I attended ET "A" from May- Nov1984. We participated in a special program and were trained/tested in both COMM and RADAR. If I remember correctly only about 5 of us made it all the way out of 3 Shifts of students. It was a waste of good sailors who could have been good ET's in either of the disciplines but washed out due to the workload.
Ah man, that was an astonishing winter. I remember the sidewalks being shoveled with walls on each side higher than my head, and the cars left in the parking lots sometimes just being little bumps in the snow. When you'd step around the corner of a building and the wind would hit you, you couldn't breathe for a moment, it was just like when you were a kid and would stick your head out the care window. And any moisture in your hair would instantly freeze, all the poor guys with their mustache icicles! With the wind chill they would tell us it was like 60 below, remember? That sounds excessive now but I believed it then. Miserable! Women weren't allowed to wear the nice thick gloves men were issued, we just had the little thin knit things, and I was really dressed down once for putting my hands in my coat pockets by an old senior chief, standing there outside the school with his nice warm stuff while my teeth chattered! Haha!
I went to ET "A" School in the fall of 1978, coldest winter ever if I remember right, on watch with every bit of uniform I could dig up (even a few unauthorized)to stay warm, taking refuge in the bowling ally until it closed at midnight. Great meatball subs just outside the gate. Train rides to Kenosha for a few beers. Road trips to Alpine Valley for outdoor concerts, those were the days.
I attended ET "A" School from spring of 1978 until very early in 1979. I lived most the time in the Gunner's Mate barracks, since the wave cage was full and they moved many of us who had long schools over. It was a lot closer to the ET school and much nicer. A head in every room instead of one big one down the hall!
Attended ET"A" School Feb '59 - Jan '60. Arrived from New York wearing a Flat Hat. Sorry marine gate guard wouldn't let me on board until I dug to the bottom of my seabag for a "dixie cup." 2330 and colder than the mammary gland on a broomstick jockey.
Hey, John, thanks for the reply. Fortunately I only had to ask for help once from the ETs. When my work was done I'd go to the ET shop and help them with their work and that way I built a good relationship with them over the 3 years I was with COMSECONDFLT staff (sea duty). But, yes, the sanitizing was necessary and unfortunate. When I was in ET school we continued with the Comm ETs (radar ETs went another route) through the whole school. There was no CTM specific A school classes. I did the whole ET A school in less than a year via E-Branch. We only had to take the tests and studied on our own. I did tutor at night to get out of extra duty (watch standing). Our EMO was a CWO3 and a real likable guy who appreciated our job. Congratulations on your reaching CWO before retiring. That's quite an accomplishment. All the best, John.
Randy, I recall a few CTM's going to school with us. I think they took off after A-2 for other training. I would run into CTM's again going to Crypto School at Mare Is. Additionally over the years, I would often be asked to provide tech assist for CT's at sea and ashore. The Security Clearance thing was always a pain because I would be inevitably be kept cooling my heels in the passageway while the CT's would 'sanitize' their space so I could enter. Then I would have someone hovering over me while I worked. At one point, I returned to Mare Is as a KG-14 Instructor and would occasionally have a CTM in my class in which case I would have to teach him the low speed data function which was only used by CT's(SECGRU). Of course I wasn't privy to what sort of system it was used in. Despite the inconveniences, I always got along well with the CT's and enjoyed their company.
Like John, I attended ET "A" school in 1969-70, E-Branch, then off to Mare Island for KW-7 and then to COMSECONDFLT as a CTM in the Naval Security Group. Finished up in Rota at FOSIF.
Comments
I attended ET "A" from May- Nov1984. We participated in a special program and were trained/tested in both COMM and RADAR. If I remember correctly only about 5 of us made it all the way out of 3 Shifts of students. It was a waste of good sailors who could have been good ET's in either of the disciplines but washed out due to the workload.
Terry is right, the winter of '78 was the worst, I lived in the 530 baracks and had to walk to Lenos for subs! :)
I attended from Augest 1978 to May 1979 in the "Comm" classes. I am interested in anyone that was there when I was.
Ah man, that was an astonishing winter. I remember the sidewalks being shoveled with walls on each side higher than my head, and the cars left in the parking lots sometimes just being little bumps in the snow. When you'd step around the corner of a building and the wind would hit you, you couldn't breathe for a moment, it was just like when you were a kid and would stick your head out the care window. And any moisture in your hair would instantly freeze, all the poor guys with their mustache icicles! With the wind chill they would tell us it was like 60 below, remember? That sounds excessive now but I believed it then. Miserable! Women weren't allowed to wear the nice thick gloves men were issued, we just had the little thin knit things, and I was really dressed down once for putting my hands in my coat pockets by an old senior chief, standing there outside the school with his nice warm stuff while my teeth chattered! Haha!
I went to ET "A" School in the fall of 1978, coldest winter ever if I remember right, on watch with every bit of uniform I could dig up (even a few unauthorized)to stay warm, taking refuge in the bowling ally until it closed at midnight. Great meatball subs just outside the gate. Train rides to Kenosha for a few beers. Road trips to Alpine Valley for outdoor concerts, those were the days.
I attended ET "A" School from spring of 1978 until very early in 1979. I lived most the time in the Gunner's Mate barracks, since the wave cage was full and they moved many of us who had long schools over. It was a lot closer to the ET school and much nicer. A head in every room instead of one big one down the hall!
Attended ET"A" School Feb '59 - Jan '60. Arrived from New York wearing a Flat Hat. Sorry marine gate guard wouldn't let me on board until I dug to the bottom of my seabag for a "dixie cup." 2330 and colder than the mammary gland on a broomstick jockey.
Hey, John, thanks for the reply. Fortunately I only had to ask for help once from the ETs. When my work was done I'd go to the ET shop and help them with their work and that way I built a good relationship with them over the 3 years I was with COMSECONDFLT staff (sea duty). But, yes, the sanitizing was necessary and unfortunate. When I was in ET school we continued with the Comm ETs (radar ETs went another route) through the whole school. There was no CTM specific A school classes. I did the whole ET A school in less than a year via E-Branch. We only had to take the tests and studied on our own. I did tutor at night to get out of extra duty (watch standing). Our EMO was a CWO3 and a real likable guy who appreciated our job. Congratulations on your reaching CWO before retiring. That's quite an accomplishment. All the best, John.
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