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Episode 2: From Fires to Freedom – Rico’s Journey Through the Fleet
13 Plays2 months ago
In this powerful episode, host Patrick Riley sits down with DC1 Federico "Del” Delgadillo, a seasoned sailor whose time in the U.S. Navy took him from the decks of the USS Midway to the liberty ports of the USS Hewitt (DD-966).
Del shares raw memories of the devastating fire aboard the Midway in 1990, the lives lost, and the emotional toll that still lingers. From firefighting and guilt to brotherhood and survival, his story honors the resilience of sailors who lived through the unthinkable.
But it’s not all heavy—Rico also brings the laughs as the two shipmates reminisce about wild liberty calls in Australia, Japan, Oman, and beyond. They explore what made independent steaming on the Hewitt so unique, why liberty hits differently in a small port, and the unforgettable characters met along the way.
This episode is for every sailor who served, every friend who remembers, and every listener who wants to know what life in the fleet was really like.
Check out Patrick’s new novel “Deception Underway” on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or at underwaybooks.com.
Recommended
Transcript
Book Promotion: 'Deception on the Way'
00:00:52
Patrick Riley
Well, how about that for a new intro, huh?
00:00:55
Federico / DC1 Del
Nice, nice.
00:00:56
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Yeah, the last one was just a little bit of a drum thing, and that was it. um I needed a little better introduction. And of course, you know I was telling you that I needed a way to promote a book.
00:01:09
Patrick Riley
Here's the book, Deception on the Way, available amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, Kobo, all the e-retailers out there for books, it's available. So um I thought that's a great way to talk to friends and tell still sea stories, talk about the Navy, talk about just
Adopting the Nickname Rico
00:01:27
Patrick Riley
what they're doing now.
00:01:27
Patrick Riley
So I'd like to introduce to my buddy Rico, thank you, sir.
00:01:29
Federico / DC1 Del
Definitely.
00:01:32
Patrick Riley
um If you could introduce yourself,
00:01:35
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, ah my my actual name is Federico Delgadillo on the ship. They went by my rank and they only pronounce Dell, the first three letters. So on everywhere I went in the Navy, I was either DC to DC one Dell.
00:01:49
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah ah Now I go by Rico. Everybody calls me Rico because ah where I lived in Hawaii and here is it's so much easier just to say Rico instead of Federico. or Delgadillo, so yeah I go by Ricoh now.
00:02:00
Patrick Riley
Awesome. Awesome. Good deal. And where are you living now?
00:02:04
Federico / DC1 Del
Currently, I'm in Northern Utah in Logan, logan Utah, up north.
00:02:09
Patrick Riley
Oh, great. Great. And of course, i do you ski at all or is that something you do or?
00:02:14
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, I attempted to ski when I was stationed in Japan. The the girlfriend, oh who ended up being my first wife at the time, took me skiing by Mount Fuji.
00:02:18
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:02:25
Federico / DC1 Del
and I should have saw that red flag when she took me up the main hill instead of the baby hill. And knowing I'd never skied before, oh, it'll be daijobu, it'll be okay. So she takes me halfway up the main hill.
00:02:37
Federico / DC1 Del
And of course, what do you do? You you do what you see on TV. So mimicked the skiers that you see in the Olympics. And of course you get that speed and not knowing how to stop. Well, you could imagine how I stopped.
00:02:50
Federico / DC1 Del
Very painful.
00:02:51
Patrick Riley
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
00:02:51
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:02:52
Patrick Riley
And you're...
00:02:52
Federico / DC1 Del
That was the last time I s skied.
00:02:54
Patrick Riley
Okay, well, so it's been a little while. I gotcha.
00:02:56
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yeah.
00:02:57
Patrick Riley
And that was a nice thing about Japan and Yakuska. They had and MWR, morale, welfare, and rec. It was great because you were able to rent skis and they took you skiing, which was something that yeah I love to ski. I've been skiing since I was a little kid.
00:03:12
Patrick Riley
And when I saw that they had that, so on the towers, I went skiing for the first time. And then couple of years later, i met yeah my girlfriend and she had a ski condo or her parents had a ski condo.
00:03:25
Patrick Riley
And we went up there and it was great because I was able to rent the skis on base.
00:03:25
Federico / DC1 Del
wow
00:03:28
Patrick Riley
We hit the bullet train, went up to Uzawa, skied all day. It was great. I took a a couple of guys from the Hewitt. So um I think it was ah Chapin, Gage and Marks.
00:03:39
Patrick Riley
Those were the three guys that went with us skiing. It was a great time. ah But then a couple years, about a year later, i went over by myself. I didn't go through MWR.
00:03:50
Patrick Riley
And what happened was that i couldn't rent skis at the ski resort because my feet were too big. Nobody had large enough.
00:03:57
Federico / DC1 Del
but yeah
00:03:58
Patrick Riley
So I had to hang in the condo.
00:03:59
Federico / DC1 Del
Yes, you would run into that a lot in Japan. Yes.
00:04:02
Patrick Riley
I'm like, seriously? Yeah. Same thing. I bought a motorcycle helmet, uh, outside of Wano and they had to run down the street to the warehouse and get a ah larger helmet because nobody had the right size helmet.
00:04:14
Patrick Riley
I still have the helmet too, just to keep it. So yeah, cool.
00:04:16
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, that's cool.
00:04:19
Patrick Riley
So, hey just
Joining the Navy: From Army Plans to Naval Serendipity
00:04:20
Patrick Riley
curious. So what led you to the Navy? What year did you go in and and why did you join the Navy?
00:04:26
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, the friend a friend of mine I grew up with in the and the old neighborhood, at the time i was working as an optician. I made prescription glasses and for Texas State Optical and EyeSight EyeTech.
00:04:41
Federico / DC1 Del
And I was trying to get my friend I grew up with into that, teach him how to make it, and and it was really good. But then he got impatient and he ended up joining the Navy.
00:04:52
Patrick Riley
Hmm.
00:04:53
Federico / DC1 Del
And I was like, dude, I was just about to get you hired at Texas State Optical. i was going teach you how to do this. And he's like, I already joined this and that. And so i ended up running into him and his recruiter.
00:05:05
Federico / DC1 Del
And we would go drinking and have dinner and stuff. And and he never tried to recruit me because he saw I was always in suits. I was looking good, a new car. i was doing good at the time. And then the company got sold.
