I was on TI from Aug 1965 to Feb 4, 1966. Todays date is Feb 4, 2009 and I'll always remember that date. It was a Friday and clear skies. The Commanding Officer or Director was a Lt. John Kennedy. I'm sure he had a middle name but I forgot. The Wednesday before, there was a brawl at the club (Enlisted men's) and the SP's were called in. The club manager said that the radar students were the cause. So Lt Kennedy decides to punish the graduating class by having them clean the Fire Fighting School at the edge of the Island. We had no protective gear (Gloves etc.) and were to clean up the fire building (The Three story structure) that was set ablaze often. We were to clean it in our dress blues right after graduation. I ruined my dress blues and scratched myself on the lumber. My class had nothing to do with the brawl at the club. Most of us were hard at study for the final exam the next day. One thing Lt. Kennedy gave me was an unforgettable memory.
I did a lot of growing up on TI. I was all of 19 at the time. I met guys from all over the United States and got to know a lot of them.
I'm now retired from the Naval Reserve and must say that the time spent on both active duty and in reserve were truly the joy of my life outside my two wonderful children.
Nice to see this post.
Mike
: I was at T.I. the same time as some of you but was going to RD A school. 1969 after BEEP school at San Diego. I remember standing watch at our school but for some unknown reason also at your ET School building. As I remember it was a 2 story. It was hard to stay awake some of those nights.
: : I was at "TI" from fall of 1966 through summer of 1967 at "ET-A" school. These posts bring back a lot of memories, some good, some bad. I remember the agony of trying to stay awake during class, especially wearing the wool "undress blues" during the summer, am here to testify that the Navy didn't waste any money on niceties such as air conditioning.
: : If you really got lucky you might look forward to a four hour watch after class, (the midnight to four in the morning was my favorite), the best watch was of course what we loving referred to as the "Surfside Six" watch, which consisted of walking around the perimeter of the NBC warfare training area. I had "patrolled" that watch a few times and was complaining to a friend about how hard it was to get around the end of the fence to get to the other side of the compound, he promptly cracked up and said, "you idiot, you are supposed to stop at the water's edge and return along the fence to the other side". This little tidbit made the next watch a little easier but not any warmer. Then Navy didn't have a clue as to providing the right foul weather gear, that cold fog would blow up and under your pea coat and as far as head protection went the watch cap was just big enough to cover your ears so the whole watch was spent shivering and trying not to look at your watch because time seemed to go backwards....I have a lot of memories of that era but hesitate to take up to many "ones & zeros".....
: : : I am surprised to see there is a Treasure Island Museum. I spent my first years in the Navy there going to school and believe me they are very memorable. I had some very good times there. I arrived at T.I. in Dec 1969 to attend the three ETA and C schools and left in Feb 1971. On arrival from San Diego we were put into the new barracks and my room number was C110. I remember, and I do have pictures of the barracks, how plush the rooms were and this was were I spent my first Christmas away from home. The rooms had 4 guys to a room with a couple of desks to write on or study. I remember the Canteen or roach coach as it was called. This was a favorite place after payday because of the food. Not that it was so great but because it was not mess hall stuff. We used to ride the bus into San Francisco and this was were we spend most of our time. I got to know the city pretty well since we walked just about every street there. I remember at one time there was a pipe bomb on the barracks roof or so we were told. The barracks were evacuated and we stood out in the parking lot near the school for radarman. We were told they found a bomb but it may have been a rumor. The fire watchs were brutal. The cold would go through you worse than a midwestern winter. I remember one nite on watch inside the new barracks on the top floor were the chiefs resided. A chief had passed out and left his hot plate on and it caught fire. I put the fire out and reported it and I am not sure what happen if anything. I remember the beer machines in the vending machine area and they were always empty. Twentyfive cent beer was too much to past up. They used to play rock and roll music over the loud speaker system until a country and western fan tore one of the speakers off. Alcatraz was inhibited by the Indians for a short period of time. I do remember the troubleshooting methods taught at the school and the os-8 scopes we used. I still have, and I am not sure why, the books handed out at the school that had the wireing diagrams of the equipment. There was always a fight or agrument with the marines next door and constant worry that if you flunk out of school you were Vietnam bound. Treasure Island has alot of memories for me, most of them good. Given more time and going over pictures I would be able to bring more of the life there to memory. It would be interesting to hear of anyone else that was there the same time I was.