After completion of Aviation Machinist Mate School I was assigned to Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron 15 (HS-15) power plant shop. At that time, HS-15 was something of a fill-in unit. We served aboard the USS Guam, USS Independence, USS America and USS Nimitz. We were attached to the USS Nimitz when it was commissioned in 1975. My duties consisted of night shift flight deck troubleshooter (green shirt), maintenance test flight aircrew and search and rescue swimmer.

There are many fond memories of my time on Nimitz. From scuba diving off Cuba during our hot weather trials at “Gitmo” to being as cold as I have ever been, above the Arctic Circle a week later during cold weather trials. But one of the most memorable events was during recovery after a successful maintenance test flight.

The pilot hit the flight deck so hard with the rear of the helicopter that it sheared off the tail wheel assembly. The Sikorsky SH-3 cannot land without a tail wheel, so we hovered abeam of the ship while the deck crew figured out how to get us back aboard. I watched out of the cargo door as the flight deck crew tied a mattress to a wheeled dolly and lashed the dolly to the flight deck with chains. The pilot did a remarkable job of landing the back end of that aircraft centered on the dolly without visual reference to our position. The moment the helicopter was safely down, the deck crew massed around it to chain it to the flight deck.

It seemed like a long time at the moment, but the entire event, from losing the tail wheel to chaining down the aircraft took all of about 10 minutes. This event was not something that can be trained for. It showed me how ingenuity, resourcefulness and teamwork can overcome a difficult situation.

Among others, my Naval experiences gave me confidence in myself, showed me the value of teamwork and “how to make lemonade when life gives you lemons.”