I am not a person with exceptional "craft" skills nor do I have a college degree (yet). I am a high school graduate with a lot of post high school military training. I consider myself average to above average in mechanical abilities. I am certainly no "McGyver" when it comes to mechanical aptitude. I do not have any metal, fiberglass, or other airplane building experience. Up until this project, I had only done home improvement type activities (i.e.: finishing a garage, basement, landscaping, etc.). Working on my cars was limited to oil changes, tire rotations, and the occasional replacement of brake pads.
I graduated high school in 1985 with grades that well, were not impressive to say the least. I was in the lower half of my graduating class. Looking back, I just didn't apply myself. I was to busy socializing, working, and riding my motorcycle. I wasn't interested in college and it was probably a good thing with my 1.8 GPA.
When I was 17, one of my friends talked me into attending a Navy Delayed Entry Program (DEP) meeting. He had already enlisted in the Navy as a parchute packer (I think). At the DEP meeting, I got interested in the Navy's Nuclear Propulsion Program with its stiff academics and its sign on bonuses (mainly the sign on bonuses $$$). The recruiter was happy to sign me up and since I was referred by a buddy, the Navy guaranteed me "buddy duty" which means that you get to go through basic training together. Long story short, I enlisted, my buddy got kicked out of the Navy during boot camp and I ended up staying in the whole 6 years of my enlistment. I don't know what my pal does today as we have lost touch with each other.
The Nuclear Propulsion Program was a six year commitment were the Navy sent me to school for two years learning how nuclear power plants work and I spent the next four years going to sea to pay for that education. I almost didn't make it into the program due to my poor high school grades. The Navy had to process an academic waiver that involved a some testing and a ton of paperwork. Because I was only 17 years old, my parents were required to sign a release since I was not a legal adult. I remember my dad telling me that the 6 years I committed to the Navy would be an awfully long time if I didn't like it and he wasn't sure if I should enlist (Don't worry dad, it all worked out great).
Boot camp wasn't all that difficult once you realized it was a head game, but it is definitely a different lifestyle than what I had been living. I graduated boot camp in September 1985 from Great Mistakes (Great Lakes Naval Training Center) in Chicago.
My family came to watch the graduation ceremony and spent the weekend in Chicago with me. Boy, was I young here. Hard to believe that this picture was taken almost 22 years ago (except when you look at my sisters hair-doo's).
I requested and was assigned a job as an Electrician's Mate. After boot camp, I went on to Electricians Mate 'A' school. 'A' School training at Great Mistakes took around 6 months. I graduated in the top third of my Electrician's Mate class with an academic grade of 93% (3.72 GPA) so I was given a promotion to Electrician's Mate 3rd class (add one year to my enlistment for accepting accelerated promotion) and sent to the Navy Training Center out of Orlando Florida for Nuclear Power Training.
Orlando, Florida was great. However, being in one of the hardest training programs for the enlisted service person did not leave me with alot of spare time (I thought it was hard anyway). In Nuclear Power School, we learned things like Thermodynamics, Reactor Physics, Electrical and Electronics Theory, Mechanical Theory, just to name a few of the topics for light reading at night when you can't get any sleep. I did fairly well here and graduated in the upper half of my class with a 3.5 GPA. I thought that was pretty good since I was admitted to the program on an academic waiver.
The picture below is of the Nuclear Power Training complex at the Orlando, Florida Naval Training Center. This base has been closed for years now. What a shame!!! The Orlando training center was one of the nicest training bases I had been to.
After graduation from Navy Nuclear Power School (class 8605), I was sent to upstate New York to complete my skill training at the prototype plants the Navy had up there. Again, training and studying took 60-75 hours a week and didn't give us much time to blow off steam. However, that just slowed us down and didn't stop us. We didn't pass up to many opportunities to recuperate from spending hours studying technical manuals that weighed what felt like 30 Ibs each. The individual on the right went on to the Naval Academy with a full ride scholarship, in part, due to his academic performance in the Nuclear Power Program. I never did hear how he did hear how he did after he shipped out for Annapolis.
I graduated Nuclear Prototype after qualifying as an Electrical Operator on the S7G prototype (S=Submarine, 7= Core Model Number?, G= General Electric Design). Again, I graduated with pretty good grades. For that, the Navy gave me $5000 and sent me to sea on the USS Ohio (Gold Crew) SSBN 726.
This is a nuclear ballistic missile submarine. It is also known as a Trident, Ohio Class, and boomer submarine. Unlike fast attack submarines (the hunter/killers), the mission of the Ohio class is one of strategic deterrence. Our mission was to remain undetected by other naval craft. The Trident class of submarine carries up to 24 intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles. This was an awesome boat (although I didn't necessarily appreciate it when I had to go out to sea on her). Considering it goes under the surface of the ocean, it is absolutely huge. Although, after 400+ days under the surface of the ocean in my 4 years onboard, it still got small (you can only go so far to get away from the 160+ sailors that live on board).
For spending 70+ days out at sea, a sailor got to add one star to their strategic deterrent patrol pin. This pin is worn on the uniform of all submariners who serve on a boomer. During my tour, I added 7 stars to this pin.
The USS Ohio was based out of Sub-Base Bangor in the beautiful state of Washington (not to far from Seattle).
