20 Years ago Today
20 Years ago today, I took the oath for enlistment and went active duty for 6 years in the United States Navy. Had I stuck around, I’d actually be retiring. That’s a really strange thought… I still feel so young. I loved being in the Navy. There were many times in the middle of the night that I would sit up on deck in the moonlight and just listen to the waves as we plowed through the Atlantic. The air was crisp and fresh, the water was beautiful, and it was so silent. There’s no way to describe it.
I attended boot camp in Orlando, Florida. Unfortunately, I treated my first couple years as more of a party than a career. I got in plenty of trouble… I’ve got a mountain of stories that are both unbelievable and true. Often, you could find me in uniform in Daytona Beach during Spring Break rather than studying for my Nuclear Power exams. Those were the days where a corner of a stranger’s hotel room simply cost you a case of beer. Although, we rarely ever got to sleep!
One of my first leadership positions was Master at Arms over outgoing female recruits. Outgoing female recruits were women who had joined the Navy but had decided it wasn’t their cup of tea. Talk about the fox watching the hen house! One such story… I told one of my recruits to go sweep the bus and it was about 110 degrees out. She was pretty peeved until I went out to the bus and took off with her in it. We spent some time at the beach. I wound up marrying her about a month later.
When I got married, the Navy finally figured out that I really needed to be on a ship somewhere so they sent me to the USS Coontz DDG 40 (A guided missile destroyer). The ol’ steam powered bucket was a mess. It was actually with the USS Stark over in the Gulf when the Stark was hit. Some of my friends on the Coontz told me some nightmares about putting out the fires and removing the sailors that had gotten killed. The Coontz tried many times to get out to sea but we never made it because it was such a heap. We headed to Philadelphia and were decommissioned nine months later.
Philly was another story… part 2 of my party years. While my wife was home pregnant with my son, I made it a point to visit every ‘establishment’ from Connecticut to Virginia Beach. A couple times, I wound up on my Aunt Sandy’s couch in Connecticut… only to have to return to Philly the next day! It was quite a nine months. I started out lifting weights and running – I was at the best shape of my life. Nine months later I was stuffed with strombolis, cheesesteaks and beer.
After Philly, the party was over. I was stationed on the USS Spartanburg County LST 1192, a tank landing ship. This was my home for the next 3+ years. We smashed through Hurricane Hugo to give aid to Puerto Rico, were in Desert Shield and Desert Storm for 9 months (only 3 weeks in port), were loaded to the top all the time with Marines. We were even in the Baltics when Yugoslavia started up. On the Spartanburg, I grew quite a bit in both leadership and maturity. I was in charge of the ship’s electrical safety and was awarded quite a few medals for my keeping a perfect ship.
It was on that ship that I had my greatest love for the Navy and were I got my worst taste of it. As an enlisted guy, I saw the government’s best and worst treatment of the men and women who have volunteered to serve. The best was when we left for the Gulf and they gave us open checks to get all the equipment we needed. At the worst was when my (then) wife got ill and I was in Israel and they didn’t want me to go home and take care of my son. He was being taken care of by friends…not even family.
I did the right thing and left the Navy behind for my family. I eventually lost my marriage – it didn’t really have much of a chance from the start – but I had a son that barely knew me and I hated that. Those years of absence have made our relationship now so much stronger, though.
I don’t mind that I got out of the Navy – and I’ll never regret going into the Navy.
I have to admit that I still miss those days out on the ocean during the moonlight. I can still smell the air and the faint smell of the diesel engines as I sat for hours looking out at the deep blue sea… with the silhouette of the ship in blue behind me gently swaying from side to side. That’s really what I miss the most. I would have retired today if I had stayed, but I can’t trade what I have now for what those 20 years may have given me.
