So after the 29 days, I decided to return to the ship on the 30th day morning.  I walked up the brow of the ship and onto the quarter deck, presented my ID and asked permission to come aboard.  Without hesitation the Officer of the Deck gave me permission to come aboard.

I was stunned because the officer of the deck did not know I was U.A.  I said to him, “Wait.  Don’t you know that I am U.A.?”  He looked at me for a second and with an embarrassed look on his face he said, “Oh!  Hold on!”  So he called downstairs to the Master at Arms and informed him that I was returning from being absent without authorization.

So after a couple minutes the Master at arms took me and began processing me.  He told me I was on restriction and not allowed to leave the ship.  I also had to report to the Chief’s Mess in the morning for a board meeting.

When you commit a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice you basically receive an informal trial first.  Then if necessary you must have a meeting with the Executive Officer.  Finally if the charges are serious enough then you have a Captain’s Mass.

Cheifs Review Board – The meeting with the Chief’s were my first order of business.  You enter into their mess hall, and they will be sitting around a table and you must stand at parade rest.  Then they will read out what you are being charged with and after they will let you explain your reasons for your actions.

At the time I went to see the Chiefs I still had a really poor attitude.  I didn’t care about what happened and expected to be kicked out of the Navy.  So the morning of the review board I dressed in a wrinkled and painted up uniform.  I had lost all military bearing and was already a civilian in my mind.

As soon as I walked in and stood at parade rest they made me stand at attention.  They could feel my attitude right away.  These were hard core sailors.  They were the salty dogs and I was disgracing their Navy.  They shouted at me to stand at attention, then they read the charges.

“You are being charged with 29 days of Unauthorized Absence and 3 accounts of missing ships movement.”, the Senior Chief said.  “What do you have to say about this?”.  I don’t remember the exact words I used but they were not positive.  I basically told them that I had did it on purpse and wanted out of the Navy.

They, of course, did not like that answer and began pouring on the scare tactics.  One of them told me, “Do you realize how fast this ship can suddenly go to war??”.  I said no and he snapped his fingers and with an angry look on his face he said, “Just like that!”.  He said that if I would of left while at war it was possibly punishable by death.

So they kept asking me questions but I kept answering with the words “no and “yeah”, instead of “Yes Cheif” or “No Cheif”, etc.  This is considered disrespectful and it really pissed them off.  They got so mad that they told me to get the hell out of there.  They were very disgusted at my attitude. 

The Master at Arms took me a side and counciled me a bit.  I thought about the conversation I had with my dad while I was U.A.  I told him that

Whatever he said got to me because I remember suddenly changing my attitude and wanting to do things right.  In other words they were going to let me back in the talk to them if I showed respect.  They mentioned that the charges against me could be resolved right there and I may not have to talk to the XO or Captain.

I agreed to show respect this time and try to act more mature.  So I went back in and this time they told me that because the charges were so serious they had no choice but to send me to the XO.

So the rest fo the day I began to do some serious brainstorming.  I felt kind of ashamed of myself after the meeting with the Cheifs like as if I was better than that.  I thought a lot about what my father had said about me quitting and I began to change my attitude.  I talked more with the Master At Arms and decided I was going to make a change.  I decided I did not really want to quit and I wanted to see this thing through.

XOI – So the next day I got prepared to see the XO.  I took the time to make sure my uniform was squared away.  When I met the executive officers it was a much more formal ceremony.  I had to stand at attention at one of a table and he stood there and read the charges to me.  This time when he asked me what I had to say about the charges I said, “Sir, I made a huge mistake.  I am sorry for what I have done and I have a lot of growing up to do.”  He was shocked at what I said.  I could tell he saw right away that I was not trying to make excuses and he said, “Well….um…unfortunately these are serious charges and I have no choice but to send you to see the Captain.”  Just like the Cheifs told me.

