Whew! pretty long dry spell here is ASA

On Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 11:11:04 PM UTC-4, ABLE1 wrote:

I think we covered this didn't we?

Well -------- I went to boot camp at Bainbridge Md 1956. I had a high school diploma ( ba rely !) so I qualified to pick what I wanted to "strike" for ( remember tha t term ? :-) I chose electronic technician but my math wasn't good enough s o I chose communications. After boot, Communication training was at Bainbri dge also, so I worked in Supply and Fiscal for a couple of months waiting t o train. Supply and Fiscal is the receiving storing and delivering of food to the various mess halls on the base and there were a lot of them. Had to be a few thousand enlistees on the base, stationed and going through boot t raining. (I could tell you some really great stories about working there. W e'll see where this thread goes)

Anyway, Communications consisted of learning Morse code teletype and facsim ile communication and operation and midlin to minor maintenance of the equi pment. I picked up Morse code and typing pretty good. Ultimately at the end of my enlistment I passed my second Class test and was sending about 100 w ords a minute and receiving 50 /60 wpm Morse Code. On Teletype I could type faster than the machine which maxed out at 120 wpm.

So I had met and gone through boot training with 4 other guys. We all went to Communications Training together and we called ourselves the "Seaman Die Five". We had been reprimanded amd up on the carpet so many times for bad s*&t we thought we were going to remain Seamen for the rest of our enlistme nt. But we had a way of making the Chiefs and Officers laugh. It was kind o f a love hate thing. They screamed at us but we always made them laugh. So when we all got chosen to go to a special assignment after Comm training, I think it was the command at the school's way of saying Thanks for the Memo ries !!!

When we looked at the assignment billitt it said Crypto Training ComServLan t Norfolk Virginia, --- Destination: Eleuthera BWI. for all five of us. We didn't have a clue what that was but we knew that all 5 of us were going to gether.

In a couple of days we were down in Norfolk Virginia getting an "Atomic Top Secret Clearance" They did a total background check on all of us. Visiting our parents, High School, friends and neighbors. after a few weeks we star ting training on what was then the latest encryption equipment and technolo gy. I think it was about 6 weeks or so. Then, as we finished, it was around the holidays and we all chose to go home for Christmas and were to report to Patrick Air Force Base Cape Canaveral in Melbourne Fla. the day after Ne w Years Day. Now they call it Cape Kennedy.

So the five of us met in Norfolk and they put us on a commercial flight to Melbourne and we got there the day before New Years Eve " HA ! ( I've got some great stories about THAT weekend I could tell you TOO!) To save money

--- all five of us stayed in the same room. You can let your imagination ru n with that.

We knew by then that the Air Force was going to put us on a MAPS Flight to an island in the British West Indies called Eleuthera. I mean, ya gotta rem ember, we were all 17/18 years old and had never been anyplace before. So w hen the plane landed there and we got off and saw where we were, it was lik e the greatest Christmas present ever ! Even though we were looking at it t hrough bleary hungover eyes. When I look back and remember how we must have looked to the Air Force Officers when the cab dropped us off at the base h eadquarters. It was like the scene from a three (five) Stooges movie. Missi ng clothing, Dragging our seabags up the steps. Ryan's ripped dirty pants, Pyles puke stained jumper ----Jack still "literally" crying about the fact that when he went home for Christmas he caught his girl friend in the back seat with another guy. Unbelievable !! We had to pull him out of the 1 foot deep fish pond on main street in Melbourne where he was going to drown him self. On New Years Day we lost him. Didn't know where he was. We were walki ng around town and we finally found him spread out on the front steps of th e big church dressed in his whites, with a bottle in his hand, where he'd c ome to pray that his girl friend would come back to him.

