5/18/25-In the Navy

In these posts I have talked about many people and situations in my life.  I realized I may have mentioned it in passing, but I have never really focused on my time from 1993 to 2003 when I, like the disco hit from the Village People, was "In the Navy."

In early 1993, I was struggling on what I wanted in life.  I made bad decisions on where to go to college and what to study.  I was going through life rudderless.

Then I watched Hunt for Red October.  I don't know why but I was drawn to life on a submarine.  So drawn that I decided to go to the recruiting office and see what I needed to do to get on a sub.

It moved pretty quick from there.  I took some tests and passed my physical.  The next thing I knew I was off to boot camp in sunny Orlando.

Boot camp was a struggle for me.  I made many mistakes due to my lack of attention to detail.  I was probably the worst marcher in the history of the Navy.  Luckily I was with 80 other people who were also struggling with being on their own for the first time and experiencing something they had never done before.  Luckily we were organized alphabetically and I made my first Navy friend, Matt Brimmer.  It was by his association that I made it to graduation.

I was disappointed that I was assigned to Machinist Mate "A" School after boot camp.  I thought I was going to be a reactor operator not a wrench turner.  Eventually I learned that the Navy knows what it was doing and I excelled in my training.  I was one of the highest scorers in Nuclear Power School and was chosen as class leader.

During my training I got married.  I guess I owe the ability to get married when I did to the Navy as well.

My follow-up training was in upstate New York.  I learned a lot there, and again did pretty well and was chosen to get extra training to be an Engineering Laboratory Technician, a nuclear chemist.  But mostly I learned I hate living in the winter snow.

I was eventually assigned to the USS Hampton in Norfolk, Virginia.  It seemed like I spent the next 5 years at sea.  Even when we were in homeport it seemed like I was always spending the night on the boat on duty.  It was a tough time, but I made friends who were also dealing with the same issues of being isolated.  We would spend hours passing time discussing useless things in the engine room on watch or hiding out when it was time for cleaning.  We would spend the little hours we had left playing cards or watching movies.  There were too many people to mention them all specifically here, but first ones that come to mind are Preston, Lube Oil Lenny, Batts, Big Don and of course, Don Golden.

I should have trusted the Navy when it came time for shore duty in the year 2000.  The Navy wanted to keep me in the nuclear power pipeline and go back to train new sailors.  But I decided to go into recruiting to get back to the West Coast.  I hated every minute of that.  It was selling a used car to people who really didn't want a car at all.  I was so soured on the Navy after dealing with that when it came time to move on it made my decision easier to move on back to civilian life.

Looking back I realize that the decision I made back in 1993 in that recruiting office was one of the most important things in my life.  It allowed me to get married and have a family.  It taught me skills that I use today in my current job.  It gave me experiences in seeing parts of the world I never would have.  The time I spent representing my country is one of the things I am most proud of.   

I joined the Navy because I thought I had no other choice.  I realize now the Navy made me who I am today.