USNS Mercy Top 10 Interesting Things

View of Timor Leste from a porthole by the laundry room

Top Ten Interesting Things About Life on the USNS Mercy
(…in no particular order)
1) Overhead pages when important people come on or off the ship. The
lady in charge of the Pacific Partnership 2010 is Commodore Franchetti
and when she arrives, they bang on a bell and say “Destroyer Squadrant
21 arriving” (they refer to the entity you preside over, and back in
the states she evidently is in command of the Destroyer Squadrant 21).
Now that’s an impressive nickname.
2) Lots of stairs. From our berthing (sleeping area) to the mess deck
(the dining area) we climb 81 stairs. We run up and down the stairs
all day. Also, they have color-coded staircases. The ship is fairly
long and it all looks the same at first. One helpful thing they have
done is painted the handrails in the different staircases. So you can
figure out where you are and where to go by looking at the handrails.
We use the red, blue, and orange staircases most.
3) We separate the trash. Paper. Plastic. Food. Metal. So at
mealtimes, you stand in a line and separate your garbage and then turn
in your tray and dishes to be washed. The paper gets burned, the rest
gets taken off the ship. (And they sort through the trash an extra
time after it has been initially sorted…so it’s in your best interest
to obey the trash rules so you don’t end up on trash-sorting duty).
4) Being on the ocean. I love being out on the deck and seeing the
beautiful ocean. One night they projected a movie out on the flight
deck and it was awesome to be on the sea with the bright stars above.
It seems to good to be true.
5) One stop shop. It’s kind of nice to have everything you need right
on the ship. We have several gyms, a library, a chapel (well, a small
room with an organ), a post-office, a dining hall, a hospital, a
convenience store, a laundry area, etc. Very convenient when work is
up the stairs and down the hall.
6) Bedtime. Lights out at 10pm, lights on again at 6am. Having bedtime
enforced like this does wonders for my early-to-bed-early-to-rise
resolutions! At night they come on over the intercom and say “Tattoo!
Tattoo! Lights off in 5 minutes” (I still don’t know why they say
tattoo). Then Chaplain Morledge comes on and says an evening prayer
(like last night when we were arriving in Timor Leste they prayed for
us to have strength to help the people and to have a glorious day).
7) All hands on deck. Everyone chips in and helps with the
grunt-work. Every Wednesday night our LDS group helps to wash the
dishes (we evidently started that tradition and the other NGO groups
have followed suit). One chore that we help with is cleaning the
floors. Every day at 8am they say on the intercom “Sweepers, sweepers,
man your brooms.” And they clean the floors. I love all of these formal
chore operations.
8) Military on Board. It is a new experience for me to be so
up-close-and-personal with military personnel. I have really enjoyed
it. We have people from the navy (of course), and the army, the air
force, and the marines (and some military from other countries,
including quite a few from the Australian army). I have learned a lot
about the rankings and the insignia and I have really gained an
understanding and appreciation for military life and order. They run
a tight ship. I like it. Side note…An important lesson to learn early
on was that unless you are 15 minutes early, you are late. A good
habit to adopt. I hope it sticks.
9) Berthing. When we arrived, we were assigned to the enlisted
berthing area. In these areas, there are triple bunk beds. It is
quite a task to make the ascent. I was somehow assigned to the lower
bunk, but some of the other sisters who have a few decades of life on
me were assigned to the top—so just imagine. Let me try and describe
the dimensions of the beds themselves. A coffin comes to mind ;).
Several of my friends had hit their heads on their (metal) beds and
warned me. But even trying to be conscious about it, I hit my head.
It’s inevitable. You kind of have to slither into your sleeping
space. You get the idea. Also, we were given one square locker and
one small tall locker. Evidently they teach them in boot camp how to
pack all of your belongings in an itty-bitty space, but we missed that
training. Very hard to keep organized. Anyway, we got upgraded after
a few days to the officer bunking area. I remember hearing a General
Conference talk or two by brethren who had wanted to enter the
military as officers instead of being drafted/enlisted. Now I
understand. Much nicer. Muuuuuuch nicer.
10) Latter-day Saints. It is great to be aboard with a group of
wonderful saints. We are one of a few other NGOs on board (including
Operation Smile and UCSD pre-dental society). We wear light blue
shirts and khakis and it is fun to walk around the ship and see blue
shirts all around. We meet every evening for a devotional and have an
hour of Church on Sundays. I love my friends here.