Day 34/365 - Veterans Day

I went to the wreath-laying ceremony that was being held at the U.S. Navy Memorial today in observance of Veterans Day. I wound up in the Navy by default -- I didn't have anything better to do at the time (which is also how I wound up in law school, evidently I'm not much for career planning). I left college with a bachelor's degree in journalism and no desire to be a journalist, so I figured 'what the heck, I'll go in the Navy and get paid to travel for four years.'

Plus I was curious to see if I could hack being in the military. I enjoyed the first three years of my enlistment, but by that fourth year I was ready to go and I think they were ready for me to be gone. At that point I was probably more trouble than I was worth. I knew that I didn't want to make a career in the Navy and I wasn't realistically going to advance further in rank or get any real increased opportunity for learning, development, or responsibility for about another four years. That meant it was time to go. I was a Second Class Petty Officer by the time I got out. That's equivalent to a sergeant in the other branches of the service (Navy ranks are very different from the other three branches), but that rank actually carries far less authority and responsibility than a sergeant does.

I was stationed aboard the USS Mississippi CGN-40, a nuclear powered guided missile cruiser. As an Operations Specialist my job was largely to sit in a dark, air conditioned room for 12 hours a day and watch a radar screen, but I also occasionally got to do more interesting stuff like navigation, communications, shore bombardment plotting, and managing the Navy's version of a wireless data network.

Right after I went to boot camp Operation Desert Shield started and then while I was home on leave between boot camp and advanced training (or A School as it's known) Operation Desert Storm commenced. By the time I left A School Desert Storm was already over, so I missed out on the action. When I got to my ship she had just entered the shipyard for upgrading and repairwork. I spent my first year in the fleet chipping, grinding, sanding, painting, mopping, waxing, and cleaning the bathroom (known as the 'head'). So much for the 'it's not just a job, it's an adventure' sales pitch.

After we finally left the shipyard, we had about five or six deployments to the Caribbean -- two in support of the UN mandated blockade of Haiti following the overthrow of the Aristide government and the rest as part of counterdrug operations. We never did bust any drug smugglers. One time we stopped and boarded a suspicious vessel we thought for sure would yield a big haul of cocaine coming up from South America, but instead it turned out to be an undercover DEA agent who told us to go away and leave him alone.

Being in the Navy allowed me to visit a half-dozen Caribbean Islands and a couple Central and South American countries, netted me a trip through the Panama Canal, and gave me the chance to be hoisted up into a hovering helicopter from the deck of a pitching ship at sea. All things considered, it was a pretty good bargain.

(Taken with my Nikon D80)