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Service Details |
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Current Service Status
USCG Veteran
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Current/Last Rank
Petty Officer Second Class
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Current/Last Primary Rate
EN-Engineman
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Current/Last Rate Group
Engineman
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Primary Unit
1966-1969, EN, USCG Fire Island Radio Annex - New York
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Previously Held Rate
SR-Seaman Recruit
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Service Years
1965 - 1969
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Voice Edition
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What are you doing now:
After being discharged I pursued an Associate Degree at the local State University of New York located in nearby Farmingdale on Long Island near where I had an apartment. I worked for local contractors doing service and engineering work for them and continued to consider reenlistment and job search with engineering firms.  By then the economy had changed such that the market was flooded with Associate Degree candidates and just an associate degree would not provide much of a  jump to getting into flight school if I reenlisted so I chose to continue the engineering process and get my Bachelor's degree.  After graduation with school debt an issue I entered the business world and soon reenlistment was a distant memory.  I worked in the HVAC commercial industry with Carrier Houston as a service supervisor and technical to the distributors' dealer network.  I  later took a position as a National Instructor assisting, teaching, and troubleshooting systems installed by dealers  At the Emde Co. in Houston Tx, I had a primary position with defining and writing the manuals for each of the systems the company installed for the owners as each system was designed and operated differently. Energistics Labs, an offshoot of the Emde contractor, was a design test lab for sound analysis and air flow patterns as well as how variable volume terminal boxes functioned.  Later with the lab, I held the license and certification to allow for testing and balancing of the installed systems under the state's NEBB and TEBB balancing authorities. This position ultimately led to me troubleshooting any startup anomalies in the multi-storey high rise office buildings and do the testing and balancing in cities within the United States for 26 years. Then in early 1990 an opportunity to work at NASA Johnson Space Center opened up to do HVAC system analysis at JSC. The opportunities continued to open up while at JSC and introduce me to new high technology devices being evaluated and tested there for later commercial applications. In the mid 90's I then worked in industry as a Technical Instructor with CSI a manufacturer of the high technical diagnostic equipment that I became familiar with while at JSC. Through that interfacing with clients, it opened a  door to Kennedy Space Center with EG&G, the base contractor for the operation of the support facilities for launch operations.  Later due to contract renewals the subsequent contractor also included work on the base at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the NOTO naval port.  In 2012, a year or so after leaving KSC due to the Shuttle Program ending and my position becoming expendable, I was contacted to work with Lockheed Martin on a special contract for the EPF facility that was being constructed for the Air Force till my documentation process was completed.  After a short time off in practice retirement in 2014 I then spent 6 months working for the Brevard County School system in Florida doing diagnostic analysis and troubleshooting on the Air Conditioning systems within the school district's 180 schools.  The effort was to help improve the overall operation and comfort to the staff and students as well as helping to reduce energy consumption.  I finally entered full retirement in July 2013
Retired now, this opportunity to document some of the memories takes up my time, and also allows me to Reflect on who, what, when and how I was able to achieve the career end we now call RETIREMENT.
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Other Comments:
Some additional highlights in my civilian career were to participate in the 20th Anniversary of the landing on the moon at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in 1989. Each of the Astronauts at that time was provided a Corvette by a local dealership. I own a 1969 Corvette and one of the teams at JSC who assembled a parade float wanted the same year Corvette to tow the float as was driven by the Astronauts at that time. The team was the department that provides the EVL, the external environmental packages used outside the lander on the moon. I did not give it much thought other than a great opportunity to participate in a once in a lifetime gathering of history-making individuals.
Later I was to realize that it was an exceptional opportunity to participate and through that connection of donating my time and vehicle I was later able to secure a position at that center doing analysis work on the base facilities air conditioning systems.  It was not necessarily due to my capabilities in the HVAC field although those facts were discussed during the parade preparations. A year or so after the parade anniversary a position opened up with the base contractor, my capabilities and background were noticed and I was asked to submit a resume, I was called in for an interview and secured the position.
