Good to see the recent entry from Jim Heston USMC (ret.). I think he is probably the first Marine to write to your site. Here's a memory that he somehow jogged loose :

Most of the people in my current work group are former military. (All branches.) Naturally, we periodically shoot the shit and tell old stories. Since our military backgrounds are varied, the stories are all over the map. However, one story seems to be pretty much common to all of us. That's leaving home for boot camp. Pretty much all the stories start out the same :

The alarm wakes you up after a very restless sleep. A major change is about to happen in your young life. You're excited and not a little apprehensive. You have one last breakfast with the family, then say your goodbyes. Mom and Sis are at the front door crying because you're leaving them. Dad then drives you to the AFEES station. When he stops to drop you off, he gives you some last Fatherly advice. You're both fighting back tears (equal parts pride and sadness) as he gives you one last firm handshake before you open the door into manhood. This seems to be a right of passage that most of us went through.

A recently retired supervisor named Ben had a subtle difference to his story. In front of the AFEES station as Ben's Dad started the Fatherly advice routine, Ben put his hand up and said, "Stop right there, Dad. Today I become a US Marine and a man. Nobody's ever going to tell me what to do again." Ben said that his Dad just gave him a knowing smile. Ben always stopped the story there, leaving the rest to the imagination.

I can just imagine what happened several hours later. Ben was standing on those famed yellow footprints at MCRD San Diego. Ben was probably shaking and ready to pass out from a combination of fear and the scalding hot breath of the irate Drill Instructor 3 inches from his face. Ben is all of five foot nothing and I think he wore coke bottle lenses at birth. No doubt that as a 17 year old kid he didn't look like he could fight, f**k, or run a footrace. I'm sure the D.I.s found at least seven different and creative ways to call him a "sawed off, squinty eyed, motherf**ker". Somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind he must have been saying over and over, "Hey, I'm a Marine. Nobody can tell me what to do."

(Ben is a great and funny guy. Though he may be short in stature, he isn't a guy who will back down from anything. He's a fearless motorcycle rider who has been known to shame riders half his age. I like to think the experience of that day back in the mid sixties had something to do with that part of his character.)

Semper Fi, Ben 

PP

Possum, Kipper Snacks, Heavy Seas and blowing chunks ....

Photo Caption Contest!

What is this?

My answer:  the USS CHUD (CV-PT 1)

Mark's answer: Budget cuts have forced the Navy to search for new ways to engage the enemy.

Lou's answer: The US Navy welcomed the latest member of it's fleet today. Pictured above the USS William Jefferson Clinton CVS1 set sail today from it's home port of Vancouver, BC. The ship is the first of it's kind in the Navy and is a standing legacy to President Clinton and his foresight in military budget cuts. The ship is constructed nearly entirely from recycled aluminum and is completely solar powered with a top speed of 5 knots. It boasts an arsenal comprised of one F18 Hornet aircraft, which although cannot be launched or captured on the 100 foot flight deck, forms a very menacing presence. As a standing order there are no firearms allowed on board. The 20 person crew is completely diversified and includes members of all races, creeds, sex, and sexual orientation. The ships purpose is not defined so much as a unit of national defense, in fact in times of conflict it's orders are to remain in hiding in Canada, but will be used extensively for social experimentation and whatever shitty jobs the commander in chief and his wife can think of. It is largely rumored that the ship will also be the set for the upcoming season of MTV's "The Real World."

Steamer's answer: [which I know is coming as soon as he sees Lou's answer ;)]

CVN-21

I was on the Big E from 95 to 99, in EE30. I'm currently working for the DoD on an aspect of the CVN-21 design (not electrical, unfortunately). I can't give any real inside info, but I did come across this. I think I've seen some speculation on the site as to the name of the new carrier, here's hoping they keep this tradition alive. Maintenance “issues” associated with the vertical-takeoff JSF have led the Navy to make the decision that the aircraft should not operate from CNV-21, said Rear Adm. Dennis Dwyer, Navy program executive officer for aircraft carriers.

The Navy plans to deploy the CVN-21 in 2014. The yet-unnamed carrier will have a life expectancy of 50 years. Dwyer predicted the name is likely to be the Enterprise. That’s not a surprise since the CVN-21 will replace the aging CVN-65 USS Enterprise that has been sailing the seas since January 1962.

from http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=1446

This article has an "artist's concept" of CVN-21

6/21/04

George Hults Comes Aboard .....

Andrew Raymond Comes Aboard .....

Hey I think your work here is great!! Just read several stories and enjoyed them all. I probably have a few to add myself. I was a 4 plant RC div from 84-87. As I remember, we were the "Lifers," right? I guess that would explain why I'm still in the Navy.

E-mail address to add is: agraymond@verizonmail.com

Thanks Shipmate

6/21/04

George "Bung" Hults!!

