There's a difference between power and authority. The man on the left is wearing the working uniform of a first class petty officer . The man on the right is wearing the working uniform of a chief petty officer. A first class petty officer is an E6. A chief is an E7. A chief has way more authority than a first class. That change in authority is illustrated by the change in uniform. The Navy is the only service in which you change uniforms when you are promoted to E7. Authority and power aren't the same thing. Power also comes from what position you hold. As an E6, I have a lot of power because of the duties assigned to the position of Operations Department Supervisor, but not much authority. There in lie the troubles ahead.
The Chief Aircraft Electrician (E7) in charge of the aircraft electric shop comes into the Operations Office and asks me to give up this job and work in the electric shop. That Operations Supervisor is a career enhancing position that will likely help attain future promotions seems to escape him. And the explanation that this is likely the only chance for me to do something different than be an aircraft electrician, falls on deaf ears. The third time he asks and gets the same answer, he gets angry and tries to get the squadron Master Chief to make the transfer for him. The Master Chief tells him that he can't force the change to happen. When I walk to the electric shop days later and ask the chief to borrow a meter to check the electrical system on my car, he refuses to loan me one. "Chief, if you don't want to loan me one, fine. I'll just buy one at Radio Shack." He says, "Ok, you can borrow one. Be sure you bring it back."
The senior Flight Engineer is also a chief petty officer (E7) and a grizzled veteran who frequently comes into the Operations Office and comments about how flight pay is issued and controlled, or how tax-free bonuses are administered. He clearly resents some of my decisions. Explaining that the policies come straight from the pay manual doesn't matter. He wants it done the way it used to be. He only comes in when no one else is in the office. So he's aware that he's out of line. The best defense seems to be to listen to his ongoing tirades and simply not answer.
NAS Agana's Medical Department reports to the Senior Chief Petty Officer (E8) in charge of VW-1's Administrative Office that AE1 (E6) Lambert refuses to comply with a requirement from medical. He asks me to report to him. At his office he explains medical's complaint. "Senior Chief, the regulations do not state that the Medical Department's complaint is valid." "They say it is required." "Senior Chief, the regulation does not state that the Medical Dept's request is required. It says it is desired." "I always read the regulations myself instead of believing what people tell me."
VW-1's Training Department also has a Senior Chief Petty Officer (E8) as the Department Head. After a year in the Operations office, an administrative inspection team is inspecting his records and discovers that AE1 Lambert's training record is blank. He gets dinged for that and can't explain why I've had no training. Specifically me not taking the first class swimming test. He tells the inspection team that "I refused to take the test." The inspection team reports to LTjg Howorth, a junior officer in the Operations Dept, that I have refused to take the test. Howorth comes into the office, fire engine red in the face because he got his ass chewed, and grills me about "not taking the test." The mistake is, he does it in front of the ten guys who work for me. Praise in public, censure in private. Apparently Howorth is unaware of that basic principal of leadership.
"Mr Howorth, no one has ever mentioned that test to me."
"The Senior Chief says that you refused to take it."
"The Senior Chief has not asked, nor does Navy regulations require you to pass the first class swimming test." "You are required to pass the third class test, but not the first class." "Flight crews have to pass the first class test." I am not on a flight crew . "I know all this because as soon as I heard about this so-called refusal, I looked up the regulations and read them." Mr Howorth threatens me with discipline at 7am the next morning. All the guys are at work BEFORE 7am to see what Howorth does. 7am comes, 7am goes. Same for 8 and 9am. Ho hum. It's over. This seemingly unrelenting work stress is spread over two years.
VW-1 Stress at Home
Once Diane Doris arrived on Guam, we had some problems. The way I solved the problems didn't please Diane. The solutions made sense to me but not to her. There were two incidents involving the safety of Carl and Cheryl, our two small children. At 25 years old, justice is swift. With the accuracy of hindsight, the situations could have been handled less harshly with equal effectiveness. However, at the time, anger, not compassion, was running the show. We had a cat that would attack the kids bare legs and scratch them. It was a daily occurrence. One day it bit AND scratched Carl. Bye bye cat. The other incident was we had sponsored a student from tiny Palau so he could attend the College of Guam. He proved to be unreliable and was sent back to the Sponsor Agency. No explanation, just not keeping him. He may very well work out with a different family.
All through junior high school and high school Jimmy Tebo was my very best friend. While on Guam, my dad sent a newspaper clipping. Jimmy Tebo was killed in a car wreck running from the police. That would be Jimmy all right. Probably looking over his shoulder and laughing like a maniac. Always crazy like that. A visual of him running from them ran through my head. It was lingering depression for a long time. We had named our pet cat Tebo. The one that scratched the kids legs. It was a tough time.
