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An up close and personal interview with U.S. Navy Veteran and Togetherweserved.com Member:
LCDR Robert E. Smith U.S. Navy Reserves (Ret) (1957-1978)
PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY?
 Two cousins, brothers, who joined the Navy during the Korean War had the greatest influence. Their father was career Army and stationed in Germany at the time, therefore both cousins would hitchhike from San Diego to visit us in El Paso where my career Army father was stationed at Ft Bliss. I was 13 and 14 at the time and thought it was pretty cool that my sailor cousins would take me out with them during the day. But I couldn't convince them to do so at night. Then several years later, at age 17, I was told about the Naval Reserve, and being still in high school thought it would be "the thing" to enlist. Besides, at the time I was still pretty shy around girls and thought this might be the key to impressing the girls.I joined the Naval Reserves two months after turning 17, in April 1957. That summer, between the 11th and 12th grades, I went to two weeks "boot camp" and returned home a week before starting the 12th grade. My shyness towards girls was gone! Also, being 17, I knew it all, took the high school GED, dropped out of high school and joined the regular Navy in January 1958 as a High School Hospital Recruit (HSHR).
WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?
I was a Hospitalman Appretice (E2) out of recruit training but with nine months prior service in the Naval Reserve I was promoted to Hospitalman (E3), in May 1958, after one month while attending Hospital Corps School in San Diego. Although I had visions of going to Japan or some other exotic duty station out of Hospital Corps School, where am I stationed...NATTC, Norman, Oklahoma! When the base closed in June 1959 I attended Blood Bank and Laboratory Technique School at Bethesda, Maryland June 1959 - September 1960. Since I was on a minority enlistment, I had to extend two years to get the school. After Blood Bank and Lab School I spent the next 14 months at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia, where I was promoted to HM2, having taken the exam while in lab school.
I was at the U.S. Navy Hospital, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba when the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted and nearing the end of my two year extension for lab school. However, my enlistment was extended another "one year or the duration." I believed the latter would be the case and decided to reenlist. I made HM1 just before leaving Gitmo for AFEES, Kansas City, Missouri. While at the AFEES station in Kansas City, Missouri I applied for the in-service procurement program for Medical Service Corps, beginning the one year plus process in 1964. I was commissioned as Ensign, Medical Service Corps in December 1965. After orientation and Naval Justice School at Newport, Rhode Island January - April 1966 I was transferred to the Naval Hospital, Charleston, South Carolina. I reported for duty 14 April 1966. In late 1966 I applied for training to become a Hospital Foodservice Officer. I was assigned DUINS to the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University from June 1967 to June 1969. I served as a hospital foodservice officer from June 1969 to July 1974 at Naval Regional Medical Center, Camp Pendleton, California, and July 1974 to when I retired 1 May 1978 at Naval Regional Medical Center, San Diego, California.
IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN COMBAT, PEACEKEEPING OR HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH WERE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TO YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY.
Whereas the Cuban Missile Crisis was not supposed to be a "shooting war" there certainly was plenty of action regardless. I was a HM2 stationed aboard the U.S. Navy Hospital at Gitmo. My wife being eight months pregnant was supposed to have flown out, however she was evacuated aboard the USS Upshur.  Of course at the time I thought she had flown out, and did not know different for about a month. My NEGDF (Naval Emergency Ground Defense Force) assignment was with a forward first aid team supporting Marines. The evening President Kennedy addressed the nation we were listening in bunkers. After the President's talk live ammunition was passed out which was quite sobering. Then the Gunny said, "Remember, it's not the bullet with your name on it that gets you, it's the one that says 'To whom concerned.' We treated Army Special Forces that went over the fence and returned, and several Marines that were caught in our own mine field. At least in my sector we had no other casualties, thank goodness.
OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH ONE WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
 My fondest memories are of Camp Pendleton, California. I was fresh out of Cornell, a brand new hospital food service officer when I reported for duty in 1969. A new, replacement, hospital was to be built at Camp Pendleton to replace the WW2 temporary wooden structure which was spread out in H shaped segments. This design had been to minimize damage in the event of enemy bombing during WW2. I became the BuMed designated hospital foodservice "consultant." The civilian foodservice design contractor withdrew from the project following my questions and criticisms during my first meeting with the design team at which meeting were the hospital CO and department heads, project CEC officer, general hospital design and architectural firm and a host of other personnel both navy and civilian. The design of the replacement hospital had been well underway before I arrived for duty and I was the newcomer.
