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