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An up close and personal interview with U.S. Navy Veteran and Togetherweserved.com Member:
CDR Robert Pickett U.S. Navy (Ret) (1968-1992)
PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY?
I was born in 1949 and grew up in the 50s and 60s. My Dad, my Uncle, and the dads of all my friends had been in World War II and my brothers and I grew up hearing the stories, idolizing those heroes, and looking forward to the time when
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| My Dad and My Hero |
we could do the same. I was the oldest, so when I graduated high school in 1967, I went down to the Army recruiter to join up. I had done well in school, so I aced all the tests, and the recruiter said I could have anything I wanted. I was 18, and could have signed the papers right them, but I was worried about what my Mom would say, the Vietnam War was going on, and I still feared my Dad, so I just took the papers home to show them what I wanted to do. My Mom was upset, and she talked to my Dad in private. Then my Dad took me into the back yard and we sat down to talk. He said he did not want me to do this, and I was confused. I expected him to be proud of me and cheer me on, but he and his brother, my Uncle, had been through the war and knew what it was like. My Dad had taught me and my brothers hunting, fishing, shooting, camping, hiking, even stealth and camouflage, so we thought we were going the be the best soldiers ever, but we did not really know what war was about. We had seen the movies, and heard the stories and we were ready to go kill a commie for mommy, but of course, my Dad knew the real story. I expressed my confusion and my desire to be like him and do my part as a citizen of our great country. It went back and forth, but my Dad continued to insist that I did not know what I was doing, and he did not want me to do this. He actually got tears in his eyes. Now my Dad was fifth generation Texan, from the 1840s. His ancestors came over in the 1600s and fought in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. He had done some rodeo and boxing before he went to war, so I was shocked. I have never met or heard anybody who said they ever saw my Dad cry. Finally, I said to him, but Dad, I cannot just sit here and let somebody else do my fighting. You did, and I feel I should, too. Then he said, Well, join the Navy. And so I did.
Now I do not mean this to disparage the Navy. In my time, I have known combat veterans in Aircrew, in the Seals, Corpsmen, CTs, and Riverine and I am proud of my Navy, and the men and women I have served with. I had really just picked the Army at first because that seemed the normal thing to do.
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?
When I talked to the Navy recruiter, he said they had filled all their quotas because the draft was on and guys were joining the Navy to avoid the Army, and so he could not guarantee me anything. He said I could join and go to boot camp, but then
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| Me and My Daughter |
they would decide where to send me after that. That did not sound good to me, so I asked around. An older friend of mine, a year or two older, was home on leave and he was an Aviation Ordnanceman on the USS Ranger. He said that was BS and said I should go to the nearby Naval Air Station, NAS, and talk to them. I did and they were glad to get another aviation recruit. That is, after they finished laughing. You see, being the dumb kid that I was, when they asked me what I wanted to do in the Navy, I said that I wanted to be a pilot. Well, after they finished laughing, they explained to me that while the regular Navy may have been full up, with the air war going on, they needed more aviation types. In fact, they needed more than the normal boot camps could handle, so they sent me to a special abbreviated two-week aviation boot camp at the NAS. I know that sounds crazy, and a lot of guys I knew in the Navy said they never heard of that, but during the war, there were several of these special boot camps at the various air stations around the country, just to get bodies on the carriers.
Anyway, while in boot camp, as each of us was interviewed to place us in a rate, they told me that they wanted me to go immediately into the reserves after boot camp, and then go to college so that I could go to Aviation Officer Candidate School, AOCS, when I graduated. Because of the war, they needed pilots, and they thought that my good grades in high school meant that I could do well in college and get my degree. So, now the idea of being a pilot seemed real again, and that is what I did.
