Bravo Company Carpenter Shop, 1976-1977

Bravo Company Carpenter Shop, 1976-1977
a.k.a. "Cruisebox, Inc."
Diego Garcia, B.I.O.T.

What a Motley Crew
- but We Got the Job Done -

Standing	BU2 Ian Ordway BU1 Stanley S. Saunders BUCN Dave Atchison (me) BU3 Steve Brecht
Sitting	BUCN Jim Burkes BUCN Larry Stump

Why Cruisebox, Inc.?
We put together alot of cruise boxes the year before in Puerto Rico. The word spread. In the final weeks of our deployment to Diego, there were so many requests, we put together a couple hundred in record time. Most were standard boxes - we set up assembly lines for cutting the wood, nailing, hinges, hasp, and handles, then spray-painted OD.

For some though (last deployment, RHIP, favors) we made a special box. The plywood sides were 45 degree'd and finish-nailed so no edges showed. We borrowed an acetylene torch from the SWs to burn the outside of the box and wire-brushed the wood so the grain was raised. Then brushed on a couple coats of varnish. We used a piano hinge to connect top and bottom.

Here's the Navy's short page on the History of Diego Garcia. And they don't mention me.

BIOT stands for British Indian Ocean Territory
RHIP means Ranks Has Its Priviledges

mebeach.jpg (16840 bytes)

The CO was on me most of the deployment to get a haircut and beard trim but by Christmas, I got an Atta-Boy from the XO, LCdr Hadbavny, for a Wardroom Renovation project. The BU shop was charged with camp maintenance and I drew the straw. I painted the inside of their offices during the wee hours of the morning for about a week. All I had for company was listening to the base radio DJ spinnin' the platters and going to the chow hall for some midnight grub.

Towards the beginning of the Diego deployment, our CO, Cmdr. Gene Davis, CEC, (he must have seen me boppin' around the camp fixing screen doors or something) drew a picture of a lion's head, wrote my name on the paper and handed it to my squad leader, BU2 Stanley S. Saunders. Stan got a laugh out of it and said something like, "C'mon, Atch... just trim it up a little..." Well, I trimmed everything (over time) - pictured above with the BU Shop crew - and by the end of the deployment, I turned it into the goatee pictured below at my high school graduation. He wore me down... ;) The post-Viet Nam 'Bees weren't too Mickey Mouse when we were on deployment.

High School Graduation, Diego Garcia, 1976
Far right: Our CO - Cmdr. Gene Davis, CEC
I'm seated on the far left.

I enlisted with a GED and left with a High School diploma. After I got out in '77 (with help from the GI Bill and 10 years later) I graduated from Lawrence Tech in Southfield, MI with a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science.

Three of my Charlie Company bros get a break from the BOQ jobsite to congratulate me. And even on the equator, Seebees love their coffee.

L to R: Dave Wall, Ron Theriot, Marty Benson, me