The Head of Hospital Foodservice at BuMed had recommended that I take as many food facilities design courses at Cornell as I could. I took practically every such course available. Also, I had taken the required hotel engineering courses. I felt confident I was up to the job. I was at Camp Pendleton for five years, being transferred just about a month before the new hospital opened in 1974. During that time I designed and saw the new hospital foodservice come to life. Also, I was the manager of the only Navy Commissioned Officers Club (Open) aboard a Marine Corps base. I successfully fought a Navy and Marine Corps audit team bent on closing the Club to consolidate it within the existing officer club system on base. I successfully applied for a loan from the Navy's club system with which the club was completely refurbished in the motif of a Southern California hacienda. The loan was paid back in a manner of several years!
I persuaded local civilian artists to paint murals in the old hospital dining rooms, changing the scenery about every 18 months. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were grand feasts, buffet style, with carving stations. Brick ovens in the dining rooms were built by the hospital's maintenance department, for fresh hot breads and desserts. My hospital foodservice Navy Birthday celebration photographs were on the covers of BuMed's publication "U.S. Navy Medicine" for October 1973 and 1974, each for the year before, i.e. 1972 and 1973. I can't say I have a least favorite. If pushed I would say my last duty station was my least favorite but only because it is the one where I retired from the Navy. In retrospect I wish I had stayed 30 years. But hindsight is always, or most always, 20-20.
FROM YOUR ENTIRE SERVICE, INCLUDING COMBAT, DESCRIBE THE PERSONAL MEMORIES WHICH HAVE IMPACTED YOU MOST?
 At Naval Hospital, Charleston. I was the junior of junior Ensigns, working 12 - 14 hour days. I thought I got every little cruddy job, from investigations, to audit teams, to security details, to shepherding newly commissioned Medical Corps Officers to NEX to be fitted for their uniforms, to representing officers and enlisted before the Physical Evaluation Board, and a host of other collateral duties seeming to conflict with one another and all begging my undivided attention. At the same time I was in an orientation program through every administrative department in the hospital. All this stress came into perfect perspective with one incident. A particular Lieutenant Commander was my mentor, and at the time I considered him a tyrant. That is until one morning I decided I had had enough. I knocked on his office door, entering at his "Come." I asked if I could talk to him as an officer to an officer, not as a junior to a senior. With his permission to do so I told him I considered his behavior towards me to be without respect for my commission and furthermore I felt he should at least treat me as a fellow officer, howbeit a junior fellow officer. I don't remember just what else I may have said, but I'm sure I let it all out. I was astounded by his reply, "Ed, I was wondering when you would have the backbone to speak to me like that." Wow, he called me Ed, not Ensign Smith or Mr. Smith. From that point on I had no problem working those long days. I knew it was for my own good to learn as much as I could.
WHAT ACHIEVEMENT(S) ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR MILITARY CAREER?
I've several, perhaps a few more than several, milestones or events in my Navy career that have a special meaning to me, representing either a particular achievement or perhaps just a passing incident that has continued to give me a fond memory. I made HM1 in the fall of 1963 just before my rotation from USNH Guantanamo to the AFEES (Armed Forces Examination and Entrance Station) in Kansas City. In and of itself, this may not seem so extraordinary except that very few HM1s, only ten if memory serves me well, were made in the Navy in that advancement cycle. How do I remember this? I had already read in the Navy Times how many HM1s would be made in that cycle, therefore I had resigned myself to leaving Gitmo as a HM2. I was in the microbiology lab, reading petri plates, when the Chief from Personnel walked in. Approaching me all he said was, "Smith, you made HM1." I about fell off the raised stool I was perched on, literally. I had to take one foot off the rung where my feet were resting and place it on the deck to regain my balance. I reported in to Main Navy Recruiting, Kansas City as a HM1!
 My tour of duty in Kansas City is when I was selected for promotion to Ensign, Medical Service Corps from enlisted status. Although Main Navy Recruiting held my service record and I was paid via Main Navy Recruiting, I worked for the Army who ran the AFEES station. The AFEES station was commanded by an Army Major, Artillery. This Major did not particularly care for me as each time I had the duty as CQ (Charge of Quarters), about every six weeks on a weekend, I would be in his office the following Monday morning asking why I was the only E-6 standing duty. None of the Army E-6s stood duty. He always gave nebulous answers, none to my satisfaction. After about five or six months an Army E-7 visited me to say the Major says next time you complain to him, he will write you up as insubordinate. This really hacked me off.
