In our latest stories from the navy segment , we talk to Buddy Stewart. You might know him as the gallant captain of the Navy General Board Facebook Group. He agreed to share some stories from his time in the Navy. From service aboard USS Deyo to his time as an instructor, Buddy has seen many interesting things. We are honored to hear stories from his life.
What year did you join the Navy and what motivated you to make the decision?
I joined the Navy in April of 1988. I came in late, I was 29 when I joined, and the kids looked at me like I was some crazy old man. I was a long haired Rocker, bass player, and IBM wasn’t hiring any bass players. So I needed to learn a skill. I joined the Navy, which I had always loved, and my dad had been in the Navy as well. Went into the AEF (advanced electronics field) as a DS, Data Systems Maintenance Tech. The skills I learned in the Navy I applied in my career after the Navy with several telecommunications companies as a Voice Switch Technician. Big switches and the circuits that support them, DS0, T1, DS3 and all the associated equipment. In hindsight, I wish I had stayed in to retire. I do miss a lot about the Navy.
Where did you work in the AEF field? Were you placed on a ship or did you have to spend time on a shore posting?
I went through DS ‘A’ school which was 32 weeks, then ‘C’ school, for Link-11, which was 13 weeks, then one week of crypto. I just about aced my C school. I did so well in fact that I corrected some of their test that they had wrong. When I graduated, they asked me if I wanted to stay on and be an instructor, it’s called a turn around. They had trouble filling instructor billets from guys coming back from the fleet. Those guys wanted to hand out basketballs at the gym, instructor duty is hard work. So my first command was the schools command, CSTSC (combat systems technical schools command). I did that for 2 years then went to USS Deyo in Charleston.
Tell us a little about USS Deyo if you would not mind.
Well, when I was sent to Deyo, she was near the end of a med deployment. I had to sit in Siganila, Italy for a few days until I could get a ride over to Marseille France, where she was in port. When I got there, they were like, ‘what are you doing here?’, I was like hey, here’s my orders, see the uniform? They didn’t have any berthing available for me and had told Charleston NOT to sent anyone over there. I had to live out of my sea bag and sleep on a cot tied to some pipes in Combat Systems berthing. Deyo was a Spruance class destroyer. When I was on board we had the five inch gun up front and on the fantail. We had ASROC and two ABLs for tomahawk. We had Harpoon, Sea Sparrow, CWIS and torpedo tubes.
While in the med, we did some workups with some NATO ships. We made a port call in Turkey. We were supposed to head out with the battle group, but the Soviet Union was breaking up. Russia wanted to keep their carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, which had been in the Black Sea. She was coming out into the med to move up to be with their northern fleet, and we were detailed to hang out and follow her out of the med. This also delayed us getting back home. We were an Outboard equipped ship, and the Navy at the time, always kept an Outboard equipped ship in the med. Outboard is basically electronic intelligence gathering, signals and such. So Deyo has some pretty well known photo’s with Admiral Kuznetsov in the med. In fact if you google USS Deyo, you can see one on the page. I took a couple of photos of her myself.
We also participated in the celebration of Victory in the Atlantic, and BALTOPS93. We did three or four counter drug ops in the Carribean as well with a Coast Guard Law Enforcement detachment on board. Went through the Panama Canal and did some counter drug ops in the Pacific and down the coast to Malaga, Columbia. I got out when they were working up for the their next Med Cruise.
I take it you eventually got your berthing, correct? How much time did you spend on Deyo?
Yeah once we got back to Charleston, we had people that were leaving, I got a rack then. I was on Deyo for 2 years, five months, one day.
Let’s talk about life aboard USS Deyo. I have heard from previous destroyer crewman that due to the smaller atmosphere, life on a destroyer was different. Everyone knows everybody else. Did you see that aboard your ship?
Well, you knew just about everybody by sight, you might not have a personal relationship with everybody. I was in Combat Systems Dept. So our berthing had Electronics Techs, Fire Control Techs, Data System Techs, Sonar Techs. I knew a lot of those guys. I didn’t know a lot of guys in deck division. I knew some of the OS types because we supported their gear. I knew some of the Store Keepers because you interfaced with them. You needed repair parts for some gear, your dealing with an SK. Knew the Yeoman some, again, admin stuff in the ships office, you have to interface with them. But mainly, the guys I hung out with were in my own Division and Dept.
You gotta remember I was 29 when I went in. So I didn’t go out and play grab ass on the beach with a lot of the younger guys, I just wasn’t into it.
So you mean to tell me that not once you showed the younger crew how it was done? Using your guitar to serenade women on an exotic beach?
(Laughter)
I didn’t really see captains mast in my future, and never went to one. I was an E5, 2nd class petty officer, the younger guys were typically the ones doing stupid shit and going to mast, E4 and below. They were usually, but not always the ones coming back that had to be carried up the brow.
That’s not to say i never went out to a bar in port, or tied one on, but I usually was with other 2nd class or 1st class PO’s and we kept it together pretty much. Didn’t see any 2nd or 1st class popping positive on piss test for pot or whatever either.
