When I reported for duty at Subic Bay I had come to terms that I was now a career sailor. When I left two (2) years later, I had changed my mind.
We were now a family of 4. Lived in a townhouse on base and hired Angie's younger sister Carmin as our housekeeper.
I was the youngest first class petty officer at the law center and initially assigned as a court reporter.
A second class petty officer assigned to another department recognized me as being a member of the varsity softball team at Norfolk Naval Base and the word spread throughout the command that I was a good ballplayer.
I would play for a short period of time on the Command softball team but quit when problems arose with the new Senior Chief. We were 7 - 0 at the time I quit. I believe the team finished with an 8 - 7 record.
My first year at Subic went very well. I was a good reporter and could type at a good rate of speed with minimal errors and would take the time to carefully proofread my work before submitting the transcript of court-martials for approval.
I would be selected as Legalman of the Quarter and chosen to present the Admiral in Charge of the JAGC with a small token of appreciation, a Zippo lighter with the NLSO command logo, when he visited us at Subic Bay.
Although I was the junior First Class Legalman, I was selected to fill in for a vacant position in the Admiral's office that had previously been filled by a Master Chief Petty Officer. There was a large amount of work waiting for me that the Master Chief had failed to do. I would spend many extra hours of work to get the office up to par. The first order of business was to gather, organize and ship three (3) years of court-martial records to the Navy Personnel Records Center, and, then organize the current records in the appropriate alphabetic system.
I didn't know that my Department Head was aware of the task that I had to undertake to get the office in good working order, but he did. He would later write a special evaluation outlining the tasks that I had performed and called me the best Legalman in the Navy.
To the surprise of everyone, a fellow Legalman Fred Gemler and I would upset the defending Base horseshoe champs and become instant celebrities. Our commanding officer loved to see his command mentioned in the base newspaper:
Another exciting adventure was visiting Diego Garcia as the court reporter for a trial team sent to the island for a number of court-martials waiting to be tried. At the time, Diego Garcia was in the infant stage of becoming a major Naval Base in the Indian Ocean.
During the second year at Subic I would have problems with the new Senior Chief and decided that I would not stay in the Navy. I volunteered for Recruiting duty with the plan to network within the community I was assigned and get out of the Navy when my tour of duty was completed.
I would receive orders to Naval Recruiting District Buffalo, NY.
