In the beginning, there was Boot Camp....

I arrived at San Diego Naval training center on June 16th 1969 at about 2:30am after a 2 hour bus trip down from LA.

Got to bed about 3am....got woke up at 5...Now I know what they mean by the 'Longest Day'

Luckily I played the drums so I was sent to the Drum and Bugle Corps...Best thing I ever did, except it meant 2 extra weeks in basic. we actually did three dress inspections a day and marched 10 miles a day playing as we marched every where...Even our tests.

Got word they wanted us to march in a parade in Chino. I went straight to my CO and asked if I could go home for the afternoon, something never allowed in Boot Camp. I explained i only lived 10 miles away, I would take four of my friends with me and my parents would have all of us back by the time we had to leave back for the base. We did it, and I even spent some worth wile time with my then girl friend who was amazed to see me all decked out in whites and having lost 30 pounds...Damn I looked good at 175...

Army to spread burden of combat

Updated 10/27/2006 10:25 AM ET

WASHINGTON — The prospect of combat in Iraq for at least another four years is prompting the Army to realign its forces to prevent a small slice of soldiers who are shouldering much of the fighting from wearing out.

Pentagon records show one-fifth of the Army's active-duty troops have served multiple tours of war duty while more than 40% haven't been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

That disparity is behind the Army's plans to shift some soldiers to high-demand wartime specialties that could ease the burden on combat forces.

The Army announced this month that it plans to maintain its current force level in Iraq through 2010. There are about 105,000 soldiers in Iraq, 15,000 in Kuwait and 16,000 in Afghanistan.

The Army is moving soldiers from specialties such as artillery and air defense to high-demand roles: infantry, engineering, military police and intelligence, Special Forces, civil affairs and psychological operations, said Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle, deputy chief of staff for Army personnel.

The Army has more soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan than the other services combined. It expects to complete the realignment by 2011.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged this week that the Pentagon is sending active-duty troops overseas more frequently than it wants to, which is once in three years.

About 42% of the Army's 500,000 active-duty soldiers have not deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. They include about 80,000 fresh recruits, most of whom are being trained. More than 90,000 others are in the so-called institutional Army, those who train, equip and manage soldiers.

By 2011, there will be 50,000 more troops available for deployment than in 2001. Part of that will be accomplished by having civilian Army employees take over certain jobs from soldiers, freeing them up to fight.

Five years of fighting have put the Army on the verge of wearing out vital soldiers, said James Carafano, a retired Army colonel and military analyst at the Heritage Foundation.

The Army is still structured to fight Cold War enemies, which prevents it from deploying more troops, he said. "It's not a usable force in terms of mix and composition."

The Army has sent more than 144,000 active-duty, National Guard and Reserve soldiers to Iraq or Afghanistan more than once. Army deployments typically last one year. Some soldiers, including special operations forces, have shorter tours.

Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where many Special Forces soldiers are based, is home to the Army's most-deployed soldier. That soldier, whom the Army declined to identify, has been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan nine times.

That's a "pocket of stress that we need to be concerned about," said retired Army colonel James Martin, an expert on military culture who teaches at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.
Posted 10/26/2006 10:47 PM ET
Updated 10/27/2006 10:25 AM ET

http://tinyurl.com/t9kdp

Multiple War Hero Michael J. Novosel dies.