00:05:18
Federico / DC1 Del
And they wanted to give me a pay cut and put me back in the lab. making glasses. I was working but at the home office by this point. and And I was like, ah this this I can't do this again. you know Working those long hours, starting from scratch. and and you know And so my dad kept hounding me about joining the army because that's what he wanted to do when he when he came to the States.
00:05:40
Federico / DC1 Del
But he couldn't do because he had a heavy accident and flat feet. and so He wouldn't accept them. This was during the Vietnam thing, which surprised me. i was like, and he showed me the paperwork. So he wasn't lying to me. I was like, wow.
00:05:49
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:05:49
Federico / DC1 Del
And so I went. to to join the army. And I'm standing in front of the door, the doors are locked and it says out to lunch, be back soon.
00:06:00
Federico / DC1 Del
And I'm like, you gotta be kidding me. I finally get the nerve to do this and they're not here. And then I hear my name ah back in those days in Texas, they called me Fred. So I hear Fred and I turn around and it's that recruiter that I've been going drinking and and having dinner with with my friend Jesse.
00:06:09
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:06:16
Federico / DC1 Del
And um he's like, what are you doing here? and I said, well, I was gonna join the army. He's like, oh, hell no. You're a sailor, brother. Come over over here. Come over here. So we sat down. We got to talking. And and then of course, while we're talking, he's giving me these exams. And I'm just taking them and talking to him, not really paying attention. I'm like, to me, it wasn't even real yet.
00:06:36
Federico / DC1 Del
And then we're all done. And he's like, OK, I can get you in. When do you want to leave? I said, ah saddam tomorrow. I said, because if you wait any longer, I'm gonna get cold feet. I'm not going to join.
00:06:47
Federico / DC1 Del
And he started on the the computer they had at the time making phone calls and And he's because is back in 88. This was in a May of May of 88.
00:06:54
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:06:56
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:06:57
Federico / DC1 Del
And then he puts down everything. He goes, OK, brother, he goes, this is the fastest I can bring you in is 30 days. He goes, is that OK? And that was even before my friend would leave because he was leaving in two months.
00:07:08
Federico / DC1 Del
And I was like, I'll try not to get cold feet by then.
00:07:09
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:07:12
Federico / DC1 Del
And so 30 days flew by.
00:07:12
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:07:13
Federico / DC1 Del
Next thing you know, I'm in boot camp in San Diego and And then 30 days flew by again. And my friend's barely in R1 days coming in. he's all shady. He's all scared. And I pass him. I'm laughing at him because he's going this way I'm going that way.
00:07:25
Patrick Riley
Oh,
00:07:26
Federico / DC1 Del
And he's just all freaked out. I got a chance to talk to him briefly during lunch one time and gave him the advice of joining the the religious petty officer program.
00:07:37
Patrick Riley
sure. Mm-hmm.
00:07:39
Federico / DC1 Del
And so he listened and he and they gave it to him. And so the next meeting we had in boot camp, he was there and and we got to talking and And that was the whole reason I joined the Navy because the recruiter that used to party with, that recruited my my friend that we grew up together um was like, no dude, you're not you're not a soldier, you're a sailor. and And yeah, he was right.
00:07:58
Patrick Riley
Yeah, and that's awesome to think that there's literally a door that's locked. They were not open and another door opened up for you.
00:08:04
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah. Everything happens for reason. So it wasn't meant to be. And as typically, and and that's what happened with my step sons. One of my step sons, the oldest one, he's in the army.
00:08:16
Federico / DC1 Del
But he wanted to join the Air Force and he was adamant and he was studying and so, but he he was scoring high, but not high enough for the Air Force.
00:08:23
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:08:24
Federico / DC1 Del
And so he ended up in the Army and he loves it now. He's jumping out of airplanes, airborne. he's he land He landed where he was supposed to be. And then my other stepson who wanted to join the Navy, um they wouldn't accept them with the visa that I had gotten for They said, if you would have waited a year longer, we could accept that visa.
00:08:31
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:08:42
Federico / DC1 Del
I'm like, what are you talking about? Visa's a visa. What does it matter what year I got it? He's here legally.
00:08:46
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:08:47
Federico / DC1 Del
He's here. Everything's perfect.
00:08:49
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:08:49
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, sorry, man. they They won't let me accept. So he ended up in the Air Force.
00:08:54
Patrick Riley
OK.
00:08:54
Federico / DC1 Del
and so And he ended up where he where he wanted to be because he doesn't really like to travel. he doesn't he's He's all into the family and his wife and high school sweetheart. So they both landed where they needed to be, where they wanted to be.
00:09:09
Federico / DC1 Del
But um they were both truck shooting for different areas where they would have been very unhappy if they would have got it.
00:09:09
Patrick Riley
me
00:09:14
Patrick Riley
Oh, that's ah that's great. Yeah. And so you went in right before I did. So I went in and August of 88, but they sent me to Orlando. um
00:09:25
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, I was in San Diego.
00:09:26
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Yeah. San Diego sounds a lot better than Orlando in August.
00:09:30
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, not really, because the DIs would go in competition with the with the Marine Corps across the bay.
00:09:36
Patrick Riley
Oh, yeah.
00:09:37
Federico / DC1 Del
So if they were yelling louder than us, then they would start beating us more so we could yell louder than them. And it was just, ah it it wasn't that good. Oh,
00:09:46
Patrick Riley
Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah, well, for me, it's the humidity. I wasn't a big fan of the humidity.
00:09:50
Federico / DC1 Del
oh yeah.
00:09:51
Patrick Riley
I definitely remember the Philippines um in the summertime. Well, just especially, you know, walking over shit river.
00:09:58
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yo, that smell was nasty.
00:09:59
Patrick Riley
like
00:10:00
Federico / DC1 Del
You can't forget that smell.
00:10:00
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:10:01
Federico / DC1 Del
But I was used to the humidity from growing up in Houston, so it really didn't bother me.
00:10:01
Patrick Riley
No.
00:10:04
Patrick Riley
Oh, that's right. Oh yeah. So when he went to San Diego, was nice and tempered and nothing.
00:10:09
Federico / DC1 Del
It was really nothing. It was actually better than Houston, so.
00:10:13
Patrick Riley
Oh, absolutely. Yeah, definitely.
00:10:14
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yeah.
00:10:14
Patrick Riley
So, um so after bootcamp, where did you go?
