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 WAR STORIES
FROM PARADISE
You have traveled back to 1995!
Entries are posted by the year the writer arrived, so be sure to check either side of the year
you're looking for to find your old buddies, shipmates, and sweethearts!

Jan 1995-Jan 1997
NAME = Kim Chalfant
MY QUEST = to relive the best two years of my life!!!
VT of a SWALLOW = huh?
E-MAIL = kaw0606@gmail.com
NATIONALITY = none
SERVICE = Navy
UNIT = PSD
RANK/RATE/JOB = PN3 always hanging out with Michele Wilkinson and the other PSD crew.  Constantly partying, ended up finding my soulmate on the Island...Christopher White he was in the USMC.  Currently living in West Virginia, and Chris and I have been married for 11 years.  We have a set of identical twin boys.  Life is good, but life on DG was the best.  I met so many great people, and I continue to keep contact with many from the PSD crew.  I have a million and one DG stories, and the only people who can truly appreciate them are those who've been there...and done that!!!
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Other
MY WARSTORY = All the alcohol I drank on DG has killed a million brain cells, but I recall quite distinctly the cross dressing party--turning those ugly PSD f-ers into a bunch of DG 10s!!!  I remember me, Michele, Donna, Heidi, and Renee dressing up like extra macho men, complete with pork chops.  I remember wild times at the Brit Club.  Seeing the Brit XO dance around at the Brit Club with a sock on his Johnson.  I remember the Brit dude giving his compatriot a BJ right there on the dance floor, then going home and getting the snot beat out of him by other Brit Marines.  The countless parties at the DG Yacht Club...the monthly yacht club socials,  deep sea fishing, banana boating in the Lagoon, countless parties in the barracks, mongonlian BBQ, pizza night at the XPAT, passing out on the beach, getting so sunburned that I literally could not move, Islandwide picnics and the Brits running naked through the picnic draped in a British flag, Turtle Cove, tying on the feedbag at Donkey Burger, calling in CPO pizza, shopping sprees at the Depot and the Ship's Store, hanging out with shit faced merchant marines at the Seaman's Club, being a hardcore groupy to 7 Degrees South, riding bikes down DG 1, excellent cuisine served at the Galley, playing volleyball with really tall Mauritians, and eating Philipino dishes.  The best two years of my life!!!!
 

6/95-12/95
NAME = Ian Craig Lytle
MY QUEST = Toseek the grail
VT of a SWALLOW = A european or African swallow?
E-MAIL = evilian@comcast.net
NATIONALITY = caucasian
SERVICE = Navy
UNIT = VP46
RANK/RATE/JOB = Ao3 aviation maintanance ordnance technician
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Other
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell
Y WARSTORY = Back in the summer of '95, I was involved in a plane wash, you see... and in the course of this evolution I noticed out of the corner of my eye, the U.S. Marine Corps island news reporter/hobag wandering/lingering around our hangar work area with an equally dumbshit knuckledragging doofus camera man in tow. I made every effort to be stealthy in avoiding any contact with these muldoons to no avail. I was involved in cleaning the sonobuoy chutes on the underbelly of the bird in question, when out of the blue I heard a rather irritating and squeaky voice to the rear and right of me say as if addressing a fucking five year old..."And what's your name?" As my stomach sunk and rolled over I replied "I'm the boogeyman!" At that point, I figured that she would be pissed at my smart assed answer and drift...no such luck.... as I continued in my endeavour of rendering one of our nation's finest birds clean and nonetheless more aerodynamically more effective, I was subjected to the stupid question of..."If you were an animal on Diego Garcia, what would it be and why?"
shit....I ain't in the mood for this...
My reply..." A cockroach!"
"And why's that?"
My reply..."They're elusive...they're clever...and they clean themselves every 15 minutes...unlike now..." (as a stream of grease drips down my arm on big dork's camera). She beat feet seconds after my smart assed remarks...I figured that I'd pissed her off something fierce...The next day, I was walking through the hangar and almost everyone I bumped into would say "Hey, Roach!" and then I found out that ditsy doo wuggins decided that my "interview" was the bees knees and recorded and broadcasted it all over the blankety blank island.
Subsequently,I was yclept "ROACH"... Imagine that...
 

1995
Matt Cook <matt@arkhssports.net>
I arrived in Diego Garcia in Aug 1995. Here are the few things I remember about my year there. I was with PATWING One, my drinking buddies were Mike Baird and Matt Floyd. Was sent to rehab becuase I was drinking at 7am every day. They had to remember that I woked from 7p - 7a every day. I remember having to sober up when I left.
 