A two-week boot camp was pretty easy, but after the long hours and standing fire watch in the middle of the night, I can say that I learned to sleep standing up, and I was not the only one. I also want to say that every morning in boot camp, after PT and breakfast, we had a formation and inspection before the flag pole before morning colors. To this day, one of my favorite memories of the Navy was standing there for morning colors. I remember the bugle call note for note, and I loved watching the Marines hoist the colors to the sound of morning colors.
 After boot camp, as everybody else was off to a carrier, I reported for reserve Active Duty Training, ACDUTRA, for a few weeks, where I worked in an office typing. I had typing in high school, and they needed typists. Then I went to college in the fall and did reserve drills once a month and ACDUTRA in the summers until I graduated in 1972. During this time, I took Russian for my foreign language at college on the instructions of the Navy and I became a jet mechanic, ADJ in the reserves. I really did not like college, but I got through it. I actually enjoyed my time as a jet mechanic. I liked the work and the people. I look back and think it was one of my favorite jobs of my entire life. I was a good sailor. I got good marks, was well-liked and the Navy liked my work. I was promoted to second class, ADJ-2, E-5, in the four years before I graduated. I worked on the line in an F-8 squadron and in the Intermediate Maintenance Activity, IMA, rebuilding engines. An interesting side note, my first Master Chief was named Strittmatter and he was a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack, an interesting man and a great Chief. Also, I got married in 1971.
When I graduated in May of 1972, I reported to AOCS at NAS Pensacola with two of my classmates from college, Bill Walters, who became an American Airlines pilot, and Dwayne Currie, who became a successful engineer and who still keeps in touch. It was sort of like a long boot camp, and it was hard, but it is something I look back on as a good memory, at least most of the time, and my wife and I loved Pensacola. During the last few weeks of AOCS, we began pilot training in the Beechcraft T-34B at VT-1 at NAS Saufley in the Pensacola area. I started off slow, but I ended up doing well, and was selected for jet pilot training.
When we completed T-34B training and were commissioned as Ensigns, we were transferred to VT-19 at NAS Meridian, Mississippi, flying the T-2A and T-2B. This is one of my favorite memories, and my only regret is that I spent too much time worrying, when I wish I had enjoyed our time there more. I guess that is a life lesson. Because the Navy was changing flight training to generate more pilots for the war, we were transferred to VT-23 at NAS Kingsville,  Texas and the T-2C after I soloed in the jet. There we completed Basic Jet Training and transitioned to VT-22 and the TA-4J. The flying just kept getting better. It was the best thing for a 23-24-year-old punk. Great flying, good people and fine parties. But then President Nixon ended the war in early 1973 and the Navy scrapped carriers, airplanes and squadrons. By the time I got my wings in September 1973, I was told thanks but no thanks. I was not needed. I managed to beg my way back into VT-23 as an instructor for a short time, but then I was transferred to the Naval Security Group, NSG, never to fly again. I was one of the lucky ones. I had classmates who were assigned as permanent OOD in the Canal Zone and California until their commitment was up and they could get out of the Navy.
In NSG, we got to spend a year on the Monterey Peninsula at Russian school. The Navy made a mistake. I already had Russian in college, but they sent me to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. It was wonderful. While the Navy flunked out about half of the students in Russian, it is hard, it was a breeze for me and my wife and children were able to enjoy the sites and treats in Monterey and vicinity. Then we were transferred to Misawa Japan where I was an OIC of special teams on ship, submarines and airplanes. This was a great job, one of the best in the Navy. It was fun and the people were among the best and smartest in the Navy, and we were playing with the Russians!
Alas, I was a much better enlisted man than an officer, and I still had a lot of bitterness from losing my chance to fly. After my tour in Japan, I transferred back into the reserves in 1979. I drilled in the reserves as an intelligence officer and retired from the Naval Reserve with 24 years as a Commander, O-5, in 1992.
IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN ANY MILITARY OPERATIONS, INCLUDING COMBAT, HUMANITARIAN AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH WERE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TO YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY.