Mike Galbraith, RO one plant, here. I never thought I would hear from ole 10" Tuli again. I just can't believe you assembled this site. I love it. Ram you were the funniest man I have ever met and I have tons of fond memories of you. I don't know if you will remember me, but I am easy to forget. I am slightly disappointed that I was unable to locate any "Tales from the Backside" episodes. I would have paid good money for some of those. Thanks tons for the site and I hope to hear from you one of these days. You can post my email on the site if you want.

croaker@grm.net

6/22/04

As The Pig Floats ......PI!

Been a while since we left Australia, time to pick the saga back up again.

Okay so the Big E had just left Australia in the summer of 86 and we're heading home. Next stop is PI and for the nubs from 8503 its our fist time in Olongopo. We'd seen Angeles City and were impressed but by now we knew the real PI was just over that blue horizon. Pulling into PI is what being a west coast sailor is all about. It's the only way to start a Westpac and by far the only way to end one. On the way out you need PI to get yourself in the right place to handle the next few months at work, but on the way home you NEED PI to shake all that loose. PI is many things to many people. For some it's just the next big party, for others it's a place to relax or worse intense work (think of the supply gang). For some it's a place of incredible natural beauty, for others it's an abomination, and the stark reality of the third world. For others it’s the only place on this planet they can find sexual release, and for some it's the only place they can do the kinky things they want to do without being arrested. PI was our next stop and everyone had some plan of some sort. My plan was to take it all in with my nub buddies and avoid being on the ship if at all possible. I had no idea what I was in for.

So the ship finally pulls into port. The cool thing about PI was that this was the first port we didn't need to use liberty boats for. Grab your shit and hit the beach man we got a new world to check out. So we take off, and the first thing I notice is the phone center. Lines are 20 guys deep and the wait is measured in hours. Not likely to be calling home. We make our way to the gate and you can feel the excitement. Change your money for "Bongo Bucks" and tuck them somewhere that they can't be easily stolen. The gate opens and there it is, that shining city on the river (shit river); Olongopo…..Remember Shit River the first time your senses took it in. There was no doubt what this river was. The only thing that threw you was the guys in the canoes. I remember being stunned motionless the first time I saw someone dive to retrieve a peso thrown from the bridge. Now that's desperation! I can still remember the sound, crowds of people, music, and the cars. The jeepneys all sounded like motorcycles, and someone was always laying on the horn. The shop owners yelling out to pull people into the stores, drunk sailors shouting incoherence's, Honeyco's trying to lure you into their web of debauchery. Then there is the smell of PI. PI has its own unique smell but the base of it is what I call eau de 3rd world. Eau de 3rd world is a combination of leaded gasoline exhaust, diesel exhaust, burning wood, burning cardboard, raw sewage, exposed garbage, fish and charred meat. I found that smell in the PI, parts of Mombassa, TJ, Hong Kong, and actually in parts of ChinaTown (SF). But above that there's the smoke in the bars, the smell of monkey on a stick, and cheap perfume on a honeyco, and in close quarters there's the smell of Mojo and San Miguel. Remember how everything there is trying to remind you of something back in the States; CalJam, Rolling Stone, Hard Rock, Shakey's Pizza, and my favorite the Shark's Cove. This place was a little piece of California without the rules. Disney for adults.

Well the first day there I'm like everyone else, just taking it all in and wide eyed. Going through all the stores and checking out all the goods. Had no intention of buying a cruise jacket or patches that was far too lifed out for me, but I had to check it all out anyway. Remember the velvet Elvis paintings those were everywhere. Finally night closes in and it's time to get down to some serious partying. I remember just hopping from bar to bar and you'd lose guys at every stop, but then again you'd also pick up some guy who'd taken a detour from his group. It was all just part of the scene. Remember how the camera guys would pester you to no end for pictures. The pictures were always terrible too, first you're drunk so you look like a fool, second the flash was always so bright that you look like your eyes are three times more open they really are. These guys taking the pictures know that they have you over the barrel, half the guys are married and don't want photographic proof that they're out with a honeyco, the remainder is single guys who don't want to remember what their honeyco looked like with sober eyes, and the remainder will pay anything for a picture of them with a real live girl….I remember that when we were there you couldn't go into any bar without hearing "We built this city" by Jefferson Starship. You couldn't get away from that damn song. Well the first night was spent getting acquainted with Olongopo and drinking far too much San Magoo and Mojo, playing around with the honeyco's, and eating too much lumpia, goat cheese pizza, and monkey on a stick. What a party!!