Each future career advancement was driven by the basics I developed in the military, doing a job to the best of your ability, working with others on a team to achieve a common goal, being dependable and on time with duties and assignments etc. After a few years, the new technical tools I learned to use at JSC provided me an advancement with a commercial manufacturer of Diagnostic Instruments for HVAC systems and facilities and ultimately the interfacing with various students learning how to use the tools which I was teaching led to the final career move to Kennedy Space Center.
Working with the extremely talented employees, technicians, shuttle and payload personnel and the Astronauts are special memories I will always cherish. Being present and a part of the space program in my chosen career field is right behind my enlistment in the Coast Guard,
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- Johnson, William, CWO4, (1957-1987)
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Reflections on PO2 Hahn's
US Coast Guard Service
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PLEASE DESCRIBE WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN THE COAST GUARD.
I grew up in the city suburb of Philadelphia, a small town named Morrisville and learned small bits and pieces in school about the way Morrisville got its name. Robert Morris was a financier and supporter of the Revolution back in the colonial days. Many of my paper route customers | BEFORE & AFTER 1955 CONNIE HURRICANE DAMAGE |
lived in homes dating back to those colonial days. Morrisville is located directly across the Delaware River from Trenton, the capital of New Jersey. What does that have to do with my ending up in the Coast Guard? Well back in 1955 a hurricane came through our area, Diane hit our small town a week after hurricane Connie soaked our area and Diane caused the Delaware River to crest, took out one of the connecting bridges from Morrisville to New Jersey (the upper bridge Calhoun street near the only shopping center in the town). It was the aftermath of those storms and my father taking my older brother, younger sister, and myself down to the Delaware to see the water just barely hitting the last lower Morrisville bridge. A street bridge and the resulting Newspaper reports of an organization called the U.S. Coast Guard made the decision for me.
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WHETHER YOU WERE IN THE SERVICE FOR SEVERAL YEARS OR AS A CAREER, PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DIRECTION OR PATH YOU TOOK. WHERE DID YOU GO TO BOOT CAMP AND WHAT UNITS, BASES, SHIPS OR SQUADRONS WERE YOU ASSIGNED TO? WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR LEAVING.
Having been exposed to the Coast Guard over the years as I was growing up, it was through trips to the New Jersey shores, Atlantic City, Ocean City etc. that I saw the results of the Coast Guards activities and they were exciting to me. I also made many trips | Fire Island Lighthouse (winter 1966) |
to Washington State Park where the Colonials crossed the Delaware to fight the battle of Trenton on Christmas Eve. I was always just captivated by the earlier events of the Delaware River and in general the water. My exposure to this organization increased while I was growing up and as I approached high school graduation in 1964 and the requirement to register with the draft, I began to discuss what options existed for me after school. Financially, college was not an option as by then I had 4 brothers and two sisters all younger than me along with an older brother whom would probably get the first choice, if the college did become an option. I left for Cape May Boot Camp from the Bristol, Pa. selective service registration office on November 8, 1965. My youngest brother Tim's 7th birthday, and began a cycle that was to help guide and direct me for the remainder of my life and career.
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OF ALL YOUR DUTY STATIONS OR ASSIGNMENTS, WHICH ONE DO YOU HAVE FONDEST MEMORIES OF AND WHY? WHICH WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE?
