I served through out the 80's and the memories I have are wonderful memories! I remember the beards the men were allowed to wear as long as they were neatly trimmed. I lived in Rota Spain for 3 years and had a 2 bedroom fully furnished apartment that only cost me 150.00 US dollars a month. we had a strong military back then and a president who was all for the military and made sure we were taken care of. Unfortunately so much has changed since then and I worry about the future of our military men and women and about what is going to happen to them.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
Wow, what a reminder of my Navy days from 1974-1997. The Navy has changed so much, I loved getting paid in cash aboard ship and keeping it on the "ships payroll books" unless you needed it. I miss the beer machines in the barracks, not to mention the ice cream machines on those hot days in non-AC open bay barracks. What about the Seafarer's, I liked the bell bottom trousers and chambray shirts, comfortable to work in and looked NAVY. Party hard and indeed we did with the junior O's.

Thank you for bringing this topic to RP, what a trip down memory lane!!

No, but ask me about the late ''50s - the late '70s. My generation worked hard and played hard with little interference from the wardroom or the PC police from Washington. Got paid low pay and limited benefits, always limited operational funds. I now can not advise my two grandsons to follow in my footsteps.