Calamari

[Muley]

I've received a large number of responses from fellow CP'ers talking about past service in the Armed Forces. It all got me to a'wonderin' how many people have served.

To help satisfy my curiosity and to (maybe) help us all to get to know each other even better, I submit the following:

If you've served in the Armed Forces, please reply to this topic and tell everyone which service you were in and what you did while wearing a uniform.

I'll break the ice:

I'm currently in the Navy. I joined in 1990 and was initially a Deck Seaman. That means I was one of the junior guys that did all of the dirty, "grunt" work out on the weatherdecks. That's where I really found my love for the sea. Then I became a Quartermaster ("QM") (Ship Navigator, in the Navy.) That's where I found my respect for the sea. I eventually found my niche (read: the thing other than Navigating that I really enjoy doing) in the Navy and became an Aerographer's Mate ("AG".) My job as an AG is being an Aviation, Tactical, Environmental, and Oceanographic Forecaster.

Thanks. Or as we say in the Navy: "Fair winds and following seas." Or even simply, "Godspeed." :love:

Anyone else? Come on, I know you're out there...

 

[Muley]

This is lengthy, but maybe this will inspire...

I like standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray in my face
and clean ocean winds whipping in from the four quarters of the globe -
the ship beneath me feeling like a living thing as her engines drive her
through the sea. I like the sounds of the Navy - the piercing trill of
the boatswains pipe, the syncopated clangor of the ship's bell on the
quarterdeck, the harsh squawk of the 1MC and the strong language and
laughter of sailors at work.
_______

I like the vessels of the Navy - nervous darting destroyers, plodding
Fleet auxiliaries, sleek submarines and steady solid carriers. I like
the proud sonorous names of Navy capital ships: Midway, Lexington,
Saratoga, Coral Sea - memorials of great battles won. I like the lean
angular names of Navy 'tin-cans': Barney, Dahlgren, Mullinix, McCloy -
mementos of heroes who went before us. I like the tempo of a Navy band
blaring through the topside speakers as We pull away from the oiler
after refueling at sea.
_______

I like liberty call and the spicy scent of a foreign port. I even like
all hands working parties as my ship fills herself with the multitude of
supplies both mundane and exotic which she needs to cut her ties to the
land and carry out her mission anywhere on the globe where there is
water to float her.
_______

I like sailors, men from all parts of the land, farms of the
Midwest, small towns of New England, from the cities, the mountains and
the prairies, from all walks of life. I trust and depend on them as they
trust and depend on me - for professional competence, for comradeship,
for courage. In a word, they are "shipmates."
_______

I like the surge of adventure in my heart when the word is passed "Now
station the special sea and anchor detail - all hands to quarters for
leaving port", and I like the infectious thrill of sighting home again,
with the waving hands of welcome from family and friends waiting
pierside. The work is hard and dangerous, the going rough at times, the
parting from loved ones painful, but the companionship of robust Navy laughter,
the 'all for one and one for all' philosophy of the sea is ever present.
_______

I like the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ship's work, as
flying fish flit across the wave tops and sunset gives way to night. I
like the feel of the Navy in darkness - the masthead lights, the red and
green navigation lights and stern light, the pulsating phosphorescence
of radar repeaters - they cut through the dusk and join with the mirror
of stars overhead. And I like drifting off to sleep lulled by the myriad
noises large and small that tell me that my ship is alive and well, and
that my shipmates on watch will keep me safe.
_______

I like quiet mid-watches with the aroma of strong coffee - the lifeblood
of the Navy - permeating everywhere. And I like hectic watches when the
exacting minuet of haze-gray shapes racing at flank speed keeps all
hands on a razor edge of alertness.
_______

I like the sudden electricity of "General quarters, general quarters,
all hands man your battle stations", followed by the hurried clamor of
running feet on ladders and the resounding thump of watertight doors as
the ship transforms herself in a few brief seconds from a peaceful work
place to a weapon of war - ready for anything. And I like the sight of
space age equipment manned by youngsters clad in dungarees and
sound-powered phones that their grandfathers would still recognize.
_______

I like the traditions of the Navy and the men and women who made them. I
like the proud names of Navy heroes: Halsey, Nimitz, Perry, Farragut,
John Paul Jones. A sailor can find much in the Navy: comrades-in-arms,
pride in self and country, mastery of the seaman's trade. An adolescent
can find adulthood.
_______

In years to come, when sailors are home from the sea, they will still
remember with fondness and respect the ocean in all its moods - the
impossible shimmering mirror calm and the storm-tossed green water
surging over the bow. And then there will come again a faint whiff of
stack gas, a faint echo of engine and rudder orders, a vision of the
bright bunting of signal flags snapping at the yardarm, a refrain of
hearty laughter in the wardroom and chief's quarters and messdecks. Gone
ashore for good they will grow wistful about their Navy days, when the
seas belonged to them and a new port of call was ever over the horizon.