So Anyway, the base was barely a year old with all brand new buildings faci lities, vehicles, and the latest communication equipment available. New bun ks in cubicles of 4, personal lockers and central closets to keep personal stuff. Individual tiled showers, From the barracks which was up on a hill y ou could see the Caribbean from one side and the Atlantic from the other. T he uniform of the day was tan shorts, a white T shirt, tan baseball cap, wh ite socks and boondockers ( shoes for you civilians) And, depending upon wh at duty you were on --- a loaded Colt M1911 45 cal pistol. There was only a bout 200 or less personnel. Lot's of people walking around armed though. Pr obably about 10 officers always armed and the rest enlisted men or civilian personal

The base was TOP-top secret at the time so we got the best of everything. W hat they had done is planted a 180 degree array of hydrophones out off of t he continental shelf. The base had what was called a " T " Building (Termin al) where all of these hundreds of hydrophones were terminated and fed into equipment that "listened" to the ocean for the pulsing of ships propellers . This information was collected and compiled by Sonar men, the data was gi ven to Communication and we encrypted it and sent to to various places. Mos tly by teletype but during special operations and EVENTs. we sent via Morse code. Seems each ship has it's own unique Sound that once identified can b e tracked. There were 4 such bases on the western Atlantic and I think five or 6 on the eastern Pacific and the purpose was to identify and track Sovi et atomic submarines.

As it went ---- according to shipping schedules available around the world, the embarkation, path, stopping points and final destination of 99 % of th e ships is readily available. If it was in our area, we would receive the s hips information track it and attach it's prop signature and transmitte the information to ComSerLant in Norfolk Va. This info was encrypted. At that point no matter where that ship went it could be identified. "Unregistered" ships would be visually identified and the info recorded and those that cou ldn't be identified were considered to be "Possible Hostile" or "Hostile" a nd tracked. This is where the "Atomic" came in for our crypto clearance. So in effect ---- the Soviet subs were identified by process of elimination.

During my stay was just at the beginning of the effort of the US to get a s atellite up after the Russians sent up Sputnik. With the Hydrophones we wer e able to direct the pickup ships to where the satellites splashed down. This was done via Morse Code. No Voice comm allowed.

So, as it turns out, I spent almost 3 years on a tropical island. Between t he drama and excitement of occasionally tracking a Soviet subs and the sate llite splashdowns, we lived like we were on vacation. Scuba diving, Spear f ishing, Spelunking, Snorkeling, taking weekend or week long trips to Nassau in the Bahamas or to Miami. Sometimes we'd sneak a jeep out of the motor p ool and drive down the beach and live on the beach for a few days or a week . We'd throw all our gear along with a shitcan full of ice, beer and steak in the back of the jeep and take off. We worked 3 day watches, 24hrs off. 3 eve watches, 24 off, 3 mid watches 24 off --- three times. Then we got a w eek off.

I played the guitar back then and I got a little 4 piece rock and roll band together. Sax, guitar, bass, and drums. Conniving with the officers, we go t the Navy to supply us with a new saxophone and a set of drums under the g uise of entertaining the troops. We'd play at the enlisted men's club and when the officers heard what a good time every one was having they had us p lay at the officers club. Then the brown baggers. ( personnel who lived off base with family (and brought their lunch in a paper bag)) wanted some ent ertainment so we got a gig playing for them down in a little bar called The Clear Tide in the main town Governors Harbor. I got to know Alex the barte nder too well during this time. That along with the fact that a fifth of vo dka was $3.00 at the ships store. I can remember crawling on my hands and k nees more than once, (a lot) from the bar to the base bus to get back to th e base. Cause if you missed it, there was no way to get back to the base be fore muster the next morning. A lot of time, depending on who the officer o f the day was, they would call about 20 or thirty names at muster, getting "Here Sir" for every one of them and there would be only about 15 people st anding in line. A little lax but everyone did their job or someone else wou ld fill in for them. We all took what we did seriously but had a lot of fun doing it. And the basic "Seaman Die Five" always kept the troops and offic ers laughing. Jack Reed was the comedian that always got us on a roll. Ever y time someone was going to get chewed out he'd start and get the rest of u s going and by the end of it every one would be cracked up and laughing. He was also the one who got us in the most trouble too !

