My short, but very exciting life in the military

after making it out of separations, i was back into boot camp. One Captains mast Down, but more to come.I guess an assault on civilian swimmer isnt tolerated these days in boot camp. I was ordered to take an anger management course, and when I passed I was sent to a new division. Wow that was a close one I thought to myself. So after my 3 months of boot camp, where i got to watch movies and play games for 1 week and trained the rest of the time, I finally made it through. I graduated. Now Im off to Culinary Arts school, which was right across the street. Yes i had fun in school over there, but we were drummed like boot camp again. Being woken up at 0400, to go and run 5 miles, every other day, but it became easy after awhile. be up at 0400 go run, then go cook food for the next 8 hours. It was a good time. I pass the school with a 93%. But little did I know that The Donald Cook was in waiting. I took my 15 days of leave, got married, got called by my Senior Chief Saying I was UA, because they thought i was supposed be on the ship the week before. I guess contact from Illinois to Virginia is impossible, really. one phone call to my old command would have straightened that out. but it must have been too hard for SRC Cabanacan, to do that. maybe he didnt understand the American way to do things. Anyway, we got it figured out, but dumb me got married. And thats where the twist and turns began.

I was greeted by whom we later nabbed as "tinker bell". CS3 Crofts. Wow what in the world did i get into. His womanly voice, and flip flops, with spiked and frosted Hair. He had it going on, and I bet he was front row watching the day that the united states decideded that its ok to be gay and serve our country! Im in my dress whites. Alright so anyway we drive off to my new home, The USS Donald Cook. AS soon as i enter the ship I could feel tension building. around the area. I guess they had just removed a CS1 Lee, and made him a DC3 Lee, for messing around with a fellow shipmate, and then bragging about it. Well That happened to be The new CS1 Edwards. She took his job and everything, but his manhood. Well unknowingly, My ship decides to take a 3 week tour of the sea the next day. and while this was going on My wife, who I was told by my command to not have come down until October, decided to drive to virginia. once we pull in Im thinking I get to get off this ship and find out whats going on with my wife. She Cant just stay in Motel from week-week. So I leave, and I guess I was supposed to be on the ship working until 1800..So there I was unknowingly UA in virginia.after I found my wife, decided to sleep it off a couple nights.My fault. After finally returning to the ship on monday, I was hit with another captains mast for the UA Fiasco.well I took my licks, spent 10 days on restriction. And then Thinking Imcoming home to a loving wife, I was shell shocked to find out she had rented this apartment for 990 a month, and was sleeping with guy across the street.So now my heads a spinning. I end up being put in a behavioral center for one week. because she said i was suicidal. well after the week ends imbackon the Donald Cook again, riding along side by my FSO Olsen, a friend maybe? But two days later i happen to hear a voice message from that same FSO calling my phone drunk, and leaving a message to My wife.Well the next day, i decided to whisper in ensign olsen's ear, that I know what you are doing an im wanting im to stop. Then he freaked out and called me into the office with sr. chief. But at least this time i was right so this incident got rubbed under the table. But that whisper in that ear later became my demise.

Portsmouth, VA: The Yards

Well ive been fitting in a little bit with the navy life, After being diagnosed as suicidal, and extremely depressed and also after being arrested on board the ship by Virginia Beach police, for assault on a family member, my chain of command thought it best for me to go down to the reefer decks and become the JOD's assistant. They don't trust mearound any knifes, which ironically is what I was holding the day my life changed forever, but I'l get to that later. My new task dealt with working for CS2 Eckert. I didnt know much about this fella at the time, but from what I saw, I was a little frightened. This man was Tatted up and down his body, and out of work he dressed like a gangster/ drug dealer. Short guy with blonde hair and a sarcastic tone which eventually became are thing in common. If looks made a sailor, then this guy was sure to be a bad one. But you cant always go by the cover, as CS2 proved to me. I dont think I ever learned as much in the navy as I did when I was working with this guy. Yeah we would slack at times, and go hide and sleep for a few hours to rest off the booze from the night before, but I quickly learned when tasked with a job, this CS was on the ball. Any question I would ask he would have the answer. He new the Navy from top to bottom, and quickly gained my respect. We were tasked with breaking out the everyday food for the cooks to make for our crew. this job usually only took about 3 hours tops, and yet we were stuck on the ship until 1500. So everyday wed have to come up something to kill time. Mostly it was having me go out and shine the bell. but when it was shined, we usually just sat and plaid games on our phones, and told stories. Not a bad gig in my mind.But of course after awhile I was going to have to go back to real CS work and I new it. So i lived in the moment and enjoyed my time off from work. Usually going out at night and ending up drunk downtown, picking up escorts. Yeah it was good but i blew a lot of cash in the doing of this. Except for one occasion, where i rented a room out at the Navy Lodge and called up a lady to come over, she charged a steep price and i was unwilling to pay it all up front. So after we did are thing, the girl asked for the other half and I told her that I didnt have it. Whoops, thats not going over to well. She quickly jumped on the phone to her pimp and told him the situation. He asked her what room I was in and she thank god had forgotten. And I swear to you the next thing out of her mouth was "what room are you staying in" i couldn't believeshe just asked me that, but being the coy man i am, I quickly told her to go look on the outside of the door. And unbelievably she fell for it. Wow. as soon as she exited the door to look I gave her quick shove and slammed the door. Knowing that this wasn't over by a long shot, I high tailed it out of the back door and ran around the corner and jumped in a cab and never returned. Wow, Unbelievable, that was a close one in my opinion. I probably could of been shot. Now it was time for me to take it easy on the escort business, and that I did. Never again for this guy. Now I had a better idea of how to spend my weekends, taking a bus up to Dover Delaware to play the game of Texas Hold'em. But after one wild weekend with that I decided to stay on the ship each weekend. I was out in Dover playing at a cash table on a sunday morning doing extremely well, and just playing patient waiting for my alarm to go off so I could run to catch my bus at 1700. But unfortunately, I have a gambling problem, and I started to lose. So to get the edge off of losing I drank a beer or two, and still kept losing. Finally running out of my last $700 in a span of three hours, I suddenly realized my alarm must not of went off, it had to be about time for bus to go, and sure enough I was right. The clock read 1745. Oh snap, Im in trouble, I missed my bus, and have no money to get back home. So searching through my phone looking for help I called Mr. CS2 Eckert, he was drunk and didn't have a real good option for me, so I new I dead in the water. But much to my luck I was standing there and a older man overheard my conversations, and introduced himself as a Master Chief in the Navy out of Norfolk, VA. No kidding. How lucky am I. He offered me a ride back that night, and I made it back on the ship broke, and drunk, but most importantly I wasn't UA. Yes that was the end of my days in Dover.

