I joined the United States Navy in 1978, and after basic
training and SONAR 'A' school in San Diego, California, I
received orders to the USS Goldsborough DDG 20 homeported in
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I spent 2 years on the Goldsborough
before returning to the U.S. from the Persian Gulf in
December, 1980 for a year of advanced electronics training
and AN/MK 111 (UBFCS) maintenance.
The MK 111 was used to program a ballistic missile called an
ASROC or Anti-Submarine ROCket. The MK 111 was a unique
computer. It was a hybrid analog and digital computor.
It also had a rotary drum memory.
This was not bad for a computer that was designed in the
late 1950's. The rotary drum is a relic
most academics have never seen, much less heard of.
I was first in my class so I had first shot at the available
openings for personnel with MK 111 training. I chose the
USS Towers DDG 9 homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. Two an a half
years later when I returned to the United States for shore
duty and another year of school I was able to read the news
paper (in Japanese), and use Japanese road maps as well as any
natural born citizen of that country. While I was In Japan, I
held part time jobs as a taxi driver and as a bartender
in a club that was designated for "Japanese" clients
only.
Young and single, I enjoyed my shore duty in San Diego,
California. I surfed, skateboarded and practiced for
roller–skating competitions in my free time. Once I
started AN/SQQ-23 SONAR Maintenance, I got serious. Top grades
would again give me first choice of orders to a ship somewhere
in the world. This choice was important because it would
shape the rest of my life. I chose the USS Dahlgren DDG 43
Homeported in Norfolk, Virginia.
At first, I did not like Norfolk very much. But the place
grew on me, and I soon called it home. My tour of duty on
the Dahlgren was four and a half years long. My first two
ships had taken me all over the Pacific and Indian oceans.
This tour would take me across the Atlantic, through the
Mediteranean and Baltic Seas, both the Suez and the Panama
canal, and all of the way around South America. We
decommisioned the Dahlgren in 1992 after an engine room
fire. We were the last ship in the Navy with the
MK 111 UBFCS and AN/SQQ 23 ASW sonar suite. The passing of
the USS Dahlgren marked the end of an era.
My next tour of duty was at Fleet Training Center, Norfolk.
SONAR Technicians went through one of two schools,
FLEASWTRACENPAC in San Diego, CA, or FLEASWTRACENLANT in
Norfolk. After achieving a U.S. Navy Instructor certification,
I taught and managed an acoustic analyst course at ASWTRACENLANT
which was absorbed by the Fleet Training Center during another
round of base closures in the mid 90's. In December,
1995, I rotated to sea duty once more. That was when the
Navy brought me to Ingleside, Texas and MCMROTCREW C
(Mine Counter-Measures Rotational Crew Charlie).
I retired from the Navy January, 1999.
The rest, well, they call that history. . . . . .
My initials can be found in the periodic table of elements
as Silver (Ag) and Tungsten (W).
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