HAPPY 20th NAVY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

20 years ago today, I started my journey with the Navy.

I was young, scared, and had a head full of hair!!! As of over a year ago, I had officially been in the Navy for more than half my life...

In the past 20 years, so much has changed, so much has happened...

I've been stationed in Florida, Texas, Diego Garcia, Iceland, Virginia, back to Iceland, California, back to Virginia, and shortly, Greece. If you add in countries I've had to go to on ships, it's St. Martins, Italy, Canada, Bermuda, Mexico, Monoco, Croatia, Bahrain, Dubai, Greece, and Iraq... I'm sure there a few others I'm forgetting, too!

In my career, being accepted into the ranks of Chief Petty Officer, getting my Bachelor degree, and earning my Surface Warfare were my proudest moments in uniform. In my personal life, my two children, Alexander and Juliet, and wonderful wife Cristy, have made me the happiest.

But good does not come without bad... I've lost a few friends and Sailors along the way. Two failed marriages remind me that it takes work, every single day, to have a successful relationship. Though I've made many friends, I've lost touch with so many over the years...

So, today, I am amazed... The years have flown by so fast... So many changes... So many people... It feels strange to comprehend, but TODAY I am officially eligible to retire...

While I still have some time left in my career, it will all be unaccompanied (meaning Cristy and Juliet can't come). But, I will have my Navy family there to lift my spirits... After 20 years, it's more than a job... Its a family... I know in the year to come, I'll be helping raise young boys and girls who have just started their journey with the Navy into adults; into Sailors... I'll also spend some time with my brothers and sisters, laughing, complaining and bragging about the past, present and future...

It's time to start my day like any grizzled, old Navy Chief should; with a steaming hot cup of straight black coffee; strong enough to raise the dead, and tasting like it was brewed in the Pits of Hell by the Devil Himself... Pour it into a nasty old stained mug, "that's got more sea time than half of you kids!!!", and drink it til you feel it in your veins... Now THAT'S a Navy Breakfast!!!

The Chief