Once out of the hospital at Great Lakes I was available for reassignment. The Bureau of Naval personnel began casting about for where to send me. In the meantime, I was temporarily assigned to the staff of Ninth Naval District with headquarters in Chicago. It was a rotten job. During the short time was there … More Temporary duty – Ninth Naval District
Mrdevac is a short form for medical evacuation. I learned about it first and by being the subject of one. Here’s how I remember it. When the Valley Forge was assigned to the Seventh Fleet in the Far East the Captain wanted his best trained people on duty. The CIC (combat Information Center) watch was … More Midway Medevac
Shore Patrol Olongapo – 2 When I was liaison to the Philippine Police I witnessed a few interesting encounters. During a SEATO exercise an Australian destroyer made a port visit to Olongapo. It was easy to predict what happened when the Aussie and American sailors were in a bar together. We started getting reports of … More Shore Patrol- Olongapo – 2
Shore Patrol – Olongapo – 1 During the time I served in the US Navy there was a major American naval base at Olongapo in Subic Bay in the Philippines. Seventh Fleet ships were regularly scheduled for visits there. It wasn’t a great place to visit. The naval base was separated from the town by … More Shore Patrol – Olongapo – 1
After completing OCS I was sent to CIC (Combat Information Center) and AIC (Air intercept control ) schools in Glynco, Georgi, One of the things I thought strange was that I had to have a yellow Fever inoculation. It was not for going overseas. It was for being stationed in Georgia. The courses lasted over … More Air Intercept Control School
My second encounter with a typhoon came a few years after the first. We were en route to Okinawa where all the amphibious forces in the US Seventh Fleet were assembling for a major exercise. It seems someone had also invited the typhoon to meet us there. Some of the ships had already arrived and … More Typhoon – 2
There are dozens of serious tropical storms in the Pacific every year. Only the worst are designated as typhoons and given names, Assigning names is a relatively new thing, dating from // In 1963 the Valley Forge was in port in Subic Bat in the Philippines. The typhoon was being tracked well to the north … More Typhoon – 1
In the 1960s the US Navy always wanted naval aviators to be qualified to drive ships as well as fly airplanes. Aviators were often assigned to ships in order to achieve this qualification. The ships they were sent to were usually aircraft carriers of some type. Valley Forge had a mixture of aviators in various … More Blind Shiphandling
I’ve mentioned before that my first sea duty was a great learning experience. It was also a time when I had a few accomplishments that I am still proud of. Details about those will come later, The CIC team was full, and I was a fifth wheel CIC school trained officer. That was the reason … More First Duty Assignment – 4
A new officer often encounters situations for which his previous experiences did nothing to prepare him. I had one of those cases when I tried t get men from my division ready for the examinations for advancement in rank. The navy at that time had a system for trying to promote the best men in … More First duty Assignment 3
Wetherhorn 