Bob - The Navy Years, Chapter 7

Off to California

So, after 2 weeks Leave, a lot of time with Mary Lynn, I packed my Seabag and off to California I went.  Looking back, I'd have to say the two years I spent in California was one of, if not the most, pivotal two years of my life.
Let me tell you a little about where I was assigned. VA-125, Naval Air Station, Lemoore, California. VA-125, (Attack Squadron 125).  They flew A-4 Skyhawks. The top attack aircraft of the day.

  VA-125 was a training squadron.  They did not deploy to an Aircraft Carrier as did all the other squadrons based at NAS Lemoore. All the other squadrons spent time on Carriers, months at a time, then had shore duty, assigned to an Air Base for months, then deployed to another Carrier.  We stayed put. That was nice. We trained pilots and ground crew.  All pilots assigned to other squadrons came through our squadron, off and on, temporarily for training. As did the ground crew.  The Air Station itself opened in 1961, so it was a very new base when I reported for Duty in August, 1965.  The base was located in Central California, about 40 miles southeast of Fresno, in the Desert. It was very hot in the summer, but often got in the 40's in the winter time.  The airfield and hangers were located about 5 miles from the barracks area.  To get back and forth we took 'Cattle Cars'. These were trailers shaped exactly like the cattle wagons you see semi's hauling up and down the highway.  The only difference was that there were no holes in the sides, there were a few windows, and there was a bus door on the side.  Inside, benches to sit on were placed around the walls and a couple of polls in the middle to hold when all the seats were taken. This was our base transportation. We took them to the airfield every morning, and back to the barracks every afternoon.  Quite a sweet ride!
I reported to the base in the evening and was assigned a bunk. Now, on a Military Base, there are normal work hours, but every building, and every job, is covered by a Duty Officer or someone on Duty that Day.  So, no matter what time, there's always somebody available to receive people reporting for Duty or take care of any other thing that comes up. Reporting to my barracks, I was given a blanket, two sheets, and shown the way to my cubicle and bed, then given instructions on where to be in the morning, and what time.
As I've said before, on any base of any size, there's always more than one person reporting in at a time.  This being a training squadron, there were more people than would normally be checking in a squadron.  I'd say there were about 20 people checking in.  We reported to the Personnel Office, first stop.  You give them your records, they give you a check in sheet and a map of the base. While there, a sailor came in and said "Anybody here know how to type?".  My hand shot up. Flunkies as myself would be assigned to washing airplanes or some other menial tasks. I knew that much, so hey, maybe a window is opening up here.  I think only one other person raised his hand, so we were to told to see him when we finished checking in. Well, to cut to the chase, after checking in, the other guy, I don't remember who it was now, was assigned to the Personnel Office, and I went to the work in the Captain's Office, right next door to Personnel.  George Kellogg, the guy who asked if anyone knew how to type, was the Captain's personal secretary, and I became his assistant.  Now, I know I said secretary.  But, in the Navy, this position is called a Yeoman. So, before I go any further, I think I should give a quick lesson in Navy Ranks and Rates. Pay Grades are different. They are the same in every Service for Enlisted.  E-1 through E-9.  As you go up in rank, your pay increases.
I would recommend anyone reading this to Google U. S. Navy Ranks. It would be a quick read, and give a better understanding.  In the Navy there are two separate people, Officers and Enlisted. They don't mix.  They even have their own clubs on base to go to.  That is, Officers Club, and Enlisted Club.  This Club is just a place on base that is like a Bar and Lounge.  You can get a dinner there, or a mixed drink.  Many times on weekends they would have live music and dancing.  A lot of local girls get to come on the base to go to the clubs.
But, lets go back to the Ranks.  I was an Enlisted man. We'll stay with explanation of Enlisted Ranks. In the Navy, Enlisted men don't have Ranks, they have Rates.  This is because a Rate states what your Rank is, plus what job you do. When you join the Navy, you are an E-1, Seaman Recruit.  When you graduate Boot Camp, You are an E2, Seaman Apprentice.  Later down the line, when you pass your tests, you become an E-3, Seaman. Now, when you are a Seaman, you are training for a job.  This is called 'Striking'. Myself, working in an Office, when I became a Seaman, I was striking for Yeoman.  The next level of promotion, passing all the tests required, I would become a Yeoman 3rd Class, or YN3.

