John Ross:  

Military I joined the Navy and went to Recruit Training in Great Lakes, Illinois on August 28th, 1995. On November 3rd, I graduated from boot camp and reported, literally across the street, to Service School Command Great Lakes. There I began an 18 month pipeline to become and Electronics Technician. After graduating from Electronics Technician "A" school on February 28th, 1997, I reported to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS for my "C", or specialty, school. 12 weeks of school and a whole bunch of leave later, I reported to my first afloat command, the USS Ramage (DDG-61) in early August '97. Six months, right before the Stanford-Utah Final Four game, later I broke my foot playing a pickup game of basketball and was immediately transferred off my ship. After bouncing around for a couple of months I landed in the Naval Computer Telecommunications Area Master Station (NCTAMS) detachment Hampton Roads. I spent roughly ten months there and transferred in March '99. En route to reporting to the forward-deployed, San Diego-based, guided missile destroyer USS Stethem (DDG-63), I attended my second "C" school in San Diego, CA. Somewhere in there I even got a chance to reconnect with Aimee Wagstaff and we even roomed together for about six weeks. Then in July '99, I was flown to Bahrain to meet my new ship, already on deployment. Upon returning to my new homeport of San Diego, I tried out for and got picked up on the Southern Pacific Regional (SOPAC) Navy Wrestling Team. To the ire of everyone I worked for I then was transferred off the ship and reported only for practice and tournaments until April 2000 at which point I competed in the 2000 National Championships. I then reported back to the Stethem in late April and began workups for what would be my second Midd...Expand for more