When my time was up. I went to the Exec office and told him I wanted to shi p over if I could stay at the base. He said I could stay in the " T " progr am but he could only guarantee me 6 months on the island and after that it would be up for grabs if I could get posted there longer. I figured that th ere was probably some Yeoman up in ComServLant who would take a look at my record and set me to get stationed up in Nova Scotia for the next 3 and a h alf years. the northern most base in the program. So ---- I opted to get ou t. I got a MAPS flight to Miami. Stayed for a week then flew home. Met my w ife, got married at the age of 21, my wife was only 18, had 2 kids by the t ime I was 22. Both of us worked hard and by the time I was 26 we bought a h ouse and ------ the rest is another whole story.

at was 1st Fleet Flag when

and then we deployed across the water to be the

h Fleet Flag. Where ever the Admiral wanted to go.... ......... we

7 for Treasure Island, Calif.

r $325.00 to buy a one-way ticket home to

phia. I turned it into Travelers Checks and put

y thumb out and got short and long rides across countr y. Took

3 days. Have always

take 30 days or more. But, the

l worth it. Lots of stories for another day.

Les

ell --------

956. I had a high school diploma ( barely !) so I qual ified to pick what I wanted to "strike" for ( remember that term ? :-) I chose electronic technician but my math wasn't good enough so I chose communications. Aft er boot, Communication training was at Bainbridge also , so I worked in Supply and Fiscal for a couple of mon ths waiting to train. Supply and Fiscal is the receivi ng storing and delivering of food to the various mess halls on the base and there were a lot of them. Had to be a few thousand enlistees on the base, stationed an d going through boot training. (I could tell you some really great stories about working there. We'll see wh ere this thread goes)

nsisted of learning Morse code teletype and facsimile communication and operation and midlin to minor mainte nance of the equipment. I picked up Morse code and typ ing pretty good. Ultimately at the end of my enlistmen t I passed my second Class test and was sending about

100 words a minute and receiving 50 /60 wpm Morse Code . On Teletype I could type faster than the machine whi ch maxed out at 120 wpm.

through boot training with 4 other guys. We all went t o Communications Training together and we called ourse lves the "Seaman Die Five". We had been reprimanded am d up on the carpet so many times for bad s*&t we thoug ht we were going to remain Seamen for the rest of our enlistment. But we had a way of making the Chiefs and Officers laugh. It was kind of a love hate thing. They screamed at us but we always made them laugh. So when we all got chosen to go to a special assignment after Comm training, I think it was the command at the scho ol's way of saying Thanks for the Memories !!!

When we looked at the assignment billitt it said Crypt o Training ComServLant Norfolk Virginia, --- Destinati on: Eleuthera BWI. for all five of us. We didn't have a clue what that was but we knew that all 5 of us were going together.

wn in Norfolk Virginia getting an "Atomic Top Secret C learance" They did a total background check on all of us. Visiting our parents, High School, friends and nei ghbors. after a few weeks we starting training on what was then the latest encryption equipment and technolo gy. I think it was about 6 weeks or so. Then, as we fi nished, it was around the holidays and we all chose to go home for Christmas and were to report to Patrick A ir Force Base Cape Canaveral in Melbourne Fla. the day after New Years Day. Now they call it Cape Kennedy.

on a commercial flight to Melbourne and we got there the day before New Years Eve " HA ! ( I've got some g reat stories about THAT weekend I could tell you TOO!) To save money --- all five of us stayed in the same r oom. You can let your imagination run with that.

us on a MAPS Flight to an island in the British West I ndies called Eleuthera. I mean, ya gotta remember, we were all 17/18 years old and had never been anyplace b efore. So when the plane landed there and we got off a nd saw where we were, it was like the greatest Christm as present ever ! Even though we were looking at it th rough bleary hungover eyes. When I look back and remem ber how we must have looked to the Air Force Officers when the cab dropped us off at the base headquarters. It was like the scene from a three (five) Stooges movi e. Missing clothing, Dragging our seabags up the steps . Ryan's ripped dirty pants, Pyles puke stained jumper ----Jack still "literally" crying about the fact that when he went home for Christmas he caught his girl fr iend in the back seat with another guy. Unbelievable ! ! We had to pull him out of the 1 foot deep fish pond on main street in Melbourne where he was going to drow n himself. On New Years Day we lost him. Didn't know w here he was. We were walking around town and we finall y found him spread out on the front steps of the big c hurch dressed in his whites, with a bottle in his hand , where he'd come to pray that his girl friend would c ome back to him.

