Coast Guard Musings

Growing up in Tucson, AZ, it only made sense that I would enlist in the Coast Guard as a naive 19 year old in 1974. I took a battery of tests and qualified for most of the MOS (main occupational specialist) jobs. A small detail, however, was learning through the medical exams that I have a significant color perception deficiency. I can see primary colors well enough. And I never realized this all through high school. As is, I struggle to differentiate similar colors next to each other or see colors at all in low light. As such, that color deficiency precluded me from being considered for fields such as electronics or navigation. So, for the most part, that left administration type jobs. And so I was offered a guaranteed Radioman School after completing basic training. In all, those 4yrs were spent in completing bootcamp and Radioman A-School before being stationed for varying lengths of time at a radio station on Guam, Cape Cod Air Station and the Coast Guard Cutters Basswood (Guam), Duane (Portland ME) and Sherman (Boston MA). I am proud of my service as a radioman – or more accurately, a “dit-jockey” (aka a Morse code operator). I eventually attained the rank of petty officer 2nd class (E5). This page is intended to detail some of those experiences which have been carried forth through all these years and have helped shape me into the man I am today. Semper Paratus!