Now we are getting somewhere. What was the best bar you ever went to during your naval career?
A place in Puerto Rico, I can’t remember the name of it, but there was a lady there that (Salty Content Removed at Buddy’s Request). You probably don’t want to put that on your web page though.
We did a port call in Amsterdam that was great. Went to the Heineken brewery, did the tour and finished in a huge hall where the beer and cheese flowed, we all got a little lit that day. The Heineken there tastes soooo much better than what we get in the states.
I went to some good bars in the UK too. When we were in Liverpool, me and two other guys took a train down to London for 3 days. that was a fun trip.
We had a few beers bought for us, this was back when they liked Americans.
It sounds like you got around. Did your ship operate with naval ships of other navies?
Well, like I said we did some NGFS exercises with some NATO Ships when we were in the med. UK, France, Turkey, Italy. Then we did the BALTOPS 93. There were a lot of people at that party. During the first phase, Russia participated. That was the non-military phase. Search and Rescue, assisting people at sea, that sort of thing. I have photos of Deyo with a Russian Krivak I think and some German fast attack craft from BALTOPS 93.
Awesome! You mentioned a party. How was it interacting with your peers from other navies?
What I mean was, the group of ships involved in BALTOPS 93, there was a lot.
I didn’t interact a whole lot with crew from other navies, I did a tour of a Russian ship while we were in Kiel, and traded some collar devices and a zippo lighter for a cool hat. I met a gal on a UK frigate that was on watch in Kiel, when I toured their ship, she was nice
I remember when we followed the Russian carrier out of the med, they dropped a float in the water and had a water proof package with it, had some wine, some ships hats, stuff like that, we sent them one back with the same kind of stuff in it, so even then, we were acting pretty friendly.
I had 2 years 5 months and 1 day of sea service, and I didn’t even get a sea service ribbon out of it. the requirement is you have to be away from your home port 90 days. we were out 2 months here, 2 months there, so I never got it, that sort of pissed me off. it’s like I didn’t do any time at sea, which I did.
I recall that you mentioned previously that you never got your order of the shellback recognition either.
We never crossed the equator. We got close when we went down to Columbia. The Chiefs and DiVos petitioned hard to the Captain to make a run down there. it was only a day out of our way, but he wouldn’t do it. The crew was pissed off about it.
Did some captains go out of the way to help the crew?
In what context? crossing the line?
Just in the way you said people tried to petition the captain. I would think that the captain would not go out of their way for that sort of thing.
Well I would think some would if your schedule wasn’t pressing. Maybe ours was. It was only a day out of the way. There’s money associated with that, two days fuel, down and back. But that was the only time while I was on board that we got close. Also, I don’t know how far in advance you make appointments to go through the Panama Canal, so It’s
possible we couldn’t take the time to head to the equator and make our Canal transit on time.
Fascinating. I did not realize the captain had freedoms like that. Let’s ask a pretty generic question now. What is your best memory from the Navy.
Instructor duty.
It was the most personally rewarding activity I performed in the Navy. I actually looked forward to Monday. It was a lot of work, but there was a lot of satisfaction in seeing your class, or a student, suddenly grasp something they had not before you made it clear to them.
And the end of every class, all instructors get a class critique by their students. They all fill out a critique form. I consistently had some of the best critiques in my department, to the point that the Commander who was the CO of the C Schools called me into his office to personally thank me for my work. That felt pretty good.
And some of these critiques were from 1st Class PO’s and Chiefs that were in my class. They had doubts about taking a course from a turn around instructor that hadn’t been to the fleet, but by the end of the course they thought I did a great job.
I held three NECs while I was in the Navy, 1623 – Data Communications Link Maintenance. Tech. 4 years 7 mos.
9502 – Instructor 4 years 5 mos.
1416 – SNAP II (AN/UYK-62) Maintenance. Tech. 1 year 6 mos.
In something unrelated, there was pressure to perform at the schools. You were being given an opportunity to learn a specialized skill. The Master Chief of the Schools command had a talk with every incoming class, and he made it clear, if you didn’t maintain a certain passing grade, he would find you a fast frigate headed to the Gulf and you would work in deck division.
We have room for just a bit more in the article. Any final words you have to share? What you thought of the navy overall? Do you miss it? Closing remarks?
I had a chance to serve with some very good men in the Navy. I had some excellent Chiefs. Some times, we tend to remember the good things and forget the not so good. The Navy for me, was like a lot of things. It wasn’t all good, and it wasn’t all bad. I absolutely miss it. However, I’m sure I wouldn’t look forward to standing a mid-watch tonight. All that said, I’m proud to have served.
Thank you for sharing some stories with us Buddy.
Navy General Board would like to extend a big thank you to Buddy Stewart for taking the time to share some stories with us. Buddy has been around the website for some time and has never hesitated to lend some advice or share an opinion. A stellar gentleman to work with!
The post Stories from the Navy with Buddy Stewart appeared first on Navy General Board.