Today, 24 Jan 2013, I reached a milestone I am sure many of you have already reached. Fifty years ago today I was sworn into the US Navy. It was a cold -25f in Munroe Falls, Ohio (Akron), and colder still when I arrived in Cleveland to be sworn in.

When I arrived at Great Lakes it was a balmy -30f. I was frozen to the bone; the train from Cleveland to Chicago lacked heat, the pipes were frozen.

What I never could have envisioned at that time was where my Naval Service would send me and what it would do for me afterwards.

I owe the US Navy a deep debt of gratitude for the training it provided me, my assignment to the T-AGS ships and all the fine folks I served with.

God Bless you all and thanks for your service to our country.

Chet

My Naval history:
Boot camp Great Lakes July 1963. Class A and Class C Sonar School Key West, FLA. Onboard early 1964 in Yokasuka, Japan. Stewart "Chester" Veltman and I were together from Boot Camp, training and two years aboard the Bowditch. Stewart broke his leg on the beach while waiting for the ship and reported aboard with leg in cast...thus the nick name."Chester". I came from Texas..thus my nickname.."Tex". Best duty I ever had in the Navy..wish I could have stayed longer.

Best tour was by far the 18 months spent on the Dutton. Submarine duty followed...another story altogether. Rockie, you posted great pics of the crew (PS. thanks for letting me read your Star Trek series those first couple of cruises). Showed my wife (Geri) this site and pics...she remembered Ron, Horse, Wild Bill, Steve, Dave, Crunch. Hoppy, and a bunch of the others. She just looked at me an said I have certainly changed...the mind still works though... great memories of Southampton, Naples, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bergen, and even Brooklyn.

Very pleased and surprised to find that picture of ocunit 2 in 1983. Must've been during my 2nd or 3rd survop. Remember the "hump day" practical jokes. One addition to the roster: RM3 Phil Botsford served with Ocunit 2 from 1983 to 1984

I reported aboard Hess from a tug in Tokyo Bay and was told by the YN1 that I was on the books as UA. Actually, the Navy airline ticketing office (was their acronym FIASCO?) sent me to LAX for a non-existent flight to Tokyo. Three weeks later I met the ship when it did a humevac or something mid-patrol.

Fun, fun times on the Hess! Loved basketball and carrying a sleeping Jeff Bricker on a lounge chair up to the fantail from the movie theater.

I stayed in the Navy for a while and then Navy Reserve and eventually retired as a Commander in 1998.

Great memories of a fine ship and special shipmates. Picked up the ship in the Med. and left it in Norway. Made order of the Blue Nose aboard. Anyone remember Ogar Mung? I retired on 20 yrs as ICC. Later as a systems engineer, I worked with Don DeMelo (tech rep) who was aboard the Dutton a few years after I was. A nice guy who recently passed. Thanks to all who put this site together.

The photo of the USNS Bowditch in Trondheim, Norway was probably taken in January or February of 1961, I know that we had an inport period about that time. We were hosted by the Norwegian Navy while there. I went to the cross country ski meet. B O R I N G !!! I had a wonderful cup of coffee in the lodge that was purchased for me by an older Gentleman, I had slid on some ice and bumped him, I excused myself in the language, and he replied in English "It is not a Problem!" About 6 months late while serving in OC DET 2 I asked my girlfriend who the old gentleman in a poster was, and she replied, that is our king. So King Olav bought ME a cup of coffee.

Served on OCUNIT 4 onboard USNS CHAUVENET (TAGS-29)from Dec 1988-Dec 1989. How can we get OCUNIT 4 and 5 added to this site? Thank you for all of the great contributions!

Wonderful site. Let's all keep conributing.

In the 1960-1961 era the loran-c receivers were airborne but in SCC, they were powered by 400 hertz power. They were compact for airborne use and modified to work on the ships. Yet they required the power to simulate the aircraft. Ron Tyson worked on these beasts along with a Sperry tech rep. my first tour was split between the Bowditch and Dutton. I served 3 tours on the Bowditch.