Professional Knowledge Chapter 2

Morning Colors

"First call to colors" is sounded precisely at 0755. Most often this is a special bugle call. An alternative is for the Officer of the Deck (OOD) to pass the word "first call to colors" over the general announcing system (1MC). On ships, a special yellow and green pennant called the PREP (or "preparative") pennant will be hoisted to the yardarm. • "Attention" is sounded precisely at 0800. While the colors (flags) are being briskly hoisted, the national anthem is played, "To the colors" is played by bugle, or there is silence. On ships, the PREP pennant will be hauled to the dip (lowered to the halfway point) and remain there until the ceremony is completed. • During colors everyone within sight or hearing renders honors. If you are outside, stop doing what it is you are doing when "Attention" is sounded, face the colors or the direction from which you heard "Attention", salute when the national anthem or "To the colors" starts, and drop the 14 salute when it stops. If there is no national anthem or "To the colors" (e.g., silence), salute at "Attention" and hold it until you hear "Carry on." If you are in ranks, follow the orders of the person in charge of the formation. If you are not in uniform, stand at attention. If you are driving a vehicle, stop and sit at attention. • Once "Carry on" has been signaled, resume what you were doing before the color ceremony.

When not to Salute

*In formation. The person in charge will salute for you or, in some cases, will give the order for you and others in the formation to salute. You are relieved of any responsibility to salute on your own when in formation. • When engaged in work and saluting would interfere with what you are doing. If you are part of a work detail, the person in charge of the detail will salute for the entire group. • In public places where saluting is obviously inappropriate (such as on a bus or while standing in line at a theater). A verbal greeting is appropriate. • When eating. If you are addressed by a senior officer, you should stop eating and sit at attention until the officer has departed. Courtesy dictates that the senior officer will keep the interruption brief. • In combat or simulated combat conditions.

How to Salute

*Salute from a position of attention if you are standing still. • If you're walking, salute from an erect position. • Face the person saluted, or if you're walking turn your head and eyes toward the person. If possible, look directly into the eyes of those you salute. • Allow time for the person being saluted to see and return the salute; if both of you are walking, a distance of about six steps is about right. 12 • Hold the salute until the officer has returned or acknowledged it, then bring your hand smartly to you side. • In most cases, a salute is accompanied by a verbal greeting. For example, when you meet an officer you know, you should accompany your salute with "Good morning Lieutenant Jones." If you do not know the officer's name, "Good morning ma'am" or Good morning sir" is appropriate. • If on a double, slow to a walk when saluting. • If you are carrying something in both hands and cannot render the hand salute, look at the officer as though you were saluting and render a verbal greeting as described below. • If using a cell phone, pause, drop the phone to your side, stand at attention, and render the salute.

Whom to Salute

*Salute senior officers of all U.S. services and all allied foreign services. Officers in the U.S. Merchant Marine and Public Health Service wear uniforms that closely resemble Navy uniforms, and they too rate a salute. At USNA, all foreign military staff and faculty are officers. • Salute senior officers who are close enough to be recognized whether they are wearing a uniform or civilian clothes. • Salute the person standing an Officer of the Deck (OOD) watch no matter what their rank or rate. The same applies to anyone taking a division/detail muster. • Salute senior officers even if they are uncovered or their hands are occupied. Your salute will be acknowledged by a verbal greeting. • If you are walking with or standing by a senior officer, do so on his/her left side. If the occasion for a salute arises, salute when the officer salutes, not before. This is the case whether he/she is saluting a junior or a senior officer. • If you are standing in a group and a senior officer approaches, the first to see the senior should call "Attention," and all face the officer and salute. • If you are overtaking a senior officer and it becomes necessary to pass, you should do so to the left, salute when abreast of the officer, and ask, "By your leave, sir/ma'am?" The officer should reply "Very well," and return the salute. • If you are at a crowded gathering or in a congested area, you normally salute only when addressing or being addressed by senior officers. • Because you're in uniform, young children or military retirees may salute you. Return the salute. • When in doubt, salute. If you salute someone who does not rate a salute, you may cause yourself some slight embarrassment by appearing less informed than you should be. But if you fail to salute someone who does rate one, you appear to be unmilitary, discourteous, and a shirker. No one ever got into trouble for saluting when it was not expected.

