Forgive these several posts, but I did serve 12 years!
Assignment to VQ-4 in Pax River, was an educational experience. I ran a lot, visited a LOT of countries throughout the Atlantic Basin, met some super sailors, and gained a lot of useful life experience in only 3 years. We flew our mission every day, keeping an aircraft airborne 24/7/365. In 1976, I think it was, I was deployed for every holiday except groundhog day! We typically flew for about 2 weeks at a time, then were home for almost 3 weeks, repeated until the tour was up!
During our Pax River time, our daughter Kelly was born. What a shock! We had been warned about 9 months exactly before her birth--"don't get too excited if it takes you a long time to bear children, Brenda's ovaries aren't fully mature. We won't talk about fertility drugs until you have tried at least a year!" Yeah--right!
I earned about 3500 flight hours in a mere 3 years, and trust me, that is a LOT of flight time. I was promoted during this time to Lieutenant, and was a Navigator, Communications Officer, and then a Mission Commander. When at Pax, I was one of the 3 Legal Officers, who dealt with legal problems and the sailors who committed the offenses. Rarely was a flight crewman in trouble, because all our flight crews had very high security clearances.
Finally, my tour wrapped up and I requested NROTC duty in New Mexico. When I got my orders to NROTC...Lexington, VA, I was sorely disappointed. And, to my chagrin, our 3 years in Lexington were some of the BEST in our lives. The town is beautiful, as was the weather, and even more special were the numerous friendships we formed there. I loved teaching at VMI so much, that at the end of the tour, I wanted to go into Higher Education full time.
During our time in Lexington, I commuted to James Madison Univ. in Harrisonburg, VA where I earned an MSEd in Physical Education/Higher Education. I wanted to do a Masters in Biology, but G^d, fortunately, as I would learn later, blocked every avenue.
To get into Higher Ed. I attended an American Alliance for Health and Physical Education (Now SHAPE) in Nashville, TN looking for a job. A Ph.D. student from U GA pulled me aside and told me that I didn't have the right degree to teach in Higher Ed. I needed a Ph.D.
But, with a wife and child, how could I go back to school? "UGA will give you and Assistantship!" my new friend replied.
Hmmm, I was now torn. A day or so later, I left Nashville with 6 inches of clean white spring snow covering the ground. I was driving back to Lexington, by myself, and deep in prayer about what to do next. Should I go to Grad School, stay in the USN, or try to find a job with my MS degree? As I prayed, the clouds parted and a shaft of sunlight lit up the pure white snow. Grad school at UGA would be the route G^d was directing.
"$6000 per year as a Grad Assistant, here I come!"
Assignment to VQ-4 in Pax River, was an educational experience. I ran a lot, visited a LOT of countries throughout the Atlantic Basin, met some super sailors, and gained a lot of useful life experience in only 3 years. We flew our mission every day, keeping an aircraft airborne 24/7/365. In 1976, I think it was, I was deployed for every holiday except groundhog day! We typically flew for about 2 weeks at a time, then were home for almost 3 weeks, repeated until the tour was up!
During our Pax River time, our daughter Kelly was born. What a shock! We had been warned about 9 months exactly before her birth--"don't get too excited if it takes you a long time to bear children, Brenda's ovaries aren't fully mature. We won't talk about fertility drugs until you have tried at least a year!" Yeah--right!
I earned about 3500 flight hours in a mere 3 years, and trust me, that is a LOT of flight time. I was promoted during this time to Lieutenant, and was a Navigator, Communications Officer, and then a Mission Commander. When at Pax, I was one of the 3 Legal Officers, who dealt with legal problems and the sailors who committed the offenses. Rarely was a flight crewman in trouble, because all our flight crews had very high security clearances.
Finally, my tour wrapped up and I requested NROTC duty in New Mexico. When I got my orders to NROTC...Lexington, VA, I was sorely disappointed. And, to my chagrin, our 3 years in Lexington were some of the BEST in our lives. The town is beautiful, as was the weather, and even more special were the numerous friendships we formed there. I loved teaching at VMI so much, that at the end of the tour, I wanted to go into Higher Education full time.
During our time in Lexington, I commuted to James Madison Univ. in Harrisonburg, VA where I earned an MSEd in Physical Education/Higher Education. I wanted to do a Masters in Biology, but G^d, fortunately, as I would learn later, blocked every avenue.
To get into Higher Ed. I attended an American Alliance for Health and Physical Education (Now SHAPE) in Nashville, TN looking for a job. A Ph.D. student from U GA pulled me aside and told me that I didn't have the right degree to teach in Higher Ed. I needed a Ph.D.
But, with a wife and child, how could I go back to school? "UGA will give you and Assistantship!" my new friend replied.
Hmmm, I was now torn. A day or so later, I left Nashville with 6 inches of clean white spring snow covering the ground. I was driving back to Lexington, by myself, and deep in prayer about what to do next. Should I go to Grad School, stay in the USN, or try to find a job with my MS degree? As I prayed, the clouds parted and a shaft of sunlight lit up the pure white snow. Grad school at UGA would be the route G^d was directing.
"$6000 per year as a Grad Assistant, here I come!"
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