NORFOLK, VA (WWAY) — Thousands of young men and women leave their homes behind to join the Navy, but what is it really like to serve at sea?
This week, WWAY’S Matt Bennett is taking off the tie and lacing up his boots to become a ‘Sailor for a Day.’
His first assignment on Tuesday was to be fitted for a US Navy uniform, after shaving of course.
He got to tour Naval Base Norfolk and check out an area known as Destroyer Alley.
After that he got to check out several training buildings. The first one featured a submarine simulator, where he actually got to get behind the controls and see what it was like to pilot a Los Angeles class submarine. He also got to watch a crew try to stop a submarine leak in another simulator.
“Then came the coolest part of the day,” Matt said. “I actually got to tour a real submarine, the USS New Hampshire. Its hard to appreciate just how tight the quarters are without experiencing it for yourself… but trust me… it’s tight. And that crew is deployed sometimes up to 90 days at a time.”
Matt got to see where the torpedoes are loaded and got to see how the ship is controlled and they actually use xbox controllers for some aspects of it!
Matt also interviewed some Sailors from NC about their experiences in the Navy.
We’ll have more from our Serving at Sea series each night this week on WWAY News.
The full stories and video will air during Navy Week, which is April 12.