1995-96
NAME = Travis Reardon
MY QUEST = I seek the grail
VT of a SWALLOW = gulp!
E-MAIL = sackboy@krock.com
NATIONALITY = American
SERVICE = Navy
UNIT = NCTS
RANK/RATE/JOB = CTT3 then, out now
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Drink A Lot, Cheap
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out in My Room
MY WARSTORY = Knock,knock, at the door. I answered the door naked, there was my buddy John Snyder. They had pulled has ass out of work to take me to medical.  My a-hole roommate ratted me out as being too drunk,  didn't think there was such a thing on the island.  This came from a guy that considered a wild night as staying in and sipping Baileys Irish Cream. I got dressed on my own went to medical, they said i was fine and sent me back. The next day Chief bitched me out at work, this was the same jerk who was buying me the drinks at bosses night the previous evening. Seems like its his fault as much,if not more, than mine. I hope my rat roommate died a slow baileys induced death and i hope chief's pucker swallowed him whole because he's such a big a-hole. Wassup to John Snyder, Brian Shrout, Donnie Johnson, Bobby Sejnoha and all the guys the Strange Brew softball team.  See his website about DG.
 

Sep 1995 - Sep 1996
NAME = Brian Cantleberry
MY QUEST = To get back to Dodge
VT of a SWALLOW = Depends, is there a head wind and has he been drinking Captain Morgan?
E-MAIL = bwc1967@yahoo.com
NATIONALITY = U.S.
SERVICE = Navy
UNIT = NSGD - C Site
RANK/RATE/JOB = CTO1 then, ITC(force conversion)now. Over 20 and 3 1/2 to go.
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Other
MY WARSTORY = The first day I arrived on the island I got drunk at the "Pavvi" next to buiding 13, behind Diego Burger II. I was assured that I needed to,
"Stay awake or my internal clock would be screwed up for days." Needless to say, I was introduced to the Captain that day and we've been good friends ever since. I have a lot of good memories during my year there. The parties, the BBQ's, more parties, more BBQ's, getting a twice-baked tan, all the great fish, progressive parties, trips to the plantation, those damn chickens, combing the beaches, and Shorty the cat. Made a lot of good friends while I was there; Steve, Bonnie, Lori, Susan, Mike, Lisa, Ann, Danny, and the list goes on. Good times! Great food at the club, I still haven't found a decent Mongolian BBQ since I left there.

MAY 1995
NAME = DAVID MCGAHEE
E-MAIL = MCGAHEE13@AOL.COM
NATIONALITY = AMERICAN
SERVICE = AIR FORCE
UNIT = 3RD AIR DIVISION
RANK/RATE/JOB = WAS TSGT E-6. NOW RETIRED
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell
MY WARSTORY = I WAS PART OF A CONTINGENT OF TWO. MY BOSS WAS MSGT THEODORE GIBBS. WE WERE ATTACHED WITH STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND (SAC) FROM GUAM.  OUR JOB WAS TO PROVIDE CARE TAKER STATUS TO ALL ASSIGNED ASSESTS FOR ANY FUTURE CONFLICT.  WHILE I WAS THERE THE FIRST AIRCRAFT CARRIER DOCKED.
 

January 1988 To  1999
NAME = Jean Pierre Ramen "ROBIN"
MY QUEST = keeping in touch with people who mean a great deal to me, DG Familly
VT of a SWALLOW = jeanpierre.ramen@parabolemaurice.com
E-MAIL = jpr1369@yahoo.com.au
NATIONALITY = Mauritian
SERVICE = civillian
UNIT = Annex 20 Ac/r department  bos contractor
RANK/RATE/JOB = Senior Sales Executive
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell
MY WARSTORY = 1988, there i was landing on Dg 20 00 pm, still young 18 years old going on a journey looking for adventure, first night pax terminal to the
barracks 09 sea breeze village, still cool first time abroad meeting new people had couple of beers and got to sleep for my first day tomorrow, 05.30 am my
nightmare began, walk out to the shower room, man what a shock, surrounded with coconuts trees  with white sands you could barely looked at i say to myself 'where the hell i am ?  second day visit to ADMIN, Downtown, Shipstore, Community bank, and back to Admin, telling my story seems like it was like yesterday, one thing ive learn on DG is to be patience and very understanding, and my patience made me stay 10 long years there, I dont believe it myself, if i have to be grateful its because of people like MR Bob Streegan, where i started to work at tyhe TCN Galley, Mr Faye Parks he was like a dad to me and if im where i am today  its many thanks to Faye Parks, Mr James Billman transportation Director, and volley ball coach even his team always loses to our mauritian team, just kidding, Mr Harry Johnson, Mr Bruce Norris, Jim Pfiefer, William Marioka, BOB Butt,and so many more to all those people i say thanks to all of them, unfortunately we've all gone our seperate ways but i hope that one day if we could all be in an island wide picnic it will be a dream come true, sometimes we do speak about paradise, but dg is paradise for people who know they will tell that hell yes paradise of footprint of freedom white beaches, deep sea fishing like nowhwre else, my biggest catch a yellow fin 95 lbs, almost 35 mins fight with a damn shark tailling, party at the BRIT Club, SOUL Night at the 61 Club, Country night at the turner club, mojo at the beach house and not forgetting those mongolian bbqs at the peace keeper Inn, and last but not least those delicious Pizza at sea breeze village,
i would like to say a few words for CHARLY of the seamens club, we cant go to the seamens club without saying hi to charly.
To all the people ive met on DG, NAVY, MARINES, AIR FORCES, EXPAT, BRITS, PHILIPINOS, Hats off, those were the time now im back home and would like very much to keep in touch  with people who was there and who remember me,
my name is Robin
Mauritian volley ball team captain
AC / R  Dept
Annex 20
my email is  jpr1369@yahoo.com.au
 