I woke up the next morning completely hung over and someone ripping the curtain of my pit back to tell me I was to report immediately to the quarterdeck. This is never good news in my opinion so I'm thinking " oh God, what did I do last night?" I crawl up out of my pit and make myself as presentable as I can, and then I make my way up to the QD. Unbelievably I get there to find my brother waiting on me. Now my brother is the white sheep of the family. He's the overachiever. I'm the ET3 he's the Commander and CO of the USS Darter. I had no idea he was in the PI, but I guess he couldn't help but notice that we were in port, so he came by to pick me up. What a great surprise. Spent the entire day with my big bro touring the place, played golf all day, ate dinner with all his officers on the Darter, and then we took the town together with his XO. They were having fun tossing the kid around and getting him drunk, and I had fun being the kid getting tossed around and having my drinks paid for. I remember his XO throwing girl after girl at me. He was tremendously cool. We ended up at a bar that played mostly new wave and metal music ( I can still hear some Billy Idol tune in my head), and I remember my brother leaning over to me and saying "hey do you like folk music", he was showing his sixties roots. We had a great time and when curfew came around, my bro was all set to go have that CO to CO chat with the Rock. We ended up just letting it go and I made curfew but that was truly a unique experience.

At the end of it all the memories were tattooed on my brain. PI was the west coast sailor's paradise. Its what some guys lived for. It's what everyone looked forward to. No other port matches it for what it is. Hung over and drained, we knew this cruise was all but over, it was time to go home.

These photos are courtesy of Mike Glabraith and Rich Lorenz. If anyone has pictures from that cruise please send them to me. I can never get enough pictures.

First is Mike eating Balut and the second is the welcome sign over Magsaysay….. 

Louie Wingo

6/23/04

Ding-Ding ....

Couldn't help but laugh at PP's story of the duck on page 21. I was at the bar with the alligator on several (more actually) occasions. It was in a movie about A6 pilots also. I heard about a duck being brought back aboard but I heard it disappeared when someone lit off the inductor in one of the bilges (don't remember which one it was).

PP also mentioned "CC Smith." That was a hard steamer for a CO. He had CC and Friends on the side of his COD. When JW Austin took over it was quickly changed to JW and Associates. That pissed off a lot of people. I ran into CC Smith in town on several occasions in Hong Kong and he was usually worse off than me.

Rumor had it that they quit giving him a car when the ship would pull into Subic because he kept getting drunk and forgetting where he left them. I didn't put much stock in that until one morning I was on the pier at the hockey puck stand trying to cure a hangover when an ambulance pulled up to the officer's brow. Two men started helping someone up the brow and when they were about 3/4 of the way there, I heard "ding ding - ding ding, Enterprise arriving." I almost chocked on the burger (I use that term loosely) I was eating.

When he made admiral and left the ship there was a heck of a party on Grande Island.

Rick Ellenberger

Erick Peters Comes Aboard ....

Eric Foster Comes Aboard ....

Good site (even though it makes me feel like a lifer, dig-it, khaki wannabe).

Eric Foster RC-22 '89-'93

Eric.Foster@ge.com

More Billy Ball Remembered ....

More From Mike Galbraith .....

Ram My Man!!!

I only have a minute to write so this will be brief. I am so glad to see you are doing well. I am doing well also. I don't think anyone that knew me back on the pig could guess what I do now. I will tell you later and let you wonder what it is. I wanted to make one correction to your [tales from the backside memory]. The character was based on your buddy RJ Martin. Remember the "Texas" Ring he always wore? You were one of the guys that made the insufferable, survivable. I will give you more when I have more time.

Mike

6/28/04

Another Correction .....

Okay I got busted by Rich Lorenz. In my post from 4/9 I misstated that the group photos of RC11 outside El Gringo's were taken by me. I don't know where I was but for some reason I wasn't in those pictures. I did take the pictures inside El Gringos and more pictures when we got to the bull riding bar. Rich suggests that an LBFM was involved in my disappearance. I can neither confirm nor deny, and that's an honest answer. Rich has informed me that he indeed was the photographer of those pictures using Galbraith's camera. My incoherencies not withstanding, the message is still the same. I do somehow remember us all standing outside of El Gringos though…..That was a great time, Westpac 88, I'm pretty sure it was on the way home.

Louie Wingo

Stephen Anderson Comes Aboard .....

"Smiley" Comes Aboard

Thomas Kreischer Comes aboard .....

I'm really enjoying your website. Reading these accounts sure brings back memories. Please add me to your list of Big E nuke/eng contacts. Further, I am interested in any news relating to a reunion.

Thomas Kreischer RC-14 1983-1985 tkreischer@williamtyndale.edu

Kerry Rod Comes Aboard .....

Mike Fills Us In .....

Hi All!!