Captain’s Mass – So I ended up going to Captain’s Mass that same day.  Again, I made sure my uniform was squared away and I went up to see the Captain.  This time there were quite a few people present.  There was the Captain, Master At Arms, the BM1, a couple other people from my division, two other officers, plus the XO.  So again he read the charges and asked me what I thought about them.  I said the same thing I told the XO.  He responded differently than the XO however.  He told me that he had faith in me and said he knows I will turn this around.

He also asked the other officers and shipmates their opinion of me and if they thought I was worth salvaging.  They said, I was a hard worker and was worth keeping in Navy.  So the Captain did not kick me out, instead he issued the following punishments:

45 Days restriction – This meant I could not leave the ship for 45 days unless special authorization was granted.  Sometimes they let restricted people go to the exchange to get items they needed.

45 Days Extra Duty - Each of the 45 days I had to do two hours of extra work at night.  This was on top of my regular 8 hours of work during the day.  Whatever division had some extra work they could use me to do it for them.  Very often it was some sort of cleaning task.

1/2 Months Pay For 2 Months – I had my pay cut in half for two months.  This sucked.

Reduction in Rank From E-2 to E-1 – Restricted Bust - He gave me a restricted bust on this charge.  This meant that for the next 6 months if I didn’t get into any trouble, the reduction in rank would not occur.  But if I did it would take effect right away.

So there it was.  I was busted but not kicked out.  I wasn’t too down about the punishments though.  I had become a new person right then and there.  I knew I was going to turn things around and I was going to change my reputation.  Many people did not like me at that time because I showed lack of respect for the Navy and had a bad attitude.  I had an uphill battle, but I had pride and ego on my side.

Being On Restriction – As you would imagine being on restriction was pretty boring.  Same routine day in and out.  We did go out to sea though during that time to the Virgin Islands.  It sucked because we went to St. Croix and I was not able to go on liberty there.  I just got to hear how nice it was.  I do regret seeing that place.  I don’t remember going anywhere else though.

Conclusion – Eventually I released from restriction and my pay went back to normal.  I didn’t get into any trouble so my rank stayed the same.  I was on my way to becoming E-3 and then had to work on becoming a Boatswainsmate.  Throughout the restriction I began building new relationships and showing that I was serious about the job.  People started to notice and began respecting me more.  I eventually would go on to turning things completely around.  Stay tuned for more.

As an 18 year old punk, you often think you have all the answers.  You think you know what you are doing.   However, you are usually mistaken, because you don’t realize that you are still growing, there is so many things you don’t know and your mind is going to probably change.  This truth created some big problems for me in my first years in the Navy.

Back in the introduction I talked about why I wanted to join the Navy.  I said I wanted to become a SEAL and be the best of the best.  Well, that all changed when it came down to ACTUALLY doing it.

In boot camp I had a one track mind.  All I cared about was being a SEAL.  I was in great shape, afraid of no challenge and was on my way.  I had already passed the preliminary physical test and was about to go to dive school.   Then something suddenly changed.

I started thinking about what life would be like if I were actually a SEAL.  What if I did go all the way through the training and make it.  I thought about  how that lifestyle would be.  I already had a good idea of how it would be and I began to doubt myself.

I started asking myself if this is what I really wanted to be.  In a matter of minutes I had changed my mind and decided against becoming a SEAL.  Why I made that decision, I am still not quite sure.  I think all along I just wanted to become a SEAL just so I could show off to my brother and father.

It is obvious it wasn’t really what I wanted to do.  I don’t think I really knew WHAT I wanted to do, so it confused me.  I lost sight of the goal and this is where it began to go downhill.

So after announcing that I was no longer interested to my division leader I told him I just wanted to go to my duty station and perform the job I picked initially at MEPS.  I really wish I would of given more thought to the job selection process.  I chose Seaman Apprenticeship which if you were in the Navy you know what that job really entails.