sept 1995 thru Oct 1996
NAME = jerry Steele
MY QUEST = To find some old buddies and walk down memory lane
VT of a SWALLOW = nothing compared to my old black lab monty
E-MAIL = khunjerry@hotmail.co.uk
NATIONALITY = British once
SERVICE = Navy
UNIT = Brit Customs
RANK/RATE/JOB = just about to retire from the navy and live in Thailand
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I'd Like to Share Precious Memories of Drinking/Fishing/Snorkeling/Sailing on Diego Garcia
MY WARSTORY = My time on fraggle rock is forever etched into my memory like it only happened a couple of years ago and not a decade.  I dont think that i have one unhappy memory from DG and in my time there i cant remeber a single day that i was not in tears of laughter.  The job at the airport allowed me to meet so many people of whom now i have lost touch with over the years.  Most of the time i spent in some sort beer induced stupor either in the seamans mission with my old black dog monty who stuck by my side and even drank more than me, he certainly had alot more chances with the women than me. Reading though a few of other warstories so many names come flooding back. George Laughin is one of them.In july 96 the a british sub called in to dg for a week, in that time the the large canvass awning used by the wardroom for cocktail parties went missing. This caused a great amont of trouble for the Brit party and for George as i was left on wharf side. After much ranting and raving the sub sailed without it under the impression that it had slipped off the dock in to water. i can put my hand up now and say without any guilt of the expense that it may have cost the British tax payer that the said item was cut and fitted by myself, Gary the Brit Marine and a few of our fellow friends from the PI out side their sea hut in Palmsville even before the sub sailed.This is just one of countless tales that evolved over the period i was there.I spent several drunked evenings in GITMO Bay cuba five years ago with some of the lads that used to work at the airport with me and play in the bamd 7 degrees south.January last year my ship stopped in for 24hrs to refuel this gave me time to see some old faces and go to cannon point to pay my respects to the best friend i ever had and had to leave on the island "MONTY". Many memories have come flooding back writing this, and with the box of photos will stay with me to the grave. If anybody remebers Jerry and Monty please drop aline.If anybody is in Thailand we still have the elephant patrol but we are now down to only two of us
 

dec 95-dec 96
NAME = Paul Gisclair
MY QUEST = To seek old D.G. softball and alcohol consumption buddies
VT of a SWALLOW =
E-MAIL = paulg@bellsouth.net
NATIONALITY = cajun
SERVICE = navy
UNIT = comm center across from air ops(can't remember official name)
RANK/RATE/JOB = ET3 then and civilian comm tech now
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Fishing Story
MY WARSTORY = My buddy Chris Maule and i hooked into a white tip shark and wahoo at the same time.We spent at least 30 min trying not to get entangled with each other.Landed both and have pics to prove it!Never really understood all the cross dressing that went on but other than that had the time of my life on D. G.
 
 
 

1990-1995 and 1999-2000
NAME = Allen Willey
MY QUEST = Spread the Truth
VT of a SWALLOW = African or European?
E-MAIL = aswilley@aol.com
NATIONALITY = U.S. of Hey
SERVICE = USAF
UNIT = Det 8 AFSPC
RANK/RATE/JOB = Defense Contractor for Ford and Loral Aerospace, Crypto Manager for all three Air Force tracking stations on the island from 1993 to 1995.
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell
MY WARSTORY = In 1973 I was an E-5 at RAF Chicksands.  I was going through a divorce and was living in the NCO barracks.  One night a little two -striper who had been on station only a few months came to my room and said the first shirt had just raped her.  He was married, but his wife had gone back to the states.  She was hysterical, laughing and crying at the same time.  They had been taking a class together and he had suggested a study period in his room, just two floors above my room.  I took her to the clinic and they did the rape protocol on her.  The guy got 6 months at Leavenworth, busted to staff and a bad discharge.
     But for my troubles, I lost my security clearance and was shunned by the whole base for the rest of my tour.  My supervisor said "RHIP, old boy", and his friends were shocked that I would ruin his career for such a little thing.  So I wasn't suprised at the latest rape scandal at the academy last year, and I won't be suprised at the next one.
 
 

1995 - 1996
NAME = Christopher L. Hopson
MY QUEST = To get back to "The Rock"
VT of a SWALLOW =
E-MAIL = hopdog1@hotmail.com
NATIONALITY = American
SERVICE = U.S. Navy
UNIT = NSF Diego Garcia
RANK/RATE/JOB = YN1/E6 - Now a civilian located in Seattle, WA.
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Other
MY WARSTORY = When first taking orders to DG I was like oh hell, I'm in for a tour of duty at a place that was the pit from hell.  Well the first several days on the island seemed just like that....that's until I had the pleasure of meeting some of the great friends that I still have to this day.  The first person I came in to contact on the island was YN2 Roy Kingston (one of my workers)....well YN2 Kingston gave me the run down on the island, who to deal with and who not to deal with...I had another friend there by the name of YN2 Clarance White (Now LT White)...Did I mention YN2 Kingston is now (YNC(SW) Kingston)....well anyway, after meeting the people that I met, I wanted to finish my career on DG...I could've done 10 years on that place.  I had the pleasure of meeting a certain YN1(AW) who worked at PSD and in the beginning we didn't get along...but nearly 10 years later, she's my best friend in the world and we see eachother at least once.  She lives in Tampa, Florida and I live in Seattle, WA. so you know that special DG bond is what brings us together.  There were so many sleepless nights and parties going on that you couldn't help but bond with those special people.  I still talk with YNC(SW) and the LT along with several others.  Man, I thought DG was the best duty station in the Navy then and I still think it now.
 
