I recently retired after 23 years of Naval Service.   I never intended to put more than four years in but I was just having too much fun. I came in the Navy as an Ocean Systems Technician. The first question that has always risen is what is an Ocean Systems Technician. In 1981 we couldn't tell anyone, not even our families what that really meant and that did not change until 1991 when our mission and job description was declassified. Now, without threat of imprisonment, I can tell you that I track submarines. Rather an interesting concept seeing as how if you look at my list of duty stations they are all shore based commands. In actuality I've only got about 2 months at sea, and even then that was on civilian manned vessels and one British Frigate. Almost everywhere I've been stationed no longer functions. This can be attributed to two factors, gains in technology and the end of the cold war.

I went to boot camp at Recruit Training Command, Orlando Florida (now closed) from June 1981 to August 1981. At completion of boot camp I was a Seaman Apprentice (SA).

           From there I moved to Norfolk Virginia for "A" School at the Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center. This was a lot of fun because it was my first true experience out on my own. Boot Camp doesn't really count because you are locked on base and everything is so structured. At completion of "A" School I was designated an Oceansystems Technician Seaman Apprentice (OTSA).

     Early in January 1982 I transferred to a secondary school held at a little known base outside of Eureka California called Naval Facility Centerville Beach. There was only the one command; off out in the woods so no one would really know where it was or what it was doing. The School House that I attended was a subset of this command.

     All kinds of rumors have always been spread about the mysterious remote naval commands along the coasts. It was so rural; I could look out my barracks window and see cows grazing. It's now closed. The movie "Outbreak" was filmed near there at a beautiful little town called Ferndale. Ferndale was the quarantined town in the movie.

          In February 1982 I prepared for my first actual "non-school" command, Naval Facility Adak Alaska. I arrived in Adak in the first week of March. While in Adak I completed my Watch Qualifications for Level 3 (Reader) and qualified on every piece of equipment on the watch floor. I moved through the positions of Reader, DAC operator and Plotter. I spent the entire time a member of Operations Watch Team 2.  Terry Nelson was my Watch Coordinator for the bulk of my time there.  I received my first Overseas Service ribbon there and was promoted to Oceansystems Technician Seaman (OTSN).

     I spent a year in Adak and then, true to the Navy's promise for diversity I was transferred in March 1983 to Commander Oceanographic Systems Pacific, Pearl Harbor Hawaii. This was a three-year tour and after my first year I was transferred to a division of the command that traveled a lot to inspect subordinate commands.

     While on the inspection team I got to travel to Pacific Beach Washington and back to Adak. Pacific Beach was another remote duty station and the region was so rural that the base fire department was under contract to provide fire fighting service to the nearest town about 2 miles away because they didn't have one of their own.

     While at COSP I completed Watch Qualifications for Level 2, was awarded my first Good Conduct Medal and  promoted to Oceansystems Technician Petty Officer 3rd Class and then to Oceansystems Technician Petty Officer 2nd Class.

      Next came my favorite of all duty stations, Naval Facility, Keflavik Iceland. I arrived there in the summer of 1986 and departed in the summer of 1988. I enjoyed this tour so much that I extended a year. There are strong reasons why they call Iceland the land of Fire and Ice. It was truly a beautiful place and I enjoyed the people just as much. They have a truly unique culture and also provided me with my first exposure to "Good Samaritan Laws". The laws were essential to survival during the wintertime because of the harsh winter weather.

            While in Kef, I spent one year on the watch floor, Qualified Level 1, worked as a manual plotter and message writer. Just after my first year I was moved to SURTOPS Training and promoted to Oceansystems Technician Analyst Petty Officer 1st Class (OTA1).  I took over as Leading Petty Officer.  I spent about 6 months in Training with Jeff Doer as my LCPO. After that I spent 6 months in Quality Assurance on the QA Duty Analyst watch bill. I was also awarded my 2nd and 3rd Overseas Service Ribbon.

        When I left Keflavik I embarked on a journey that would cause a radical change in my life. Whidbey is where I met my wife Kris. She was a young seaman in the Navy and I was put in the position of being her Training Petty Officer.  Whidbey was also rewarding in other ways. I was selected as the Bachelors Enlisted Quarters Committee Chairman to act as a representative of the residents of the barracks, over 2000 residents in all. We accomplished a lot and improved everyone's quality of life and that was important to me.