Seaman Apprenticeship is basically a nice way of saying deck ape.  Your job is basically shipboard preservation.  The ship is mostly metal and metal in salt water is not a good combo.  So the ship rusts easily and quickly.  Someone must keep the rust under control or the ship will fall apart in no time.

This is the job of the deck division.  As an E-1 in the seaman apprenticeship program you will be in deck division and you be spending many hours per day chipping and sanding rust, priming and painting and cleaning.  Then you will do more sanding and more painting and cleaning.

As you would imagine I didn’t enjoy doing this job.  It was tedious work that never ended and I hated it.  This along with other aspects of the Navy, such as watches and authority started to make me not want to be there.  I starting thinking that this was not for me and I wanted to get out.

One day I was spending the night over at a friends house.  We were partying and having a great time like usual and I ended up spending the night.  I remember setting the alarm to wake me up in time to get back to the ship and be on time for quarters.  So, I fell asleep and when I woke up it was around 11 o’ clock.  It turns out I accidentally set the alarm for 11PM instead of 11AM.  Quarters usually starts at 8AM.  I was late!  In the military when you are late it is a big deal.  It doesn’t matter if you are late one minute or ten days.  It is still a major offense.

This was the beginning of a life changing experience for me.  Things went seriously downhill from this point.  Stay tuned…and don’t forget to subscribe to get the next story sent to you automatically.

When you work in the deck division on a ship you will probably end up having multiple division officers before your time is up.  They rotate them to different jobs on board the ship to ensure proper cross training.  You know, in case someone gets killed, another officer can jump right in and do their job.

Well, I had my share of division officers but there was one in particular that really stood out.  He had just became our official division officer and not even a couple weeks into it he decided it would be a good idea to have a division party.  I am sure he thought it would be a good idea to take us out of our element and get to know us on a more personal level.

So on a Friday night, we decided to go to one of our favorite places at the time.  Hooters! lol  We loved to go there and get good deals on pitchers and bulk up on some of their “famous” wings.  Not to mention, the lovely ladies that worked there were always something to look forward to.

We get there and right off the bat we order some wings and many pitchers of their finest imported beer.  He had mentioned that it was on him and not to worry about the cost.  He had a credit card, and being the young punks we were, we took full advantage of that situation.

Pitcher after pitcher we began to get pretty hammered.  All night we had been egging the division officer on.   He was tossing plenty of em’ back as all good sailors do.  Unfortunately, it began to get late and the party was coming to an end.  Slowly different parties began to exit and go about their nightly routine or back to the ship to sleep it off.

Guess who the remaining people just happen to be…yep.  The division officer and I.  He was stumbling out of the bar and was trying to his car.  He gets to his car and starts fumbling with the keys, trying to get them in the lock of the driver side door.  All the while scratching the door of his Beemer.  Being the responsible drunk person I was I told him it wasn’t a good idea to drive.

I told him I would not let him drive and got in between him and the door.  He stopped, looked up at me and said, “Oh yeah, Moreno??? Well, why don’t you drive?“, as he handed me the keys to the car.

I said to him along with a smile and giggle under my breath, “I could probably drive better than you can.“  So again like the responsible drunk person I was I got in the car and started it up.

Keep in mind I was 18 at the time, did not have a license, and had only driven a car one other time.

So off we went!  The plan was to take him back to the ship, but then we got to talking and he said he wanted to go to the beach and find some chicks.  I ended up agreeing, so we turned around and set off into the unknown.  I was trying to be really careful because I was nervous about the fact that I obviously “bit off more than I can chew”.

At this time the officer decided he was going to start vomiting on the floor of the passenger side of his own car!  I got to thinking about it and the nervous feeling began to consume me until I snapped back into reality.  I realized the whole situation was a really bad idea so I decided I was going to turn around and go back to the ship.  That is when disaster struck.