Back to Norfolk, VA

Are ship returned to our port in January, and we were back into are old schedule of under-ways every week. usually monday- thursday we were gone, so my chain of command felt it necessary to put me back to work in the Galley as a cook on watch. I hadnt been in trouble in months and was starting to earn trust in my shipmates for a first time. Eventually even becoming the night baker on under ways, where I worked from 1900-0800. every day. That was a good gig, until I realized how easy it was to sneak booze onto the ship. Being drunk on an underway at 0200 is fun for me, but not for others, as I harassed them in our berthing most nights. My sidekick companion during these long nights was my fsa, a new york, japanesian. He could slice up vegetables very fast and we had a great system going on, until I completely lost control. After falling asleep for 3 hours in my rack, I was awoken by someone quietly and longly, whispering my last name..Caaasssttttoooo.........caaassssssstttttooooo..It was that FSA staring at me, with a knife in his hand, I admit i was little scared, but i let it go because I had To hury up and Run up too the galley to cook a morning breakfast for the crew. Oh Man Was I running late.This day was to become my doom. I got all of the breakfeast out, it wasnt very sharp though, and i hadnt had enough time to make extra food yet, then Sure enough The Wardroom chef Came barreling down and took almost all of the breakfeast rice. This led to an argument between me and that DC3, whos now back in the galley as CS2, about how to make the rice. we had a big tiff, in front of the crew, an i didn't tell him that i had to throw the leftover rice on top of it, because Wardroom had taken it all. Now i was agitated. Hungover,tired and angry, I found myself in the back cleaning knives, then in comes mr.perfect Curtis.Yeah he got me going with making fun of the fact i had just got fired from night baker, because of that episode earlier. So to shut him up i simply said the words "You know i could stab you and that would end this conversation" Curtis freaked out as usual, telling people i was attacking him with a knife and i was going to kill him. I just sat in the back and smiled, Now I was called up to the Supply Office where I needed to explain myself, and the first words out of my mouth up there went like this "If I were really going to kill curtis, I wouldn't use a knife, Id wait for him to be on Watch and Id Push him overboard."I got a chuckle out of my one CS1,but the other two thought i was serious, and ordered me to DRB.

DRB:

After being, ridculed, poked fun at, told i was the worst sailor in history, and that they couldnt trust me to have there back in time of war, I was ordered up to Captains Mast. And I then new the end was near. What really bothered me during the Mast was that no one said anything good about me in there, i thought jeez for over a year i did alot for that ship. I redid the reefer decks, polished the bell, made really good food.Prior to my mast I had written up a chit to speak with the Captain alone, but im not sure who he was listening too, but he got the impression, I was going to kill him during this meeting, When all I wanted to do was tell him what really happened. So the meeting never took place.

CAPTAINS MAST: my final Hoo-raah

During this Captains mast the captain had went over the timeline of my navy life, and all the trouble I caused, making me me feel like I should be booted.And at one point the XOI came over to the Captain and whispered something in his ear. I thought that was strange.Then I remembered back to My incident with the FSO, who was calling my wife, Wow they new about that, i couldn't believe it. I new I was done for now. as the Captain told me doesn't it feel a little threatening when someone comes and whispers into your ear. An I agreed.At that point I just wanted this thing over with,because I had just been beaten down so bad. And the final verdict came in with a 45/45 and administrative separations. Yes I was going to be discharged for all my wrongdoings, And Ironically enough the other man Curtis got 45/45 and was discharged as well, for other reasons. So for the next 45 days while waiting my release,Him and I slept right above one another, did are extra duty together and ate together, we even plaid video games together. So If I were really wanting to kill this man, Was is it safe that we lived together for the next 45days, side, by side I guess I wasnt too much of a threat at all then?