I love this site. So good to see the names of some rather infamous and great people from my memories. I will let you know a little about my current situation, for those of you who are interested in knowing. I did not go to college like the smart people from my past. I went straight to the workforce after leaving the navy. Those of you that know me, know of my less then glorious departure from the pig. I will elaborate on those adventures at another time. I have had many jobs since those days and I can tell you I missed all of you guys out there a lot. I am currently a Deputy Sheriff in Nodaway County, Missouri. Yea they let me have a gun, a badge and everything. Though this may not let many of you sleep well at night I do like my job very much.

I have had many knick names over the years some of them include: Lightbulb; Galoobala; Galoob; Backwoods Country Fuck; and Woody. I was somewhat famous when known as Woody, I was a bartender in Portland Oregon. It seems I still had a predominantly navy type sense of humor at the time and a lot of my customers came in just to see what I would do and say next. I couldn't go anywhere in the pacific north west without running into someone that knew me as Woody. The knick name that I am most fond of now was bestowed upon me by many of my current, most frequent customers, Punk Assed Bitch. PAB's for short. My customers do love me so. The liberal use of pepper spray on less then compliant customers usually brings this name from their lips. Usually after about fifteen seconds of the magical elixir doing its thing I am referred to as "Sir" this is followed by "May I please wash my face, Sir?"

Nodaway county is in NW Missouri. I live in a small town, Conception Jct., pop of 112 people. I love living in a small town. I am married to the luckiest woman in the world, I doubt she sees it that way though. I have four children, two boys aged 7 and 6, two girls aged 2 and 5 months. I have a wonderful family and would not trade any of them for anything.

Since I was not motivated to go to college myself, and thus relegated to a life of poverty, I married a woman who did. My wife is a registered dietician, and it is a good thing too, as we would be living in a corrugated cardboard palace without her income.

Enough about today, if you want to know more just email me, I am on the list.

I will impart a short sea story about KP and I. I promise I will write more sea stories as time permits. KP and I never greeted each other with a simple hello when passing each other in the berthing or passages while at sea. We always greeted each other with some stupid question, usually involving a sex toy such a "Can I have my inflate-a-mate back?" KP was a master at replies and quips and seldom did you see KP falter or pause in a reply. The one such exchange I always think about and laugh my ass off when recalling went something like this. Me: "Ram, did you take my 12 inch double ended dong?" KP: Without the slightest hesitation worked up a very pained and uncomfortable face and stated "No, I could only take half of it!"

I miss you guys out there. Mike "PAB's" Galbraith

"BDB"

Tom Gonzales Comes Back ....

Howdy,

Checking-in with a note.

I posted my email a while back, but wanted to let folks know things are going okay. Nice to see some of the long-forgotten folks mentioned: Buddy, Sam, Pat, Farnam, Link, Brent, Grit, Danny, Welch, Steve R D Ass, Mark, Michael Chester French (Ida Marie... What the He** is your boy doing out in the middle of the Indian Ocean??!?!), Dave French, Gator, Ortego, Willy, etc. Please forgive me if I forgot yer name. Those were pretty blurry days at times...

Things go well. It's now been 25 years (!!!!) since I was on the E. Phew!

I'm hoping to make it to Las Vegas in October. I minimize my trips out there to keep myself from losing weight from the heat, though Dr. Phil would say it's a good idea... I'm trying to get down to 175 by September 30th, so I can slide into that slinky red... OOPS!! Don't tell my spousal-unit...

I'm still living in California. Pasadena 'til 1981, Monrovia 'til 1988, San Luis Obispo, 'til 1996, now in Sunnyvale. We just got back from a trip to Florida to visit her friends, and there's NO WAY I'm moving out there. Too dang hot. Gave up riding bikes in 1980 after a spill in downtown Seattle on the back of a buddy's bike. The most dangerous thing I drive nowadays is a compound-miter saw in the backyard shop.

Funny memories???

Being short on beer money 3 days before payday, and winning $13 by eating a Balout, and keeping it down for an hour.

Uh... Rx Dept. party at some club, rented for the weekend. One of the a***ole officer's birthday, and he got an INvoluntary face dance... Almost turned him human.

I got picked-up by the base security because I handed my ID to Mark Van Order to joke with some gals at a club in 'Po Town. He went out, and I got back to base without it. Fantail-Mast...

Launch the Alert Pontiac!

Caperton submitted a chit for "A night of Fun and Debauchery". Got denied, I think...

Black and White tea in Hobart.

San Migoo beer.

"Cars near Binictican, Come in!"

Just about putting my hand on a rockfish 15' off Grande Island beach.

Getting chased by Lion Fish.

Anchoring in the middle of Subic Bay 'cuz the steel cables wouldn't hold in a typhoon.

etc., etc., etc.

Take care all,

Mot Zongo aka Gonzo aka Tom Gonzales

p.s. I worked with another ex-E Nuke at Cal Poly: John Van Muckey.

Melon Head .....

