Another Day at the Maritime

I mentioned earlier this week about the guest speaker at out leadership meeting on Monday. It turned out to be a lecture on mental resiliency for student leaders. The lecture was presented by Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas. She spoke to us about how to deal with certain stresses. The main focus was about how to deal with the multiple stresses and demands of life. As soon to be student leaders we needed to learn about how to recognize different stresses in others as well as ourselves. The lecture proved to be very beneficial in leadership training as well as our own personal lives.

The rest of this week so far has gone well. Crew yet again has been practicing bright and early. Though I have to say the conditions on Herring Pond have been far less than favorable. Actually the fog has been so dense that it has restricted the visibility to less than 150 meters. Meaning we cannot see the other side of the pond. Today marked our last on water practice for the season. As tomorrow we board the bus to travel to Saratoga Springs, NY for the Head of the Fish. It should be a fun filled weekend of great friends, great times, and of course great rowing.

Today while eating breakfast I noticed a large group of the Academy's Officers walk onto the mess deck. Before I knew it I was shaking hands with Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray. He took the time to ask all of us at the table where we were from, and make small talk. It's was truly a nice experience to meet the Lieutenant Governor during breakfast. Some would say that it was just a typical maritime day. I would have to agree.

Coming up ahead:
- Underclass Dance
- 1200-0400 Watch on the Bridge
- Friday

Until Next Time,
-3/c Joshua Lamm

Looking forward

Good Afternoon,

Saturday brought on another successful Open House. Nearly two-hundred prospective students and families filled the mess deck for the start of the day. I helped represent Marine Transportation in the trade show portion of the Open House. We concluded with the usual ship tours. Ship tours are probably my favorite part of Open House because it allows me to share the wealth of knowledge that MMA has dumped into my brain about the T.S Kennedy.

Looking Ahead:

-Coastal Navigation 2 Quiz
-Another Dress Down Day on Friday (Halloween Theme)
-Head of the Fish Regatta

This week marks the final week of Fall Crew. It has a been a long and hard season. Especially with the 0400 wake ups. I'm looking forward to sleeping in. Though I have a feeling I'll be getting up early to exercise before morning formation because my body is accustomed to getting up so early. Once crew ends it is only a couple short weeks until fall conditioning for track and field.

Tonight involves a special two hour leadership meeting with a guest speaker. I'll be sure to blog about that tomorrow night!

Until Next Time,
-3/c Joshua Lamm
Cadet Blogger
joshua.lamm@maritime.edu

Firefighting

Good Evening,

Today was probably one of the coolest days of the semester. Myself and along with 27 other Cadets had the chance to go over to the Barnstable County Fire Academy for our sophomore firefighting training. As license majors (Marine Trans and Marine Engine) we are required to complete firefighting training every year. Of course every year gets harder with the amount of material we need to know and the different assessments that we need to pass. As sophomores we receive training on how to enter the burn building, different fire extinguishers, and how to operate and man the hose lines.

We started off by putting on the "turn out" gear that the academy provided for us. After that we went over to put on our SCBA's (Self Contained Breathing Aparatus). We learned how to properly put these on during our freshman orientation. After splitting into two different groups, the first half of us split in smaller hose teams for the burn building. The burn building is a cement building specifically designed for the purpose of fire training. We needed to successfully put out a fire on each floor (3 floors total) and also a maritime fire.

The maritime fire simulated a fire in a compartment in which we need to enter from above and go down the stairs before attacking the fire. A maritime fire is exceptionally dangerous because on a ship there in no fire department to be called. It's just the crew that is responding. Also the fire spreads in 6 directions which are the six sides of the compartment. With fires being able to be all the way in the bottom of the ship we need to be trained in handling a situation that wouldn't normally arise on land.

Our first fire was on the first floor. We moved in and attacked the fire. The nozzle man sprayed the fire and knocked it down, meaning the flames were gone. As we all know though is that the fire is not out even if the flame is gone. There were still plenty of embers burning that the next two hose men needed to expose so that they could be extinguish. We did this for all the fires. The fire on the 3rd floor was a real tough fire. We started on the ground and hauled hose up three flights of stairs. Visibility was restricted in the building, when the nozzle man sprayed the fire the visibility completely disappeared. I went to expose the embers and saw nothing but steam and smoke, the embers were only two feet in front of me. It was quite the challenge to make sure we got everything because we couldn't see.

After lunch we practiced putting fires out with the fire extinguishers. This is vital because if we can extinguish the fire early we will be able to save the ship as well as not have to gather a hose team in which to enter dangerous and more damaged conditions. We practiced spraying a pressurized fuel fire with two hose teams. I had the chance to be on the nozzle of the big 2 1/2 inch hose on this exercise. When we approached the fireball the heat that it was putting out was extreme. Though we were 30 feet back I could feel it through the gear.

After the long day we came back with a greater understanding on how to properly fight a fire. We are totally exhausted from the long day and definitely some sore muscles. Can't wait for the next and more advanced fire training next year.

Coming up:
-Hypnotist
-Open House

Signing off,
3/c Joshua Lamm
Cadet Blogger
joshua.lamm@maritime.edu

Career Fair

Good Morning,

Yesterday was very exciting, we had the opportunity to attend the career fair. The gym was filled with companies that were eager to talk to cadets about job opportunities with us. I attended with a few of my friends. We started by taking a general walk around and seeing what there was before actually talking to any of the presenters. By then we decided to first talk to G&H Towing. It was very exciting we had the chance to talk with the President of the company Steve Huffman. G&H is a harbor tug company based out of Texas. We learned about the different positions they had available for graduating seniors. In addition we learned of a possible summer internship with the company. The internship is very selective and will only take 2 cadets from MMA. G&H also sponsors a classroom in the Harrington Building.