Remembering this, they will stand taller and say,

"I was a Sailor. I was part of the Navy and the Navy will always be a
part of me."



Maybe someone out there knows the author?

 

[Allofus123]

I also served in the Navy. Late 70's.

What I'd do for the Navy? mostly smoked pot.... Oh, you mean what was my job? Disregard that last answer then.

I was an Operation Specialist. That was the new name they gave to a radarman. At that time they were just introducing the NTDS systems (Naval Tactical Data System) into the fleet. Nothing more than what we today would consider a very crude computer system. Funny now that I think back upon it. Actually had the game Pong on it. We were able to plot bogeys faster on the greaseboard than the computer could do it.

 

[PuroBrat]

I also served in the Navy. Late 70's.

What I'd do for the Navy? mostly smoked pot....

Same here, Late 70s, smoked POT, lots of it. Fried too many brain cells, flunked outta"BEEP" and became undesirable to Unkle Sam. Had I stayed away from the stuff, would have been a Gas Turbin Machinests Technician. ???

Live and learn, years later now, no more POT, no more Brain Cells and Unkle SAm still doesn't want me.

 

[emodx]

Active Duty Coast Guard here. Been in a little over 7 and am a Electronics Technician 1st class. E-6 for you land lubbers. Any ways, I am going to Norfolk to train with the Navy again. Muley, going to go to Tacan maintanance school. Then I report to my ship. Roughly equivalent to the Anderson(?) class Navy warship. I also trained with the Navy this summer going to their electronic warfare school. Anyways, I love being underway. I don't like getting underway from home port. The good bye hugs to the wife, the kids with the long faces knowing I won't be home for 2 months. But I really relate to the above post about life underway.
Kenny, I just learned how to fix a DCU that connects to NTDS. Pretty arcane system. On watch I will be a watch supervisor in combat, basicly the same watch that OS's stand. In the Coast Guard ET really should stand for Everything Technician as on some ships, we stand OS watches, Radio Man watches, Quartermaster of the watch, and Electronic Warfare Supervisor.
Being in the Coast Guard is like being the bastard child. We get very little money, asked to do everything(law enforcement, search and rescue, aids to navigation, maritime safety, immigration, you name it we do it). But because we do so much with so few people, everyone is given the opportunity to get their hands into a lot of different things that our brothers in the Navy don't normally get a chance to do. But I love the close knit family of the Coast Guard.

Emo

 

[PuroBrat]

BTW guys, I am sorry about my previous Post. Not sorry I posted it but sorry that it happened that way. I don't spread that info around a lot, due to it being something I am not particularly proud of.

I wish that I had been a better person, then I may have been a true Saylor.

I just wanted you guys to know that I don't think lightly of what you do and what it stands for. :thumbs:

 

[Nestsdad]

I was 9 1/2 years in the Air Force. I was a Supply specialist. I was also a Chem Warfare Augmentee and a Transportation Augmentee. Without supply, the AF can't Fly I enjoyed the time I spent in the Air Force, but decided to get out and further my career. (Could only stack boxes for a few years before it got real boring).

 

[crash0473]

It was in the navy for a few years. I was on the USS Forrestal AVT-59. My rating was ABE (Aviation Boatswainmate). We were the guys on the flight deck of the carrier operating the catapults and arresting gear. It was a pretty cool job.

 

[DaveWF]

I was in the Navy from '89 to '93. After bootcamp, I served on board the USS Frederick (LST-1184), at last check, it was the last active LST in the Navy. I was a Boatswain's Mate, but mostly just worked up in the Deck Office since I was the only person in the department that knew how to type, let alone even use the computer! It was kinda fun having Senior Chief dictate everyones review. I knew how people were being rated before they did! I'll never forget the time he referred to someone's lackadaisical attitude, and I said "lackawhat??" Who knew the Senior Chief was so versed in the english language.

BTW, for all those that are wondering....
Lackadaisical: Lacking spirit, liveliness, or interest; languid: “There'll be no time to correct lackadaisical driving techniques after trouble develops”... In other words, the guy he was referring to was lazy.

Dave

 

[Muley]

Wow,

pretty diverse military backgrounds (as expected)

Despite currently being in the Navy, I'd like to thank each of you who have served our Great Country in this capacity!

R/ Scott (aka Salty Nuts or Sea Pappy to the guys that report to me ???)