This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Douglas Siemonsma, LCDR
to remember
Brooks, Roger, PNCS USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Alliance
Last Address 117 S. Country Club Ave Brandon, SD 57005
Date of Passing Oct 07, 2023
Location of Interment Hills of Rest Memorial Park - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Best Moment While attached to the Millington Naval Air Tactical Training Center I was selected for and promoted to Chief Petty Officer. This was a very special day in my life; being selected for Chief Petty Officer in the Navy is very special. The creed we live by explains (it is reproduced below for your reading and understanding), the importance of promotion to Chief Petty Officer in the U. S. Navy.
NAVAL AIR STATION Memphis, Tenn.
The following is dedicated to all of the Chief Petty Officers that have gone before you and directed specifically at you.
PNC ROGER BROOKS, USN
During the course of this initiation on this 16th day of January 1976 you have been caused to suffer friendly indignities and to experience humiliation. This you have accomplished with rare good grace and therefore we now believe it fitting to explain to you just why this was done.
There was no intent, nor desire to insult you, or in any way to demean you. Pointless as it may have seemed to you there was a valid, time honored, traditional reason behind every single deed and each pointed bard.
By experience, performance and testing you have earned and been selected for advancement to the grade of E-7. In the United States Navy, and only in the United States Navy, does an E-7 carry such unique responsibility which you are now privileged to carry and to fulfill.
The privileges and responsibilities that we enjoy as Chief Petty Officers do not appear in print; neither can they be referred to by name, number, or file, they exist because for nearly 200 years Chief Petty Officers before you have freely accepted responsibility beyond the call of printed assignment. They have by their actions and by their performance demanded the respect of their seniors and commanded the respect of their juniors.
It is now required that you become the fount of wisdom, the ambassador of good will, the authority (sometimes the ?buffer?) in personnel relations, the technical advisor and finally the example (militarily, professionally and otherwise) that your juniors look up to; that they strive to emulate and one day become!??ASK THE CHIEF? ? the phrase that rings throughout the United States Navy?YOU ARE NOW THAT CHIEF!!!!!
The exalted position that you have now achieved, and I use the word exalted advisedly, exists only because of the attitude, example, and performance of Chiefs before you. It shall continue to exist only so long as you and your fellow Chiefs maintain these standards.
So this then is why you were caused to experience these initiation proceedings. You were subjected to these humiliations to prove to you that humility is a good, healthful and necessary trait which cannot mar you; in fact it strengthens you.
It was our intention to prove these facts to you. It was our intention to test you, to try you, and to accept you. Your performance today has assured us that you will wear your hat with the same feeling of great pride as the Chiefs who have preceded you have honorably and proudly worn theirs. It is our intention that you will never forget this day and we take sincere pleasure in welcoming you to our midst.
R. A. GELINAS, MACS, USN, PRES., CPO CLUB NAS, MEMPHIS
Worst Moment There was a Tornado that came through the area one day. It took the mobile home behind us the one across the street from us, but only moved our porch away from the front of our mobile home and deposited it a small distance away. No one was hurt and there was no damage to our mobile home.
Other Memories Umpire School! While I was stationed at the Millington Naval Air Tactical Training Command, I became very interested in umpiring. I had done some in Vietnam and had worked only the bases, never behind home plate. Then the opportunity provided its self for me to get into an official umpire school. After writing the entire baseball and softball rulebooks in long hand, working as a class IV umpire for two years, I was moved to a Class I and was able have my own crew. I worked many, many games during those four years. I did have visions of getting into the big league some day, but never did make it.
While in Millington, Tennessee, we purchased our first real house for just $21,500 dollars, using my VA loan. After we had been in our new home for about a year, another tornado was approaching from the west. Mary was at work at the Naval Hospital, and I was home with the two girls. We did not have a basement in our home, and the bath only had a shower stall. I put the two girls between the bed and the wall and piled pillows and blankets on them to protect them if debris fell on them. I joined them in the pile. The storm passed and no damage resulted.