00:10:18
Federico / DC1 Del
i was sent straight to Treasure Island in San Francisco to get my damage control training there.
00:10:22
Patrick Riley
Yep.
00:10:26
Federico / DC1 Del
So I spent two months there training And then to my surprise, they let us go for 30 days for vacation before shipping us out to our ship.
00:10:32
Patrick Riley
yep
00:10:34
Federico / DC1 Del
And at that time, soon as you graduated, they let you know where you're going before we even left. So i already knew I was getting sent to the Midway before I left the Treasure Island to go home on vacation.
00:10:42
Patrick Riley
Oh, nice.
00:10:46
Federico / DC1 Del
so
00:10:47
Patrick Riley
Hey, since you've been on the Midway, have you been to the the museum, the Midway in San Diego?
00:10:53
Federico / DC1 Del
No, I haven't.
00:10:54
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:10:54
Federico / DC1 Del
i
USS Midway Fire: A Survivor's Tale
00:10:55
Federico / DC1 Del
might my A lot of my shipmates have been, but We lost three brothers to a fire on the Midway and it was very traumatic.
00:11:01
Patrick Riley
Hmm.
00:11:03
Federico / DC1 Del
And I still carry guilt because i fought at the time to go, there's there's a class that they teach Midway Indoc. So you have to go to the class for two weeks before they even let you on board the carrier.
00:11:11
Patrick Riley
Hmm.
00:11:15
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:11:16
Federico / DC1 Del
And so at the time the the ship was so old, we had so many issues with but the firefighting systems, pretty much with everything on the ship.
00:11:21
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:11:27
Federico / DC1 Del
and So the time came where they needed to replace the destructor at Midway Endac, who was an E-5. I was an E-4. And so I put in to go there because nobody wanted to go.
00:11:38
Federico / DC1 Del
And the the DCA on the Midway, he was a lieutenant, but he was filling a lieutenant commander position as the DCA on the carrier.
00:11:45
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:11:48
Federico / DC1 Del
And so we got to talking. He was an old surfer dude with a dip in his lip all the time. And he was half Japanese, half American. And so we were... We were talking and I told him I put in the paperwork and he was denying me.
00:12:00
Federico / DC1 Del
He's like, well, you know, DC three, know, that's a D five position. And, you know, I was young, ballsy and and and straightforward. So I looked at him and said, LP, you're holding an O four position. What does that matter?
00:12:11
Federico / DC1 Del
And he starts laughing and he goes, well, he goes, you still date that Dan chick? I said, and my first wife. I said, yeah, I'm still dating. He goes, you know what? I'm going to give it to you so you can get to know who she is before you end up jumping the broomstick and marrying her.
00:12:25
Federico / DC1 Del
This way you go in there with your eyes eyes wide open. He goes, here. He signed off on me. and And one of my arguments with him was also that the the systems were so messed up and that there was going to be a ah massive fire on this ship one day.
00:12:35
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:12:37
Federico / DC1 Del
and And I didn't want to be on there. And I thought, and and and I used that. And to my surprise, a month later, it happened.
00:12:48
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:12:48
Federico / DC1 Del
And one guy that that went to firefighting school with me at DCA school died, Shane Kilgore. One guy that that I met on the ship, Johnson, Patrick Johnson, he was actually an MS, but he always wanted to be a firefighter. So he was always with flying squad all the time. He was always with us.
00:13:08
Federico / DC1 Del
He shouldn't have even been on board anymore, but he got into a bar fight right before they pulled out and they put him on legal hold instead of leaving him behind on the base.
00:13:17
Patrick Riley
Oh, wow.
00:13:17
Federico / DC1 Del
And then the third one was Vieira. He was an HT. He had just gotten married and I'd just seen him with his wife that weekend before they pulled out. She was pregnant. I think she was like three or four months pregnant and they were so happy. And well, the shit hit the fan ah month later and they died. All three of them died.
00:13:39
Federico / DC1 Del
And I felt so guilty because i was like, you know, because you're part of that team and you're thinking to yourself, of what if I, if what, what could have been different if I was there, if I wouldn't have gotten off the ship, because we, we didn't have no debts or,
00:13:43
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:13:52
Federico / DC1 Del
or bad incidences when I was there with the team. I was part of rapid response ah flying squad and and with Kilgore and all those guys. And and we always took care of business. And then, you know the only difference that I could see at the time was I wasn't there.
00:14:07
Federico / DC1 Del
And, you know three people died. And i don't know how many other people got hurt and got medically ah retired and and and flown out. And yeah, I haven't been able to go back just because of that.
00:14:15
Patrick Riley
Right. When was... Yeah.
00:14:18
Federico / DC1 Del
and um My teammates have.
00:14:18
Patrick Riley
yeah Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
00:14:21
Federico / DC1 Del
And I plan on, I'm hoping that maybe next year i can let let everything settle down a little bit with California politics and all that shit and then take my kids and see it.
00:14:32
Patrick Riley
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And um actually i think next summer, so I think either June or July 26, we're all planning on going out to San Diego for a retirement party for one of our former shipmates.
00:14:44
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh.
00:14:45
Patrick Riley
So that might be a perfect time to go out there if you're interested.
00:14:48
Federico / DC1 Del
Should be the dates. Hopefully I'm free that time.
00:14:50
Patrick Riley
Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:14:51
Federico / DC1 Del
That'd be awesome.
00:14:52
Patrick Riley
We'll do. So ah when did the fire happen and where was Midway at?
00:14:57
Federico / DC1 Del
we were They were out just doing maneuvers outside of Japan. It was in June of, a June 19th of, I remember year.
00:15:07
Patrick Riley
Was it 89 or 90? 90? Okay. Gotcha. Gotcha.
00:15:10
Federico / DC1 Del
It was 90. ninety It was 90 because I transferred off the Midway at the end of 90 to the Hewitt.
00:15:13
Patrick Riley
ninety okay
00:15:18
Patrick Riley
gotcha
00:15:19
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah, it was it was it was June of 90 when it happened.
00:15:20
Patrick Riley
guys
00:15:23
Federico / DC1 Del
and And the thing was, somebody overfilled one of the the fuel voids, and it was underneath the burning compartment on the starboard side forward.
00:15:23
Patrick Riley
OK.
00:15:30
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:15:35
Federico / DC1 Del
But in that void, it got soil filled with but fuel. Also, the catapult steam line went through 800 or something.
