to her that she knew what its contents were. "Effective today, you've got another stripe, retroactive to the first of the year. And I've not seen final paperwork cross my desk, but Lt Lerner will have his half in short order."

"I don't recall submitting a recommendation for Mr Lerner, sir."

Fischer chimed in. "I took care of that for you, as your direct superior. You took care of Purvis & Davidson, I thought it was time yourself and Lerner shared in the rewards."

"Thank you very much, sir. I humbled, and I'm sure Mr Lerner will be equally as grateful."

It was time for Bradford to make his initial input into the program's schedule. "Commander, I understand that you're in Level 3 of the M&T (manpower and training) sequence. I'm thinking of shooting for 3 weeks for first trial, does that seem like enough time to get to an adequate stage in Level 4?"

Over the period of the winter and now into the early spring, the ship had received about 35% of its compliment of crew; the increase meant an actual structure of command had come into being for Princess Brigetta--junior officers, senior NCO's, junior NCO's, rates--which meant Marie & Keith's daily duties were less hands-on and more about managing and delegating. Davidson had taken more of role in coordinating the training aspect while Purvis handled the office, now with the assistance of a few rates that he supervised as a PO3.

"Yes sir, that is a realistic target." She was doing some quick number crunching in her head--that would mean bringing on about 80-90 more crew--and three weeks would be enough of a cushion to get far enough along to comfortably take the ship away from port, operate at sea and bring it back, even if some of the newest crew were still orienting.
"We can make that."

"Do you ever say no, O'Brien?" Sanderson laughed after saying this. "Even Oldcastle tells me things can't be done in a particular timeframe occasionally." The others were laughing as well.

"Well sir, I never say no when someone asks if I mind if they pick up the check...", which elicited another round of laughter, and she only smiled long enough to continue, "and I have little doubt that the Commander's job involves his default setting answer to most questions being 'no' unless it's a something so simple a Sub could handle the task...", with another burst of indecorous laughter that was probably more common among an all-male gathering of flag & senior officers. "But the farther along we get, I'm more than my usually inflated confident self that we're getting the puzzle filled in and it'll work out."

Fischer spoke up again, and she was a bit surprised at the casualness and the subject matter.
"Marie, no one knows better than I do how much time and effort you've put into getting everything right and doing it faster than any of us expected. I really want you to have a leave before trials get started because I don't want you burnt out a couple of months down the road from 8 or 9 straight months of 10 hour days. And that goes for your guys as well. You have enough people to be able to give the men a 10 day leave." She raised a finger, but took an unusually long pause before continuing.

"Uh, sir I appreciate your concern, but that would mean I then only have 10 or 12 more days to make sure everything was ready, and I'm sure that Admiral Bradford, who I've just assured that we can make his projected date, would not want prep cut that clo..."

The CNO's Chief of Staff cut her off.
"O'Brien, this isn't a hypothetical discussion. We're giving you a 10 day leave. We do have a few other officers in the NSC--I'm sure it will come as a shock to you--who are capable of overseeing M&T for a pre-commissioned vessel. I'll even go so far as to give you your choice of a senior officer to be a caretaker, as Admiral Fisher of course will continue to the final authority. Am I mistaken, or is there an ancient legend about a mid who once offered a Senior Chief the opinion that 'everybody has to learn to ***k up at some point'? Have you heard that one before, Commander?" Oldcastle never gave away the con.

She desperately wanted to try and rise to the challenge; she tried to quickly pinpoint who might have repeated that story in her head, but in the end she chose an honorable surrender.
"I do believe my grandfather told me that story when I was girl, sir. Less than a year later, he went down with his ship and all hands were lost, isn't that how it ends?"

Sanderson gave a snorting laugh at the reply and then cut off the discussion. "Excellent, it's all settled. The A-145 staff will have a 10 day shore leave, and when they return, we'll be almost ready to shove off. I propose a toast to Commander O'Brien upon her promotion." They weren't drinking on this afternoon, so it was just soft drinks to celebrate a new full Commander.

__________________________________________________________________________

Following the conclusion of lunch, Marie decided to take a walk to the Base Services Building, which was a complex of various facilities; earlier we learned that the Officer's Club was located here--as were the Senior NCO, Junior NCO and Enlisted Rates Clubs--which had a separate cafeteria that Marie had frequented on occasion. The Ship's Exchange (SX) was here, as were other amenities for those who lived on base--the cinema, library, post office, bank, barbers and beauticians, etc--as well as off.

She made her way to what was strangely her favorite part of the SX, the Uniform Services desk where she was, in return, quite popular herself.

"Petty Officer Eccles! Wherefore art thou? Why doth thou forsake me?" There were several side desks and small kiosks that were part of the semicircular US main desk, and Eccles jumped out from behind one of the cubicle dividers on recognizing her voice. "Commander O'Brien, how are you? What do we owe the pleasure?"

