[lecrgc]

MM Nuc 92-98
E2 Pilot 02-Present

[Delmonte67]

Uss Constellation CV64 aviation ordinance, served from 87-91 active duty. Desert Storm/ Persian Gulf Vet.

[Jack23]

Another FMF doc. '62-'66 Camp Pendleton California and Okinawa with the 3rd Marines '62-65. Chu Lai S. Vietnam may to august '66 with the 5th Marines

[Bob Hafler]

US Navy 66 to 69. 66/67 Keflavic Iceland. 67/69 USS Bushnell AS15. Third class Boatswainsmate.

I Was a Sailor Once ...
*** I liked 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 drove her swiftly through the sea.

*** I liked 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 liked Navy vessels -- nervous darting destroyers, plodding fleet auxiliaries and amphibs, sleek submarines and steady solid aircraft carriers.

*** I liked the proud names of Navy ships: Midway, Lexington , Saratoga , Coral Sea, Antietam, Valley Forge - - memorials of great battles won and tribulations overcome.

*** I liked the lean angular names of Navy "tin-cans" and escorts - - Barney, Dahlgren, Mullinix, McCloy, Damato, Leftwich, Mills - - mementos of heroes who went before us. And the others - - San Jose, San Diego, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Chicago - - named for our cities.

*** I liked the tempo of a Navy band blaring through the topside speakers as we pulled away from the oiler after refueling at sea.

*** I liked Liberty Call and the spicy scent of a foreign port.

*** I even liked the never-ending paperwork and all-hands working parties as my ship filled herself with the multitude of supplies, both critical and mundane in order to cut ties to the land and carry out her mission anywhere on the globe where there was water to float her.

*** I liked sailors, officers and enlisted 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 trusted and depended on them as they trusted and depended on me - for professional competence, for comradeship, for strength and courage. In a word, they were "shipmates"; then and forever.

*** I liked the surge of adventure in my heart, when the word was passed: "Now set the special sea and anchor detail - all hands to quarters for leaving port," and I liked the infectious thrill of sighting home again, with the waving hands of welcome from family and friends waiting pier side.

*** The work was 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 was ever present.

*** I liked the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ship's work, as flying fish flitted across the wave tops and sunset gave way to night.

*** I liked the feel of the Navy in darkness -- the masthead and range lights, the red and green navigation lights and stern light, the pulsating phosphorescence of radar repeaters - they cut through the dusk and joined with the mirror of stars overhead. And I liked drifting off to sleep lulled by the myriad noises large and small that told me that my ship was alive and well, and that my shipmates on watch would keep me safe.

*** I liked quiet midwatches with the aroma of strong coffee -- the lifeblood of the Navy permeating everywhere.

*** And I liked hectic watches when the exacting minuet of haze-gray shapes racing at flank speed kept all hands on a razor edge of alertness.

*** I liked 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 transformed herself in a few brief seconds from a peaceful workplace to a weapon of war -- ready for anything.

*** And I liked the sight of space-age equipment manned by youngsters clad in dungarees and sound-powered phones that their grandfathers would still recognize.

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

*** 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 ONCE AND I WOULD DO IT AGAIN.." (author unknown)

[Roger H]

Oct 1971 to Oct 1975 FTG 3 Uss truxtun DLGN /CGN 35
72-73 west pac home to long beach for 2 months and back to viet nam last half of 73
it was the best of times it was the worst of times
still remeber oplonopoe where the beer was cold and the women where HOT

[Roger H]

Originally Posted by glove

USS Hancock CVA-19, 1972-1975

also member of tonkin gulf yaute club

[sparkyhaus]

1989-1993 - IS2 - VF-2 Bounty Hunters - NAS Miramar - Desert Shield / Desert Storm - "In God we trust, all others we monitor."

[Pa.Bill]

Navy seawolfs vietnam 69-70

[PettyOfficer]

Originally Posted by Bob Hafler

*** I liked the lean angular names of Navy "tin-cans" and escorts - - Barney, Dahlgren, Mullinix, McCloy, Damato, Leftwich, Mills - - mementos of heroes who went before us. And the others - - San Jose, San Diego, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Chicago - - named for our cities.

