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SSN_638 · 01-18-10, 01:45 AM

Thanks for the hearty welcome, fellas

! Actually, for the last few months of my service I was a skimmer

. The Whale was headed into the yards and what use is a QM there? The USS Sunbird ASR-15 lost a QM unexpectedly just before a deployment to the UK area, and I got assigned TAD to fill in. I wasn't happy about it, but I did my duty. Unfortunately, The 'Bird could have stood in for that minesweeper in the "Caine Mutiny". The Capt'n was every bit as nuts as Queeg, and in 35' seas tried to come about and we damned near capsized. I was on the bridge wing on the side that rolled down. Between that and 3 more weeks of 35' to 65' seas with systems on the ship failing (gyrocompass, radar, steering from the pilot house, etc.) it screwed me up pretty bad. I learned in April from a VA shrink that I've had PTSD for 33 years. SH4 has turned out to not only be a whole lot of fun being a bubblehead again, it's a great way to relieve stress

!

Anyway, I made some good friends on the Bird. You skimmers out there are plenty okay. The crew of the Bird was mostly a great bunch of guys stuck with a crazy skipper on an old, obsolete ship.

Good Hunting

01-18-10, 01:45 AM	#10
SSN_638 Watch Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Vermont, USA Posts: 21 Downloads: 2 Uploads: 0	Thanks for the hearty welcome, fellas ! Actually, for the last few months of my service I was a skimmer . The Whale was headed into the yards and what use is a QM there? The USS Sunbird ASR-15 lost a QM unexpectedly just before a deployment to the UK area, and I got assigned TAD to fill in. I wasn't happy about it, but I did my duty. Unfortunately, The 'Bird could have stood in for that minesweeper in the "Caine Mutiny". The Capt'n was every bit as nuts as Queeg, and in 35' seas tried to come about and we damned near capsized. I was on the bridge wing on the side that rolled down. Between that and 3 more weeks of 35' to 65' seas with systems on the ship failing (gyrocompass, radar, steering from the pilot house, etc.) it screwed me up pretty bad. I learned in April from a VA shrink that I've had PTSD for 33 years. SH4 has turned out to not only be a whole lot of fun being a bubblehead again, it's a great way to relieve stress ! Anyway, I made some good friends on the Bird. You skimmers out there are plenty okay. The crew of the Bird was mostly a great bunch of guys stuck with a crazy skipper on an old, obsolete ship. Good Hunting __________________ Bob "Willy" Williams QM2(SS) There are two kinds of vessels - submarines and targets...