Aspirations at an early age

[Slick]

The lovely bride ran across a couple of old folders in a long forgotten file drawer. Got to rummaging around and found this old chit. End result was I was denied the school as staffing was(as always) short and they couldn't bear the thought of losing my expertise. Such as it was. Just think, I could have been ORDNANCE APPROVED here on BOCN. If only.

 

[bacarnal]

Rick, you would have made a fine EOD Tech. Too bad that was during the drawdown and quotas were being axed. Look at the bright side; you didn't have to go in the water with two Thermos bottles strapped to your back.:bigsmile:

P.S. Not saying you're old, but that's dated almost 10 years to the day that I started EOD school, Chem portion at Redstone.

 

[M8owner]

Oh, goody. I am the one who gets to say he is old.

 

[Slick]

"Look at the bright side; you didn't have to go in the water with two Thermos bottles strapped to your back.:bigsmile:"

I did anyway:

Our certification instructor was an EOD tech out of Naples. Who inspired me to apply. All for naught.

As for the OLD part, yea. The amazing part is I made it this far with all eyes and fingers(extremities) intact. Hearing, not so much.

 

[Slick]

My fave pic of the found lot:

 

[US-Subs]

Rick, you would have made a fine EOD Tech. Too bad that was during the drawdown and quotas were being axed. Look at the bright side; you didn't have to go in the water with two Thermos bottles strapped to your back.:bigsmile:

P.S. Not saying you're old, but that's dated almost 10 years to the day that I started EOD school, Chem portion at Redstone.

Not quite as old as Slick, but I was at my third unit (16th) by Spring of 83.

 

[bacarnal]

Rick, were you certified at Naples? If so, I hope the Gamaglobine (sp?) shots didn't hurt. And I see you reclining on SM-2's.

Thanks, Steve. We can both call them old. Jeff is probably only a few years behind Rick considering about three years at each unit:wink:

 

[Slick]

Rick, were you certified at Naples? If so, I hope the Gamaglobine (sp?) shots didn't hurt. And I see you reclining on SM-2's.

Thanks, Steve. We can both call them old. Jeff is probably only a few years behind Rick considering about three years at each unit:wink:

Haha. The assortment of papers included my personnel and med files. My yellow shot record included three stapled booklets. Lots-o-shots over the years.
Only had the one "gam" shot in boot camp. A literal PITA. And no, the certification was in Gaeta/Formia bay. Ain't no way I'd get in the water in Naples.

And that's a positive ID on the missile. Racked up in a Mk 10 Mod 0 (S/N 1, btw) launcher system magazine.

 

[Slick]

5"/54 Mk 42

ASROC behind it.

 

[bacarnal]

Boy, the Navy thought of everything back then. Look at the space saving circular clothsline on top of the 5" turret:bigsmile: Of course, if you have a missile launch, there go your dungarees and skivvies ::tinysmile_twink_t:

 

[M8owner]

I hope that missile magazine was locked out and tagged out when you took that photo.

 

[Slick]

I hope that missile magazine was locked out and tagged out when you took that photo.

No OSHA back in them days. We didn't need no stinkin' tags! Had to crawl in there every morning for a PMS (grease) application. Part of that "expertise" I'd mentioned earlier.


From another angle(pic from interweb)

 

[bacarnal]

Me thinks part of your "expertise" was you being the slimmest of the watch and could fit better in the nooks and crannies.

 

[Slick]

An aside to all this, and somewhat ammo related, here is a pic of the rotary Terrier missile magazines from the USS Luce DLG7(DDG38), the exact ones from whence the pic of younger me is lying. The ship was decommissioned in '91, I believe, and scrapped a few years later. I suspect they were melted down as preservation was of little concern for such items. Quite a gizmo. Used two hydraulic lifts to raise the missile to the launch rail in the wing/fin assembly area, where fins were attached and then sent out to the launcher via a large-ish bicycle chain looking push/pull rig. Lots of large electric motors, hydraulics and switches involved in the evolution. There was ALWAYS something amiss that needed attention.