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The Navy is at Sea in Ships
by Jean d'Isle

ollowing the unfortunate trashing of the Chrysler sedan on the pier in Pearl Harbor (see last week's article), I was forced to reevaluate my potential for a bright future in the seagoing navy. Notwithstanding the admonition by some early navy icon that "the Navy is at sea in ships," I was aware of several other career paths that began to look more inviting. I couldn't erase the image of the Commanding Officer raging at me over an incident that was entirely beyond my control (as borne out by a formal accident investigation).

There might have been a touch of desperation on my part as I searched through the manuals for the quickest way off the ship. Among the escape routes I considered was volunteering for the navy's wintering over program in Antarctica -- and me a warm weather person. Every year the navy accepted a limited number of volunteers to maintain the facilities housing the year-round, multi-national scientific operations on the ice cap. During the winter, this austere site was entirely isolated for several months by the surrounding ice fields. Was I that desperate? Possibly; but as luck would have it, my limited skills didn't seem to match their requirements.

Another program I briefly considered volunteering for was Explosive Ordnance Demolition (EOD) -- and me a coward. These are the guys who swim ashore ahead of the landing force to clear the beaches of explosives and obstacles. They are an elite group of fearless warriors whose exploits in WWII are legendary. The Marines who stormed ashore on the Pacific islands were often greeted by signs planted in the sand by advance EOD swimmers: "WETSU" (We Eat This Sh*t Up).

Another option, along the same lines, was the navy's UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) program that would later evolve into the Navy SEALs. We often carried the UDT people on exercises; and the idea of. paddling around off the coast of Southern California had a certain appeal; but the memory of launching those teams into the frigid night waters off the Washington coast was enough to dull my enthusiasm for that alternative.

Aha! But what is this? The navy is seeking volunteers for language training. Just pass an aptitude test and you're on your way to a year of intensive language training -- and surely following that, an assignment in some exotic country. Visions of embassy cocktail parties in Costa Rica or Japan, chatting up beautiful foreign agents, even duty as the Military Attach in Paris (this was before I became disenchanted with the French) leapt into my mind.

I had decided on the next fork in my life. Off went my paperwork to Washington, D.C. (endorsed favorably by a Commanding Officer who had apparently decided there wasn't room for both of us in his surface navy), asking that I be assigned to the language school in Monterey, California in the French language program.

Next Week
But I Said French, and California

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Jean d'Isle is a retired naval officer living in Hawaii.During his military career he served in a number of overseas assignments, including Germany, England, Spain, Viet Nam and Puerto Rico. Following his retirement, he was an adjunct faculty member of Hawaii Pacific University and is currently under contract with the U.S. Navy at the submarine base in Pearl Harbor.

Jean's column, View From d'Isle, is a regular feature of VegSource On-Line Magazine.