TechIntersect

I was intrigued by the “Troops to Teachers” discussion in the days preceding the US presidential election, because I am both a teacher and a veteran of the US armed forces. Thinking about the role my six years in the US Navy played in my current career, I most certainly would not be who I am today in the classroom without that experience. Since the election is over, I won’t comment on the validity of the idea, but I thought I would share some things I’ve been thinking about with my own experience.

USS Cochrane

The first 20 seconds of the following video gives a glimpse of the very first computer system I worked on as a computing professional.

It shows the plotting room of the digital Mk68 naval gunfire control system on the USS Cochrane (DDG-21). The AN/UYK 20 computer is the breadbox sized machine that contained the brains of the whole fire control system. The large, impressive, control panel with lots of lights and buttons where I am sitting is the computer set control that provided the human interface with the fire control system.The machine with the three circular windows is the control station of the SPG/53F fire control radar. You may even get a chuckle that I worked on a system with a magnetic tape loader, with which we loaded the operational program.

USS Missouri

This video shows my second ship, the USS Missouri. It does not feature the Mk38 fire control system I worked on, but you can see the big guns that we fired from where I worked. The computer system was an analog system instead of a digital system, but it still did the job of solving the fire control problem. This scene shows us departing from Long Beach, CA and heading for war in the Persian Gulf in 1991. If there was ever a life-changing event in my life, it’s certainly that time.

How did the experience in the US armed forces impact my teaching?

I don’t think veterans are any more inclined to teach than the general populace. However, the experience certainly serves me well. Here are some things I learned in the Navy in no particular order.

1. Appreciate diversity. The young men and women serving in the armed forces are a diverse group. I came from white-bread America both literally and figuratively. (Kansas grows wheat & has lot’s of white people.) I learned to get along with everyone, regardless of their ethnicity or cultural background.
2. Understand the physical world. As a Navy gunfire controlman, I received an education in physics unlike any other. My eyes lit up when taking my first college Physical Science course and Chad Davies started talking about battleship guns. Now that was a subject I could relate to! Now I can use that physics knowledge in simulations and games. Check out this flash simulation of a naval gun. It’s rough, but you get the idea.
3. Leadership. Real leaders are willing to do anything they ask their people to do. Real leaders will encourage creative solutions to problem solving, not bark orders and expect people to blindly follow. Real leaders will let the person most able and closest to the problem solve it, then give them the credit they deserve for solving it! My approach to leadership is exemplified in It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy .
4. Life is fragile and precious. There’s nothing like a war to wake you up and put your priorities into perspective. I’m glad I served aboard a ship, rather than have to face terrible things that a foot soldier sees. But it was challenging and sometimes scary. When those tomahawks launched and we knew that in a few minutes someone at the receiving end would die, we knew it was no longer a game anymore, it was the real deal. We wondered what could happen to us in retaliation. We wondered if we would live to see our families again.
   
5. Work hard and play hard. You get the most out of life when you face and overcome a serious challenge that drains you physically, mentally, emotionally, the whole gamut. When we were up for 30 hours straight, doing what we were trained to do, it was as though nothing else mattered in the world except that we do our job and do it well. When it was all over, we felt like we were on top of the world!
   

I think the whole experience of being in the Navy and being in the war taught me to appreciate things more, and to not take myself so seriously. Whenever things seem to be getting difficult, I can always look back on those most difficult of days and question if my current situation is that much of a challenge. So far, it never has been. Hopefully, my attitude of gratitude and humility finds it’s way into my classroom where it can serve as an example to my students. You don’t need to be veteran to appreciate what you have, but it certainly helps.

Happy Veterans Day, and thank you to all who have served to protect and defend freedom around the world!

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