My wife, Judy and son, Ricky
My personal data...
Knowing almost nothing about the Coast Guard, I enlisted in the U S Navy right
after graduating from high school in Southern Pines, NC. Boot camp at USNTC
Great Lakes was followed by Radioman "A" School
at Bainbridge, MD. The remainder of that enlistment was on USS GRASP
(ARS-24) homeported at Pearl Harbor. When I left Grasp, there were only
4 others on the ship that had been there longer than I had. During that time, I
made two Wespac cruises and visited the ports of Hong Kong, Danang, Subic Bay,
Pusan (Korea), Buckner Bay and Naha (Okinawa), and Sasebo, Nagasaki, Nagoya,
and Yokosuka (Japan), and Kaohsiung (Taiwan).
I left the Navy 9-64 as RM2, worked briefly for the phone company in Southern Pines, then joined the Coast Guard 4-65, still as RM2. First CG duty was Commsta New Orleans. I had met Judy Lambert while working for the phone company and married her enroute to my second duty station, Loran Station French Frigate Shoals. We celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary July, 2006. Then came duty at Commcen CCGD13 (Seattle, WA) along with our son, Ricky, and promotion to RM1. After that, Commsta New Orleans, again, during which I took a 6-week TAD tour to Ocean Station Bravo on USCGC SEBAGO (WHEC-42) which included a port call at St Johns, Newfoundland.
Then RM"B" School at USNTC San Diego and then to USCGC VIGOROUS (WMEC-627) at New London, CT. We did mostly Fisheries Patrols and did one Ice Patrol. It was on the Ice Patrol that I became a qualified underway OOD. Then went to OCS at RTC Yorktown then to USCGC CHEROKEE (WMEC-165) at Little Creek, VA. After that, CCGDEleven(asst oc) in Long Beach, CA. While stationed at Long Beach, I was promoted to Chief Radioman as my permanent grade and Lieutenant (jg) under my temporary commission. Then promotion to a permanent commission and the rank of Lieutenant and two years at Devry, Phoenix. After Phoenix came my twilight tour at CG HQ (G-DST-3). For my last 1 1/2 years at Headquarters, I drove a commuter bus between Fredericksburg, VA, and Washington, DC, after tiring of car pools.
I retired March 1, 1984, and moved to the state I had long dreamed of living in - TEXAS. I've been here ever since and have never regretted it.
Started with Longview PD in Oct. 84 as a dispatcher and moved to an opening in the city jail in March, 1985. Nov. 1, 1989, I started work with the Gregg County Sheriff's Dept. as a jailer and served there until my retirement on March 31, 2009. I was the Financial Officer for the jail. My responsibilities included all the bookkeeping on the Inmate's Trust Fund, including balancing the bank statements and making all the deposits and resolving discrepancies and inmate complaints regarding their accounts. The Inmate Trust Fund was maintained on a computerized bookkeeping system provided by Swanson Inmate Commissary Services. I was also the Jail Procurement Officer and ordered all the toiletries, inmate uniforms, janitorial supplies, office supplies, ad infinitum for the jail.
When off-duty, I would come home, sit in front of yet another computer system and SURF THE NET! Now that I'm retired, I spend even MORE time in front of the computer. No wonder the local opticians and optometrists love me! Now if I can just keep Judy from taking a fire axe to my computer . . . . .
After retiring from the Sheriff's Office, my part-time job with RailcrewXpress became full-time. I now work 36 hours a week hauling railroad crews to and from their trains. I plan on going into full retirement sometime during 2010 but it's a tough decision. I have been hauling railroad crews for 12 years and it's a very enjoyable occupation. Unfortunately, the pay stinks (75 cents above minimum wage at this writing, 25 cents above for the junior drivers) and this pay situation will make it easier to decide in favor of full retirement.
On June 14, 1997, I obtained my first domain name - www.radiojerry.com.
As of this writing, I now have the following domain names in addition to radiojerry.com:
radiojerry.us
n4ki.us
blue-knights.us
letarc.net
radioman.ws
oldcoasty.info
railtex.us
rktescorts.com