I was in during the Vietnam War, but never got close to VietNam. In the seventies, I was involved in Cold War operations in the Pacific. Stationed out of Misawa Japan, I was aboard submarines for operations in the Northern Pacific. Once we broke or bent our periscope when we
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| At Sea for Freedom of the Seas |
hit a growler coming up to periscope depth and had to pull into Adak where a tiger team pulled and replaced our periscope. Another time, the Russians reported that they attacked us and my wife, and the wives of the other team members, got the visit from the CO and his wife and the chaplain and his wife who reported that we were Missing in Action. Our submarine was never in any danger, the Russians were bragging, but we got the SUB MISS message and had to report in within the time limit. The problem was that the mighty bureaucracy took a couple of days to get the word back to Misawa. Another time I was on a Freedom of the Seas operation in the Sea of Okhotsk, and another time I was on a EP-3C mission when the North Koreans came after us and we had to hightail it toward the Soviet Union and the Russians actually sent fighters up to protect us. It was all in fun. We were told that our enlisted ratings, the CTs, had the highest reenlistment rate in the Navy at that time, and that is why. We actually had fun and enjoyed our work.
OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH ONE WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
Flying was a kick and my wife and I loved Pensacola, Florida and Meridian, Mississippi. Wow! We got to land on an aircraft carrier, dog fight, blow up old cars and trucks with bombs and strafing. Strafing is just like John Wayne in the movies. Even formation flying, flying in
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| Great Team |
the clouds and at night and instrument approaches were a lot of fun, but the memories are tainted by the fact that I never got to fly in the real world. Compared to real Navy pilots, I feel like it was just a dream or a fantasy, like I am just pretending. I was just a student, never a real fleet pilot, and this was my least favorite experience.
Our time in Monterey, California was like a paid vacation for a year. Russian class was easy for me and there is so much to see and do in Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel and Pebble Beach. They had a Navy sailing club in the marina, and I spent many days sailing small sloops, 25 to 30 feet in the beautiful bay. The only time my father-in-law was impressed with anything I ever did was one day sailing on the bay with 30 foot swells. As we went down into a swell, we actually lost sight of the masts of other sail boats. The swells were that big. It was a fun day of sailing.
Overall, I think I would say that our three years in Misawa, Japan have the fondest memories. Although, my wife says she was there three years. I was there eleven months because of my deployments. That part of Japan is rural and beautiful, with little villages on the ocean, in the forests and in the mountains. Life off duty was like an exotic vacation. On duty, it was my favorite experience. There were problems and bad things, of course, but the Navy men and women were the best people I have ever known anywhere in my life. Even watch standing was an inspiration with many fun times because of the people. I feel sorry for people who have never been able to know and work with the kinds of people I got to be with, and when we deployed to serve the fleet on ships and aircraft, we were doing real world operations against real Soviet units. It was like grownups playing war. It had the excitement and fun of war without any of the death and destruction, and we called in ports like Yokosuka, Pearl Harbor, Guam, the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, Australia and Thailand. Our children were little then and loved the forest, the snow, and even the schools.
FROM YOUR ENTIRE SERVICE, INCLUDING COMBAT, DESCRIBE THE PERSONAL MEMORIES WHICH HAVE IMPACTED YOU MOST?
Without a doubt, my 24 years in the Navy and Naval Reserve have made me the person I am, good and bad. When compared with my experiences in the Navy, nothing in my civilian life, aside from my family, has had any impact whatsoever. I love my country, its people, even the bad ones, and the military, especially the Navy. Except for time with my family, I feel like the only time I was doing anything worthwhile was when I was on duty. I certainly did not do a great job, or even a good job sometimes, but at least I was trying and I was contributing to something good.
WHAT ACHIEVEMENT(S) ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR MILITARY CAREER? IF YOU RECEIVED ANY MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS OR QUALIFICATION BADGES FOR SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT OR VALOR, PLEASE DESCRIBE HOW THESE WERE EARNED.