The Insignia at right is a YN1, Yeoman First Class  Stripes.  YN3 would only have one chevron.  But, the Rating Stripes show  the Rank, and the crossed quills below the eagle show that that person is a Yeoman. Engineman would have a gear, Personnelman would have a quill and book, etc.,each job having its own emblem.  But, the Navy is the only service where the stripes you wear not only show your rank, but also what job you do.
Now, coming out of Boot Camp, going to an aviation school, I was not a Seaman Apprentice, but an Airman Apprentice.  Therefore, I had to change from AA to SA, in order to strike for a Yeoman position.  Complicated? You need to follow the bouncing ball.  Anyway, George Kellogg, YN3, helped me bigtime in settling in and getting things changed that I needed changed.
So here I was, working in the Captain's Office with two other Enlisted men, a YN2, which I can't for the life of me remember his name, and a YN3, and Seaman Apprentice me. The Captain, the Executive Officer, and the Security Officer. 
This was how I started my tour of Duty in VA-125, NAS Lemoore, CA.

to be continued...............

Putting the Chips Away

The other day Jill was over for a little while.  After lunch, I closed up the chip bags with a couple of clips we often have hanging on the refrigerator.  Jill said, "I know where these go, I'll put them up".

Reference to Bob's Blog

I really wanted to find some type of picture to use with my last post about NATTC, Memphis.  I didn't take a singe picture while I was down there but thought I might find one on line to use.  So, I Googled NATTC Memphis, Tenn Pictures.  I got a site that had a lot of Navy training pictures, none that I thought I could use,  But, several of the pictures on that site were pictures I used in previous blogs about Boot Camp, and, they noted that they could be found on bobsbadgolf.blogspot.com. Cool!

Bob - The Navy Years, Chapter 6

NATTC, Memphis, Tennessee

Actually, this base is located in Millington, TN, just outside of Memphis.
After 2 weeks Leave at home, getting to visit with friends and spending a little time with that cute Mary Lynn Wagner, I boarded a Greyhound Bus and headed for Memphis.  I arrived there on May 17, 1965.  Checking in and out of a Base is very similar in nature. Just one is in reverse of the other. You hit all the same spots. You report to the Personnel Office, where there you receive your check-in instructions.  This is a check in sheet, listing all the places you need to check in, along with a map of the base.  Usually, there are several new people checking in at the same time so you have company on your little jaunt around the base. You must check in at places like Disbursing (Payroll), Chow Hall, Library, Recreation Dept, Barracks, Maintenance Shop, whichever Company on the Base you are being assigned, and various other places depending on the base.  Each of these places have a little stamp they use to stamp your sheet and when you've finished you go back to the Personnel Office.  You are now checked in to the base.  From there you report to your Barracks where they assign you a bunk, give you your sheets and blankets, then you move in.  Here, I was in the School Barracks and in a cubicle with 3 other guys.  Our wing had about 8 cubicles.  Our Barracks had 2 wings, 2 floors, so math would say about 128 people in the Barracks. 
School Bases are a step up from Boot Camp, but still very restrictive in your movements. Most people there are very new Sailors, so they didn't give us a lot of freedom.
Each morning we had to 'Field Day' or cubicle. Each person made sure his rack was made up, clothes stowed properly, and the place looked good.  The last thing we did was swab the deck, wax it, and wait for it to dry.  Then, the newest person in the cube had to secure the buffer to buff the floor.  One buffer per wing. This meant going to the person that was currently using the buffer and asking if you could have it next. Usually, somebody else was next and you had to go to him to ask if you could get it next..  A person would have to go through several people before getting a turn.  Then you had to remember who you got it after and who was getting the buffer after you!  Then you buffed the deck, nice and shiny, then fell out to march to class.  People were going to different classes, but they were basically in the same area.  So we marched from the Barracks area to the classroom area then disbursed.
I was attending electronics class.  Much math involved.  I hated it.  I didn't work very hard at it.  I hated High School, and I hated this school.  I really never got along with school in my younger days. Being in Memphis, I was close enough to home that I tried to get home every weekend. That didn't help my classwork, either.
While in Memphis I did run into Billy Doyle and Charlie Pate, two of the guys with whom I planned on joining the Navy. They'd  joined not long after I did.
Most of the time I took the Greyhound Bus home and back to the base. One time Charlie Pate and I hitchhiked back to Louisville. That was an experience!  It took all night.  We left around 4-5 in the afternoon and I got to Louisville around 6:00 am. the next morning.  Our last ride was caught in E-town and this guy in his Cadilac drove 100 mph all the way to Louisville.  I shouldn't have come home so often.  I was dead tired when I was home and dead tired by the time I got back to the base.
Well, it took me about 6 weeks to flunk out.
So, waiting for orders, I, along with all the other flunkies, was assigned to work details.  We did a lot of painting, cleaning, and yard work.
New Orders finally came through.  I reported to the Personnel Office to see where I was going.  Now, I never really thought about it or envisioned it, but in the back of my mind I thought somewhere in Washington, D. C., some high ranking officer was making decisions on where to send people.  You know, "Let's put this Tabler kid on a Destroyer in the North Atlantic fighting the Ruskies until he gets his head on straight." type of thing. The bubble burst. As I stood in Personnel, about a half a dozen old ladies, each one looking like Aunt Bee or Clara from Mayberry, was back there typing up orders.  "Bee, I need 3 of them to go to Florida", "Clara, give me 6 of them for Norfolk".  Well, I received my orders.  I was headed to VA-125, Lemoore Naval Air Station, Lemoore, CA.
Great.  Damn Watts Riots are going on in California at that time. Where the hell is Lemoore, California?  Am I gonna get right in the middle of that mess?  So checking out of NATTC, Memphis, like I checked in, thinking wrongly that I'd never see that place again, I went home for 2 weeks Leave before reporting to my new home in California.
Now, in the military you get 30 days leave a year, and here I was using up 28 days of it in 8 months.  I was in the hole.  But home I went, knowing this time getting back home was not gonna happen nearly as often in the future.