          As for work. I started in 1988 with Team 2 and Di Farmer running the show. I was assigned as  the Training Petty Officer. When I started to get flack over dating someone in the division I requested a daystaff position. I basically created a position for myself in Current Ops. I knew they were getting a lot of new equipment, equipment I had experience in.  The proposal put me in charge of developing the Standard Operating Procedures and working with Training and the teams to ensure they got trained on the systems. This is something that would end up following me to other commands. Shortly before leaving Whidbey for Hawaii they put me back on the watch team with Archie Flirt. Again, I was put there as the Training Petty Officer. I got my second Good Conduct medal while at Whidbey.

            I cut my tour in Whidbey short.  Kris had transferred out and they wouldn't allow me to follow without being married. I caught a plane, let her arrange everything and every thing else is history.  Kris and I were married on 21 April, 1990 at Wiamae Falls Park.

Naval Ocean Processing Facility, Pearl Harbor Hawaii

(closed)

1990-1993 Analysis Supervisor, Mission Support Leading Petty Officer. Introduction into the LFA program and 2 weeks at sea on the Cory Chouest.Navy Achievement Medal, 1st and 2nd Awards, Good Conduct Medal, 3rd award, IUSS Specialist Insignia. 

            We were both stationed at NOPF Ford Island. Our beautiful daughter Raechel was born there at Tripler Army Medical Facility on January 6th, 1993.

1994-1997 On Board Training curriculum developer and Leading Petty Officer. One month at sea aboard the USNS Bold in the Norwegian Sea.Commander Undersea Surveillance, Dam Neck VirginiaNavy Achievement Medal, 3rd award, Good Conduct Medal, 4th award. Senior Petty Officer of the Quarter.

  From there we went on to Virginia Beach Virginia. There Kris got out of the Navy and I joined a curriculum development shop assisting with the development of computer based training products. 

     I was stationed at the Joint Maritime Facility, St Mawgan, England  from January 15th 1997 to February 1st 2001.  While stationed there I spent two years on the watch floor in Operations Watch Teams 2 and 4.  I was the Operations Watch Coordinator of Team 4. The team was a combination of U.S. Navy, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel. We manned 12 hour watches in the performance of our regular duties in a 2-24-2-96 watch rotation. After two years of this I went day working in Plans and Exercises where I coordinated JMF's efforts in fleet exercises. While in Plans and Exercises I spent two weeks on temporary assignment on the HMS West Minster as part of an Exercise. 

       I also taught Vacation Bible School, Sunday School and American Red Cross First Aid/Adult CPR.  I completed an Associates Degree with the University of Maryland University College.  I was also selected as JMF Mission Support Person of the Year for two consecutive years.  It was while I was at JMF that I was converted to Sonar Technician (Surface) (STG) and I received my 4th and 5th Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, 5th Good Conduct Medal and 4th through 7th Overseas Service Medals.

       My last duty station was Submarine Training Facility Norfolk Virginia. I reported there on 01 February 2001 and retired from the Navy on 30 September 2004.  This was interesting on many levels.  It was my first assignment as a formal instructor which allowed me the opportunity to go to the Navy's Basic Instructor Course and get "formal" training on a job I've performed for so long at almost al my other commands. The classrooms were mine and I hooked them up. We had networked all of the computers and the primary classroom was also equipped with operation work stations just like my primary duty stations. All of the systems were connected into a classified network, video switching system and a projector and smart board.

    I was promoted to Chief Petty Officer and moved out of the classroom to run the command networks and coordinate the transition of the networks over to the Navy Marine Corps Intranet or NMCI. This was my first true out of rate (job field) assignment since becoming an Ocean Systems Technician.  Yes it's true that I've had many collateral duties but this was the first time in 22 years that my primary duties had nothing to do with passive ocean acoustics.  I was also the intranet and internet webmaster. The interesting thing about the intranet web site is that it was heavily based on a Microsoft Access database and scripts.

      I finished my Bachelor's in Information Systems Management and began my Master's in Education. I earned the  Navy Enlisted Classification Code (NEC) of Instructor (9502) and completed the Navy's Master Training Specialist qualification.