Around my five month mark at PATFOR SWA in Bahrain, about six detailers came to visit us and talk about where we wanted to be stationed after our deployment. Detailers are typically officers and are each in charge of handling the transfers of a particular rating. I had been looking at what was open in the Northeast's District One (D1) for BM2s and came up with a list of about ten units. I knew I needed to go afloat for my next tour so I was looking at anything from an 87' Patrol Boat to a 270' Medium Endurance Cutter. The big two things were I needed to get underway and I needed to stay somewhat local so my wife could continue her education.
I ended up choosing the BM2 billet on the Seneca. The detailer raised his eyebrows when I told him this bit because large cutters are often not very sought after. I explained that I wanted to do a tour on a large cutter while I'm still young and early in my career. That was that, I received my orders several months later. I didn't really have to complete for the billet for two reasons: Being overseas, I had priority over everyone else in the US that was transferring at the same time as me. Also, like I said before, a 270' normally doesn't sit very high on any one's wish list.
About four months after reporting to the Seneca, the other BM1 transferred and they moved me into his billet. I was originally there on orders as a BM2, but since I made BM1 the June before I arrived they did what's called a "fleet up" and I moved into the BM1 opening.
Now I'm almost a year into my tour on Seneca. I'm a Coxswain on two boat types and a Deck Watch Officer on the bridge. I work for the First Lieutenant (an 0-1 or 0-2) and a BMC. Under me, I have one BM2 (with another arriving this summer), three BM3s, and about fifteen non-rates.
I'll get into specifics about my time on Seneca in my next several posts.