While serving on the USS Ohio, I qualified all my in rate watch stations up to Shutdown Reactor Operator. It was amazing>>> When I was on board the USS Ohio, the average age of the personnel in the engineering department was 23. Think of this another way, the nuclear power plant on this boat was run by people barely old enough to drink. For me, I was sitting alone as the Electrical System Operator of a nuclear plant by the time I was 20 years old. Not to bad for a person who got C's and D's in high school. The Navy gave me a great opportunity and I took advantage of it.
The picture below is one that I have always liked. This was during a port call in Hawaii while preparing for a torpedo readiness exam (TRE) the boat has to periodically participate in. We were docked at Ford Island and this is looking over to Honolulu. We hadn't seen sunlight or had a breath of fresh air for some 40+ days and this was a beautiful sunrise.
If you recall, Ford island, was the center piece of the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. Ford Island sits adjacent to battleship row, now the home to the USS Missouri and a few yards away from the USS Arizona.
Below is an awards ceremony held underway in the mess hall. Here the Captain is awarding me my "Dolphins" signifying a significant amount of studying was completed on all ships systems and I was evaluated by my peers to be competent on those systems. All submariners are required to study and pass an oral board held by fellow crew members on all major systems in order to get their dolphins. It is one of the rights of passage for a submariner. Obtaining your dolphins ensures that everyone on board knows and understands how submarine systems work.
Pictured below, is a picture of the dolphins awarded as part of this qualification. All submariners qualified on submarines will wear these on their uniform.
In the picture below, I am receiving my Good Conduct award for 4-years of not getting caught doing anything against military regulations while serving in the Navy. Note, the one ribbon I have on my uniform was awarded for serving in the military during Desert Storm. We were out at sea during the Desert Storm Campaign and it was all over before we got back.
Below, is a picture of Tami and I just after we started going out together. Tami had two kids (Andy on my lap, Nichole on mom's lap) from her first marriage. We were camping near Astoria, Oregon one weekend when a stranger stopped to take a picture of us. Not a significant picture, I just like it. We pretty much had next to no money and few material things, but I remember it as a time of being happy just being able to spend time together. Tami had to work on me, but I would eventually marry her some 10 years after this picture was taken. How she ever outlasted me, I will never know. Hopefully she will have that kind of patience when working on my airplane project.
After I got out of the Navy in 1991, I ended up working for the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I was an electrical maintenance instructor running the apprenticeship training program for them. I really liked that job and it was close to my family.
In 1997, however, I was offered a job as a training instructor at the Monticello Nuclear Generating Facility with Northern States Power located north of the Twin Cities. This put us close to Tami's family. Within two years, I realized I had to get out that job. I tried to change jobs for two years with no luck. I would eventually make a drastic move to Nebraska in 2001. Being an instructor at a commercial nuclear plant is a challenging job that leaves a person with very little free time (in my case anyway) if you want to ensure only the best training is provided to technical staff personnel.
Work was so stressful, a couple of co-workers (friends) of mine would frequent the local Saloon (NO really>>> that is the name of the place) for lunch so that we could vent about those things that ticked us off AND to check out the bartender who was easy on the eyes. This picture was taken after I had left for Nebraska. Even today, I do not miss an opportunity for a Saloon lunch when I am in the area and our schedules permit. (Joe Petersen- white shirt, Phil Norgaard- Green Shirt)
Tami and I do not get to many opportunities for recreation, but one of the recreational activities we both enjoy is motorcycling. I have had a motorcycle OFF an ON since I was 16 years old. In 2000, I bought a new Honda Goldwing and we decided to take a trip with my folks to Colorado for a week (not necessarily in that order). I had a Kawasaki Vulcan which was not all that comfortable for the passenger. Tami, however, gave me an ultimatum, and I quote, "If you want me to go motorcycle riding with you, buy a comfortable motorcycle". My dad's friends all were giving me big advice stating that as a good reason to keep my Kawasaki. I have more fun when Tami goes with me so I upgraded to the Goldwing. The Goldwing is an awesome riding motorcycle. They are like driving a small convertible which is good when you are putting on 500+ miles a day.
The picture below was the morning after a night's stop in York, Nebraska.
(LEFT TO RIGHT: Tami, Me, and my mom Ramona)
Here we are stopped for a roadside break on our way to Manitou Springs, CO. During our week trip, we ended up putting on some 3000+ miles. Needless to say, Tami still won't let me sell the Goldwing 3 years later. She likes it that much... We'll see, I have to put an engine on the plane you know...
(LEFT TO RIGHT: Tami, Me, dads pal Jerry, my dad Ron)
Tami and I moved to Nebraska in 2001 when I took a job as an Electrician for the Cooper Nuclear Station. We decided that we had to make a change in our lives. With that in mind, I took a job with an hourly wage (less responsibility and money) and Tami took a part time job as an office manager for an insurance and investment company in town. Both jobs are a lot less stress, however, by doing that, we reduced our family income by almost 50%. It did not come without some family sacrifice, but overall we are much happier and enjoy getting up in the morning (most of the time).
With all that extra time on my hands, I went back to college and got within 12 credits of finishing my bachelors degree and more importantly, I got my PRIVATE PILOTS LICENSE. Getting my pilots license has always been a dream of mine ever since I can remember. When I was a little kid, I used to make wooden airplanes out of popcicle sticks and make airplane noises. Now I make those same noises with real airplanes.
In 2007, I took a job as the Electrical Supervisor for the Cooper Nuclear Station which threw me right back into more responsibility (and money). Now, I should have the financial resources to finish the RV, but now it will be a struggle to find the tiime to build. Funny how life is that way.... Either you have money or time, but not usually both.