To be continued........

Bob - The Navy Years, Chapter 5

The Light at The End of The Tunnel

Boot Camp is a long, hard 10 weeks.  You look forward to getting out and being part of the 'real' Navy.  While in Boot Camp there is the constant threat of being set back in your training. Meaning, having to go through the same things again. You can be set back individually, or the whole Company can be set back. This constant threat kept you working hard to move forward.
Service Week:  Week five in our traning  was known as 'Service Week'. We stopped  our classroom training for this week to be of service to the base.  During this week we were known as 'Service Week'. As in "Service Week, get your Ass over here!" You were given a job for the week. Over half of the Company was sent to the Chow Hall to work there for the week. Others were assigned various jobs. During the Summer many would have been used to beautify the grounds.  Grasscutting, bush trimming, that type of stuff. In the Winter, other jobs were found. I was assigned to the Duty Office in our area of the Camp.  Basically I was an errand boy.  I spent 12 hours there during the day.  I would arrive at 6:00 am, put on the coffee, then wake the Duty Officer.
This was a different person each day. When you wake a sailor who's been in the Navy for 20 years they never say 'Thanks'. I learned to knock on the door, open it, tell him what time it was, close the door and hope I heard him stirring around so I wouldn't have to wake him again.  The rest of the day I spent running errands, filing papers, cleaning the office, etc.
One person from each Company was always assigned the job of helping a new company through their indoctrination week.  I remember our Service Week was a pretty good one.  He helped us a lot.  We thought he must be a real Navy Veteran. I googled 'Service Week' prior to this Chapter and found out that they did away with Service Week in October of 2003. Civilian Contractors now do the work.

I was finishing this chapter when one thing occured to me. I hadn't mentioned getting shots.  We received a lot of shots in the past 10 weeks. Most all given by pneumatic, or, Air guns. I don't know if they still give shots that way or not.  But at the time, we often received two shots at a time, one in each arm. OUCH!

After Service Week we worked towards Graduation. Everyone worked to get their swimming tests passed, demerits worked off, and getting better at learning to march and actually being able to do everything the 'Navy Way'. I believe it was week 7 and 9 we got to go off base on a Sunday. The first week I went in to Chicago. The next Sunday off I went in to Milwaukee.  Both times I went by train.  There's really not much to do in a downtown on Sunday Afternoons.  I went with other guys in the company and we managed to find a restaurant open, had some 'Civilian Food', and went to a movie.  Our first taste of freedom off the base as a Sailor. It wasn't too exciting, but it was nice to be among the civilian population, and the first time I'd ridden a train since I went on a Kindergarten field trip to Lebanon Junction.
Then, Graduation Day!