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| Got my Wings of Gold |
Objectively speaking, I personally accomplished very little in my 24 years. I was a part of some things, but nothing I feel I could claim as my accomplishment.
Subjectively speaking, I made it to ADJ2, E-5 in less than four years, and the Navy liked my work and it was fun, but I never did anything more than my duty.
I did get my wings, and I won awards and the highest marks in flying and ground school, but that is tempered by the fact that in the end, it amounted to nothing.
I was a better enlisted man than an officer, but I did have some enlisted pay me compliments, and I am proud of that, but it may have been only flattery.
I did survive strenuous operations at sea, but then I was only doing my duty.
I did manage to make it to Commander, O-5, but then that was in the Naval Reserve. I do not think that would have happened if I had done 24 years on active duty.
OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR ANY OTHER MEMORABILIA, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH ARE THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
I think the badge that has the most meaning for me is my wings, just because of all the hard work that went into it, and the fact that very few people could have done it and have done it.
My Navy Achievement Medal, in my mind, is for all the
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| A ship I was on |
hard work I put in, not just the specific incident mentioned in the citation. As is true with most Navy men and women, there were lots of things I did that were never recognized, and a few screw-ups, too that, thank God, were never discovered.
The Navy and Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal means a lot to me even though its award is a little political. The medal supposedly is awarded for combat operations on foreign soil, but I was never technically in combat operations on foreign soil. You see, submariners do things no one else in the Navy or in the world does, and everything they do is classified and never publicized, so they are always being cheated out of awards and honors regularly bestowed on aviation and surface types whose actions are not as secret, and often even shown on CNN. It is no problem showering them with honors and awards because the whole world has seen them on TV, or in books or in the movies, but what the submariners do remains unknown, even to most people at the highest levels of the Navy and government. For instance, they said at the time, that the stuff we did on our missions was known by less than 1000 people in the entire world, and I bet that is not far off. So, the Navy decided to award the Expeditionary Medal for operations in support of the fleet commander to submariners without spelling out exactly what they did. The medal means something to me because of that, and it gets me into the VFW. I do not claim to be in the same light as those Army and Marines sleeping in the mud and eating in the rain while being shot at and killed, but I know I did something for my country that a lot of others have not or even would not.
WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
Let me start by apologizing to all those men and women, living and dead, who should be listed here. My memory is not as good as it used to be and I am not omitting you on purpose.
The first person that comes to mind in CTIC Sam Garrison, deceased. He
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| This is GySgt Watkins |
was a mentor to literally hundreds of sailors and officers. He certainly taught me a lot. I have never talked to anybody in the security group at that time who did not know him personally or had heard of him.
There was my first Master Chief, Chief Strittmatter who was a great man and a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Gunnery Sergeant Watkins at AOCS was a real hero with a chest full of medals and a superman to me. One morning at reveille, 0530 as I remember, we were all outside the barracks formed up for morning PT (Physical Training), half asleep until GySgt Watkins appeared. He was our class drill instructor, but it was a little unusual for him to be at morning PT, so we all were immediately awake and ready for something. He stood there for a moment, wearing his Smokey the Bear hat, his boots, the ever present cigar in his mouth, and his riding crop in his hand.
Now I do not know anyone who actually liked their drill instructor, and Gunnery Sergeant Watkins was no exception. He was tough, imposing, almost frightening, and it always seemed that we had to do more and work harder and sweat more when he was leading our class. Yet, somehow we respected this guy. He had a way with a unit, too. When he called cadence, even the slugs could keep in step. He knew all the tricks to make you look good during close order drill and the manual of arms. There was a special parade every Friday when the oldest class was commissioned and lots of visitors were present. Each class was graded and we competed to see which class would win the parade. He was not at every parade, but we won EVERY SINGLE parade when he was leading our class. The other drill instructors complained that it wasn't fair for him to lead a class, because no one else had a chance. We also won Honor Battalion because of him.