After leaving Cape May boot camp in February 1966 and after a short leave, I was assigned to the duty station of Radio Station New York, NMY which was in Center Moriches, L.I. N.Y. When arriving there as an SN rate, I was directed by senior officers to be transferred | Prepared for Monthly Inspection |
to the Fire Island Radio Annex. There were two ways to get to the Radio Annex at that time, one was by long island mainland and over the recently completed Robert Moses Bridge, and the other was by 4 wheel drive vehicles along the Atlantic seaside beach. I do not recall what rates the Petty Officers that were assigned to transport me or who they were. But in hindsight, I think it was possibly the telephone technicians as it was their vehicle I rode in and was to later assigned to maintain mechanically. (Raymon Walmer jr. and Willie Anderson are probably the ones). I believe I was very fortunate to be assigned to the Radio Annex as all my memories of my service time revolves around the shipmates I met and served with at this location. It was the only duty station I was assigned to during my enlistment and that in itself was unusual. Normally you had to rotate every few years regardless of your rate to expose you to more and more of the type of service the crews performed.
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FROM YOUR ENTIRE MILITARY SERVICE, DESCRIBE ANY MEMORIES YOU STILL REFLECT BACK ON TO THIS DAY.
When I arrived at the Radio Annex as a fresh boot camp SN, I soon began to see how unprepared I was for the world outside of high school. The crew members with their different specialties began to have a big haunting influence and impact on me and the lack | Advanced Training Groton Conn. |
of any solid future goals on my part. I like most young males while in school and with the ability to drive, was interested in and into cars and one of the duties at the Annex was to maintain the beach four-wheel drive vehicles the crew used in performing their duties. A couple Dodge 4 wheel power wagons and a van. There also was an Engineman, First Class Petty Officer Bill Johnson, who was overseeing that type of maintenance, Other duties which included diesel generators and air conditioning components for cooling the radio transmitters which were used by the Center Moriches station's radio operators in handling rescue traffic out at sea along the Eastern Seaboard. I was to shortly see by exposure to all this equipment where my future path would take me.
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WHAT PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF FROM YOUR MILITARY CAREER?
In the early months of my arriving at the Annex as an SN, I had the usual duties that I was qualified to handle...mostly mopping floors, assisting in cooking for the crew, doing general cleanup etc., and any type of help the other rates needed in terms of physical support. | Studying with Correspondence Courses to Advance | I had occasions to visit the Fire Island Life Boat Station at the foot of the Robert Moses Bridge on many off-duty days and weekends. The crew there was very cordial when I would go down there on off duty to fish on the dock, (striped bass and blue fishing were fantastic) or to check out the boats. On one occasion I was able to hop a ride in the bay of a 82 foot Point Dume during a checkout ride. That was supported and probably arranged by the PO1 Engineman then at the Annex in probably mid-1966, when as I was trying to determine what career rate I was interested in pursuing. It was not too long after I had that ride opportunity that the Point Dume received orders to go to Vietnam. During my duty at the annex, no replacement took its place. I cannot say for sure that the ride on the Point Dume influenced me significantly toward the Engineman rating but I am sure it helped in the decision to define a direction to work towards. Many times I would see the LBS crew pass by in the South Bay either on a search or during checkout of electronic repairs done by our station ET's. I know as a new recruit I was impressed by how small the unit was and how wide its responsibilities were for Long Island Sound. That made me feel satisfied that I had made a good selection in my military decision to join. But, with the guidance of Chief Butler and Bill Johnson through talking and discussing the potential the service had to offer I chose to enroll in the correspondence courses for achieving the Engineman rating and to work under Bill Johnson's direction and learn the Diesel engine maintenance and thru that I was also exposed to the Air Conditioning systems that were a relatively new application. Late in the year of 1966 after finishing a correspondence course to evaluate my mechanical aptitude, I was sent to Engineman school in Groton CT. and returned to the Radio Annex, again unusual to say the least. The Types of diesel located in the Annex were two Fairbanks-Morse three-cylinder opposed piston engines with generators used to power the station and transmitters. Attached is a photo of me doing on the job maintenance training cleaning out the oil sumps and also running the generators while a shipmate, Robert Harding, monitors the frequency. Eventually, I got to know these machines mechanically inside and out. I finally was beginning to see what my potential path would be in the service, life or as a career either in the Coast Guard or in civilian life.