00:15:44
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:15:44
Federico / DC1 Del
oh so nobody noticed it They just started smelling fuel and there was smoke. And so they investigated it. And well, they found it. They opened up the door and they saw the fuel boiling.
00:15:59
Federico / DC1 Del
And you know the heat was already there. So them opening up the door introduced the last piece of element that needed to explode, which was the oxygen.
00:16:08
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:16:09
Federico / DC1 Del
They closed it back up. Everything was fine still. But for some reason, and I could never get an answer even when reading their statements and everything, um the fire marshal at the time opened up the door again. And when they opened up the door again, it exploded.
00:16:23
Federico / DC1 Del
And that's when everybody that was there without gear, the rapid response team, everybody got blown up. blown up
00:16:30
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:16:31
Federico / DC1 Del
That was part of Kilgore's thing. Vieira and Johnson were actually in gear. And I think overall all the confusion when they locked down the space, because they had to keep launching the birds.
00:16:47
Federico / DC1 Del
Because in the carrier, the more important thing is get the birds off.
00:16:47
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:16:50
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:16:51
Federico / DC1 Del
So every time they launched, that thing would blow up. And I think in the confusion, they lost track of the manpower.
00:16:54
Patrick Riley
Oh.
00:16:58
Federico / DC1 Del
And Vieira and Johnson got locked down inside that space. And so when they when they finally got everything under control and they were overflowing the space, they found them ah underneath the ladder, both of them hugging each other in like ah like a fetal position, trying to protect each other.
00:17:14
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:17:15
Federico / DC1 Del
but the the explosions ended up killing them. And they were in full gear, and go full firefighting gear.
00:17:21
Patrick Riley
Right, right, right.
00:17:22
Federico / DC1 Del
Another a guy that was there, Bakuzi, he was a DC man, little short guy. I always called him Mighty Mouse because he was just, he was like ah that Arnold Schwarzenegger's friend that worked out with him, that Italian dude.
00:17:36
Patrick Riley
Okay, yeah.
00:17:37
Federico / DC1 Del
He had that kind of shape, all muscular like that all the time.
00:17:39
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:17:39
Federico / DC1 Del
and And he got hurt and was on the bottom of the ladder as you come into the space. And when they were stepping down, they thought they were stepping down into a hole because they couldn't see anything, but they were actually standing on the OBA on his chest.
00:17:57
Federico / DC1 Del
And when he moved, they they fell and then they found him.
00:17:58
Patrick Riley
Oh, wow.
00:18:00
Federico / DC1 Del
They picked him up. They took him out. And he lives in Florida. He's he's, he ended up getting medically discharged.
00:18:04
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:18:06
Federico / DC1 Del
Of course, the majority of guys PTSD and, and then physical injuries too.
00:18:10
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:18:11
Federico / DC1 Del
Of course he had his, His skin was melted together, the web to his body. They had to fix all that.
00:18:16
Patrick Riley
Oof.
00:18:17
Federico / DC1 Del
And another guy that was with us, he was a DC man too. We called him Bobo on the ship. His last name is Harris. I went to see him in the hospital in Yokosuka and he had this big old patch like this on his face, gauze.
00:18:32
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:18:33
Federico / DC1 Del
And he could barely see from one eye. And what had happened to him was the and explosions and stuff, the OBA melted to his face.
00:18:41
Patrick Riley
ah wow. Oh, old geez.
00:18:42
Federico / DC1 Del
the plastic. So i have they surgically removed it. By the time I got to see him, he was already with the cause and stuff. And I walked in the room. I said, how you doing, Bobo? First thing out of his mouth is, hey, DC3, did I make ah did i make you four
00:18:59
Patrick Riley
ah Oh, geez. Yeah.
00:19:00
Federico / DC1 Del
And I looked at him and I was like, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I said, Bobo, if you did it, I'm sure they're going to give it to you now. I said, don't worry about it.
00:19:07
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:19:09
Federico / DC1 Del
Just get better. um I'm sure you got it no matter what.
00:19:11
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:19:13
Federico / DC1 Del
And he's like, okay, okay, man.
00:19:13
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:19:14
Federico / DC1 Del
He was still in shock, you know, going through everything.
00:19:16
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:19:18
Federico / DC1 Del
I didn't get to see anybody else because they went to different hospitals in Japan. Kilgore, they flew him directly straight to Texas burn unit. And ah three days later, he they ended up disconnecting him from the machines and and he passed away. and he was a surfer guy. He was a free, easygoing surfer guy. And Anybody that knew him would know that he would not want to live on a machine.
00:19:41
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:19:41
Federico / DC1 Del
And that's what his parents said. They said, we're going to disconnect them. And if if the good Lord wants to take him, then that's what it's going to be. If if if he survives, then that's what it's going to be. But this right here is not going to be. that That wasn't him.
00:19:55
Federico / DC1 Del
And everybody, I mean, if he knew him, he knew that that was not him. So they disconnected him three days later.
00:19:59
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:20:01
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah His lungs were too burnt from the explosion and the fire that he didn't survive. He passed away.
00:20:08
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Yeah, that's, um that definitely could be traumatic. Obviously it's traumatic.
00:20:14
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yeah.
00:20:14
Patrick Riley
And to think that that ship is still there, it's still, it's a museum now. And yeah, that would bring back some, those, because I would imagine that memory is going to be, you know, stands out a lot more pronounced than the good one.
00:20:27
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, it's it's it's it's everlasting. Yeah, it's everlasting.
00:20:30
Patrick Riley
Absolutely.
00:20:30
Federico / DC1 Del
And and they put a, the first year that the the team went back, I was in Hawaii still,
00:20:31
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:20:36
Federico / DC1 Del
they put a plaque up in that area where where the fire happened.
00:20:38
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:20:39
Federico / DC1 Del
They let them in, the people that take care of the museum. if if you're If you're from the ship, you were served on the ship, there's certain areas that open up to you.
00:20:43
Patrick Riley
is it
00:20:48
Federico / DC1 Del
And of course these guys were part of that part of the the history.
00:20:49
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:20:51
Federico / DC1 Del
And so they opened up that area and they allowed them to put a plaque there. So I don't know if it's open to everybody because it's on the starboard side forward. Since I've never been to the the what actually is open.
00:21:04
Federico / DC1 Del
I don't know if that if that hallway is open because the hallway, when I walked through it, because was one of the first ones on the ship when ah when ah when Japan finally allowed them to pull in.
