Re: Heard From An Old ASAer Today

[Jim Davis <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

On Saturday, October 20, 2018 at 8:45:55 AM UTC-4, ABLE1 wrote:
> >=20
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> Jim,
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> That is very impressive and congrats to you for the experiences and=20
> adventures you have enjoyed.  I too am former US Navy in the mid 60's,
> half way around the globe, Shellback and other experiences, and I had
> similar thoughts quite some time ago about renting a sailboat as you
> have done.  Ahhhh the ADVENTURES I would have had..............
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> When I brought the "thought" up to my wife, it all ended in a couple of
> micro seconds...........................
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> Thanks for typing what might have been my experiences as well.
> I might share with my wife.................... or not................
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> Have a good weekend.
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> Les

Would you believe that I never was stationed on a ship?

This was back in the 50's. I was in communications and when I got out of tr=
aining school at Bainbridge, myself and 4 other buddies I'd hooked up with =
and became friends with in boot training all coincidently got billeted to g=
o to cryptography school in Norfolk Va. We passed top secret clearance and =
then surprisingly we were put in for Atomic top secret clearance. We didn't=
 have a clue where they were going to send us. We wound up on an Island in =
the Bahamas where there was a submarine tracking station set up using hydro=
phones laid off the continental shelf of the island. Sonar men could pick u=
p and translate ships propeller signatures off the coast of Portugal and Af=
rica. The premise was =E2=80=A6. with visual sightings and commercial shipp=
ing schedules, which ships and their whereabouts in that area could be know=
n and assigned prop signatures. Anything that didn't coincide with known in=
tel was considered a Soviet Atomic submarine and tracked and eventually ide=
ntified. Both the east and west coast of the US had total coverage with bas=
es from Nova Scotia to Grand Turks Island on the east coast. It's all been =
disbanded now and I just can't imagine what they have implemented now days.=
 We were all armed and had regular arms practice. Was pretty serious busine=
ss for a 17 year old kid.

On the UP side however. I was stationed on a tropical paradise. Took up scu=
ba diving before Jacques Cousteau was a known celebrity. Spearfishing was a=
llowed anywhere. I've speared 7foot sting ray, numerous shark, barracuda ab=
out 6 foot long. Our watch schedule was just super. We had 5 day watches, 2=
4 hours off, 5 eve watches, 24 hours off and 5 mid watches. Then 7 days off=
. We'd either get a MAPS flight to Florida or we would get the mechanic to =
lay up a jeep "waiting for repair parts" and sneak a jeep out of the motor =
pool and drive down the beach for a week. We'd load up the jeep with a coup=
le of "shitcans" of ice, beer and food and all our diving gear. Live on the=
 beach for a week. There were old abandoned plantations where we could pick=
 pineapples, mangoes, bananas, and of course coconuts to supplement the foo=
d we brought and what we could spear and we cooked eveything in wash pails =
and campfires on the beach. It's amazing how you can get used to the no-see=
-ums and the land crabs when you're sleeping on the beach. Whenever the Cap=
tain of the base had visits from Command, he would "authorize" a "island ar=
ea surveillance boat trip" in the base LST (small landing boat). The "crew"=
 coincidently consisted of the best enlisted men scuba divers. We'd get a b=
ushel of Longusta  (clawless lobster) and red snapper and other popular eat=
ing fish as we could find, to feed the dignitaries plus get a day off of wo=
rk.=20

I also played guitar back in those days and got a little rock and roll band=
 together. It was encouraged by the Captain for the "moral of the troops" B=
ut we were occasionally "conscripted" to play in the officers club when vis=
itors came. We would also play in the local town tavern for the men and the=
ir families who lived off base. No money involved. We'd do it just for the =
fun of it. OH and there was also a big corporate RCA and Other Government C=
ontractors base on another part of the island. After a very successful rock=
et launch from Cape Canaveral (now Cape Kennedy) they had a big celebration=
. Brought in a 28 piece band from the Fort Montigue hotel in Nassau. Since =
there were only men on the bases they shipped in a couple of hundred girls =
from Nassau and surrounding islands for the celebration. Since the big band=
 was going to take an hour break half way though the night they asked us (m=
y little R&R band) if we wanted to play during the break. Well, up till tha=
t point the big band was playing all the Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey typ=
e music and the (about) 1000 people were hardly mixing or dancing at all. M=
y band consisted of Saxophone player who also sang, drums, base and guitar =
and Rock and Roll was at a peak of popularity with the younger crowd. We go=
t up and the first song we played was Rock around the Clock. The place went=
 crazy. We only had about 15 songs at the time. We played 3 sets of the sam=
e songs and they still didn't want us to get off the stage. The leader of t=
he big band was a little pissed to say the least. That's something I'll nev=
er, ever forget.=20

I think the biggest event was that we were involved with was the splashdown=
 of one of the first US unmanned satellites. I forget which one now but we =
were able to pick up the landing with the hydrophones and direct the ships =
to it's location.=20

Lot's of other adventures too like =E2=80=A6.Getting MAPS flight to Patrick=
 Air Force base and trips to Miami Beach, Getting drunk,  Boat trips to Nas=
sau, getting drunk, meeting very friendly native girls, getting drunk,  exp=
loring caves, getting drunk, falling off a cliff and braking my leg, gettin=
g drunk,  water skiing, getting drunk,  getting  =E2=80=A6=E2=80=A6.. well =
you get the idea.=20

I have to say though  that probably that experience is what has made me alm=
ost a complete tea toatler today.=20

All I can say at this point in my life is that it's a good thing that 17 ye=
ar old's are invulnerable