{"id":6750,"date":"2023-07-25T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azadkinsiii.com\/blog\/?p=6750"},"modified":"2023-07-24T19:27:20","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T23:27:20","slug":"149-short-five-days-and-a-wake-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azadkinsiii.com\/blog\/149-short-five-days-and-a-wake-up\/","title":{"rendered":"#149\u2014Short? \u201cFive Days and a Wake-up\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Trivia Questions (Answers @ end)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Who said, \u201cThe two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you found out why.\u201d<\/em>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. In what movie (and who said it) did we hear, \u201cYou lost today, kid. But that doesn’t mean you have to like it.\u201d<\/em>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. This one\u2019s easy\u2026 In what song (and who sang it) did we hear:
    War, huh, yeah<\/em>
    What is it good for<\/em>
    Absolutely nothing<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    \n\n\n
    <\/div>
    Blog #149 (audio)<\/div><\/div>
    <\/div>
    <\/div>
    Published: <\/span>July 24, 2023<\/span><\/div>
    <\/div>Audio by Andy Adkins<\/a><\/div><\/form><\/span>2<\/span> Downloads<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>
    <\/div>\n\n\n
    \n\n\n\n

    In my last post I wrote two weeks ago was my \u201cAnniversary\u201d of joining Uncle Sam\u2019s Canoe Club 50 years ago. That post got me to thinking about those last few days aboard USS Kitty Hawk<\/em>, CV-63<\/strong>, before leaving for the last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I\u2019d spend four years (actually, Three Years, Eleven Months, & 29 Days\u2026 But Who\u2019s Counting<\/a><\/em><\/strong>) in the Navy. I was so ready to get out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Beginning<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    After Orlando RTC<\/a><\/strong> (Boot Camp) and Lakehurst, NJ (ABH \u201cA\u201d School<\/a><\/strong>), my first duty station was NAS Agana, Guam<\/a><\/strong> (\u201973-75). I worked in Crash & Rescue<\/strong>\u2026 one day on, one day off for 15 straight months. Great duty, and to be honest, I very much enjoyed my time in Guam. I was a scuba diver (one reason I joined the Navy. I figured there would be more diving opportunities in the Navy than in the Army), and the diving was stupendous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Andy
    Andy Adkins, NAS Agana, Guam (1974)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The water was so clear and so blue, I remember seeing a swaying octopus about 50 feet away. I don\u2019t know why that memory just popped up. Maybe it\u2019s because we just returned from a week in the US Virgin Islands with our son and grandsons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Besides diving, I also learned to fly and received my Private Pilot license, signed by Capt. John Brandenburg, who was, at one time, the CO of NAS Agana, Guam. Even though Guam is only 32 miles top to bottom and 4-8 miles wide, there were plenty of opportunities to fly around the island\u2026 well, except for those \u201cno-fly zones\u201d around the ammo dumps, the comm stations, and of course, Anderson AFB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Flight Deck<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    After Guam, I transferred to Kitty Hawk<\/em>, an aircraft carrier, reporting aboard in March 1975. We sailed for Westpac \u201975<\/a><\/strong> in May 1975. I was in V-1 Division<\/a><\/strong> \/ Crash & Salvage<\/a><\/strong>. It was my one and only cruise. After that, we spent a year in Bremerton Shipyards<\/a><\/strong>, steaming out in April 1977. The shipyards were \u201cso-so,\u201d but they gave me several opportunities to explore the Pacific Northwest. And as a kid from Florida, this was the first time I\u2019d been in snow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We departed Bremerton on April 1, 1977, for our home port of San Diego. For the next few months, we\u2019d be in \u201cshakedown\u201d mode, testing and retesting all the modifications made. This included welcoming two new aircraft aboard: the F-14 Tomcat<\/strong> fighters, which replaced the F-4 Phantoms<\/a><\/strong>, and the S-3 Vikings<\/strong> anti-submarine aircraft, which replaced the S-2 prop-driven Trackers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This was also the time I transferred from Crash to Yellow Shirt Director<\/strong> <\/a>(Fly3, Director #36). That was something I\u2019d wanted to do during the cruise, but because we were so short staffed in Crash (a total of 14 of us), it just wasn\u2019t meant to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"My
    Still got my Yellow Shirt. A bit faded, like me, but like my socks, it still fits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    DD-214<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Back in the day, we didn\u2019t have computers and the Personnel Department used typewriters. When you\u2019re discharged, there\u2019s a lot of paperwork to complete, forms to fill out and sign. But the most important of them all, your discharge papers. The DD-214.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Many veterans brag about the fact that instead of a Ph.D., they have a DD-214. I\u2019m one of them. While I went back to school (I\u2019d flunked out of Florida State University in 1973; one reason I joined the Navy), I received a Bachelor\u2019s Degree (Electronics Engineering) in 1982 and a Master\u2019s in Engineering in 1989, both from the University of Florida (Go Gators!). I\u2019m proud of those, too. But for me, the DD-214 is the \u201cbig one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Short-Timer<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    When I was a \u201cshort-timer\u201d\u2014that is, I had limited time left in the service, I always greeted the day with a \u201c30 Days and a Wake-up\u201d or whatever time I had left before my discharge. There are so many \u201cshort\u201d jokes out there, I\u2019ll share only a few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI\u2019m so short that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n