Needless to say there are many traditions in the
Military. Some make you proud, some are kind of cool the first time,
most of them sucked, but some could go either way, depending on where you were
in life at that particular moment.
One of these traditions was when an Aircraft Carrier came
back into its home port after a long deployment and it was called “Manning the
Rail”. The junior sailors were directed to get into their dress uniforms and
muster (gather) on the flight deck of the ship, then go stand at “parade rest”
around the perimeter of the ship. There was no rail but, whatever. Now since we
had to do it, I was told that the best place to be was on the starboard
(right) side so you could see all the folks waiting on the pier. Maybe someone
was waiting for you or maybe not. Three to four hundred sailors in dress
uniforms, standing at arms’ length apart, covering the entire perimeter of the
ship does look pretty cool from a helicopter picture.
It always seemed like it took forever to dock a ship
the length of 3 football fields. Once a carrier got to a certain point in the
harbor the tug boats took over. Usually there was nary a problem when they did
it, and Captains don’t actually steer the ships anyway. They are just
responsible for it. But once we had a really cool, single, male Captain and his
nick-name was Burner Bob. Robert Hickey was his real name, he was a jet pilot
and had fun in overseas ports just like the rest of us did. He was cool.
Anywho, he decided to park the Ranger himself one time at
North Island after coming back from some operations in and around the San Diego
waters and he did a bit of damage. Probably got talked to by the higher ups,
but dang, HE took the con and parked it. Unheard of for a Captain of a carrier,
circa 1986. In today’s PC world, a male would get relieved of duty if he farted
in the general direction of a female.
But I digress…
I manned the rail coming back from a cruise 3 different
times (that I remember) over my 4 major deployments (I transferred off the
Ranger during my 4th cruise before we came back to CONUS-continental
United States).
Here is the deal.
The first time. On the U.S.S. Saratoga. Out October 3rd
1978 back on April 5th, 1979. The Iranian Hostage crisis started on
Nov. 4th so the whole cruise was tense while we patrolled the
Mediterranean ocean. I was 20, single, a bit tipsy (they had to distribute the
4 gallons of duty free liquor we bought the night before. If you got caught
drinking, you would be in trouble-right!) They de-boarded the ship from senior
to junior for that one. It took forever but it was all new to me. And the older
guys all told me to look for the Dolphins while I was standing up there. What?
They were right. There actually was (And usually were) a big pod of Dolphins
right off the Starboard side of the ship. It was like they were guiding us into
port. It kind of felt pretty cool up there looking around at the huge crowd
waiting at the pier in Mayport, Florida! It was like a hero’s welcome, I felt
very proud.
The second time. U.S.S. Saratoga. Out March 10th,
1980 back on August 27th, 1980. I hated that cruise. I was Jonesin’
for my girlfriend, her mom had my car and our docking date had been
changed. I didn’t know if either would be there waiting because it took a letter
20 days minimum to get back and forth. So, the last letter I got that she sent
me said, “We were on the pier, where the hell were you, never mind, it’s over,
gotta go, my new boyfriend just pulled up in the driveway.” So when we finally
did get back, I was looking all over for my 1979 Renault LeCar. I had
butterflies in my stomach. The waiting was horrible. They de-boarded the ship
from senior to junior enlisted. The girlfriend & her sister did show
up as I was walking off the base to catch a bus to their house in Jacksonville,
Florida. Her mother made her find me evidently, since they had been driving my
car the whole time. Formally lost the girlfriend that night. I had already been
replaced. That one sucked.
The third time. U.S.S. Ranger. Out July 14th,
1987 back on December 29th, 1987.
I certainly had the butterflies manning the rail but it was
because I was married to my Crazy second wife and I had no clue if she would be
there or not. I wanted to see her but I didn’t really want to actually talk to
her, talking meant arguing. I was looking for the 1985 red Ford van I had. Too
many people to pick her out of the crowd of course, even from as high up as the
flight deck was. They de-boarded the ship from junior enlisted to senior. Hey,
that’s new. The wait was weird because part of me didn’t want to even see her
as she was so nuts. But, I de-boarded and found her in the crowd and as luck would
have it, she parked the van close by in the big parking lot on North Island in
San Diego and, well… if the house is a rockin’, don’t come a knockin’. Yup,
right there in the parking lot and again in the McDonalds parking lot on I-5
heading to our apartment in Irvine! Felt good, though it could have gone either
way, the wife was the x factor. So, it really does all matter as to where you
are in life, and we were both horny at that time. Vans are handy.
Side note: I guess Jayden will have to wait until he is
about 18 to read this one.
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