Ramey, Jonathan D., ND1

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY.
I was influenced by Lloyd Bridges and Jacques Yves Cousteau to become a Navy SEAL. The only way to do that was to join the Navy. So I convinced myself that that was what I was going to do. At the time I had no idea that the Navy had

Joining the Military

Deep Sea Divers.

Once I got to RTC Orlando I met Chief Michael Boynton, a highly decorated Vietnam Veteran, and a Navy SEAL. He was the recruit training command screener for Divers, EOD, and SEAL candidates. To this day, I do not know why but he took a shine to me for some reason. After passing the screening test for SEAL he sat me in his office and asked me why I wanted to be a SEAL. I told him because I was interested in Diving. Mike had a huge influence on me and I would have done almost anything he suggested. He told me if he was me, he would go to Dive School and not the SEALs. He said once I got out of the Navy I would have a career to fall back on that made great money. I listened to him and he had me sent to Second Class Dive School.

The photo is of Mike as a 1st Class receiving medals earned in Vietnam. His other medal included a Silver Star and several Bronze Stars for Valor. He was an Aviation Boatswain Mate/ SEAL. He is in a YouTube movie called 'Men with Green Faces.'

There were four different choices when it came to training locations in 1978: Little Creek Virginia, Coronado California, Pearl Harbor Hawaii, and the brand-new school in Panama City Florida. I asked him which one he would go to and he replied Little Creek. The Chief lived in Little Creek so I figured he knew best. I arrived in Little Creek in January 1978. Kind of a depressing place really, especially in the winter with ice forming on the harbor. Watching the poor dive candidates swimming for two hours every day after the Mike Boats broke the ice up so they could swim. Frosty wetsuits and Oooooo so cold! Meanwhile, I was informed that there would be a 6-month waiting list until I could start training.

My job for the next 6 months was utilizing a deck grinder, goggles, and hearing protection in the bilge of a barge with only 3 feet of ceiling over my head for 8 hours a day. I was like Oh Hell No. I got on the Autovon Phone and called Chief Boynton at RTC Orlando and told him what the deal was and did he think he could help me. His words were, "Where you wanna go?" This time I did not ask him for his opinions. I said Hawaii of course. Lol. Two days later I was on a plane on my way to the Aloha State. I mean that guy had pulled some strings for me and I will never forget that. I mean, I had not even been in the navy for three months and he showed me kindness I'm sure many would not. Thanks, Mike!

I saw Mike on several occasions after boot camp. Once he invited me to his house while in Little Creek for dinner with him and his wife. Another time was in Italy. He invited me to his office which was a connex box on the weather deck of the Gator Ship he was attached to and gave me a handful of KABAR Diving Knives still in the wax paper wrappers. We talked and had a few hits off the bottle of liquor he had on his desk. You would never know this guy was a hard-charging tough-as-nails Navy SEAL by the way he treated me. Just a super nice guy!

In the year 2000, I was perusing the internet and came across Mike's Obituary. This man, tough as they come, with two tours in country Vietnam which included a bounty on his head by the Vietcong and countless other death-defying missions had been killed by a 14-year-old girl drunk, evading police in a stolen car in Virginia. RIP my old friend. I will never forget you and the course my life took because of you. Mentoring an ignorant young E-nothing wannabe.

WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BOOT CAMP AND WHAT UNITS, BASES, SHIPS OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING?

My Military Service Path

I entered the Navy on what was called a 3X6: 3 years active, 2 years active reserve, and 1-year inactive reserve.

After my initial 3 years, being so young I thought I was missing something. So I did my 6 years and got out for a year then decided I missed the diving but not enough to go back in on active duty. So I enlisted in the reserves and stayed there until I got out. I have no regrets.

I did a lot of cool jobs in the Navy and on the outside and learned many more things that helped me land the job of a lifetime as a Fire Boat Operator in Oakland Calif.

IF YOU PARTICIPATED IN ANY MILITARY OPERATIONS, INCLUDING COMBAT, HUMANITARIAN AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS, PLEASE DESCRIBE THOSE WHICH MADE A LASTING IMPACT ON YOU AND, IF LIFE-CHANGING, IN WHAT WAY?
I never did combat but while assigned to Naval Special Warfare Unit 1 in Sacramento Calif. nor at Special Boat Unit 11 in Mare Island Naval Shipyard. I shot so much I thought I would never want to shoot again. I even gave all my firearms to my eldest

My Military Operations

son because I grew so tired of shooting and wanted to pursue other things.