00:21:04
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:21:14
Patrick Riley
ah Wow.
00:21:14
Federico / DC1 Del
Japan wouldn't let them pull in um because they said, you know, we can never confirm or deny that we had nukes. And so Japan was like, take care your fire and then you can come in. We're not letting you in here while you're still fighting a fire.
00:21:28
Federico / DC1 Del
And so um they had to stay out for like three or four days before they allowed them back in port. And soon as they came in port, they put down that brow, I ran across it and got on it, started seeing everybody.
00:21:33
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:21:38
Federico / DC1 Del
and And I mean, they just looked so worn out and tired and stressed.
00:21:42
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:21:43
Federico / DC1 Del
I mean, some of it looked like ghosts, you know, they were just like barely moving. And when I went down that hallway, I couldn't even open my eyes from this from the fuel, the smell and in the in the fumes. And the hallway looked like somebody grabbed it and went like this to it, like a can.
00:21:53
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:21:57
Federico / DC1 Del
So it was all a shape and shit from the explosions.
00:21:57
Patrick Riley
Wow.
00:22:01
Federico / DC1 Del
I was like,
00:22:01
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:22:02
Federico / DC1 Del
Unbelievable. I couldn't comprehend the hell they went through. was scary just looking at the the after effects.
00:22:08
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:22:11
Patrick Riley
Yeah. I was thinking about that timeframe because I was on the... towers at the time and the towers is going through decommissioning at the time. oh So we would normally be a plane guard for the midway.
00:22:23
Patrick Riley
We'd just sit behind you, make sure that everything
00:22:23
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah
Gulf War Transition: From Midway to USS Hewitt
00:22:25
Patrick Riley
was fine.
00:22:26
Patrick Riley
Uh, but it, and then in August I switched over to the, the Hewitt when it pulled in to port. So, um, how did you get your orders over to the Hewitt?
00:22:37
Federico / DC1 Del
um The Gulf War had just started or was going to start.
00:22:41
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:22:42
Federico / DC1 Del
The DCA that was on the ship decided that there was not going to be a turnover from my position on the Midway Indoc. They were just going to throw somebody in there and pull me out and put me on the ship.
00:22:55
Federico / DC1 Del
But the DCA didn't take into account that I used to go drinking with the lieutenant commander who was in charge of training.
00:23:01
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:23:02
Federico / DC1 Del
And so when I was checking back on board Midway to pull out with them to go start the war, He walked in the office and he saw me checking in. He goes, what the hell are you doing? Dale? And I said, DCA told me to check back on board. They put E5, DC2, I forget his name was, over there. He's like, who's going to train him?
00:23:21
Federico / DC1 Del
I said, I don't know, sir. He just told me to come back on board. He goes, oh, hell no. yeah but Get out of here. go go Go train my guy. You're going to be there. He goes, when did you transfer? This was October, I think it was. I said next month, November.
00:23:34
Federico / DC1 Del
He goes,
00:23:34
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:23:35
Federico / DC1 Del
You transfer in November. He's pulling you back on board. We're getting ready to pull out to go to the Gulf. I said, sir, I just do what I'm told. I was like, what do you want me to do
00:23:42
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:23:43
Federico / DC1 Del
He's like, no. He goes, this is what's going to happen, DC3. He says, you're going to train my DC2. You're going to stay there 30 days. He goes, and then he goes, ah where are you going? said, I'm going to go to the USS Hewitt.
00:23:56
Federico / DC1 Del
He's like, OK, but then you're going to cross deck to the Hewitt. You're not coming on board this ship. Get off my ship. Get out of here. Go train my guy and then take whatever vacation you want and go check on board the Hewitt. He says, this is, I'll take care this.
00:24:07
Federico / DC1 Del
And he took off and I didn't have to pull out with him, but I was still attached to the Midway until like the end of November, beginning of December of, uh, of 90.
00:24:10
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:24:15
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:24:15
Federico / DC1 Del
And then, uh, and then I crossed it to the Hewitt and we were independent steaming. So we didn't have to go with the battle group.
00:24:20
Patrick Riley
Yep.
00:24:22
Federico / DC1 Del
And then they started the war and then we, we ended up ultimately finishing the war. So on, uh, on January, it was January 17th of 93.
00:24:26
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:24:29
Federico / DC1 Del
Uh, we launched those Tomahawks and, and finally, uh,
00:24:30
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:24:34
Federico / DC1 Del
Good old Saddam said uncle and gave up.
00:24:38
Patrick Riley
That was ah a pretty interesting day. I remember it pretty vividly because I woke up, found out that we launched the Tomahawks.
00:24:46
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, you didn't get to see it?
00:24:46
Patrick Riley
And we, no, all no, I mean, we were on the Hewitt.
00:24:50
Federico / DC1 Del
They woke me up. They woke me up and said, hey, man, you got to come see this.
00:24:51
Patrick Riley
So, oh yeah, yeah.
00:24:54
Federico / DC1 Del
I went to the fantail and I watched all these tomahawks have been launched from us, the cowpins, and I always forget the third ship that was there. It was three destroyers, Hewitt, cowpins, and the
00:25:04
Patrick Riley
Oh, no no, no, I was saying when we, um the the first, it when it shifted from Desert Shield to Desert Storm, we were independent sailing and we were in Japan, we were in Yakuska.
00:25:17
Patrick Riley
So we didn't launch the tomahawks to start the war.
00:25:17
Federico / DC1 Del
Right.
00:25:20
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, you won't even hear.
00:25:20
Patrick Riley
Like you said, yeah, I was talking about when we were um in Yakuska all by ourselves, the Hewitt was all by ourselves.
00:25:21
Federico / DC1 Del
OK.
00:25:28
Federico / DC1 Del
OK.
00:25:29
Patrick Riley
And, yeah,
00:25:29
Federico / DC1 Del
That in itself is an interesting thing. When I first experienced that on the Hewitt, the battle group left.
00:25:35
Patrick Riley
Yes.
00:25:35
Federico / DC1 Del
And you know i was like, wow. To see for yourself firsthand all those Westpac widows was incredible. I was like, wow, i heard stories about this, but I was always on the midway, so I never saw it until the battle group left.
00:25:43
Patrick Riley
Yeah. ah
00:25:47
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:25:49
Federico / DC1 Del
And then I was like, wow, they weren't
00:25:52
Patrick Riley
Yeah. I always got a kick out. i mean, when we went to Hong Kong, who goes pure side in Hong Kong? That was the best thing ever. Instead of being anchored out.
