My Navy Career It all began back in 1955. The Air Force Recruiter in my home town of Gadsden, Alabama was out to lunch, and rather than wait for him to come back, my friend Howard Entrekin and I decided to join the Navy instead. After Boot Camp at NTC San Diego, and Communications Technician "R" branch school at Imperial Beach, California, Howard and I went our separate ways, not meeting again until almost 10 years later in Japan (I mention Howard here because he was my boyhood friend, and he passed away in the late '60's from cancer.) I spent my early years in the Navy learning new jobs at each duty station to which I was transferred. Those many skills included Morse and non-Morse Collection, Communications Security (COMSEC (Signals Security (SIGSEC) now)), Traffic Analysis, Processing and Reporting, and High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF). I even wrote R-branch advancement exams during one tour at Naval Security Group Headquarters. It was a great career, and it went by too fast. I was promoted to Chief Petty Officer in 1962, and selected for Warrant Officer in 1966. In 1968, I was selected to attend BULLSEYE computer programming school at Skaggs Island, California, and began what would be 16 consecutive years in BULLSEYE HFDF Net Control operations, being transferred back and forth between the Atlantic HFDF Net Control Station at Northwest Virginia, and the Pacific HFDF Net Control Station at Wahiawa, Hawaii. I realize that those organizations have significantly changed. Many of the HFDF stations with which I was familiar have now been closed. However, it was great to be part of the growth of Navy HFDF through the years. Greatest of all were the many friendships that I developed while in the Navy. Duty Stations 1955 - 1956 Naval Training Center San Diego (Boot Camp) 1956 CT (R) Branch School, Imperial Beach 1956 - 1957 Adak, Alaska 1957 - 1960 Sidi Yahia, Morocco 1960 - 1962 Imperial Beach, California 1962 - 1963 Cape Chiniak, Alaska 1963 - 1966 Kami Seya, Japan 1966 - 1968 Naval Security Group Headquarters, Washington DC 1968 - 1969 Skaggs Island, California 1969 - 1972 Wahiawa, Hawaii 1972 - 1975 Northwest, Virginia 1975 - 1979 Wahiawa, Hawaii 1979 - 1984 Northwest, Virginia
My Navy Career
It all began back in 1955. The Air Force Recruiter in my home town of Gadsden, Alabama was out to lunch, and rather than wait for him to come back, my friend Howard Entrekin and I decided to join the Navy instead. After Boot Camp at NTC San Diego, and Communications Technician "R" branch school at Imperial Beach, California, Howard and I went our separate ways, not meeting again until almost 10 years later in Japan (I mention Howard here because he was my boyhood friend, and he passed away in the late '60's from cancer.)
I spent my early years in the Navy learning new jobs at each duty station to which I was transferred. Those many skills included Morse and non-Morse Collection, Communications Security (COMSEC (Signals Security (SIGSEC) now)), Traffic Analysis, Processing and Reporting, and High Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF). I even wrote R-branch advancement exams during one tour at Naval Security Group Headquarters.
It was a great career, and it went by too fast. I was promoted to Chief Petty Officer in 1962, and selected for Warrant Officer in 1966. In 1968, I was selected to attend BULLSEYE computer programming school at Skaggs Island, California, and began what would be 16 consecutive years in BULLSEYE HFDF Net Control operations, being transferred back and forth between the Atlantic HFDF Net Control Station at Northwest Virginia, and the Pacific HFDF Net Control Station at Wahiawa, Hawaii. I realize that those organizations have significantly changed. Many of the HFDF stations with which I was familiar have now been closed. However, it was great to be part of the growth of Navy HFDF through the years. Greatest of all were the many friendships that I developed while in the Navy.
Duty Stations