I joined the US Navy in America's Bicentennial Year ... 1976 ... right out of high school. My 1st duty station was aboard the USS Midway (CV-41) homeported in Yokosuka, Japan.
My job was in the catapults. In 1978 I reported to Naval Air Station Cubi Point, Republic of the Philippines where I worked in Runway Support. Then in 1980 I was transferred to the Naval Air Engineering Center in Lakehurst, New Jersey where I worked in the Test Dept.
Finally, in '82, I was sent to the USS Independence (CV-62) while she was on Bagel Station off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon during that crisis.