Mikey Davidson Department: Rx Author: Mike Matthys Era: 1988 Date: 02/15/05 Mikey Davidson was still on Ike when I got there --but he was a short timer. I had heard the story about Mikey and Waterhead before; one of the funniest stories I think I have heard. Here is another Mikey story. Ike pulled into Toulon and the squids hit the streets. Word came back to Ike that someone had stolen the heavy chain that was used as a "fence" in front of one of the government buildings. From what I heard, when Mikey came on board and stepped through the metal detector, it beeped. He went through it again after removing change, his watch, belt, etc... and it still beeped. Mikey said, "Oh, maybe it's my "short timers chain" and proceeded to pull the missing chain link fence from under his jacket.

Bob Amante's Beard Department: Rx Author: Kevin Newman Era: 1985 Date: 02/16/05 For those of you that knew MMCS Bob Amante know that he is a really nice guy. Kind of like a big Teddy Bear. I haven't seen him in about 10 years, he was retired and running a Wine festival in Hampton, and he was doing great. This story goes back about 20 years or so to when we could still have beards. Bob's was red with gray on the chin, He was really proud of it. So when the word comes down from SecNav that beards had to go as of 0000HRS 01JAN85 alot of us were pissed. We were in Naples at the time and all waited until the stroke of midnight to comply. The next morning there were some new faces at quarters, but Bob's was redder than the rest of us. It seems that during the night he had gone down to One Plant to do a walk through and found the "Bitch Book". Someone had drawn a two page cartoon starting with Bob and his beard finally progressing to him slowly lowering the towel revealing a clean shaven face with the caption. "NOOOO! I look like Captain Kangarooooo!"

Re: Mike Matthys' Collision at sea Department: Rx Author: Kevin Newman Era: 1988 Date: 02/16/05 Just goes to show what the insurance companies say is true. Most accidents occur within 5 miles of home.

G.O.D. (part 1) Department: Rx Author: Kevin Newman Era: 1985 Date: 02/16/05 Toward the end of my stay on the Ike we got an assistant Rx Officer, LCDR Gordon Owen Dorsey (no shit, G.O.D.), he even had stationary made up with "From the desk of GOD" at the top. Anyway I am standing Feed Control during drills and GOD (who was not yet qualified anything but asshole) pays me a visit and asks me to give him a checkout on the Main Feed system. I tried to tell him that we were in the middle of drills and it would be better to to get get it during normal steaming, but he insists and says "You don't understand, I am ordering you to give me a Main Feed checkout!" Not wanting to disobey an order I give him the standard checkout beginning with "draw it." He draws a barely functional line diagram and we continue with the checkout. Between his ignorance and the ongoing drills, I ended up giving him about 40 lookups. He leave and comes to see me in berthing (waking me up no less). I am really pissed right now and could kill him, but there would be too many witnesses, .....

G.O.D. (part 2) Department: Rx Author: Kevin Newman Era: 1985 Date: 02/16/05 ....so we continue, and I end up giving him a dozen more lookups. Later that night I am on watch again at Feed Control and he comes to me to finish up. When he's satisfied that we are done with the checkout he gives me his book to sign off, and I tell him I can't I'm not on the card signers list. He cusses me out big time, and tells me he'd see me at mast. So things quiet down until they send down a relief for me and order me to go to the Rx Office. When I get there GOD is there as well as the Rx Officer, and GOD tells his story. The Rx Officer asks me why, if I wasn't able to sign his card, did I give him the checkout? I told him that it was during drills and that he ordered me to do it, and that I gave him over 50 lookups. GOD goes white as a sheet. The Rx Officer cussed him out right in front of me for going into the plant during drills and bothering me, and that from then on GOD had to get all of his checkouts directly from him. I've been on GODs shit list ever since.

Ens. Downs Department: Rx Author: Peter Era: 1981 Date: 02/16/05 The following story (I really should order this page reverse chronologicaly to avoid confusion....) Anyway, the following story reminds me of an Ens. Downs that came aboard IKE. - He was the only officer I ever saw get de-nuked... He was pretty much of a prick to everyone. One time he came down to CTGLL and ordered the watchstander to start up #3 Fire Pump (which is a pain) so he could get his qual card signed off. I don't think this guy was really a rock - but I do think our leadership recognized very quickly that as much as this guy alienated the crew - there were apt to be many "incidents" while he was standing PPWO (EOOW for you non-CVNers). So they flunked him and made him DO of S8 division for a while and then xfered him off the ship. I know of a few incidences where enlisted guys got de-nuked... one was for being gay (he was a star-baby and I think the lucky bastard actually got to keep his reenlistment bonus!)

Hungover in the engineroom Department: Rx Author: Wags Era: 1980 Date: 02/17/05 When inport it was expected/customary for a certain percentage of us to get smashed everynight. The next day after quarters, we would assemble atop the CTG's where we fashioned rags into mattresses to sleep off our hangovers. The Chief's and level leaders where pretty cool as a rule so if they needed one of us they knew where to find us (which beats trying to track down a bunch of misfits with bad attitudes hiding anywhere on the ship). We'd go do what we had to do then return to our nests. At noon we'd go have a hearty Ike lunch then hit the beach for more boozin'. Unless we didn't have to stay for the morning, then of course we'd hit the bars immediately after quarters.

More hangovers Department: Rx Author: Wags Era: 1981 Date: 02/17/05 Another great meeting place was Charging Station. One time while in Aruba the whole watch was hanging out nursing hangovers in the sweltering heat. Along comes Ens.? Cook, sees us all there and throws a hissy fit. He was done playing games with us neanderthals. Anyway's, he demands to know who the CRW was, and I think it was Tom A who said "me sir", that didn't go over too well so he inquires into the identity of the next higher watchstander (engineroom boss or watchstanding superviser I forget) but I do remember Pete Ryan standing under a vent duct with his pants half off, obviously suffering from the night before; piping up and saying "that would be me, sir". Well, that really got Cook's goat. He stomped off, but we never heard nothing of the incident. That may have been the beginning of his long standing resentment against the Noodle Gang or it may have been something else. Some folks just take things too seriously.

G.O.D. Department: Rx Author: Mike Matthys Era: 1988 Date: 02/17/05 Gordon Owen Dorsey, or GOD, as he thought of himself...was the Reactor Officer when I got to Ike. He was a little full of himself, as I remember. Our last ORSE with Dorsey, we received a "below average." I heard from a couple of khakis that it was "purely political"...I guess GOD had pissed someone off. We had another ORSE about 11 months later with our new Rx Officer, Mark Ferguson III and received an excellent. You should have heard the laughs in the plants when our grade was announced. Ferguson was a golden boy -- his family had a history of Academy grads and he was number one in his class at the Academy.

The Legend of Waterhead Department: Rx Author: Charlie Era: 1984 Date: 02/18/05 We were doing shiftwork in Portsmouth in early 84, and I was RM shift leader of mostly the Noodle Gang and friends. We got stuck on swing shift after the shifts were cut to 3, so we would get to the Shillelagh late and closed it down when we were just getting started good. So, we'd head to the Fleet Club on Oceana Blvd till 6 when the Red Baron Inn opened. One morning at the Red Baron, I was shooting pool with Jim Adams and he had a straight shot at the 8 ball. I said, "Only a waterhead would miss that shot!" Guess what? He missed and the name Waterhead became his own.