My tour of duty was completed with VW1 on Guam in May of 1966. Duty station changes were preceded by filling out a request for assignment to the Bureau of Naval Personnel. It was my choice to go to a VP squadron based on Whidbey Island in Washington State.
The Navy must have never heeded those things because they sent people to just about the opposite of what was requested. I was assigned to VAW11 on North Island, in San Diego, along with Roy and Cal, neither of which requested San Diego. Doc was sent to a VP squadron on North Island. Ken and Cosby were assigned to helicopter squadrons at Imperial Beach. Ken was the only one of us that stayed in the navy for a full 30 years. He was always the best sailor and became a master chief, the highest enlisted rank in the navy. He wanted to stay on, but the navy would not let enlisted men stay beyond 30 years. We had nothing against San Diego back then; we just knew nothing about the place. I took a month’s leave and then reported to North Island.
I’ve always loved the name North Island. It evokes an exotic sounding place away from normalcy and convention. The truth is it is neither exotic, an island or away from anything; it’s what shapes and forms San Diego bay. A hundred years ago when high tide swept in, North Island was indeed an island where San Diegan's would spend an afternoon or a week’s vacation at the ocean. It is the birthplace of Naval Aviation starting around 1920 and was a great duty station. Coronado, the original, the correct name, and still the name of the city that is adjacent to the Air Station, was, at one time, one of the nicest places on earth. Had I bought that little cottage there for $35,000 right before I left the Navy in 1974, I’d have something worth several hundred thousand dollars. Of course I didn’t and that ship sailed without me.
Roy and I were sent to school there as soon as we reported for duty. We learned theory on how to repair the radio and navigation equipment in the first E2A aircraft that was deployed new to the fleet and to VAW-11. Once training was complete, we were sent to Detachment Charlie, an E2A squadron attached to Air Wing Eleven when at sea aboard the USS Kitty Hawk.
North Island is where I met Hal. He was right out of radar operator training for the E2A. The radar operator was and is the only enlisted position in the E2A and the radar operators were also organizational level (inside aircraft) maintenance men as we were. He and I became fast friends. We were both trying to learn as much as we could about the aircraft prior to deployment. Most of the guys in the squadron had never worked on this aircraft or been aboard ship before so there was a lot to learn in a short time. Hal was married. I was married, so we were a small minority of the lower ranks, married sailors in the squadron. I had been overseas on Hawaii, Guam, Japan, the Philippines and a few other islands, so I did know my way around a bit. Hal wanted me to help him learn the ropes where I could; as I said, we had a lot in common. He was a new radar operator and I had been a radar operator in VW1.
Roy and I had history together back in VW1 and partied together at the house, but we started moving apart once we went to sea on carrier qualifications. Roy quickly earned the nickname “Drifty” because he was always drifting around the ship and rarely where he was supposed to be, working. Those were my conservative days, nose to the grindstone, trying to amass as much knowledge as possible because I was looking at getting out of the Navy in another year and I wanted as many skills as possible to show the civilian world, so Roy and I didn’t spend much time together after that. It turned out I extended my enlistment in 1967 and re-enlisted in 1968, so I didn’t get out as planned. Life often throws us a curve when we are expecting a fast ball.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
The Navy must have never heeded those things because they sent people to just about the opposite of what was requested. I was assigned to VAW11 on North Island, in San Diego, along with Roy and Cal, neither of which requested San Diego. Doc was sent to a VP squadron on North Island. Ken and Cosby were assigned to helicopter squadrons at Imperial Beach. Ken was the only one of us that stayed in the navy for a full 30 years. He was always the best sailor and became a master chief, the highest enlisted rank in the navy. He wanted to stay on, but the navy would not let enlisted men stay beyond 30 years. We had nothing against San Diego back then; we just knew nothing about the place. I took a month’s leave and then reported to North Island.
I’ve always loved the name North Island. It evokes an exotic sounding place away from normalcy and convention. The truth is it is neither exotic, an island or away from anything; it’s what shapes and forms San Diego bay. A hundred years ago when high tide swept in, North Island was indeed an island where San Diegan's would spend an afternoon or a week’s vacation at the ocean. It is the birthplace of Naval Aviation starting around 1920 and was a great duty station. Coronado, the original, the correct name, and still the name of the city that is adjacent to the Air Station, was, at one time, one of the nicest places on earth. Had I bought that little cottage there for $35,000 right before I left the Navy in 1974, I’d have something worth several hundred thousand dollars. Of course I didn’t and that ship sailed without me.
Roy and I were sent to school there as soon as we reported for duty. We learned theory on how to repair the radio and navigation equipment in the first E2A aircraft that was deployed new to the fleet and to VAW-11. Once training was complete, we were sent to Detachment Charlie, an E2A squadron attached to Air Wing Eleven when at sea aboard the USS Kitty Hawk.
North Island is where I met Hal. He was right out of radar operator training for the E2A. The radar operator was and is the only enlisted position in the E2A and the radar operators were also organizational level (inside aircraft) maintenance men as we were. He and I became fast friends. We were both trying to learn as much as we could about the aircraft prior to deployment. Most of the guys in the squadron had never worked on this aircraft or been aboard ship before so there was a lot to learn in a short time. Hal was married. I was married, so we were a small minority of the lower ranks, married sailors in the squadron. I had been overseas on Hawaii, Guam, Japan, the Philippines and a few other islands, so I did know my way around a bit. Hal wanted me to help him learn the ropes where I could; as I said, we had a lot in common. He was a new radar operator and I had been a radar operator in VW1.
Roy and I had history together back in VW1 and partied together at the house, but we started moving apart once we went to sea on carrier qualifications. Roy quickly earned the nickname “Drifty” because he was always drifting around the ship and rarely where he was supposed to be, working. Those were my conservative days, nose to the grindstone, trying to amass as much knowledge as possible because I was looking at getting out of the Navy in another year and I wanted as many skills as possible to show the civilian world, so Roy and I didn’t spend much time together after that. It turned out I extended my enlistment in 1967 and re-enlisted in 1968, so I didn’t get out as planned. Life often throws us a curve when we are expecting a fast ball.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
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