Back to that morning, after a moment to make sure we all saw him, he bellowed for another class, not ours, to fall in on the road. He called right face, quick time march, double time march, one two three, all in a couple of seconds, and they were off. We all thought, uh-oh, what did they do? Well, they are in for it! We often ran 3 miles in the morning, but all together and after calisthenics. The rest of us, several classes, did our usual routine with the remaining drill instructors and ended our run at the chow hall for breakfast, just as  GySgt Watkins and the class he had singled out arrived at double time. It turns out, quite a few guys in this class were having difficulty with the Cross Country Course. It was only 1.3 miles, but it was through loose sand, and the required time seemed easy until you tried running it in loose sand. It was hard for everybody, but most classes had only one or two who could not do it after a few weeks of training. This class, though, was at the end of training, and had only one more day to qualify or wash out, or start over, and they still had several guys who could not get through it. So, GySgt Watkins had taken them on the double to the Cross Country Course, then without stopping, through the entire course, in formation, in qualifying time, and then all the way back to the chow hall at double time. The guys in that class later told us that he ran AROUND the formation as they ran, including backwards part of the time, with his cigar in his mouth, in his boots and his hat, barking at them the entire time, cajoling, encouraging and they all made it! Wow! We learned something about leadership that morning. I would have followed that guy anywhere.
I had several instructors in flight school who got me through it. I could not have made it without them, and I am sorry I cannot remember their names now. I can still see their faces, and hear their voices, but I have tried to forget most of those times.
The Commanding Officer at Misawa, Capt. Tettlebach was one of the best. He was firm but fair and well liked.
Petty Officers Berryman, deceased, and Harmon were two stars who helped me get through some tough times. Technically, they worked for me, but they really led the unit.
Rear Admiral Miller, Commander Task Force 75, was a fighting sailor. Admiral Miller is the one I want to go to war with if I have to go to war. He was a fighter and he saved my bacon when a senior staff officer on NavForJapan wanted my hide because I did not give him credit for work my sailors did during the operation. He had actually started court martial proceedings in a kangaroo court when Admiral Miller put a stop to it.
Capt. Chamberlain, my last CO before I retired. He actually liked me and believed in me. He is the only reason I made Commander. He was on the staff of General Schwartzkopf in Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
PLEASE RECOUNT THE NAMES OF FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH, AT WHICH LOCATION, AND WHAT YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT THEM. INDICATE THOSE YOU ARE ALREADY IN TOUCH WITH AND THOSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE CONTACT WITH.
Let me start by apologizing to all those men and women, living and dead, who should be listed here. My memory is not as good as it used to be and I am not omitting you on purpose.
Shipmates I remember:
Gary Pinkston, another sailor who went through reserve boot camp and
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| AOCS Class 14-72 |
then to a carrier and still a friend.
Capt. Davy Crockett, no kidding, NAS CO during boot camp.
Ensign Segar, my first T34B ride. I got sick. He went on to be a decorated A4 pilot in VietNam.
Master Chief Strittmatter, my first Master Chief, a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack.
Gunnery Sergeant Watkins, our drill instructor at AOCS and a great hero.
Bill Walters, a classmate at college and AOCS who went on to become an American Airlines Captain.
Dwayne Currie, a classmate at college and AOCS who became a successful engineer.
O. J. Rollins, a classmate at AOCS who became an American Airlines Captain.
Herb Freeman, a classmate at AOCS, good person
Bob Stevenson, a classmate at AOCS who went on to command an F18 squadron.
Jeff Flieger, deceased, a classmate at AOCS, great guy and athlete, killed when the spotters on the Lexington accidentally pushed his TA4J over the side.
Neal Sheaffer, a classmate in flight school who became a Continental Airlines Captain.
Mike Marks, a classmate in flight school who became an American Airlines Captain.
Chick Burlingame, deceased, a classmate in flight school who was the Captain killed by terrorists before they crashed his airliner into the Pentagon on 911.