Coincidentally, just previous to this, I had been asked by the HMC at Main Navy Recruiting to visit him as he had a visitor he wanted me to meet. I met with a Lieutenant Commander, Medical Service Corps (MSC), who was touring Navy recruiting districts promoting procurement of qualified college graduates as MSC healthcare scientists and clinical care providers. He was a mustang officer, having previously been an enlisted hospital corpsman, who gained his commission via the Medical Service Corps Inservice Procurement Program. The Commander reviewed my service record, saying I really had done little to prepare myself for the MSC inservice program. To tell the truth,  I had never heard of the program. However, after spending over an hour being coached by the Chief and the Commander, I left that meeting not only inspired but determined to make it. Perhaps, unwittingly, the Major helped, too. Just a little over a year later, having passed the Officer Selection Battery, then a two day written professional exam, I was notified via Main Navy Recruiting I had been selected . All my late night and early morning study, Navy correspondence courses and college courses, paid off. I was commissioned in December 1965 as Ensign, Medical Service Corps, U. S. Navy, while maintaining my permanent enlisted status. A side note here...I made HMCS before becoming a permanent officer, losing my permanent enlisted status.
I didn't keep it a secret, I just told very few at the AFEES station, and I did not talk about it with the very few I did tell, such as the Navy Chief at the AFEES station. I wanted it to be one big surprise when I did leave, especially to the Army personnel. That Major? At 0800 on 13 December 1965 I was administered my oath of office by the skipper of Main Navy Recruiting, Commander Pine, who was a Naval Aviator. Upon commissioning, Commander Pine immediately tried to get me to apply for flight training. I politely declined. I picked up my records, having been detached and officially now enroute to Newport, Rhode Island, for officer indoctrination and justice school. I drove to the AFEES station for a farewell visit to my shipmates there.
I parked in the reserved parking area for officer and enlisted recruiters. It just so happened that the Major was also parking. I was perhaps six or seven car spots away from him. I quickly got out of my car, put on my dress blue coat with that proud gold ensign stripe and positioned my cover, then walked to his car. He was just walking away from his car as I approached. I saluted. His words were something to the effect, "Smith, you know better than to park in this reserved area." As I held my salute I said, "Sir, it is obvious you do not recognize a Navy officer when you see one!" He returned my salute, never saying a word as he walked away.
An Army PFC got my crisp dollar bill for being the first to salute me as a new officer. He was coming out of the AFEES building to run the U. S. colors up as I approached the entrance. I had to explain to him about this tradition. I did NOT give him a silver dollar, for those of you who are die-hard traditionalists, sorry.  Although previously mentioned, my five years at Camp Pendleton was a professional milestone in that I became, essentially, the hospital foodservice design consultant on behalf of BuMed, staying on the project from design through construction, being detached a matter of months prior to commissioning of the new hospital facility.
I assumed my new, and last, position as Chief, Nutrition and Foodservice Division at NRMC, San Diego in June 1974. While at NRMC, San Diego, I reduced my staff from about 200 civil service employees to 142, with a corresponding reduction in supervisory layering. My fitness report for this period says, in part, "... He has reduced the food service workforce nearly 30% with a corresponding decrease in supervisory layering. He has also made significant monetary savings in holiday labor costs by careful scheduling of personnel. He is respected by his employees as an excellent personnel manager. During this period, he developed an upward mobility program for dietary technicians and provided vocational training through affiliations with local agencies." Interestingly, a reasonably strong and active labor union was present at this command. Present in my division were every union official except the local's president. Figuratively speaking, I could not sneeze without the union taking notice with some resulting action. Many, if not most, civilian employee actions, disciplinary, promotion, or otherwise, met with a visit from the local's president if not a formal grievance. It seemed common place for my name to be mentioned in the local news in conjunction with some union activity at NRMC, San Diego. Ironically, just before I retired in May, 1978, the union awarded me with their Humanitarian of the Year Award. Finally I have to pay tribute to my Father, CWO F. H. Smith, U.S. Army Retired (Deceased). His service example caused me and my three siblings to serve nearly a combined total of 60 years in the armed forces. A younger brother retired from the Army with 23 years, being a mustang officer like myself. Another younger brother served six years in the Navy. My younger sister served eight years in the Army. And, it was Dad's occupation in the Army that influenced me to become a hospital foodservice officer. When he retired he was the foodservice officer at the recruit training command, Ft Bliss, Texas.
OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, QUALIFICATION BADGES OR DEVICES YOU RECEIVED, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE ONE(S) MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
Navy Good Conduct, twice. Only mustang officers had the Navy Good Conduct. It meant almost instant rapport with your enlisted men.
WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
 CDR Ernest J. Irvin, MSC, USN. He was a POW in Japan, captured as a PHM2 on Bataan at the outset of WW2. He retired as a full commander. He is the officer where I earlier described the personal memories having the most impact. At the time, in Charleston, I was unaware of him being a POW. He was always a perfect "Officer and a Gentleman" in every sense of the phrase. His manners were without equal. His uniform looked as if he just stepped out of a tailor shop or from the page of a catalog. I was always Ensign Smith or Mr. Smith before enlisted and officers alike, however when just the two of us, I became Ed or Smitty. Although our personal relationship had changed, he was as demanding as before. He remained my mentor for four or five years, always willing to help, never compromising his standards.
CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
January 1966, during Officer Indoctrination at Newport, Rhode Island. It was bitter cold. Four of us newly commissioned Ensigns walked to the Officers' Club for lunch. We were full of ourselves. Remember, just a matter of perhaps four to six weeks prior, we were E-6s or E-7s. We entered the club, removed our bridge coats, scarves, and gloves, hanging them along the wall with our hats placed on the shelf above.  We pushed through the double doors, entering the dining room. We seated ourselves, placing our starched white napkins in our laps. We continued our animated conversation. A steward came over to our table, and leaning low, he spoke in a lowered voice, "Gentlemen, keep your seats. We will serve you this time. However, you are in the senior officers' dining room." As we overcame our shock and looked around, we saw more gold braid on one sleeve than we four ensigns had amongst us. Needless to say we spoke not another word except to order our food. We hurriedly ate and left. That had to be the most uncomfortable meal ever eaten.
WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
I retired from the Navy 1 May 1978. I had finished my Masters in 1974. I accepted a position as an assistant professor at the University of Alabama, essentially teaching what I had been doing in the Navy. I taught the management block to students studying to become registered dietitians. However, I missed Texas, having left there when I joined the regular Navy in January 1958. I left Alabama after three years, in 1982, accepting a position with the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. I again was a department head over nutrition and foodservice. I must still have had the desire to see the world. I accepted a position at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, beginning in June 1984. The facility was under construction, scheduled to open the summer of 1986. My job was to purchase all department equipment, and to hire and train the managers for the nutrition and  food service department, including my Pakistani replacement. I successfully negotiated a training program with the Pakistan Institute of Tourism for supervisors and one for department employees. Additionally, I worked with a British friend who was the director of hospital nutrition and food services for the Nottingham Health Authority. I sent my eight managers, one a month, to him for a one month training program. Of course that meant I had to frequently visit in Nottingham, England to ensure those managers were applying themselves. After Pakistan I completed my doctorate and went back to teaching. I was dean of a program for a short time. Now I'm retired retired but still have more than enough to keep busy with my family history and genealogy endeavors. Besides, living on 8 acres with five donkeys, 12 geese, several goats, and seasonal ducks and other visiting fowl sometimes seems an occupation unto itself, although a very satisfying "occupation."
WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?
Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). MOAA keeps me abreast of those many issues affecting active duty and retired alike, and gives me the knowledge to be able to write meaningful letters to my congressional representative and U. S. senators.
IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER?
Don't be complacent about anything, especially taking care of yourself, your family (shipmates included), and your country. Be proactive. Don't rest on your laurels. Make timely decisions, including those difficult decisions. Don't procrastinate. Take the moral high ground in all things, even though it may mean going "against the grain."
BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE NAVY?
 Keep squared away. Listen to your leading petty officers, especially the Chief. Take advantage of any and all applicable educational opportunities available via the Navy. Since Navy schools and educational opportunities have certainly changed since I was in, I am of the opinion that educational opportunities are so much more convenient now. Whether you stay in the Navy or not, prepare for your future. Take advantage of what the Navy has to offer. You can only be richly rewarded. I obtained my Bachelors, two years DUINS at Cornell University, courtesy of the Navy. I finished my Masters at San Diego State University with tuition assistance while in the Navy, and my doctorate using the GI bill after I retired.
IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.
Many memories had not surfaced until I began to answer these questions for Service Reflections. I thought of shipmates of many years ago, like HMC Schmidt who was my Leading Chief in 1970-73 when I was the hospital food service officer at NRMC Camp Pendleton. I used the internet and found him. Unfortunately it was his obituary, he died in 2005. So sad. However, there have been successful contacts. HM3 Brach and I went to Class C school together. I found him, again with the internet. We've had a grand time catching up. He served his enlistment and got out. He worked with the FBI for some 30 odd years. Others have been located, some already dead, others very much alive. I should have been doing Service Reflections many years ago, before so many shipmates had passed on.
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