 

1989  1995  2000
NAME = Steve Hysell
MY QUEST = To find some old friends
VT of a SWALLOW = xxxx
E-MAIL = stephenhysell@yahoo.com
NATIONALITY = American
SERVICE = USN
UNIT = NCTS
RANK/RATE/JOB = Will retire in about a year and wanted to get in touch with some great people
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = I am a Born Liar, and Want To Tell About All The Sex I Had on Dodge
MY WARSTORY = I wanted for a long time to hear from some of the guys I used to hang out with. Hopefully you guys see this and send me an e-mail.  I tried to get in touch with Keith Kovac but had no luck.  I'm in Virgina right now so send me an e-mail and I will get in touch.
Steve
 

May 1989 thru Sep 1999, 2001, thru 2003
NAME = George M. Laughlin (YA-HOO)
MY QUEST = Citizenship from some place
VT of a SWALLOW = Below sea level or above??
E-MAIL = bubblincrude@hotmail.com
NATIONALITY = USA
SERVICE = USN RET
UNIT = IPAC and BJS until 1999, NFCU fm 2001 to 2003
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell
MY WARSTORY =  One of my fondest years on Dg was back when Capt. Check (CO) and CDR Bob Collard(SUPO), would call me and my buddy, Flightline Freddie to the O Club so we could drink for free all night coz the O's could not play Hosre Collar. That was fun, even when the Marine XO would climb into the rafters and pour beer on us. Another grand time was getting with Jack and the gang and building the Golf Course, then playng it. There was the two years that BJS golfers would play the Brit Party every Tuesday. It started out being a fun once a month deal, for beer and build your own at the Expac afterward, but with the wipping that we (BJS) gave the Brits the first time. The Brit Rep. CDR Gram Niven changed the program to weekly. We even had a trophy at the Club House with the weekly score posted. I'd have to say the we (BJS) won 98% of the time. Grand times at the course. If anyone wants to complain at not having a good time on the island for several years I was the one who brought the EAP Charter to the island and you missed out. Even though the EAP turned into the Dave Burges Fan Club. More stories to come. YA-HOO
 

1988 May to Jan 17 2000
NAME = Harry Johnson
MY QUEST = To say Hi to all my old friends still there
VT of a SWALLOW = Who cares
E-MAIL = fuelman808@yahoo.com
NATIONALITY = American
UNIT = Fuels Manager for Febroe, IPAC, BJS, DG21LLC
RANK/RATE/JOB = I'm Ret. Navy E-8 Aviation Boatswan Mate. Worked with a lot of good people on DG both Military and Civilian.
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Stroll Down Memory Lane
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Other
MY WARSTORY = All the years I was there I was happy and content. I met and fell in love with a very lovely lady I hired in 1989 and married her in 2000 Feb. 14. We both worked for the Contractors and she left in 2001 May. I had a heart attack there in DG. But the great folks at the NSF Clinic put me on a plane to Singapore and while in route after take off I Died but the Flight Nurse and Flight Sergeon brought me back so after three months of extensive care at Singapore I was allowed to travel to my home in PI and from there to the US to continue my care at NNMC Bethesda Hosp. My wife and I are living in the States now and hope All is well in DG. Other than Bob Butts I was the second Old timer still on the Island from the Febroe Days. That's my story gang and believe me if I could return to DG doing the same job as I was doing I would No question about it. Good Luck to all of you over there. We still have relatives working on the Island so we are still in contact.

Nov 7 1995 to Nov 14 1996
NAME = Terry Cronin (former Hm3 type- "Doc Conan")
MY QUEST = since the holy grail is out, to go back to the rock.
VT of a SWALLOW = which one,South African?
E-MAIL = tdclacprc@aol.com
NATIONALITY = Irish Catholic
SERVICE = Navy
UNIT = NSF Medical
RANK/RATE/JOB = Hm3 while on the island, medically retired.
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Return When the First REAL Club Med Opens
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Other
MY WARSTORY = I was dying reading all these old war stories. I played drums also, for a band on the island( new direction) I don't know if I'll be hunted down and dragged accross coral for being connected to this band.Mad Max and I used to have a few beers and talk drums at the clubs on weekend nights. Iwas a gym rat mostly, I ran 6 to 10 miles a day and worked out in the gym and mostly power tanned, I have to say that there was not one person on that island that  I did not respect. I think about everyone I came to know on "The Rock" on a regular basis. The old videos help when I come home to a snow filled driveway here in chicago(well the northern burbs really)and gas and diesel fumes on me have replaced the tanning lotion that I long for.
 

