Fleet Orientation weekends at Norfolk

justdoit19

justdoit19

Proud parent of an ANG, USNA X2, and a MidSib
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In an effort to expose Mids, these fleet weekends began last weekend.
www.surflant.usff.navy.mil

USNA Midshipmen Begin Fleet Orientation Weekend at Naval Station Norfolk

180 midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy (USNA) visited Naval Station Norfolk, April 10-11. This is the first of several fleet orientation weekends in April which will introduce more than
www.surflant.usff.navy.mil
 
A lot of mids got “drafted” to go on these but I heard it ended up being a valuable experience. Admittedly not as sexy as PROTRAMID’s month-long all-expenses-paid trip to San Diego with liberty every evening, but it’s some more exposure to the Fleet nevertheless. There still isn’t much for mids to do on weekend liberty anyway so now was a good time to offer this program.
 
Which classes are they taking? I hope my 3/C gets an opportunity (and seizes it). He is a very poor communicator to his parents and we don’t like intruding by asking “Did you get a chance to...?” A lot of times you read, “Your mid is the best source of information on...”. That has not been our experience.
 
I believe they are on-going. I also think it may be by company, as the article referred to ‘bubble’.

Mids sign up. Probably getting a bad wrap perhaps similar to what @Kierkegaard stated above...but it’s SOMETHING to try and get fleet exposure opportunities out to ones that missed out on PROTRAMID. And, it’s off the yard, a weekend overnight. Sounds like a win to me!
 
Great chance to experience something off the Yard and relative to service selection. Love it!!!
 
Makes sense. I believe they do similar outings frequently at the Jacksonville University NROTC unit, so why not USNA.
 
If would great if appointees had an opportunity to attend events like this.

When my DS received his appointment we tried to visit an active ship or naval base to help him make an informed decision but was unsuccessful.

We contacted the Norfolk naval base and USNA for ideas but there were too many security issues.

In the end, he had to settle for a tour of a museum ship.
 
Overwhelmed said:
If would great if appointees had an opportunity to attend events like this.

When my DS received his appointment we tried to visit an active ship or naval base to help him make an informed decision but was unsuccessful.

We contacted the Norfolk naval base and USNA for ideas but there were too many security issues.

In the end, he had to settle for a tour of a museum ship.
Click to expand...
Way too many hurdles with liability, funding, training, and security clearance for that to happen unfortunately. In this case they are actually having the mids do drills and work with some equipment.

I do think it can be difficult for potential candidates who have never had any direct exposure to the military to gain unfiltered insight into what the potential jobs entail. I’m guessing the reasoning is that USNA generally aims to admit those who already articulate a strong desire to join the naval service, and since there are already plenty of applicants who express that, they do not see a need to provide more resources. Admissions is something of a “seller’s market”.
 
Prior to 9/11 NOB Norfolk did a thing called Visit Ship. The ships in port would take turns being the ship visited and it drew large crowds. We'd prettify the ship. All the top side watches assigned were sharp sailors and officers. We hid the fat bodies and dirt bags. The assigned tour guides knew the ship inside and out. It was usually a fun weekend. Not anymore though.
 
A a child in the 1960’s my Dad was on the mailing list of the 3rd Naval District and whenever an active duty USN vessel would make a port call in New York, the vessels would routinely be open to the public for tours. Dad took us on many a ship and even a sub. I was on the Intrepid just back from Viet Nam. But those days are long gone.
 
Kierkegaard said:
Way too many hurdles with liability, funding, training, and security clearance for that to happen unfortunately. In this case they are actually having the mids do drills and work with some equipment.

I do think it can be difficult for potential candidates who have never had any direct exposure to the military to gain unfiltered insight into what the potential jobs entail. I’m guessing the reasoning is that USNA generally aims to admit those who already articulate a strong desire to join the naval service, and since there are already plenty of applicants who express that, they do not see a need to provide more resources. Admissions is something of a “seller’s market”.
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I think this is also a reason that PROTRAMID was moved to rising 3/C year...to give Mids more opportunity to explore before service requesting.

I would also venture to say, that MOST haven’t been on a ship/sub/osprey. And no way Navy could include that in recruiting processes.

YouTube and Google are pretty good alternatives!
 
This week my students will learn about the Ford class carrier. Physics, hydrodynamics, chemistry, aero, nuclear etc. I have latitude and I choose to expose these kids to modern day naval service. They have friends who enlisted. But they don’t know what they do. They may consider service. They may consider civilian path working for Raytheon 45 miles from us. But they need to know this exists.
And they need to have an appreciation for those who choose to serve. Just my two cents.
 
@Heatherg21 I’ve followed the problems with EMALS on Ford and found these two articles with different messages.

EMALS and AAG hit 4,000 aircraft recoveries, launches | NAVAIR

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) logged its 4,000th aircraft launch and recovery on Sept. 10, showcasing the performance capabilities of the ship’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), as part of the aircraft carrier’s 18-month Post Delivery Test & Trials...
www.navair.navy.mil www.navair.navy.mil
taskandpurpose.com

The Navy's $13 billion supercarrier still can't do the one thing it's absolutely required to do

The USS Gerald R. Ford still can't reliably generate sorties due to technical problems with its next-generation takeoff and landing systems
taskandpurpose.com taskandpurpose.com
 
@Devil Doc, thanks. Yeah, those two articles couldn't be more different. One lauds the EMALS and one doubts its ever being usable.
 
Heatherg21 said:
@Devil Doc, thanks. Yeah, those two articles couldn't be more different. One lauds the EMALS and one doubts its ever being usable.
Click to expand...
There's something about steam rising from the catapult after it launches a Hornet. Maybe if they get EMALS figured out they can figure a way to have steam come from the electrical system. That sounds a little scary now that I've thought about what I wrote.
 
There are issues with the EMALS, probably more than the arresting gear but fix it they must because going back to steam is not an option that this stage of the game because the modifications to the ship would be immense as the steam lines (pipes) are physically huge, the spaces needed under the flight deck now have other uses and probably more importantly, the entire Nuclear and Electrical Plants were designed and built for this and it all would need to be reassessed and possibly changed. The OPTEVFOR people who were making the report are in the business of finding fault just like INSURV and if you read INSURV reports of any ship, you'd think that it was not able to do ANYTHING. My second ship went through three INSURVs while I was aboard and all of them were extremely critical of the ship's ability to perform its mission and even steam safely. None of what they found was not broken or degraded but we still were able to do four extended Exercises and deployments in 19 months including real world bullets flying.
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Bottom Line: The Ford is not performing as well as it SHOULD but it is still able to go to sea and operate with its air group.
 
Do they still do ship visits to the Yard ? I recall that we had ships visting fairly often ....shallow draft like PHMs and I think LST's actually tied up at the Seawall, while larger ships would anchor out in the Bay. I'm sure this would have been curtailed during COVID, but it was a good way to get exposure to the Fleet. (Of course, Plebes were required to visit, and for some of the ships anchored out , it took a lot of our weekend liberty time.
 
INSURV = 2-Kilo writing party.

Of course 2-Kilos are written on the computer these days.
 
The USS Sioux City (LCS 11) was tied up there, for its commissioning in 2018. My son sent me a quick photo from the open plaza between Michelson and Chauvenet, and it looked pretty big even from there, even though the track and field and soccer fields were between him and the ship.
1618849085608.png

The USS North Dakota (SSN 784) was there (in the Chesapeake Bay) in 2019, as well.

1618849525722.png​

 
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