Hallett, Harry, ET1

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE NAVY.
In my family, it had always been expected that I'd serve. I joined the Marines right out of High School but was injured during basic training and was medically discharged. When I got home I went back to work at my old job as a broadcast announcer at a radio station in my home town of Staunton, VA.

I also went to see my doctor and was told I'd been misdiagnosed. My injury wasn't permanent. So, I decided to try college while I was being treated.

I'd gotten a broadcasting job in Harrisonburg, a town north of Staunton and closer to where I was going to college. While there I realized that I really liked working in radio but that, since I had no talent for sales, my options for advancement in the business were limited.

I saw that my best opportunities lay in maintenance and repair of broadcasting equipment. All of the station engineers I'd met had come from the services. So, I figured that as my best avenue and, since my injury had by that time been cured and I was on summer break from college, I started visiting the recruiting offices.

The Marines wouldn't, of course, reconsider me because of their requirements. The Army, Air Force and Coast Guard all had interesting things to offer. But when I walked into the Navy recruiting office I was greeted with the image of MR1 Grady stretched out on the office couch, Dixie cup over his face, taking a nooner.

For some reason that struck me as funny. My chuckling roused him and we talked about me, him, the Navy and life in general. His demeanor was less formal but still as business like as the other recruiters. And the Navy sounded, all in all, pretty good. I could get trained in electronics and travel more than with the other services (it seemed to me).

So, I signed up on a Friday and was sworn in at AFEES (Armed Forces Entrance and Examination Station) in Richmond, VA, the following Monday.

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?
Nov 1978 - Jan 1979: Recruit Training Center, Great Lakes, IL.

Jan 1979: Promoted to Seaman (E3)

Jan - Jun 1979: Basic Electricity and Electronics B School, Service School Command, Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, IL

Jun - Dec 1979: Electronic Warfare Technician (EW) A School, Naval Technical Training Center, Corry Station, Pensacola, FL

Jan 1980 - Nov 1982: USS Nassau (LHA-4), Norfolk, VA

Sep 1980: Promoted to Electronic Warfare Technician Third Class (E4)

Sep 1981: Promoted to Electronic Warfare Technician Second Class (E5)

Jun 1983 - May 1984: Electronics Technician (ET) A School (Radar Strand), Service School Command, Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, IL

May 1984: Re-designated to Electronics Technician Second Class (E5)

May - Jun 1984: Surface HF Communications Systems C School, Service School Command, Naval Training Center, San Diego, CA

Jun 1984 - Feb 1987: USS Gray (FF-1054), Long Beach, CA

Jul - Aug 1984: Cryptographic Equipment KWR-37/KG-14 C School, Naval Training Center, Vallejo, CA

Feb 1985: Promoted to Electronics Technician First Class (E6)

Feb 1987 - Apr 1990: Naval & Marine Corps Reserve Center (NMCRC), Long Beach, CA

May - Aug 1990: Air Search RADAR SPS-49 C School, Service School Command, Naval Training Center, San Diego, CA

Aug - Sep 1990: Miniature Electronic Repair School, Service School Command, Naval Training Center, San Diego, CA

Sep 1990 - Apr 1993, USS Lewis B. Puller (FFG-23), Long Beach, CA