Dec 1995-Dec 1996
NAME = Michael Loy
MY QUEST = I seek the holy Grail (After I lost it in a volley ball game at the Hash House) And break every British law on the island
VT of a SWALLOW = African or European?
E-MAIL = osimodel@attbi.com; NATIONALITY = Yeah Baby Not!; SERVICE = Navy; UNIT = NCTS R site; RANK/RATE/JOB = DS1 ET1 I cant remember my rate its such a blur!! Security Analyst _skills I learned from Hacking the base dial up Internet connection.
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Green Eco-Freak Who Hates How the Brits Have Taken Such Good Care of The Island
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = There I Was, Passed Out in the Club
MY WARSTORY = The Famous R-site Cross-Dress Party.  Sometime In spring not actually sure of the month since there is only two seasons Wet & Hot and Hot & Wet. Some of my esteemed drinking friends decided to have a a ET / DP RM cross dress party with special invitation to a couple of SK's to corrupt for fun.  As the story goes the masses assempled with borrowed, stolen, or traded in most cases clothing of the opposite sex.  I my self sported a stunning ruby dress and a pair of black boots and a 1/2 hour makeup crash course (from one of those SK's we planned to corrupt) which nicely accented my tattoo and road rash from drunken bike crashes!  We Paraded over to the Yacht club After stopping at the Diego Mart to buy beer and booze of course. During our on foot parade to the Yacht club Our CO Of NCTS happened to drive by and notice the the strange gaggle of sailors strutting down the road. The notice was perhaps by several well dressed girls eerrr guys who were performing cat calls and inticing the old man in sexual body language.  I waved and Said, "Hi Skipper! My eval is on your desk"  He drove on as if in a daze.
     As we arrived at the yatch club other crossed dresser's seemed to be converging on the local to get drunk and stupid (I was all ready there) There was some biker girl guys, some guy in a flamingo dress, Some guys well...  looked good! And me in my Ruby dress. For the Girls well they look like girls in guys clothing except for the one pimp, and one looking like the Indian from the Village People complete with foot bells (Why on earth someone brought foot bells to Diego exemplifies Diego!!!) Well the party raged on all night, drunk and stupid people every where doing stange stuff. Many men explored there new sexuallity with a Fashion show followed by a Strip show.  and as for those SK's ? Yeah baby! total corrupted  I never thought some one can get so wasted so fast! Well the Party started to move into the Brit Club  Where people started to notice us.  or should I say Marines.  Now it has been proven a drunk Marine see beutiful women every where.  So we took advantage of the situation and started to dance with the Marines.  Now they did not actually notice we were  a bunch of drunk cross dressed sailors so when one of the Marines tried to cop a feel on a one of the more sexy RMs he got a hand full..  Freaked out he was!! A few more freaked out when three or four of us took off our dresses and  and said "Hey Soldier!" in a sexy voice.  A few ran into the mens head to wash themselves or something, others ran off, one tripped of a picnic table and knocked the SeeBees beer pryamid over. A fight erupted and we decided to beet feet.   About twenty well cross dressers ran out of the Brit club foot bells and all down DG1.  Right past the radio station and into the bowlling alley where we partied for another couple of hours till day break.
     End of Story - I still got a great eval! due to my YN buddy! (case of Beer)  The Marines were seen humpin packs up and down Diego1for a week for starting a fight at the brit club!!
 

1995 to 1996
NAME = Conrad Koch
E-MAIL = conrad@emcccontrols.com
NATIONALITY = American
SERVICE = Navy
UNIT = Ground Electronic Maintainance Division
RANK/RATE/JOB = ET2 then.  Civilian now
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Return When the First REAL Club Med Opens
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Actually, I Have a Real Story To Tell
MY WARSTORY = One night, the Air Traffic Conrollers had a cross dressing party. That was one hell of a party. It is amazing how much I forgot about that place. All the names are in the back of my head. My best friends were Ray Condon (HT2), Ann Bowles (ET2), George Rexford (ET2), Brian Hopp (ET1 and made it to ET2), Yumi (ET2), and others whose names escape me.