With all the troubles at home and at work, taking the test for promotion to chief petty officer is forgotten in 1966 and 1967. The time just slips by. Diane Doris doesn't want to spend a third year on Guam. She wants off the rock. Diane's parents are complaining about not seeing their daughter and grandchildren for years at a time. In 1967, re-enlistment is not an option. Orders for discharge at Naval Station Treasure Island, CA are written. In April of 1967, after eight years and seven months, I'm a civilian.
Why did the Navy career end after eight years and seven months?
1. The challenges at work at VW-1.
2. The issues at home on Guam.
3. Diane Doris's parents comment that they don't see their daughter and grandkids because we are always stationed far from Massachusetts.
4. Diane wants off the rock (Guam), to be close to her parents, and to get a job where she can utilize her college business degree.
5. Plus I'm pretty beat down in general. Getting a civilian job seems like a viable option.
Troubles in the Civilian Years
It's easy to get a job at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft in Hartford, CT. The Air Force F-111B is a new aircraft they are flying. It turns out that it's under powered and needs a more powerful engine to meet the required performance parameters. Pratt and Whitney manufacturers the powerful TF-30 turbofan engine. The plan is to see if Pratt and Whitney can shoehorn the TF-30 engine into the F-111B and will it solve the low power issues without over stressing the aircraft's airframe. If the conversion is successful, it means a lot of money for Pratt and Whitney. A continuing problem with the TF-30 conversion is a cockpit indicator reading that vibrates instead of displaying a steady reading on engine run up and in flight. The electric shop has been working on this problem for months with no success. The F-111 is the first swept wing aircraft. The F-111A goes to the Air Force. The Navy gets a strengthened version for aircraft carrier operations.
The dynamics of working at Pratt and Whitney is sure different than being in the Navy. The old timers are sure reluctant to allow the baby faced kid to assign jobs to the new guy. The baby face probably doesn't help. It's pretty boring to not have much to do. Months later the supervisor agrees to allow me to work on the indication problem. Likely so they can laugh when the cause isn't found. It took about an hour to find what was wrong. The mounting bracket for a thermocouple that sends a signal to the cockpit indicator is too flimsy, causing the indicator to vibrate at various engine power settings and flight attitudes. There aren't any warm fuzzies from the old timers for finding the fix for the problem. Engineering has a stronger bracket built and installed. No more vibration indications. Welcome to being assigned shit jobs.
Kaman Aircraft Corporation, Bloomfield, CT
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| HH-43B |
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| UH-2C |
Fifteen months and three promotions after starting work at Kaman Aircraft, there's a production problem with the UH-2C tail rotor blades. Stopping the production line and referring the problem to engineering doesn't make the production foreman happy. Two weeks later, engineering has a fix. The fix is fine from an engineering stand point but it conflicts with the flight line maintenance procedure manuals used by Navy mechanics. For that reason I won't sign off on the fix. Weeks go by. The production foreman calls in a U.S. Navy Quality Assurance Inspector. He backs me up for the same reason I won't sign off on it. Production procedures are changed and the new rotor blades are now within specifications and being shipped to the fleet. Except for the ones I won't sign off. An engineer gets hold of an old K99 inspection stamp. That's my number and he uses it to sign off the bad rotor blades. I file a written protest against engineering, refuting the sign off. My foreman, Leon Moquin, goes ballistic over the protest, calls me into his office, and is hostile because Kaman will lose money on those tail rotor blades they can't sell. As Moquin is ranting and raving, the office phone starts ringing, his secretary answers the phone, interrupts Moquin, looks at me and says, "Curt it's someone in the Navy and he wants to talk to you." Moquin is pissed because he has to shut up. The call is from the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Washington, DC. "Are you the Curtis Lambert who was a first class petty officer a couple of years ago?" Yes I am. "What do you do at Kaman Aircraft?" I'm quality control in production and on the flightline. "That tells me that you have both your technical and leadership skills intact." "Naval aviation has a shortage of senior petty officers." "We"d like you to volunteer to be recalled to active duty. We are desperate in some locations." That's a two stripe bust for me. I've been out over two years. "Not for you it isn't." "You pick up where you left off. You retain your original date of rank and therefore your time in service and seniority." When do I have have to decide? He says, "I'm calling people until I find a few." "But you're our first choice as the most qualified guy on the list. That's why you get the time in rank and service deal." Two weeks later on March 24, 1969 I'm back on active duty at Naval Air Station, Alameda, CA.
A primary reason for returning to active duty was because Diane Doris's father accepted a promotion and a TRANSFER to Wisconsin. Apparently it's OK for him to not see his daughter and grandchildren if he's doing what he wants to further his career. That's after complaining for years about me taking her away to various duty stations.
I was pissed to say the least. Diane Doris is pissed at me because I didn't discuss my decision with her before agreeing to return to active duty. This would be an issue between us for many years. She loved our civilian life. I hated the Connecticut winters. She loved her job. I tolerated mine and could not imagine having to do it for thirty or forty more years. If the time was taken to discuss it with her, it's almost certain someone else would be on active duty instead of me. Taking that gamble wasn't acceptable. And it's too late now.
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