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OF ALL THE MEDALS, AWARDS, FORMAL PRESENTATIONS AND QUALIFICATION BADGES YOU RECEIVED, OR OTHER MEMORABILIA, WHICH ONE IS THE MOST MEANINGFUL TO YOU AND WHY?
| Medals Achieved |
The only badges or medals I received were the Good Conduct and National Defense Award. As a young person who potentially had the capability to go down a wayward path, those awards mean the most to me in that by and through the mentorship and direction of ALL THE CREW during my service time. It was their support that allowed me to stay out of trouble and have a clean record. I was and I am proud to have been able and allowed to serve in such an Elite Service to our country. The crew was an extension of my family and they also helped to reinforce the family values that I was brought up with. I think back and realize those people were of the same era as my parents or at least they grew up in similar backgrounds.
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WHICH INDIVIDUAL(S) FROM YOUR TIME IN THE MILITARY STAND OUT AS HAVING THE MOST POSITIVE IMPACT ON YOU AND WHY?
It would be unfair and unjust to single out individuals from the crew as they all impacted me in different ways. Chief Butler the supervisor had numerous sit-down discussions with me and it was not always initiated by me. His duty was to help mature me and I am most | Crew Relaxing in Rec Room |
thankful for his success. Bill Johnson took me under his wing once I chose to work in his rated field and through endless hours of instruction. He assisted me in learning the new duties on the diesel and the other associated mechanical and air conditioning equipment. Robert "Chatt" Chapman, an ET-2 shipmate, provided countless hours of insight to me on life in general. We have maintained our friendship for over 50 years now and still visit and stay in communication. Russ Marvin was an ET technician from Sept 1967 until August 1968 and the companionship, direction, and guidance provided by him and all the crew molded me for my future career. Raymon Walmer, TT-2, was from Pa. so I hit it off right away with him. Having someone with hometown familiarity was a big plus for a kid away from home for the very first time. Ray wound up letting me ride shotgun when he drove beach taxis on nights and weekends down to the towns located on Fire Island. We have just reconnected after 50 years and he has now joined TWS. I look forward to reading his reflections in the near future. Chief Brindle, Chief Miller, Frank Zaccardi, Dave Maloney, Joe Rodriguez, Charles "Willie" Anderson, Raymon Walmer Jr. Bob Harding, Ed Reynolds, D. Scalph, W. Macher, R. Taureck and M. Williams all had a positive, or at times negative, impact on me during my duty time. I am grateful and thankful to all of them and there are others whose names I cannot remember.
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LIST THE NAMES OF OLD FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH, AT WHICH LOCATIONS, AND RECOUNT WHAT YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT THEM. INDICATE THOSE YOU ARE ALREADY IN TOUCH WITH AND THOSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE CONTACT WITH.
Robert "Chatt" Chapman is a 50-year friend and we still visit and are in communication with each other by email and on trips back north (only in the summer). Raymon Walmer Jr. is just now back in contact after so many years and was like an older brother to me as | My Sincere Gratitude to the Crew |
a young recruit. He had been at the Annex for about 3 years when I arrived and therefore indoctrinated me into how to survive in the military and especially at this duty station. Bill Johnson to whom I am eternally grateful for the path he opened up for me. . Chief Butler I guess was a stand-in Father to all the crew members, regardless of age. Willie Anderson was a jokester and how I avoided getting into trouble with him is still a mystery to me. Frank Zaccardi, Dave Maloney, Chief Brindle, Chief Miller Joe Rodriguez, Bob Harding, Ed Reynolds, and others provided good contradiction discussions during my duty time. There are others whose names escape me but I can remember their interaction and faces like it was yesterday. I hope to find more shipmates thru this website as my history along with others is approaching a final chapter in our lives.
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CAN YOU RECOUNT A PARTICULAR INCIDENT FROM YOUR SERVICE, WHICH MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FUNNY AT THE TIME, BUT STILL MAKES YOU LAUGH?