a year old with all brand new buildings facilities, v ehicles, and the latest communication equipment availa ble. New bunks in cubicles of 4, personal lockers and central closets to keep personal stuff. Individual til ed showers, From the barracks which was up on a hill y ou could see the Caribbean from one side and the Atlan tic from the other. The uniform of the day was tan sho rts, a white T shirt, tan baseball cap, white socks an d boondockers ( shoes for you civilians) And, dependin g upon what duty you were on --- a loaded Colt M1911 4

5 cal pistol. There was only about 200 or less personn el. Lot's of people walking around armed though. Proba bly about 10 officers always armed and the rest enlist ed men or civilian personal

p secret at the time so we got the best of everything. What they had done is planted a 180 degree array of h ydrophones out off of the continental shelf. The base had what was called a " T " Building (Terminal) where all of these hundreds of hydrophones were terminated a nd fed into equipment that "listened" to the ocean for the pulsing of ships propellers. This information was collected and compiled by Sonar men, the data was giv en to Communication and we encrypted it and sent to to various places. Mostly by teletype but during special operations and EVENTs. we sent via Morse code. Seems each ship has it's own unique Sound that once identifi ed can be tracked. There were 4 such bases on the west ern Atlantic and I think five or 6 on the eastern Paci fic and the purpose was to identify and track Soviet a tomic submarines.

shipping schedules available around the world, the emb arkation, path, stopping points and final destination of 99 % of the ships is readily available. If it was i n our area, we would receive the ships information tra ck it and attach it's prop signature and transmitte th e information to ComSerLant in Norfolk Va. This info w as encrypted. At that point no matter where that ship went it could be identified. "Unregistered"ships would be visually identified and the info recorded and thos e that couldn't be identified were considered to be "P ossible Hostile" or "Hostile" and tracked. This is whe re the "Atomic" came in for our crypto clearance. So i n effect ---- the Soviet subs were identified by proce ss of elimination.

he beginning of the effort of the US to get a satellit e up after the Russians sent up Sputnik. With the Hydr ophones we were able to direct the pickup ships to whe re the satellites splashed down.

Morse Code. No Voice comm allowed.

rns out, I spent almost 3 years on a tropical island. Between the drama and excitement of occasionally track ing a Soviet subs and the satellite splashdowns, we li ved like we were on vacation. Scuba diving, Spear fish ing, Spelunking, Snorkeling, taking weekend or week lo ng trips to Nassau in the Bahamas or to Miami. Sometim es we'd sneak a jeep out of the motor pool and drive d own the beach and live on the beach for a few days or a week. We'd throw all our gear along with a shitcan f ull of ice, beer and steak in the back of the jeep and take off. We worked 3 day watches, 24hrs off. 3 eve w atches, 24 off, 3 mid watches 24 off --- three times. Then we got a week off.

k then and I got a little 4 piece rock and roll band t ogether. Sax, guitar, bass, and drums. Conniving with the officers, we got the Navy to supply us with a new saxophone and a set of drums under the guise of entert aining the troops. We'd play at the enlisted men's clu b and

y one was having they had us play at the officers club . Then the brown baggers. ( personnel who lived off ba se with family (and brought their lunch in a paper bag )) wanted some entertainment so we got a gig playing f or them down in a little bar called The Clear Tide in the main town Governors Harbor. I got to know Alex the bartender too well during this time. That along with the fact that a fifth of vodka was $3.00 at the ships store. I can remember crawling on my hands and knees m ore than once, (a lot) from the bar to the base bus to get back to the base. Cause if you missed it, there w as no way to get back to the base before muster the ne xt morning. A lot of time, depending on who the office r of the day was, they would call about 20 or thirty n ames at muster, getting "Here Sir" for every one of th em and there would be only about 15 people standing in line. A little lax but everyone did their job or some one else would fill in for them. We all took what we d id seriously but had a lot of fun doing it. And the ba sic "Seaman Die Five" always kept the troops and offic ers laughing. Jack Reed was the comedian that always g ot us on a roll. Every time someone was going to get c hewed out he'd start and get the rest of us going and by the end of it every one would be cracked up and lau ghing. He was also the one who got us in the most trou ble too !

ec office and told him I wanted to ship over if I coul d stay at the base. He said I could stay in the " T " program but he could only guarantee me 6 months on the island and after that it would be up for grabs if I c ould get posted there longer. I figured that there was probably some Yeoman up in ComServLant who would take a look at my record and set me to get stationed up in Nova Scotia for the next 3 and a half years. the nort hern most base in the program. So ---- I opted to get out. I got a MAPS flight to Miami. Stayed for a week t hen flew home. Met my wife, got married at the age of

21, my wife was only 18, had 2 kids by the time I was

1. Both of us worked hard and by the time I was 26 we bought a house and ------ the rest is another whole s tory.

Hi Jim,

Great Story!! -- Histo ry!! I feel good knowing all the top secret stuff h as be put out in the open!! Thank you for your servic e!!