00:26:00
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yeah. Oh, dude, Hong Kong and pulling into Australia. was like pulling under your home port.
00:26:05
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:26:08
Federico / DC1 Del
that You got so much love in those two ports.
00:26:08
Patrick Riley
Yes.
00:26:10
Federico / DC1 Del
was ridiculous.
00:26:12
Patrick Riley
Absolutely.
00:26:12
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:26:12
Patrick Riley
and like Yeah, I was gonna say after we launched, well, after the initial entering of Desert Storm and we were in Yakuska, I think myself and a few of the buddies, we went over to the pizza inn and we we had the pizza.
00:26:28
Patrick Riley
And of course we started drinking a lot and we drank way too much.
00:26:30
Federico / DC1 Del
course.
00:26:30
Patrick Riley
So when we got back to the ship, ah we were pretty trashed. And I think I headed out um afterwards to go up to see the girlfriend in Tokyo. And as I was heading out the gate, I just remember I just see this guy lift a big camera and a big light on top of it.
00:26:48
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:26:49
Patrick Riley
And a little girl, a reporter comes up with her microphone and she's like, so what do you think of the the war that, you know, how it started today? i' was like, it's about time.
00:27:00
Patrick Riley
And I just kept going.
00:27:00
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah
00:27:02
Patrick Riley
And I didn't, I guess I wasn't supposed to say anything. Nobody said anything afterwards. But yeah, one of my buddies, he was at his girlfriend's house and they were just watching the news.
00:27:12
Patrick Riley
And all of a sudden they see my dumb face pop up and, you know, say it's about time. And I think you can just tell I was a little drunk. I just kept walking. But yeah, it's always on Japanese news.
00:27:22
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:27:24
Patrick Riley
Great.
00:27:25
Federico / DC1 Del
Wow, that's cool.
00:27:25
Patrick Riley
it's Lovely. But yeah.
00:27:27
Federico / DC1 Del
That's cool.
00:27:28
Patrick Riley
Cool. So I will say after, how long did you spend on the Hewitt then?
00:27:34
Federico / DC1 Del
I was on the Hewitt from the end of 92 to write that day that we, that night that we launched Tomahawks, that next morning I flew off by helicopter from the Kitty Hawk. So until January of 93,
00:27:44
Patrick Riley
Oh, wow.
00:27:48
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:27:48
Federico / DC1 Del
I flew out by helicopter to the Hick by the Kitty Hawk. And then I took my shore duty orders to to military police in Honolulu and NAS Barber's point.
00:27:58
Patrick Riley
Oh, wow. Okay.
00:28:00
Federico / DC1 Del
But I had to go to San Antonio first to pass the police Academy to get those orders.
00:28:05
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:28:05
Federico / DC1 Del
And the Navy was taking their sweet time on finding me a flight. And so I was in jeopardy of losing my, my class to start and get those orders. And so I ended up, um paying for it out of pocket so I could make it time.
00:28:21
Federico / DC1 Del
I still had to go to Tokyo and do my pack out and then fly to San Antonio.
00:28:24
Patrick Riley
geez.
00:28:26
Federico / DC1 Del
And the Navy was like, yeah, we'll get you there. Don't worry. But they didn't care. I mean, I would lost my orders and I probably would have ended up in Diego Garcia because that was the other place they offered me. They offered me by Rand and Diego Garcia.
00:28:35
Patrick Riley
Oh.
00:28:38
Federico / DC1 Del
And when I kept turning things down, then the detailer was like, well, I got this one other place, but you got to be there three years, shipmate. like It's like, it can't be worse than what you already offered me. I mean, i was in my mind, I was like, those are already two stupid places. where What are you talking about? Where are we going?
00:28:54
Federico / DC1 Del
But you got me there three years. Just tell me where it is. Hawaii, done. Signed. Send me the papers. Jesus, you should have led with that when I told him. What the hell's wrong with you?
00:29:03
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:29:04
Federico / DC1 Del
You got to put me back where I just spent four years in? You're out of your damn mind.
00:29:09
Patrick Riley
Right. Oh, Diego Garcia. That would have been just, that would have been awful.
00:29:13
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, God, no. We had a guy that transferred while was still in the midway to Diego Garcia, a military police. And he did it because it was going to count for two years of sea duty.
00:29:20
Patrick Riley
Uh-huh.
00:29:23
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:29:23
Federico / DC1 Del
and And he wanted to make rank and that crap. He was an E-5. And when we pulled in on the way to the Gulf one time, he was there already. He had already went through his training. He was in military police.
00:29:33
Federico / DC1 Del
And so he came out on ah one of those military police boats and he picked up half the team, half the division, because we only had like, I think it was eight hours. So they took half of us and they let us go out for a few hours, like three or four hours.
00:29:47
Federico / DC1 Del
And then we turned back and then the other half went. So all we did was jump in his boat. We went straight to his barracks. We got drunk, come back on his boat. He took the other half. He knew everybody. He was with us. He was part of our team before.
00:29:59
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:30:00
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah he'd ah He'd probably been gone like three months at the most. And so i mean nobody really transferred. So yeah, that was my time experiencing Diego Garcia, getting drunk in his barracks and coming back to the ship.
00:30:11
Patrick Riley
Oh, that's funny. Yeah, I did hit the bar in Diego Garcia. Because when, so we were, you were on the Midway, i was on the Towers. We did go to the Gulf in 89.
00:30:23
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yeah.
00:30:24
Patrick Riley
So I remember Hong Kong, Patia Beach. um
00:30:28
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, so yeah.
Liberty Ports and Navy Life
00:30:30
Patrick Riley
Yeah, we'll we'll get to Patia. wellll'll well We'll get there in a second.
00:30:32
Federico / DC1 Del
In Patria, Phuket, all those places, yes.
00:30:33
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then um hit the golf. we We did a couple circles, came out. And did you guys go down to Kenya? I think you probably went to Mombasa, Kenya.
00:30:42
Federico / DC1 Del
Yes, yes, we went to Mombasa, Kenya. Yes, we did.
00:30:45
Patrick Riley
Yep. Yep. Yep.
00:30:46
Federico / DC1 Del
and where they were They brought us into pier into the pier on ah what but ultimately were cattle boats.
00:30:46
Patrick Riley
And that's where. Yeah.
