In 1969 while serving aboard the Atakapa as a CT,
I stood back to back 12 hour watches in the radio shack. The bad part of
that was my down time was during ships working hours and the CMA
(can't remember his name - but a salty old fart) took a great delight
in making sure I didn't stay in my bunk. I don't know if he just didn't
like me or that I was a very junior 2nd class CT.
Anyway, I found that he would rarely venture to the bridge, so on clear days, I would redtag the
radar controls and then proceed to take a nap in the crows nest. All went
well until one day I awoke to the whirring of the radar antenna immediately
above my head. I knew my gonads were toast and I was pissed. I scrambled down
to the bridge and found Captain Cullipher at the helm and everyone else taking
a break. I stealthily ventured a look at the radar control and found only the
rotator had been turned on.
Then over my shoulder I heard the Captain say "Got Ya, Matt"!
Ken Matthiesen
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