I write this post not to brag about things I have overcome and learned to live with, but rather to say that anyone can do the same in coping with unpleasant situations. If I can do it you can.
My first overseas duty was at NAS Agana, Guam. Of all the places I could have been sent to with my training that was the worst of all. It was a lousy place to be, so far from home and so isolated from nearly the whole world. It did get better when I finally made it onto a flight crew and then got to see my share of the far east. Flight duty was exciting and I enjoyed every minute of it. None the less, I was happy when it was time to go home on leave and then on to beautiful San Diego, California for duty at NAS North Island and subsequent deployments aboard aircraft carriers.
An old World War 2 navy chief who was a wise man, told me once that any duty station in the world can be good or bad, depending on how you think about it. Those few simple words have stayed with me ever since and it is as true today as it ever was. It's all about how we perceive things in our mind. I remember spending 7 days working in the mess hall at Pearl harbor and living in a transit barracks at the time. Both horrible places, especially the transit barracks, that was a horror show, it was like living in an insane asylum with some real dregs of society. I accepted it for what it was and then learned to cope with my situation. I spent 94 12-14 hour days, my first 3 months on Guam scrubbing metal mess trays, talk about nasty, it was. Even worse, carrying out 40 gallon steel cans filled with slop, but while I was happy to leave there when I was relieved, I learned to adapt and the time passed.
The long deployments at sea got tough after 8-9 months, but a guy just learns to live with it.
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