00:30:53
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:30:53
Federico / DC1 Del
And so we were in the and the bottom of the boat looking up while they were bringing us into to Kenya from the midway.
00:30:59
Patrick Riley
Oh, wow. Yeah.
00:31:01
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah, it was interesting.
00:31:01
Patrick Riley
Yeah. And then we went across the Indian Ocean, hit Diego Garcia. That's when you said you were, you know, went to the barracks and got drunk.
00:31:08
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:31:09
Patrick Riley
That's the best way to do it. And then you, you guys went to Perth now.
00:31:11
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yeah.
00:31:13
Federico / DC1 Del
We went to Fremantle, Perth, yes.
00:31:15
Patrick Riley
Yeah. And since.
00:31:16
Federico / DC1 Del
and That was the time we we accidentally bombed the reefs.
00:31:20
Patrick Riley
Yeah, that's right. I always thought it was a Cochran, but it was a Reeves.
00:31:24
Federico / DC1 Del
It was the Reeves we bombed.
00:31:24
Patrick Riley
Um,
00:31:25
Federico / DC1 Del
it was but it was ah I remember we were we were we were all excited about going to Australia, but we were doing this. The navigators and stuff were doing their bombing runs, and and he missed mistook the Reeves for the the sled that that ah that was supposed to be bombed, and he hit the Reeves on the port side forward with a 500-pound, they called it a dummy bomb, but it was 500-pound bomb, and they mustered us in the hangar bay,
00:31:43
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:31:48
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:31:52
Federico / DC1 Del
all the all the flying squad in the D.C. Division, and they were like, okay, this is what what's going to happen. either we They told us. We bombed them by accident. We got fires up front forward.
00:32:04
Federico / DC1 Del
we need the bo We're going to swing you across in the chair, and you guys going to help them fight the fires. I'm like, chief, are you going to give us a blueprint of the ship? I mean, we have no idea what the ship looks like.
00:32:15
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, we're going to get all that. Don't worry about it. We're going to get all that. Just stand by. Stay here. And we're all looking at each other like, what the fuck? you know Don't we have enough fires to fight on deer on here?
00:32:23
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:32:25
Federico / DC1 Del
Now we got to go find them on other ships? And so thankfully, didn't that didn't end up happening.
00:32:27
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:32:29
Federico / DC1 Del
They they got control of it with their halon or CO2 because it it ended up hitting all the electronics up forward.
00:32:37
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:32:38
Federico / DC1 Del
and And so we didn't see the damage because it was it was night, of course. When we were pulling in to Perk, They passed us on the side, on the starboard side, i think it was.
00:32:50
Federico / DC1 Del
and And we saw the damage, the hole with the black, you know, all that stuff.
00:32:54
Patrick Riley
Uh-huh.
00:32:55
Federico / DC1 Del
We were like, holy shit. it's Like, damn.
00:32:57
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:32:59
Federico / DC1 Del
and And they were stuck in and dry dock in Hawaii for almost three years. I think it was two and a half years.
00:33:06
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:33:06
Federico / DC1 Del
Because ah my my friend that I joined the Navy with, that grew up with, he was stationed in Hawaii. That was his first station. And he was telling me about it, how things were. And yeah, they were they were stuck in in Hawaii for years trying to fix all that stuff.
00:33:20
Federico / DC1 Del
And that was just a dummy bomb.
00:33:21
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, I remember when that happened because it was right before we went into Australia. And now since we were the towers, they actually sent us down to Bunbury.
00:33:34
Patrick Riley
We didn't go to Perth with everybody else.
00:33:36
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, you didn't. You didn't go to Perth.
00:33:37
Patrick Riley
Yeah, yeah. So we went to Bunbury.
00:33:38
Federico / DC1 Del
You would have loved it because everywhere we went, the the The other ships would would dedicate You Dropped a Bomb on Me.
00:33:42
Patrick Riley
Ha
00:33:46
Federico / DC1 Del
This goes out to the USS Midway from the USS whatever it was.
00:33:46
Patrick Riley
ha ha ha ha.
00:33:50
Federico / DC1 Del
And then, you dropped a bomb.
00:33:52
Patrick Riley
Oh, that's awesome.
00:33:53
Federico / DC1 Del
We're like, shit.
00:33:54
Patrick Riley
no kid
00:33:55
Federico / DC1 Del
Every bar we went to, that song was dedicated to us. It was crazy.
00:33:58
Patrick Riley
oh that's awesome
00:34:00
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:34:00
Patrick Riley
Yeah. you and that was the thing about Bunbury because like said, we were all by ourselves and I think there was only 40,000 people on that town.
00:34:07
Federico / DC1 Del
Wow.
00:34:07
Patrick Riley
So we had that whole place.
00:34:08
Federico / DC1 Del
You had to have a good time.
00:34:09
Patrick Riley
Oh, we did. Yeah. It was, I think I crawled back the night before he we left and I, luckily I got back in time, but I was, I think I fell asleep underneath my council.
00:34:20
Patrick Riley
I was just way drunk, you know?
00:34:21
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah, I think the only time we pulled into, well, I was on the Hewitt already, and we pulled into Darwin.
00:34:28
Patrick Riley
Oh yeah.
00:34:29
Federico / DC1 Del
and And that was a small town.
00:34:30
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:34:32
Federico / DC1 Del
And everybody kept warning us, don't don't start drinking heavy early because the party doesn't start till one or two in the morning.
00:34:39
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:34:39
Federico / DC1 Del
Ah, we're good, we're good. And I remember we went to this bar. It was in the afternoon, probably five or four o'clock. And it was called the Gentleman's Lingerie Bar.
00:34:51
Patrick Riley
Oh.
00:34:51
Federico / DC1 Del
And every woman in there was in lingerie and they had every right to wear what they were wearing.
00:34:54
Patrick Riley
OK. Yeah.
00:34:56
Federico / DC1 Del
There was not one woman that was pushing the limits or anything that, or that you'd look at it and girl, there was a mirror, you know, Hey, no, all of these were perfect.
00:35:04
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:35:06
Federico / DC1 Del
And we were just blown away. So we had a few beers there. and of course I always have to shoot high. So I went for the bartender and and she told me, well, you know, maybe we'll show up.
00:35:13
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:35:17
Federico / DC1 Del
We already knew what bar we were going end up at a night. And so he said, when don' you get off work, why don't you meet us there? And she's like, maybe. She didn't give me a confirm yes. She just said maybe. And I said, no. My friend wants you to bring that waitress with you there.
