 Maintaining a US Navy ship is a constant but necessary process and some of the maintenance can't be performed pierce side. Sometimes work needs to be done from top to bottom and what the Navy calls a dry dock period. The dry dock period really accomplishes two things. One, we can accomplish complex maintenance and upgrades that normally would not be possible while the ship is in the water. For example, you can't paint the rudders while they're underwater. Also, this allows the sailors to really open up their systems and get familiar with how they're put together and how they work. In order to go from dry dock to mission ready, these workers know teamwork is key. Everybody on this ship seems to understand why we need this. Mission ready is number one. We understand the Navy needs. Petty Officer Brian M. Brooks, Yacosca Naval Base, Japan.