The Piano Man

After graduating college, but before heading to my first assignment, I had to go through training. For me, this training was standard Surface Warfare Officer School (SWO) and Communications' Officer (CommO) School. Yes, my first assignment was to be the CommO. This was also going to make me the CMS Custodian. You don't really need to know the acronym, just know that CMS is the crypto that the military uses to ensure secure communications. In order to even do this it requires a Top Secret (Special Category) clearance which basically says you have access to whatever cryto you need. This is because you are responsible for getting, inventorying, storing, distributing, and destroying all cryto material on your ship and keeping a PERFECT record of all of this. Note: My then girlfriend, now wife noted that while I was the CommO I gnashed my teeth a lot in my sleep. 

Anyway, to get back on track, this story takes place just before CommO School, while I was still in SWO school. There I met a mix of people, male and female, of all races and backgrounds. Some were prior enlisted who chose to go the officer route. We tended to listen more to them since they had first hand experience. One in particular looked like he should be more looking forward to retirement instead of becoming an officer, but he loved the Navy and wanted to go beyond the enlisted ranks. Others came from the Naval Academy, NROTC programs at various colleges, like me. I graduated from Georgia Tech. Others went through Officer Candidate School (OCS). Now, the major differences was how you were commissioned. Except for OCS, everyone was fully commissioned into the Navy. This means you were issued a green ID card. OCS were considered reservist, per se, and issued pink ID cards. This distinction was VERY important in school because school was the first hurdle to getting into the fleet. 

As we walked into the building where class took place, there was a reception desk. At this desk usually sat an ensign who had flunked some portion of SWO. Now, if you have a green card, you're stuck there until the next class starts; classes are staggered 2 weeks apart. If you have a pink card, you're stuck there until your separation papers are processed, usually about a week. Yes, officers with pink cards could get fired from the Navy. 

Now, prior to going up to Rhode Island, where the school is located, I spent time on a sister ship with another ensign who was going to their communications' officer. He was a reservist and a great guy. He had me over for dinner. His family was vegetarian and served the BEST eggplant lasagna I ever had. We had decided to be roommates when we got back to Virginia. Now imagine my surprise when one Monday I walk in and see him sitting at the reception desk! Turns out he had flunked the make-up exam for engineering. If you fail an exam, you have to take a make up the following Saturday morning. Fail that one and your out.

The classes, the military discipline, the shear stress of dealing with all of the riggers of school really make you want to blow off steam come the weekend! We couldn't wait for Friday. Right after class we would dash to the Officers' Club; yes in uniform, there was a dress code. Now one tradition in the club was to ALWAYS make sure to remove your cover (hat) before you walked in. If you didn't, and you were caught, the bartender would ring a bell and you had to buy a round of drinks for whomever was sitting at the bar. I remember thinking it was for the WHOLE bar. That would have been very bad on an ensign's salary. I did get lucky a couple of times and picked up a free pint. Fortunately though, drinks were cheap in the O Club ($1-2 for beer vs. $3-5 in the civilian world).

Well, part of blowing off steam on Friday was partaking of the free buffet - think finger food - and playing the jukebox. There was one song in particular we always played, every Friday, without fail, "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. And as it always happened after the line, "Now Paul is a real estate novelist, who never had time for a wife," the entire bar would then shout, "AND HE'S TALKIN' TO DAVY, WHO'S STILL IN THE NAVY, AND PROBABLY WILL BE FOR LIFE!" The we continued to carry on smartly.

The point is, life is a journey. The road is hard and fraught with peril. So no matter what you do, you have to take time smell the roses, or yell a fun line from a pop song over drinks with those currently on the same path as you!