2:55 | Carlene Knoll-Arambula recalls a valuable teamwork lesson learned during Navy bootcamp. Provided by Bob Stevens, the Veterans' Forum.
The first stop was Electrician's Mate school. Bob McClaren had been selected through testing to train for the nuclear propulsion systems that power submarines. After a thorough grounding in the technology, the last stop was sub school to learn about everything outside the engine room.
It was an odd life aboard a submarine. Carter Tucker describes the unique challenges and dangers faced by the crew on an old diesel ship. You could even be done in by your own batteries.
People skills and networking allowed LC Johnson to rise in the Air Force and they also enabled him to succeed in the field of education after he retired. From guidance counselor to superintendent, it was a mirror of his military career.
It's huge! That was Bob McClaren's first thought when he saw his first ship, the USS John Adams. His first voyage was eventful and encompassed Israel's Six-Day War, the hijacking of the Achille Lauro and the sinking of the USS Scorpion.
Platoon leader Brooks Tucker was in the Saudi Arabian desert, waiting to see what Saddam Hussein would do. The Marines were training in mock ups of Iraqi defenses, mostly at night to avoid the scorching heat. The men were getting impatient just as the air war started. It wouldn't be long, now.
He considered it the finest education available. Geoff Farrell went to West Point, where he soaked up all the history and knowledge available there. He was assigned to Europe, where he patrolled the German border as Soviet Communism was dying. There was a brief period of jubilation when the wall came down, then they heard about Saddam Hussein.
Bob McClaren was getting ready to spend a couple of years at Perdue on a Navy education program but the funding was cut and he was sent to a ship under construction at New London. He served a short while on several different submarines, picking up an Associate Degree along the way.
Thermal imaging had been around for a while and Geoff Farrell was very familiar with it. GPS, however, was new and expensive, and no one was familiar with it. Both were integral to the swift victory in Desert Storm. Before his deployment he declined a dose of an experimental drug that was supposed to protect against chemical weapons and he wonders if that drug contributed to Gulf War Syndrome.
Jim Bolan's father was a tool and die man who was so good, he quit several jobs during the Depression. The younger Bolan was allowed a great deal of independence and enjoyed a summer job on a farm and living with a rich aunt on the Jersey shore.
The Bluefish was Bob McClaren's favorite boat. The crew was like a brotherhood and the two skippers he had were great. The only problem was that he was always at sea, never home.
Angela Beltz had her senior year in high school after taking basic training, which gave her a completely new perspective on things. Her National Guard unit was a water detachment, specializing in distribution in conflict areas. Many of the members of the North Dakota unit had grown up together. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/)
Don Cope loved the military life. It was a challenge but very rewarding. He only retired from the Air Force because his next assignment would have separated him from his family.
He was scheduled for shore duty but Bob McClaren's skipper asked him to stay on for one more patrol. He was the senior Electrician's Mate , the Bull Nuke. Sure, Captain. What he didn't tell him was how long the trip would last.
In her quartermaster unit, Angela Beltz had to endure the stereotyping of women in the Army. It was difficult to find any men with much sympathy. But when she got to the Ohio National Guard, she found something she really liked, a new truck. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/)
Paul Berry was at Fort Polk opening his clinic at 0600. It was just a normal day until someone yelled to put the TV on CNN. As people gathered, the second plane struck the Twin Towers. Then the alarms began to sound around the base. He heard the Sgt. Major yell to get your gear on. Our gear? What are we going to do?
He was good at fixing things so Bob McClaren was rooked into fixing all manner of gear that wasn't really his responsibility. His job was in the engine room with the nuclear propulsion system but, hey, can you take a look at the gyrocompass and this copy machine?
Regena Herndon wanted to join the military after talking to a recruiter at a high school career night. The fact that her brother would not talk about his experiences in Vietnam did not deter her. Basic training was tough, but she prevailed and became a soldier. Her first post at Fort Dix was a bad experience, but the next one, in Frankfurt made up for it.
Air Force wives are tough. Bob Wolfe was over the ocean looking for Soviet ships when his wife checked herself into the hospital to deliver their first child. She joined him briefly at his next post in Columbia, but she stayed at home while he was in Ethiopia on a mapping mission. While there, he had an odd encounter with some local tribesmen.
After a shore duty stint as an instructor, Bob McClaren was sent to serve on the USS Flying Fish. During a drill simulating a shutdown of the nuclear reactor, a scram, he suffered an embarrassing fall right at the feet of the commander. Master Chief! You OK? Should I stop the drill?
It was her first time on an airplane, and when she got to basic training, Angela Beltz was the youngest one there at seventeen. She was also small of stature, which made the drill instructor wonder if she had what it takes. She did. (Interview conducted at, and with the assistance of, the National Veterans Memorial & Museum- https://nationalvmm.org/)
The Berlin Wall was not the same everywhere. Bill Greinke had to keep tabs on the condition of the wall and any changes made. He describes different sections, from the fancy to the sloppy.
Senior Electrician Bob McClaren received some test equipment that was all wrong. It was incompatible with what was installed on the ship. He was making rounds with his skipper and a visiting admiral when the admiral asked him how do you like that electrical stuff I sent you?
When the cease fire was declared, American units had not yet reached Baghdad. In his command track, Geoff Farrell had the graphics on his screen to guide him right in, but it was decided we would not go. Looking back to that critical moment, he reflects on the decision.
Returning Marine Norman Kling had his eye on college when he got home from the Pacific. He entered the electrical engineering program at Washington University in his home town of St. Louis. He had a soft spot for the Corps in his heart or maybe it was his head. Either way, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve.
He retired on a Thursday and started a job at Newport News Shipbuilding the following Monday. 24 years on submarines and 25 more building them. Bob McClaren was proud of his Cold War service which stymied the Soviet expansion.
After commanding troops in combat as a lieutenant in Vietnam and as a colonel in Iraq, Bob Clark still had a lot of service left in him. He had more commands including the 101st Airborne Division before he finally retired. He reveals some of the insights that he learned during his career.
In the aftermath of the Grenada invasion, peacekeeping forces from all around the Caribbean were assembled to help keep order. Keith Nightingale's battalion was spread all around the island involved in various missions and the locals in all these enclaves helped their liberators celebrate Thanksgiving. Part 3 of 4.
His father had been a mechanic on the P-47 with it's big radial engine but Bob McClaren's mind was focused on the sea. A TV show about submarines had caught his eye.
It was hard to find a job after World War II with all the returning service members out there doing the same. George Carrigan and two buddies went to enlist in the Army but all the recruiters were out for lunch except the Air Force. He talked them into signing up and forgetting about their paratrooper dreams.
War movies had convinced young Michael Hall that he wanted to be a Marine, but when he visited the recruiting offices, he found something that might be even better, the Army Rangers. After a short stay in the regular infantry, he secured the assignment to the Rangers, where his life was changed the very first day.
