European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 16, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday february 16, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 17 Aerial View of the Bat Eihl Iowa Trowt it arriving at Norfolk va., with Crew Manning the Raih. Pleasure boat provide an escort into port. Long and hard about when they last had the Energy to climb above to see the Sun and water. At in the civilian world there Are still problems in the Navy. Sailors go absent without leave. They May be too immature or become neurotic. But race relations Are described As excellent and drug abuse appears to be on the decline. Urinalysis testing has been stepped up to combat drug use but last Spring tests were conducted on 1,445 men on the Iowa and Only one turned up positive. But this is not a Bunch of choirboys says capt. John j. Chernesky the battleship s executive officer. This is a Cross Section of Michael Wayne Brown is part of that Cross Section. At age 17, a Junior in High school he was making $32 a week pumping Gas in his Hometown of Shreveport la. An older brother was periodically moving in and out with their parents and every time he came Back lost my into a working class family nobody in my family Ever went to College he was also growing did t see my life going anywhere he explains adding he wanted some marketable skills. I got led up at Home losing my bedroom and said. No More. I visited the Recruiter on a monday and the next sunday Jan. 13, 1974,1 was Brown now holds a top professional firefighter Rahrig. He is also a Hull technician a Journeyman of the Saratoga. He s a combo notion plumber welder Engineer who on the Side won credentials to handle a 20-ton Crane. Brown my a i to put in 20 years with the Navy and go for a pension. The first four years you really pay your dues he explains. The second four years when the Navy needs you the most that s when you car take the Navy for a ride and gel your trying. You say yeah i la re enlist but you Send me to this school after eight years. With a Good record you know you re going to get a Good Job outside. But then you Start thinking about the pension. You begin to think it All might be Worth it to be 38 and fishing and drawing $700 a month. But really the thing is where else was i going to get this kind of experience i had my High school equivalency 91 Days after Boot Camp. I got 31 credits in College. I could be a Marine chemist in two years. A tour of duty on a ship like this is really hard and most people will never understand that. There will never be a Day when you can say the work s done. But you get an Opportunity Here. I mean a free Opportunity that you never see on the outside. I Don t have any the nuclear powered tub Merit Olympia photographed during ceremony in Norfolk a
