Simple question, what made you sign on the dotted line volunteering for submarine duty?
For me, it was simple, really. My father is a 20 year submarine vet (MM1 Eric Shoemaker-if anyone knows him-he's a nuke), my uncle Tom is also a MM nuke, started out on subs but when he went LDO he ended up on a carrier. Subs have always been interesting to me, and talking with Dad about em, and reading a lot about them (I have every novel written by Patrick Robinson, and various other submarine literature.) have only further cemented my decision. My only regret is that I didn't join right out of high school. For what its worth, I pretty much have a Navy family-Dad, as a MM nuke, my uncle, retired as a LtCr, my aunt, who retired as a chief, and a few other relatives that served.
So, what's your story?
(Mods, forgive me if this is an existing topic- I went back 4 pages and did not see anything)
It was a pretty simple choice given that everyone who gets to a boat had to have passed some kind of school and examinating process to get there. That kinda weeds out the idiots. Guess where the idiots get sent???? It was a "no brainer".
The classifier asked me why I put down MM, EN, ET and EM on my dream sheet. I told him I wanted to be a nuke after I got my GED. He said "nukes go on submarines so you want to go to submarines, right?" I said "I guess" so, ta da, I was volunteered for sub duty. Oh, and I got out of the gas chamber and all my remaining buzz cuts in boot camp because of the different medical and psychological testing for subs. Sub duty started paying dividends before I ever go to sub school.
How I ended up a YN when I wanted to be a nuke is another story.
Originally posted by mturnb: How I ended up a YN when I wanted to be a nuke is another story.
No matter what, YN is still an honest trade aboard ship, either Skimmer or Submarine, but as a Boat Sailor even more so. Just count yourself in with the famous Forest J. Sterling (YNC)(SS)… Last man alive to leave the Wahoo (SS-238) before her final patrol.
The fascination of watching the boats coming & going while I was stationed on a Tender in Norfolk, got the best of my imagination. In fact, I went TAD on a boat before I even went to enlisted Sub School. To this day, I believe it was one of the best moves I've made in my life.
I looked at my options. I was told either DC, HT, MM(aux), or BM. I looked at who did what and I was curious how someone could spend ther time in a steal coffin. I asked abotu Submarien life and the reaction was pretty much that I would better off goign BM or DC and not MM(aux). Seemd they had nothing good to say abotu Submarines in the MEPs office. So I went for it. had an interesting time. Did alot and learned alot. I certainly don't regret it.
When I went to MEPS and sat down to choose my job, they gave me 3 options. Non of which included the ones I was hoping to get when I went in there, but I told myself I wasnt leaving without a job, since I might not get a decent one if I wait till later. So the 3 were: HC(Hospital Corpman), MN(Mineman), and MMS(Machinist Mate-Sub) So I thought to myself..."well, im not too much into medical stuff, and hell if ill go patrolling around on a minesweeper looking for explosives in the ocean" The guy in the office did a pretty good job making the Submarine job sound cool. Extra Sub-pay, higher security clearance, work with the newest equipment, get to go UNDER the friggin water! ha so even tho I didnt know much about the job or submarines I took it regardless and made the leap. Yeah, I dont know much about engineering or mechanical know-how but thats what Im there for, to learn all that. Hot, dirty, sweaty job? so what. work is work, its whether you ENJOY what you do that really matters, eh? lol
Too bad Clancy started taking himself seriously. It's also too bad that those who do dangerous stuff for a living are not free to talk about it very much. I would have been much better off writing novels than being in them as would most of us, huh?
On to the next chapters. Hope these days find everyone well.
