Memories of my first few weeks aboard the Biddle, tied up to one of the D&S piers in Norfolk, are not particularly clear, especially in details. (I kept a daily journal during the 26 May-21 December deployment, so that should at least allow some details.) My interaction with enlisted personnel was very limited because I wasn’t really doing anything yet, but I did interact with some of the officers, all but a very few holding higher rank.
I already mentioned I met the Captain for a “new officer” talk. I expect I also talked with the Executive Officer, CDR Allen Smith III. I thought of him as somewhat patrician, maybe because of the III in his name. He may have been very personable, but to me, the boot ensign, he was XO, a Commander, second only to the near deity who was my Captain.
I was assigned at some point to the OI Division in the Operations Department. As I had mentioned and as I will relate below, I was an “add-on,” not one of the regularly assigned officers to a ship like the Biddle. I was a “special duty officer,” unable to be assigned to ship-driving and other duties “normal” line officers would undertake. The Operations Department Head at the time was LCDR Steinbrink and my division officer was LT Grey Libbey.
. . . and a gentleman
These days aboard Biddle were my first experience with life as a Navy Officer . . . and it was pretty nice. OCS was officer “boot camp” and, after commissioning, I had lived in an off-base apartment in Norfolk while attending Intelligence and CIC training. I ate breakfast and dinner off-base. On the Biddle, I was assigned a stateroom. As an ensign, my stateroom was in the junior officer group a couple/three decks below the weather deck, near or below the water line, aft. These were two-officer units, with two bunks, above and below, along the exterior bulkhead; side-by-side compartments providing space for clothing and built-in, drop-down “desks” along an interior bulkhead; and two(?) sinks and mirrors on the opposite bulkhead. (Oh, the color scheme was grey.) There was a communal head (bathroom and showers) nearby.
Even better, I may have been alone in my stateroom initially. Those times underway when I lived in a stateroom, my roommate was a “spook,” the officer in charge of a contingent of linguists who listened to North Vietnamese communications. But until we picked up a Destroyer Squadron staff and/or the spooks, which added to the total number of officers, I may have lucked out in a single.
My clothes were laundered, my bed made, and my quarters cleaned by stewards, exclusively at the time Filipino citizens who were able to serve in the US Navy in that capacity. (Soon thereafter, in early 1971, Filipinos were recruited not only for steward duty, but for any Navy rating for which they would qualify.)
Stewards also cooked and served the food provided officers in the ship’s wardroom. The officers’ wardroom was a combination dining room and man cave. In addition to a long table athwartship to accommodate all the officers on board, there were a couple of smaller tables and couches with coffee tables for TV viewing. Under normal, in-port routine, the wardroom offered breakfast, lunch, and dinner to officers during designated periods. One could also drop by for additional refreshments, as at least one steward was always on duty.
A bright, shiny object
Several times during these first weeks, I was approached by a member of the duty section and told the Captain requested my presence in his quarters. The first time that happened, I was quite concerned. Had my efforts to be as “invisible” as possible backfired and caused complaint?
I was very nervous the first time I received that “invitation” and knocked on his door. On that occasion and several more, I was “shown off” to visiting friends of the Captain or superior officers as some sort of “trophy.” “Admiral, I want you to meet our Intelligence Officer. We are one of a very few Destroyer Leaders to have an officer with an Intelligence designator assigned” or something like that. Meanwhile, I, a 22-year-old nerd of historic proportions but slight physical stature, tried to appear manly and officer-like and answer questions without too much stammering or drooling.
Only nine days to go before we (50 years ago) deploy. Next post will be about time with Captain Olsen.