Approximate dates: July – Oct 1974.
As I reflect on it, Service Selection Day at the Naval Academy is a quite a phenomenon. I mentioned earlier that the most interesting experiences for midshipmen occur during the summer and that at the end of Plebe Year, 550 of us crossed the Pacific on an amphibious ship with port calls in Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. That was my first time to ever see a navy warship up close. When we left San Diego, we were at sea for over 20 days before seeing land again. So much to take in. The following summer we were exposed to the three main branches of the Navy plus the Marine Corps. About 15% of Annapolis graduates become Marine Corps Officers. During Second Class Summer, we went to: Groton, CT to learn about nuclear submarines; Pensacola, FL for our Navy Air experience; Newport, RI for Surface Line; and of course, Quantico, VA to play Marines. And yes, we spent three days under the sea in nuclear submarines, we did barrel rolls and backward stalls seated behind sadistic pilots until we threw up, we rode in tanks and used machine guns during live fire night drills in Quantico, and we did sea maneuvers on destroyers or frigates off Nantucket Island. So, we all got a taste for what was available to us when we graduated. On Service Selection Day, we filed into Memorial Hall in the order of our class ranking and made our selection.
Early on, I decided I was going to be a “black shoe”, the term for naval officers who serve on surface ships. I was a CS Forrester buff and had read every book in the Hornblower series. If I was going to be in the real Navy, then I had to be on a ship ABOVE the waterline. Now for those who chose Navy Air, Nuclear Power/submarines, or Marine Corps, there was no specific assignment – when they left the Academy, they went on to an appropriate school like Quantico or Pensacola. Surface line was different. On Service Selection Day, we were able to select a specific job on a specific ship. I can’t remember now how many openings there were – I would guess over 500.
At that stage of my life, I was still open to making the Navy a career. That first three-year tour of duty can really set the stage for future success. So, what job and ship should I choose? I went to see Uncle Andy to get his advice.
Uncle Andy was not actually my uncle. He was my good friend from Woodville, Andy Lewis’ uncle. Andrew McBurney Jackson had been both the Brigade Commander and #1 academically when he graduated in 1930. He retired as a Vice Admiral (3 stars). He and his wife, now my “Aunt” Bertha, lived in Annapolis across the Severn River from the Academy’s campus. They provided me with a wonderful refuge during my four years at Annapolis. Uncle Andy told me that I should choose a destroyer or a frigate that was homeported at a small base – not Norfolk or San Diego. The objective was to be given as much responsibility as possible so I could prove myself and earn my “Water Wings” as soon as possible. On a larger ship like a carrier or a cruiser, newly minted Ensigns would be assistants to more senior officers holding a primary billet. On the smaller ships, I would be given my own division and the responsibility that goes with it. Uncle Andy suggested I look for a billet in the ship’s engineering department – he said that would prove very useful when I became Captain of my own ship. Maybe, but I knew I would hate such a job. In my times onboard ships, I had found the Operations or Weapons Departments to be most enjoyable. I preferred East Coast to West Coast – closer to home. When I went through the list of offerings, I found that the USS Jonas Ingram (DD 938), which was homeported in Mayport, FL, needed a Communications Officer (Operations Department.) That seemed like a perfect fit for me. The problem was, two hundred and forty-nine other guys would get a shot at that slot before me. So, I identified three or four alternates if the Jonas Ingram had been taken before me.
On Service Selection Day, when my turn came, I checked the board and to my great delight, the Jolly JI was still available. Yes! I could only hope that it would have a good skipper and Operations Officer to serve under. Time would tell.
Before reporting to the ship, I first had to attend Communications Officer School in Newport, RI. The two months I spent in Newport was perhaps my single most enjoyable experience with the US Navy. At that point in my life, I was primed to enjoy just about anything. I was free from the Naval Academy. I was filled with a deep sense of accomplishment for having graduated and was the most self-confident I had ever been. So, I arrived in Newport with a very positive attitude and Newport was primed to be enjoyed. During the summer of 1974 there were two major happenings: The Americas Cup races and the Jazz Festival. There was a plethora of interesting and entertaining venues to attend. The weather was perfect. But best of all was that I had a girl waiting for me there – and a gorgeous, delightful girl who seemed to be connected to everyone and everything; what a fun companion to have. I had met Barbara about six months before when she brought her school students from Providence, RI on an excursion that included a tour of the Naval Academy. I saw her with her students in the Yard looking a bit lost and stopped to see if I could help. I learned that they were staying at a hotel in Baltimore, and I just happened to drop by the hotel that evening. We really hit it off and I was so enthralled with her that I invited her to be my date for part of June Week – which is a big deal. She agreed and we had a wonderful time together. That fate would have my first Navy duty assignment 30 miles from Barbara’s home was as good as it could get.