All in all, it was a very good experience. The career fair gave us a great chance to see what it is exactly that we are preparing ourselves for in the real world.

This weekend:
-Crew Regatta
-Much needed sleep.

Studying Abroad

Good Evening Everyone,

These last few days have been quite long. Yesterday involved getting up early for practice and then finishing my day with a 0000-0400 watch this morning up on the bridge of the ship. I can safely say that I was very tired today. Of course at a MMA most cadets are used to situations where we need to sacrifice a little sleep for a watch. I made sure I got plenty of naps in during the day today.

The most exciting news of today came when I found out that I have been chosen along with a few others to study abroad in China. I believe there will be 20 cadets in all traveling to China this spring to study at the Shanghai Maritime University. Along with us traveling there, a number of students from Shanghai will be coming to MMA for the semester. We will leave not too long after Sea term in the first couple weeks of March and will return just before the end of the MMA spring semester. Spring semester itself will not be too long of a time away from home, but add on Sea Term before that and it will be almost be 6 months.

In one of my earlier blogs I mentioned the opportunities that MMA has. With Sea Term we have a chance to sea a part of the world. By studying abroad we now have the chance to be immersed in a whole new culture on the other side of the globe. Though only a handful of us will be going, I'm sure that we will all band together to have the time of our lives.

Until tomorrow,

-3/c Josh Lamm
Cadet Blogger
joshua.lamm@maritime.edu

Comedy Night

Thursday night brought on this years very first comedy night. Courtesy of our SGA (Student Government Association) and 3/c Jordan Megee our social chair. We were able to enjoy three comedians to get us all away from the daily stresses at MMA. It was a truly hilarious night. One of the comedians was a former MMA graduate. He was able to pick at the small things that only cadets would understand. Comedy night happens a few times every semester. Everyone that came to the first one can't wait for another; especially the freshmen that got a nice break from the nightly study hours.

Friday morning was again started at 0400. Though it was slightly colder than most mornings, there was almost no wind down on Herring Pond. We had an amazing practice. There was a great balance to the boat with exceptional power in every stroke. I hope that the efforts by the crew team on Friday morning can carry over to our practices in the upcoming week and the next regatta.

At morning formation it was announced that 3rd Company was awarded Honor Company for the 2009-2010 school year.

Friday just got better and better as the regiment celebrated the first "Dress Down Day" of the semester. Dress Down Day allows cadets to purchase a ticket that permits them to wear civilian clothing for a day. Now every "Normal" college in America might think we are nuts for getting so excited about wearing normal clothes, but they'll never understand if we tried to explain it. With the long weekend ahead everyone is a little more relaxed walking around in civvies. For me wearing civvies reminds me of the hard work that myself and other cadets put in seven days a week. It reminds us that we dare to be different from all the other colleges. We take pride not only in ourselves but in our regiment that we are so grateful to be a part of.

Signing off until next week,
-3/c Josh Lamm
Cadet Blogger
joshua.lamm@maritime.edu

(picture: One of the comedians from Comedy Night - Robbie Printz)

Maritime Crew and the Times Ahead

Sunday brought on our first Crew Regatta.

We woke up a little later than usual, a solid 0430. By 0500 we were on the road to Lowell, MA. Sunny skies and minimal wind made for great day. I am happy to report that our Mens Varsity A boat performed in the top half of our race. The Womens Varsity boat also did great. Unfortunately the Mens Varsity B boat (my boat) came in last. This doesn't mean that the season doesn't look good for us. The first race is there to dust off the cob webs and move forward. The only way to go now is up.

Monday brought on Rules of the Road test number two.

On a very positive note, I had two quizzes and one test today. I feel like they all went well. The best part of today was when I passed my Lifeboatmen assessment!!! It took me three tries, but the winds finally cooperated.

All in all, today was a good day. Tonight I have a firefighting lecture at 1900 (7pm).

Looking ahead:
- NO MAINTENANCE for the rest of the semester. I got all 12 hours done.
- Comedy night on Thursday
- Long Weekend!!!


Until next time,

-3/c Josh Lamm
Cadet Blogger

joshua.lamm@maritime.edu

Fridays Simulation

Friday brought an awesome day in the Radar Simulator. For my Coastal Navigation 2 lab we got a chance to use the skills we've learned. Each group was assigned a station. Each station had a large screen used for visual bearings. Also included was a monitor that had all the instruments such as throttles, echo sounder, and compass. To the right was our RADAR display. Another neat tool was the VHF radio which allowed us to talk with other groups if we needed to.

Our goals:

-Safely Navigate across Long Island Sound
-Take fixes every 6 minutes
-Collisions = failure
Running aground = failure

My ship was the Container Ship Long Island. Once we got going we had full control of the ship. We chose its course, speed, and heading. We began to take fixes every 6 minutes. This was a little stressful because we would finish plotting one fix and immedietly be looking for the next one. By the end we had a great system going so we were not as rushed in our fixes. The simulation was over before we knew it. I am happy to report that no one collided or ran aground. These two tasks were simple to follow as only 8 ships occupied the simulation and it was well known what our depth was to avoid going aground.

I look forward to the next experience in the simulator as it allows us to test our skills on more than just paper.

Until next time,

-3/c Joshua Lamm
Cadet Blogger

joshua.lamm@maritime.edu