PDA

View Full Version : While embarking on a new path in life



thedrifter
03-07-06, 07:36 AM
In the Navy ...
While embarking on a new path in life, area sailor gives a glimpse of his 'sea stories'
Published Tuesday March 7 2006
By CODY ECKLES
Special to The Gazette

Editor's note: Petty Officer 2nd Class Cody Eckles will periodically share his experiences aboard the USS Port Royal deployed in support of the war on terrorism. His location cannot be specified for security reasons. The 22-year-old Mount Pleasant native introduces himself in his first column below.

Growing up in South Carolina, I never imagined living the fast-paced and exciting life I have now.

The Navy has given me unimaginable opportunities and taken me to distant places most people have never heard of.

I grew up in Mount Pleasant. After graduating from Wando High School, I joined the Navy.

People often ask service members why they joined. The most common responses I have heard are Sept. 11, 2001, college money and to see the world.

I guess I just did it to see the world.

I began my journey at basic training, also known as boot camp, in Chicago, at Naval Station Great Lakes in December 2002. I spent two months marching in the snow, drilling and getting indoctrinated into the Navy.

After graduating from basic training, I attended Naval Gunnery School at Great Lakes Training Center for four months of training as a gunner's mate. Meanwhile, my family moved to Beaufort.

Upon graduation, I was assigned to the USS Port Royal (CG-73) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Named after the Battle of Port Royal, the USS Port Royal is the last of the Ticonderoga Class of Cruisers.

Soon after reporting to the ship, we deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. We spent six long months guarding oil platforms and doing maritime interdiction operations in Iraqi territorial waters. The highlight of the deployment was the capture of an Arab fishing boat manned by a crew of known al-Qaida operatives. The boat was smuggling hashish, worth close to $15 million.

Our voyages took us to such places as Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Singapore, Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and American Samoa. Each port has its unique experience. I don't know of a single sailor that didn't have an exciting story to tell about their past port visits. We call them "sea stories." It is a tradition in the Navy and has always served as a form of entertainment to pass on your experiences to other crew members.

As a second class petty officer and a gunner's mate, I do all of the maintenance on the Mk 45 gun mount and train theship's crew on small arms weapons. I am also a member of the Force Protection Team (anti-terrorism) and the Non-Compliant Boarding Team. As a member of the Non-Compliant Boarding Team, I am tasked with boarding ships that have been assessed to be less than cooperative with coalition forces and possibly hostile.

Our mission includes combating piracy, guarding oil platforms and searching for terrorists and smugglers.

Recently, I found myself in freezing knee-high water, aboard a Zodiac-style boat as part of an exercise in which our boarding team and a team of Force Reconnaissance Marines boarded a mock hostile ship. We must be ready at a moments notice to board suspected vessels.

Sometimes it gets monotonous aboard the ship, the food is not that great, and the racks (beds) are the size of an average coffin -- the reason they are called coffin racks -- but life in the Navy seems to go by much faster than that of the civilian world. I am proud to serve my country and glad to have the opportunities that I am afforded.

Ellie