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Jim Glunt grew up tough suburb of Pittsburgh, Pa where the smoke from the steel mills blocked his view of the night sky. He had to grow up quick also and began working at the age of 9. He had to help his Dad, a steel mill worker, put food on the table for Jim sisters and him.

Joining the military seemed like a way out and he took it. He got his first airplane ride and his first view of the ocean. He served onboard the USS Groton as a machinist mate (nuclear trained) and he also became a diver, when a shipmate filled out the forms for him.

After the military, Jim worked at different jobs and noticed that the ocean was awfully close to one of the plants he worked at briefly. That plant was called Fukushima. 

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Wood Frampton grew up around the enlisted club on base where his Dad was a supply officer. He’d have french fries and watch the sailors get into fights. But that didn’t deter him from signing up for the Navy after a stint in the Coast Guard. 

He eventually became a missile tech, operating the C-4 missile launching system for Trident subs. 

He learned a lot from his 16 years in the Navy and is thinking of retiring to the Philippines with his new wife. He lived there as a child and thought he would never return.

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Rob Tiffany grew up in West Texas and set off to become a Navy pilot after seeing Top Gun. Of course, that didn’t work out, but he found the submarine service and had some great mentors.

He ended serving on the USS John Marshal that was outfitted to serve as a seal delivery submarine. Rob talks about his seal friends and the rest of his career.

Rob got into computer programming and ended up finding work in several high tech startups.

Currently, he is serving as Chief Technology Officer for Hitachi and he credits a lot of his success to his time in the submarine service.

robtiffany.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robtiffany/

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David grew up on the West Coast of Scotland and was surrounded by water. His Mom said he always talked about joining the Navy, but he doesn’t remember why. He joined as an Artificer Apprentice in 1983. This position was created back in the Victorian Era as the amount of technical work required on ships increased.

David learned the book information and then he learned from a salty guy that he didn’t know it all.

From then on, David’s real education began.

David did some “sneaky” patrols and eventually became an officer, commanding the very place where he learned to be an artificer.

Pretty cool.

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Dan Eddinger grew up on a farm in eastern Ohio. He played in the woods a lot and really didn’t have a plan after high school. He did fall in love with his high school sweetheart and decided to join the Navy (and he kinda forgot to tell his girlfriend).

But all was forgiven (they got married and still are married today), and they began their nuclear Navy, submarine career together. Apparently Dan had what it took to become an officer and 20 years later, he retired.

After several technical and leadership positions in the civilian world (Target Store Manager too), Dan decided to use his skills to start a company, Field Vets.

Field Vets connects contract companies with vets that need work. They can learn tower maintenance, cable TV installer or other technical jobs that pay well and could lead to more opportunities.

Check out field vets, it is free for vets and their is no obligation!

Contact Dan Eddinger on LinkedIn.com for more information.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daneddinger/

fieldvets.com

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Matt Tate grew up in the mountains of West Virginia and landed a job at the Greenbrier as a caddy by the age of 12 (he lied about his age). After doing that for a while and trying college, he joined the Navy. He barely passed the nuclear power aptitude test and eventually ended up with Bill Nowicki in the same Nuclear Power school class.

Matt recalls some tough nights of studying and some fun when Bill decided to create a character called Reactor Dan.

Matt went on to get married and stayed in the Navy for 20 years. He learned a lot and I would say the Navy helped him become a life-long learner.

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Hector Rodriguez thinks everything happens for a reason. He grew up in East Oakland, California in a rough neighborhood. He loved sports so he played basketball and dreamed of playing professional sports. He was always bored in school and daydreamed his way to college. His parents payed for him to sit in the cafeteria and BS with his friends.

At 22 things changed and he headed to the mall and found the Navy recruiter and was picking his jobs when the Twin Towers we’re hit on 9/11/2001.

He ended up choosing signalman on a carrier, but switched to machinist mate and ended up on the USS Norfolk.

Hector recounts his time on the sub, the diverse group of folks he met and the way his life was changed.

Great stories!