As I began to make a left turn around an island I didn’t turn the steering wheel back fast enough to level out and BAM!  I hit the curb with the left front tire and drove up on the island for a split second until I straightened the wheel out and plopped back onto the rode.  The officer sensed something was wrong (maybe it was the loud slamming noise of the tire hitting the curb) and he asked me what happened.  I told him it was nothing and that we just hit a bump.

He didn’t believe me at first but I was able to convince him everything was ok.  I needed to get back to the ship and end this stupid situation.  Now, pretty much sober in my mind, with adrenaline pumping viciously I continued on back to the ship.  We were a few miles away.

Everything was going good until disaster struck again and the tire went flat.  By this time, the officer was passed out in the passenger seat.  I woke him up and told him that the tire was flat.  I also asked him if the car had a spare so I could change it.  So we pulled over at the nearest gas station. Wouldn’t you know it, the spare was locked in a compartment in the trunk and he didn’t have the keys!

We tried using that fix a flat stuff but it barely made difference.  He mentioned that the rims were supposed to be drivable rims.  His little nap had sobered him up enough that he started thinking straight.  He realized the situation and began to tell me I needed to leave.  He said that he was acting really irresponsible and that I needed to get back to the ship.  We both could get into a lot of trouble for what we were doing.

I agreed, took a cab back to the ship, and fell asleep.  The next day I woke up went to quarters, but he did not show up.  I figured he was probably really hung over and went on sick call or something.  That turned out to be not true and he didn’t show up on Sunday either.

I started to get worried.  I kept thinking to myself, he got hurt or was in jail.  Maybe he got in trouble and got kicked out of the Navy.  Finally Monday rolls around and he shows up.  That morning after quarters we had a little private chat regarding the situation.  The first thing he said to me was that he was really sorry about being irresponsible and that and he should of never allowed me to be in that situation.

Then he asked me what happened.  He said he did not remember a lot of what happened that night.  He said he only remembers driving until he got pulled over by the base police.  I couldn’t help but to laugh when he told me this next thing.  He said he got pulled over because he was speeding!  The cops said they noticed his tired was flat, but what concerned them was the fact that he was speeding while driving on the rim!

I came clean and told him that I had lied to him and it was my fault why the tire got flat.  He said, “I don’t care.  I am not mad at you at all!  I am just glad you didn’t get hurt or in trouble“.

In other words, he was trying to redeem himself in being a responsible officer.  I did not blame him.  It was the fault of both of us.  I should of never grabbed the keys and called a cab for both of us instead.

He never told me what consequences he faced due to the command finding out about the situation from the base police.  I am sure it wasn’t good.  I never heard anything else about it after that.  I figured he kept my name out of it all.  Anyway, it was no doubt a night I will remember for the rest of my life.

I always think about how much worse that situation could have been and that I was lucky to have made it out without injury or DUI, etc.  Imagine if I let him drive in his state and he crashed on the way home.  Getting really drunk and driving is a complete moron thing to do, especially when you don’t know how to drive and have no license.  No matter who you are or how well you THINK you can drive, it is not a good decision.

Keep this story in mind the next time you decide to drink.

No matter where I go, I always end up finding a new best friend.  I no doubt talk to many people, but there tends to always end up being one or two people that I really get along with.  In this case it was E.

E was simply, crazy.  That is the word that comes to mind when trying to sum up this guy’s personality.  He was Sicilian and had a bad attitude.  He was arrogant, mean, tough, funny, passionate but likable too.  He was the type of guy who was not afraid to tell you how he felt.  He was a real stand up guy.

We went out drinking one time and became friends right away.   We became like brothers and started doing everything together.  We had enormous amounts of fun working and partying together.  He was a native to Florida so he showed me all around the state and introduced me to places like, Tampa, Daytona, Orlando and Sarasota/Bradenton.

He were different people but boy did we love to get drunk together and cause havoc.  We often went to clubs and bars and drank until we passed out somewhere.  I was probably the worst at this part.  For some reason I often drank to the point of falling sleep in awkward or embarrassing positions and places.  It is amazing that I managed to avoid any major problems because of this.