One night the senior petty officers were going to go down the beach to some of the towns that had bars. I was new so I guess it was a way to initiate me into life there on the island after our weeks' work was done. I never drank since in | Wow that will get the hangover cleared up |
PA. and New Jersey you had to be 21 years of age. So, on Fire Island, I was introduced to my first alcoholic drink, a Rum and Coke on this particular night. Anyway, I do not recall what the drinking age was on Fire Island. Not that it mattered as you could not drive on the island, and you could only fall into the bay or ocean. How much or how many I had but each morning on the off-duty days we would play volleyball out in front of the station on a court they had set up on the beach sand. I was awakened by Bill Johnson whom I think must have had O.O.D. duty that weekend and since I was living on station at the time it turns out they needed another person to complete the teams. I guess I could have refused but as a new shipmate there I was still learning what I could and could not do when asked or told by senior officers. When Bill woke me up and in his stern voice stated 'Get out of the rack" and that it did not matter how my head felt after a night down on the beach I was needed to complete the volleyball team. I quickly got over the hangover, I never drank again, and to this day do not drink and never smoked.
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WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING, WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY?
In the process of learning my Engineman Rating duties, I was exposed to learning the Mechanical Air Conditioning equipment located in the mechanical room adjacent to the radio transmitters. The system was a Carrier system with two O6D reciprocating compressors providing cooling air to the transmitter room. It was not | The Unknown Path to the Future |
enough to cool the room to a comfort level but it did have the ability to negate some of the generated heat caused by the use of the transmitters. I liked working on engines, but not sure that is what I wanted to do as a mechanic for a career. The air conditioning aspect intrigued me as it was relatively new in the commercial applications and did not appear to be as dirty or as messy as the auto/diesel mechanic was. I began to obtain more information and correspondence courses on the Air Conditioning Systems. Working under Bill Johnson's direction and taking more correspondence courses on the topic of Air Conditioning, I slowly gained various levels in rating, knowledge, and experience. As my time progressed in the CG, I reflected how I had seen the Helicopters the Coast Guard flew aid to distressed civilians and began to ask about flight school with Chief Butler. This was in the latter part of 1968, I had achieved an Engineman PO-5 rating of 2nd class and was looking for another future challenge besides advancing to a higher rating and was investigating what the requirements were to go to flight school. Chief Butler and Bill Johnson explained reenlistment was required and there was a two-year waiting list at that time for flight school BUT no guarantee once you reenlisted you would get flight training. I had plans to get married in late 1968 and of course, a career in the C.G. was a topic of discussion. I have always been amazed at the comment girls/women make "Ooh I love a man in uniform" but have seen too many lives changed once the uniform newness wears off. So, with flight school a distant dream, a career a potential issue, I decided to prep myself for exiting the service, going to college, and then returning as an officer hopefully with a better opportunity to fly Helicopters. When I was discharged from service August 22, 1969, it was too late to register at the local University of New York, the campus in Farmingdale, L.I. N.Y. I had found out that it had a course in HVAC Design Engineering that provided an A.A.S degree and could be a stepping stone to a Mechanical Engineering Degree. I took some prep classes at a local high school adult classes the rest of 1969 and early 1970 and I enrolled in the 1970 fall semester and graduated in June of 1972 with an A.A.S. degree in HVAC Design & Engineering. I had worked part-time during my school enrollment for various local companies doing service work and continued that after graduation through 1972. After graduation a divorce occurred, the prestige of the uniform was gone. I continued to consider re-entering the Coast Guard as a career, but again with good input from co-workers at the company I was working at, the owner's suggested I get a BS in Engineering. The A.A.S. degree market with employers was pretty much flooded by then and most companies were looking for