Training
1965
It all started with a swearing-in at Auburn University, before I could get drafted.The Navy paid my way through four years of college. 1966
After my freshman year, I went on a training cruise on USS Hornet (CVS-12). 1967
After my sophomore year, I flew T-34s, a TF-9J, and an S2F. Then I climbed down a net into an LCVP and waded ashore holding my M-1 high over my head. 1968
After my junior year, I went on a training cruise on USS Pomfret (SS-391) 1969
Upon graduation and commissioning, U.S. Naval Submarine School, in New London. 1969
The hundred-foot tower was full of water. We entered the ante-chamber at the bottom and securely shut the entrance door behind us. We unlatched the exit door, but we couldn't push it open because of the water pressure pushing back. We opened a valve to allow compressed air into the ante-chamber with us, until the exit door swung open. We stepped out the door and pulled the inflation cord on the CO2 cartridges to inflate the life jackets. We gently floated to the surface, exhaling all the way.




The Northern Run - 1970
My active duty was aboard USS Odax (SS-484). My home port was Naval Station Charleston. Our first foreign visit was a week in Lisbon Portugal. We tied up to the U.S. submarine tender in Rota, Spain. We spent a week tied to the quay wall in Copenhagen, near the mermaid statue. The princess came for a visit. There was a week in Hamburg. I bootlegged a few days in Amsterdam. There was a lovely week in Edinburgh. Bergen was nice, too. From Portsmouth we took a tour of London. A stop at the U.S. submarine tender in Holy Loch. From Cherbourg we took a tour of Paris.




The Tropics - 1971/1972
Our home port was changed to Key West. We submerged in the Mississippi river at Mardi Gras in 1971, at the request of The Honorable Felix Edward Hebert, Chairman, Committee on Armed Services. I was in Guantanamo Bay when I learned that my first daughter was born. We went to Montego Bay, Jamaica on weekends. Aw, Captain, do we have to submerge in the Mississippi River at Mardi Gras again in 1972? Brazil bought my submarine out from under me.




The Pacific - 1973
This was a big-time reseearch assignment. I was the Hull Officer on the bathyscaph.