Burdened by the effort of trying to hold down three part-time
jobs paying for the joy of carrying a full time college curriculum, I
joined the Navy in the spring of 1960.
After the rigors of boot camp, Electrician's Mate "A"
School , and Submarine School, I was assigned to the USS Diodon (SS349),
San Diego, for duty during which time I was to earn my dolphins
signifying "qualified on submarines". By 1962, orders sent me
to Mare Island for Basic Nuclear Power School and hence to Idaho Falls
for Advanced (A1W) nuclear plant training. Upon completion of this year
of nuclear training I was sent back to San Diego to the USS Scamp
(SSN588) . Over a year later, after a WestPac cruise I was ordered to
the 6 month long Course V Welding School, and then sent to the
Westinghouse Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory training in McKeesport,
Pennsylvania, prior to reporting in to the pre-commissioning crew of the
USS Benjamin Franklin (SSBN640), at Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut.
In 1965, after being given the opportunity to leave the nuclear program
,(which a number of us did), I was to hop a plane to the Mediterranean
to catch up with my new home, the USS Forrestal (CVA59).
Next came 6 months of Electrician's Mate "B" School,
then orders to the USS Threadfin (SS410) in Key West. About a year later
I was to carry my sea bag across the pier and join my newest home the
USS Sea Lion (LPSS315). In late 1969, upon decommissioning the Sea Lion
in the Philadelphia Shipyard, I received further orders to Inactive Ship
Maintenance Facility, Norfolk, (yes, the mothball fleet). By the time I
was to leave the mothball fleet almost all of the diesel subs were
already mothballed themselves leaving me orders to the USS Ranger
(CVA61), on the West Coast. Several WestPacs and a war later, I was
transferred to Harbor Clearance Unit One (HCU-1) in sunny Hawaii. A year
or so later, upon making chief, I was transferred to the Submarine Base
as CPO in charge of the Outside Electrical Shop (51B). Retirement in
1980 was an easy step away. We remained in Hawaii for another 16 years
and finally "pond hopped" to settle in our current home,
Oregon.
While my naval career was obviously varied, the Sea Lion has
always been my "favorite" tour for a myriad of reasons. I am
pleased to dedicate this homepage to her, to all of her past crew
members and to those "special warriors" she helped train.
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