1995-1996
MORGAN SMITH <morgan_smith01@hotmail.com>
Ted, I just have to say that yours is by far the best website about D.G. I was There from Dec. of 1995 to Dec. of 1996. I was an RM3 attached to NCTS (R- site). I worked in the CMS Vault and was fortunate enough to have a Chief that was really cool, my days usually ended around 13-1400, which gave me a lot of time to explore. I too knew Pineapple George, Mango, Jimmy and other members of the 7 degrees south band. There was more than one occasion of singing "Margarita Ville".
  One thing that I noticed that you did not have on the site was that there was mountain biking on D.G. While there were not any mountains, there was still a vast amount of jungle. Pineapple and some others (names unknown) are responsible for the over 8 miles of bike trails that were cleared. It was a daily routine for me to ride those trails and to perfect my technical skills. Pineapple was and still is one of the best riders that I've ever met, the man was fast. He taught me a few things about biking and bike mechanics. He's a good man and thanks to your site, I was able to find his
email and get back in touch with him.
      My life on D.G. was great, I made some good friends and had good times. It's funny, it seems like time stops while on D.G. While the rest of the world keeps progressing, life on D.G. stays relatively the same, which made returning to the States a little disorienting. I experienced the best salt water fishing in my life, I learned a bit about sailing and windsurfing.
  It's funny, before I was stationed on D.G. I was on the USS Independence CV-62 out of Yokosuka, Japan. When I received orders, I asked some of my seniors if they had ever been to D.G. and they said you poor bugger, you're going there? It sucks! They were obviously there before all of the construction. The barracks were really quite decent, (I've seen college dorms that were worse), there were quite a few things to do there, i.e. sailing, water skiing, wakeboarding(to my knowledge I was the first to wakeboard the D.G. lagoon)deep sea fishing, snorkeling, golf bowling and most of all PARTIES. Man, it seemed like there was a party going on somewhere, every day.
  I had some really good times on one of the most beautiful places on earth.  As a friend of mine from Trenton New Jersey said to me while we were kicking back on a 17' Mako with our lines in the water and looking back at the white
sand beaches, coconut palms and turquoise waters, " Can you freakin' believe we're actually getting paid to spend a year here?"
     Thanks for the stroll down memory lane...

October 1995 - November 1996
NAME = Connie Clubb <clucon@hotmail.com>
MY QUEST = Glad I am out of the Navy.
SERVICE = US Navy; UNIT = Electronics Techinician at NSF; RANK/RATE/JOB = I am a civilian now.

JAN 1995-JUL 1996
DONNA BUCK <dbuck93929@aol.com>
MY QUEST = TO RETIRE NAVY AT THIS POINT.  ALMOST DONE. 2 MORE YEARS
VT of a SWALLOW = NOW THAT WOULD DEPEND WOULDNT IT ON THE AMOUNT OF BAD BEER
SERVICE = U. S. NAVY; UNIT = PSD; RANK/RATE/JOB = WAS: PN2  NOW: PN1 RETIRE IN 23 MOS, CURRENTLY STATIONED @ PERSUPP DET NAS OCEANA, VA ON MY LAST TOUR.
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Return When the First REAL Club Med Opens
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = Please Select a Title For Your Story, or Select 'Other'
MY WARSTORY = GOSH, WHERE TO BEGIN? I STARTED PARTYING IN JAN 1995 AND THEN HAD TO STOP IN JUL 1996 AND COME BACK TO THE STATES TO BE A RESPONSIBLE PARENT.   I SPENT A GREAT 18 MOS OVER THERE. I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND IT AS A TOUR TO ANYONE THAT ASKS. I WAS THE TYPICAL ATHLETIC ALCOHOLIC, DIDN'T DRINK DURING THE WEEK (OF COURSE UNLESS THERE WAS A REASON TOO) PLAYED ALL THE SPORTS AND ALOT OF PTING, NOW ONLY DURING THE WEEK MIND YOU, CUZ THE WEEKENDS WERE SAVED FOR THE BRIT CLUB AND YACHT CLUB SOCIALS AND ANY OTHER DRINK FEST THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN GOING ON. GEE, I DONT KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I HAD TO WALK HOME FROM THE BRIT CLUB, CUZ OF COURSE I DIDNT GET THE LAST BUS. SO SOMEONE WILL LET ME KNOW IF DG DOES TURN INTO THE "1ST REAL CLUB MED" RIGHT? I WILL BE ON THE NEXT FLIGHT. WELL I HAVE TO STOP FOR NOW, CUZ I COULD WRITE ALL NITE ABOUT THE GREAT MEMORIES AND FRIENDS THAT I  HAD ON THE ISLAND. YOU ALL TAKE CARE,       DONNA BUCK
 
 
 

1995 to 1996
FRANK PEREZ III <Frank_Perez@webtv.net>
NATIONALITY = Hispanic; SERVICE = U.S. Navy; UNIT = U.S. Navy Support Facility Diego Garcia; RANK/RATE/JOB = Then:  YN2 Now:  YN1
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Fishing Story
MY WARSTORY = I played a small role in relocating a 400 lb Blue Marlin (1995 Catch of the Year) to the pier.  BEAUTIFUL FISH!!!

1995 - 1996
JOHN "BIGJOHN" WHITEHOUSE <bigjohn@itiaccess.com>
What is Your Quest? To retire and travel!
What is the Terminal Velocity of a Swallow?  The distance from the DGYC to the Brit Pit after a Social!
Getting ready to retire. :) I'm over here in Va Beach, Got my kids :) I was the DJ at the Yacht Club Socials for the year I was there WOW! What a blast!  Also Dj'd country at the Eclub to. I'd love to go back and do more things. Like  I said I had a BLAST! Too many to describe. Word up to Mango & Pinapple.  Has anyone seen my friends Carrie Muelhberg or Bobbie Croft?

1995
JON HOFFMANN <j_hoff@yahoo.com>
What is Your Quest?  Home
What is the Terminal Velocity of a Swallow?  African or European??????
How did you find my page?  Dumb Luck
Tell Me All About Yourself:  A mess, a total mess.
The second time around is not that bad. You know what you are looking for and know what to do. The beach and the weather is awesome.

