USN 12/'77-'82 ETN1 East coast sailor, surface fleet. Made a couple of 6 month Med Cruises and a whole lot of Caribbean Ops (that wasn't hard to take) stationed out of Nofuck, VA. But nothing that I did while in the Navy compares to my experience of enlistment:
After graduating from high school (barely), and working some BS jobs for a while, I'd had a little trouble with the law. Something to do with cars, and speed limits that we couldn't seem to see eye to eye on. On my second trip to see the judge, my lawyer thought it wouldn't be such a bad idea if he could tell the judge that I was going away soon to
serve my country in the military. I was still only 19, just screwing off for the most part and had no real direction in life, so I decided, why not? It couldn't be too bad. And since I always like McHale's Navy, the USN it would be. Anchors away!
When I went to the local recruiter's office they had me fill out all of the forms and we discussed what sort of rating (ie occupation) I'd be interested in. Since I had been a total gear head all of my (short) adult life thus far I figured I'd be a shoe in as an aviation machinist mate. Fine, fine... they said. We'll get you a seat in that school and you'll be assigned to one of those floating cities known as aircraft carriers for three years.
Then they made arrangements for me to come back another day to take the ASVAB test. The test scores came back and they assured me, no problem getting into Aviation MM school, we've got you a seat. But it would be a delayed enlistment, so I was to go back home and come back the week between Christmas and New Year to go to the Induction Center in Boston.
On the assigned day we were carted into Boston by the local recruiter, and joined up with all the other new recruits from the Boston area to go through the induction procedure. More paperwork, bunch of physical tests and checks (turn your head and cough. Great... now bend over! Whoa!) a couple of hours worth of this and that. After all of this, while we were all waiting to be brought to Logan airport, and flown off to boot camp in Orlando, one of the Waltham recruiters comes out and calls my name.
"Here!"
"Come with me..."
He takes me back into some dark, quiet office where they closed the door, and sat me down in front of the desk of some other bigwig recruiter guy that I'd never met before. After a few pleasantries discussing how I'd enjoyed the induction so far, he says, "I have some bad news for you. I'm afraid that the seat we had reserved for you in Aviation MM A school is no longer available. So, your options are, you can either choose a different rating today or you can just go on back home.
Well, I had already been through the whole scene of saying good-bye to everyone back home, and by this time I already had it set in my mind that enlistment was a great idea. And no doubt, these guys knew it too. It was about this time that the senior recruiter opened his desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of Four Roses Whiskey and a couple of glasses. I'll never forget that bottle or the brand, even though I can't say that I've ever seen it since.
So they poured me a nice stiff shot and told me how I had scored so highly in my entrance exams that I was qualified for one of the more "advanced" ratings, which would entitle me to more advanced training. And after completing the training I would graduate as a 3rd class Petty Officer (E-4) instead of just a Seaman (E-3). How would I like to become a
Nuclear Propulsion Machinist Mate?
Whaa? Nuclear? Ummm... Hmmm. No, no, that won't do at all. I don't want to glow at night. I won't have anything to do with that, thanks.
Well then, how about an Electronics Technician. Same great deal, but you'd be working on radios and radars and stuff like that there.
Hmmm, thinks I. That sounds a bit more up my alley. Perhaps another little taste of that 4 roses then eh? And the deal was struck. The little piece of info they only laid on me as I was inking the agreement was that to get all this advanced stuff I would have to agree to a 4 year enlistment (instead of 3) plus a 2 year automatic extension up front. In other words a total of 6 years.
But don't worry. When you get to ET school if you change your mind you can just tell them then and you'll just do the "A" school, no advanced training, and you'll be a E-3 on graduation, and they will cancel the extra 2 years extension. (I found out later that this was a total fabrication and there was no opportunity to back out.)
So that is the story of how I got shanghaied in Boston into a 6 year stint in the USN. In retrospect, those guys did me a huge favor. The military was exactly what I needed in my life at that point and I was highly successful for the 6 years of enlistment. It has also turned into a career in Electronics that I would never have seen had I continued on my youthful path of dereliction.
Wish I knew their names. I'd like to send those guys a bottle of Four Roses!
