I joined the Navy in late 2002 and went to boot camp in April 2003. The decision to join the Navy was one based on a driven curiosity to do something that could both help benefit myself and my country. Going to boot camp was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. Not the boot camp experience, but having to leave the life I lived behind to start a new one.

Basic Training in Great Lakes by Chicago was one cold place to be at the beginning of April. We had a blizzard the first weekend I was there and being right next to the Lake made for some fun times dealing with the wind. They don't call it the windy city for nothing. Boot Camp wasn't fun. During the time, I couldn't image a more dreadful place to be. I kind of felt like I gave up my civic right to be a human being for that of cattle. I hate needles, boot camp loves needles, but I quickly started to make the best of my environment.

After boot camp I went off to OS A school to learn my rate as an Operation Specialist. OS School was located right on the Beach in Virginia Beach and in June when I first go there, it completely contrasted that of Great Lakes.

My roommate and I made a deal in Boot Camp to become roomies together and when we got to OS school, this wasn't a problem. Both of us strived to be the top of our class. Our job in the Navy at this time was to be educated in the art of Navy Operations and Navigation. After class, if we didn't have duty, it was off to the mall or the beach. My best friend Nick lived near the base so I was really starting to get comfortable being in the Navy. Life was good. The summer was great and having an ocean for a back yard made it even better.

By September I was getting ready to take my first step towards becoming a true sailor by receiving orders to the USS Hawes FFG 53. The USS Hawes is Missile Guided Frigate and as an Operation Specialist, it was my duty and my divisions duty to oversee all operations of the ship. From navigation to anti-submarine Warfare, it was our job to make sure that everything was done correctly and by the book. The Operation Specialist was similar to my father's rate of Radar Man. My father was a huge influence on me with my decision to join the Navy. Like him, I wanted to see the world, and do something productive with my life. He was stationed on the USS Hyman DD 732 which was a WW2 style Destroyer. It really wasn't much bigger than the USS Hawes and it held twice the crew. The Navy was a different place during the early 60's. The US still didn't get into any major conflicts with Vietnam. My father did his time as a Radar Man and left the Navy after they returned from a deployment. This time period for a ship is one of the roughest because like most Navy commands, after a cruise a ship usually goes through a period of fixing and work ups. This is where I caught the USS Hawes. It just returned from a deployment and was crewing up for the ship yard.

My first month onboard the USS Hawes I was looking for an apartment downtown in Norfolk and about this time we got hit with a Hurricane just about the time we were going into dry dock. I offered to stay onboard and see that the ship was ok with a small crew of men since we couldn't make our way out to sea. After that, it was the ship yard and a whole lot of work. I made 3rd Class Petty Officer and was sent to Anti-submarine Warfare School (ASW) for more training. After a fresh new paint job, new engines and a whole lot of fixing up, the USS Hawes was ready to take to sea. So we did -- Every other week. From spring to winter of 2004 I spent majority of the time out to sea. One week in, two weeks out.

During this time I became the ships photographer and commissioned to handle networking and public relations for building the ships web site. The only problem was the increasing amount of jobs and responsibilities came at the sacrifice of sleeping. I eventually went off to school again for Navigation training for sea and anchor detail. This is when a ship is coming or going from a port to the open ocean. The nice part about this was I got to go back to my old A school in Va beach. I had a great apartment in Ghent Norfolk that I rarely got a chance to see.

Many of my friends were getting ready to get out of the Navy and it was back to the open ocean once again. This time for a month of Anti-submarine work which was taken place in the Caribbean. This is when everything started to catch up to me. Between my watch stations, photographing everything we were doing and working directly with 2 Destroyers command, sleep was rare. Towards the end of our voyage, we blew one of our new engine killing the power on the ship and creating a oily firely mess. The engineers were able to contain the scene and as the ships photographer I was down there taking pictures to send back to Norfolk. We were also getting word of a Hurricane closing in on our area. The command cut the voyage short and headed back to Norfolk on 3 engines trying to out run a hurricane. This was also the time I saw my first and only water spout.

When I got back, I did some serious thinking on my future with the Military. Although I was having a successful time as a sailor, I did not see myself progressing in life on the path that I wanted to take. Everyday the Navy loved me more and more, but I wasn't returning any of that love and the fire quickly burned out for me. So I left the Navy and returned to civilian life. It was one of the strangest feelings in the world. I felt lost and had to start again.

Today I am glad I left the Navy when I did. I educated a lot of young sailors about ASW and Operations that didn't have the chance to go to the schools that I went to durning my career. Although it was short, I am still proud that I served.

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