Novosel's service to his country spanned three wars - World War II, The Korean War and The Vietnam War. He was born in Pittsburgh area town of Etna, Pennsylvania, the son of Croatian immigrants, and grew up during the Great Depression fluently speaking both his parents' tongue and English. At the age of 19, Novosel joined what was then the Army Air Corps. That was just ten months prior to Pearl Harbor, and by 1945, he was a Captain flying B-29 bombers in the war against Japan. He left the service for a brief time due to reductions in force after the war was over and settled in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to raise his family.
Novosel joined the U.S. Air Force Reserves and went back on active duty to again serve his country during the Korean War. He left the service again in 1953 and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve in 1955. In 1963, Novosel was working as a commercial airline pilot when a deep sense of patriotism called him to return to active military duty. By then, he was 42 and the Air Force did not have space for any more officers in the upper ranks. It was then that Novosel made the decision to give up his rank of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force to join the Army and fly helicopters as a chief warrant officer with the elite Special Forces Aviation Section. He served his first tour in Vietnam flying medevac helicopters (Dustoff) with the 283rd Medical Detachment. His second tour in Vietnam was with the 82nd Medical Detachment. During that war, Novosel flew 2,543 missions and extracted 5,589 wounded personnel. On the morning of Oct. 2, 1969, he set out to evacuate a group of South Vietnamese soldiers who were surrounded by the enemy near the Cambodian border. The soldiers' radio communication was lost and their ammunition expended. Without air cover or fire support, Novosel flew at low altitudes while under continuous enemy fire. He skimmed the ground with his helicopter, while his medic and crew chief yanked the wounded men on board. He completed 15 hazardous extractions, was wounded in a barrage of enemy fire and momentarily lost control of his helicopter that day, but when it was over, he had rescued 29 men. Novosel completed his tour in March 1970. In 1971, then Pres. Richard Nixon placed the nation's highest award for valor in combat, the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor, around Novosel's neck. Among his many other awards, Novosel received the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Purple Heart Medal.
He was inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame in 1975. When Novosel retired as the senior warrant officer with the Warrant Officer Candidate Program in 1985, he had been a military aviator for 42 years and was the last WW II military aviator in the U.S. to remain on active flying duty. Novosel accumulated 12,400 military flying hours, including 2,038 in combat during his career. Upon his retirement, he received a rare honor for a living hero when the main street at Fort Rucker, Alabama was renamed "Novosel Street." While residing in Enterprise, Alabama, Novosel remained active in the military community during his retirement. He frequently was invited as the honored guest for military lectures and ceremonies spanning the entire country to share his unique insights, even until the final weeks before he died. His book, "Dustoff - The Memoir of an Army Aviator," was published in 1999.
Diagnosed with a recurrent cancer in November 2005, he had undergone a series of highly successful treatments at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The cancer tumor had been greatly reduced in December 2005 and January 2006. In February 2006, Novosel concluded chemotherapy and other treatments and waited to regain strength in preparation for surgery on March 7. His prognosis appeared excellent. Despite new and innovative procedures to reduce trauma, he never fully recovered from the shock of the surgery. He died April 2, 2006. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

From Vietnam Magazine Decemeber Edition

Taps

ding ding...ding ding....ding ding...Now its taps, taps, all lights out, the smoking light is out, Quartermaster make last round to the OD...Security break out your side arms. Shore Patrol detail man your posts...Now set the watch, condition 3...The galley is open for mid rats for the Mid Watch, Now taps...

About this time the movie would let out, the changing of the watch would take place if out at sea and every one who smoked would light up if they smoked...Those of us in the galley would break out the wine, get the Pizzas ready to sell, and the baker would bake off about 40 dozen donuts or cinnamon buns which found the captain at the back door with his hand out...Thats how we managed to commit murder and get away with it, but that's for another story and time...

Yep, life was sometimes really good aboard ship...

More rules of Etiquette in the PI

When out on your own, not with your girl friend, always make sure the girl you pick up is indeed a girl and not a benny boy and that she is only carrying one butterfly knife...If she had two, it means it is either her Mothers or she kicked someone ass to get that one over a dispute over either money owed or a guy....
***

Rouge Wave

During Typhoon Ann we experienced a rouge wave that was estimated to be 110 feet high...We had confirmation from several other ships.

The Connie was under Condition A, meaning they were not at combat stations but they were button up for the storm and were on a course that took them into the wind and the trough of the waves, or another words they were riding with the waves, keeping the rolling to a minium.

At 1;22am the ship began to roll up to the left and rise up. The OD ordered the rudders to be brought amidships to try and stabilize the ship...The ship continued to move up and took on a roll of 35 degrees, but at the same time rising up wards over the wave.

The ship crested at 125 feet above the water at the front of the ship or what is called the bow....She held that position for 5 seconds then fell...She fell 125 feet causing a loss of gravity that wrecked or damaged several jets with several crewmen hurt.

As she fell the center beams which connect the ship cracked and boomed with the sound of doom....Several people reported that the ship had broken in two, but it was not the case...the Connie had never before risen 12 stories then fell, the ship was not used to such abuse...In reality, they were lucky to be afloat.

The Connie returned to Subic then went to Japan for refit and repairs and it was several months before she returned to duty...

Rules of etiquette in the PI...

Never tell the Moma San that her monkey tacos taste like fish...You find butterfly knife in place of nose...;)

Never eat Balutes especially if they are 100 years old...first you can't afford them and second, there is a good chance you wont make it to the john.

Surfs Up
Attention all hands, prepare the ship for heavy weather...Lower all booms and housings, seel all hatches and life boats...block in all ammo on the main deck...Expected seas to be running in the trouft...Expected wave heights, 80 feet...Expected wind speed 160 kts....Expected rainfall rates, 2 inches per hour...Expected...Typhoone Ann...Cat 5 max....Rig safety lines on the fore decks...All hands restricted to below decks....The galley is closed...The barbershop is closed...The smoking lamb is lite in all crew decks...