higher degrees. I found only three (3) schools in the U.S. offering a higher degree at that time specifically in HVAC Design & Engineering. Schools in Denver, California, and Texas had them and I applied to them for admission. Denver & California required 1 yr. residency, Texas only 6 months. I was accepted at Cal Poly Tech in San Luis Obispo, Ca. and the University of Houston in TX. So I enrolled for the 1973 fall semester at Houston. Counselors at the University and some Mechanical Engineering Professors wanted me to go into mechanical engineering as it gave you a broader scope of work areas but only a course or two in the related topics for Air Conditioning such as Thermodynamics, Fluid Flow, some chemistry for the refrigerants being used etc. I chose to stay specifically in the HVAC Engineering courses as it gave me two additional full-time years studying my desired field instead of having to learn it on the job later if I had only chosen the general mechanical course. While in my senior year I had the opportunity to get a part-time position with Carrier Houston, a local corporate-owned distributor of Carrier Air Conditioning in Syracuse, N.Y. I worked with a parts man named Tommy Thompson, on the parts counter learning to stack parts for the various repair components sold to mechanics. The parts counter was under the management of Kay Coleman who also managed the Service Department and had a service supervisor working with him named Larry Crawford. Those three individuals would soon fill in for the support and direction I had been getting at the Radio Annex by my shipmates. As I approached graduation, Mr. Coleman came into the parts department, sat down on a stool and called me from the aisle I was putting parts away in the bins. I thought I did something wrong as he had a deep booming voice, not unlike Bill Johnson at the station, when I did not do what he wanted. No, I was not in trouble but Mr. Coleman wanted to know what my plans were after graduation. I told him that at that point graduating was the only thing on my mind as I was maintaining a Deans list grade point average at school and I felt and hoped that if I kept that it would benefit me in the future on job applications. He had me stay after work and offered me a position in the Service Dept. along with Mr. Crawford as he was needing to expand due to increasing workloads and Air Conditioning becoming more available in residential and commercial applications. I later learned from him and Larry that they were both impressed with my work ethics and I attribute that to my guidance in the military and specifically at the Radio Annex. A few years later Kay Coleman was giving a speech at an awards ceremony. He asked if I wanted to attend as his guest, as you had to be a member of the local chapter of Air Conditioning contractors, engineers and service technicians. We had to sign in and list who we worked for and as it turned out the awards were for students to receive scholarships presented by Carrier and Kay, as they were representing the Carrier Houston Distributorship. Well, both he and I were surprised when the Chapter President made the announcement that in the room was a prior recipient of the Scholarship Award they were about to present to someone that night. You guessed it, he called my name, asked me to identify myself, and it took Kay Coleman completely by surprise as well as me since I just knew it was monies from a scholarship to the school for students enrolled in the HVAC program. The company donating it was never mentioned to me. It did not take long back at the distributorship to hear Kay tell his bewilderment that a recipient of the award worked for him and he did not know it. I put in 50 years in the Air Conditioning career field and it all started at the U.S.C.G. RADIO ANNEX.
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WHAT MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS ARE YOU A MEMBER OF, IF ANY? WHAT SPECIFIC BENEFITS DO YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR MEMBERSHIPS?
| Photo on visit with sister Janet |
Well, after discharge from active duty I became very involved in my Engineering Education and other than the Veterans Association on campus (height of Vietnam) which held all the vets on campus together through graduation. I did not have or make time for outside associations. Once I was in my career field in civilian life those associations pertinent to my field were where I put my time. I never forgot the military time, it just was not the current topic in my life and pretty much got put on the back burner, so to speak, until my retirement. The associations and memberships I was involved with were all directed to expanding my career knowledge and advancing the still in progress life goals.
