Life is a journey, one step followed by another…
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) Boot Camp What can I say that others haven’t said about “Boot Camp?” I joined the Navy at the tender young age of 18 and attended a “truncated” 6-week boot camp at Orlando RTC (Recruit… Read more#167—The Navy Introduced Me to a Lot of “Firsts”
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) According to Professor Google, the term, “Pucker Factor,” originated somewhere, sometime in the 60s. I never knew the term during my early elementary and junior high school years, though there were times when it would… Read more#161—The “Pucker Factor”
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) Your airman will make requests for their first duty station selection while at Basic Military Training (BMT). They will fill out a form, known as a “dream sheet,” to list their assignment preferences. They will… Read more#153—The “Dream Sheet”
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) We weren’t at war… The “official” end of the Vietnam War was April 30, 1975. I’d reported aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), just thirty days prior. She was moored at North Island,… Read more#143—Flight Ops… Around the Clock
First of all, Merry Christmas to all from Gainesville, Florida. If you don’t know where that is, it’s about 1½ hours from each coast, an hour south of Georgia, and two hours north of Orlando. Right smack dab in the… Read more#133—A Veteran’s Christmas
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) My Navy “career” was a short four years. Actually, it was 3 Years, 11 Months, & 29 Days, But Who’s Counting? It may have been short, but during those formidable years, 1973-77, I learned a… Read more#132—The Navy That Stayed with Me Through the Years
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) Naval Air Station, Agana, Guam – 1974 Oohhhh, baby. That’s it. “Ooh-Ga!” A little lower. “Ah-Ooh-Ga!” Don’t stop… “AHHH-OOOH-GAAA!” “Chet. Chet. Wake up, Chet.” “What the hell, Borne? I’m in the middle of a dream.”… Read more#131—Japan Air Lines 747: Engine Out
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) “What the hell took you so long, Chet?” Borne was his usual self—always smiling, cracking a joke, and making light of the moment. He knew the chow lines were often long enough to finish a… Read more#124—Nighttime on the Flight Deck, Part 1: Launch
Trivia Questions (Answers @ end) Who said, “Life gets more precious when there’s less of it to waste.”? In what movie (and who said it), did we hear, “We thought you was a toad.”? In what song (and who sang… Read more#122—“Three-two…” and Other Navy “Numbers” I Can Never Forget
“Dismissed for Academic Reasons.” There it was in black and white in May 1973. Now, why on earth would Florida State University want me to depart their wonderful institution? Probably it was because this was my first year away from… Read more#121—The “Decision”