Charlie Parker, a classmate in flight school who became an airline pilot.
Charlie Porter, a classmate in flight school, good person.
Tim Keating, a classmate in flight school who went on to be Admiral and his son a Navy pilot.
Mike Nanny, a classmate in flight school, good person.
Mike James, a classmate in flight school, good person.
Skid Rowe, a classmate in flight school, good person.
Tom Hunt, a classmate at AOCS and flight school who became an A-6 pilot.
Hollywood Klinker, a pilot in my squadron, good person.
Tom Gray, a pilot in my squadron, good person.
Stan Cowan, a great linquist and friend.
Jay Seymour, a great linquist and friend.
Mike Ford, a CT and friend.
Tommy Rowley, a CT and friend.
Tovs Noel, deceased, a CT and friend.
Sneg Snow, a CT and friend.
Elaine Grisley, a CT and friend.
 Mike Lambert, an enlisted CT and friend who made it all the way to Captain.
Jim Harmon, a great friend and leader who went on to be a Force Master Chief.
Bev Berryman, deceased, a great friend and Chief. Unfortunately for him, I was his counsel at his Chief initiation.
Sam Garrison, deceased, one of the greatest Chief in SECGRU who taught me a lot about how to be an officer and a leader.
Capt. Tettleback, CO of Misawa and a good one.
Ike Cole, XO at Misawa who went on to make Admiral.
Dave Henry, deceased, a good officer I served with in Misawa.
Rear Admiral Miller, Commander Task Force 75, a good admiral and a real fighting sailor.
CDR Oliver, XO, a good one, on the submarine USS Haddo, who went on to be admiral.
Capt. Schrader, CO of USS Long Beach, firm but fair, who went on to be admiral.
Capt. Chamberlain, my last CO before I retired, a good person.
Marsh Nadel, officer I served with, good person.
Tom Kapurch, officer I served with, good person.
Tim Riggins, officer I served with, good person.
Bruce Shapard, officer I served with, good person.
Capt. Sharer, CO at NAS who was one of the Iranian hostages, a great guy and leader.
All the Marines I served with in Misawa, especially the Staff Sergeants and Gunnery Sergeants. They taught me a lot about leadership. We had four watch sections in Misawa and when I was not deployed, I was the watch officer, OWO, for one of these sections. I worked with all four in the three years I was there and they were all great people and professionals. One of the sections was comprised of Marines from Company C, Radio Battalion, Hawaii.
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?
Most of the funny things that happened are for another forum at another time. Many are off-color, and many have meaning only to those of the same or similar experience, but here are a few that I hope you will appreciate.
When at Aviation Officer Candidate School, AOCS, we were getting
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| Liberty with the team |
ready for a big inspection one morning. One of my roommates named Najarian had been called away, to medical, I think. He had no choice. He had to go. Well, he gets back to our room less than five minutes before the inspection party arrives at our room. He knew he would not have time to dress for the inspection, so he jumped into his locker and had us close and lock the door. Well, the inspection team arrives and goes through each one of us. The officer comes to Najarians bunk and asks where he is. We tell him he was called away. The officer happened to know that he had just returned, so he tries to open his locker. When he cannot, he asks us for the combination. We were required to know each combination in the room. The officer opens the door, and there is Najarian, and he says Going Up!. We lost it, but the officer punished him anyway. I heard later that he made it to the fleet as a pilot.
When in Monterey, I had to go to an office supply store to buy some school supplies. I was wearing the old Salt and Pepper uniform, white shirt, like tropical white, and black or navy trousers and the white combination cover. There is a line at the check out, and I am waiting patiently, when the cashier looks at me back in the line and asks, is that for the station? I was not sure she was talking to me, and whatever, I did not understand what she was asking, so I pretended I did not hear her. Then a little later, she asks again, is that for the fire station? Ah. Now I get it. She thought I was a fireman, so I meekly said, No, I will just pay for this myself. I got mistaken for firemen a lot then. In fact, my wife kept getting funny questions from our neighbors on the Army Post at Fort Ord about fire safety and things like that until she finally realized our Army neighbors seeing me come and go in whites or Salt and Peppers thought I was a fireman.
