I served active duty in the US Navy 68-72, went to Counter Intelligence/Counter Insurgency School at Little Creek VA where they trained us for our tour to Vietnam and ended with a simulated POW Camp stint during training that lasted 4 days. Then it was a short trip home for a leave prior to leaving to Vietnam where I served in Naval Support Activities Danang Security Intelligence Division (part of what was called the 1st Naval Infantry in the Monkey Mountain/Marble Mountain region of Danang which included the Naval Hospital.
When the 24th Army Corp took over Danang in 1970 (I got there in 69) I was transferred to PBR Mobile Base II in Tanan Province which was part of Operation Giant Slingshot named after the two rivers that converged to make a sling shot (the Van Ko Thay and Van Ko Thong Rivers probably spelled that wrong). I then volunteered for a sealed orders TDY to Vihn Ghia on the Cambodian Vietnam Border at an ATSB (Advanced Tactical Support Base in Apr 0f 70) this was the first team in with the Seabee's who were building a base in advance of the US sending troops into Cambodia in June of 70. Then back to PBR Mobile Base II to complete my tour.
After 38 days leave I reported to a submarine tender in Norfolk VA, USS Orion AS 18, we then transferred our home port to Charleston SC where I finished my 4 year hitch working in the Submarine Squadron 4 Operations Office and as the driver for the Admiral of the Squadron. I actually once drove Admiral Hyman G Rickover when ComSubFlot 6's vehicle (our 2 star Admiral who was ComSubRon 4's boss).
When we moved to Maine I entered the apprenticeship at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as an Electronics Industrial Controls Mechanic, graduated to Mechanic, served as Planner, Supervisor and then moved on to Production Engineering Dept Code 380 which was later absorbed by the Nuclear Engineering Dept Code 2310 where I worked in Nuclear and Radiological areas in conjunction with submarine repair and refueling/defueling operations for 20 years until I went to Bureau of Medicine as an IM/IT Specialist where I served as the UNIX Systems Administrator for the Ambulatory Data Systems Program, was the Administrator for the Composite Healthcare Service (CHCS) program, how we delivered health care and was part of a 24 member voting board in bringing up TriCare (a marriage of Army, Navy and Air Force Medical under one umbrella which had never been done before) and ran 4 clinics in Portsmouth, Brunswick, Winter Harbor and Cutler finally retiring in Apr 2005 with over 30 years of service to the Navy both active and as a Government Civilian Employee.
