At the time this blog is posted, most people in the United States are busy readying themselves for a well-deserved evening of revelry ringing in the New Year.

They are free to do so, in large part, because of our Sailors who protecting the homeland and preserving America’s strategic influence around the world.

Ens. Lauren Larar is one of them.

She’s serving aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85), which has already crossed into 2019 in the East China Sea. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer McCampbell is forward-deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region:

Steaming alone over waters no trouble,
McCAMPBELL is ready to fight on the double.
With lights burning brightly above on the mast,
All engines standard, 16 knots going fast.
We cut through the waters below deep and blue,
Our course is 200, degrees true.
Our position is in the sea to the east.
Our stomachs are full from the grand midrats feast.
1 alpha, 2 bravo are turning each shaft,
Alpha power units move rudders back aft.
Numbers . . .  and . . .  are the paralleled GTGs
Material Condition is Modified Z.
Computer assisted manual is the steering mode,
So we can maneuver per Rules of the Road.
CO’s in her chair, she’s up on the Bridge,
We’re still left of track, we’ll come right just a smidge.
TAO down in Combat, monitoring aircraft and chats,
And EOOW in Central, stay vigilant Hellcats!
The year that’s behind us was challenging, yes, indeed,
But Ready 85 will always succeed.
We’re mighty, we’re strong, we cannot be rattled
In the year that’s to come we’ll stay RELENTLESS IN BATTLE!

Editor’s note: Learn about the Navy’s tradition of the New Year’s Day Deck Log on Naval History and Heritage Command’s blog.

http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/12/31/uss-mccampbell-welcomes-2019/ U.S. Navy