Previously Held NEC BM-0000-Boatswain's Mate
BM-0161-Tugmaster
Service Years
1984 - 2006
Official/Unofficial US Navy Certificates
Decommissioning
Order of the Ditch
Order of the Spanish Main
Plank Owner
Suez Canal
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
What are you doing now:
Have returned to serving the National Defense again as a Pilot.
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The first day we passed at sea was the Sabbath. As we were just from port, and there was a great deal to be done on board, we were kept at work all day, and at night the watches were set, and everything put into sea order. When we were called aft to be divided into watches, I had a good specimen of the manner of a sea captain. After the division had been made, he gave a short characteristic speech, walking the quarter deck with a cigar in his mouth, and dropping the words out between the puffs.
“Now, my men, we have begun a long voyage. If we get along well together, we shall have a comfortable time; if we don’t, we shall have hell afloat.—All you’ve got to do is to obey your orders and do your duty like men,—then you’ll fare well enough;—if you don’t, you’ll fare hard enough,—I can tell you. If we pull together, you’ll find me a clever fellow; if we don’t, you’ll find me a bloody rascal.—That’s all I’ve got to say.—Go below, the larboard watch!"
Richard Henry Dana - Two Years Before The Mast
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TUGBOAT ALGEBRA
Fiberglass goes into metal ONCE.
Metal goes into fiberglass MANY, MANY TIMES.
"We believe in command, not staff,
"We believe we have 'real' things to do. The Navy believes in putting a man in a position with a job to do, and let him do it--give him hell if he does not perform--but be a man in his own name. We decentralize and capitalize on the capabilities of our individual people rather than centralize and make automatons of them. This builds that essential pride of service and sense of accomplishment. If it results in a certain amount of cockiness, I am for it. But this is the direction in which we should move." - ADM Arleigh Burke
"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet...- then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship."
-Ishmael/Moby Dick
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Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.
O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
and calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!
Most Holy spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!
O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
Best Friends Dave and Bob of course. The Retired Navy Pilots: Marty, Mike & Jack Jamie Ward, Bear, Tom Brewer, Jim & Erika Stead, Tim Valle, MARIA & STEVE!; Walt, Michelle & Maddy, Bruce, Victor, Lourdes & Vickie, the list goes forever
Best Moment I did my most CHIEFLY things in GTMO, I was fortunate to mentor a good chunk of people who I was able impact in a positive way.
Worst Moment The arrival of the bad guys, of course!
Chain of Command CAPT R. Buehn CAPT M. Fair CDR J. Risely CDR Lindburgh
Other Memories At Guantanamo Bay we're confined to our quarters, We're scratching and sweating, we're waiting for orders, We're watching the harbor, we're counting the wrecks, And we're wondering which we'll be shipping on nex'.
At Guantanamo Bay, call her Gitmo for short, Not much of a base, much less of a port, One look at the docks, and you know that you're seein' The goddamnedest hole in the whole Caribbean.
So, hurrah for old Gitmo on Cuba's fair shore, The home of the cockroach, the flea and the whore, We'll sing of her praises and pray for the day We'll get the hello out of Guantanamo Bay.
Here you pay twenty cents for a bottle of beer, They call it Hatuey, and it tastes mighty queer, There's the Indian Chief on the label to show, The Indian sign makes you go, go, go, go.
And the U.S.S. Alaska comes steaming in view To scrape off her bottom and pick up a crew, But nary a seaman was fit for the sea, They'd all been on leave, and they all had VD.
Guantanamo City has hundreds of doors, And everyone's jammed with hundreds of whores, They hang from the windows with stark naked chests And knock out your brains with their low-hanging breasts.
Well, the boys in my outfit are workin' a plan, We're savin' each nickel and dollar we can, And we'll buy T.N.T. and one sunshiny day We'll blow up this goddamned Guantanamo Bay.