The Chaplin will give a special service tonight before we enter the storm...

What we got...80 foots seas, the greatest storm in recorded Western Pacific History...top winds speeds of 200 kts....Two pallets of 500 pound bombs broke lose and were crashing about on the main deck...1st division had the pleasure of going out into that black morass of a night and securing them...and 42 inches of rain in 24 hours....gdh

What??? Hong Kong Again?

I mean after all you can only go to Hong Kong so many times, we had been there 5 times already and the last time the British authorities made us anchor clear out by Green Island which is out by the half sunken rusting shell of the Queen Mary.

The reason we had Nukes on board and ships with nukes were not allowed inside Hong Kong Harbor and it was almost a one hour boat trip in but that's where we were and as it turns out, we had a pretty good time.

We had a crew of women come aboard to paint the ship. Where else in the world can you paint an entire ship for left over food from the Galley. And since I was Galley Captain, I made sure that the ladies had all of the leftovers they wanted. Turns out, they would take all of our scraps and fat and other items that growing American boys wont eat and make it into some of the best Chinese food I had ever eaten.

The other benefit...Some of those young Chinese ladies would sleep with you just to be safe....Of course we had to go down to the boats to be serviced so to speak, but I know of one officer who had one or two ladies up to his cabin for the night...I mean after all, aren't Officers considered officers and Gentlemen and above such things...yeah right...

JANE FONDA

I had the great misfortune of hearing Hanoi Janes infamous speech and I have also heard her twice apologize to the Veterans of Vietnam...So where is she now 35 years later? on a freedom bus calling all of today's military people child killers and rapists.

Instead of demoralizing us, her speech pissed us off, we wanted to kill her and every gook we could get into our gun sites.

And the feeling is still there...If Jane was ever convicted of Treason I would be the first to volunteer for the firing squad...Just put a gun in my hands mounted on my wheel chair and I will giggle with glee like she did on that 70 mm gun mount in Hanoi with here NVC playmates...

NIGHT OF THE HAND

One of the first things I learned when I reported aboard ship was that the ship was haunted, yes haunted...Seems a Chief had died during the Korean War and being out at sea they did not have any place to put his body...His family wanted his body home instead of the traditional burial at sea, so they had to put him into the ice cream freezer.

As a result, The chief haunted the ship cause it seems he had in his will to be buried at a sea if the time came, his wife wanted otherwise.

Anyway one night in November 1972 on our third tour of duty one of the Deck officers was down in the office in the number 5 hold doing his paper work...As he typed his report the lights flicked off...Now, lights on board a ship that was 25 years old were of the old toggle switch designed, meaning they had to be turned by hand to turn them off.

As he reached up to turn on the light, he felt the icy hand of death grab it and hold it tight...He wrenched his hand loose and literally flew up 5 decks to the main deck...He said he felt the icy hands clutching at his heels as he climbed the ladder.

When He got to the main deck he sat down on his butt, crossed himself and said a few prayers....He was the ships Chaplain.....and he never went back down to the hold again...They had to send some guys down to get his stuff and transfer his office above decks....There reports...One guy was as white as sheet and the other hands was shaking...

We had a special mass to say prayers for the chief or who ever it was down there....it didn't work...But more on that in another story,,,:p

CONDOMS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE QUARTERDECK

Announced on the IMC to everyone on board.

The officer of the deck would add this little caveat when ever we would pull into a foreign port, like Hong Kong, Subic, Japan, etc...But he once raised a lot of eyebrows and caused a lot of questions to be asked, when he announced CONDOMS ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON THE QUARTERDECK! Sexual disease tests will be available upon return to the ship in the Pharmacists mates cabin.

There was only one problem...We were in Concord (San Francisco) Our home base and we had several hundred wives and family members and guests aboard.

Oh the looks and questions...Oh boy...

ROAST BEEF AGAIN

Yes roast beef served 22 different ways each week while underway...Yankee Pot Roast, Southern Roast, Pot Roast, New York Roast...And bitch bitch bitch....Roast Beef again, so we would change...Liver and onions (I hated that, Hell I hated cooking it) Rabbit (They swore it was rabbit but it looked like tiny little people sometimes) and then of course Lobster...

