MISSING MOVEMENT is the Navy term for not being aboard ship when the ship gets underway. This, as you may have guessed is considered to be a major NO NO.
In 1983 I was stationed aboard USS Constellation CVA-64 the largest, at the time, ship in the Navy. We were getting under way and I was standing out on the port missile launcher sponson watching the intricacies of getting an eighty thousand ton ship under way. As we eased away from the dock one of my Missile Techs came running up to the ship as we were twenty feet or so away from North Island. We could hear him hollering “Oh shit, I’m screwed”.
After the special sea detail was secured we all went to our berthing compartment to shift into dungarees. My wayward guy was already there dressed in his working uniform. We all naturally inquired as to how he got to the ship while it was steaming away from Coronado Island.
He told us he was standing on the dock panting and while he was catching his breath a helicopter started spooling up. On the side of the chopper painted in big white letters was the words USS Constellation. He asked the pilot if he was going out o the ship and the pilot told him that indeed he was. Can I catch a ride out the MT asked and the pilot said he could, off they went.
I never much cared for life on a “Bird Farm” but occasionally there were a few benefits to be had.
Eight months later I ended up driving from San Diego to Seattle for New Construction to be part of the pre-commissioning crew of USS Waddell at Todd Shipyard . This was the beginning of the absolute best part of my eight years in the Navy. I was now a Tin Can Sailor and in the Real Navy.
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