 We had worked hard, under a lot of pressure, for 10 weeks. I can't remember, but I'd say 5-10 Companies graduated on the same day.  We marched in review in our Dress Blue Uniforms, with one of the Sousa marches playing loud....what a great feeling to be a Sailor in the U. S. Navy!
That day we received our orders for our first tour of duty.  When you receive orders to be assigned somewhere it's usually a 2 year assignment.  Then orders will come for you to be assigned somewhere else.     My orders were for 5 months of school at NATTC, Memphis, Tenn.  I didn't know they had a Navy Base in Memphis, Tenn.  Well, they do.  And a very large one at that.  The NATTC stands for Naval Air Technical Training Center.  I was going to Aviation Electronics School.  It seems all the aptitude tests I'd taken told them that was what I was best suited for.  Electronics? Crap.  Didn't sound like much fun to me.  Oh well, could be something useful in Civilian Life.

So, after gathering all our records, (You take them with you from base to base as you are transferred), personnel and medical, getting a few final shots, we waited for the train to take us home for two weeks Leave (Furlough) before reporting to our next Duty Station.

The next chapter, Bob goes to School.

To be continued........

Bob - The Navy Years, Chapter 4 Continued

 Bob explains the *items

As shown in Washing Clothes and Personal Inspection (P.I.) some things mentioned just can't be left alone without and explanation of what took place. These are several more items that need further description.

Barracks Inspection:  Each morning, as we were inspected in the drill hall, our barracks was inspected.

The picture at right gives a small look at what our barracks looked like, with me in the background beside my bunk. I really can't remember if I had top or bottom bunk.
Preparation for daily inspection started in the evening, before going to bed (hitting the rack).  Cleaning sessions, or what is referred to in the Navy as "Field Day", was held late, so not much traffic was on the floor (deck) after cleaning.  Floors were swabbed. One swabber,  one ringer, two bucket runners.  Because, as the Navy says, you never swab a deck with dirty water.  Therefore, once a swab (Mop) was dipped into a bucket, you needed fresh water. You only dipped a swab in a bucket one time before it was changed out. So, two bucket runners provided clean water for one swabber and swab ringer. Others dusted windows, tables, bunk rails, locker tops and any other surface around. After breakfast, as most of the Company marched to the drill hall for P.I., a group of 5 men was sent back to the barracks to give it a final going over before inspection. They swabbed the floor one last time, usually in the high traffic areas, checked allignment of all bunks and ditty bags. Ditty bags? Oh yeah. In the picture at right, notice the two bags hanging on the end of the bunk? Those are ditty bags.  That was your dirty clothes bag. One was hung on the end of each bunk and your dirty clothes were put in that until you washed them. They had to be tied in a square knot and perfectly aligned with every other ditty bag in the row. So, these guys made sure all bunks, chairs, ditty bags, lockers, etc. were in order and properly aligned before they left to join the company.

Swimming lessons:  I'll call them lessons, but actually they were swimming tests.  You only took lessons if you failed the tests. These were tests to make sure you could swim well

 enough to abandon ship. The picture at right was the posture you assumed when jumping in from high elevations, which one would normally do when abandoning a ship. The next picture confused me. I'd always remembered us jumping in with our pants on, not holding them.  But, I may be wrong. So I'll go with what the picture shows.  Anyway, one other test we had to pass was to jump into the water with our pants, tie a knot in each leg, then flip it over on top the water to catch air.  This would be a float. It wouldn't hold air very long, but constantly flipping it when deflated would help to keep you afloat.  We did this with our shirt, too. Same test.  Also our Navy White Hats. Some of us not so skilled swimmers had a hard time treading water and tying knots in pantlegs and shirtsleeves.
Another test was to swim the length of the pool underwater. We didn't need to hold our breaths the whole way, but when we surfaced to breathe we had to splash water around simulating coming up in patches of burning oil.  I was never a very strong swimmer.  I can get it done, but I had a tough time with the pants as a float test.  Luckily, when I did it, I manuevered close to the edge, several people in the water at the same time, and I climbed out without being caught 

and only one of my legs tied. Whew!
One other test was for swimming distance. All we had to do was to be able to swim the length of the pool.  I was able to do that pretty easily.

Gas Mask Training:  This wasn't fun. We went to a class for gas mask use. This was a classroom setting, teaching us the proper fitting, uses, names of the parts, what they would be used for, and the different types.  We'd heard about this class from other people who had already taken it, so we knew what was in store.  After classroom work, we put on our gas masks, lined up, and marched to the 'Gas Chamber'.  This was a small building, about the size of a 2 car garage.  We marched inside, where there were benches along all the outside walls.  After the whole company was in, the door was closed and we sat down.  Masks on, making sure they fit properly.  Then tear gas was released.  We had to sit there for several minutes, breathing through our masks, making sure they didn't leak and getting confidence that they really did work.  Then, standing up, we were told to remove the masks, hold them over our heads, and march around the inside of the building, which we had to do for probably one minute, but it seemed longer.  Then as we left one by one, we had to give our name and service number before exiting.  Let me tell you, tear gas makes water run from places you didn't even know you could run water from.  Eyes, nose, mouth....like turning on a faucet.  Even after you got outside it took awhile to stop the flow.  Then back to the classroom, clean the masks for the next bunch of suckers, and we were done.  Being inside a building with tear gas is an experience most people outside of holed up hostage takers don't get to experience.

