In the Navy

I was at Navcommsta Sidi Yahia from August 1969 to December 1970, as a CT ‘T’ brancher working in the ops building and living in the barracks. My first four months were spent messcooking, and staying with 5 other guys in the GenSer barracks in a room of our own; we sort of had our own private Navy for a time as no one bothered us there (!). I really enjoyed cooking and took over the salad bar, where I learned how to make a mean coleslaw from the salad cook. I still think about the bus stop in Kenitra, the crazy banter between the Marines and the street vendors, and the wild bus ride back to base in the dark. In the Ops building we stood a 2-2-2-80 watch schedule which meant we had about three days off every five days. I took regular train trips to Casablanca and Rabat, just to walk around and soak in the eastern ambience. Bought into a car with Paul Cheek and Dan Niblack and travelled regularly to Tangier, where we stayed at the Residence Bahia. We were cautioned not to eat the local food, but all of us did , feasting on bread, brochettes and tomatoes, and no one got sick. I arrived just after Woodstock, and while I was in Morocco things were changing mightily back in the states – Kent State, etc. – and there was quite a bit of generational friction on base. I was reluctant to leave, and in some ways still have a mental foot planted firmly there in Morocco. I have never seen brighter stars at night anywhere.