There was a delay getting the ship opened this morning. It seems one of the over-nighter cub scouts got sick in the hanger bay and maintenance had to be called to clean up before the opened the entrance. I was waiting at my watch in the Chart House wondering 'where are the morning guests ?' Eventually they got up there.

Here are a couple of pics of the Chart House:


The morning groups were a lot of fun. I had a lot of Vets on board today. I also had a few former Quartermasters (Navigators) come through on the tour. It was nice when they came back to let me know that they appreciated my presentation in the Chart House.

I've been honing my Chart House quiz. My lastest addition is after I ask where the Sextant is kept (answer: in the safe), then I ask "what is the combination?" I got a lot of funny answers today. There are so many natural comedians !

During the afternoon watch I worked the Mess Deck and the Engine Room as a rover. I met a family showing their teenage son around the ship. The Dad was a former Marine and the Mom was currently in the Navy. I met them on the Mess Deck and they asked about the Engine Room - so I gave them an abbreviated personal tour. They were very appreciative. I was glad to be of service.

At 4:pm the DOW radioed me to come up to the Flight Deck and help close down the line for the island tours. "Aye Aye Sir, roger that, I'm on the way up"

It was a fun day on the ship - which is one of the reasons I like going there.

Great day on the ship ! I helped out by greeting three groups in the morning. One group of JRROTC - they looked sharp in their black uniforms. I gave them the introduction and took them up to the island for the Bridge Tour. The other groups were a Cub Scouts who were more interested in the Flight Simulators.

I got a little of everything today - I worked in the Engine Room before lunch, and then gave tours of Pri Fly, Chart House, and Bridge. One of my tour groups had two Midway Vets from the 50's. Those gentlemen were really glad to finally see the bridge after all these years. As sailors, they never got up there. Here is a picture of the Helm and the Captain's Chair on the Bridge.

I'm signed up for the morning watch tomorrow too. Looking forward to it !

Looks like the people are waiting - time to head down to the ship for another weekend of service.

I'll let you know how today turned out - the skies are blue and the sea is calm, it should be a good day.

March is more than half over - but at least I'm up to the current month in reporting.

I worked the ship both days this past weekend. The morning DOW (Docent of the Watch) likes to have us conduct tours of the Island (Primary Flight Control, Chart House and the Bridge). We take one group to each station and give the presentation. The afternoon DOW likes to station us at one watch and have the guests move to each location on their own.

Either way is ok with me, but I think the guests like to see and hear from more than one docent. Although our information is the same, the presentations are as different as the individuals presenting them.

I always seem to meet a few Navy vets on the ship, that's not unusual. I always ask before I start my presentation if there are any vets or active-service personnel on board. This weekend I really got a surprise when one gentlemen said that yes he had not only been an officer in the Navy, he was an O6. He had been the Captian of a ship ! After my presentation he made a point to thank me and let me know how much he appreciated it. That was pretty special.

Feb was a fun month - is there a pattern here ?

I worked over holiday (Super Bowl Weekend). On SBS (Super Bowl Sunday) I just worked the morning watch. Then I went to see the game.

Later in Feb I invited a pal of mine to come to the ship for a tour. He had been in the Air Force and worked with ordinance. He brought his two young boys and a brother-in-law. We had a good tour. By mid day the little legs on the kids were spent. But they had a fun time - we ended the tour with a choc chip cookie in the Fan Tail Cafe.

Are we up to March yet ? I've really had to fast-forward to get this far.

January was a fun month on the ship. I worked on the ship over the long New Year's Day weekend. There was a pretty good turnout of guests.

Later in Jan I took some members of my family for a tour of the ship - but it was a rainy day and we got drenched on the flight deck. But we had a good time. My Dad, my Aunt and Uncle, and a few cousins were all part of the group.

My Dad had been in the Navy during WWII - but not on an aircraft carrier. My cousin had been a pilot in the Navy - it was great having him with us too. We got some additional inside pilot info from him. He's a pilot for American Airlines now.


Also during Jan we had a "CE" - that is Continuing Education. It's a specialized class relating to whatever new topic is being presented for that month. It's just for Docents who want to broaden their overall understanding with specifics about unique operations aboard the ship. It's not required - but what better reason to be up and on board at 8am on a Saturday ?

Jan's topic was about the Catapult. We all know generally how it works, but we got a lot of specifics and a behind the scenes tour below the flight deck to actually see how it works and to see the controls and the hardware of the Cat Shot operation too. It was very interesting. We were led that morning by an actual former Catapult Officer. We got the info first hand. We learned more than any guest would ever ask - but it's good to know.

The following months of Oct, Nov and Dec were packed with lots of hours on the ship for me. I vol'd just about every weekend and racked up hour and hours.

I was full of enthusiasm, but not a lot of facts. It's amazing the things guests will ask you. A lot of my answers were "sorry, that wasn't part of the class", or just "I don't know, but if you really want to know, hold on and I'll go find out".

A few of my other new Docents used the "sorry, that's classified" way out when they were quizzed and stumped by the guests. I didn't pull that one though.

Check out my pic in the profile. That's me getting my certificate from the Admiral.

I first visited the USS Midway in the summer of 2004 as a guest. The ship was the talk of the town – a new floating museum in San Diego. The line to get on board was strung all the way thru the parking lot.

A rep came along and announced, those buying memberships (annual passes) could get in a much shorter line. Sign me up! I was going to buy a membership anyway. Once on board that day, I was really impressed with the ship and whole concept.

I got back to the ship a few times during the year and once I looked past the ship I noticed that volunteers were working on board. What a revelation. Operations like this don’t happen by themselves. A lot of people put a lot of time and hard work to make the experience what it is for the guests.

I checked into what it takes to be a volunteer in August 2005 and as luck would have it, a class was just starting. It was a 6 week class held on board every Saturday morning from 8am to noon.

Most of the guys there were Navy vets. There were a few of us civilians too, but we were a minority. A few women were in the class too, but not many.

I had to pick up the Navy lingo quickly because they have initials for everything! But they were patient, and kept it very interesting. I was surprised to see that even former Navy personnel didn’t know much about other parts and operations of the ship. It seems that Navy jobs and responsibilities were very specific.

We really got the whole picture of the Aircraft Carrier. There were class room lectures, hand-outs, resource manuals, pop quizzes, guided tours, behind-the-scenes explanations, and expert guest visitors to let us in on the inner workings.

I was so proud when I passed the test and got to take a ‘walk through’ for the final exam. The walk thru was fun – I took a senior docent on a walking tour of the ship from bow to stern.

I’ll post a picture of me getting the certificate from the Admiral.

The funny thing is, I’ve learned more since I’ve been a docent that I learned in the class. I guess that’s the way it should be.

More next time.

This will chronicle my adventures as a Docent on the USS Midway