Thus concludes Chapter 4.  I know I've spent a long time on Boot Camp, and you may wonder how long is this tale of Bob's four years in the Navy going to take.  It won't take nearly as long to cover the rest of the time after Boot Camp, but this period needed a lot of description.  I'll graduate from here before long.

to be continued.........

Bob - The Navy Years, Chapter 4

Bob explains the *items

Our Company was comprised of guys from all over the United States. The purpose of  Boot Camp was to prepare you to live in close quarters, shipboard, with many other guys. You needed to know how to keep yourself and your belongings clean and orderly, and to be able to get along with each other.  Boot Camp weeded out those who couldn't cut it. It was hard.  Very hard.  But it was meant to be.  Everyone in there wanted to 'quit', as Mary Lynn said in her comments.  But, we knew when we graduated from Boot Camp the rest of our Navy Tour of Duty would not be like that.

*Laundry
  Remember when we were issued our clothing we were also issued a bucket and brush.  This was a normal galvanized bucket with a typical scrub brush.  This was our washing machine. Each night we cleaned the clothes we wore that day.  In a large 'Laundry Room' with flat sinks for laying out our clothes, we washed and scrubbed our clothes with a brush.  We didn't use clothes pins, we used heavy duty string. Before washing our clothes we tied a string around the bottom edge of shirts, one on each side, on pants a string in a belt loop on each side. I really can't remember after 45 years what we did with socks or underwear, or our Navy White Hat.  But these were all washed each night.  After scrubbing out our clothes, we went outside to hang them on the clothes lines. Remember, below Zero?  We were required to tie our clothes on the lines, in a square knot. These would be inspected the next day during barracks inspection. Well, the little strings would freeze before you could get the clothes tied up.  It was like trying to tie wire ties.  But we did it. With very cold fingers.
Now, the next night. Our clothes outside did not dry. They froze! We had a drying room.  A large room with lines to hang clothes, and kept very warm.  We removed clothes from the drying room, folded them and put them in our lockers. Moved the clothes outside into the drying room. That was fun, because the clothes hanging outside were  stiff as boards. Then we hung our clothes outside that we had just washed. So, it was a three step process, moving them every night. Clothes washed, clothes already hanging outside, clothes already hanging in the drying room. You say "Why didn't you hang your clothes in the drying room in the beginning?". Well, I can't answer that question, but there was a perfectly good reason that I can't remember after 45 years. My memory makes me tend to believe that we shared the drying room with another Company and that there wasn't room for all the clothes in the drying room. So it wasn't an exact swap of clothes from outside to inside each night.

*Personal Inspection

Besides our Barracks being inspected every morning, we were given a personal inspection each morning.

Before I go any further, I'll let you know that any of the pictures you see with 'white' uniforms was not our Company.  They were taken in the summer. The whole time we were there, except for Graduation Ceremonies, we wore dungaree pants and shirts. We did have a white t-shirt on underneath, so our pose was exactly as the ones on the left.
When you were called to attention, ready for inspection, you had your white hat turned inside out, over the top of your rifle.  This was so that the inspector could check the cleanliness of that hard to keep clean white hat, where it sat against your head.  Your left hand, your thumb turned the top of your t-shirt inside out so the inspector could check that. Once he checked your t-shirt, he slapped your hand and your hand went immediately to your side. Of course he walked in front of you then behind you, looking for dirt, buttons missing or undone, leggings not tied properly, tears in you clothing, etc. Demerits were earned for any 'hits'. Each demerit was required to be worked off by one hour drilling at night in the drill hall. Of course, shoes spit-shined, belt buckles polished, neckerchiefs tied properly. This was our daily personal inspection. I was a squad leader. It was my job to check each member of my squad to make sure they were ready for inspection.  Therefore, if any of them got a 'hit', I got one, too.  So I usually checked them out pretty good.

I'll stop for now, but will cover swimming lessons and gas mask drill in the next installment.

to be continued..................