The Address (Enlisted)

A chief petty officer is addressed as "Chief Petty Officer Smith," or more informally as "Chief Smith" or "Chief." • Master and senior chief petty officers are customarily addressed and referred to as "Master Chief Smith," "Senior Chief Smith," "Master Chief," or "Senior Chief. • Other petty officers are addressed and referred to by their specific rates. For example, you would address GM2 Johnson as "Gunner's Mate Second Class Johnson," "Petty Officer Second Class Johnson," or "Petty Officer Johnson." • Nonrated personnel - those in paygrades E-1 through E-3 - are addressed and referred to as "Seaman Johnson" or "Fireman Apprentice Johnson" and can be referred to by their last names only in informal situations. • Enlisted Marines are addressed using their full rank such as "Staff Sergeant Smith" or "Master Sergeant Jones"

Shifting Colors

Another custom, far less formal than morning or evening colors, yet unique to the sea services, is what we call shifting colors. • As already discussed, the national ensign is flown from the flagstaff at the stern and the union jack is flown from the jackstaff at the bow when a Navy ship is in port. But when a ship gets underway (no longer moored to a pier or anchored), the national ensign is flown from the gaff (a short angled pole that is higher up and toward the middle of the ship). • When the last line is brought on board, or the anchor is lifted clear of the bottom of the harbor (aweigh), a long whistle blast is blown over the ship's 1MC by the Boatswain's Mate of the Watch (BMOW) and the national ensign and union jack are taken down from the flagstaff and the jackstaff respectively. This is all done smartly while a different ensign is raised briskly to the gaff. • When a ship returns from sea, the exact opposite procedure takes place as the first mooring line is passed to the pier or the anchor touches bottom.

Chester W. Nimitz

Class of 1905 Fleet Admiral/Chief of Naval Operations Profile Born in Fredericksburg, Texas, Nimitz graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1905. He spent almost two decades in submarines, service 17 punctuated by instruction in diesel engines, study at the Naval War College, and tours as executive officer of an oiler and a battleship. Nimitz then commanded heavy cruiser USS Augusta, flagship of the U.S. Pacific. Fleet. In 1939 he was assigned as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the Navy named Nimitz Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and soon afterward Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas. In recognition of his superior leadership of naval forces during the victorious three-year Pacific campaign, in December 1944 Congress promoted him to fleet admiral. As Chief of Naval Operations at the dawn of the Cold War, Nimitz directed the forward deployment of naval forces to the Mediterranean and the Far East, worked to adapt the naval services to the joint requirements of the National Security Act of 1947, and promoted adoption of jet aircraft and other advanced technologies. In recognition of his accomplishments, the Navy named USS Nimitz (CVN-68), the first ship in a new class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, in his honor.

Alan B. Shepard Jr.

Class of 1945 NASA Astronaut/1st American in space Profile Alan B. Shepard was born November 18, 1923, in East Derry, New Hampshire and died on July 21, 1998. He attended primary and secondary schools in East Derry and Derry, New Hampshire; received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1944, an Honorary Master of Arts degree from Dartmouth College in 1962, and Honorary Doctorate of Science from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) in 1971, and an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Franklin Pierce College in 1972. Graduated Naval Test Pilot School in 1951; Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island in 1957. He was awarded the congressional Medal of Honor (Space), two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the Navy Astronaut Wings, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Navy Distinguished Flying Cross. He was a recipient of the Langley Medal (highest award of the Smithsonian Institution) on May 5, 1964, the Lambert Trophy, the Kinchloe Trophy, the Cabot Award, the Collier Trophy, the City of New York Gold Medal (1971), and the achievement Award for 1971. Shepard was appointed by the President in July 1971 as a delegate to the 26th United Nations General Assembly and served through the entire assembly which lasted from September to December 1971. Rear Admiral Shepard was one of the Mercury astronauts named by NASA in April 1959, and he holds the distinction of being the first American to journey into space. On May 5, 1961, in the Freedom 7 spacecraft, he was launched by a Redstone vehicle on a ballistic trajectory suborbital flight--a flight which carried him to an altitude of 116 statute miles and to a landing point 302 statute miles down the Atlantic Missile Range.

