DATE: June 16, 2005 9:42:40 AM AKDT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2004, 1:30 p.m. AST - Twenty-six years in the blink of an eye, Coronado man to retire after 26-year Coast Guard career - 17th District Office of Public Affairs feature story
17th District Office of Public Affairs | |||
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Feature Story | |||
Twenty-six years in the blink of an eye Coronado man to retire after 26-year Coast Guard career
The uniformed men patrolling the water certainly made in impression on the high school student. Jones began researching the Coast Guard and what it could offer a young man like him. Liking what he found out, Jones enlisted on the delayed enlisted program in 1975 and by June 1976 he traded his sailboat in sunny California for combat boots at the Coast Guard training center in Cape May, N.J. After recruit training Jones reported to the newly commissioned cutter Polar Star in Seattle, which was still in dry dock at the time. The new seaman arrived at the ship yard on a Friday right around quitting time. Jones, like a lone fish swimming down stream had to make his way though the school of men heading away from the ship after a long day at work. Once he made it through that obstacle, he faced several more. "I had been working really hard on knowing what to do when you get on board the ship for the first time, like when to salute and when to ask for permission to come aboard." said Jones. "But when I got there all I saw was a big sheet of plastic going across the ship. I didn't even know where the brow was." His first few hours aboard the ship were less than ideal. He was bunked with a member on restriction, who proceeded to tell him all the awful things about the Coast Guard. The next person he met didn't help ease his nervousness either, as that person informed him he was now the low man on the totem pole. Jones soldiered on though, embracing his new seaman responsibilities aboard the cutter. Seven months later Jones left the ship to go to radiomen school in "Originally, I wanted to be a boatswain’s mate, but I couldn't because I'm color blind. So I thought radioman would put me closer to where the action was," said Jones. Jones committed himself to the school's long and rigorous course load including learning Morse code. Once graduated Jones received orders to his top choice, =Radio Station During his four years at the radio station Jones built on the skills he learned at school. He monitored certain frequencies for weather broadcasts, ship arrival notices and any other messages such as ones of distress. Even more significant than being his first duty station as a petty officer, Jones met his wife Nadia in After his tour in "I was sitting watching TV, this is back when the Coast Guard was portrayed as the 'Smokies' of the sea," he said. "I saw that commercial on TV and thought ‘you know what, that wasn't too bad.'" Two weeks later Jones was back in the service and heading to his new unit, the cutter Confidence in Port Angeles, Wash. Considered one of his best tours, Jones enjoyed the camaraderie aboard the Confidence as the crew carried out their missions and took the ship through the Panama Canal and over to Baltimore where they picked up the cutter Active and brought it back to Port Angeles. The trip back from His next few billets brought Jones back to the recruit training center, where he graduated six companies and served as the battalion adjutant for one year. Next, Jones went to Pacific Area in Jones considered retirement after his time in "I had been trying to get to Jones reported to his billet here in 1998, but now is ready for retirement. In less than two months Jones' Coast Guard career will come to an end. Jones said he is satisfied with the diverse career he had. From serving aboard cutters to communications stations Jones has no regrets. He will miss the Coast Guard for many reasons but mainly for the reason he joined, the missions. Jones is not the only one in his family to have served honorably in the Coast Guard. His grandfather, Gustave Andersen, immigrated to the Although Andersen died one month before Jones was born, he grew up knowing his grandfather served in the Coast Guard. He had heard stories from his mother about how his grandfather was a great man, but only recently did he learn the extent of his service and the life saving medal he earned. When he finally knew the extent of his service, Jones wanted to make sure his grandfather's story was told. "You take a young boy that comes off a ship in a strange land, who joins the Coast Guard and makes his way all the way up to captain in the Merchant Marines. That’s a pretty fantastic story,” said Jones. As a child Jones learned the value and honor of work, pushing to do good and what is right, and to lead by example. Through his time in the Coast Guard Jones kept the stories he heard about his grandfather and lessons from his father close to his heart. | |||
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