John A. Gustafson, CTRCM USN Retired, 1953-1984


Back in 53 when I graduated from High School, jobs weren't too  plentiful.  I 
did land a temporary job working for the Pennsylvania RR  tearing up 10 miles 
of railroad track that were no longer in use.  Job was  to use about a 25 lb 
pry bar to pull the railroad spikes and loosen the  track.  Managed to survive 
for the summer and when that was done, found a  minimum wage job working for 
a company making parts for the ever famous Zippo  Lighter.  Sat all day in 
front of a  press feeding parts of the case  into the press, pushing a foot lever 
to activate the press, then doing it all  over again.  After a couple of 
months of that, I could see there wasn't a  whole lot of chance for advancement.  
Decided it was time to get out of the  area so joined the Navy.  Went to 
Buffalo NY, had my physical, and they put  me on a train (even had a sleeper) 
headed for Bainbridge MD.  After we  arrived in Bainbride, the Navy met us with a 
bus and we were welcomed to our  first Navy meal.  Breakfast -- beans and 
hard-boiled eggs.  Our boot  camp company was not one of the best.  We did win one 
flag the last week we  were there.  We sabotaged a rival company by putting 
cans in their mail  sack -- thus we won our one flag for cleanliness.  
 
I had joined a Radio Club in high school, so did well on the morse  test.  At 
that time, there wasn't any choices given, I was told I as going  to be a 
Radioman.  So, after graduation from boot camp, I stayed right  there at 
Bainbridge for 6 months of radio school.  I did well in RM school  and ended up first 
in the class.  When it was time for orders, the class  was given their choice 
of available billets, starting with the highest  grad.  There was 4 billets 
for COMSEC at Bellmore LI NY and 5 billets for  COMSEC at Norfolk.  Needless to 
say, I picked Bellmore seeing as there were  no barracks or chow hall and we 
drew subs and quarters.  
 
After living the good life in Bellmore for 10 months, the Navy decided the  
station was too expensive and closed down the operation.  (I have since  
learned that by closing the station, the Navy saved $10,000 a year.)  They  moved 
the operation and most of the personnel to Cheltenham to open a temporary  
COMSEC operation there.  For those who have been there, we were on the  second 
floor of the new section, Over where Net Control used to be.  I  don't recall 
when, but after several months, the COMSEC operation was closed and  we were 
assigned other duties.  I ended up working the the DF Net Control  shop.  Really 
enjoyed working the manual morse DF reporting circuit.   Anyway, sometime after 
I made second class, I was called into the admin  office.  They had a letter 
from the bureau which basically said "change  your rate to CT or go to sea."  
Not a hard decision.  Made slick arm  first class CT a few months later, and 
the rest is history.  Probably the  best decision ever made, with the possible 
exception of picking a wife.   Enjoyed my 30 years with SECGRU.
 
Gus