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter

Class of 1947 39th President of the United States Profile James Earl (Jimmy) Carter, Jr., who in 1976 became the fifth consecutive President with prior Navy service, was born in Plains, Georgia on 1 October 1924. Graduating from Plains High School in 1941, he attended Georgia Southwestern College in Americus, Georgia. After a year there, Carter transferred to Georgia Institute of Technology to study mathematics for a year in order to qualify for the U.S. Naval Academy. In 1943, Carter received an appointment to the academy and became a 18 member of the Class of 1947. After completing the accelerated wartime program, he graduated on 5 June 1946 with distinction and obtained his commission as ensign. After serving in positions such as radar officer, CIC officer, Training and Education Officer, he attended the U.S. Navy Submarine School, Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut from 14 June to 17 December 1948. Carter was honorably discharged on 9 October 1953 at Headquarters, Third Naval District in New York City. On 7 December 1961, he transferred to the retired reserve with the rank of Lieutenant at his own request. In 1962 he won election to the Georgia Senate, became Georgia's 76th governor on January 12, 1971 and, on December 12, 1974, he announced his candidacy for president of the United States. He won his party's nomination on the first ballot at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, and was elected president on November 2, 1976. Jimmy Carter served as president from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981. In 1982, he became University Distinguished Professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. On December 10, 2002, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2002 to Mr. Carter "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." In 2010, he published his 25th book, White House Diary.

James B. Stockdale

Class of 1947 Prisoner of War/Awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Profile Admiral Stockdale was born on December 23, 1923 in Abingon, Illinois. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1946, he attended flight training in Pensacola, FL and in 1954 was accepted to the Navy Test Pilot School where he served as an instructor for a brief time. Stockdale's flying career took him west, and in 1962 he earned a Master's Degree in International Relations from Stanford University. On September 9, 1965 while returning from a mission, his A-4 Skyhawk was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Stockdale ejected, breaking a bone in his back and badly dislocating his knee. Stockdale wound up in Hoa Lo Prison, the infamous "Hanoi Hilton", where he spent the next seven years. Despite being kept in solitary confinement for four years, in leg irons for two years, physically tortured more than 15 times, denied medical care and malnourished, Stockdale organized a system of communication and developed a cohesive set of rules governing prisoner behavior. The spring of 1969 he was told that he was to be taken "downtown" and paraded in front of foreign journalists. Stockdale slashed his scalp with a razor and beat himself in the face with a wooden stool knowing that his captors would not display a prisoner who was disfigured. Later, after discovering that some prisoners had died during torture, he slashed his wrists to demonstrate to his captors that he preferred death to submission. This act so convinced the Vietnamese of his determination to die rather than to cooperate that the Communists ceased the torture of American prisoners and gradually improved their treatment of POWs. He was released from prison in 1973. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Gerald Ford in 1976. He was one of the most highly decorated officers in the history of the Navy, wearing twenty six personal combat decorations, including two Distinguished Flying Crosses, three Distinguished Service Medals, two Purple Hearts, and four Silver Star medals in addition to the Medal of Honor. He was the only three star Admiral in the history of the Navy to wear both aviator wings and the Medal of Honor. After serving as the President of the Naval War College, Stockdale retired from the Navy in 1978. He published a number of books and articles and was awarded eleven honorary doctoral degrees. In 1992 he agreed to the request from H. Ross Perot to stand in as the vice presidential candidate of the Reform Party. Upon his retirement in 1979, the Secretary of the Navy established the Vice Admiral Stockdale Award for the Inspirational Leadership presented annually in both the Pacific and Atlantic fleet. Admiral Stockdale was a member of the Navy's Carrier Hall of Fame and The National Aviation Hall of Fame, and he was an Honorary Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

