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Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

We were just talking about FSS KWest at work the other day. Only a few geezers left at ONI who went to school there. I'm the only OT. I turned 18 in A school. Some good times were had there.

Nick

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

I too was there in the summer of 68... what a great place. making the run to Ft Lauderdale, The green Parrot, Hemingway's place, and Jimmy Buffet. Didn't get any better, and never will.

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

Great blast from the past Jim. I left Great Lakes BE&E school in February (windy,snowy sub zero) decked out in full dress blues bound directly for Miami and onward to Key West. When we hit key west it was 86 Degrees. First priority was quick check in and finding some shorts. Had a 2 1/2 month wait for class to start behind the green doors so I landed a job working the speed line in the galley which only served quick lunches and dinners Monday through Friday. No other fire or barracks security watches. What cake duty. Spent many hours at the club and the beach....got sun poison really bad after falling asleep or passing out on the beach. I recall the Jim Tribble was going to write me up for destruction of military equipment. Sold many pints of blood at $15.00 a pop, which was a lot of cash in those days. Mallory square was notorious for sailors getting mugged and one day I found a "Walking Tall" club and used to walk the side streets carrying the stick. I must say I was a lot crazier in those days. I often received strange looks from the locals but never had a single altercation. I think Taking Teddy's comment literally may have been a factor. Anyway, it was a great tour and I thank you for the memories. Looking forward to the pictures.

John

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

John - what year was that? - when you left Great Lakes headed for Key West? By the way, I also got sun poisoning (really bad) falling asleep on the beach! Dumb thing to do, but how would a "hillbilly" from the mountains of upstate NY know any better?
Also, I relieved OTCM Jim Tribble as CMC at NavFac Bermuda around 1975.

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

I was in Key West from February - May 1970 then on to Bermuda from June 1970 to June 1972..... Went back to Bermuda again 1985 - 1989.....Many great times and great fishing...Loved those hogfish.

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

Just a shout out to the guys behind the green door! Found this site searching for FSS pics and enjoyed reading some of the threads.

I was BB&E/A1/A3/C/26CX 1970. Tx

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

Key West is one of those places that just seems to grow on you.I have been in and out of there for years. Almost seems like I homesteaded there. Nostalgia suggests 'the good old days'; however, there were some challanges - like fresh water restrictions. The only fresh water on the island was from a Navy-owned 14-inch pipeline coming down fromn the mainland; consequently, all swimming pools were salt water, fairways at the golf course on Stock Island were not watered, and one waited for rain to wash your car.
I first arrived in Cayo Hueso in August 1953 to attend Sonarman 'A' school, before construction was completed on the current buildings as FSS. My class, 02-54, was suspended for three weeks after Xmas 1953 to allow us to help tidy up the new buildings before occupancy, i.e., laying sod, removing construction debris, painting, etc. We were the first class to graduate in February '54.
Came back in 1956 to go behind the Green Doors; 58-59 in an ASW helicopter squadron; '62 - Green Doors again; '71 n VX-1 at Boca Chica. Have been back several times in the last few years and am amazed how different the base is with all the condominiums; however, FSS looks like it is still good condition after almost 60 years. Have really fond memories about the place.

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

My favorite spot was the Bamboo room with Jim and Jack doing the entertaining while I had a wine cooler or two...

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

I remember OT3 Donovan quite clearly but never had the pleasure of meeting the Skip....

Either way, my first year in the Navy was in Key West for reasons we won't get into here. I was there with you Jimmy in '76 and with you in Kef for '76-77 and for some of '79 in Centerville. I chose a different path after that!

Those days will live on my memory as will the sand in my shorts from digging out Fort Zachary Taylor!

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

Jim I'm glad you got to go back to Key West. For many it was the beginning of good memories of life as an OT. I had 3 tours in Key West 59-62 USS Bushnell (AS-15), 62-64 NAS Boca Chica and finally 69-74 FSS Green Doors. I was an ET1 and had never heard of SOSUS. I made ETC by the grace of God and CPOs Jim Daniel, Tribble, Peavyhouse and a host of others. When the Rate became active I begged the Commodore to help me convert to OTC. Dan Solberg, Max Morris, Swanz, Zeek, Phill Blauvelt and Moran taught me through the "A" school backed me up with more info so I could pass the OTC exam and convert. Good days and great memories? You Bet.
Marshall

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

My first trip to FSS was following BE&E during a very cold winter in Great Lakes. Arrived in KWest January 67 for Sonar "A" school followed by "O" school. Second time was after a cold winter Kef. Arrived in Jan 71 for Sonar A-2 and OT maintenance school. Third time was as an instructor following IT school in Norva arriving in Key West in Feb 75. Moved to Norva with the schools at the end of Dec 76. Notice that all my arrivals in Key West were in the winter following a tour of duty in a relatively cold environment. Have visited Key West numerous times since then and was always surprised to see how some things have changed while other things have stayed pretty much the same.
I had the same impression as Jim about the proximity between the school, EM Club, barracks, and galley when I was a young trainee. The different perspectives of that distance from back then and now are almost funny to consider. Of course, back then we were almost always on a tight schedule to get from one spot to another within a finite period of time. Being hurried always makes a short distance appear to be farther than it really is.
Someone in a previous post asked about the Boca Chica Bar. I pulled many an all-nighter there in my youth and I'm sorry to say it no longer exists. On my last trip to Key West it was a T-shirt shop. The Bamboo room was another haunt. I remember the two guys playing their guitars and singing there. Every so often they'd break out in their version of “Halva Na Gela” which went “Have a tequila, Have a tequila, Have a tequila, for fifty cents”. Tequila for less than a dollar a shot. Those were the days!
Denny

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

Of course when you were somewhat less than sober, the barracks was a long way from the club. I spent a lot of time at the Escape, in the shopping mall behind the liqueur store. We used to take the dancers to Sugarloaf Key on Sunday mornings. Key West, what a great place to remember.

Re: Fleet Sonar School, Key West - today, 29 March 2011

I never had the pleasure of being in Key West as an OT but I was there as a dependent husband for 4 weeks! Was kind of fun hanging around the barracks and club with hair to the middle of my back and a beard about 3 inches long in 1976 waiting for my wife to get out of school. :-)

By the time I was active duty in 1977, the school had moved to Norfolk and my wife was stationed at Hatteras.

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