Enlisted in the Navy right out of High School in 1963. Went through CTM training at Treasure Island, then a year on the USS Oriskany on and off Yankee station; also visiting Subic Bay, Sasebo, and Hong Kong. Then two years in Camp Fuchinobe, Japan, attached to the NSA doing voice prints and sub intercepts. Learned enough Japanese to get around well, and had a 1964 Honda S600 during that time. I would not trade that four years for anything.

 

Wow - looking at the previous posts I see we have more in common than just our cars - training a Lowery AFB, stationed at Myrtle Beach AFB in SC, spent a year at Korat Thailand between 71 and 73 (2 separated 6 month TDYs). Qualified as #6 for E-5 and the first two left the service so I would have made it if I signed up to reenlist. I was accepted as a junior in EE at the UW so I said no thanks. Spent the following 31 years working for the Navy as a project manager - I had the AE 21/26 class ships (as Planning Yard PM), spent 5 years working as the AOE 6 Class PMS 325 project engineer during construction. Now I have the CV63 and the CVN76 Planning Yard PM jobs. It's a great life!

 

Interesting reading here. Thank you for serving, guys.

 

ETS'd from Vietnam Dec 1969.

fltsfshr

 

That was my intention.

I suspected that just like in our everyday lives there are people all around us that have quietly served their county without accolades or drawing attention to themselves. Especially in the case of Viet Nam era Vets, that never got a welcome home parade in their neighborhood.

But, no matter what service or when, male or female, all those that served did not do so without sacrifice on some level. Separation for friends, family and loved ones, unfamiliar surroundings, food and in some cases languages away from all that is familiar. I feel very comfortable in stating that the experience of the first night in the military, with all the uncertainty is unlike the experience that a college student has the first night away from home.

Does anyone else not remember there first night in the military like it was yesterday? Share your story if you care too.

 

Joined the AF in 1967 retired in 1998 as CMSgt

 

The +1 just retired from the Navy March 1 (Capt - submariner) after 25 years. He served aboard several submarines and an aircraft carrier (the JFK). He commanded the submarine USS Rhode Island for 2.5 years. The two operations he was involved in were Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Iraqi Freedom.

My dad is a retired Marine Colonel - served in WWII and Korea. Won two bronze stars in WWII. Retired just as Vietnam was heating up. He'll be 90 on May 29.

 

I remember my arrival at Great Lakes NTC, and thinking that 1st night in the barracks that I had made a horrible mistake, I was 23, cold as hell, and quite frankly, I wanted to go home.
The US Navy turned a spoiled college kid into a somewhat successful and somewhat responsible member of society, not to mention all the great Catch-22 style sea stories, and combat veteran cache from the 1st Persian Gulf 'War'.
You get out of it what you put into it, sometimes more...

 

Hi all. Been a while since I stopped by. Saw this... thought I'd post:

http://qphox4.com/bob/txtfilec.html

 

When they pulled the numbers for the first modern draft in recent history I had a 2S (student deferment). I drew a number nine. In February of 1970 as I was sitting in class at the Academy of Aeronautics pursuing studies that would hopefully lead to a career as a commercial airline pilot. It became apparent that the prospects had just grown dimmer. My eyes where not good enough to become a "jet jockey" in the military and the airlines had just announced new restrictions on their vision requirements. As the first big wave of Viet Nam veteran fighter pilots returned home, unless one had military training (worth millions of dollars) flying jets, one could not even get an interview with an airline.

I finished out the semester, and was drafted in June of 1970. I did my basic training at Fort Dix, NJ. After which, I was assigned as Cadre to a company that trained radio operators (MOS 05B). I did OJT as a clerk typist, and was happy to be close my parents home 90 minutes away in Queens, NYC.

In May of 1971 with thirteen months left, I was a prime candidate to get levied to Viet Nam. The drill was thirty days leave, go to Viet Nam and ETS upon one's return. As fate would have it, based on my test scores during the Armed Forces Qualifying Battery (AFQB) I was hand picked by someone to serve on a Temporary Duty Assignment on a Special Task Force at Department of the Army Headquarters, Pentagon to respond to the Hatfield McGovern Amendment. This TDY assignment was suppose to last ninety days. It was disbanded early, and on the day that I was suppose to return to Fort Dix in the time it took for me to walk through the tunnel to South Post Fort Myer (which is now part of Arlington National Cemetery) get in my car and drive up to North Post to get my travel orders to return to Fort Dix the stuff hit the fan. When I arrived at north post I was told to return immediately to the Pentagon. President Nixon had given the military thirty days to implement a world wide testing program, policy and treatment program in response to the allegations that returning troops from abroad where returning home with significant drug addictions. I became one of the original four members (a Full Bird, two LTC and me a lowly E-3, with acting Corporal stripes from Fort Dix so that I could march troops) of the Army's newly formed Alcohol and Drug Abuse Control Division. That lead to my becoming the Army's first 91G and an immediate promotion to E-4. In December of 1971, I was the first enlisted person ever to go on a Department of the Army IG Inspection tour. I ETS'd in 1972 with an Army Commendation Medal for outstanding performance under difficult and critical circumstances. By then the office I worked in was made up of twenty-eight people. Mostly LTC's two Majors, a Capt and two civilians.