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IN WHAT WAYS HAS SERVING IN THE MILITARY INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND YOUR CAREER? WHAT DO YOU MISS MOST ABOUT YOUR TIME IN THE SERVICE?
| THANKS TO ALL WHO GUIDED ME FROM MY YOUTH |
Serving provided: Confidence Discipline Motivation Planning & goal setting Teamwork Self Control And probably many other actions that I do without thinking. My career initially was to service or manage service-related a/c systems but, I found that the military training and discipline helped me tremendously throughout my career. That initial arrival at the Annex and being exposed to many different avenues or paths the other crew members were performing helped to show me the wider paths available in a career choice. I had gained self-discipline, confidence, patience, and knowledge about my profession that many times were called upon as often I had to deal with situations out in the field on assignments by myself. The Boot Camp and Radio Annex training for 4 years were the most important after my family upbringing to prepare me for the future.
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BASED ON YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE WHO HAVE RECENTLY JOINED THE COAST GUARD?
I would say to be a SPONGE and absorb all you can from as many shipmates as you possibly can, you will never know what you will need to depend on in the future whether you stay in the service or enter a civilian career. Also, seeing how the | THE FINAL DESTINATION IS UNKNOWN TILL NOW |
other rates interacted was an extremely beneficial learning curve in getting along as a team member. I did not, by some lucky draw, serve at multiple duty stations or see shipboard duty. I am OK with that for the continuity of the Annex duty helped give me a future direction without distractions which may have occurred under different duty assignments. I believe I have lived and enjoyed a career I never knew could exist before I joined the Coast Guard and although I never did re-up after college and get to fly. I worked alongside some fantastic friends at Carrier Houston, various Mechanical Contractors, NASA's Johnson Space Center, and Kennedy Space Center for more than 45 years encompassing my career. In the course of my overall career, I had met and worked around various Astronauts and participated in celebrations of the achievements associated with the space programs. In the course of my daily Engineering duties in all my assorted job positions, just as when in the Military at the Radio Annex... I had daily duties and in both circumstances you do not really think of how they are impacting your future until you have the time, or take the time, to look back and trflect on the ultimate path you have driven down. My family and the Military provided a solid base to build upon and in retrospect, it turned out to be a very solid foundation. I WOULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED back in 1968-69 that air conditioning would put me in a career associated with Space Travel or the Space Shuttle Program. Life for me turned out to be terrific and believe the flood of Connie and Diane in 1955 and dad taking us to The Delaware in Morrisville was the seed that grew and matured into my enlisting in the Coast Guard. So, advice to recruits, Stay out of trouble, learn all you can from those around you (both the good to keep and the bad to avoid ) and choose wisely whom you want to associate with to enhance your future.
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IN WHAT WAYS HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU REMEMBER YOUR MILITARY SERVICE AND THE FRIENDS YOU SERVED WITH.
Until I retired in 2011 after my position was expendable and eliminated with the Shuttle Program ending, I did not have much time to reflect on my service time or how I managed to achieve what I did in my lifelong career. I know my service time was not forgotten | Heading home after Launching for the season |
as the work of the Coast Guard was constantly in the news and I am PROUD TO HAVE SERVED IN THE GUARD. Once retired and digging out all these old memory photos and visiting my old shipmate at the FIRE ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE & RADIO ANNEX in 2011 Chatt told me about Fred's Place website and the U.S.C.G. veteran's site. I looked up that site but by then it did not exist and I found TWS instead, joined and have slowly been filling in my memories. TWS is today the diary of the olden days and I would encourage all military personnel to use it to capture their histories as they occur. Trying to remember many years later is sometimes a taxing and challenging task but TWS prompt questions have made helped document the service time much easier. THANK YOU to all the dedicated ADMINISTRATORS for this WEBSITE and the opportunity to remember, reflect and find old shipmates and friends. Semper Paratus. NOTE: I am involved with researching the history of the RADIO ANNEX from 1944 until I arrived in 1966 and then from Aug 1969 when I was discharged until it ceased operation in or around 1974. If you served at this station or a family member did, or you know of someone who did and you would like to contribute photos or information of the service time please contact me. Thanks in Advance. KC 11/29/18
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