I’m calling this the Navy edition because it’s on my mind:
1)I was a Fire Controlman in the Navy and worked on the Close-In-Weapon System, aka CIWS
Uh, yes, my gun is/was kinda phallic, what?
2)I joined the Navy because it was 1997 as it was the only way I could be in any kind of combat position as a female(things have changed since then and yes, I always wanted to be a bamf)
3)I originally wanted to be a Tomahawk Technician, but couldn’t because it was an offensive weapon and I’m female. (How dumb is that?)
4)When I originally enlisted, it was as a Sonar Tech, but I didn’t want to wait until October to go to boot camp. They had an opening in early September for AECF (Advanced Electronics Computer Field, which meant I could have been either an Electronics Technician or Firecontrolman), so I grabbed it.
5)Because I got a last minute slot, I had about 5 hours from when my recruiter called until I had to be at processing. So that was 5 hours to say goodbye to everyone and everything in my old life. And that included the hour or so drive to Seattle.
6)When I enlisted we found out my parents had been using the wrong social security number for me for the previous eighteen years. Whoops.
7)I basically have 2 years of advanced Navy electronics training I’ve never managed to get a job using. It’s been a long time, but I do remember a lot of it and can read electronics schematics.
8)I got out early due to bad knees and never travelled further then Chesapeake Bay
9)I was on the USS Radford:
Yes, it looks like a giant middle finger, it’s actually an advanced sonar system and the only ship they ever stuck that on. I was on it for 4 months, but it was in drydock most of that time due to being hit by a freighter a few months earlier. A good friend of mine got stationed on the Enterprise; I was kinda jealous.
10)One of the proudest moments of my life was graduating boot camp and sometimes I still miss being in, even all these years later.
My terrible boot camp picture: I know, I look like a boy.