H. Ross Perot

Class of 1953 Entrepreneur/Presidential Candidate Profile H. Ross Perot was born in 1930 in Texarkana, Texas. In 1957 he went to work for IBM as a salesman. He then founded Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in 1962, which he sold to General Motors in 1984. In 1979 he funded an operation during the Iran hostage crisis that resulted in the rescue of two of EDS employees. Concerned over the budget crisis, he ran for president as an independent with Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale in 1992. They won a fifth of the popular vote and finished third in the election. Following his defeat he formed the Reform Party and ran as their presidential candidate in 1996, where he also came in third.

John McCain

Class of 1958 Prisoner of War/United States Senator Profile John Sidney McCain, III was born in Panama Canal Zone, August 29, 1936. He attended school in Alexandria, Va., and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1958. In 1973 he graduated from the National War College, Washington, D.C. He was a pilot in the United States Navy from 1958 until 1981. From 1967 to 1973 he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He received numerous awards, including the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and Distinguished Flying Cross. He was elected as a Republican in 1982 to the Ninety-eighth Congress (Arizona), reelected to the Ninety-ninth Congress in 1984 and served from January 3, 1983, to January 3, 1987. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1986, reelected in 1992, 1998, 2004, and again in 2010 for the term ending January 3, 2017. He was chair of the Committee on Indian Affairs, and on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He pursued the Republican presidential nomination for 2000, and ran (unsuccessfully) for President of the United State as the Republican nominee in 2008.

Roger Staubach

Class of 1965 Heisman Trophy Winner/Professional Football Player Profile As a midshipman, Roger Staubach was named recipient of college football's top honor, The Heisman Trophy. Staubach graduated from the Naval Academy in 1965 and went on to serve four years of active duty service in the Navy, with one year of overseas duty in Vietnam. Staubach played 11 years of professional football with the Dallas Cowboys and led the Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1985, his first year of eligibility. Outside of sports, in 1977 Staubach founded the Staubach Company; a commercial real estate firm that later merged with Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated in 2008. He was CEO of Staubach Company for a number of years and following the merger became Executive Chairman, Americas. 20 Roger Staubach was on the Board of Directors of the United Way of America and the Board of Advisors of the Children's Scholarship Fund. He played an active part in the American Cancer Society Annual Children's Luncheon, and other civic, charitable and professional organizations. Honors bestowed on Roger include Office & Industrial Properties 1998 Executive of the Year, Commercial Property News Corporate Services Executive of the year both in 1999 & 2000, and was the NCAA 2000 "Teddy" Roosevelt Award Winner.

Wendy Lawrence

Class of 1981 Astronaut Profile Wendy Lawrence was born July 2, 1959, in Jacksonville, Florida. She graduated from Fort Hunt High School, Alexandria, Virginia, in 1977 and received a bachelor of science degree in ocean engineering from U.S. Naval Academy in 1981. She also received a master of science degree in ocean engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in 1988. She was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the NASA Space Flight Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy Achievement Medal. She was a recipient of the National Navy League's Captain Winifred Collins Award for inspirational leadership (1986). Lawrence has more than 1,500 hours flight time in six different types of helicopters and has made more than 800 shipboard landings. While stationed at Helicopter Combat Support Squadron SIX (HC-6), she was one of the first two female helicopter pilots to make a long deployment to the Indian Ocean as part of a carrier battle group. In October 1990, Lawrence reported to the U.S. Naval Academy where she served as a physics instructor and the novice women's crew coach. Selected by NASA in March 1992, Lawrence reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. She completed one year of training and is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. A veteran of four space flights, Lawrence has logged over 1225 hours in space. Lawrence retired from NASA in June 2006. Admiral Howard is a 1978 graduate of Gateway High School in Aurora, Colorado. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1982 and from the Army's Command and General Staff College in 1998, with a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences.

