Shore Duty - Nuclear Power School section advisor
After completing my tour of USS Providence, I was very excited to return to Orlando. I had bought a house in Orlando in my previous tour and was looking forward to resuming my occupancy there. I was also looking forward to seeing friends I had made in the community. Most of all, I was looking forward to a challenging tour as a section advisor.
Being a section advisor is something like being a glorified baby sitter. Students who attend Nuclear Power School need a supervisor to take care of their military duties as well as to provide them guidance. When I was a student, I recall seeing my advisor maybe two or three times. When I was an advisor, if I did not see a student every two weeks, I was missing on my requirements. I guess my advisor did not need to do this. I had to inspect students uniforms, their barracks, their haircuts, and their classrooms. I also had to deal with any military problems. There were several during my tour. On top of that, I had to keep track of how they were doing academically. If they were doing poorly, it was responsibility to give them guidance on how to improve their study habits. After a while, it became fairly routine. One thing that was difficult for me was learning to work with female students. They were now part of the Nuclear Power program. They had their own unique situation to deal with. I had to worry about them being harassed or any involvement with fellow students. Lucky for me, this was never a problem. Apparently, most of the students learned how to deal with women in the classroom and did not allow them to be a distraction.
Throughout my tour I had numerous classes and they all seemed to blur together. I had at least one photograph in my files. I am sure I received one from all my classes but I lost several boxes of materials when I retired from the Navy and moved.
During my time in Orlando, I decided to attempt one more sea tour. As a result, I re-enlisted. My father, who was a retired CWO2 was able to dust off his old uniform and perform my re-enlistment, which was a great thrill for both of us. My father is in the background in this photograph. My Commanding Officer is handing me some documentation associated with the reenlistment.
Near the end of my tour, I was asked to spend some time as an advisor at Nuclear Field "A" School because of some manpower shortages. This was the last class I had as an advisor.
Shortly after this, I left Orlando to report to the USS Honolulu (SSN 718) in Hawaii. Finally, after twenty years, I was going to the west coast.
Final tour of duty as the "Bull Nuc" - USS Honolulu SSN 718 - 1998-2000