Military Officer - May 2007 - (Page 88)

encore Spit-and-Polish After nearly a month at sea, this destroyer crew is given just 72 hours’ notice to prove grace under ﬁre and tidy up enough to leave a lasting impression. I n the late 1950s, I served in the U.S. Navy on board the USS Glennon (DD840). Late one Monday afternoon, we limped into our homeport in Newport, R.I., after a particularly stormy three weeks in the North Atlantic. As luck would have it, we were assigned a berth nested port side to the USS Mitscher (DL-2) — the recently commissioned lead ship in a new class of destroyer leaders — which was similar to a World War II light cruiser and a handsome example of naval spit-and-polish. As soon as we docked, the duty ofﬁcer came aboard to advise us that on Friday, then-Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Arleigh Burke would be visiting Newport and having his ofﬁcial Navy portrait photo taken on the bridge of the Mitscher. The Mitscher was named after the admiral’s good friend, the late Adm. Marc Mitscher, who served in World War II. This meant the Glennon needed to look absolutely shipshape because Admiral “31-knot” Burke, a famed Paciﬁc war hero, would be looking down at us from the Mitscher next door. After three weeks at sea, the Glennon was anything but shipshape. It was rusty, dirty, and shabby from stem to stern, and we had only three days to get ready. All hands were called on to clean, paint, and spruce up the ship. Tuesday morning, we got out the paint and brass polish, and everybody who wasn’t absolutely necessary somewhere else on board turned out to help. We had cooks, yeomen, radar operators, and even the ship’s barber involved. In three days’ time, we were able to paint and polish the 88 MILITARY OFFICER M AY 2 0 0 7 boat from the top of the mast to the waterline — but only had time to do the port side! The starboard side remained untouched, with three weeks’ worth of rust and grime. If you looked at the Glennon from the bow, it looked like two different ships — or at least one with a split personality. Friday came, and we watched as the CNO and his entourage pulled up on the pier in three shiny black Navy staff cars and were ceremonially piped on board the Mitscher. Then we got another shock: Admiral Burke had seen us next door and was so pleased at how well the Glennon looked, he wanted to come on board for a courtesy call. In a few minutes, Admiral Burke was piped on board the Glennon from the port side. He walked up to the wardroom, shook hands with each of us, and then left the way he had come — back down the port side and off the ship. We all breathed a sigh of relief that he never walked on — or laid eyes on — our starboard side. We dreaded to imagine what the CNO would have thought of a destroyer with a split personality in his Navy! MO — Bob Grosse is a retired Navy lieutenant commander. He and his wife live in San Luis Obispo, Calif., where he teaches business at California Polytechnic State University. ILLUSTRATION: ELWOOD SMITH

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - May 2007

Military Officer - May 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: Back Home Capt. David Porter, Pirate Hunter Where Valor Rests Emblems of Courage MOAA Member Services Pages of History Information Exchange Advertising Index Member Books MOAA Calendar MOAA Scholarship Donors Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - May 2007

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