Les

ship over if I could stay at the base. He said I could stay in the " T " p rogram but he could only guarantee me 6 months on the island and after that it would be up for grabs if I could get posted there longer. I figured tha t there was probably some Yeoman up in ComServLant who would take a look at my record and set me to get stationed up in Nova Scotia for the next 3 and a half years. the northern most base in the program. So ---- I opted to ge t out. I got a MAPS flight to Miami. Stayed for a week then flew home. Met my wife, got married at the age of 21, my wife was only 18, had 2 kids by t he time I was 22. Both of us worked hard and by the time I was 26 we bought a house and ------ the rest is another whole story.

Years latter there was an article in (I Think ) LIFE magazine detailing the whole then declassified submarine monitoring program. For a long time I ha d thoughts of going back to the island but then I found a website where som eone who was stationed at the base a few years after me, revisited the Isla nd and the abandoned base some 30/40 years later and took extensive photos. Sad to see all the trashed and destroyed buildings. I don't want to see th at in real time, so I'll never go back. I'll keep the good time memories in stead.

But I could tell you some stories about scuba diving, spelunking, spear fis hing though. Some just amazing some real scary. Spearing a barracuda longer than me. 12 foot shark sneaking up behind me no further than two feet away . Diving over the edge of the continental shelf with nothing but 2 to 3 tho usand feet of water below us. Living on the beach for a week on speared fis h, Longusta ( clawless lobster) and some supplies and a lot of vodka we'd b rought from the base. And picking oranges, bananas mangos and coconuts from abandoned plantation trees hidden in the "bush". We'd bring a couple of wa sh buckets and put them on the fire to boil the lobster. Finding an old wooden row boat built out of boards. Taring it up to water p roof it and watching it disintegrate around the 6 of us as we tried to padd le it with coconut tree branches through the surf.

It's amazing ---- what you can do when your are that young and not fully ap preciate it until you become an old man. There is just no way that you can communicate that to a young person. If all of that energy, blind courage, i nvulnerability could be directed to something productive and innovative wha t amazing things could be accomplished. Sometimes but very rarely do you co me across a young person who "gets it"

I totally agree!! Personally your adventures (aka)stories are great and only yours. I have some that impress me at times but small compared to yours. Glad you survived this long to tell them.

When you think about it there are a whole lot out there that have lived during the same time frame that have no "stories" to tell. Or maybe they lived them but just don't know how to tell them.

I may have typed this before but my best adventure was hitch hiking across country from Vallejo, California to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. I was in my dress whites with a small suitcase that I had put a banner on that said "Pennsylvania or Bust -- Home" Had my cousin drop me off at the expressway and stuck my thumb out. Got picked up rather quickly for a short hop or two. Then a car woman stopped and she seemed a bit nervous. She said the only reason she stopped was because her brother was in Nam and she just wanted to talk to a service man and to help. I told she was very safe with me. I got in and talked for a bit and she took me about 20 miles or so.

Couple more quick hops and a guy picked me up. Was we talked he said he normally gets off at the next exit but because he knows the CHP officer that patrols this section of highway and that will take me in since it was illegal to hitch hike out here on the highway. I said, "Well thanks, how do you know that??" That is when he pulled hi jacket back and showed his CHP badge. :-)

Then I got to Reno, Nevada. I decided that since I may never get the again I decided to get off the interstate and walk into town. After about a mile I realized that it would take a long time to get there and it may not be worth it. So I turned around and walked back to the interstate. As I am walking up the on ramp a car pulls over. I go the passenger side and there is guy with a young boy. The guy says "Do you have a drivers license??" I said; "Well yes I do."