It was while I was attached to SBU 11 (most of the Officers and Chiefs were Frogs) that I was exposed to operating cool boats like the PBRs, Mini Armored Troop Carriers, LCUs, PTFs, CCB-18, and other boats. We even had access to two boats captured from the Iraqis that were used for our OPFOR during some of our exercises.

We got taught Escape and Evasion by some of the SEALs who had been through actual SERE training courses. We had E and E exercises where I and others would be dropped off alone somewhere in the river delta. Of course when in the Delta the PBRs pulled up to the tulies and we jumped off the bow into the tulie grass. That 1st step was deep and we started out soaking wet. We were then to Escape and Evade our way back to the friendly territory while being pursued by OPFOR (opposing forces-AKA bag guys)

SBU had a huge armory and we learned how to maintain and service all the weapons. We had live fire exercises in the San Pablo Bay regularly including twin 50 cals, mortars, M-60s, M-16s, 30 cal. Mini-guns among other cool weapons.

There was other training such as tactical small boat, small unit tactics, and medical. The list of training topics never ended.

It made sense to me the Navy made a rate out of this discipline. It is a serious and involved type of warfare that needs special attention.

OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
I would have to say I did some of the coolest jobs while attached to the USS Yosemite AD19, and working at Deep Submergence Unit I got to handle the 2000' diving suit. I went to Italy for 18 days and participated with 26 other nations during the exercise Sorbet

My Fondest Military Assignment

Royal. Working with divers from all those other countries was a kick. The man in the picture standing with me in front of the Hard Suit 2000 is a diver from Poland.

My least favorite was a mobile EOD Det. Why do you ask? I, like most people, thought EOD sounds cool. I mean they are explosive experts and get to have fun blowing stuff up all the time, combined with another one of my favorite things to do, diving. What could be more fun can than that?

It wasn't until I arrived at EOD MU 7 DET 103 as LPO of my 4 man group that I realized what our job consisted of. This is a rundown of a typical operation we trained for, and this is the way I saw my job as an EOD diver.

You are sleeping, soundly dreaming about being a piano player in a whorehouse when all of a sudden you are jarred awake by a seaman apprentice who is the messenger of the watch. He tells you that your Chief has requested you and the other two persons of your team to muster at the dive boat on the pier and to bring your dive gear. You get to the boat and the Chief informs you that another seaman apprentice on the ship USS Whogivesashit thought he saw some telltale bubbles coming up from the side of the ship. So we are gonna go swim out the hull and make sure no saboteurs have left any gifts for the US Navy by accident.

It is 0230, cold, and starting to rain. You draw straws to see who is gonna do the first dive and who will be the standby diver. The Chief is gonna supervise the dive because, well, he's a Chief and...... well he's the Chief like I said. So you suit up, sling on a tank and it's off you go. What exactly are you looking for you ask? Good question. Well, you may already have some idea that we are talking about some sort of High Explosives here. Most likely we are going to be looking for some type of a mine. Well, what type of mine are you looking for? Most likely it will be a limpet mine. Limpet mines are usually set off by a time fuse. Sometimes they also have an anti-handling device, making the mine explode if removed by cannon fodder non-EOD divers like myself. Other times they may have a propeller on them so when the ship gets underway they would explode after the ship had sailed a certain distance and likely help block the navigable channel or in deeper water to prevent salvage. Any way you look at it, it's all bad!

So here you are swimming in cold ass water at 0230, wishing you were finishing the dream about your dream job as a piano player, looking for high explosives. Okay so let's say you find one, now what. First, you try not to shit your pants while trying to ID the damn thing. Then if you are still cold and wet after that, you know you're still alive, you get out your trusty knife and scratch a line from where the mine is to the surface. You then inform the Chief what you got. So then he hands you a long line and a net bag that looks a lot like the laundry bags they sell in the exchange. (That's because that is exactly what it is, a laundry bag from the exchange!) You swim back down and very, very carefully wrap that laundry bag around your new find. Then you secure the line to that laundry bag. Still alive? Great!

Now you swim back to the boat as fast as your little flippers will take you and get in the boat. Tie the other end of that long line to the best cleat on your boat. Get underway taking care not to take all the slack out of the line. You're still thanking God that you made it this far when the Chief screams to the coxswain, 'Hit it!!!' The coxswain floors the throttle and what is supposed to happen now it you yank the mine off the ship. Okay now, what I suppose you do at this point is tug on the line a little and see if it's heavy or not. If it is, tie a buoy on it and call an EOD Tech to deal with it. If it's light then get the next unlucky deep sea diver to suit up and do it all again.

This is what US Navy Deep Sea Divers do at EOD. I trained to do other horribly bad things while I was there too. This should suffice in one understanding of why I did not like EOD as a NON-EOD Diver. I mean like I said before who doesn't love blowing things up? I love blowing things up!!! I just don't like trying to un-blow things up.

FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
I have too many to choose from. But my graduation from 1st Class Dive School at 42 years old had to be one of my biggest memories. I was older than anyone there including the instructors. On the first day when the instructor told us to tell a little about

Remembering My Military Service

when we went to Second Class Dive School. When it became my turn to tell something about myself I started out with "I went to Second Class School in 1979". There were so many mouths hanging open I couldn't count them all. Then the comments started pouring in. "Holy Sheeet!, " "WTF !!!," and the best one I remember from a fellow student, " Hell I wasn't even born yet !!!!

I was a little intimidated because all these guys had been groomed by their commands for 1C. Not me. I can say I was probably in the best shape of my life when I arrived at NSDTC. I can say I swam and ran faster than all but like 2 or 3 of my class. I always ran in the front right next to the Proctor. He happened to be one in-shape dude. He was on the President's Physical Fitness Team. He tried everything to shake us, he would be running at a good clip and then all of a sudden start sprinting like he was going to a fire. It sometimes hurt, but I never let this guy get ahead of me. I stayed right next to him on every single run and never fell behind.

One morning after a considerably grueling PT session in the humidity of PC, a lot of guys had spent too much time the night before at the local Diver Bar. A few of them were puking, groaning, and moaning the whole time we PT'd. On the return run back to the school house guys started to string out well behind the formation. By the time we arrived at the grinder where there were other classes doing PT and such, our main Proctor was fuming! He was swearing at us and so pissed off because our class had made him look bad in front of the 2C diver candidates and his fellow instructors. He reminded us that we were already divers and should not be disgracing him, the other instructors, the staff the CO, and the U.S. of America. It was right about then I heard the proctor scream my name. Being the old savvy derelict that I was, I was always trying to keep a low profile and stay out of trouble. Here is gist of how the conversation went:

Proctor: " RAMEY !!!!!! "

Me: "Yes instructor !"

Proctor: "How old are you!!!!"

Me: (I'm thinking, Oh sheet what kind of trouble am I in now?) "Uhhh, 42 Instructor! "

Proctor: (now speaking to the group) "You see there? Ramey is 42 years old, older than dirt! And yet he is never falling back! He makes all of you look bad! You should pull your heads out of your ass and be more like him!" He said other things in respect to how I was doing better than keeping up and maybe they should have prepared more etc...

Now you would think I would feel great after getting such accolades from this guy who was by all rights a PT Machine. But all I could think about was Shit! Why me? Now, these young guys are gonna have the ass for me. I needed them to help me in other ways. Specifically, academically.

But as it turned out none of these young guys showed me anything but camaraderie. Hell, they somewhat protected me, gave me advice, and made my time there a pleasure. I was kind of a novelty to these young men. They took me out drinking, set me up with women, and helped me with anything I needed. I had a blast.

WHAT PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR MILITARY CAREER?
I got Sailor of the Year twice, once for the entire west coast. You would have thought I saved the entire world from disaster from the things they wrote on my Navy Achievement Medal. Really I was just doing my job and trying to make chief before I got High

My Military Achievements

Year Tenure.

I did however in my civilian job as a Fire Fighter, received a Certificate of Valor from the Governor of California for my actions during the Loma Prieta Earthquake.

The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 pm. Caused by a slip along the San Andreas Fault, the quake lasted 10-15 seconds and measured a magnitude of 7.1 Richter scale. The quake killed 63 people throughout Northern California, injured 3,757, and left some 3,000-12,000 people homeless. Many of the dead and injured were in cars crushed during rush hour with freeways packed bumper to bumper with commuters.

The earthquake occurred during the warm-up practice for the third game of the 1989 World Series, featuring both of the Bay Area's Major League Baseball teams, the Oakland Athletics, and the San Francisco Giants. Because of game-related sports coverage, this was the first major earthquake in the United States to have its initial jolt broadcast live on television.

OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?

My Most Meaningful Awards

Second Class Diver. It is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Thank goodness I was only 19 at the time; it was grueling. I think back on all the things I have done in my life and none will ever be dearer to me than to be able to say I am US Navy Deep Sea Diver.

When people ask me what I do, I always tell them I was a Navy Diver first.

WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?

My Most Influential Person

Mike Boynton (See Section One question). In this self-made poster are the men of Mike's SEAL team in Vietnam. That is Mike standing on the left with a buddy's arms dangling around his chest. Since most SEAL missions were reconnaissance deep in enemy territory, capturing or destroying them was a major goal of the VC and NVA; testimony to the success they consistently achieved.