She took a stern tone and demeanor. "What say you, Eccles? You don't call, don't write home...I'm developing a bit of a complex that you are trying to avoid me?"
She winked and gave a half smile, and he invited her to have a seat at his desk.
"It has been awhile ma'am, how are you? Mr Lerner? Purvis & Davidson? I'm guilty when it comes to not staying in touch."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Eccles, I thought we'd been through this...you can still be part of the Princess Brigetta family even if you don't check in occasionally." She laughed and shifted in the chair. "Everyone is fine, I'll tell them you send your best. We all have our jobs to do, right? And of course, what we've talked about in the past..."

Marie had offered Eccles his choice of duty preference if he wanted to transfer aboard the ship; she appreciated his attention to detail, as well as his willingness to assist her or anyone she asked a favor for. He was a near contemporary of Davidson--just five months senior--having already decided not to re-up for another five year stint.
"Yes ma'am. 82 days until I get my ten years, and I have 3 solid prospects for places to start within 30-60 days after I get out." He beamed with pride and Marie gave an approving reaction to that revelation.
"Excellent news. You'll have to let us know close to your end date when we can have a chance to celebrate over a couple of drinks."

"So, is there something I can be of assistance of today, or is this just a social call, ma'am?"

She reached into her jacket and produced the envelope she'd been given earlier. "Do you want to have a guess what this letter says?" A beaming smile accompanied the question.

"Congratulations. So you'll be needing some new hardware and shoulder pads?" 'Shoulder pads' were the term for the formal rank marks worn on Class A dress white uniform jackets--gold with a blue anchor & identifying devices--and Class C uniform shirts--blue with gold stripes--often worn under jackets; hardware were the collar insignia pins for other shirts worn with Class B or Class D dress.

She nodded. "I also have a B dress fitted jacket, can I have that changed here?" The fitted, single breasted jacket available to senior female officers had rank marks on the shoulder rather than the cuffs, but they were embroidered directly to the jacket rather than the interchangeable shoulder pads.
"Yes ma'am, although it's about a three week turnaround." She nodded her head and continued with the general discussion. "I don't suppose I'll be wearing it anytime soon, so that's not a problem. What's the standard issue for the the rest?"

Eccles informed her that officers were entitled to 2 sets of collar/shoulder insignia for B/C uniforms upon promotion, with any additional pairs to be paid for by the officer along with the gold Class A shoulder boards, which were custom made as needed; for 2 additional sets and the A boards, the cost was about $100.

"That's fine. What about patches?" Patches were for use on camo tunics, windbreakers, heavy overcoats, pullover sweaters--essentially those items that were considered optional, informal or what had previously been termed as 'undress', but now were unofficially termed as E class shipboard gear.
__________________________________________________________________________

O'Brien returned to the office with her SX plastic shopping bag, and greeted the four occupants, before taking her seat.

The A-145 office had taken on a different configuration over the last few months; the worktable in front of the literature shelf wall had been moved into the supply room, along with Lerner's desk, which he now shared with Davidson. The space they previously occupied was now taken up by smaller desks where Yeoman's Mates who were Purvis' staff now worked, with a third YNM squeezed in alongside Marie's desk.

Lerner and Davidson spent most of their time on board, working out of the 'Hawk's Nest' compartment that had taken on a mythical status, as new crew members being given orientation were told surrealistic tales (which was an invented "history" that the four had convinced the earliest new personnel assigned to pass down to subsequent newcomers).
________________________________________________________________________
One of the small touches Marie had arranged near the end of the final outfitting stage, when only a handful of civilian workers remained, was a "personalization" ceremony where an inconspicuous structural girder, hidden from normal view, would be signed and dated for posterity.

She included a select group to be immortalized--SLT McCauley, LT Matson, LT Commander Dornan, Jon Goldman, plus the several remaining workmen joining 'her guys'--and a primer coat of gray paint was applied to the forward facing surface ahead of the small gathering.

"All of us here today have earned the right to have a permanent presence on this vessel, even if it's just in spirit. Hopefully at some date far into the future, while the dismantling of this beautiful ship is undertaken, the discovery of our names that were carried throughout the duration of service, will be recognized and appreciated."

She started with the civilians adding their names, along with any others they wished to remember. "Don't write a family history, but your spouse & children, a close relative who served. Printed, then your signature and the date."

When just the active duty personnel were left, she had Lerner bring out the bottle of rum that he'd stashed in a nearby compartment, along with the finger-measure plastic cups. "Of course we go by inverse seniority. Steven, you're first."
Lerner handed Purvis a cup and he took his shot, then proceeded to write his rating & name; the names of his parents, then added a three letter initial just above and to the right of his own name before producing an autograph that was far out of scale with the rest of his contribution and the others who had signed before him.

