The Sailors in the ship's laundry room work tirelessly to ensure the Sailors aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) have clean uniforms to wear while on deployment.

Laundry is owned by USS George H.W. Bush (GHWB's) supply department, and the personnel who operate it are on temporarily assigned duty (TAD) from other departments and divisions for a period historically known as food/logistics service attendant (FSA).

"I've been working down here about two weeks," said Electronics Technician 3rd Class Maria Diaz. "I'm originally from combat systems, CS-32. Basically, we pick up the laundry, wash it, dry it, and bag it. It's pretty straight forward work."

Diaz described some of the duties she carries out while working in
laundry.

"We take in a lot of bags every day, and we have a night shift as well, so they take in plenty, too," said Diaz. "Because we take in so many bags, we have to keep the loads organized. Ideally, we keep it one bag to a cart, though we can mix everything together with chiefs' laundry because all their stuff is stenciled and easy to collect and put back."

Handling the clothing of more than 4,500 Sailors is a big job, so
GHWB's laundry room uses massive, industrial-sized machines to
wash, dry and press the loads.

"Each washer has three slots which rotate out so we can fit more
in," said Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) Airman Tatiana Parraguevara. "Each slot can hold up to 32 pounds, and that's just on this machine. The bigger machines can hold up to 66 pounds. We also have smaller, home-sized machines for VIP's, O-5 and above, and master chiefs."

Parraguevara said it was her second time working in laundry, but
she enjoyed it and accepted the assignment willingly.

"I've been down here about four months," said Parraguevara. "We
don't have enough people in my division, so we have to rotate them
out. But I like it down here, so I volunteered to get extended."

Because the majority of the Sailors who work in ship's service
laundry are TAD from other divisions, Ship's Serviceman 2nd Class Desmond L. Mays, the dayshift supervisor, said that they should be recognized for their hard work.

"In my opinion, the logistics service attendants don't get enough
credit for their work. They get sent to do something that isn't their primary job, and they're expected to give 110%. My guys down here work long and hard in black flag temperatures, and they deserve some recognition for that," said Mays.

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