When I finished my intercept control course I headed for California to join my ship, the helicopter carrier USS Valley Forge. The ship was in drydock, undergoing a major refit. There wasn’t any space available in navy housing ashore, so I lived on board. It wasn’t a great experience. The whole ship was filled with … More First Duty Assignment – 2
First Duty Assignment – 1 Just a bit before the students at OCS completed the course and received commissions the Navy Bureau of Personnel interviewed each one. We were asked if we wanted to serve ashore or afloat. Everyone was cautioned that we were, after all, naval officers. As such we were expected to select … More First Duty Assignment
OCS Adventures – 2 I hate making beds. I was never very good at it. At OCS everyone had to make up his bed every morning. The sheets had to be so tight that an inspecting officer who came through in the morning could drop a twenty five cent coin on it and the coin … More OCS Adventures – 2
OCS Adventures – 1 US Navy Officer Candidate School was located in Newport, Rhode Island. Flying there in 1962 was a new experience. The Newport airport didn’t have a long enough runway to handle the jet aircraft that were in use the. I flew to NYC and changed to an older, propeller driven, aircraft. Almost … More OCS Adventures – 1
Joining the Navy? When I graduated from the University of Michigan in 1962 there was still a law in effect, called the Selective Service Act. That law required men to register for military service with their local draft board, and the local draft board would select individuals to be sent to perform service in the … More Joining the Navy
Doing My Job – part 2b There are other aspects to the position of legal officer. I encountered one of them while serving as Operations Officer and Navigator in USS Nantahala, a fleet replenishment oiler. We were scheduled for a visit to the Italian port of Trieste. The city is located at the Northern end … More Doing My Job – part 2b
Doing my Job – part 2a This is a continuation of legal officer stories. During one of my stints as Officer of the Deck late at night I sent my junior officer to make an inspection round of all the lookouts. The ones stationed near the bridge were easy to check, but there was also … More Doing My Job – part 2a
Doing my job – part 2 There are many aspects of life on board ship. The Navy keeps track of a lot of them. Often an officer is assigned to handle some item which is not part of his primary job description. The service sometimes refers to these assignments as collateral duties. Informally, those assigned … More Doing my Job – part 2
Radiation scars I have my share of scars on my body. They were collected over many years. Some of them are hard to see. For example, there is the 1 and ½ inch line on my left palm from a broken bottle. A similar sized mark goes over my right eyebrow, caused by an encounter … More Radiation scars
Doing my job – part 1 I was assigned to USS OKINAWA, a helicopter assault ship, to be the assistant CiC officer. The idea was to have an officer with experience in a surface ship (me) to balance the CIC Officer (my boss) who was an aviator doing his first tour on board a ship. … More Doing My Job – part 1
Wetherhorn 