Michelle Howard

Class of 1982 First female four-star in the U.S. Navy Profile Admiral Howard graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1982 and from the Army's Command and General Staff College in 1998, with a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences. Admiral Howard served on several ships to include USS Lexington (AVT 16) where she received the secretary of the Navy/Navy League Captain Winifred Collins award in May 1987. This award is given to one woman officer a year for outstanding leadership. She took command of USS Rushmore (LSD 47) on March 12, 1999, becoming the first African American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy. She has been in several sea and shore assignments and currently serves as the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations; another first for women.

David Robinson

Class of 1987 Professional Basketball Player Profile Recruited by Annapolis to play for the Academy's basketball team, David Robinson went from being a 6' 4" freshman who averaged just 7.6 points per game to a dominating 7' 1" College Player of the Year senior. Selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the number one pick in the 1987 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft, the man known as 'The Admiral' put off his rookie season until the 1989-90 season due to his commitments to the Navy. This decision clearly had no adverse effect upon him as he would go on to be named 'Rookie of the Year'. He was the first male basketball player to play on three U.S. basketball teams in the Olympic Games. In 2009 he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame along with Michael Jordan and John Stockton. In 1991 he visited the 5th grade class at Gates Elementary School in Texas. He challenged the 94 students of the class to finish high school, promising each of them a $2,000 scholarship if they did so. In 1998 when 50 of those students graduated, he presented each of them with an $8,000 scholarship. In 1997 he donated $5 million dollars to found the Carver Academy, which he continued to donate to in the following years. Due to his commitment to the community, the NBA renamed their Community Assist Award to be the David Robinson Plaque in 2003.

Evening Colors

Sunset is the time for evening colors in the Navy. The exact time of sunset changes (ranging anywhere from 1700 to 2100) depending on your latitude and the time of year but will be published each day in the Plan of Day (POD) of your ship or station. • Five minutes before sunset, "First call to colors" is sounded just as in the morning and, if you are aboard a ship, the PREP pennant will again be raised to the yardarm. • At sunset, the colors ceremony begins when "Attention" is sounded on a bugle or when a whistle is blown. PREP is hauled to the dip just as in the morning and the procedures for standing at attention and saluting are the same as in the morning. • While the national ensign is being lowered, the bugler (or a recording) will play "Retreat" (instead of "To the Colors," as is played in the morning). Another difference in the two ceremonies is that as morning colors the national ensign is hauled up smartly (briskly), while at evening colors it hauled down slowly and ceremoniously. • "Carry on" will signal the end of the ceremony just as in the morning. • Salutes are rendered in the same manner as for Morning Colors.

Erik Kristensen

Class of 1995 SEAL Profile Erik Kristensen graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1995. He served first as a Surface Warfare Officer onboard USS Chandler (DDG-996) and as an Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) Detachment at Naval Special Warfare Boat Unit TWELVE (SBU-12). Kristensen subsequently taught at the Naval Academy and attended graduate school prior to transferring to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S). His first assignment as a SEAL was OIC of a Platoon at SEAL Team EIGHT. In March 2005, LCDR Kristensen deployed to Afghanistan as a Task Unit Commander for SEAL Team TEN to support the Global War on Terrorism. On June 28th, 2005, he led a daring mission to rescue a four-man SEAL reconnaissance squad engaged in a fierce firefight with overwhelming Taliban forces in rugged 10,000 foot mountains. Kristensen, seven other SEALs, and eight Army "Nightstalkers" died when their MH-47D Chinook helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. A total of 11 SEALs died that day. It was the biggest single loss of life for Naval Special Warfare since World War II. These SEALs embodied the Navy's Core Values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment, and took care of their teammates to the last. Erik Kristensen and those who perished with him are remembered with the greatest respect and gratitude by his fellow SEALs, the Naval Academy, the Navy, and our nation.

