Seems like an awful long time ago, but I served in the US Navy. Fresh out of high school, but with a little college, I decided it was time to leave the campus behind and go on an adventure. “Join the Navy and See the World!” It is the logo that caught my attention and I was sold.

I asked for a job where I would go to a ship and visit all of these tremendous ports around the world. Electronic Warfare was the specialty I was offered and it sounded cool. Down-side, 6 year commitment instead of 4 because of all the schools involved.

Like most I moved on after my commitment. Facebook comes along and I reunite with some friends and we share lots of old pictures. Somewhere along the line, the name of the job I had was changed from Electronic Warfare Technician to Cryptographic Technician – T.

May I introduce my son, Joshua? Fascinated by stories of military equipment, ships at sea, storms, national emergencies, and natural disasters. Move ahead a few more years and he is attending Texas A&M, with an NROTC scholarship. Unfortunately (joking), he has chosen submarines as where he wants to spend his service commitment. As a juinor at school he participates in Naval Science classes. Today he gave a presentation on the AN/SLQ-32. One of the slides featured a much younger Palinkas, an EW3. He looks tired, but has a great mustache.

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