Monday, February 22, 2010

Early Years of My Naval Career

It wasn't long after I arrived in China Lake, CA that I was awarded my first Sailor of the Quarter. I remember this award well because my Department Head was a Search & Rescue pilot and he took me out flying as an additional reward. His crew placed me in a harness and dangled me about 20-30 feet below the helicopter while they flew through the sky. It was really scary at first but after I adapted, it was invigorating.
For those of you that don't know China Lake, it is situated near the Mojave desert and it gets extremely hot. Nearby, in the mountains, there is snow during the winter months. Within a matter of minutes, I went from 110 degrees to about 30 degrees. We landed in the mountains, the crew jumped off, and we had ourselves a snowball fight. Those were the good ol' days.

14 valuable thoughts they wrote, what's yours?:

Mamí♥Picture said...

Great Photo Flashback!
BTW You have a Beautiful Family!
Have a Lovely Friday =)

madz said...

Wow! Congratulations!

More Than Words said...

Hey there! Glad you joined in!!

Oh my gosh, I think I would of had a heart attack in the air!

But, wow...from heat to snow in a matter of minutes!!

By the way, your kid are adorable!!

Chris said...

great photo.. precious memories too! :D

glad you joined FPF! :D

Hazel said...

I was happy when I saw Chubskulit on the FPF linky :)

Wow... dangling from a helicopter! Color me impressed.

nicquee said...

I'm sure you cherished that moment you were in the air!

Love your kids' photos.

Mine's up too.

http://hunnynicquee.blogspot.com/2009/10/friday-photo-flashback-2-pre-school.html

diane b said...

That would have beeen a memorable day. It must have been scary at first.

Dhemz said...

thanks for sharing john....you look so skinny before..and you've got a mustache...hehehe...just like greg...he had one before....:)

Denise said...

Great picture & it sounds like a fun memory. My husband & I were both in the Army Reserves, he had some interesting adventures at Ft Irwin in the California desert in the late 80's, but nothing like your helicopter ride.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

sweet_shelo said...

Wow this photo flashback is amazing.. Memorable one for you I bet.. Thanks for sharing..

anne said...

Hi Joops already added your two blogs to my new blog thanks

shelo's garden said...

Thanks for linking me here..

Unknown said...

You look funny with your mustache Sir john, im sure you laugh every time you see this old photo. You still so young in this one.

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Ciela said...

Dangling from a helicopter?! Wow! It must have been a very unforgetable experience! I couldn't imagine the extreme change of climate temperature over that side of CA.

You also look great with mustache!

Have a great weekend!

-Tita Beng

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