Hey Tom Gonzalez,

When you worked with John Van Muckey did he look like this???

John was my pet wog in Westpac 88, he was a great pal. We gotta get him on the site!!!

The tale behind the picture is coming up later in my "As the pig floats" series. It was on a trip to Breckenridge in 87. John got the worst case of poison oak I've ever seen.

Louie Wingo

Believe It Or Not, This Came In at the Same Time as Lou's Above Message..... !

Could we be hearing from JVM soon??

Forwarded From Iraq ....

Ahoy to Tom ....

As The Pig Floats -070104

Mike made me have to go out of chronological order to cover the whole Van Muckey head swelling issue:

In the late fall of 87 a bunch of the RC guys decided we needed to get one more ski trip in before we shipped off for Westpac 88 ( the ship left within days after New Year's). We had no formal plan but knew we wanted to go far inland to get away from any Navy influence. The standard Tahoe trip simply wouldn't suffice. So we set out for points eastward. Our original intent was for Utah (at the time we pronounced it as you would hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing the very name), but as Mike stated it was early in the season and they hadn't received enough snow yet. So we continued on to Colorado hearing that they had snow or at least snow making ability. The four that made the journey were me, Galbraith, Lorenz, and Van Muckey. I think we wanted others to come but we were the only ones willing to sacrifice Christmas leave time to get the job done.

As Mike stated, John got involved helping a neighbor and came down with the worst case of poison oak I've ever seen. And this happened as we were leaving. He showed up with calamine and navy corpsman remedies. By the time we reached Utah, it was clear that Van Muckey was in serious trouble, see the picture below. We took him to the Air Force guys and the zoomies got him back on track. We had many derogatory names for him but pumpkinhead and melon head were the most common. You have to know the background on John. He was a body builder and very concerned about his looks. Going on leave in this state was absolutely devastating to him. No girl would ever come near him, and quite frankly children would cry when they saw him. He looked like the elephant man. But he was cool and toughed it out, that's what you gotta love about Van Muckey.

Well we made our way across to Colorado, and no further mishaps. Tune of the ride was "Dude looks like a lady" by Aerosmith. Again a song we couldn't get away from, by the time we got to Colorado none of us would ever want to hear that damn song again. I remember we were driving across Colorado and it was morning after a long night, Rich was driving, it was his car, the Monte Carlo, and he was the only one gonna drive, and I was riding shotgun. I had fallen asleep and I was suddenly rocked to my senses just in time to see a mule deer's ass smack right into the passenger side of Rich's car. I looked forward and there was a whole herd of them in front of the car. Rich was totally pumped with adrenaline and both hands firmly on the wheel, tires squealing, he had managed to slide right between two separate groups of the deer and only hit one, the bump I woke up to. He was amazed for hours after, and we couldn't stop talking about the "Great White Antelope" that was coming around to kick our ass (note the Ted Nugent reference here). From that point on we noticed every deer crossing warning posted.

We ended up staying at a hotel in Frisco, CO and skiing at Breckenridge and Keystone. The skiing was fantastic. The hotel was a little drive by place on the main drag in Frisco. Incidentally I returned to Frisco this year to go skiing and sure enough that same hotel is there and in business. The cool thing about the hotel was that they had a huge hot tub in the middle of the parking lot. We took over the thing. While the three hot tubbers got blind drunk with snow falling on our heads, Van Muckey went for a jog up in the mountains. He returned shortly after completely breathless and realized that altitude does have a profound effect on athletic ability. He quickly joined us in the tub. We all got plastered and Lorenz was kind enough to tape record our conversation. I hope to God that tape never surfaces, it can't be pretty.

The skiing was great. I remember one point riding the chair up with Rich and we're laughing and enjoying the day, we look down and notice two poles sticking out of the snow. Some poor bastard had dropped their poles while riding the chair and would have to come down without them. Just then we see Van Muckey cautiously plowing his way down the mountain arms out wide for balance as he went straight for the poles he'd dropped. We laughed so hard we nearly fell out of the chair ourselves.

Well we skied our asses off and finally had to head back home. The entire trip out and back we never stopped at McDonalds, we always ate at some diner. And every time we stopped Galbraith would always ask "What's the special." I swear to God, everywhere, every time, it was chicken fried steak. And Galbraith ate it every time.

More pictures to follow…. 

Louie Wingo

Ron Smothers Comes Aboard ....

Lance Bybee Comes Aboard ....

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Paul Yingst Comes Aboard ....

Robert Pettis Comes Aboard ....

CC Smith ....

Keith Van Bueren Comes Aboard ....

Back at ya Jim ....

Yes, Jim, I was the nub RO on watch when John Warchol held reveille on you. I still don't believe what I saw. I swear you had your immediate actions done before your tumbling clipboard hit the deck. You brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "I can do this with my eyes closed." There can be no disputing that you knew your CPs cold.

