In 1969, I graduated from the electronics curriculum and fondly remember pattern making, foundry and machine shop, plus the other scientific courses. I lived in Long Island City and had to walk 10-12 blocks to take the GG train to Fulton St. for four years, so up to this day I really don’t know Brooklyn very well.
I went to CCNY for a year studying business but joined the Navy in late 1970. I took an exam and was designated an excellent candidate to be an Aviation Electronics Technician.
I was sent to Naval Air Technical Training Command (NATTC) near Memphis, Tenn. and was selected to enter a fast-track program to complete a 20-week course in 14 weeks.
I was given orders to a unit in Japan but first had to stop in Mountain View, CA to take courses for support of P3 Orion Radio and Navigation systems. In 1973, I re-enlisted in the Navy for another four years and received a substantial lump-sum bonus plus choice of duty station. Benefits were very good for re-enlistment because the Vietnam War was still in progress. I was sent to Mountain View again and was assigned to squadron VP-19 which would later to go the Philippines for six months. Here I was, 23 years old, and already had lived in two foreign countries for 2 1/2 years.
In 1976, I was assigned to a squadron in Lemoore, Ca. where my first son was born. I had been in the Navy six years but had never been on a ship. It was an attack squadron that trained pilots to fly the A7 Corsair airplane.
Pilots had to learn how to take off and land on a carrier day and night and also to shoot missiles and drop bombs day and night. When the squadron was decommissioned, I was sent back to Mountain View in late 1977.
NAS Moffett Field was in the middle of what would become Silicon Valley so any military man with electronics training could get a civilian job and I was one of those. I worked for four months until I was discharged. I was offered a supervisory position which I accepted.
I really wanted to work for an airline and a 1st Class FCC license was required. I was studying with my GI Bill benefits but my car wasn’t holding up to the 80-mile roundtrip commute as I lived in San Francisco.
So I looked for Field Service Positions where a car would be included. 1- Supermarket scanning systems were becoming available. 2- CableVision was starting and installing antennas almost three times the size of today’s antennas. 3- X-Ray?? Siemens, a German company known as the GE of Europe, called. I was given an electronics test that I almost aced, and was offered the job, which I accepted. I am now 71 years old and still work for myself doing various jobs in tech support and spare parts. I worked four years for Siemens; 11 years for St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco; and am celebrating my 30th year of self employment with X-Ray Connection. I Iived in Mexico for 10 years where I greatly improved my Spanish and ran the leasing business for Diagnostic Imaging systems: CT scanner, x-ray, mammography and ultrasound, etc. I reside in Sacramento, California. I have purchased systems in the UK, Germany, Ecuador and have shipped many systems around the world, coordinating and problem solving with many engineers.
I am very proud of being a graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School and greatly support women in technology.