Oh, yah. When I went into the Navy in 1980 and was at "A" school in Pensacola, Fla., we heard of Diego, as it was one of the duty stations we could be posted to (CTO). It was listed as an undesirable duty station to to remoteness and lack of facilities and so those stationed there received extra pay for going there (Adak, AK was another such station). If I had a chance at a do-over I might have picked Diego as my first choice on my Duty Preference Sheet. There's a lot to be said for living on a tropical island, even given the land crabs.
Back in early '78 Diego was our first liberty port after over 3 months straight in the Gulf. When President Carter decided we weren't going to go into Iran after all, the Captain informed us that we would return to our WestPac. The British still owned the place, and there was nothing (and I mean nothing) but sand and rock. We made up for it in Olongapo later.
Flew a C-130 in there in '96 with a replacement towed array sonar for a RN sub filling the back end. Stayed overnight, drank some beer, watched the land crabs and flew back to Oman the next day.
Oh, yah. When I went into the Navy in 1980 and was at "A" school in Pensacola, Fla., we heard of Diego, as it was one of the duty stations we could be posted to (CTO). It was listed as an undesirable duty station to to remoteness and lack of facilities and so those stationed there received extra pay for going there (Adak, AK was another such station). If I had a chance at a do-over I might have picked Diego as my first choice on my Duty Preference Sheet. There's a lot to be said for living on a tropical island, even given the land crabs.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing to do there was drink and fish.
ReplyDeleteBack in early '78 Diego was our first liberty port after over 3 months straight in the Gulf. When President Carter decided we weren't going to go into Iran after all, the Captain informed us that we would return to our WestPac. The British still owned the place, and there was nothing (and I mean nothing) but sand and rock. We made up for it in Olongapo later.
ReplyDeleteIndian Ocean.
ReplyDeleteRobert17
Flew a C-130 in there in '96 with a replacement towed array sonar for a RN sub filling the back end. Stayed overnight, drank some beer, watched the land crabs and flew back to Oman the next day.
ReplyDelete