That right there is interesting. So there's a good chance somebody had to do paperwork for access? Even if whoever signed off on it got duped, I'm guessing that not verifying the job is gonna be a big ding for them.
So obviously Army and Navy probably have different procedures for going aloft, but they should be reasonably close: For like a "normal" going aloft, i.e. someone has to go up and do a particular thing, yes there will be a safety inspection, someone named as the safety, the person going aloft, and an OIC. We have a checklist in out SOP, and also it will be annotated in the logbook by the watch officer. i.e.
1515 PFC Snuffy aloft on main mast to fix the widget antenna/ 1535 PFC Snuffy reports antenna repaired, AN/PRC-1000 energized to test widget antenna repair/ 1536 PFC Snuffy irradiated, suffers second degree burns/ 1550 PFC Snuffy off main mast, medic prescribes water and 800mg motrin, AN/PRC-1000 tested and Fully Mission Capable/ 1600 PFC Snuffy's burns determined to be not service related due his failure to secure power to AN/PRC-1000 before going aloft per ship's SOP. Per the Nay Times however:
The Starlink dish was installed on the Manchster’s O-5 level weatherdeck during a “blanket” aloft period, which requires a sailor to hang high above or over the side of the ship.
During a “blanket” aloft, duties are not documented in the deck logs or the officer of the deck logs, according to the investigation.
A Blanket aloft is used when you have a bunch of stuff to do, by different departments, and you are getting it all done at once, and will be much less detailed. Each person should still have a safety watching them, but the log entry might be more like:
1515 Blanket aloft called, 8 personnel aloft on 05 deck, main mast, fore mast, and hanger top to replace multiple nav lights, recalibrate widget antennas, paint four rust spots, install upgraded whatsit antenna for EWS./ 1600 Blanket aloft secured, all sailors safely down, all maintenance reported as complete. We do that kind of thing because, as PFC Snuffy's tragic tale implies, you have to secure, and lock out/ tag out any system that radiates RF while people are aloft. It's a PITA on my little landing craft, I can only imagine it's a 30 min procedure between the Bridge and CIC on something like an LCS, even in port. So while you're shut down you try and get everything done aloft.
That said, the Navy Times article says they don't know who installed the antenna because the name was redacted. Which implies the Navy knows damn well who it was. and since they don't appear to be in trouble, I'm going to assume it was some poor Electronics Warfare E4 whose Chief along with the ship's CMC came to and said, "Hey, go up and put this on the 05, and run the wire through the spare through-deck fitting. Don't worry about where it goes."
