David Edwards:
CLASS OF 1977
Canyon Del Oro High SchoolClass of 1977
Tucson, AZ
David's Story
Life
Joined the Navy in August following graduation and spent the next 20 years in submarines. Traveled between corners of the United States and everywhere in between, CA, HI, FL, CT and WA.
Married in Waikiki, we had our first child in Honolulu, second child in Orlando and retired in Seattle. Spent one year driving long haul in the western 11 states and the last 9 as a Test Engineer in Seattle.
We adopted our second family on our 24th wedding anniversary and gained another wife and 2 more children, now 21 and 17. It's hard to believe that my youngest is 17 and the oldest 25. We had our first grandchild Jan 06 and the second is due Aug 07.
Where does the time go.
Military
I attended Boot Camp in San Diego CA, "A" school in Great Lakes IL and then served 3 months on the USS William C. Law, a reserve destroyer in New Orleans LA. I then spent 6 months in Orlando FL and another 6 in Idaho Falls ID completing my nuclear power training as a Machinist's Mate. From Idaho to Groton CT for Nuclear Welder training and then to Pearl Harbor for submarine sea duty on the USS Sam Houston.
Tho stationed in Pearl Harbor the boat operated from Guam. 2 patrols or a year later we went into the decommissioning process and I transferred to the USS Swordfish. We did some local operations before entering the No Ka Oi Shipyard in Pearl Harbor for a refueling o...Expand for more
verhaul. Just before Sea Trials I transferred to Groton CT to the pre-commission crew of the USS Florida.
On the Florida we performed sea trials following construction and transited through the Panama canal. We did a few more patrols from Bangor WA. I then got my choice duty at Nuclear Field "A" School in Orlando.
Orlando was also a pre-commissioning event and was an excellent chance to set up a new school. I served in the Section Advisor capacity which is the same as a student counselor having up to 90 students at a time. It was nice spending almost 4 years in the sunshine state and quite a learning experience.
Back to sea duty in Groton CT but this time the boat operated out of Holy Lock Scotland. 2 patrols down and the boat stopped in Toulan France on the way back to the US. A transit through the canal and back up to Bangor WA for de-fueling and decommission.
After decommissioning I was transfered to the USS Henry M Jackson for another 2 years and I finished my career at the Trident Refit Facility in Bangor WA.
I retired in August 1997 after 20 years of service. All in all my career consisted of 10 patrols on 4 ballistic submarines, 1 fast attack submarine, pre-commissioning crew, nuclear re-fueling and overhaul, decommissioning crew, school start-up and 7 years under water.
It was an experience and time I will never regret nor forget.
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