Able Seaman at Military Sealift Command
Retired submariner discovers adventure and good pay with Military Sealift Command.
by Warren Duffie

After 20 years at sea, Michael Hales was glad to be on dry land. When the U.S. Navy submariner left the military in 2005, he took work as a driver at a Missouri lumber yard, later moving into the yard’s sales office.

“I hated the sales job, but I took it to provide for my family,” Hales said. “Then three weeks later, I received a call from Military Sealift Command. They had seen my résumé on a job Web site and wanted to interview me. I really missed the camaraderie of being part of a crew and the freedom of being at sea, so I agreed to an interview.”

On the Job
Hales, 42, is now much happier as a civil service mariner for Military Sealift Command (MSC), which provides fuel, food, ammunition, spare parts and other supplies to Navy ships at sea. The former senior chief is an able seaman aboard USNS Grapple, a 250-foot salvage ship and dive vessel with a 28-member crew. Armed with a salvage and recovery platform, the Grapple tows disabled ships, retrieves items from the sea floor and transports divers to recovery sites.

“We were recently sent to Wallops Island, along the coast of Virginia, to retrieve a rocket NASA had test fired,” Hales said. “That was a pretty cool experience.”

Like many of his crewmates, Hales works from 0800 to 2000. He splits his days between standing watch and acting as a helmsman (the crew member who steers the ship), and working in the deck department – ensuring the anchor, fire hoses and safety equipment function properly. Grapple is based in Portsmouth, Va., and spends four months at a time at sea.

“My wife makes it possible for me to do this,” Hales said. “She takes care of everything at home, so I don’t have to worry when I’m gone. One great thing about MSC is I can live wherever I want, as long as I report to my ship. After a four-month stint, I’m home for a month before going back out.”

Hales has performed his job so well that he earned two company awards: the 2008 Marine Employee of the Year and 2008 MSFSC Mariner Award of Excellence. He received honorary plaques and a prize of $2,500. Hales also was recently accredited as a 3rd Mate Unlimited by the U.S. Coast Guard, the entry position into the deck officer ranks.

The Company
MSC employs more than 8,000 people, both military and civilian. MSC is responsible for ocean transportation of military supplies and equipment, for providing platforms to support special at-sea missions and for logistics support to U.S. Navy ships. It offers a variety of employment opportunities both afloat and ashore – ranging from engineers and architects to civilian mariners.

During a war, more than 90 percent of the equipment, fuel and supplies needed to sustain the U.S. military is carried by sea. MSC ships are crewed by civilian mariners employed by companies contracted to operate the ships or civil service mariners like Hales, who are federal employees. MSC has been at the forefront of the global war on terrorism, delivering more than 92.3 million square feet of combat power and 9.7 billion gallons of fuel to U.S. war fighters worldwide since 2002.

MSC serves the U.S. military in four main ways:

1. Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force – These ships directly support Navy combatants, enabling the fleet to stay at sea, on station and combat ready. They replenish ships underway, providing food, fuel, spare parts and ammunition. NFAF also operates the Navy’s two hospital ships, each containing 12 operating rooms and a 1,000-bed hospital facility.
2. Special Mission Ships – These provide highly specialized ocean-going platforms for missions that include oceanographic and coastal surveying, ocean surveillance, missile-tracking, cable-laying and repair, and deep submergence recovery. Military and civilian scientists and technicians carry out the unique missions of these ships, which are operated by MSC employees and contract mariners.
3. Afloat Prepositioning Force – This allows U.S. military forces to deploy rapidly anywhere in the world to meet fast-breaking situations and emergencies. These ships, strategically prepositioned around the globe, are laden with equipment and supplies for the U.S. Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Navy, and Defense Logistics Agency.
4. Sealift Ships – These include government-owned and short- and long-term charter tankers and dry cargo ships that transport Department of Defense cargo during peacetime and war.