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I was at CRS-1 from 74-78 (sorry, I don't remember
the exact month I arrived, but left right around
Christmas of '78). During that time, I served aboard
PTF-26, and ran MSSC's, then went to ASDV-1 as chief
engineer, under BM-1 Marvin Ballard. I relieved Marv
as Craftmaster, and was later relieved by QMC Jerry
VanAntwerp, when I transferred to PB-751. I went to
Subic with MST-3 Det (Foxtrot, I think, but I'm not
sure), with Lt. Dave Thompson and HTC Joe Sampley.
Some others on
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that Det. were ETR3 Emmet VanDeusen,
EN1 Jimmy Davidson, EN3 Casey Heath, EN2 Tony Pakula,
RM1 Rudy Rudicill and a few others, whose names I
don't recall. I have a photo of us, on our Swift,
with one of the PN PB's abreast of us, alongside our
barge.
Glad I stumble across your site. I hope to renew
some old friendships there.
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Jim, Thanks for the welcome! I rode the 24 boat
a few times. I remember Skip Kholer. Herring,
Danforth and Crow don't ring a bell, though.
Rudy was GMG1 when I last saw him, but that was
many years ago. He passed his Chief's test, but
the rate was kind of tight, so I doubt he made
it the first time. I remember Ski...he was a
wildman, but a damned good shipmate.
With the exception of my MST3 Det., I spent all
my time in RD12, until my last few weeks before
transferring out, and went to the boat shop. I
got qualified as both engineer and coxswain on
LCPLs and MSSCs, ran the Swift, but didn't get
the chance to qual. on her, 'til we got to the
P.I. Qualified as Craftmaster on the ASDV and
OIC on PBs. Just crewed on the PTFs.
After the 26 boat, I moved to the ASDV-1,
working under BM1 Marvin Ballard. I completed my
quals. as Craftmaster, but couldn't get the
badge because I was an Electrician's Mate. When
Marv took seriously ill and transferred out,
Capt. Joy told me I would be acting craftmaster,
but if I screwed up, I'd better start swimming
west. Did a lot of training ops with Team 1 and
UDT12, most of them, jamming our CONEX/freezer
with bugs from San Nicholas Island. Nearly a
year went by, before QMC Jerry Van Antwerp came
in, and relieved me as craftmaster. We used to
load his ski-boat up on the "flight deck", and
take it out to the islands with us. I stayed on
as chief engineer for a few months, 'til MST3,
and after I got back, they moved me onto PB-751.
Ens. Preston Easley was our D.O. at the time,
and he let me run the 751 as OIC, 'til I got
short.
There are a lot of names I remember, that don't
show up on either the Members' list or the
Missing list. One of these days, I'll jot 'em
all down, and send them to Jim, so he can add
them.
Casey Heath, who was in the boat shop, went on
MST3 Det. with us, and I'm still in contact with
him...just talked to him on Monday, in fact.
I'll drop him a line and tell him to stop by.
The rest of our Det., I've lost contact with. I
used to be in touch with EN1 Jimmy Davidson, but
lost him when we moved a few years back. Joe
Sampley was our HTC on the det., and I wish I
could find him. We were pretty tight. Lt. Dave
Thompson was our OIC. He had been a Chief
Musician with the Navy Band before coming to
CRS1. Go figure! Aside from them, there was EN2
Tony Pakula, ETR2 Emmet Van Deusen, Rudy
Rudicill, FN Mark SOMETHING, FN "Zee", and a QM2
whose name I can't recall. I made 1st while on
the det., and came back to take over PB-751.
From CRS-1, I got orders to ADAK (must have
REALLY pissed off my detailer, huh?), but after
having already checked out for transport, they
changed my orders to ComOceanSysLant in Norfolk.
I went LDO there, and ended up as Public Works
Officer for a brand new NavFac at Dam Neck,
under Capt. Paul Hryskanich. After a couple of
years there, I got out, and became a cop in
Virginia Beach, VA.
Sorry, Jim...I have no more photos. The only
reason I had the MST3 photo was because I had a
hard copy of it, and I scanned it in. We were
too busy drinking and chasing women, to worry
about taking very many pictures.
I'll put together a couple of sea stories and
send them to you. If they're usable, more power
to you! Like how MST3 jumped ship in Okinawa, on
our way to the P.I.
Again, thanks for the welcome, Jim. I hope we
get to meet at a reunion. I'll keep an eye
peeled for the where/when.
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