"Very bold Purvis. I told you we'll make a Master Chief out of you yet." Marie smiled and he returned the expression; Davidson was next and kept his inscription simple & brief--his name and beneath that, Gretchen's, with his signature to the right of both.
Davidson had made the decision to pop the question over the Christmas holiday, when they were going to East Liverpool to spend time with his family; his parents had met Gretchen on several occasions visiting Newport, and approved of her, while Davidson himself approached her father for his blessing, which he was happy to give.

McCauley was next, and made her bio brief, but informative:
Kayla E McCauley (SLT) Class of '17
Fleet Command Supply
daughter of Katherine & Lawrence

Matson made no reference to his loved ones or Sariyah, staying strictly with his rank and assignment; Dornan recognized that he didn't really deserve this honor--although O'Brien had considered his assistance as important as the others--but took the next spot, although he was technically senior to Lerner; he also kept his contribution short and simple.

Davidson took the bottle from Keith while Dornan was writing, offering up the measure of rum to the Lieutenant with a bowed head.

Lerner took a bit more time and liberty with his inscription, mentioning all of the others--except Dornan--along with his relatives; he had a thought to sign with a larger script than Purvis, but changed his mind at the last minute.

That left Marie to do the final honors, and naturally the swabbies were not going to let the opportunity pass to have a bit of fun; Davidson poured a shot of the rum and handed it to Purvis, then quickly poured another and handed it to Dornan. He then offered up to Marie her requisite drink, but Purvis stepped forward and insisted that he had the shot she was supposed to take; she smirked and grabbed the plastic cup from him without hesitation, which was followed by Dornan also claiming to have the actual shot.

"Kayla? You don't have something for Auntie?" She smiled, this question coming after she took the third shot without blinking.

"No ma'am. Although I sorta wish I did." She winked and Marie understood her meaning.

"Stand back and let me show you how this done."

She wrote the relevant details as she had planned for this exercise; that she was the commanding officer, that the others played indispensable roles in the completion of the ship, and she added her grandfather Peter Siebert, MCPO (ret.), before signing in a deliberate way to make her normally sloppy effort legible.

"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!--my name is O'Brien, Boss of bosses!" Her paraphrase was deliberate, and elicited laughter from all the others.
_________________________________________________________________________

"Purvis, I believe the Yeomen would be well served by a 20 minute break."
He glanced in her direction and noticed a subtle raised eyebrow.

"Aye, ma'am. Benford?"
"Yes Petty Officer?" The most awkward interactions were between PO3's and Mates; they were in the same pay grade, but there was divide that had a great deal of gray area. Benford was a neighbor of Purvis on their gangway at the ERQ, they were friendly and didn't get caught up in what was termed 'rates & mates': Mates and 3rd Class Petty Officers were grouped in the same seniority/pay grade, but the jump from the former to the latter had a significant effect on compensation and other perks & benefits available.

"If you happen to find yourself near the Galley, and they have any of those salted caramel brownies left, could you bring one back for me?" Purvis had developed a taste for the salted caramel milkshakes that Molly loved, and that had led to an appreciation of other items with the same flavor; Benford also was a devotee of the combination, and Purvis gave him $10 with the understanding that Yeoman's Mate was free to treat himself as well.

"I do believe that this a proud day for NSC Princess Brigetta, Purvis. " While she contined to speak, she reached into the bag and pulled out one of the pairs of shirt collar insignia and began to remove the old LCM ones she'd worn for the better part of 3 years. "Is Molly working today? I think we need to have a family meeting so I can get you all caught up on what I learned at lunch, and give that a once over." She slid the still unopened envelope across the desk.

"I think she's on clinicals today, but I'll check to see when she's supposed to finish." Steven & Molly had become quite the serious couple since Maineville; she was on the verge of finishing her basic nursing program at Lewis County Community College, and had taken a chance on applying for a spot in the University of Ezra's program run at the Newport General Medical Center that was a path towards becoming an RN or pursing a specialty certification as a therapist or technician and to her surprise, she made the final cut for one of the 40 spots opening up in July. Neither of them were quite in a financial situation that would make moving in together practical, but Purvis' increased income meant that he could put aside a little bit towards that goal.

He'd only looked at the letter for a few seconds and let out a whoop in appreciation. "Congratulations, ma'am. That was a nice surprise at lunch I imagine?"

She nodded at him while still fiddling with her collar. "And there's more, but I want to wait and tell everyone at the same time."

"I'll contact the building services office about changing the nameplate outside."
"I'd wait for a bit on that, as Mr Lerner's promotion is in the pipeline as well--don't say anything, I want it be a surprise even I wasn't responsible for it. Apparently the Admiral took it upon himself to send it up. Oh, and we are looking at about 3 weeks until we start trials, and they want us to get another 60-80 crew up to speed between now and then."

He jotted that down on his notepad that used to keep track of things that needed to be done. "We still don't have as many officers as we'll need to put out to sea."
"I suppose that will be addressed in due time." She picked up her desk phone and dialed.

"Davidson."
"What are you into? I want you and Lerner back here before 1630, special project."