I remember that "Ligntning Rod" acquired his given nickname for a demonstration of his speed in Control Equipment, but I doubt that whoever gave him that moniker witnessed your wakeup call.

As for toughness of checkouts. You were simply thorough. Although he was never unreasonable, nobody was more demanding or harder to read than Frank Davies. He used to page through the qual standard and ask questions about nearly every item there.

Lyle Cook was also a though one, but he was so easily incensed that I didn't like to go to him for checkouts. I was afraid that a wrong answer from me might touch off his powder keg personality and he might die of some stress related medical malady.

Someone else who could do amazing things with his eyes closed was Gene Howard. I recall an incident that resulted in the disqualification of six exhausted reactor operators (myself included) It was one of those cold iron maintenance marathons and nobody in the plant had seen their pits in a couple of days. Gene was leading a team of techs doing CRDM checks on 4B RX. He was getting pretty close to his time limit on the validity of the rod testing precrit so he opted to pull a rod for "political critical" in order to buy himself some time. When the scram breaker wouldn't close after several tries, he immediately went to a little used procedure and installed jumpers in the flow instrument. It worked, and the poor old PPWS, was a victim of his own trusting nature. Gene pulled the rod to clear the RBL and scrammed it out. Ten minutes later when he wanted to initiate a legitimate test, he called into EOS requesting to latch a rod. He was told to wait while we start an RCP for flow. It was then that we realized that he had latched and pulled a rod without flow.

It didn't end there. The PPWO polled the watchstanders to see if anyone had yet recorded it and if so, what did they record. I reminded the watch officer that this event would soon turn into bragging rights. What he was considering was not good. Within twenty minutes PPWO, PPWS and every RC watchstander in the plant was in front of the XO. When the first two interviews revealed the sleep situation, the rest of us were haulded in and asked how much sleep we had in the preceding days. We were all then ordered to our racks for 24 hours. We were also disqualified and had to go through our senior boards again. Gene was left in this limbo for 5 months and 29 days before hew was recertified.

Good system interrelation knowledge and extreme sleep deprivation combined for a incident report worthy to be reported fleetwide.

R/Thomas Kreischer

Jerry Vogt Comes Aboard ....

.... I was just perusing the [KP] site and I came across an entry about me keeping the most accurate Bag Log. I still have it, and what's more I still carry the very same notepad with me at my job today! I don't have any bag entries left in it, but here is a scan of the back cover. I only created it for Ulmer anyway. A couple of years ago , I removed his pages. I think he still owes me about 4hrs of SRO and RO. Yeah, I don't know how it survived, but here it is...

7/7/04

OUR FIRST EVER LETTER FROM A FEMALE USS ENTERPRISE SAILOR!

Big E Beef ....

During the ’94 Westpac, one of the port calls to Subic found us tied to Alava Pier. The day after we tied up, a one hundred man working party was called away to strike down a large delivery of frozen food. I had duty the previous day so I was in no danger of being nominated for the strikedown. Although I could benefit from a softly observed policy allowing me the day after duty off, I took my time getting out of the plant. When I finally did change and climb up the ladder to greet the day, the strikedown was in full swing.

Knowing that what was being sent down the conveyors would be my sustenance for the next few weeks, I decided to nose around and see what was going to be on the menu. I can still see the hundreds of cases of frozen New York strip steaks being pulled off the pallets and sent down the line. At first glance this seemed to indicate a rich feast of quality beef, but a closer examination of the markings on the boxes would correct the folly of my high thinking. There in plain view was the USDA inspection stamp alerting the handler that the package contained “Grade E” beef.

To the untrained it might just have been a reason to grumble and it would come as no surprise to anyone that the navy had purchased inferior quality foodstuffs for its sailors. However, for farm boys like myself, who understood the grading system, it was something much bigger. USDA inspected, yes! But “Grade E” is assigned to that which is not fit for human consumption and it is not to be sold for that purpose. Hence the glaring marks on the boxes. It is a principal ingredient for budget pet food and rendered animal feeds. Only Grade F is worse and federal law requires that it be destroyed.

My sustenance for the next few weeks was soup, and salad.

Thomas Kreischer RC14 82-85

The Gas House Gang ....

Puppy Love ....

Andy Comes Aboard?

KP, Great website! I was wondering if you still sell shirts?

Andy RM14/RM03

7/14/04

NPJ Article:

Hey Ram, 

Got this article and thought that many existing and recently "Ex-Navy Nukes" could use some of the info in this article to feel that there is life after the Navy, should they want to continue in the nuclear industry. 

Take care and your work maintaining the site is greatly appreciated.

