There's a ton of funk going on in the world and it's really easy to get caught up in all of that crap.
I'd rather remember funny happenings...better for the soul. Funny follows...
Those of you that remember me telling this story before should mind your business.
I took the mid at Lewes one rainy, gloomy, winter night in 1975 (pretty sure). My good friend, Mike Davidson, then a brand new Ensign, was OWO. We had a reader and that was our section.
It was Sunday night and you all know what that means. Field day and our share was to wax, buff and wipe down horizontals.
After we went through the last watch's grams (slow speed pdm) and found no Communists lurking very, very near the Delaware Bay, we commenced Field Day.
The Ensign was assigned to the buffer while the reader (wish I remembered his name...my bad) spread wax.
As was customary every where I was ever stationed, we removed our impeccably starched shirts and got ready for action.
Lynard Skynard "Free Bird" is blaring at max, the first area is dry and the Ensign is buffing up a storm. I was off to the side....cig in one hand and coffee cup in the other. Training was being conducted.
Without warning, the compound gate bell goes off. I volunteer to run out to the gate. It's raining like you know what and I'm in a tee shirt and I get to the gate and look up.
RADM Paul Early stands before me....in all of his greatcoat greatness. I'm a tad put off.
He introduces himself and asks if he can come in. My response is simple....."Sir, let's get out of this rain". I escort him into the corridor to the Floor. The music is literally so loud he can't hear me when I ask him to please wait there.
I turn the music down to a reasonable level, and stage whisper to the Ensign to put his shirt on. He's still singing Free Bird and gives me the finger. I tell him about the Admiral in the passageway....he laughs. I get the visit req board and there he is....nobody told us. I show Mike the message and he turns a little pale. I didn't blame him....new Ensign and all. Mike puts his shirt on and we bring the Admiral in.
Well....he spends the entire watch with us...sea stories galore. We made him pound the mats with us about every 30 minutes. He didn't complain.
The Admiral left around 0600. The Field Day wasn't finished so we sent the other section to breakfast while we finished and got the brief ready.
Pretty cool night for three young knuckleheads. I would guess Mike was about 23 and he was the oldest. The Admiral told the CO his midwatch section needed haircuts. He was probably right....NavFac Lewes in the Zumwalt era.
I never served with any other communities but I just have to believe that our system was so unique that it just spawned experiences like this.
There's a bunch of you out there. Why not share some fun times before they're just history.
Nick sends
No way to top that one, Nick. Mike Davidson is a good guy, got to know him well in CVB and we were part of a 4 man team for the Kinetic Sculpture Race one year, I would guess 1979 or 80. A short Kef contribution from 76 or 77:
- To help alleviate stress from long hours and a huge workload, we developed something call Night Ops in the QA shop. This involved dividing the shop into 2 teams, one an invading group from the passageway and the other a defending group in the shop. Lights were turned off, making it pitch dark in there, and the weapons for both sides were large rubber bands shot from the fingertip. The door would partially open to allow intruders to enter and it soon turned into a riot, guys crawling around on the floor, absolute zero visibility, shooting rubber bands towards any sound, usually from laughs or banging your head into something. Those rubber bands could hurt like heck, especially a point blank shot to the face. Before one episode Bobby Wisdom developed something that became known as the Annihilator, which was 20 or 30 rubberbands connected together and took 2 guys to shoot, one with the band pointed with his finger, the other about 15 feet back stretching the bands and who was the launcher. It made this whoosing sound at launch and absolutely nailed anybody on the receiving end. One day we launched the Annihilator in the dark just as the door opened and rather than an intruder it was CWO Rentner, our DIV-O. Thankfully he delayed fully entering till he reached in and turned the light on because that thing bounced off the door so hard it sounded like a gun shot. His eyes got pretty wide and he asked what the he77 that was but had been around sailors long enough to not demand answers, just shook his head. We were just glad he still had it to shake :) For Dick Rentner, thanks for being a great Div-O and if this is the first you heard the details of Night Ops it was all Wisdom and Rick Hoffmann's fault :)
Randy, I don’t remember this particular incident, mainly because it was 40 some years ago and I am almost 83 years old. As always, you are still blaming Wisdom and Rick for everything you instigated. We had a great crew in QA and I was not happy to be told to take over the duties of Research Division Officer in addition to Analysis Officer. It meant I had less time to be with you guys in Analysis, constantly goofing off but still accomplishing your tasks. Kef was definitely my most memorable duty station and I wish we could all do it again.