Lobster that you could easily use as a dangerous weapon...Of course it was Lobster Tails no whole lobsters, only admirals got the live stuff (well we had an admiral on board but his chopper crashed so he was stuck with us)

Then they would bitch if we didn't have Roast Beef for Midrats (4th meal of the day served at midnight)...Seems everyone loved roast beef sandwiches, but only at night, only for watch and we never had any left.

We could put out sliced ham, Bologna and three types of fresh cheeses, but the roast beef always got eaten and if we did not serve it they bitched.

Why, I don't know...I guess it was just the principle of the thing....I mean roast beef 22 times a week...But as I told one complainer we served eggs every morning for breakfast, why don't you complain about that...He responded by saying he did not eat eggs so it did not matter to him...Funny thing, I must have cooked 500 dozen eggs a voyage and never ate one....I hate eggs too, but I love roast beef....

The moral of this story is...

STOP THE DAMN SHIP FROM ROCKING

Or how to mess up the captains aim while he is on the hello flight deck shooting clay pigeons....

Oh yeah...:p

MAN OVERBOARD!

A drill we practiced for but hoped it would never happen...Well one day it did...And it was on purpose....Seems one of the guys back on number 4 hold was up on the bomb loads with another standing ready with straps to hook up the loads when they were ready to transfer to the other ship along side....

Suddenly the ship took a roll and the load already in the air swung back and hit the loads they were on knocking them off balance....The guy had two choices...Allow the loads to fall on him and most likely crush him or go into the water....He looked around in a split second and saw a tin can (destroyer) off in the distance and decided right then and there he would rather get wet, so he jumped....

As soon as we had mustered on deck for roll call, the tin can had him safely on board and about an hour later he came back aboard via bosons chair from the other ship, cheering as he came over the rail, yelling at the top of his lungs..."I got the mail, I got the mail, I went swimming and got the mail"...He also brought two movies, a load of ice cream and 20 pounds of pot for the officers (remember an officer was supposed to be above such things, so they did them)

New Navy Ship Being Built With WTC Steel

New Navy Ship Being Built With WTC Steel - and It Survived Hurricane Katrina

NEW YORK Apr 3, 2006 (AP)— With a year to go before it even touches the water, the Navy's amphibious assault ship USS New York has already made history twice. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center, and it survived Hurricane Katrina.

That combination of disasters gives the ship a unique standing among the 500 or so Avondale, La., shipyard workers building it, said Tony Quaglino, a crane superintendent who postponed retirement to have a hand in the New York's construction.

"I think Katrina made us more aware of the tragedy in New York," said the 66-year-old Quaglino. "One was manmade, one was natural, but they're both a common bond."

USS New York is about 45 percent complete and should be ready for launch in mid-2007. Katrina disrupted construction when it pounded the Gulf Coast last summer, but the 684-foot vessel escaped serious damage, and workers were back at the yard near New Orleans two weeks after the storm.

The ship was an impetus for many of the yard's thousands of workers to return to the job, even though hundreds lost their homes, Quaglino and others said.

Northrop Grumman employed 6,500 at Avondale before Katrina. Today, roughly 5,500 are back on the job, working on the New York and three other vessels. More than 200 employees who lost their homes to Katrina are living at the shipyard, some on a Navy barge and others in bunk-style housing.

"Their dedication and devotion to duty has been, to say the least, epic," Philip Teel, a vice president for Northrop Grumman Corp. and head of its ship systems division, told a Navy League dinner audience in New York on March 22.

"It sounds trite, but I saw it in their eyes," Teel said in a separate interview. "These are very patriotic people, and the fact that the ship has steel from the trade center is a source of great pride. They view it as something incredibly special. They're building it for the nation."

USS New York is the fifth in a new class of warship designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Medal-winning pilot mustered for three wars dies

ARLINGTON, Va., April 14, 2006 – Six Medal of Honor recipients and the Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, were among those gathered at Arlington National Cemetery here yesterday to pay their last respects to retired Army Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. "Mike" Novosel, a Medal of Honor recipient and former Golden Knight. 82d Medical Detachment, 45th Medical Company, 68th Medical GroupPlace and date: Kien Tuong Province, Republic of Vietnam, 2 October 1969 Entered service at: Kenner, Louisiana. His long History can be found

You didn't know it was all women shooting at you I bet....

It has been revealed that during the Tet Offensive of 1967, one squad of 24 VC we're all young woman.

During Tet this 24 woman squad took pot shots at guys swimming in bomb craters hitting several. It was revealed that this same squad took part in active snipping and sapper attacks on the 24th ID.

After the war the NVA awarded the survivors of this special squad the Vietnam Medal Of Valor.

