Macon (CA 132) - Naval Cruise Book

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o ii Kohout. J M SN Cleveland 9. Ohio X DIVISION The word v.is just pussed, All mast reports and mast report witnesses assentble in the pas- sageway outside the Executive Officer ' s cabin. The Legal Officer and his yeomen have just finished their in estigation of the mast reports by interviewing the men invohed in the different reported incidents. Service Record entries have been made and the disciplinary record of each man has been outlined for the Executive Of- ficer ' s information. If the E.xecutive Officer a- wards C:a]nain ' s Mast this means additional work, because possibly after Captain ' s Mast a Summary or Special Court-Martial will have to be prepared. The Legal Officer is responsible for the routine disciplinary problems of all ACON personnel and such other legal matters as wills and letters of indebtedness. For a ship as large as ] L CON the legal problems are many and varied and the Legal Officer and his staff are always on call to assist the command in af- fairs concerning discipline or legal advice. They are also responsible for any foreign claims made against the ship by people in the ports visited by MACON. BM2 Philadelphia. ] .■

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o J. tidilletown, R 1. ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT Se CTal months beloic the ship was scheduled to get undei vay, the wheels had begun to turn, policies and plans were made. In the Admini- strative Department, headed by the Executive Officer, SIXTH Fleet Regs were read, preliminary reports were forwarded, and policies on leave and liberty were established. The formulation of policies and ])ro- cedures to be loUowed is primarily the job of the Executive Officer. To assist him in the establishment and implementation of policy is his . dministrative Assistant, who relieves the Executive Ollicer of man tiring details involved in the internal administration of this thirteen- hundred man organization. The handling of officer ' s Shore Patrol Orilers, leave, and all other requests from officers is the duty of the Ship ' s Secretary and the Cap- tain ' s Office yeomen. .VU incoming oUicial mail is delivered b} the Post Office directly to the Captain ' s Office for further routing and all outgoing official mail is dated and serialized here. Add to this the monthly publication of the Officer ' s Roster, Precedence List and Personal Data Sheet, the many details involved in receipting and transferring officers and you understand wh) ' the Captain ' s Office is a beehive of activity from Turn to till Knock off Ship ' s work. Shore Patrol, Beach Guard, Leave and Liberty in foreign ports for the enlisted men - - all of these problems fall to the Personnel Officer and his staff. Regardless of the location of the ship, emergency situations arise, expiration of active duty continues, new men report aboaril and service records nuist be checked regularly for accuracy - - these daily occurrences in the lite of the Administrative Department require some kind ol s]}ecial attention by the men in the Personnel Office.

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Nothing is more im[)oit:int to a sailor tliaii his reconimendaiion lor advaiiceniem in rating. His ability antl liis eligibility often depend al- most solely on his training. The Training Otlicer and his stall are lesponsiijle lor relating lormal training lectures, lilms and correspondence comses to on-the-job pr.ictical training. ' oli hear a lot abotit Class A or C Schools and whether a (jiiota lor a certain school will come in. The Training Ollice handles all requests for both oUicer antl enlisted schools. These range iiom the one day I ' hone Talker school in Newport, Rhode Islanil, to the two month Spe- cial Weapons School in .Vlbequerqiie, New Mexico. The X ' isitor who boards the ship in a foreign port often treasmes his ollicial visitors card, and his pictine of the ship. Both of these treasures are the products of joint efforts between the Captaiir ' s Office, Print Shop and Photo Lab. Tire printing of church bidletins, the monthly MA- CON WAY and those beautiful pamphlets on ports-of-call, plus the many jobs required by the ship such as copies of forms and letters, are all products of the Print Shop. . dd to this depart- mental instructions and notices, the daily Radio Press, the Plan of the Day, and you soon under- stand why the somid of the press is often heard mitil the wee hours of the morning. The Photo Lab is always on call, ' e leali ed dining this cruise just how many e ents hap|)en on short notice, and the photographer nuist be there. Who woidd have expected those Emer- gency Flight Quarters as the l .WnOLPH ' s helo •as hovering just abo e oiu ' fantail attempt- ing to land. ' h.it a moment for a dutv pho- tographer to be on hand when the liclo irashcd into the water just a short distance oil the port C]uarter and out scinried the pilot antl crewntan in record time. Or who would ha e ex|)ecied, near taps on that January night, to hear the word passed, Standby to man Rescue and Assistance Stations! . The M. CON was coming to the aid of the binning ftalian merchant shi]) r. RI. . M. TA, antl the lUny ]jhotographer was there to recapttne for the future the intense excite- ment of that event. The photographer was there to capture for the futme the impressive (juarter- dcck honors in ea h port we isitcd, the recep- tions in the Wardroom, the oiph.in pat lies, the isiiois who scanned the ship in e m purl. .Vll these memorable events weie rccoi ded i)v the alwavs-on-the-spot ship ' s photographers. Potember. B. J- BM2 S Boiton 27, Mas