We both loved to smoke also.  He smoked New Ports and I smoked Marlboro reds.  I actually didn’t enjoy smoking that much.  I was more addicted to the action and nicotine than anything.  There were times when cigarettes were enjoyable, like after a meal or a work out but most of the time it sucked.

At one point we had our own apartment off base.  Boy was that a party pad.  That is all we pretty much did in there.  Now that I looked back we really didn’t do much but go out all the time and get hammered.  We didn’t really think about anything else.  We were constantly moving and looking for the next way were going to have a good time.

There is not much more I can say about E.  He was my right hand man.  My partner in crime.  We laughed our asses off right through the three years we spent together on the ship.  We went through tough times together and always had each others back.  Just a couple of young punks with no purpose in life but to lose control and enjoy ourselves.  We didn’t have a care in the world.  I miss that…

In the next post I will talk about Mess Cranking. Hard work, let me tell you…

Click here for previous posts in this series. The U.S. Navy boot camp is run out of Great Lakes, Illinois.  It is a place with square shaped concrete buildings that look kind of like an old school grounds.  When you first get there you go through an initial processing phase that last about days.  I thought MEP’s was pretty horrible standing in lines for 12 hours.  When you arrive at Great Lakes you do this for 3 days straight with almost zero sleep!

The Arrival

I remember getting off of the bus when we arrived, and gett yelled at to go straight into a line.  There was constant yelling from drill instructors and senior recruits to shut up and not speak until asked a question.  There were many lines of recruits at different stations for different things.  Below is a list of things that you must do before you are processed into boot camp:

• Fill out a zillion forms to create your first service records
• Get a hair cut
• Send back all your civilian stuff
• Get your first uniform (Sweatsuit called SMURF’s)
• Take a urinalysis
• Get yelled at a lot
• A lot more things

The first thing you do is fill out tons of forms to create this detailed service record.  I remember hating this the most.  After creating the records they send you over to a new station where you get to pick up your first uniform.

The Smurfs

This is the first military uniform you will wear.  They had about 80 of us in one room and they told us all to strip down completely naked and change clothes.  This was our first lesson in changing in front of other people.   Most of you who played sports in high school will probably be used to this.

The reason it is called smurfs is because its an all blue uniform which makes you look like a smurf.  It is just sweat pants and a sweater and a hat that says recruit on it.  When you walk around the base wearing this uniform you stick out like a paris hilton video sitting on a church pew. All of the other senior recruits will make fun of you and laugh as you march around the base with 80 other guys you never met, trying your hardest to march in line.  I remember watching in awe at the senior divisions marching around in a super tight, flawless group.  Everyone in the division moved so smoothly like one solid entity.  The RDC would tell us that if we listened, we would be like them one day also.

The First Hair Cut

I remember getting my hair cut.  For guys they just shave your whole head with one small clip.  For girls they trim their hair very carelessly to the bottom of the collar.  I distinctly remember most of the girls crying after their hair was cut.  Many guys laughed at them.

The Piss Test

Also, when they gave you a urinalysis they had to see it come out of the source.  At the same time they were watching me, they were insulting me, saying lots of smart ass remarks, and all kinds of uncomforting things that had to do with sexuality, manliness, being gay, size, etc.

No sleep

The very first day you should get 1-2 hours of sleep if you are lucky.  The second night you may get 3-4 and the third night it depends.  When I was there I remember getting maybe 1-2 hours of sleep when I was suddenly woke up to get my stuff ready to start the next day.

Assignment

Once you complete all the records and get all of your stuff you will be assigned to an RDC.  RDC is short for Recruit Division Commander.  Your division will have between 1-3 of these guys in charge of you at all times.  Once you get assigned an RDC they will assign you to your bunk where you will sleep(BARELY) for the next 8 weeks.

