A Veteran's Journey

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)

1. Who said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”?
2. In what movie (and who said it) did we hear the line: “I only speak two languages, English and bad English.“?
3. In what song (and who sang it) do we hear these words:
   You know that it would be untrue
   You know that I would be a liar
   If I was to say to you
   Girl, we couldn’t get much higher

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I proudly served in the U.S. Navy for four years. Actually, one day shy of 4 years, only because I joined on a Monday and got out on a Friday, but that’s another story.

Besides boot camp (Orlando RTC, July ’73), ABH “A” school (Lakehurst, NJ, Sept ’73), I had two assigned duty stations: NAS Agana, Guam (’73-75) and USS Kitty Hawk (’75-77). Yet, I feel like I had three “tours.” Let me explain…

Back in my day, ABHs (Aviation Boatswains Mate-Handler) had a 4-2 rotation. That meant you’d spend four years on sea duty, then two years shore duty. Even though NAS Agana, Guam was land-based, the Navy considered it “sea duty.” I don’t know if the rotation is still the same or not. Do you? (answer in comments)

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

After Westpac ’75, we were scheduled to spend a year in the shipyards. Kitty Hawk departed San Diego on March 8, 1976, and on Friday, March 12 we entered the dry dock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.

This would be a one hundred million dollar complex overhaul, scheduled to last just over twelve months. There would be major work done on the ship, including renovations to accommodate the new, heavier F-14 “Tomcat” fighter jet and the S-3 “Viking” anti-submarine jet. These aircraft would replace the F-4 “Phantoms” and the S-2 “Stoofs” we had with us during Westpac ’75.

We would also be in the dry dock and that was something I wanted to see—an 80,000-ton aircraft carrier on concrete blocks. The only vehicles I’d ever seen on blocks were some old Chevy and Ford pickup trucks back home in Gainesville, Florida.

While most people think that renovating a Navy ship, a REALLY big one, would be boring (they’re right), I tried to make the most of it. There were several “firsts” for me: seeing snow for the first time; riding in a helicopter… over the snow-capped Olympic mountain range; and taking a college course that would shape my destiny.

How Can I Forget?

Chipping paint with needle guns… grinding and sanding bulkheads to bare metal… one or two coats of primer… four or more coats of gray paint… and the endless bitching and moaning of being stuck on a ship for a “nine-to-five” job. Believe it or not, that may have actually prepared me for some of my other future jobs. See “Hurry Up & Wait!“

Yeah, it wasn’t as exciting as round-the-clock flight deck operations, but when you’re in the military, you follow orders and do the best you can with what you have. THAT is a trait I think all veterans carry with them throughout their lives.

A New Adventure Awaits

I’d never seen snow in my life except in pictures and movies. Coming through Puget Sound on a bright sunny morning was spectacular. It was cool & crisp, the type of day my mom used to call a “Champagne Day.” When we rounded the corner and spotted Mt. Rainier in the background—all 14,000 snow-covered feet—it was nothing short of spectacular. I knew I would enjoy my time here.

It took another few hours to maneuver Kitty Hawk through the sound and into the dry docks. The shipyard workers (“yard birds”) would start pumping out water from the dry dock that day. It took two days for them to completely pump out all the water. Kitty Hawk was now resting on concrete blocks.

I found a short 90-second time-lapse YouTube video of an aircraft carrier (USS Nimitz) entering the Bremerton dry dock and “settling” down on the blocks as the water is drained. It is quite fascinating.

Our normal workday was 0730 to 1700 (5:00 p.m.). During the first two weeks in the shipyards, we were slowly getting used to the new work hours. Even though we may have finished our workday early, we couldn’t leave the ship. The XO put the word out that “no one would leave the ship in civilian clothes before 1700.”

Move to the APL

The shipyards provided several barges called APLs (Auxiliary Personnel Lighter) that had been outfitted to be two-story berthing compartments to house the ship’s crews while their division berthing spaces were being renovated. The APLs were tied to the pier and located a couple of hundred yards away from Kitty Hawk. Another APL served as the mess hall.

You couldn’t stay in your berthing compartment during it’s renovation. It was quite a mess and would take time, so that’s why everyone moved to the barge. Not every division aboard ship was being renovated at the same time, so berthing aboard the APL was on a rotation schedule.

Beginning the Overhaul

I know there was a lot more going on than what I personally saw (Kitty Hawk was a BIG ship), and others may chime in here (comments welcomed), but I can only share my perspective. For V-1 Division, we would renovate all the V-1 Division spaces, including our berthing compartment, each of the three Fly compartments, and the Crash compartment. In addition, we would renovate the areas around those spaces, including the catwalks.