Feb 1995 - Feb 1997
JOHN BAGBY <jbagby@alltel.net>
What is Your Quest?  To spend the rest of my life with my wife, the good ole southern girl that she is. She'll whip my tail if I don't stay in line.
What is the Terminal Velocity of a Swallow?  As fast as it needs to be
Sure as heck hate the fact that fellow First Class Petty Officers let some chicken **** outfit take over the house. Far to many memories to forget

Dec 1995-Jan 1997
BRIAN JILG <brian.jilg@homenetwerks.com>
SERVICE = USN; UNIT = NCTS,  N61,  Receiver Site; RANK/RATE/JOB = ET2 now inactive.  DG was my last tour of duty, now a silly villian and enjoying life.
MY WARSTORY = The haze started to swirl around and began to clear up slowly.  I was lying somewhere but I was not sure where I was.  I did not really care. I was pretty sure I was not in the scavvy like some people had  a tendency to do when they passed out.  I did not feel anything crawling on me, so that was a good sign. It was also cool, so I knew I was inside.  I opened my eyes for a moment and realized I was in my room.  I just lied there motionless trying not to think of anything because it made my head hurt. I was glad my roommate was a crypto weenie, he had the day shift that day, so I would not have to listen to him all day long as I tried to pull myself together.  Slowly images began to climb back into my conciousness.  hmm. Yes that is it.  We had to bowl last night.  Our team was called the Boozer Boys.  We were awful!  No we were okay, just not great, only because we drank plenty o beer when we bowled.  Yes I began to remember, we played one of the Filipino teams and they were very good. In fact they were the best team on the island.  They would go through teams like a typhoon going through their homeland. We did not expect to do well.

So it is bowling time and our team is composed of Rob Schreur, Kirk (what's his name again?), Dillon Ward, Dave (I cannot rememeber his name now...), and probably others, but that was our primary team. I think.  It is soo hazy now.  Anyways we had our rituals.  The third and the seventh frames were beer frames.  The loser of these frames had to buy everybody a round of beer.  So the competition was pretty tight on these frames.  People would just pull strikes out of their ass to avoid paying for the beer frame.  Well the beer frame goes on into each succesive frame until there is a definitive winner.  Well the other part of this ritual also said that you had to finish  your beer before your next turn when your got it.  So it was pretty harsh.  Of course throw in the casual drinking as the games go along, and well you can
see the end result.
     Well these Filipino guys were good.  They were damn good.  They were also smart.  They knew we had beer frames and had to consume our beers.  So what did they do?  They bowled faster.  They kept going one right after the other and we had to keep up in the frames with them, so we had to go fast too!  So we are pounding our beers mightily and with reckless abandon.  They figured we would get drunk and be a wash out.  They did not know they were up against
the Boozer Boys!  We kicked their asses!  And during the course of three games, which went very quickly indeed, we had quaffed down eight beers apiece! We were soooo drunk and gave them so much crap for trying to cheat.  They tucked their tails between their legs and crawled home.  The night was young for us though.  We went over to the 61 Club and proceeded to drink more.  B-52's were the drink of choice that night as I best recall.  There were actually about three women in the bar, all at once!  It was incredible!  Three living breathing women in the same room!  We danced, we sang songs of our jubilant victory,and had a rousing good time!  Unfortunately there was one girl there that looked better to me as the night went on.  I was talking to her more and more. I felt like I wanted to kiss her.  Somewhere in my brain though there was a force that would not allow me to kiss her.  No matter how much I wanted to.  She talked to me a lot after that night.  Always said hi and wanted to hook up.  When I realized the next morning what I almost did, I was truly afraid.  Sure enough the guys ribbed me for hitting on her the next day.  Well she looked nice at the moment.
     I think we closed the bar down.  We stumbled home and wrestled the whole way home and beat the crap out of each other. I don't really remember much else. I think we went and drank more beer in the barracks.  All I know is I awoke with a groggy feeling and that was the Diego Haze.  So I went snorkeling later that day and enjoyed the most beautiful waters on earth and said to myself:
     "Self, What the hell were you thinking last night and how in the hell did you spend sixty dollars on one night in Diego Garcia?"
 
 

Aug 95-Aug 96
MICHELLE K. (MYERS, COFFEY) HALL <michelle.k.hall@saic.com>
MY QUEST = Party, Party, Party.  It never left me even though I left DG
VT of a SWALLOW = I don't know, I don't swallow.  I love Monty Python
SERVICE = US NAVY; UNIT =  "C" Site
RANK/RATE/JOB = Then - CTAC; Now - Retired in 1997 and now working for SAIC in Arlington, VA.
MY INTEREST IN DG IS = Want to Return When the First REAL Club Med Opens
SUBJECT OF MY STORY: = This is a No-Shit Drinking Story:  What a great place, although it did have it's moments.  My favorite toys there were the Royal Marines and the Royal Navy!!!  DG was the best tour I had out of all of them - what a different place.  Sunday was recovery day but I can't exactly remember what I was recovering from, well I remember some of it but hey I could make a movie out of that part and sell it to Playboy.  I miss all the people who made it such a fun place.
 