Ship's Bells

For many centuries, Sailors did not have the luxury of a personal time piece. If watches were to be relieved on time, some means of telling the time had to be devised. A system that used a half-hour sand-glass and the ship's bell was created and used for hundreds of years. • At the beginning of the watch, the sand-glass was turned over to start it running. As soon as it ran out, the watchstanders knew the first half-hour had passed, so they rang the ship's bell once and immediately turned the sand-glass over to start the second half-hour. Everyone on board the ship could hear the bell being rung so they could keep track of the time. When the sand ran out the second time, the watchstanders rang the ship's bell twice. They continue this until eight bells had been rung (representing the passage of four hours or one complete watch). The watch was then relieved, and the new watch team started the whole cycle over by ringing one bell once the first half-hour had passed, and so on. • This bell-ringing tradition has been continued on board many Navy ships even though most Sailors always have a clock, watch, computer, or handheld device in sight. Here at USNA, this tradition has been continued with bells sounding from Mahan Hall. One bell signals the start of First Period with additional bells continuing throughout the day in half-hour intervals as previously described.

Half-Masting the National Ensign

If the ensign is flying when the word is received that the ensign is to be half-masted, it should be immediately lowered. • If the ensign is not already flying (for example, word is received during the night), morning colors will be held as normal except that after the ensign is hoisted all the way to the peak (top of the mast or flagstaff), it is then lowered to the half-mast position. In other words, it is not appropriate to merely hoist the colors directly to half-mast; the ensign must first be two-blocked (hoisted as far as it will go), then lowered to half-mast. • The reverse is true in the evening. Before the national ensign can be brought down for the evening, it must first be ceremoniously two-blocked and then lowered all the way down. • Aboard ship in port, anytime the national ensign is lowered to half-mast, so is the union jack.

The Address (Officers)

Officers are always addressed and referred to by their title or rank, such as admiral, captain, or commander. • By tradition, the commanding officer of any ship or station, no matter what his/her rank, is addressed and referred to as "Captain." • An officer in the medical or dental corps is addressed and referred to by rank or as "Doctor." • A chaplain may be called "Chaplain" no matter what the rank.

Saluting

Salutes are customarily given with the right hand, but there are exceptions. If your right arm is injured in such a way as to prevent you from saluting, or if you are using your right hand for some military purpose, such as a Sailor holding and blowing a boatswain's pipe, then it is considered appropriate for you to salute with your left hand. Sailors and Marines must be covered if they are going to salute. Soldiers and Airman may salute uncovered. If you are in an office with several Soldiers or Airman, not saluting when appropriate would seem disrespectful, so you should do as those in the office do. This follows the old (and customary) saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." If you encounter a senior officer who is not covered, and you are covered, you would still render a salute, even if the senior cannot return the salute.

Underway

Ships at sea do not make morning or evening colors, but they do fly an ensign at the gaff from sunrise to sunset.

Shipboard Customs

Ships have been plying the waters of the world for many centuries and this long history has resulted in many unique customs. By observing these special customs, you will be forming a special link with Sailors from the past and keeping alive traditions that, in some cases, are thousands of years old.