 Also at Monterey, since I already knew Russian and class was easy for me, the others in my class, all enlisted, asked me to help them study at the house of one of the married sailors. I am from Texas, so I always wear a hat, not always the same cowboy hat, but a fedora, a ball cap, another cowboy hat, etc. Well, the guy who owned the house, a Second Class, Stan Cowan, had a closet full of hats he just collected, so every night when they opened the door for me, everybody in the house, 6 or 8 people, even his wife and baby always had a hat on. It got to be a running joke as I tried to fake them out with different hats, but he always topped me. He must have had a hundred hats. Good people. Good fun.
One night on patrol in a submarine in 1977, we put up the snorkel to ventilate the boat. The head valve stuck open and started flooding the boat. It was a serious flood and we almost sank to crush depth. I was living in the XOs stateroom with the XO, sleeping in a spare bunk that folded out of the bulkhead. I was asleep when I heard General Quarters. I looked out the door of the stateroom to see that we are very nose down and a wave goes by in the passageway. That is not something you want to see on a submarine. Anyway, I jumped down from my bunk and into my shoes. We slept in our clothes. Pushed my rack back into the bulkhead, and went to my station. Virtually everything in the two forward compartments was flooded. In fact, I had the only dry rack that night. Anyway, now for the funny side of the story. Several months later, back home with my wife, we have gone to bed. I usually went right to sleep, but she liked to sit up in bed watching TV. She was watching a war movie about the Navy, and in the movie they sound General Quarters, dong, dong, dong... I literally shot straight up out of bed like a rocket ready to take on the world or die trying. It must have been 10 minutes before I could get my heart rate back to normal and keep from killing somebody. My wife and I then made an agreement that she would not watch war movies while I was sleeping.
On the submarine, we had a Sonarman who was a good man and well liked and our XO, CDR Oliver, was a real trooper. He had been on the Nautilus as a young man, was almost killed in a car wreck and went on to be Admiral in charge of all submarines in the Pacific fleet. He was a great leader and well liked. He also had a sense of humor. As we approached the International Date Line, he arranged for us to cross it exactly at midnight of the day of the Sonarmans birthday, then got on the 1MC and announces that he just took away his birthday. We all laughed, but of course we also joyfully celebrated his birthday afterwards.
 Another story about the XO. As we were coming aboard, this was in March of 1977, I think, one of our cryptologic team, a black man, (I am sorry, I have forgotten his name after 40 something years), and I were loading our gear through one of the hatches when the XO comes by and says Oh, so you are the new sp...sp...spook...Oh, sorry... and sneaks away afraid he had done something wrong. The last thing he needed was a race relations complaint against him, but all CTs were known as spooks, we even called ourselves that, and our man knew that and he took no offense. In fact, we nearly split a gut laughing about it and had to tell all the other guys. But after that, any time we needed anything we could not get through normal channels, we just sent him to the XO with a mean look on his face and we got whatever we wanted. I still laugh about it.
A note about showers. I am not an engineer, and I never understood this, but we were always out of fresh water on a nuke boat that was supposed to have plenty of fresh water. We were only allowed to wash our clothes and shower once a week, if we were lucky. Sometimes it was two or three weeks, and on the day of showers, you only got that famous one-minute Navy shower, and believe me there were shower Nazis timing you to the second, too. Furthermore, they often ran out of water before everyone got their turn, and the first guy got a very, very cold shower because one minute was not long enough for hot water to make it to the shower. So it became a bit of an art, and bartering and bribery to get the right position in line for the showers. You did not want to be the first one, and you did not want to be too far back in the line either. Ah, the good ole days.
