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- Horner’s Postulate
Experience varies directly with equipment ruined.
- A Tale of the Sea and Me: An Indelible Memory
i have not posted many sea stories lately, especially under the banner of “A Tale of the Sea and Me.” The reason is not writer’s block. i think it comes from a blank space in my old memories.
ii find this odd in that being first lieutenant on the USS Anchorage was not just the best tour i had in the Navy but the best job i’ve ever had. If i had to choose something i could have done for a job all of my life, it would be first lieutenant on an Landing Ship Dock (LSD), preferably that USS Anchorage.
i believe i have explained why that tour was so great aboard Anchorage and will not repeat that here.
For some reason, saved letters, ship logs, memorabilia and an old man’s memories have a blank period for my time aboard Anchorage in that deployment from when we left Manila and when the captain was relieved somewhere in the East China Sea.
In my 15 years of a 22-year career as a Naval Officer and aboard twelve ships, i served under sixteen commanding officers and two squadron commanders. Of those sixteen COs, one was a screamer. Seven of those COs were okay but had some faults in the way they handled command at sea. Ten of my COs were superb (i think this is pretty accurate since in my last Navy tour, i facilitated a seminar featuring a study of the best traits for an outstanding commanding officer).
In my assessment, the best commanding officer under whom i served was Commander Arthur St. Clair Wright (he retired as a Captain). Art was one of the best shiphandlers as a commanding officer. CAPT Max Lasell on the Hawkins, CDR Richard Butts on the Luce, and CAPT David Rogers on the Okinawa were superb shiphandlers as well, but Art Wright was superior.
Art, as CO of the Anchorage, was even tempered, extremely knowledgable about all aspects of a Navy ship as will as the way the Navy system worked. He motivated his officers and crew to excel, and he wanted them to enjoy themselves both on board and on liberty. Examples of that will follow.
That Anchorage deployment in 1975 was hyperactive in operations. About the first third was under the command of CDR Lou Aldana. i believe it was off Okinawa when his relief, CDR Wright, came aboard.
That is the moment that is indelible in my mind. One of the Beachmaster’s unit LARCs went into port and transported the relieving CO back to the ship. i was standing on the stern on the port wing wall with BM1 Hansborough, my well deck master. The stern gate was down to receive the LARC into the well deck. As the LARC made a starboard turn to head into the well deck, we watched the incoming CO toss an empty beer can over the side. It was a classic entry for a new commanding officer. i thought, “This is going to be interesting.
i was right. The man, Art Wright, was an incredible experience and made my first lieutenant tour the best.
i intend to post more sea stories frequently.
- Oeser’s Law
There is a tendency for the person in the most powerful position in an organization to spend all of his or her time serving on committees and signing letters.
- Thoughts on the Southwest Corner and Other Things
Monday, Maureen and i played a round of golf with our great friends, Peter and Nancy Toennies.
The four of us have played an incredible number of rounds together. It was a better round for me than in the last six months or more. However, that was not the most enjoyable part of the afternoon. The highlight was the Southwest corner.
We played at the Sea ‘n Air Golf course on the North Island Naval Air Station. It was magic: mid-January, 67 degrees, the old lighthouse atop Point Loma across the channel silhouetted against the sky. The channel led to the number one sea buoy, that last navigational manmade marker to my Pacific, my sea. Navy aircraft were performing touch-and-gos on the adjacent landing fields. To top it off, the snack shop next to the 9th fairway and 12th green had resumed stocking Budweiser beer.
Budweiser has always been my beer of choice on a golf course. For some reason, a cold Budweiser remains my favorite when playing a round. i drink and have drunk other beers since college, but Bud is it while playing golf.
When the round concluded, we drove off the base and to the Brigantine for supper. The Coronado Brig, the original location before it expanded, has been one of my favorite hangouts since i first came to San Diego in the 1970s. It has changed greatly.
i preferred its old atmospher booths winding around the place, a bar famous for their margaritas, and a great menu. JD Waits and i, while we were rogue bachelors and Naval officers, would go on Thursdays. We would have a margarita at the bar while waiting for our table. We would have their grilled salmon with Hollandaise sauce with the house Chardonnay, and finish with a a courvoisier. Splendid.
It is still good food, just different and not as good as in my memories.
Just a flat wonderful January day in the Southwest corner. i marvel that so many folks i know disaparage where i live because i love it, and my dearest lady is a native.
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The old boy has found someone who agrees with me about sports media, the sports journalists, and their audience: Aaron Rodgers. As the Pittsburgh fans booed and lambasted Mike Tomlin, who stepped down after the ranting, Rodgers stated:
Mike T’s had more success than damn near anyone in the league for the last 19-20 years,” Rodgers said. “More than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change. But, there’s a lot of pressure that comes from the outside, and obviously, that swings decisions from time to time. But it’s not how I would do things, and not how the league used to be.
My thought when i read this were we are being controlled by people who think they know how to make things right when they don’t have a clue. The amazing thing to me is there are so many people who buy into it.
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So, i concluded, i have no desire to deal with this craziness, this hunt for hatred, this mockery of understanding and open-mindedness. For whom this applies, throw your rocks, froth at the mouth with your hatred, continue to blindly blame everyone else for what you don’t like. i’m too old for that sh…
My life, a week from 82, is wonderful (i’ll go into that later, in spades). i’ll just keep caring for folks and enjoying my life.
- Harper’s Magazine Law:
You never find an article until you replace it.