By renovate, I mean we stripped the paint down to bare metal and repainted with primer & paint (several coats). We also stripped the old vinyl tile off our berthing compartment floors and installed new tile (we did this more than once). Those renovations would take a while, but there were about 80 of us in the division and we had an entire year.

About two months into the overhaul, our division officer purchased our own sand blaster to quicken the process. It took a lot of time and elbow grease to remove paint off the ship using needle guns (those still ring in my ears and I’d know that sound anywhere–anyone else?). Grinding and sanding down to the bare metal took about the same amount of time. Next, we sprayed on an initial coat of primer paint, then three coats of my favorite color—battleship gray.

At the Bottom of the Dry Dock

In May ’76, the ship’s Public Affairs Officer arranged for a tour to the bottom of the dry dock. I wasn’t going to miss this. Kitty Hawk was sitting on hundreds of blocks each about four foot by four foot square and anywhere from three to six feet tall, depending on where they were placed under this ship.

The ship’s two anchors were on the ground up toward the bow, along with hundreds of links of chain. Only one of Kitty Hawk’s four propellers had been refinished. It was about twenty feet in diameter and had a nice shiny brass finish. We also walked under the ship’s two rudders, each about fifteen feet long and about twenty-five feet tall. I felt my 6’4″ frame was a tiny comparison.

My good friend, Glenn Law, reenlisted that day at the bottom of the dry docks. It was a proud occasion for Glenn—this was his first reenlistment. Neither of us realized it at the time, but Glenn would make the Navy a career for 22 years.

Finishing Up

Toward the end of September, the shipyard workers had finished scraping, priming, and painting the entire ship’s hull. I can’t tell you how much paint they used, but it must have been at least a million gallons. The next phase was to take the ship out of dry dock. They started flooding the dry dock, slowly at first to be sure nothing shifted too fast.

I was on board and it was quite an event to witness. The “great flood” took a full day. The tug boats then pulled us out of the dry dock into Puget Sound and parked us alongside pier #6. We would remain there until we left the shipyards.

In January, the yard birds began to apply non-skid onto the flight deck. We had already stripped it down to bare metal, applied a primer coat of paint, as well as some deck gray paint. Now the task was to spray on the non-skid. Two yard workers applied it simultaneously, so we furnished a few guys to help.

The only thing our guys had to do was to cover the flight deck “pad eyes” so they wouldn’t get sprayed with the non-skid coating. They used a four-foot pole with a five-inch round metal plate attached to the end. I told them, “Don’t wear your good shoes,” since this stuff would splatter everywhere and on everything.

Watching the flight deck get back into shape was a sign we were getting close to finishing the overhaul in Bremerton.

It’s Never Good Enough

Just to let you know how ridiculous the Navy can be “sometimes,” we had to strip and paint our berthing compartment on Kitty Hawk four times and retile the floor twice. It seems there was “friction” between the two V-1 Division chiefs—one would give us a task to complete, then the other would complain and we would do it again. That’s the primary reason I didn’t make the Navy a career. I found myself caught between chiefs too many times.

Am I the only one?

I may have only been assigned two duty stations in my brief Navy career, but I consider the year in the Bremerton Shipyards another. It wasn’t as exciting as flight ops or a Westpac cruise, but I learned a great deal.

Because we only worked during the day, I enrolled in Olympic Community College and took a course in electronics that shaped my next “journey.” Long story short, I earned two degrees in Electronics Engineering (BS, ME). But that’s another story for another day.

One more thing… after I graduated from the University of Florida in 1982, my wife and I moved to the Seattle area for a year. I worked for Weyerhaeuser Company (Federal Way, WA). We experienced many more magnificent views. On a clear, crisp “Champagne Day,” this is truly “God’s country.”

And yes, we did visit Bremerton again and I ran into an old V-1 Division shipmate: Jack Kuiphoff. He had moved to Port Orchard, WA. We shared some great times and great memories.

Stay safe, my friends.

Until we meet again,
Andy

Andy Adkins is a US Navy veteran (’73-77) and the author of several books. His newest novel, NEVER FORGET, is the story of A Vietnam Veteran’s Journey for Redemption & Forgiveness. NEVER FORGET is FREE (eBook, PDF) for all veterans. Download your FREE copy HERE.

Previous blogs mentioned in this post:

• #4 – From Civilian to US Navy
• #24 – Hurry Up & Wait!

Answers:

1. Eleanor Roosevelt
2. The Fifth Element (1997), Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis).
3. Light My Fire (1967), written by Robby Krieger & Jim Morrison