Conference bookie::navies

    SN - OCUI - ENS - LTJG - LT Chris Reed
    Aug 66-May 71
    Hello, all-
    I just found this conference, and spent a slow lunch hour browsing the 
    Guest Log. I found ONE other battleship sailor, but several Adak
    veterans and most surprisingly a couple of people who knew what a MIUW
    is/was. Here's my curriculum vitae:
    
    NRTC Great Lakes, for the usual fun and games. I have forgotten all the
    General Orders of a Sentry, but hey, it's been a while.
    
    Naval Station Adak, Alaska for a little less than a year. They asked me
    if I wanted mess cooking or working for the Armed Forces Radio and TV
    outlet, so I became a radio/TV newscaster and DJ. Didn't care for the
    Rock, but met many interesting people who listened to the Russians,
    flew P2's and P3's, etc. The Coasties who tended nav aids regarded Adak
    as liberty because it stayed above water most of the time and didn't
    move much except during earthquakes. BIG respect for Coasties!
    
    OCS, Newport. Blew my appendix big-time and spent a month at NAVHOSP
    NPT, now one of my field service customers. Graduated with the next
    class in FEB 68.
    
    Pre-comm detail at NAVSHIPYD PHILA reactivating USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62)
    and subsequent duty as Weapons Department Admin Officer, Secondary
    Battery Fire Control Officer, WLO. Shot at Culebra Is., did the Canal,
    shot at San Clemente Is., crossed the Pacific with DDG9 riding shotgun
    (ref: .131) then shot at Viet Nam, first the North until the bombing
    halt (33 days after we arrived!) and then the South. CAPT Snyder made it
    a point to cross the line on our way to Xmas lib's in Singapore, so got
    to meet the Royal Baby and navigate the garbage chute etc. Back to
    CONUS after 8-9 months for REFTRA and PACMIDTRARON 70, then a big
    surprise: up to Bremerton to mothball and decommission. Got orders
    about 2 months before decomm to report to JEZEBEL School, thence to:
    
    Inshore Undersea Group ONE, LBEACH. Assistant OINC, MIUW12. Got to ride
    the IUWG afloat assets, a *genuine* WW2 PT boat (hull number lost to
    history, due to its having been written off as a target and painted
    orange before IUW grabbed it from Point Mugu Missile Range) and an AVR
    (Aircrew Rescue Launch, used at Pensacola before helicopters became
    common currency). Both had Packard Merlin engines, 3 for the PT, 2 for
    the AVR, and one or another was usually down or on limited duty due to
    some ailment or another. Deployed with Mobile Inshore Warfare Unit 12
    to Sasebo, Japan and a couple of fleet exercises in the Philippines
    where we had the distinct pleasure of riding USS ALAMO (LSD25) and a 
    variety of AWFUL decrepit LST's including USS PAGE COUNTY, USS
    GILPIN COUNTY, and USS WASHTENAW COUNTY (a LITTLE newer than the other
    two.) Back to LBEACH to stand down/train at Border Field, within sight
    of the Tijuana bull ring, and other SOCAL fun spots. Got outprocessed
    in May 71 after they had to extend me for 3 months because they forgot to
    order in a relief and they sort of had to. Someone forgot that the OinC
    and AOinC were both short at the same time.
    
    I got to see some wonderful sights, and bought a nice stereo too. Even
    got shot at once. (sounded like someone knocking on the hull plating
    with a hammer, like a yardbird fell asleep in a tank or void and was
    trying to signal us. If I'm going to be shot at, I'd as soon be in a
    battleship.) GRATEFUL to be a civilian, though, and GRATEFUL to those
    whose service experiences were more trying than just hard work and long
    hours at low pay. 
    
    CR