Special thanks to Bigross for suggesting I tell the following tale. It really happened as I tell it below.
Title it: How I got kicked out of A school.
Larry Z and I were tight friends. Down south where I come from they'd call us "thick as thieves," because no matter where the trouble was, Z and I were usually in the know about it, or involved. It wasn't that we were troublemakers, we were good, honest young sailors trying to do right in the world, and trouble seemed to be attracted to us like moths to a flame.
Ultimately all that trouble got us into trouble with our section leader, and we were placed on ordered study hours - 3 hours a night, 6 nights per week we were required to sit in a room and study under the supervision of a duty petty officer, with the duty Chief walking about amongst the classrooms making sure everything was ok. Now, it wasn't 3 hours straight, there were breaks. 10 minutes every hour to go smoke. Not too tough, right?
We pick up our tale with Z and I sitting in O-hours, he two rows in front of me since we'd long figured out not to sit together lest the temptation to talk overcome us. It was our last week of Nuclear Field A School, and our final exam was coming the next day. All classes during the day had been cancelled and we had been required to study every hour for the previous 8 class hours. Suffice it to say we both knew the material backwards and forwards. It's now hour 2 of O-hours and I'm starting to snooze over the material. Z spots me, and throws the eraser off his pencil at me to wake me up. He got me, right between the eyes. A brilliant shot.
I awaken and it's time for break. We go out to the smoke pad and I told him I was going to get him back for throwing that eraser. Soon as we get back into the classroom I pick it up, wing it at him, miss and strike the guy next to him. I was in the midst of apologizing to said sailor when the duty Chief walks in. Ooops. Busted. Talking during Ordered study hours, violation of a written order. I tried to weasel my way out of it by telling the Chief I was just asking a question over the material. He said I should've asked it on break, too bad. The next day instead of taking my final, I am summoned to base legal department. They hand me a piece of paper and tell me to write down everything that had taken place that led up to me being written up. Being the young kid, fresh out of bootcamp that I was, I complied. Oops. Result: I'm facing Captain's Mast for violation of a written order, falsification of an official statement (I lied to the Chief), and assault (for throwing that damned pencil eraser). In addition Z is up for assault with the same eraser. NOT good.
So CO's mast comes around, Z is just ahead of me in the line to go in and see the Captain. I'm dead last - never a good spot to be in the waiting line.
Z comes out, grins and winks as he passes. I thought "Great! a small slap on the wrist for stupidity. This'll work."
In I go. The CO looks at me and tells me to tell my tale, so I did in exquisite detail. He asks me, "Why did you lie about it?" I told him "Sir, I thought this to be a very minor incident and it wasn't going to ever happen again, so I tried to cover it."
He gets a very stern look in his eye. "I can see why you were talking, hell, I'd apologize too if I'd missed and hit the wrong person. I can even see why you lied about it, because I certainly wouldn't want to come see me under these circumstances." He said. After a 15 second pause where nothing was said he looks again at me and says, "I dismiss the charges of violation of a written order and falsification of an official statement. You had mitigating circumstances. However, if you'd never thrown that eraser back at your roommate we would've never been here now. I find you guilty of Assault. You are hereby awarded reduction in rate one paygrade, fined $100, and as a separate administrative action you are hereby disenrolled from Nuclear Field A School." Even my chain of command's jaws hit the floor on that one.
But don't despair my friends, our story doesn't end quite yet.
I smurfed over on the recruit side of RTC Orlando, watching over the little boots doing the dishes in the galley for a couple of weeks until my orders came through. I was to report, after 2 weeks leave, to the USS Iowa. Cool deal, got orders to a battleship! I go home, do my leave, fly to Norfolk to meet the ship only to be told she's in Guantanamo doing an Engineering Operations Inspection (OPPE). They load me onto a plane, and fly me down there to meet the Great Lady for the first time. It's October 1988. Uniform of the day in Norfolk was Dress Blues. In Cuba, it's 90+ outside and they're still in whites. I stuck out like a sore thumb. After 6 hours waiting on the beach for a boat to come get us, you can only imagine the foul condition my uniform and odor was.
We get to Iowa, I come up the Acom ladder, hand my orders to the OOD, salute the Ensign, salute the OOD, request permission to board. "Oh!" he says to me, "You're the one we've been waiting on. Captain wants to see you. Dump your gear there on the deck and go with the messenger - he'll show you the way." Rut roh...what'd I do now?
I am, in my mussed, stinky condition, escorted directly to Captain Fred Moosally in his cabin. He sits me down and says "Son, I've been reading your record. It's an interesting tale. Truth is I get more new sailors from Nuke school over petty bullshit like this than from anywhere else. I'm sick of it, so here's what I'm going to do. You're hereby promoted back to E3 so sew your stripes back on after you get that foul smelling uniform cleaned. You're also awarded your hundred bucks back, you'll get that next payday. I can't send you back to school since he admin sep'd you, but I can let you pick what division you'd like to be in." I chose E-division and the rest, is history :)
Title it: How I got kicked out of A school.
