Sd and the Navy

This background is Puerto Rico on an early August morning.

My ship launching tommahawk missles on Kosovo, February 99

To start, let me just say that the Navy was never a

plan for me............

I graduated High school on June 1st of 1997 with the idea that I

would take a year off of school and work to get my life in order before I went to college and spent my parents money on something I knew I wasn't ready to deal with. That summer held many changes for me, no longer a kid trying to "just make it through", but also not quite an adult yet. I started that summer working as a janitor/maintenance at a place known as Billy's Taproom........... I soon decided that this line of work wasn't quite the job I wanted, so I found a postion as a waiter for a restaurant under new ownership... I love to wait tables, it gives you such an opportunity to mix with and meet new and exciting people. While I was working there I was constantly on the move and work was my life, therefore I had little time to be with friends. After approximately two months there I was sick of being the only waiter and I exchanged my oppinion of the job and my boss with him right in the middle of the restaurant before quitting and walking out on one of his buisiest nights since he had opened. The next step towards the Armed Services was working for a Temp Agency. I was employed by Olstens Staffing services through which I ended up with one of the oddest jobs I will probably ever have, Zigenfeilder's. Now for those of you who don't already recognise the name, Zigenfielder's is a confectionary. Yeah I was makin popcicles 8 hours a day 6 days a week on swing shifts. I think it may have been the swing shifts that did it but I knew then that I didn't want this kind of work anymore. I was soon contacted by PO2 Braughtigan, who I came to know as Keith over the next few months. By this time it was late September of 1997. I talked to the recruiter regularly and he began to sway my views on the service. There had been other recruiters who had tried to do just that, but they lacked the single quality that Braughtigan had....... he believed what he was telling me!

After yet another job change, which now placed me in the important

field of box making I was more than anxious to join. On December 20th of 1997 I passed my entrance physical and was sworn in at the Pittsburg MEPS. I then saw the classifier who told me that for someone with my test scores I could do anything except the Nuclear field which I missed by a mere 11 points. I discussed my options with him for awhile and finally decided on Sonar Technichian Surface (STG) and I was enlisted into the Advanced Electronics Feild (AEF). I waited one month before reporting for the dreaded two months of Recruit Training, better known as Boot Camp on Jan. 26, 1998. Yeah that's right, I left on Super Bowl Sunday '98. I stayed the night at Air Force Base 911 in Moon Township, Pa. and left for Boot Camp the next morning. I arrived at RTC Great Lakes, IL at 12:30 am on the 27th of January 1998, It was a monday.

The course of Boot Camp was alot easier than what I had feared it

would be, as a matter of fact I found that I actually had fun there and made some friends that I hope to run into again in the future. I was never in the best physical condition so the exercise was kind of hard to adjust to at first, but it got easier and easier. After that Boot Camp was a breeze and I left Boot camp on April 3rd, 1998 with orders to report for training at Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center Pacific(ASW), in San Diego, for my training as a Sonar tech. Upon my arrival in San Diego I began to experience several changes in my life, the main one living without my parents. The schools I attended at ASW have given me a background in electronics, Fiberoptic repair, Oceanography, Acoustic Analysis, and many other various fields. California has given me many opportunities and several close friends that I will keep for life. I Currently reside in Jacksonville, Florida where I am stationed at Mayport Naval Station. In the year and a half since I have been here, my ship underwent its ROH in Norfolk, VA ( not far from the imfamous Va Beach), I made many great friends there as I do everywhere I go. The spring of 2000 took me to Europe for two months onboard the USS Nicholas, a little tiny ship that we refer to as a frigate. During that period I journeyed to Portsmouth, England just south of London... Porto, Portugal...and Fun Chal in The islands of Mediera. The summer found me back in Jacksonville preparing for the CSQTT late that summer early autumn. During this exercise we explored the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, where I was reunited with my little sister after 2 years. After Puerto Rico we visited St. Marteen.... the French side of this particular island drew my attention more than the Dutch side did, but that is all dependent on what you are looking to get into. Both islands have thier own unique beauty such as I have never seen before. Early October we returned home.... preparing for the next steps until our deployment scheduled for spring of 2001. There have been some bumps along the way to where I am now. Some of you may recall that I served Restriction time from 17 Nov 00 - 31 Dec 00. I am currently regaining the trust of my co-workers and doing pretty well all around. We are now in the third month of our Mediterranian Cruise for 2001. The Ports have been Great, and so have the People. Though as new and interesting as everything is over here, it can never take the place of family, friends, and the sense of home. I miss you all and love you, just remember we will be seeing each other very soon. The Navy has given me so many options to explore and I am having a great time doing just that. On this page I plan to post the flags of all the ports and nations I travel to through the Navy, I will do my best to keep it current.

Ports stationed/visited:

Great Lakes, IL:

Recruit Training Command- 27JAN98 - 03APR98

San Diego, Ca:

Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center Pacific- 03APR98 - 15JUL99

San Diego, Modesto, Riverbank, Los Angleses, Irvine, Fresno, Sonora, & Long Beach California

Tiajuana, Mexico