Navy, 1967-71. Aviation Fire Control Technician. I made E4. Three 8 month WESTPAC cruises to Vietnam on USS Ranger. I worked on F4 Phantoms on the flight deck and hangar deck. I stayed out of the way during flight ops most of the time but sometimes had to climb up on an airplane on the catapult and flip a switch to the right position to make the radar work right, or some other simple repair. Otherwise it was stay out of the way until the airplanes are all aboard and chained down and then try to fix any broke airplanes quickly so they could launch them next time. It could be dangerous up there, especially at night, but at least I wasn't getting shot at. What an adventure for a dumb-ass farm kid! I loved the airplanes and all the amazing stuff going on up there, but I wasn't cut out for the military. 4 years of it was all I could take. But I'm a member of the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club and the training I got in the Navy started my career as an electronics tech and engineer off very well.
