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Commander
Joshua Bailey (right) laughs as he passes off the XO’s job to Commander Chris
Carter (left).
Meeting
Your Extended Family
by Captain (JG) Marcus
Johnston, OC, RMN
2015.01.21 CE / 346.09.28 AL (MNB) – As
Chief Coonradt is fond of saying, “We’re more than a
fan club, we’re family.” So when I discovered that due
to a scheduling snafu that I was stuck in Charlotte, North Carolina over the
New Year holiday—the other side of the continent from my home—I decided to see
if Third Fleet was having a party. Sure enough, HMS Kraken, based out of
Winston-Salem, NC, was holding a Change of Command ceremony for their incoming
executive officer… and it was less than a two hour drive away. Shooting off a
quick message to their captain, I was welcomed, and given the address for the
shindig.
Now I’ll admit I was a little
nervous—unlike the other ships in 3rd Fleet, I hadn’t met any of these spacers,
not even online—so I was coming to a party full of strangers with nothing more
than my reputation and my old HMS Condor hat. So I decided to remedy that and
arrive with a bottle of black rum, a case of Coca-Cola, and two tubes of
Pringles. As I discovered, I shouldn’t have worried. After asking permission to
board, Captain (SG) Mark Polanis welcomed me with
open arms, and gave me an honorary promotion to commodore (because you can’t
have more than one captain on a ship). The stewards put out an amazing spread
of homemade bread, cheeses, and desserts of all shapes and sizes. The lady of
the house, Ensign Tamara Massey, was very gracious and more than helpful in
introducing me to the rest of the crew.
Captain
Mark Polanis (white beret) reading out the BuShips order to his crew.
The party officially started with the
Change of Command ceremony, although I was already on my third Roman Coke by
that point, elevating Chris Carter to the rank of Commander as Executive
Officer on board the super dreadnaught. Carter shook hands with the outgoing
XO, Commander Joshua Bailey, who kept going out the door once the ceremony was
over. Then the drinking and conversations began in earnest. The Kraken was full
of interesting people, including one who had just joined the crew. Private
Craig Finley was the first Marine on their ship and Captain Polanis
was thrilled to have him, hoping to add a MarDet to
his ship’s compliment. Craig was a career sergeant in the US Army, now retired
and going back to school, with tons of fun stories… that I can’t repeat here.
I had an especially long conversation
with their chief engineer, Lieutenant Commander Darryl Hobbs, who currently
serves in the North Carolina National Guard, who was very excited to see me. We
discussed many ideas that he came up with that might help the association as a
whole. I also got to meet his lovely wife, Steward 1/c Cynthia Hobbs, and we
traded many fun stories about life, Army, and living in North Carolina. The
cold weather had knocked out their car engine, so they were stuck for the
night, whether they wanted to stay or not.
Me,
Lieutenant Commander Darryl Hobbs, and Steward 1/c Cynthia Hobbs after several
drinks.
It wasn’t the only casualty of the
night—the swarm of crew members had caused a breach in the toilet, leading it
to overflow. The engineers rushed quickly to fix the problem, with damage
control cleaning up the mess. Amazingly, the rope chairs brought in for the
event managed to take weight far beyond their structural guidelines. The new
executive officer seized the most comfortable seat and held it for the
remainder of the party; strangely, Captain Polanis
was too preoccupied with the beautiful women of the party to challenge his
authority.
We watched the ball drop in New York
City on the television and all cheered for the New Year. However, the party
didn’t stop at the Polanis household for another two
hours. Again, the captain was generous enough to let all those not sober enough
to drive to spend the night. I camped out on his couch and woke up before the
rest of the crew. I made sure to stay long enough to convey my thanks before making
the long trip back to Charlotte.
I wasn’t sure what I would find at the
beginning of that trip, but what I found was that Chief Coonradt
was right. Wherever there are spacers, there is community. Not only did I have
a great time with the crew of the Kraken, but I found friends where I never
expected them. I think their “insanity” matched mine. It makes me grateful to
be part of the Fleet!
.
The
captain of the Kraken
flanked by Chief Samantha Martin and Ensign Tamara Massey
Article
Copyright © 2015, Bureau of Communications, The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Official
Honor Harrington Fan Association, Inc.
CAPT (JG) Marcus Johnston, Director of Publications, BuComm.
All pictures used with permission or used in a way that qualifies as fair use
under US copyright law.