Dick, we all kept a low profile the rest of that day! That tour was a favorite for many people, even 40+ years after the fact. Let me add that you were not only a great Div-O but also a wonderful family man. You and Joanne were an example for anybody to follow and you had such accomplished and well grounded kids. If I never told you that before I have been negligent.
And my role in that Night Ops stuff was strictly counseling the guys afterwards, such as telling them they could put somebody`s eye out! :)
Oh, man..... Randy! That brought back some wonderful memories. The Annihilator! :joy: I was part of that shop. I remember the first time it happened to me, the unsuspecting, new Duty Analyst. Sometimes those rubber bands left red welts on the skin. You'll be happy to know that old "Night Ops" game in the Post Analysis shop of 1977 (invented by Bobby Wisdom and Rick Hoffman) went on for 29 years until the facility was closed. I witnessed it again in the, by then "Quality Assurance" shop at Kef in 1985 and 1995. And I'm pretty sure the old Annihilator was still the weapon of choice. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
Great string so far, Nick!!!:+1:
Jim, that`s too funny that Night Ops continued. Red welts were common and I remember somebody getting a welt through their clothes with an Annihiltor shot to the chest! It would all lead to assault charges today :)
I feel like I’m being slandered here! I know nothing of which you speak!
Randy, how about the loonnngggg spade games at the plot at COSL circa 72-75? Weasel (Dave Bjork) trying to go nil holding the ace of spades, thinking he could “stuff it off.” The commodore coming in on the weekend and walking in on us playing spades around the plot, TV blaring away. I thought we had it for sure but all he did was turn the TV down as he looked at the plot. I won’t mention Steve Stevens, the xerox machine and one surprised Watch Officer.......
Nick/Randy - Great posts.
Mine is from Bermuda in 1981. Steve Conn was the XO and that should tell you something!!!
We received a message that Senator John Tower was on the island and had requested a tour of the NAVFAC. Happy to oblige, he arrived at the NAVFAC around 1300. (Note: For those that don't know, when a VIP is ferried by Helo (as the Sen was), the Helo is, by protocol, to land on the old helo/pontoon pads at the annex and keep the engines running throughout the visit.)
So, we brief the Senator on our mission and then, as planned, I would take him on a tour of the display floor. Since we had nothing going in real time, we played tapes so he could see what the analyst did. I spent a lot of time trying to make the Senator understand the meaning of a "gungy" line.
After we completed the tour and was headed back to his car, the Senator leaned over close and quietly asked "Master chief, is there a place to get a beer around here?" I looked over at the Skipper and I could tell he really didn't want me to mention Kings Point, the old officer's club that had become an honor system watering hole for the Os and CPOs. But, knowing the Senator was a retired CPO himself, I chose to say " sure Senator. Have your driver follow me".
We retired to the Kings point club for a beer, then another and another. During this time, we saw the Senator's Helo depart (ran low of fuel) to which the Senator declared that "I guess I have time for another beer".
The Helo eventually returned and the Senator was xported to the Helo pad. He continuously expressed his gratitude for the "best stop on his Bermuda tour". I didn't say this to the Senator, obviously, but I was betting that all lines he was seeing on his return trip to NAS were "Gungy".
John, that`s a story to tell grandkids! I forgot that Tower was a CPO and as a result I bet he didn't pay for the beer! :)
You are Correct Randy. And neither did the CO. I was really glad that Steve Conn didn't drink. As I recall, myself and the OPSO (W. B. H. Smith) paid the tab but it was worth every penny!!!!
My oldest son was born right before Christmas '74. His mom and I lived in an apartment in Millsboro, Delaware while we waited for base housing. Our best friends from the base, Chuck and Dodie Englebrecht, lived upstairs.
