Damage Control School

This week we have been spending time at the Damage Control School. The three main subjects that we cover here are CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological & Nuclear) hazards, flood, and fire.

We started the week with CBRN and had to do exercises in a "gas hut" that has real tear gas in it. When we first enter, our faces are exposed and we do not react until we feel the effects of the tear gas. We then have 9 seconds to get our gas mask on and another 6 seconds to finish getting our CBRN suit done up 100%. The tear gas sure burns on the eyes and is hard on the throat. Yesterday and today we have been learning flood control techniques. At the school, they have real life-like simulators of compartments on board ship and we will be in them when they flood the compartments. The water comes from the city water supply and is supposed to be really, really cold and will come out of the holes at 140 psi. When we witnessed an example of it today, the sound was so loud from the pressure that you could not hear each other even if we were to yell at the top of our lungs. Next week we take on fighting real fires at temperatures upwards of 200 degrees. Should be pretty fun.

It has not all been fun and games, though. We already had an exam on Tuesday and have another one tomorrow, so I am off to study as there is a whole lot of information to know for it.

Have a wonderful day and let good thoughts warm your heart.

Speeding around Esquimalt harbour

Today we went to the boatshed and learned to drive the Zodiac and the RHIB (pronounced RIB) which stands for Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat. The zodiac had an outboard motor and the RHIB has an inboard motor. We went out into the harbour and really just zoomed around for a while and practiced approaching the jetty. Even though it was a sunny day, it was quite cold out on the water. The splash of water coming up over the bow of the boat got to be extreme as we were all creating waves and driving through them. By the time we got back to the boatshed, we were all extremely drenched from head to toe. Let's just say that a good time was had by all. Most of the guys said that this was by far the best day of NETPO so far.

Two tests tomorrow though, so I have been studying over the past few nights and all afternoon today so that I can watch the hockey game this afternoon. Bonus to being out here is that the game starts at 4:30, so I will still have lot's of time to do a final review of my notes before bed without it being too late.

I am very proud of all of our Canadian athletes and the effort that they are putting into these Olympic games. Go Canada!!!!

Have another great day everyone and remember....no matter how bad off you might think you are; someone is much worse off. Enjoy what you have each and every day. Give without strings attached or a "what's in it for me" attitude and you will get good things in return when you don't ask for it.

At the Range

Went to the shooting range today to qualify on the C-7 rifle. When I was in the military previously, the C-7 was just being introduced as I was leaving and never got the chance to fire it. I surprised myself by doing very well on it. For those who have never seen one, below is a picture of one.

Tomorrow I will be shooting a pistol called a Sig Sauer, also pictured below.

Should be interesting as I also have never fired one of these, only the 9mm Browning and that was a long, long time ago.

Hope that your day is full of sunshine. If not in weather, then in your hearts.

Week 2 completed

Week 2 is now done. Other than the swimming in our clothes, the week consisted of classroom lectures on such things as flag raising ceremonies, emergency stations and wardroom etiquette. This coming Monday and Tuesday, we go to the range to fire C-7 rifle and 9mm pistol. Should be cool.

Wow...how about those Olympics so far. Opening ceremonies were awesome. Women's hockey team showed amazing stick work and passing....gold medal game, here we come!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, but especially my wonderful wife. I Love You, honey!

Have a great day everyone.

Swimming in my clothes?

Yes, today's lesson was "Sea Survival". We spent the afternoon in the swimming pool with our clothes on and even had to work with a 20 person life raft. Funny enough, there are 20 of us on the course and all 20 of us fit into this life raft (very tightly, I might add), but we all fit. When you first get wet with all your clothes on, it really feels weird; but after a while, it was OK.

Although the superbowl was not the most exciting football game that I have watched, it was still quite enjoyable and I was happy to see New Orleans win. It is always nice to see the "underdog" win and New Orleans deserved to have something good to celebrate.

Tomorrow we are back in the classroom for more power point lessons. I have been working on my essay and remember why I chose science in high school and university; writing lengthy papers does not come naturally to me. But hey, if Cynthia can do the math and kick butt in it, then I certainly can suck it up and write a history paper.

Have a great day and remember that there is always something to be grateful in your life.

First Week

The first week of NETPO is over with. As is usual with the first week of most courses, it consisted of introductions by staff and basic classes (all power point presentations). We did have a museum tour on Thursday and have to do a presentation on a case study of a situation explaining how the Principles of Leadership apply and would be used. I don't mean to brag, but the instructor gave us 2 hours to prepare and I only took 10 minutes. This is the sort of thing that I have been doing for years and feel that it comes naturally to me. The younger guys told me that they were impressed by my presentation and how I would approach the situation. For sports, we played touch football on Friday afternoon. The field was a little wet from the rain of the night before and at one point I lost my footing and this morning realized that I had wrenched my lower back. I will be taking it easy and trying to slowly stretch it out today. I will be going over to my brother's this evening to babysit my nephew so that my brother and his wife can go out to a movie. It is their 13th anniversary this weekend. I am looking forward to that, Sean and I will have some fun.

I know that my family and friends on the East coast are having a very cold time right now, but I hope that the sun at least shines for them.

Have a great day everyone!

The start of NETPO

Well, the first two days of course have been quite interesting. A lot of welcome briefs by the staff, a little bit of death by power point, and already some homework. I have a minimum 4 page essay to write on the events leading up to the formation of the Royal Canadian Navy. It has been over 20 years since I have had to do research for a paper, so this should be interesting. Tomorrow is a day filled with power point presentations, but hopefully will be full of interesting information. My class has started a squash ladder for next week, so that should be fun. How it works is names are put together in a pyramid form and anyone can challenge anyone who is a level higher. If they beat them, then the names change and the winner goes up a level and the loser goes down a level. We do have a scheduled sports period at the end of the day tomorrow, but it was not announced what sport we will be doing, so stay tuned.

Have a great day everyone and stay safe.