After it’s all done

Short and sweet.  There isn’t much to it the first three days but a lot of standing in lines and being in fear of everything.  These days go by like a blur and before you know it you are marching around this base wondering what you are doing there. Stay tuned for the next episode of Navy Stories.  In the upcoming posts I will talk about each week of boot camp and what we did.

Read the next episode about the first week of boot camp.

Important:  The stories you are about to read are non-fiction.  They are real events that actually happened in my life.  I will try to keep as close to the actual events as my memory will permit.   Also, the statement and opinions expressed in these writings are that of my own and in no way reflect the opinions of or the policies of the U.S. Navy.

What I am writing?

I am in no way a professional writer.  I am writing this simply because I enjoy writing about Navy life and because I get to kind of re-live my experiences.  I have also found that people enjoy hearing stories about military experience.  I spent 3 years and 8 months in active duty in the U.S. Navy.  I first did a 3 year tour on a ship and then got activated from the reserves to do 6 months of duty in Kuwait.

I got out at the end of 2004 so it has been some time and a lot of partying since my Navy days.  Let us hope my memories still remain in tact.  So without further ado, I give you Navy Stories.  My first non-fiction writing project.  I hope you enjoy it.

The Decision To Join

For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a Navy SEAL.  I think it is because of a combination of reasons.  Both my father and brother were in the Army and they both are really into sports.  My father always talked to me about being somebody big and being my own man.   I wanted to to do something to top them and to impress them so, I joined the Navy to become a S.E.A.L.

I remember thinking that Navy SEALs are the best of the best and that is what I want to be.

Notes: SEAL is an acronym for SEa. Air and Land.  Which means they can run operations and attack the enemy from any geographical area or terrain.  Navy SEALs are the most elite military special forces unit in the world.  They have the most difficult training known to man.  The SEALs are trained to never quit no matter what.  This philosophy of strength in the individual makes them virtually unstoppable as a team.

I don’t remember the exact date I told my parents about joining the Navy but I know It was sometime during my junior year of high school.  My mom was not too happy about it but she wouldn’t tell me not to go.  My sisters were concerned but it was peace time at the time.  My brother was always a little tough on me and I remember my brother saying, “So you want to be a bad ass huh?  When you get back I am just going to kick your ass.  Just to show you how bad ass you aren’t.  Hahaha!”

I remember telling my dad that I wanted to go to the Navy to become a SEAL.  He gave me a lecture about the military and agreed that I should go if that is what I really wanted to do.  My father was drafted into the Army for 2 years during the Vietnam era.  He explained to me the difference between wanting to go, and being drafted, but I was very determined at that time to become the best so I did not care.

One day the recruiters came to my school and gave some speeches and walked around talking to the students and went ahead I enlisted during my junior year of high school.  I joined the early enlistment program so I would be ready to go as soon as I graduated.

The Recruiter’s

Those recruiters really sock it to you with the motivational speeches and bullshit, but when you are young they are very impressive people.  They will pretty much tell you anything to get you in.

When I went to the recruiter’s office he showed me various videos of Navy SEAL training to show me how hard it was.  The videos showed them holding boats over their heads and running ridiculous distances.  They did tons of different calisthenics and really tough training procedures.  They showed them infiltrating and taking over buildings, etc.   I was not deterred by the training.  I felt like I would be able to handle it.  The recruiter was surprised at how determined I was to be a SEAL.  He said that most of the people he shows the videos change their mind right away.

I had been approached by other recruiters from different branches before but I chose the Navy instead.  It was entertaining watching the recruiters argue that their branch of service was the best.  The Navy recruiters used Bo Jackson to help sell the idea saying, “Did you know Bo Jackson flew for the Blue Angels?!”.  They had posters of him on the wall in their office.

After the initial paper work I received a little white id. card saying that I was in the early enlistment program.  I was showing it off at school thinking I was all bad because I was going to the Navy.

Stay tuned for the next episode where I explain the grueling process of joining the Navy and going to boot camp.