Back on Active Duty

It's March 1969 and NAS Alameda has a P2V squadron. A second class petty officer with three years experience is the aircraft electric shop supervisor. That's the reason for the recall to active duty. Getting a first class petty officer with  many years of aircraft maintenance and supervisor experience is exactly what they need. The men in the shop are a great bunch of guys and visibly happy to have a new supervisor that will take the pressure off of them. We work together to update our maintenance, documentation, and training procedures. Particularly enjoyable is a two week deployment to Naval Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu, Hawaii. Of course we rent a car on our days off and encircle the island with it. The tropical weather is great, driving over the mountains to the north shore is great, the Pearl City Tavern with wahines swimming in the glass pool behind the bar is great. Hell, everything is great! The two weeks go by too fast! 1969 was one great year. In Feb 1970 we learn all the P2V's are being sent to other Navy P2V squadrons. Most of the electricians are either due for discharge or are assigned short term duties on base until their discharge dates. Surprise, surprise. AE1 Lambert is sent to NAS Lemoore, CA for technical training on the A4 Skyhawk attack aircraft. The Navy is forming two new A4 squadrons, VA303 and VA304, at NAS Alameda. The A in VA and A4 means attack. The schools are to ensure my qualifications to be the electric shop supervisor on the A4s. By May, all the P2Vs are gone and the A4s are arriving. By June all twelve A4s are here. There are billets for nine aircraft electricians. Three of the nine have men assigned to them. AE1 Lambert, AE3 Woods, and AE3 Lopez. Neither Woods or Lopez have ever worked on an aircraft. Lopez worked on yellow ground support equipment and Woods repaired black boxes.  VA 304 has all nine electricians. A little favoritism there. It's not a problem. Woods and Lopez are smart, they learn quick, and they remember what they learn. Soon they start figuring out how to solve electrical problems on their own. We work from 7am until the last evening flights take off. Then it's time to go home and don't answer the phone. At 7am the next morning we are back at it. The first time all 12 Skyhawks taxi out and take off one after the other is a thrilling sight! Then in August 1970 we deploy all 12 aircraft to the aircraft carrier USS Lexington off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.  It's my first time on a carrier because all my other squadrons flew large land based aircraft. It's another exciting interesting experience. A few months later AE1 Gross checks into VA303 and he has A4 experience! Now we are four. Both of us first class petty officers were promoted in Nov 1964. We are equals and make all decisions jointly. In Nov and Dec of 1970, several more electricians are ordered into VA303 because the squadron will transition from the A4 Skyhawk to the newer more modern and complicated A7 Corsair aircraft. All of us attend two months of A7 technical training at NAS Lemoore, CA. Lemoore is the home base for the A7s on the west coast. Having them at NAS Alameda is an expansion of the A7 fleet. The Corsairs start arriving and flying in May 1971. We fly planes out of both Alameda and Lemoore. By Oct 1971 we are all experienced A7 technicians. VA303 deploys to Naval Air Station, Fallon, NV for weapons delivery practice for the pilots in 1971, 1972, and 1973. It's an intense flight schedule of sixteen hour days and it's a lot of fun. Most of us love being in Fallon. The deployments vary between two weeks and a month. We spend quite a bit of time there. 1970 and 1971 were fun, educational, exciting, and harmonious years.

A4 Skyhawk

A7 Corsair

Then Chief Aviation Electrician (E7) Griggs is transferred to VA303. Chief Griggs is the Division Chief for all the Avionics Shops. Electronics, electricians, and fire control technicians. In 1972 all hell breaks loose. Because he's a Chief electrician, he wants to work on the aircraft electrical problems. It's his right as the boss to do that. Right? Except the A7 is a sophisticated airplane. Way different than anything else in its day.

Is Chief Griggs willing to attend the A7 tecnical schools? No
Does he read the manuals before working on a system? No
Does he read the wiring diagram for the system? No
Does he find the correct problem before he tells the E8 in Maintenance Control what has to be done to fix it? No
Do I have to explain to the E8 why Chief Griggs is wrong? Yes
Does that make me popular with Chief Griggs? No
Is this a serious problem? It sure becomes one.

Chief Griggs decides AE1 Gross and AE1 Lambert are no longer equals. AE1 Gross is the shop supervisor and AE1 Lambert is assigned to the night shift "where you can cause less trouble." Pretty soon it's the Griggs and Gross show and Lambert is O.U.T.

Two E8s, Senior Chief Mechanic DeAngelo and Senior Chief Electrician McWilliams start shielding me from Chief Griggs' comments to Maintenance Control during the day shift. Chief Griggs lowers my evaluations for promotion. DeAngelo and McWilliams do what they can but Griggs is my boss. The message is clear. Time to stop screwing around and make sure I make Chief myself.

Then the Griggs and Gross show fucks up big time. They wire an A7's emergency generator incorrectly. I try to warn them that the emergency generator on the A7 is not the same as other aircraft. "Lambert, do not go anywhere near that aircraft!"

That A7 requires a test flight. When the test pilot deploys the emergency generator at 22,000 feet, the aircraft snap rolls and spins out of control. The pilot recovers at 4000 feet altitude and makes an emergency landing. There's an accident investigation and report filed by Chief Griggs and approved by the Commanding Officer. It states, "The AE1 on the night shift failed to adequately and correctly test the emergency generator system." Senior Chief DeAngelo points out that he was working that night and that he did not assign me to work on that aircraft. He also points out that the repair order was performed by day shift personnel, inspected, signed, and supervised by the day shift. When I confront Chief Griggs, he just smiles.

This is partly my fault. I was eligible to take the exam for Chief Petty Officer in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, and 1971. Didn't bother to take it for whatever stupid reasons. Now I'm motivated. The next five exams, two per year, my test scores are number 1, 2, or 3 top score. The lists are published for promotion. My name isn't on them. The evaluations continue to suffer and there's that accident report.

The stress of continuing to be under Chief Griggs thumb is so bad, Diane Doris files for divorce. The damage to our marriage was probably not repairable. In a year, the divorce is final.

June 1974. Orders arrive for transfer to VA305 at Point Mugu, Naval Air Station, CA.