Boarding and Departing Ship

The OOD or the Junior Officer of the Deck (JOOD) will meet all persons leaving or boarding the ship. There are specific procedures to be followed by Navy personnel when boarding or departing. • Because of security considerations, you will nearly always be expected to show your ID card to the OOD (or his/her representative) whenever you board a naval vessel, whether you are a member of the crew or not. • If the ship is alongside a pier, you will use a "brow" (a walkway that bridges the gap between the pier and the ship) to come aboard. If the ship is anchored out in the water, you will of course ride in a boat to get to the ship, and to get from the water up to the ship's main deck you will use an "accommodation ladder" (a kind of stairwell that has been rigged over the side of the ship). The opening in the ship's rail where you actually board the ship (whether you are using a brow or accommodation ladder) is called the "gangway." • At the gangway, you should turn and face aft (where the national is flying from the flagstaff), come to attention, and smartly salute if the ensign is flying (after 0800 and before sunset). The OOD will return your salute to the national ensign. On some larger ships, you will not be able to actually see the national ensign but you should salute anyway. • After you have saluted the national ensign, turn and face the OOD (or his/her representative), salute, and say, "I request permission to come aboard, ma'am (or sir)." The OOD will return your salute and say, "Very well," or "Permission granted," and you should proceed. (Note: These 16 salutes take place no matter what the ranks or rates of the individuals involved. If the OOD is a chief petty officer and the boarding individual is a commander, the latter will still salute the CPO, who, as OOD, represents the captain.) • If you are not in uniform, you should not salute but still face aft at attention to honor the national ensign and then, still at attention, face the OOD and request permission to come aboard. • If you are not a member of the crew of the ship you are boarding, you should state the reason for your visit when requesting permission to come aboard. • The procedure for leaving a ship is much the same as boarding, except that the steps are reversed. Step up to the vicinity of the gangway, salute the OOD, and say, "I request permission to leave the ship, sir (or ma'am)." When the OOD says, "Very well," or "Permission granted," and returns your salute, drop your salute and step to the gangway. If the ensign is flying, face aft, salute smartly, and leave.

Officers' and CPO Country

The area on board ship where officers eat (the wardroom) and sleep (staterooms), as well as the halls (passageways) surrounding these areas, is known as "officers' country." Correspondingly, the area where chief petty officers eat and sleep is known as "CPO country." • You should avoid these areas unless you are on official business. If your duties require you to enter a room in these spaces, you should knock before entering and remove your hat. Only watchstanders wearing a duty belt or sidearm remain covered, unless a meal is progress. • The enlisted mess deck is treated with the same courtesy as the wardroom or chief's mess.

Colors

The first official salute of the American flag by a foreign government took place 14 February 1778 when a Navy ship, the sloop-of-war Ranger under the command of Captain John Paul Jones, exchanged salutes with the French ship Robuste, in Quiberon Bay on the Atlantic coast of France.

The Quarterdeck

The quarterdeck in many ways replaces the bridge as the control point of the ship when the ship is not underway. The OOD shifts his/her watch from the bridge to the quarterdeck once the ship enters port, and until the ship gets underway again. • The location of the quarterdeck will vary according to the type of ship. It serves as the point of entry for entry and exiting for the ship. Frequently it is marked off by appropriate lines, deck markings, decorative cartridge cases, or fancy work (nautical decorations made from pieces of line). The quarterdeck is always kept particularly clean and shipshape. • Watchstanding on the quarterdeck must be in the uniform of the day and present a smart and military appearance at all times. Personnel not on watch should avoid the quarterdeck unless their work requires them to be in that area. • Larger vessels, such as aircraft carriers, may have two or more entry/exit points, but only one is designated as the quarterdeck.

The Bridge

When a ship is underway, the area known as the bridge serves as the control point for the vessel. A team of people will always be on watch serving the ship's special needs. The Officer of the Deck (OOD) heads that team and, serving as the captain's direct representative, is responsible for the safe navigation of the vessel and for carrying out the ship's routine. • There is a formality associated with the bridge, and many ships require all non-watch personnel to request permission from the OOD to come on the bridge, accompanying their request with a salute. This is more than a mere tradition since is allows the OOD to control access to the bridge, ensuring the watch team is not inhibited in carrying its important duties by having too many people in the way. • Another custom that serves a useful purpose is the calling out "Captain is on the bridge" to alert the OOD and other watch personnel to the captain's presence. This is important since it is the OOD's responsibility to report significant happenings to the captain and since the captain's authority supersedes that of the OOD when he/she is on the bridge.