He says; "Great, get in." He the explains to me that I just drove out from Little Rock, Arkansas to pickup his son for his 6 months of custody. He was tired and needed someone to help drive. No problem. We talked for a while and stopped for lunch. I bought lunch for the three of us. The back on the road and I drove while he slept. We switched again a few more time until we got to Little Rock. He dropped me off and I started out again. That was roughly 1890 miles on one ride.

I then wanted to go north to Des Moines, Iowa. I had a cousin living there and wanted to stop in since I was "in the area". Got a couple of rides north and by now it was about 1AM in the morning. I was out on some very dark road. Very little traffic and what was there was not stopping. The there was this Semi Truck coming my way. What the heck, got nothing to lose, so I stuck out my thumb. The truck stops and I get up and open the door, the driver says hop in, where you going?? I'm going to Des Moines. He says, great that is where I going as well. After about 20-30 minutes of talking he says, you look tired. Why don't you hop up in the sleeper get some rest!! Sure, thanks!! My head hit the pillow and I was out. zzzzzzzzzz

Then I was being shaken and the driver is saying, were pulling into Des Moines!! I got out of the sleeper and back down into the shot gun seat. I looked over at the driver and it wasn't the same guy!!! The driver says we switched drivers about 2 hours ago. He told me you were back there asleep and I should wake you when I got to Des Moines. WOW!!!! Sure, Thanks!! So as we got into town I said I need to find a payphone to call my cousin. A few blocks ahead there was one. So I asked him to stop at the light and thank you very much!! Called my cousin who picked me up and I stayed at her place till the next morning. She then took me back out to the highway. And I put out my thumb again heading east.

Got a couple of short hops and then a guy stops. He says he is on his way to Washington DC so he can get me closer to home. Great, hopped in. He asked where I was going and I said Mechanicsburg, Pa. I said, as a matter of fact my parents house backyard is right next to the Pa Turnpike. We continued to talk and stopped for lunch somewhere in Indiana, Once we got to somewhere through Ohio into Pennsylvania, he says I usually get on I-70 to go down to DC, how about I just continue in through on the Pa Turnpike, I can always drive down I-83 to DC. I said, you don't have to do that. He says, yes, but I want to get you home. So as we got close I said, Please pull over and stop on this side of the next bridge. He did, I got out, thanked him for the ride and then ran across the turnpike, climbed over the fence, walked up the backyard, and into the house and said; Mom Dad I'm home!!

Not counting the day with my cousin it took me 3 days.

Now the rest of the story as they say. If you notice I did not place a name of the drivers that picked me up and moved me across the country. I knew them by first name then. Today, I couldn't even venture a guess. Not that it was not important but it was like two ships passing in the night. I know I will never meet them again. I doubt they will remember my name but I hope that they remember that once upon a time they picked up a sailor on a road and took him part way across the country to his home in Pennsylvania.

Thinking about it, what would really be cool would be for one of those drivers be reading this story and make contact with me.

Naaaaa what are the odds....................................

End of story!! Sorry for any typo's!!

Les

I've thought more than a few times that maybe I should have stayed in Flori da. But the urge to "go home" was to great.

OH! and I just remembered ------ talk about missed opportunities ----- on t he way home on the plane, I sat next to a good looking blond, couple years older than me. We got talking (what else could I do :-) I told her I was ju st getting out of the Navy and that I worked in communications. She said th at she was going to Newark NJ to work on starting up a new broadcast statio n and that if I was interested in interviewing for a job she would recommen d me. I took her phone number and her personal phone number too and thought I'd give it a try.

Of course, as soon as I got home, seeing all my friends and old girlfriends became important and next thing I knew I'd run out of money and had to get a job pretty quick. I forgot all about the girl I met on the plane or at l east put it off and once I got a local job I forgot about it completely. A few years later, I made the connection that what she was talking about is w hat was the beginning of what is now the PBS networks when they started bro adcasting out of Newark NJ. Who knows, maybe I could have gotten in on the ground floor. Not only with the girl but the job too >:->

HeY "I cudda been a contenda" (Marlin Brando)

Those are the unknown stories or events that we will never know. It is nice to ponder about 'the could have ben's...........'

Maybe it could be a good book.

Just have to start typing:

Chapter One: Once upon a time, in a land far far away.......

Les