Electronics Warfare Technician |
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Service Details |
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Current Service Status
USN Retired
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Current/Last Rank
Chief Petty Officer
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Current/Last Primary NEC
EW-1763 -Electronic Warfare Systems Technician (WLR-1) Series
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Current/Last Rating/NEC Group
Electronics Warfare Technician
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Primary Unit
1980-1981, EW-1734, Transient Personnel Unit (TPU), Naval Station (NAVSTA) Treasure Island, CA
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Previously Held NEC
CTM-0000-Communications Technician Maintenance
CTM-9267-MUSIC Maintenance Technician
1761-EW-Electronics Warfare Technician Operator (WLR/ULQ/SLR Series)
EW-1734-Electronic Warfare Technician
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Service Years
1961 - 1981
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Official/Unofficial US Navy Certificates
Cold War
Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club
Order of the Shellback
Order of the Golden Dragon
Panama Canal
Mossback
Sailor of the Quarter
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1962-1964, Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Fort Meade, MD
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1966-1967, CTM-0000, USS Belmont (AGTR-4)
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1967-1969, CTM-0000, Naval Security Group Detachment (NSGD) Yokosuka, Japan
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1968-1970, CTM-9267, Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Kamiseya Japan
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1970-1973, Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA) Homestead, FL
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1974-1980, 1761, USS Coral Sea (CV-43)
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1980-1981, EW-1734, Transient Personnel Unit (TPU), Naval Station (NAVSTA) Treasure Island, CA
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Reflections on CPO Clark's
US Navy Service
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PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY.
From my teenage years, I had an abiding interest in the military, so I think there was an innate desire to serve. However, during my freshman year at college, I saw a high school classmate, Doug Ray, in Dress Whites at the local drive-in restaurant. He was on Recruit Leave, I think.
As I had not been setting the world on fire with my grades at Southern Tech, I saw it as an exciting opportunity to leave home and get out on my own. QMC Minus O Agee, at the recruiting office in Marietta, Georgia, made it sound like I was God's gift to the Navy. It turns out that the Navy was God's gift to me.
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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?
After Boot Camp RTC San Diego, Company 61-253, I was selected to train as a Communications Technician Maintenance. My first school was ETA School at Treasure Island. I went through the communications portion. While on liberty in San Francisco I met Barbara Richardson and in four and a half quick months she became my wife. I know.. she was not a seabag issue, but she is still the best thing that has ever happened to me for 50+ years now.
After ETA School I was sent to NSGA Fort George G Meade for Magnetic Tape recorder Maintenance training. I managed to turn that into on board for duty at the National Security Agency. It was there that I learned to be a Rate Grabber. All you had to do was pass tests and they gave you more money. I became highly motivated. While stationed there I extended under the STAR program and was sent to ETB school.
Back to Treasure Island where I received the best electronics training possible. It was 48 weeks of intense theory, math, and application. This was easily the equivalent of an Associate of Science Degree. Up to this point, and 4 years into the navy I had no sea duty. Wow.
Then I received orders to the USS Belmont, AGTR-4, out of Norfolk, Va. I reported aboard as a CTM2 and made CTM1 while I was on board. I learned to speak Spanish in the bars of South America and when I got drunk, I was fluent in Spanish. While aboard, we made six trips through the Panama Canal and once through the Straights of Magellan.
The next duty was in-country Japan at NSGA Kamiseya for a few years. I worked in the tunnel there and at the Command Cave in Yokosuka. My youngest was born at the Naval Hospital in Yokosuka.
The last duty station as a Communication Technician was at Homestead Florida. About 9 years as a 1st Class and I took a swing at becoming CPO by changing rates to the new Electronic Warfare rating. I went back to Treasure Island for EW school, finished first in my class overall, and almost made EWC while in school. Then I was assigned to the USS Coral Sea where I wound up spending almost 7 years (voluntarily) of sea duty. That included 3 WESTPAC deployments and 2-yard overhauls. My family moved 7 times in those 7 years. While aboard the Coral Sea I was selected for EWC. In the last 2 years onboard I served as the Division Chief. This was the most rewarding assignment of my career, and the most challenging.
My last year on active duty was at the Personnel Support Detachment, Treasure Island, where I was in charge of the Oaknoll Hospital Medical Holding Company. I was in charge of about 100 sick, lame, lazy, and crazy. I tried to make a difference to those assigned.
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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 was never in combat. I did see it from a distance during the rescue of the SS Mayaguez. I saw the heroics, from a far off, of our United States Marines and the Air Force pilots. The shot up helicopters that refueled and returned to actions, and the wounded, dead, and warriors who evacuated to the Coral Sea left me filled with admiration. I can only say that for 20 years I stood on the wall.
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OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
With fond memories of all of my assignments, the Coral Sea was my favorite. I advanced to Chief there and then got to practice what my Chiefs had taught me. I also had a great Electronic Warfare team and excellent officers. The pinnacle of my time aboard was the honor of receiving the John L Gray Leadership award, a signal honor, from Captain Arthur.
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FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
I have said before that thanks to the United States Navy and my career at Motorola, I have been placed and done things that others would pay a high price of admission to experience. An earthquake at sea, a hydrogen bomb explosion, the evacuation of Saigon, the ports of South America, and a typhoon at sea.
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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?
Qualifying as a Surface Watch Officer for Radar Navigation in CIC aboard the Coral Sea was by far my favorite accomplishment. I have no major awards, but on the lighter side in addition to my Shellback Certificate I also garnered the Order of the Locks (Panama Canal), and I am also a Mossback (Straits of Magellan).
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WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
ETC Paul Boch taught me the importance of technical excellence. EWC Paul Corderio taught me how to be a CPO and instilled in me the adage: Do what has to be done, when it's supposed to be done, the way it's supposed to be done. If you do just that you will have outstanding accomplishments and you are just doing your job. EWC Terry Swartz taught me leadership and caring for my men. HTC Don Stevenson (later WO2) taught me the importance of a Christ-Centered life.
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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?
In boot camp, you get to where you salute anything that moves. I broke my glasses and on the way to optical to pick up my new pair, a person in uniform approached. To be safe, I saluted. He laughed. It was the Postman.
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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 the Navy, I became a Field Technical Representative for Motorola Inc's Two Way Radio business. I advanced to Systems Engineer and then was assigned to a Motorola contract with Norfolk Southern RR. I retired from Motorola a decade back. I then served as a contract Communications Engineer with Norfolk Southern Railway as a licensing and communications engineer for a large radio project.
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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?
There are a few things that are important. Honor, duty, and loyalty are a fabric woven into you when you serve. The Navy also, through constantly changing my environment, gave me the ability to learn new things constantly. I learned problem-solving and the ability to foresee problems before they become critical. I also learned that while I was experienced in leadership, the management of civilian personnel is a whole different talent and I was not well equipped. I had to learn that skill.
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BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE NAVY?
Enjoy your time, make a difference, keep a note of all the things you experience, and hang on to your shipmates when you are parted.
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IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.
| TWS and the US Navy |
I consider my self bonded to the fraternity of Chief Petty Officers and to the men with whom I have had the honor of serving. It is great to re-establish contact with them and see how the Navy and all those shipmates have been a positive good in their lives. Even at this ancient age, if asked, I would pack a seabag (trying not to whistle as the wife watched) and go Haze Gray and Underway again. KC 10.19.20
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