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?
I was attached to Harbor Clearance Unit One in San Francisco. We had a lot of divers there including several SEALs. One Friday Night we decided it would be fun if we dressed up in our cracker jack dress blues and go out on the town. I was driving my

My Funniest Military Memory

1986 Chevy 4-door dually truck because there were three divers and two frogmen not including myself.

So the first place we come to is Berkley. Yep, Berkley! We wander in a few bars looking our best and having a few drinks when we cannot help but notice that everyone in the place was staring at us. Not the good kind of stare either. It was more like disdain. We thought we were pretty cool looking in our dress blues but it was obvious we were not welcome so we left.

On the way to Oakland, we stopped for a head call. The next thing I know one of the toads (a really crazy SOB) was climbing the side of an apt building to get to the third floor because somebody was flying a Russian flag off their balcony. He ripped the flag down and climbed back to earth just as we were driving to get the hell out of there. Whew!

Several hours later we decide to go to a Greek bar on Broadway in downtown Oakland, two blocks from the firehouse where I worked. We wandered in and ordered Ouzo. It's like heavy syrup that tastes like the worst cough medicine you can imagine. We're all having a good time, maybe a little loud. We need another round so we went up to the bar and asked for another round. DENIED! WTF? We were kind of surprised they were not going to serve us anymore. I mean we were not so drunk or anything, they just didn't like the way we looked or something. So the crazy Frog said to us you guys go ahead and get in the truck, I'll be right out. Were like, Okay, whatever!

We were walking down the sidewalk towards the truck which was a block or two away when we hear the crazy toad crash out the front doors screaming RUN!!!! Soon there were a few Greeks chasing him and now all of us were down the street. You can just forget about a bunch of drinking Greeks thinking they are gonna catch up to us. We were way too fast and in shape for them to want to carry on too far. Once back in the truck screeching down the road he told us what he had done. Apparently, he was none too happy about the way we were being treated all night, and getting cut off was his last straw. So what he had done was taken our rocks glasses that the shots of Ouzo came in and heaved them through the back mirror of the bar in front of everyone in the place.

We were all laughing at the stunt but in the back of my mind, I was thinking that I hope OPD doesn't catch us cause I'm gonna lose my job!

The moral of the story is as follows:
1. Do not go drinking in uniform anywhere near Berkley! Ever!

2. Always expect that when your drinking with Toads you're gonna be in for some exciting times.

3. Always maintain your getaway vehicle.

4. To any new Navy folks reading this: Don't try this!

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?

My Post-Military Career

I have been a commercial diver, tree trimmer, construction, 500-ton merchant marine captain, fisherman, firefighter, and fire boat operator.

I've been retired since 2010 and spend my time raising two small kids and raising fish and growing vegetables. I am blessed.

WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?

My Military Associations

Oath Keepers; Oath Keepers is an American nonprofit organization that advocates that its members (current and former U.S. military and law enforcement) disobey any orders that they are given if they believe they violate the Constitution of the United States.

Together We Served

IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME IN THE SERVICE?

Personal Influence Of Military Service

I have used my Boatswains Mate and Diver skills almost every day of my life since I joined the Navy. Getting through Dive School two times has given me the confidence and motivation to accomplish anything I put my mind to. I owe much of the success in my life to the skills and lessons I learned in the Navy.

Although I am grateful for the opportunities I have had and the life because of the service, I am reluctant to encourage my son and daughter to join the military service. The leadership in this country has changed and I do not have so much trust in what our leaders are up to.

BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE NAVY?

My Advice on Military Service

Always do the best you can in every evolution whether it is cleaning toilets or being in command of a ship.

Keep your mouth closed more and listen.

Take every advantage and benefit provided by the Navy.

Never give up.

Make rank as soon as you can.

Keep your head in the books.

Don't be an asshole like some people are.

Don't be a know it all.

Always remember you're never too smart to learn something from someone else, even someone lower in rank.

Treat everyone the way you want to be treated.

Honor the Oath you took.

Have fun and keep your nose clean. (Stay out of trouble)

Remember to always act honorably, especially when out of CONUS you are representing not only the Navy buys the USA. (Not like I did on that night in Berkley)

IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.

Together We Served and Veteran Community

Just answering all the questions makes me remember many things. I have served with some real characters and men who really knew their stuff. I learned so much and feel lucky to have been in the diving community almost my entire career. I enjoyed the camaraderie and have some real, lasting memories. My father was in the Korean War as a 2nd Lt. I know very little about what he did other than he was in communications and what I can tell from a small box of old photos he took while in country. I don't want my family to have to wonder what I did. So it is great that I have this way to tell my story.

KC 3.2.23 *