Paul Soderquist, CTT3 USN, 1969-1973


It was 1969.  I was 17, I wanted in the Navy, but there was a long 
waiting list where I lived in Iowa.  My dad called congressman Wiley Mayne’s 
office and just asked what I was supposed to do, I wanted in but there was 
a long wait. His staff said if we went to Columbus NE they weren’t making 
their quotas, and I could sign up immediately.  So we did.  Being 17, my dad 
had to sign for me.
 
I scored well in the GCT ARI.  During boot camp in San Diego I was informed 
I was going to Pensacola CTT A School. Good thing, because I didn’t do well 
on the rifle range or doing knots.  I would have made a lousy fleet sailor.
 
In A School I already knew how to type.  That helped.  I did pretty well with 
the code.  I think I finished code in 6 weeks, or something like that.  Maybe 
a little early.  I made a couple life long friends through A School.  One went 
to CTR and one went to CTT Wideband.  I saw them in Adak and/or Sabana Seca.  
I thought “the Zoo” building 502 was quite something.  
 
The security clearance was routine for me as I recall.  
My parents later told me a couple guys from the FBI came sniffing around our 
little town in Iowa, interviewing neighbors and business people, asking a 
bunch of questions about me.  
 
I got the clearance.  Becoming a CT made a difference for me

-         I scored 4th in my A School class of around 30.  I scored 1st in 
          my C School class.  I wasn’t used to doing near the top academic work, that felt good.

-         I loved the work, the theory, the hardware.  The ditty’s are still in my head.

-         To this day I still use the “butterfly” for wrapping a long line or extension cord, 
          just like wrapping up the pink punched tape.

-         The code stuck with me.  8 years after leaving active duty, I went back in as a 
          Chaplain and  became friends with a ham, became inspired, and I took up the code 
          and got a ham license and got on the air. To this day, RTTY is my mode of choice. 
 
-         I bought my first good camera, Minolta SRT101. Took up amateur photography. 
          Leadership in the Adak Camera Club. Darkroom work.  I still like photography.

-         I was the MARS officer at NAVSTA Long Beach.  Worked a modest amount of traffic 
          on the west coast and even less later in Iowa.
 

Paul Soderquist
Chandler, AZ
Former CTT3
Pensacola 70 CTT A School
Adak 70-71 CommSta with CO Capt George MacGinnis
Pensacola 71 CTT C School “Tebo”
Sabana Seca 72-73  
N0KDI   former NNN0KTN