USS John Young, not named after a US Astronaut, named after a revolutionary war captain who lost two ships at sea! Not exactly inspiring, and my home for 4 years

[firstluff]

USS Hank (DD702) -- ASWO/First Lieutenant -- 1962-65

[Pa.Bill]

Originally Posted by The Shadow

1975-1986 OTA2
First duty station: NAVFAC Midway Islands
Last: USS Comte De Grasse DD974

Terry

I was on Midway 66-67
Line-Crew

[LDNN]

DCA - USS Thorn (DD 988) 94-96
A-Ops - COMPHIBRON TWO (CPR-2) 96-98

[Glockrunner]

4/70 Great Lakes Boot Camp
USS DeHaven DD727
USS Somers DG 34
Second Class Salvage Diver Training San Diego
USS Piedmont AD 17
First Class Salvage Diver Training Washington, DC
USS Recovery ASR 43
Naval School Training Command Pacific Hawaii Teaching Second Class Diving School
USS Petrel ASR 14
Shore Intermediate Maintance Fac. Charleston
USS Petrel ASR 14
USS Sierra AD 18
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit SIX - DET 2
1991 Retired

[hdman30]

1971-1975. AK with NAS Cubi Pt, RP and VS-29 NAS North Island. WesPac all the way!!

[forr59]

1959 - 1962, USS Forrestal, 4th Division

[usncporet]

1978 - 1998
Retired Chief Fire Controlman.
USS Lang (FF-1060)
USS Okinawa (LPH-3)
FTC San Diego
USS Chandler (DDG-996)
USS Antietam (CG-54)
MOTU-15 Seattle Wa.
USS Boxer (LHD-4)
I loved every minute of it!!!!

[ldcline]

1967-1971
RM2
Last duty: Comphibron Eleven (On Board USS Juneau LPD-10)

[OlliesRevenge]

'88 Boot Camp - Great Mistakes
'88 - '89 ETA school - Orlando & Great Mistakes
'89 - '91 - Miramar CA
'91 - Coronado CA, 2nd Class Dive School
'91 - '95 MDSU-1 Honolulu Hi.

[RevDerb]

Active (CTT2) 1966 - 1970. Drilling Reserve 1980 - 1992. Last active duty Todendorf, Germany.

[mlbuilder]

Served from 1958 to 1963. SM2, last duty U.S.S. Chewaucan AOG 50 out of Charleston

[jao]

Originally Posted by Jbar4Ranch

1974-1978/80, Aviation Electrician's Mate. Four years active/two inactive, and never even laid eyes on a ship, let alone boarded one. Boot in San Diego, schools in Millington & Moffett Field, then 3+ years at NAS Whidbey working mainly on inertial navigation platforms for the P3 Orion sub hunters.

AT2 VP-45 '93-'99

Boot at RTC Orlando, school in Millington, TN & Jax, FL, then 4.5yrs at NAS Jacksonville, FL. Spent a LOT of time fixin' avionics and loading sonobouys north of Iceland playing with Ivan.

[swede7]

1983-1987 AQAN AQ's were 160% overmanned, detailers sorta messed up, so I went to Naval Weapon Station Concord, CA Never saw an aircraft, but sure put lots of Harpoons together. Got my microminiature electronics school and rating, got out and became a truck driver... go figure.

[MK34_Techrep]

Us navy 1975 - 1981
firecontrol technician guns (ftg1)
uss shenandoah ad-26 1976-1979
uss lawrence ddg-4 1979 - 1981
presently gs-13 electronics tech supervisor
at nssa-rmc, norfolk va

glock 22 gen 4

[Quijibo]

1980-1984 AQ3.
USS John F Kennedy VAST shop 1981-1984.

[bdcremer]

1995-2000, Gunner's Mate 2nd class on board the USS Hue City CG-66.
Mount 51 mount captain
Flight Deck smash & crash crew
VBSS

I should have never gotten out.