Communications Officer School was actually very interesting and enjoyable. The two main instructors were both Master Chief Petty Officers. My favorite was Chief Pelletier, who kept us in stiches with his sea stories while teaching us things that we really needed to know. Chief Pelletier was one of the best teachers I have ever had. By the end of the course, I was gung ho for the Navy and was even more impressed with Barbara. However, at that stage of my life I did not want to have a serious relationship with anyone no matter how wonderful they were. My roommate of four years at the Academy and my best friend, Tom, did not hesitate when I wavered. He and Barbara have been happily married for over 45 years.
One of my two most vivid memories as a Naval Officer were both standing on a pier looking at the USS Jonas Ingram – three years apart. The first time was in mid-September 1974. I parked my ’73 silver Monte Carlo with maroon swivel bucket seats about 100 yards from the ship. I got out and just stood there taking in the Jonas Ingram. It was not a very big ship. This was going to be my home for the next three years. The most prominent features were the five-inch gun mounts fore and aft, two stacks, an Asroc missile launcher, and the huge “938” painted on her bow.
Three years later, after walking off the gang plank, I turned and looked at the Jonas Ingram for the last time. And to my surprise and embarrassment, tears began to run down my cheeks. It was not that I was sad to be leaving. I had invested so much of my heart and soul into that 418’ long steel platform. I had grown, changed, and experienced more than I had ever imagined. I had exceeded my own expectations in many ways and yet there was no visible evidence that the three years I had devoted to the Jonas Ingram had made any difference whatsoever to the ship. It looked just the same that it had three years before. (That experience was one of the reasons that later in life I became a real estate developer.)
Good fortune came in threes for me. I landed the assignment I wanted, I had spent two marvelous months in Newport, and I hit paydirt with the senior officers on the Jonas Ingram. As I noted in an earlier story, Commander Bobbie Lee Sample proved to be the best Commanding Officer that I served under. The XO, Commander Stephen Chadwick, was also a competent, wise, and fair man. So too was the Operations Officer, LT Jeff Rafter, the department head for whom I directly worked. None of the three were Naval Academy graduates.
One of the main objectives for a junior black shoe is to become a qualified Officer of the Deck/Surface Warfare Officer. I was given a manual that was about an inch and half thick that listed literally hundreds of blank lines requiring signatures by qualified supervisors signifying that I had done or mastered some procedure or participated in some specific activity. E.g., stood watch in the engine room and observed lighting the boilers, or demonstrated knowledge of establishing a navigational fix using the Loran system. While many of the certifications could be done while in port, quite a few could only be done if the ship was underway. To my dismay, I soon learned that within a month the Ingram was to sail from Mayport to Charleston where it was scheduled to spend at least 9 months in drydock.
We all know how important first impressions can be. I so wanted to make a positive impression on the Captain and XO. Prior to leaving for Charleston, we did go out on several short operations off Mayport’s coast. I paid very close attention to the procedures the officers of the deck followed when they got the ship underway and later when we returned to the pier. In one of our last outings before we leaving for Charleston, Captain Sample gave me the conn to get the Ingram underway, and again when we returned to dock it at the pier. Fortunately, there was very little wind or current on both occasions. Thanks to all the drills we had done at the Academy on the YP’s (80’ long mock destroyers), I knew how to combine the use of lines (ropes that connect to the bollards on the pier) in conjunction with the dual screws (propellers) and the rudder to maneuver the ship. I did surprisingly well on both exercises.
Two weeks later, we drydocked at the Charleston Navy Yard where we spent about ten months before getting our ship back and heading south. Two months after that, we pulled into Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to undergo Ref-Tra (Refresher Training.) RefTra is essentially boot camp for ships that have been inactive for extended periods of time. By then, I was not only the ship’s communications officer, I held a second primary billet as well: Navigator. The seven weeks in Gitmo was one of the most challenging periods of my life. And yet, I was not overly concerned. I had gotten through Plebe Year and relative to that, what me worry?
My next Sea Story will cover some of the misadventures that Ensign Troy Jones and I enjoyed together Troy was a ’74 Classmate, the ship’s First Lieutenant, and he was one cool dude. Before completing his full tour on the Jonas Ingram, he left and became a Navy Seal.