Bexar (APA 237) - Naval Cruise Book

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I ' ve got mast in five minutes and I am still in dunagrees. Warden, BM2, Cibrowski, BMl Square away ! Brawley, BM2, Wilson, SFl Honest, Chief, I filed it just the other day Lindgreen, SN So you wonder why I wear my hat in the office Mancuso, YN2 ■ ■MiaiMiii 1 1 iiBi 1. Vik - l

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INTRODUCTION TO THE BEXAR ' S DEPARTMENTS The X Division takes care of the mountains of paperwork and administration through the talents of the Personelmen and Yoemen. Also, within this division is the Master-at-Arms force which is made up of men of different rates but primarily concerned with the policing and cleanliness of the ship. The OE Division is made up of electronics technicians who maintain the complicated radar, radio trans- mitters and receivers, loran gear and TV sets. Working hours ? All times of the day or night, for communications must be maintained at all costs. A small but most vital group of technical specialists make up this essential division and the ship depends heavily on their expert work. The OR Division keeps the Bexar in touch with the outside world no matter how many thousands of miles away we may be. The expertly trained radiomen tune transmitters and receivers, break down, write up, and deliver all messages not sent or received by visual means. The Ol Division might be called the eyes of the ship. Their duties are performed in CIC where they operate all of the radar equipment, recommend courses and plot air and surface vessels to make sure collisions are avoided. The OS Division mans the signal bridge where visual communications are still one of the Navy ' s most effective forms of communications. Stand by your bags I With this cry, signalmen run to their stations from all parts of the signal bridge, ready to send or acknowledge receipt for a flaghoist message. The N Division has a most important function to get the ship to its destination and know our position every minute of the way. The quartermasters keep hours all through the night and have the vital task of writing the Quarter-master ' s Notebook, from which the Officer of the Deck writes the ship ' s log. The men of the Deck Department have many jobs to fulfill. There is not room in any one book to list the various tasks that these men perform. It might be said that without the Boatswain ' s Mates the appearance and seaworthiness of the ship would suffer greatly. The Boat Group which as part of the Second Division is the main striking force of the ship. It is to these men that the responsibility of keeping the ship ' s boats in tip-top shape falls along with landing troops and cargo on the beach. Included in the Deck Department is the Fourth Division or the Gunnery Department. Their job consists primarily in manning the ship ' s guns along with controlling all of the weapons and ammunition that is aboard. Ever-present drills and practice keep the men on their toes .... experts in their trade. The R Division is made of two separate ratings, the Shipfitters and the Damage Controlmen. They are the one ' s that the keeping of the ships plumbing systems falls to. Along with this, repairing and fabricating new parts for the various machines goes to them. This is just a few of the many jobs that these men do. The H and D Divisions are primarily concerned with keeping the crew healthy and on their jobs. The Dental department is the smallest division aboard the Bexar but a look at their books proves that it is one of the busiest. The lives of the crew depend on the skilled and quick reactions of the corpsmen and Doctor of the Medical Department. The A Division in general deals wtih the maintaining, operating, and reparing of internal combustion engines. They also maintain and repair the high-powered gasoline engines found in the ship ' s boats. A tremendous job when the ship has a heavy operating schedule but in their capable hands our boats run at peak performance. The B Division deals with the operating of the ship ' s boilers and flreroom machinery and the maintenance of same. They also are responsible for the transferring, testing and inventory of the fuels and water. It ' s acknowledged that Bravo ' s job is one of the toughest understakings on a naval ship, but our men accomplish it with a fine spirit of cooperation and working together. The M Division are the ones that keep us moving along with the help of the other Engineering divisions. They are responsible for the operating and maintaining of the main engines along with the ship ' s refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. When the bell is sounded the throttlemen will give steam to the engines .... the shaft will turn .... and the ship will be underway. Mike-men are most important to our every move. The S-1 Division is the one that everybody has to see for something at one time or another. For it is their job to keep the many items used in daily living in stock. One of there most important jobs is the preparing of the meals for the crew. For included within the SI Division is the ship ' s cooks. The S-2 Division is the one that keeps the officers living quarters and messing areas clean. They also prepare and serve the food in the officers mess. They maintain high standards of service and cleanliness.

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irBJ- ' -J H But I didn ' t get any myself. Green, YN3 X DIVISION The ' X ' Division is made up of two groups, one of Yeomen and Personnel Men and the other the Master-at-Arms force. The Yeomen and Personnelmen are concerned mainly with the con- trol of ship ' s paper work and maintaining an accurate record on each and every individual. The Master-at-Arms deal primarily with the disci- pline and well being of the crew. You guys are always trying to correct our board. Richardson, SN But it says right here ! Galvin, PNl All right who doesn ' t know the alphabet ? Cunningham, PNSN But why so many copies ? Todd, SN,