Those survivors today, are scattered through the country, many having families after the war. It might not be an uncommon question in the Vietnam of today for their grandchildren to ask..."What did you do in the war Grandma?"

This young ladies name was Vo Thi Mo. Her home was destroyed by US forces when she was 15, thus fueling her hatred of us.

Her first VC assignment was as a spy working in the US 25th ID's headquaters division.

After that she became commander of the all woman VC C-3 company.

Story is from Decembers Edition of Vietnam Magazine, by Kelly Bell.

A friend of mine just got benefits for Agent Orange...He actually didn't want it but his own doctors referred him, so he got 40%....they immediately sent more documentation so he can get at least 80%.

He was a Medic with the 4ID and got sprayed...twice...But he never complained....he just developed problems that got worse and worse, so his doctors said enough.

How many people have you heard of that that didn't want the benefits due them...not many i wager...

How to piss off an Admiral

In October 72 we were behind the USS Chicago an 8 inch gunned Cruiser with missiles several 5"50 flash less gun mounts and some some old obsolete 3 inch pea shooters like we had.

Anyway we were about 1/2 mile behind her as we were moving up the Vietnamese coastline off of Quan Tre' The lookouts reported that they could see a puff of smoke billow up from the Chicago and some flames. It appeared that the VC had launched a Sam missile at the ship which scored a hit on one of the old 3 inch mounts.

But that didn't matter...The VC had the audacity to attack the Admirals ship...He ordered and fired a full 9 gun 8 inch response to take out the missile emplacement. A few seconds later we saw a small puff on the beach and then a roar as about 20 missiles and small arms ammunition went up in a mini mushroom cloud. We could hear every one on the Chicago cheering so we joined in.

December 25, 1971, while on Yankee station rearming Tin Cans, cruisers and a couple of carriers.

The Captain called down and said we had a can due along side that had been shooting for over 11 hours and needed a quick meal...So I had the mess cooks come up join the other cooks and we made over 400 hundred sandwiches for them...We also sent over 10 gallons of ice cream and all of their Christmas mail...Sure made their day.

DAMN, I NEVER GET TO SHOOT

Sorry its to expensive...

My weapon after I became a cook was a Heracles's hand held missile firing platform...All you had to, was put the missile in, take off the cover, point it and the heat sensors would go after the heat source of whatever you were shooting at hopefully a jet or something of that nature, the fore runner of today's stingers.

Anyway, I never got to shoot it...Each missile cost about $300,000 and they didn't want to waste them....Personally, now that I have had years to reflect, I think they were actually concerned that if we aimed wrong, the damn thing would come back at us and blow us up.

THE WEST END CLUB

Why was it called the West End Club, because it was on the west end of Olangapole...Anyway it was famous for the Filipino Fire dance....What was the Fire Dance?

It is where a young lady or woman strips naked and then gets on top of the bar...They then paste long strips of toilet paper and others assorted flammable paper items to various parts of her body, especially to her breasts and Pubic area.

Then as she dances around they light all of the paper on fire and she dances until the fire burns off most of the paper or till she throws it off, the object being is that everyone in the bar is betting drinks on how close she will allow the fire to burn to her skin, or neither regions.

Another favorite sport was having the ladies dancing nude on the stage stick Brown San Miguel Beer up there, well lets just say use your imagination, and shake it around rather vigorously, and when they were done offer it back to the onlookers, slightly warmed up and a bit frothy.

No comments as to the taste or objectiveness's of this whole exercise, than to say, You had to have been there...

Yes sir, The West End Club, just south of the Jungle, and no not that type of jungle...That's another story...;)

ABANDON SHIP DRILL

You know you are screwed when you have a fire drill and they give out the following coordinates so you know how far you have to go before you survive...

Miles to nearest land, 1200 miles to Guam, 4,200 to Hawaii, and 1700 miles to the Philippines.

Depth of water, 26,000 feet over the Marina Trench.

No swells, no wind for sails, no rain, no clouds and temp in the shade 105, humidity, 100% and dew point 80%.

You might as well as go down with the ship, damn...

SWIM CALL!!!!

NO WAY IN HELL...am I going to go swimming in water snake, gook infested water...Good said he, take a 50 caliber and shoot anything that comes near to the swimmers...Cool said I...

We were 25 miles off of Cambodia in the same waters that the Miaguerz was taken during the Carter years.

Some guys put a fishing line over the side to see what they could catch...After a couple a hours they pulled it up to find most of the fish stripped of there flesh to the bone...No I was not going to go swimming in the water...

Never did get to shoot anything either, darn it...