 Joe

Jul 13 - Nuclear Plant Journal

The safe, reliable, and cost-effective operation of NPPs requires that personnel possess and maintain the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes to do their jobs properly. Such knowledge includes not only the technical competencies required by the nature of the technology and particular engineering designs, but also the "softer" competencies associated with effective management, communication and teamwork. The IAEA Incident Reporting System Study on the Loss of Corporate Knowledge based on the 2000-2001 events has indicated that 44 reports from 1411RS reports reviewed contain elements relating to the loss of corporate knowledge and memory.

Traditional worker training programs have addressed explicit knowledge that is contained in written documents, policies, and procedures. However, tacit knowledge that is held in a person's mind has not typically been either captured or transferred in any formal manner. Rather, new workers have acquired such knowledge over time through their working with those who already possess it.

As those workers who are in possession of this tacit knowledge leave the workplace for retirement, the effective capture and transfer of that information becomes even more critical. The longterm operation of NPPs requires that this entire body of explicit and tacit knowledge be transferred to new personnel as they enter the workforce. Accordingly, new and different techniques may be required to ensure timely and effective knowledge retention and transfer.

A new report on the subject prepared by the IAEA is intended to provide NPP managers practical information they can use to improve the transfer of knowledge from the current generation of operating organization personnel to the next generation in an effective manner. A survey on the topic was distributed to NPP operating organizations in IAEA Member States to collect information regarding both the magnitude of the problems in this area and also the methods being used to transfer tacit and explicit knowledge to the next generation of NPP personnel. The information provided in the report is based upon the experiences of Member State operating organizations as well as other related industries.

Summary of Current Situation

In some Member States, measures have been taken to terminate operations prior to the scheduled end of plant life, or agreements have been made to phase out nuclear power. Privatization and more open energy markets have created greater financial uncertainty. Downsizing and right sizing efforts in NPP operating organizations can result in the departure, almost simultaneously, of much of the organizational knowledge. These factors mean that, in many Member States, it is more difficult today to attract people into the nuclear power industry. Additionally, the growth in information technology opportunities for young professionals has resulted in fewer students pursuing traditional engineering degrees, not just in nuclear engineering. In still other Member States, significant numbers of experienced personnel have immigrated to other countries due to better opportunities. It is also important to recognize that the situation described above does not apply in all Member States. In some countries, particularly those with continuing construction and commissioning of new plants, there are few concerns or issues with respect to an ageing workforce and transfer of knowledge.

Recent positive trends in the nuclear power industry include continuing new construction in Asia, a return to new construction in Europe, new plants being seriously discussed in North America, plant life extensions being implemented for many existing plants, improved operational and safety performance of plants overall, and innovative designs being developed through the Gen IV initiative. The success of all of these efforts depends upon having sufficient well- qualified personnel for their implementation.

Nuclear Industry Trends

The IAEA's PRIS data indicates that of the 437 NPP units in operation in 2003, over 80% (355) have been in operation for 15 years or more. If one considers that most of the initial professional and technical staff for an NPP are hired approximately 5 years in advance of the commercial operation date, then for this group of plants, the personnel who grew up with the plant have a minimum of 20 years experience, which suggests that the youngest of this group is in their mid40's, and most are older. One common characteristic of NPP personnel in IAEA Member States has been workforce stability; most people came to the organization shortly after completion of their formal education and internships, and stay until they retire. This combined with a general trend toward smaller plant staffs, particularly over the past decade, means that for most NPP operating organizations that have not built new plants within the past 15 years, there has been a very small influx of new personnel. That is until recently, when current staff began to retire in significant numbers.

Recently, restructuring and downsizing have been a reality for NPP operating organizations in a number of Member States. Downsizing has, in some cases, aggravated agei ng workforce issues through compressing the time period over which the transition occurs and, if not well thought out, can provide insufficient lead time to plan a well organized transition of know how (and know why) to replacement personnel. Early decommissioning of NPPs creates special needs.

Trends in Education

In a number of IAEA Member States, due to uncertainties and fewer career opportunities, interest in nuclear industry courses of study has continued to decrease. This decrease has happened in many cases in all engineering areas, not just nuclear engineering. In some IAEA Member States with economies in transition, the overall quality of education has decreased, and education budgets are very limited. In these situations, nuclear training centers need more effort to prepare specialists to be able to fulfill all needs of NPPs.

The OECD/NEA report entitled, Nuclear Education and Training; Cause for Concern published in 2000 indicated that:

"In most countries there are now fewer comprehensive, high- quality nuclear technology programs at universities than before. The ability of universities to attract top-quality students to those programs, meet future staffing requirements of the nuclear industry, and conduct leading-edge research in nuclear topics is becoming seriously compromised. A number of concerns exist:

* The decreasing number and the dilution of nuclear programs.

* The decreasing number of students taking nuclear subjects.

* The lack of young faculty members to replace aging and retiring faculty members.

