ADTEMPO & Aloha

The military has a term: OPTEMPO, which is short for operational tempo. A high OPTEMPO means you’re really busy and a low OPTEMPO means you’re really bored. Because we were just sailing to Hawaii for the past week, it’s safe to say that our OPTEMPO was about as low as it could get. But I’m not what the military calls an “operator,” I’m a lawyer. So my busy-ness is disconnected from our OPTEMPO – I can be busy when there are no ops going on and I can be bored when there are ops, it all depends. To describe this phenomenon, I have coined the term ADTEMPO, which is short for administrative tempo. A high ADTEMPO means there is a lot of admin/lawyer work to do and a low ADTEMPO means all the paperwork, emails, and PowerPoint slides are squared away.

The ADTEMPO for the first week of deployment was much higher than I had been expecting. Between helping to write the liberty policy, serving as my command’s liaison for visiting professors from the Naval Postgraduate School, and making sure that the operators have the latest and greatest guidance, I was plenty busy. Add to that the random legal questions that pop up throughout the day, often from unexpected places, and I barely had a moment to breathe. I actually don’t mind having all that work to do – I’d rather be busy than bored. On the ship there’s not much else to do besides work. Also, it was great getting to know the NPS professors and learning from their classes. But, like I said, the high ADTEMPO was a surprise.

The downside to being so busy is that I haven’t been able to write my NaNoWriMo project. The goal is to write 50,000 words by November 30. It’s November 22 and I’m at 13,225. I’ll probably cheat and count this blog entry as part of my total, but that won’t get me to 50,000. It’s disappointing, but life goes on.

Donald, John, Me, Amanda, and Michelle get ready to experience Puka Dogs at the International Marketplace. (Photo by Tom)

Yesterday, we pulled into Pearl Harbor. I had never been to Hawaii before so I was excited when we finally got to leave the ship at 1400. Because Angelina has been to Hawaii before for several military exercises, I asked her about the best things to do on Oahu when you only have a short time to do it. On her list was shaved ice, so I went straight from the pier to a shaved ice stand. Excellent choice. I spent the evening hanging out with shipmates from the staff, most of whom had either been stationed in Hawaii before or had port visits there. It was a lot of fun to eat good food, have a few drinks, and sing karaoke. I got to bed by 11:00 and slept in a real bed at the Ilikai Hotel, which was a treat in itself.

I’m not standing watch in this port, but I am carrying my command-issued JAG phone in case people decide they can’t have fun without causing legal problems. “Why does this taxi have windows? I need to kick them all out!” “I’m so drunk, I need to be in a fight, right now!” “Who does that cop think he is anyway?” You know, that sort of thing. So far, no rings on the JAG phone. That’s good; people are pacing themselves. I’m signed up to go to a luau tonight, so I’m knocking on wood that drunken Sailors don’t ruin the party. But, if duty calls I’ll just have to get my roast-pork fix next year, on the way back from deployment.

As I write this, I’m sitting by the beach with a cup of coffee, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and trying to savor the experience of being on shore. This deployment has already been an adventure, but I wonder if I will still feel that way after four months of turning slow circles in the waters of the Middle East.

Chilling on the balcony of the Ilikai Hotel in Waikiki. You can't see it in this picture, but there are parrots on that shirt.

Also, for Gabby, this is your first Duffy sighting of the deployment! Some of you may know that Angelina and I spend pretty much all our free time and money at Disneyland. I’m not sure why, it just sort of turned out that way. Anyway, Duffy is Mickey Mouse’s teddy bear, a relatively new Disney character. In the “Duffy the Disney Bear” picture book, Mickey has to go on a long sea voyage so Minnie Mouse gives him Duffy to keep him company. On his voyage, Mickey takes pictures of himself with Duffy in exotic places and then sends them back to Minnie Mouse. I don’t expect to spend a lot of time in port during this deployment, but when I do go ashore, the teddy bear is coming with me. I’m thinking about you, Gabby, even though I’m far away. You’re always in my heart. And Duffy says “Aloha” from beautiful Waikiki.

Final observation: I have been counting the number of times I hear “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” playing here. Right now, having been on shore for about 24 hours, the count is at five. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice song – I just didn’t realize it was the state song of Hawaii. Well, that’s it for now. I’m off to score some macaroni salad and Dole Whip.

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