 

1995-1999
ABE JARO <ranger98@hotmail.com>
QUEST = 200 pound grouper on a 25  lb-test hand line
SWALLOW = zero after it slams on the jbd of a carrier
NATIONALITY = Filipino, SERVICE = US Navy, UNIT = NDI tech for AIMD, RANK = AMS2 to AMS1
SUBJECT = Professional Adventurer Looking For The Ultimate Get Away
     I got here in June '95 and fell in love with the place. the next month I extended for another year and after that I kept extending until they won't extend me anymore.  As of now, I hold the record for the longest continuous stay, militarywise.  I started "captain's mast" and a lot of people can attest to that.  I have a hangout in Palmsville called Barracks 7 and it got famous because of all the outstanding parties we have on weekends and weekdays.  It has been a tour of fishing, fishing and more fishing. I used to take out the whole gang on a saturday afternoon of LCM fishing trip and then have a fish fry that night. After we had our fill of fish (we do it the old fashioned way, fried whole with the head on), I would conduct "captain's mast". I would put on a pith helmet, an eye patch, with a gavel and a bottle of Captain Morgan. I'll form a jury, which is not a hard job cuz all you got to do is shout "guilty", a prosecutor and a defense attorney, who serve the sentence with his/her client. It is the most filmed event in my time here and a lot of people
took them home with them. I am headed to another paradise, Barking Sands, Hawaii in November and by that time I would have been here 4 years, 5 months and a day.
 

Jan 1995-Dec 1995
ERIC SESIT <sesites@exchange.airlant.navy.mil>
      Nothing funnier than seeing a DG rooster painted red, white and blue. Our hosts loved that.  Chickens were always the favorite "toy of choice." You could have so much fun with them. Did you ever do a chicken round-up? That's where you drive around in one of those little vans seeing how many chickens you can cram in there. It's fun for about 15, but then they start flying back out faster than you can get them in.
      There is also a real "Round up". When the chicken population gets to the point of ridiculous, the brits and the island workers quietly go out at night and "thin the ranks".
      Cats are another great toy. They were supposed to help keep the pest population down, now they are the pests.  Seems like home sick americansadopt them and feed them so the brits have to catch a few every once in a while and put them to sleep. Since drugs are too expensive, they take the cages and drown the cats. By the way, the cages they catch the cats in are baited with pizza which demonstrates how these ferrel cats more resemble garfield.
      By the way, loved the website. Brought back a lot of memories. I would really love to go back to DG but then I start thinking about all those celibate nights, I quickly change my mind.  [editor's note:  You would bring that up....here I'd almost forgotten about that side of DGAR...as for the chicken round-ups, I remember them too too.  In 86 or 87 the Brits decided to declare 'open season' on chickens for one day.  They figured the TCNs would go round them up, mercifully execute them and eat them.  But it was a Sunday, and all the young toughs got drunk up and went out and killed chickens using some pretty gross methods.  As I recall the story, the helicopter pilots went out with golf clubs and practiced on the chicks - that sort of thing.  Was very "Lord of the Flies-ish".  Anyway, that was the last of 'open seasons' and the Brits went back to secret roundups and drownings in the same cages they used for cats.]
 

"ALL OF 1995"
WILL FRIDAY <designer@pixelator.com>
What is Your Quest?  I seek the Holy Ale.
USN Retired 1996, self-employed, married with six kids, three of whom are adults. I'm an artist, actor, jack of all trades and master of one or two.  Baseball fan, chess player, softball player, liar (sometimes), fisherman, hunter, and famous lover.  Don't be afraid to write. Even if you don't have anything nice or intelligent to say.
 

1995-1996
STEVE KUBIK <sdk10159@aol.com>
     Ex Navy. Retired in 97.  Loved the page. Brought back some happy, and not so happy, memories.  Loved the bit on Animal House, errr, I mean, the Brit Club.
    I went back and read those war stories.  I LMAO on most of them as, years later, some things never change.  I can't add to those stories, but I'd like to share some things that still make me laugh when I think about them.
     Does anyone remember the year round softball?  How we had a 6 week season and then started it all over again?  How 'bout some of those awful team names.  Like mine: The Red-headed Step Children?
     Speaking of softball, does anyone remember how small those fields were? A ninth grader could put the ball over the fence.  And how about those fence signs?  "Visit the Marina" and "Gap" and "MWR - it's for you" and "Gap"...  I'd like to meet the rocket scientist who thought that one up.
     And who will forget seeing the cheickens painted Red, White and Blue?  Anyone want to 'fess up to that?  I don't think the ROPO's ever caught them.  Some trends seem to be ageless.
     Or how 'bout the two week menu cycle and the 4 different ways to serve pot roast?  I don't think I ate any poultry for a year after leaving Dodge.
     Most importantly,...The Hash House.  Oh, the Friday nights where some of us went to "Captains Mast" with a  bottle of Captain Morgan and Coke.  Ann, do you remember those nights? The monthly "Rot Gut Winefest."  Oh, the memories....
     Anyone got any others to share?