Dave Reid, CTA1 USN Retired, 1964-1984


There's CT's in here to blame!!
 
There I was ... a young impressionable 16 year old Navy dependent,
living in Hayama, and attending high school in Yokohama while my
father worked at the base in Yokosuka.
 
There were a number of us who lived in the Hayama, Zushi, Kamakura
area because our parents thought we'd have a better appreciation of
the Japanese, their culture, language, food, etc.  
 
What they didn't know (or so we thought) was what we were really
doing for entertainment....
 
Hanging out at the beach near the Emperor's Summer Palace one summer
afternoon, we met some sailors who were also just hanging out. Offered
a beer, or three, we accepted, and soon were invited back to their
beach house to continue the party.
 
Soon we were regular visitors at the house, playing BUZZ, partying, and
having a great time.
 
We discovered the sailors were CT's - "Mat men" to be specific; and they
were all from Kamiseya.
 
I for one, made a trip or two with them to Kamiseya, a bunch of us jammed
into one of their old cars, hanging out at the barracks while they did
laundry or checked their mail, etc.
 
Some were watchstanders, others were day workers, and from what I saw, 
they were doing what I wanted to do when I joined the Navy.
 
Oh, I knew I was going to enlist - I certainly didn't have the grades to
get into college - so it was a matter of figuring out what I wanted to do
when I did enlist - and those CT's had it made, and that's what I wanted to
do!
 
The partying at the beach house continued, and there are some stories that
are better left unsaid here; but I graduated from high school in Yokohama in
May, 1964, and told my dad I wanted to be a CT.
 
His Chief Yeoman completed all of the basic paperwork for my enlistment, and
sent the packet to the Chief recruiter in Manchester, NH.  I left on July 31
via MSTS passenger ship for Oakland, and then across country for a visit
with my grandparents before checking in with the Chief in Manchester.
 
On September 29, 1964, all of my processing completed, I was sworn in with
100 or more others in Boston, and got underway for RTC Great Lakes.
 
I was ultimately called to the NSG field office for the interview in
conjunction with my security clearance.  I completed the forms, and knew then I was
going to be a CT.  I hoped that I would be a "Mat man" and could get orders to 
Kamiseya!!
 
When my orders came in, I was indeed going to be a CT; however, I was going
to YN/PN "A" School in Bainbridge, MD to become an "A" Brancher, with follow-on
orders to NAVSECGRU HQS at Nebraska Avenue.
 
When I asked about "M" Branch school, and orders to Kamiseya, the civilian
in the NSG field office simply said "talk to your father."
 
It seems that my dad, a CDR, and OIC of ONI's counterintelligence support
group in the Pacific, had another year to go on his tour in Japan, and didn't want
me back out there.
 
So, I became an "A" Brancher, terminated my shore duty in DC to go to sea
with the NSG Det, Staff, COMSIXTHFLT for two years; then, after being ordered
back to DC following that tour, terminated my shore duty again to go back to sea
aboard USS RANGER (CVA-61) for two more years.  I became the first CTA to be
designated CT-9124 (DIRSUP operator), and had a fantastic career.
 
Following retirement I ended up in Alabama, and through NCVA discovered the
Kami
Mat Men were holding a reunion in Biloxi MS.  I made my reservations, and
after some 30+ years, walked into the hospitality suite for a reunion with all
those CT's who I'd partied with as a dependent, and who were responsible for my
having become a CT.
 
To Boucher, Bowen, Boyce, Felton, Groberg, and others whose names escape me
.... It's all your fault, and I thank you for it!!! I had a great ride!!
 
Dave Reid, CTA1, 	USN (Ret)
NSG HQ WASHDC
NSGD, STAFF, COMSIXTHFLT
NSGD, USS RANGER (CVA-61)
CNO, WASHDC
NSGD NCS GUAM
NMCRC SAN FRANCISCO
RADCO SAN FRANCISCO
NSGD NCS GUAM
STAFF, CNAVRES NEW ORLEANS