Steve Mowery:
CLASS OF 1973
Central High SchoolClass of 1973
Capitol heights, MD
ECPI College of TechnologyClass of 1998
Virginia beach, VA
Central High SchoolClass of 1973
Capitol heights, MD
Maryland Park Middle SchoolClass of 1970
Capitol heights, MD
Seat Pleasant Elementary SchoolClass of 1966
Seat pleasant, MD
Steve's Story
Well, I guess this is the space that I tell, what I did after Central. It's been a long time but here goes.
Immediately after graduation, or maybe a month after, I started working a General Heating and Plumbing there in Capitol Heights, it was going pretty good, had the old yellow '66 Chevy Impala back then. Well, with the slow down in work over the winter, I got laid off during the Christmas break. And that's when opportunity opened the doors for me. Within two weeks of getting laid off, I signed up for the Navy. I know, the Vietnam conflict was still going on, but what the heck.
Well I went to bootcamp on the 31st of Jan 1974. Left Baltimore, it wasn't very cold there, and flew into Chicago, it was windy, but of course I had my varsity jacket on. We, the 99 other enrollees and myself then went on to 10 weeks of training at the Recruit Training Center (RTC).
RTC wasn't that bad, Mr. Harris was harder on us during football practice than we had it there. Anyway after recruit training, Hospital Corps school, Chicago Ill. I didn't know it when I signed up for this field, back at Iverson Mall, but Navy's Hosiptal Corpsman hold the most Medal of Honor award than any other group. Pretty prestigeous, or so I was told time and time again. So, after completing Hospital Corps school, I went to my first duty station, Indian Head, Maryland. Yep, right back home.
Indian Head, was a small base, tucked in at the end of rt. 210 on the Patuxent River. Although it was small, it had a lot going on there. I did two years there as a general service corpman. I met a girl, got married and we had our first son while stationed there. Sometime during that two year period I decided it was time for a change. I requested and got X-ray Technician School.
In August 1976, I left Indian Head, for Portsmouth, Virginia. Another year of school. Good thing about this school is, it was an off campus school accredited by George Washington University. I could get a degree in health sciences, and not have to pay for it. Well, I completed it and when it was time for orders, I requested anything on the west coast. I had enough of Maryland and Virginia. Saw all that growing up. Well, I got the Naval Air Station, Alameda, CA., by way of Field Medical Service School (FMSS), Camp Pendelton, CA. Yep, another school to further my education in the field of health sciences.
Well, I went on to California. My wife, active duty Navy as well, was to be transferred to San Diego, so we would be back together, along with my son after I completed FMSS. FMSS was 5 weeks of Navy field medical training mixed with Marine combat training. Yes we had classes in how to heal, and how to kill. Of course no Marine training comes without physical fitness training. Anyway, I survived, completed the training, and went to on to Alameda. I spent two years there, from Oct. 77 to Oct. 79. My wife gave birth to our second son in June of 79. Thanks to my FMSS training I got orders to Hawaii. Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe, Hawaii. I had orders for 3 years. My wife got orders to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. We would have 3 years of sun filled beaches, palm trees, and hula skirts, wrong.
I checked into my command at Kanoehe on Nov 1, 1979, my birthday, lucky me. I was then assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd battalion, 3rd Marines, the grunts or ground pounders. I can't say it was all bad, but getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning, thee days a week, to go run 3 to five miles in formation with a full company of Marines is not what I call fun. Of course, I performed my duties as corpsman, holding sickcall, listening to lame excuses as to why a perso...Expand for more
n can't shave, and why they can't run and why the can't march, most of it was because they got to drunk the night before and had a hangover. The better part of my duties was out on the range. I got to shoot off the, 45 that I was issued, the M16A-1 rifle and the 203 grenade laucher. Hey, life way great. After being in Hawaii for about 8 months, My company had to make a deployment, 6 months, a West Pac. Six months aboard a ship, in the western pacific going from country to country, sounds pretty good, again wrong. Anyway we won't get into the details here, there are way to many. Surfice it to say, that via the Navy, I visited Guam, the Philipines, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Kenya, Australia, and even Diego Garcia. During our stop in the Phillipines in Dec. 1980 I recieved notice aboard the ship that my father passed away, so I did take emergency leave to fly back for his funeral. That flight was an experience in itself. I took me from the Phillipines to Japan to Alaska and San Diego before finally coming on Dulles International. Anyway, I made two West Pac deployments in my three years and enjoyed them so much that I extended my assignment it Hawaii for two more years, one year at a time. Here is where my third a final son was born. In Hawaii I also took the opportunity to continue my education toward a degree in business administration, enrolling in Chaminade University of Hawaii.
After spending 5 years in Hawaii, I transferred to San Diego CA. 3 years of instructor duty and the Naval School of Health Sciences, My wife got orders to the Naval Base, San Diego. I was teaching Radiologic Technology. More specific, I taught Radiation Physics, Radiation Biology and Anatomy and Physiology. This school was also accredited by George Washington Unversity. Heck the even listed me in there handbook and Dr. Steven Mowery I also took the opportunity to continue my work toward a business admistration degree with a minor in computer information systems by enrolling in National University there.
To move on, after teaching there for three years I transferred to Sasebo, Japan for two years. Again, My wife got transferred at the same time to Sasebo. Not much happened here except some cultural exchange, I learned to speak a little japanese.
After Japan, Aug 1989, It was back to Portsmouth, Virginia for both me and Norfolk, Virginia for my wife. Yep, they sent me back to the east coast. All was going quiet until Desert Storm. I guess somebody decided I had been in one place to long. So I got orders to Fleet Hospital 5, Al Jubal, Saudi Arabia. The desert sand, tent city, scorpions, Al Jubal had it all. My wife and three sons remained I Norfolk, Virgina this time.
After my little stint in AL Jubal, I went back to Portsmouth where I wound up divorcing my wife and finishing my 20 years with the Navy. I retired in Jan 94. I worked in a hospital in Norfolk as the Radiology departments evening supervisor until June 96. That's when I decided I had had enough of patient care and needed to change my profession. I still had my Vietnam era GI bill so back to school I went. Got a degree in computer sciences and now work as a computer programmer, with the Navy on a government contract, writing programs to teach navy pilot's how to fly.
I usually spend my off work hours at the bowling alley. I bowl 4 to 5 days a week, have bowled four 300 games, numerous 700 series and 1 800 series. I am a United States Bowling Congress certified coach, and coach youth bowling on Saturday mornings.
And that's me in a nutshell.
If you took the time to read all this, you are a better man than I am, because I surely wouldn't have.
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