40 Years Since I Entered the Navy

[JaxSon]

October 10, 1975. Signed up for six years. Gonna take on The World! HA!!!

Here's my boot camp pics. One happy, one mad.

[slgrieb]

October 10, 1975. Signed up for six years. Gonna take on The World! HA!!!

Here's my boot camp pics. One happy, one mad.

Lemme guess which is before, and after

[Larommi]

How tall are you?

[slgrieb]

I have to ask, since you apparently didn't retire from the service, how come? Back in the early 70s I had a bunch of friends who had served in the Navy or other services, but just did four, and left the service. Heck, I even had a buddy who was a former SEAL, and left after a 4 year enlistment. I think Green_Eyed has been candid about why she left the Navy, so I'm curious about why you left.

For what it's worth, I never served, but in 1973, I was less than a week away from reporting for induction into the army when Nixon ended the draft. I had friends coming home in boxes, or very fucked up. So, spill it; what's your story?

[JaxSon]

Lemme guess which is before, and after

Those pics were actually taken within minutes of each other. The photographer first told us to think about our first day in boot camp. Then he asked up to think about what the last day in boot camp will be like. Thus, the two different pics.

[JaxSon]

How tall are you?

I'm 6'3".

[JaxSon]

I have to ask, since you apparently didn't retire from the service, how come? Back in the early 70s I had a bunch of friends who had served in the Navy or other services, but just did four, and left the service. Heck, I even had a buddy who was a former SEAL, and left after a 4 year enlistment. I think Green_Eyed has been candid about why she left the Navy, so I'm curious about why you left.

For what it's worth, I never served, but in 1973, I was less than a week away from reporting for induction into the army when Nixon ended the draft. I had friends coming home in boxes, or very fucked up. So, spill it; what's your story?

Long story: I had basically gotten everything out of the Navy that I went in for. Learned a good trade and got to see the world; went to 28 different countries while on sea-duty for three years. Plus, I was single. Married guys got paid more simply because they were married. And that REALLY p|ssed me off. I never could get past that. If I had stayed in, I would have been going back out to sea again with these same people who were getting paid more money than me for doing the exact same job. Hell, even guys who were my junior in rank were still making more money all because they had dependents back home somewhere. As for as I know, there is NO job in the USA that pays more for simply being married. So F|_|CK that!!!

Plus, when I got out of the Navy, I went to work for a major defense company that paid me THREE TIMES what I was making as a single enlisted puke. After almost four years working for them, I quit so that I could go to college full time and get my degree. I had over $40,000 saved up and had the old G.I. Bill that was going to expire if I didn't use it. That is the decision that I sometimes regret. I had it made with them and could have stayed with them for many years and enjoyed myself. I don't regret getting the degree but I definitely missed out on things by quitting that one company.

[slgrieb]

Long story: I had basically gotten everything out of the Navy that I went in for. Learned a good trade and got to see the world; went to 28 different countries while on sea-duty for three years. Plus, I was single. Married guys got paid more simply because they were married. And that REALLY p|ssed me off. I never could get past that. If I had stayed in, I would have been going back out to sea again with these same people who were getting paid more money than me for doing the exact same job. Hell, even guys who were my junior in rank were still making more money all because they had dependents back home somewhere. As for as I know, there is NO job in the USA that pays more for simply being married. So F|_|CK that!!!

Plus, when I got out of the Navy, I went to work for a major defense company that paid me THREE TIMES what I was making as a single enlisted puke. After almost four years working for them, I quit so that I could go to college full time and get my degree. I had over $40,000 saved up and had the old G.I. Bill that was going to expire if I didn't use it. That is the decision that I sometimes regret. I had it made with them and could have stayed with them for many years and enjoyed myself. I don't regret getting the degree but I definitely missed out on things by quitting that one company.

Thanks.My only real regret about being fired from my first corporate job is that I didn't take 5 minutes to beat my boss's head into a pulp on my way out the door. Though I guess if I'd done that, I wouldn't have been rehired later and moved to Alexandria Virginia, with a large raise. There were some cool things about living near D.C. Say what you will about the city, but seeing all the monuments and visiting Arlington National Cemetery is worth the price of admission. One of my bosses was a former Marine, and yet another Texan, who had served as part of the honor guard at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier.

My only regret about quitting my second corporate job was that I never visited Gettysburg before I left the area. I had seen the battlefields at Manassas, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Fredericksburg, but I just didn't get to Gettysburg.

I hope EC will get a good grounding in IT skills in the Navy. I think that is a better career path than becoming a Nuclear Engineer, because heck, when you leave the service, what jobs are open other than being a Governor and President?

[northbayteky]

... I think Green_Eyed has been candid about why she left the Navy, ...

Air Force, not Navy :-)

I could go into detail, but I retired from the Air Force Reserve.

JaxSon, why didn't you work while you were going to school? I had the GI Bill also and I worked full time and also worked full time.

[JaxSon]

Air Force, not Navy :-)

I could go into detail, but I retired from the Air Force Reserve.

JaxSon, why didn't you work while you were going to school? I had the GI Bill also and I worked full time and also worked full time.

I thought you were in the Air Force but slgrieb kept saying Navy. I wasn't going to correct him tho...

As I noted above, I had a bunch of money saved up and had money coming in from the G.I. Bill. Back then, they were paying something like $380/month. It didn't matter which school you attended, they still paid the same amount. So, I went to a local junior college for the first two years and it worked out great.

I don't think I could have put in 16-20 hours of school work plus working a full time job. I know some people have done it but it wasn't for me.