Roger Cole, CTT2 USN, 1965-69 After graduating from high school in 1963, I found work as an accounting clerk for a sheet-metal company in Baltimore. I was working full-time and attending college at night desiring to be a CPA. Just before my 20th birthday, I found out that I was about to be drafted. I quickly enlisted in the Navy in October, 1965 as several ex-military types said that was the best choice--plus you could "see the world". During my boot camp stint (which had been shortened to 6 weeks), all the choices I requested were shot down for one reason or another. It was suggested that being a "CT" would be just up my alley. All they knew was that it had something to do with radios and would require a clearance. I had taken 2 years of typing in high school which probably was a factor in their advice. I went through basic R-branch school at Corry Field & had to wait for a clearance as was quite common. I then was assigned to T-branch school and graduated as honorman which allowed me to pick my first duty station. I picked Cheltenham, MD., which was just outside of DC and about 100 miles away from my parents home and all my old friends. After 1 year at Cheltenham, I received orders to Adak. Just before leaving the US, my orders were changed at the last minute to Guam, because they had such an "urgent need" there. When I arrived at Guam, they had so many CTs there that I stood watches, painted, cleaned, etc. until they finally found a place to put me. While on Guam, I bought a little Honda 160 scrambler and spent many hours riding the boonie trails there. I spent 18 months on Guam and made it to CT2. I had 5 months left to go and I was offered Puerto Rico if I would ship over. While I did my job well and kept my nose clean, military life didn't really appeal to me so I turned down the offer. I was told that I would spend the last 5 months on Guam, so I said that was OK by me. A couple of weeks later, I received orders back to Cheltenham for the remainder of my enlistment. "Seeing the world" was for me Florida, Maryland and Guam--all land duty stations. Being a CT I was let in on a lot of secrets. One of the biggest was that the Navy had a 3-year enlistment (not a kiddie cruise). I didn't find that out till my first duty station. Also, I went through boot camp with several individuals who had been drafted--into the Navy for 2 years. R. Roger Cole CTT2 Great Lakes 1965 Corry Field 1966 Cheltenham 1966-1967 Guam 1967-1969 Cheltenham 1969