Right after we brought our son home, the apartment heater went on the fritz and the HVAC people struggled with a fix.
My wife and son would spend the day upstairs at our friend's apt and the five of us would eat dinner and spend the evening together. At bedtime, Donna and I would go downstairs to bed and leave Chris with our friends.
Chuck and I carpooled and he always made me drive because he'd been up half the night with my son.
You know you have good friends when you leave your newborn with them and they don't mind.
Nick
Right after we brought our son home, the apartment heater went on the fritz and the HVAC people struggled with a fix.
My wife and son would spend the day upstairs at our friend's apt and the five of us would eat dinner and spend the evening together. At bedtime, Donna and I would go downstairs to bed and leave Chris with our friends.
Chuck and I carpooled and he always made me drive because he'd been up half the night with my son.
You know you have good friends when you leave your newborn with them and they don't mind.
Nick
Just finished reading all of the post from April, 2009 on the subject of Z grams. It reminded me of when Z 70 came out, and we were called into the auditorium for the Co's (LCDR Bridges) interpretation. Word had already spread around the NavFac of the Z gram, and everyone, most everyone was excited about the changes. After the reading, the CO informed us that he was the CO and he would set the standard as far as grooming was concerned...."Any question?". My room mated RM3-----, who was always in some sort of trouble, stood and ask what difference it would make, since we were out here in B___F___ Egypt, how long our hair was. The answer was what you would expect... "Son, I'll show you where B___F___ Egypt is if you like". No other question, meeting over.
JRV, I have told that story many times over the years! He was like a pouting child and quite miserable. Served him right! Almost as funny as tne word game played at Buckingham Palace :)
Another tradition that continued when I was the CUROPS LCPO at NOPF Dam Neck ~2000, I too realized that those knuckleheads on the mid watch were riffling through my desk at night. I fashioned a fake watch bill for the following month with massive changes and people shifting sections, within a couple days there was a great deal of rumbling going around about all the changes coming the following month. Not sure it kept them from going through my desk, but I certainly got a good chuckle over it.
Oh, those infamous Z Grams. I was in the Med during some of that time and Adm Ike Kidd was 6th fleet. For every Z Gram there was an equal and opposite K Gram basically saying "not in the 6th fleet."
When one looks back on those days, we now understand how right Adm Kidd was but during those time, his K Grams didn't win any popularity contests. And........., he was not a big fan of Escort Squadron 8 anyway. I think the nicest thing he ever said about us was that "our seamanship was on the order of a fleet tug".
Well, its the Fall of 73 and we had been ordered to bring the ITASS ships home. The three of us, Courtney, Hammerberg and Lester were nested alongside the tender Cascade. The Adm was on the flying bridge of the cascade when we were to get underway. As the Squadron Flag Ship, Courtney left first and as she turned abeam of the Cascade, She bellowed black smoke the like of which were seldom seen. All the rest of us saw were all of the officers of the Cascade and the Adm hustling below. To this day, the crew of Courtney swears it was an accident.
All three of the DEs had helo decks that were originally intended for the DASH Drone Helicopters of the late 60s. The three ships used those decks as "Mooning" spots as we mooned each other all across the Atlantic.
Looking back, it was a fun time.
As a side note, the decision to bring us home was based on the fact that none of the three ships had a good track record for meeting obligations. One of us was generally broken down at any given time.
But..........., when the order was issued to come home, all three made the Med/Atlantic crossing without missing a beat. Amazing coincidence!!!~!
J
I remember one event at Pt. Sur which I'm sure probably also took place at other NAVFAC's. As some of you know, Pt. Sur was not that "busy" in the early 1970's. So for something to do one eve watch the plotter dug out the messages from Com on locations of known surface ships in the Pacific. He dutifully plotted all the locations and tracks on the plot in the display room. From what I remember, this started on a Friday eve watch, was continued by other watch sections over the weekend, and by the time the day workers came in on Monday morning, Pt. Sur really looked "busy". Nothing ever happened except for someone being directed by one of the day workers to clean the "mess" off of the plot!:smiley: