Tag: navy

How I Joined The US Navy – Fifty Plus Going On Fifteen

North DakotaNorth Dakota Skyline

I am proud to be from North Dakota and happy that I was able to grow up with the freedom that is almost unknown in this day and age.

In many ways, you could compare the escapades of my friends and myself much like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn although 100 plus years later and located in Jamestown North Dakota.

All good things must come to an end as they say and as I entered Senior High School, it was apparent that my future was limited in North Dakota, so I started looking at options.

-I loved auto body and auto mechanics but without a college fund and being bored in High School, my potential to attend higher education was limited.

  • There were numerous options for work in agriculture and service industries in the area, but without higher education, my Career possibilities would decrease as my body aged.
  • A military career was possible, but if this were my choice, I would need to leave my family, my friends, and the life and freedom I so enjoyed. The long-term career and training opportunity was a plus.
  • The worst direction was a career that included making big rocks into small rocks if caught. You may think that I am joking, but it was possible being the product of a law enforcement family.

During my junior year, I decided to join the military, and I wanted to be a United States Marine as my primary choice and a United States Sailor as my alternate choice.

  • I met with the Marine and Navy recruiters and decided I wanted to be a photographer or meteorologist.
  • The ASVAB test would determine what I would qualify for, so I held fast until I was old enough to test.
  • It was my goal to sign up for the Marines when I turned seventeen (17) and leave for boot camp once I graduated from high school.
  • A couple of weeks before taking the ASVAB, my dad informed me that he would not sign for me if I went into the Marines so I decided the Navy was the way to go.

RTC Great Lakes - Source: US NavyUS Navy RTC Great Lakes IL – Source: US Navy

Around the time I turned seventeen (17), the Navy Recruiter scheduled my ASVAB test in Fargo North Dakota.

  • Numerous potential recruits and I arrived at the Ramada Inn and commenced to prepare for the ASVAB by getting crocked.
  • Early the next morning we were taken to the AFEEs Station where we would take the ASVAB test, and we were all in poor shape.
  • We took the ASVAB test, and I was sure I was going to be scraping paint in the Navy since I was so hung over.
  • There was no drumroll, but there was a score provided that allowed me to choose any Navy career I wanted.
  • The recruiter was immediately on me to choose nuclear power or advanced electronics, but I wanted to be a photographer or meteorologist.

I held firm in my choices and the recruit detailer determined the timeline for me to leave for the Navy based on the need for photographers of meteorologists.

  • Shocked is an understatement when informed that the wait for these fields was at least twelve (12) months out.
  • These options had to be a set up since the recruiter and station received more points for the fields they wanted me to select.
  • It was back to the drawing board since the wait was too long for careers I preferred jobs.
  • In the end, I selected the advanced electronics field where my career was limited to a select training field.

The paperwork was submitted, and I was sworn into the Navy under the Delayed Entry Program and would leave a week after graduation in 1981.

CPOEnded Up A Chief

We have all made career decisions with limited knowledge of what to expect. In my mind, I had not only selected a career but was also anticipating an adventure.

Thanks for visiting and would appreciate your comments and/or input.

  • Have you ever leaped into the unknown when relocating or accepting a job?
  • Did you make similar decisions when joining the military?

I wish you health, safety, and success. It sure is great being fifty plus going on fifteen.

Jay Patterson

37 Years Ago – The Journey – Fifty Plus Going On Fifteen

RTC

Each of us has major dates that we remember including birthdays, wedding anniversaries, etc.

Every year I have the pleasure of not only noting the anniversary of Pearl Harbor and the birth of the Greatest Generation but also my enlistment anniversary into the United States Navy.

This year marks the 37th year since I swore the oath to “Protect and Defend” and left my childhood home of North Dakota for the big bad world I so desired to enter.

The night before I left was memorable since it was my last day of not having a care beyond my own selfish desires as an adolescent that knew everything but was dumb as a rock.

What was memorable about the day before I left for Fargo North Dakota and flew to Great Lakes Illinois for my first long-term career?

  • It was a cold day for December with the temperatures not passing twenty (20) degrees, the wind blowing from ten (10) to twenty (20) miles per hour (MPH), and it was snowing.
    • I remember it being a humid day with a bitter wind from the northwest.
  • I did not work the day prior to leaving since I had resigned from Dale’s Mobil since this was a planned transition.
    • The owner, Dale, is one of my special mentors.
  • My parents, sister and I went to Wagon Masters for the last meal before I ate boot camp chow hall food.
    • I worked for Wagon Masters as a cook as a teenager and loved the food.
  • Our dinner (supper) was interrupted by news that my friend’s (Mike) farmhouse was on fire.
    • Mike was my best man a few days later and passed to another realm at a young age.
  • Mike and his dog needed a ride back to town to stay with his parents and this was the last time I saw him until we hooked up a few years later.
    • The dog ate something that did not agree with him so we had to drive with the windows down in the bitter cold.

Winter Farmhouse

The next morning was an early morning for myself and I used my ticket to get on the bus with one (1) set of clothes, a few pictures and long hair to my name.

Being my first commercial bus ride, I quickly decided this was not a preferred method of transportation based on the odors emanating from the restroom.

I was thankful the ride lasted only two (2) hours on Interstate 94 and my first stop was Fargo North Dakota.

Bus
Once I arrived in Fargo, I was transported to the Fargo Airport and hopped on my first airplane flight to Ohara in Chicago Illinois. Flying was much better than taking a bus, but I still felt trapped.

The flight was uneventful, and I had to make my way to the bus that would transport me to Great Lakes Recruit Training Center after arriving at Ohara.

I quickly realized I was no longer in Kansas (North Dakota) anymore when I observed the skinheads, Hare Krishna, and other oddities (to me) roaming the airport.

The bus ride from Ohara to Great Lakes Recruit Training Center did not change my opinion about buses since this bus had the same odor the bus in North Dakota had.

I daydreamed as the bus bounced up Interstate 94 and finally the bus came to an abrupt stop and I was told this was my stop.

  • This made me think of the movie “Bus Stop” with Marilyn Monroe and that was a classic.
  • What events in your life do you clearly remember as a defining point in your life?

Stepping off the bus, I observed the gates and guardhouses at Great Lakes Recruit Training Center and had never felt so alone in my life.

Walking to the gate, I handed over my orders and it became very clear to me that I was a piece of meat from this point on.

I have always had great first impressions and guess what, I was a piece of meat for many weeks to come as I participated in boot camp.

Pearl Harbor Day will always be special to me for not only the obvious reasons but also because this is the day I became a sailor even though it was 39 years later.

Thanks for stopping by and may you have health, safety, and success. It is wonderful being fifty plus going on fifteen (50 plus going on 15).

Jay Patterson