* Aging research facilities which are being closed and not replaced.

* The significant fraction of nuclear graduates not entering the nuclear industry."

In 2002, OECD/NEA launched a follow-up study to assess the evolution since the previous study. The preliminary results from this soon to be released study show that a large number of actions have been initiated and positive development has been reported in several countries. However, the situation in many countries demands further actions. International level collaboralion may offer a complementary route to improve the amount and the quality of nuclear education.

A number of international and national efforts have been initiated to address the need for greater numbers of well qualified and educated nuclear industry recruits. The most recent of these is the World Nuclear University (WNU) |http:/ /www. world-nuclear- university.org]. The WNU founding supporters are the IAEA, ???/ OECD, WANO and WNA, and membership includes 26 organizations worldwide. The mission of the World Nuclear University is to strengthen the international community of people and institutions so as to guide and further develop:

The safe and increasing use of nuclear power as the one proven technology able to produce clean energy on a large global scale; and the many valuable applications of nuclear science and technology that contribute to sustainable agriculture, medicine, nutrition, industrial development, management of fresh water resources and environmental protection.

Through a worldwide network that coordinates, supports and draws on the strengths of established institutions of nuclear learning, the WNU will promote academic rigor and high professional ethics in all phases of nuclear activity, from fuel and isotope supply to decommissioning and waste management.

Other recent international initiatives regarding nuclear education and training include the European Union's European Nuclear Engineering Network (ENEN) and its successor the Nuclear European Platform for Training and University Education (NEPTUNO) (these initiatives are for both current EU Members and those countries planning to soon join the EU [www3.sckcen.be/enen]), and the Asian Nuclear Safety Network.

Trends in IT Support for KM

Most NPP operating organizations use information technology (IT) to improve their systems for designing, developing and implementing training programs and other human resource management functions. Some organizations have implemented or are now implementing integrated human resource management systems for all activities concerning planning, employment, organizing, assessment, training, development, payment, protection of health, and use of human resources in \the organization. Use of IT tools for knowledge management is not yet common in most Member State NPP operating organizations. E-learning is used by some but not most operating organizations, and generally in limited ways (e.g., general employee refresher training). Some operating organizations have integrated computerized operation management systems, including work planning and control, and document management functions. The outputs from these systems are readily available to all plant personnel through Intranets.

Conclusions from the IAEA Report

The main conclusions from the IAEA report regarding strategies for managing an aging workforce are:

The nature and magnitude of the aging workforce problem for the organization should be defined and regularly updated. Staffing plans/ work force plans should be prepared that provide a standardized methodology for overall human resources planning driven by strategic and business goals. These plans should identify planned retirements and vacant positions as well as the required staffing levels needed to support business strategies. They should include attrition data, development plans, succession plans and current work force requirements.

Activities should be strengthened to retain current employees, including regularly soliciting inputs from employees regarding their job satisfaction and motivation, monitoring external markets to ensure that employee benefits and compensation are competitive, and providing opportunities for career/professional development.

Partnerships with educational institutions and universities that provide qualified professionals for the nuclear industry should be assessed based upon medium and long term needs, and strengthened where needed. Actions should be taken to make the organization an attractive employer and neighbor in the community.

The main conclusions from the report regarding the capture and preservation of mission critical knowledge, and the effective transfer of this knowledge to the next generation of NPP personnel are the following:

Experience has shown that one of the principal limitations of such individual transfer of tacit knowledge is the potential for variability in the quality of knowledge transfer. Thus, personal transfer should be supplemented, whenever feasible by support systems including guidelines, job aids, individual development plans, structured onthe-job training and communities of practice that both help to provide consistent and high quality transfer of tacit knowledge as well as providing a way to transfer tacit knowledge, where appropriate, to explicit knowledge.

The nuclear industry due to its need for well documented procedures, specification, design basis, safety analyses, etc. has a greater fraction of its mission critical knowledge as explicit knowledge than do many other industries. This facilitates the task of knowledge transfer. For older plants in particular, there may be a need for additional efforts to transfer tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge to support major strategic initiatives such as plant license extensions/renewals, periodic safety reviews, major plant upgrades, and plant specific control room simulator development.

The challenge in disseminating explicit knowledge is to make employees aware that it is available, provide easy access, in formats and forms that are usable.

Tacit knowledge is more difficult to identify and disseminate. The challenge is to identify what can be converted to explicit knowledge and to create an environment where tacit knowledge is routinely shared and disseminated (knowledge-sharing culture). No information management system can replace the need for face-to-face interactions, particularly for transfer of tacit knowledge (experts know more than they can say, or write).

Many NPP operating organizations have taken positive and decisive steps to address the aging workforce situation. A number of these actions are described in the document, and should be considered for use by others, as appropriate.

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