I think I am a bit of a hoarder.

Well, that’s not quite true. I know I am a hoarder. For instance, I have an old file resistant box that has every piece of paper the Navy ever gave me. Everything from my DD-214’s to the evaluations and fitness reports that were in my service jacket from 1972-1994.

It’s an interesting journey to review.

In April of 1972 I entered the Navy’s Delayed Entry Program. June 16of 1972, I reported to the AFEES station in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and headed off to boot camp. I arrived on a very cold Great Lakes morning on June 17^th and began my Navy adventure. I knew it was an adventure because all of the brochures said t was not just a job. It was an adventure. Looking back over fifty one years, I would have to agree. Although waking up to the sounds of a garbage can being beaten loudly in the unheated barrack didn’t seem very adventurous. I wouldn’t leave that lovely place until August 13, but I felt certain that wearing my shiny new thee red stripes would surely coax the adventure out of hiding.

That was not to be the case just quite yet.

First I had a stopover at Machinist Mate Class A School where I would trudge through an incredibly boring set of lectures about steam theory and auxiliary shipboard equipment. I do recall being told that the principles were important despite the fact that the classes were based on surface ships that were no longer in use and I was headed to submarines. We also got to operate the 600 pound steam system lab which was filled with warnings about all the things we could do wrong that would blow the lab up.

And we walked everywhere.

It was fall of 1972 and the cold wind that blew across the plains made us glad that our uniforms were made of heavy wool. Undress blues were the most uncomfortable things in the world.  I remember walking from Snipes Castle to the school in freezing rain and then sitting in really uncomfortable chairs with the thermostat kicked up to about eighty degrees. The smell of the wool drying our remains a strong memory. I am pretty sure that prior to issue, they had been embalmed in moth balls. I was never so glad to give up a uniform that I was that torture chamber of an outfit. I lost my storage trunk when I left Hawaii and they were in it.

By December, it was obvious that I was not going to head to Nuclear Power school. My grades were pretty marginal and they cut about half of my class. All of us volunteered to go to submarine school as conventional Machinist Mates and I got to add a small propeller to my three red stripes. It was disappointing since I was also not given automatic advancement to Petty Officer Third Class. And I had to go home for Christmas and tell my “fiancée” that we might have to wait a while longer to get married.

To be fair, my parents seemed relieved. After all, I was only eighteen.

I arrived at Groton Connecticut after a bumpy ride on a small plane on January 6, 1973. Submarine school was much more interesting than A school and by then I had started to figure out how to learn the Navy way. By March, I was ready to take on the world and get to my first submarine. But the Navy had other plans and I ended up going to Charleston SC for more training.

I have to be honest, I was never really a great student in my younger years. And I was still seeking the adventure part. But once again, adventure to the Navy must have included torturing me with more training. I trudged through that and squeaked by with average marks. By May, I was pretty discouraged and it showed. One last trip home then I flew halfway around the world to find out that my submarine had sailed a few days before I arrived. So I got to spend the summer of 1973 on temporary duty with the Squadron in Pearl. When the boat crew finally returned to Pearl in August, I finally got to meet the guys who would be my new shipmates.

I would stay with the George Washington until September of 1975.

I found the adventure on the GW but it was cleverly wrapped between boredom and terror. After four patrols, I wasn’t sure I would ever be a good sailor. That wouldn’t come until later but looking back, it was the most important part of my education. The most important lesson I learned was that the Navy was not going to change to suit my needs or desires. Adventure is always around if you look up instead of looking down. And once you figure out that the key to success is putting hard work into everything you do, you can achieve much more than you think you are capable of.

It’s not just a job…

My recruiter once told me that you can be anything you and to be if you are willing to earn it. He said that I would see the world, advance as far as I was willing to work for and I would get an education in the process.

I ended up seeing quite a bit of the world. I made it to Chief Warrant Officer and gained my Bachelor’s degree. All of the life experience helped me in my second and third careers. I would have to say he was right.

What’s Next

I still have a few goals, even at the tender age of 69. One of them is to continue to tell stories until no one cares to listen or read them. Today or tomorrow, my blog will exceed 800,000 views (with 500,000 visitors). If you are reading this, you are one of those and I thank you.

Now that I am officially retired, I hope to find my “voice” again. I am also adding some things to my resource pages for veterans. So I hope you check out those pages. The book I have been working on is ready for the next crack at publishing. I am hoping to see it in print very soon.

Now I need to get back to work on my honey-do lists. They have been neglected for about 14 months so I better get cracking.

Mister Mac