What personal and professional achievements from your Military service are you most proud of and why?:

I’m proud I didn’t crash the ship that day in May. Being proud of something you didn’t do may not exactly be on point with the assigned question, but given the circumstances (and my relative inexperience), I’m still proud I didn’t crash the ship that day. Some old sea service sayings: “It’s been a good day whenever you don’t have a collision at sea or don’t run aground,” and “A collision at sea can ruin your whole damn day.” As a 22-year-old Navy Ensign (O-1), serving aboard the destroyer USS Duncan (DD-874) in the waters off the coast of Vietnam in 1970, I had finally qualified as a full-fledged Officer of the Deck Underway (OOD) in April. The following month (May 1970) was our first rotation on the gunline. The Duncan was a “well-used” WW2 naval vessel that had seen action in WW2, Korea, and, of course, Vietnam. Her main armament was three 5-inch/38 twin mounts. The primary tasks assigned to our ship were Naval Gunfire Support (NGFS) and plane guarding with the aircraft carriers operating in the South China Sea.