While at Misawa, we had to have a bag packed and be ready to go on a moments notice. We could be deployed anywhere in the Western Pacific when something happened. I remember one night about 10:30, my wife and I were about to go to bed when the phone rings. It was the duty officer, Dave Henry. He asks how Im doing, and I said fine. He asks how my wife and kids are and I said fine. There is kind of a pause, and I am wondering why he, the duty officer has called me late at night and is talking like this, so I asked, Are we going to war, Dave?...hahaha...and he says Well, you are! That has to be the funniest way to deliver news like that. I was on a train a few hours later with a team going to sea, but to this day, I still love his answer and laugh.
We once sailed along the coast of Vietnam in 1977 and we all waved, but Admiral Miller said that next time we should use all our fingers. He had a sense of humor. Instead of just reprimanding us, he made a joke of it.
 Once at Cubi Point I ran into my old class mate Dwayne Currie. He, his wife and two boys were living in base housing there, and my wife knew them well, so the next time my ship pulled into Subic Bay, my wife took the kids on a MAC flight down there and we spent a mini-vacation with them. I caught a lot of flak when as our ship was pulling in, my wife and kids are on the pier waving. You brought your wife to the PI?
While in flight school at Meridian, a student got in trouble for lowering the landing gear before slowing to the proper speed and for his punishment, he was told to create a safety poster for the ready room. He got a Playboy centerfold and put a sign on it that said, Never expose your gear above 165 knots. It was a hit.
After President Nixon ended the war, a large number of men who had been guests of the North Vietnamese government were going through pilot refresher training in my squadron at Kingsville, Texas. One Friday or Saturday evening at the club, a large party was in progress, with several hundred students, instructors and wives in attendance. About 8 PM, the bell above the bar starting ringing and ringing. Normally, when the bell rung, it was because somebody forgot to take their hat off before entering the bar, or some such infraction and they had to buy a drink for everyone in the bar. So, when we heard the bell, we knew some poor guy was really in for it. It was an unusually large crowd that night. But it usually rang only once, or twice, and this time it is still ringing as everyone makes their way up to the bar. It was still ringing, and as we got closer we could see it was one of the senior pilots going through refresher training. It was the one who had spent the most time in North Vietnam, CDR Alvarez. You should Google him to see him. He is a real hero. Anyway, there he is still ringing that bell and smiling. Then he stops and looks at all the crowd and says, I have been waiting eight long years to do that. Then he told the bar tender to buy everyone a drink, several hundred. It must have cost him hundreds of dollars. Then as soon as the cheering died down, the bell started ringing again. It ended up that each of the senior pilots rang the bell that night and bought everybody a drink. I still get choked up about this, but it was a happy moment in a happier time.
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?
After I was released from active duty, I spent the next 29 years as a computer software programmer or developer. I worked on IBM mainframes, started in Fortran, then PL1, then did IBM Assembler, then COBOL, MOD204, IMS and SQL, then moved to PCs and did Assembler, BASIC, C, Visual Basic, C++, Java, and C#, on DOS, Windows, OS2 and various internet languages, web pages and platforms.
I have been retired on my pension now for 5 years.
WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?
 I am a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. When I had heart surgery, I asked one friend at the VFW who is a nurse if he could be with my wife to help her through it. From that one friend, over 20 people from the VFW and Legion came to the hospital to be with my wife during my all day surgery. The nurses there joked that the next time I came to the hospital, they would have to put up bleachers. That is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me and my wife.
IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER?
As I mentioned earlier, everything I am has been shaped by the Navy, although I do not require my wife and children to call it a bulkhead or a deck like some guys I have known.
BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE NAVY?
 I would say to try anything and everything you feel you might like. I did a lot of things that were not in my job or rate description, and have fun when you can. Remember, this too shall pass, good and bad.
IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.
I have found many shipmates and connected with several, and it provides me with a place to save old pictures and anecdotes that I thought would not survive me. Thanks TWS.
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