Larry Z and I were tight friends. Down south where I come from they'd call us "thick as thieves," because no matter where the trouble was, Z and I were usually in the know about it, or involved. It wasn't that we were troublemakers, we were good, honest young sailors trying to do right in the world, and trouble seemed to be attracted to us like moths to a flame.
Ultimately all that trouble got us into trouble with our section leader, and we were placed on ordered study hours - 3 hours a night, 6 nights per week we were required to sit in a room and study under the supervision of a duty petty officer, with the duty Chief walking about amongst the classrooms making sure everything was ok. Now, it wasn't 3 hours straight, there were breaks. 10 minutes every hour to go smoke. Not too tough, right?
We pick up our tale with Z and I sitting in O-hours, he two rows in front of me since we'd long figured out not to sit together lest the temptation to talk overcome us. It was our last week of Nuclear Field A School, and our final exam was coming the next day. All classes during the day had been cancelled and we had been required to study every hour for the previous 8 class hours. Suffice it to say we both knew the material backwards and forwards. It's now hour 2 of O-hours and I'm starting to snooze over the material. Z spots me, and throws the eraser off his pencil at me to wake me up. He got me, right between the eyes. A brilliant shot.
I awaken and it's time for break. We go out to the smoke pad and I told him I was going to get him back for throwing that eraser. Soon as we get back into the classroom I pick it up, wing it at him, miss and strike the guy next to him. I was in the midst of apologizing to said sailor when the duty Chief walks in. Ooops. Busted. Talking during Ordered study hours, violation of a written order. I tried to weasel my way out of it by telling the Chief I was just asking a question over the material. He said I should've asked it on break, too bad. The next day instead of taking my final, I am summoned to base legal department. They hand me a piece of paper and tell me to write down everything that had taken place that led up to me being written up. Being the young kid, fresh out of bootcamp that I was, I complied. Oops. Result: I'm facing Captain's Mast for violation of a written order, falsification of an official statement (I lied to the Chief), and assault (for throwing that damned pencil eraser). In addition Z is up for assault with the same eraser. NOT good.
So CO's mast comes around, Z is just ahead of me in the line to go in and see the Captain. I'm dead last - never a good spot to be in the waiting line.
Z comes out, grins and winks as he passes. I thought "Great! a small slap on the wrist for stupidity. This'll work."
In I go. The CO looks at me and tells me to tell my tale, so I did in exquisite detail. He asks me, "Why did you lie about it?" I told him "Sir, I thought this to be a very minor incident and it wasn't going to ever happen again, so I tried to cover it."
He gets a very stern look in his eye. "I can see why you were talking, hell, I'd apologize too if I'd missed and hit the wrong person. I can even see why you lied about it, because I certainly wouldn't want to come see me under these circumstances." He said. After a 15 second pause where nothing was said he looks again at me and says, "I dismiss the charges of violation of a written order and falsification of an official statement. You had mitigating circumstances. However, if you'd never thrown that eraser back at your roommate we would've never been here now. I find you guilty of Assault. You are hereby awarded reduction in rate one paygrade, fined $100, and as a separate administrative action you are hereby disenrolled from Nuclear Field A School." Even my chain of command's jaws hit the floor on that one.
But don't despair my friends, our story doesn't end quite yet.
I smurfed over on the recruit side of RTC Orlando, watching over the little boots doing the dishes in the galley for a couple of weeks until my orders came through. I was to report, after 2 weeks leave, to the USS Iowa. Cool deal, got orders to a battleship! I go home, do my leave, fly to Norfolk to meet the ship only to be told she's in Guantanamo doing an Engineering Operations Inspection (OPPE). They load me onto a plane, and fly me down there to meet the Great Lady for the first time. It's October 1988. Uniform of the day in Norfolk was Dress Blues. In Cuba, it's 90+ outside and they're still in whites. I stuck out like a sore thumb. After 6 hours waiting on the beach for a boat to come get us, you can only imagine the foul condition my uniform and odor was.
We get to Iowa, I come up the Acom ladder, hand my orders to the OOD, salute the Ensign, salute the OOD, request permission to board. "Oh!" he says to me, "You're the one we've been waiting on. Captain wants to see you. Dump your gear there on the deck and go with the messenger - he'll show you the way." Rut roh...what'd I do now?
I am, in my mussed, stinky condition, escorted directly to Captain Fred Moosally in his cabin. He sits me down and says "Son, I've been reading your record. It's an interesting tale. Truth is I get more new sailors from Nuke school over petty bullshit like this than from anywhere else. I'm sick of it, so here's what I'm going to do. You're hereby promoted back to E3 so sew your stripes back on after you get that foul smelling uniform cleaned. You're also awarded your hundred bucks back, you'll get that next payday. I can't send you back to school since he admin sep'd you, but I can let you pick what division you'd like to be in." I chose E-division and the rest, is history :)
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