00:35:30
Federico / DC1 Del
And you know we were cocky. We were like, yeah, whatever. And bring this one and that one.
00:35:32
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:35:34
Federico / DC1 Del
And she just laughed. And she goes, we'll see. And you know you fast forward, we're partying. I'm so wasted by this time. I'm wearing Coverdale's chief hat. I'm leaning up against a pillar with a pitcher of beer.
00:35:46
Federico / DC1 Del
Coverdale's jumping from table to table. I mean, we're all getting wasted. And i remember this beautiful girl come up in front of me and she smiles and she looks at me and I'm just looking at her.
00:35:58
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, stupid me couldn't recognize her because she was dressed.
00:36:01
Patrick Riley
Oh, no.
00:36:02
Federico / DC1 Del
She was dressed, she was in clothes.
00:36:02
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:36:04
Federico / DC1 Del
And that was the bartender. And the girl next to her was the girl I told her to bring.
00:36:08
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:36:08
Federico / DC1 Del
But I was so drunk and I couldn't recognize her because she was she was fully dressed now.
00:36:13
Patrick Riley
Uh-huh.
00:36:13
Federico / DC1 Del
And I was wasted and I just looked at her and I turned around and I walked away. And that's the last thing I remember. Then the next morning I was on the ship and my friends were laughing at me and I'm like, okay, what happened?
00:36:26
Federico / DC1 Del
They're like, well, we knew you were drunk, Dale, when that girl that you invited came and said hi to you showed up and you just smiled and walked away from her. We said, yeah, it's time for him to go to the ship. So we took you back to the ship. I'm like, oh, thank God.
00:36:40
Federico / DC1 Del
But oh no, the one that got away, you know, damn it.
00:36:43
Patrick Riley
Right? Oh, that's hilarious. Yeah, that was... Yeah, Australia was great because... Yeah, the Swan beer, that was so good.
00:36:54
Patrick Riley
And then for some reason, I was just stuck with um screwdrivers. For some reason, I was on the vodka kick and I needed to have a little orange juice on it. But yeah, it was... Australia was great.
00:37:06
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, I got into the cognac kick. I would take a shot of cognac before I drank my beers.
00:37:08
Patrick Riley
Oh, yeah.
00:37:11
Federico / DC1 Del
Everywhere we went.
00:37:11
Patrick Riley
Oh. Oh.
00:37:13
Federico / DC1 Del
So we'd go in there and I'd say a shot of cognac and a beer. And i if they had them, I'd smoke a cigar. So I got into that kick at some point. I don't remember. I know when we were in Oman, um I did that. We were in a hotel lobby and I ordered that. And and I remember ah the the Filipino waitress come back after I ordered a beer and cognac shot.
00:37:34
Federico / DC1 Del
And she looks at me, she goes, I'm sorry, sir, I forgot to ask. I thought, what, going to ID me or what? She's like, do you want your beer hot or cold?
00:37:43
Patrick Riley
Oh, geez.
00:37:43
Federico / DC1 Del
And I looked, i that's the look I gave her. I was like, who the hell would order a hot beer?
00:37:45
Patrick Riley
Yeah, but...
00:37:47
Federico / DC1 Del
Of course, cold. She's like, I'm sorry, it's because here they, said I said, I'm American.
00:37:49
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:37:51
Federico / DC1 Del
wearing a what Girl, i need cold beer.
00:37:54
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:37:54
Federico / DC1 Del
I said, now my Kanye can be room temperature, but but my beer get better be cold. She started laughing. She's like, okay. And yeah, that was, that was interesting.
00:38:00
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:38:03
Patrick Riley
Yeah, I remember, yeah, Oman was great. yeah And like you said, we always had to go find the hotel because that's where the beer was.
00:38:11
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:38:11
Patrick Riley
They didn't have clubs or bars and in countries like that.
00:38:13
Federico / DC1 Del
was it It was not the usual bar hopping or anything like that, no.
00:38:16
Patrick Riley
No. I'll get to the hotel, start drinking there because international travelers, they can drink beer. um Yeah, I don't think a lot of people really realize that, but it's part of what we have to do.
00:38:25
Federico / DC1 Del
And you had to order. At a certain point, you had to order like four five beers because they shut down like at five or something.
00:38:31
Patrick Riley
Yeah, yeah.
00:38:31
Federico / DC1 Del
They do their prayer thing, and they were shut down for like two hours.
00:38:33
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
Career Transitions and Retirement Dreams
00:38:35
Federico / DC1 Del
And so if you didn't order ahead of time with a bucket of ice, you were sucking wind until they could finally opened up again.
00:38:35
Patrick Riley
Yep.
00:38:39
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:38:41
Patrick Riley
Absolutely. So what was, and I can imagine, but what was the difference between pulling into a Liberty port on the Midway versus the Hewitt?
00:38:52
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, the huge, the biggest difference was the amount of sailors that they're having.
00:38:57
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:38:57
Federico / DC1 Del
The ship alone had 3,500 to 4,000 sailors, not including all of the escorts.
00:39:03
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:39:03
Federico / DC1 Del
So if you pulled into a port with the with the battle group, um you're looking at about 8,000, you know, sailors running around. So unless you were in a big city like Hong Kong or Australia or Singapore, I mean, you go, you pull into Darwin with somebody like that, you're,
00:39:19
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:39:21
Federico / DC1 Del
I mean, you're lucky if you get to talk to a girl. ah But if you pull in with the Hewitt, everywhere we went, we were independent steaming.
00:39:24
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:39:28
Federico / DC1 Del
So and and I mean, I think at the most, we might have had like one other independent steaming ship in there with us. and And so it was a huge difference. I mean, you're you're talking about going from maybe three girls though for every guy to 10 girls to every guy.
00:39:46
Federico / DC1 Del
The big difference, you know. Everywhere you looked, that was they were hitting on you.
00:39:48
Patrick Riley
Absolutely.
00:39:50
Federico / DC1 Del
And I remember... When I was on the Hewitt, that was the time when I actually had to turn down women in Australia and places I went to because it was just too many and they all wanted you.
00:39:57
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:40:00
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:40:02
Federico / DC1 Del
know You opened your mouth, you're American, and then you're on a military too?
00:40:02
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:40:06
Federico / DC1 Del
Forget it. you are
00:40:07
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:40:08
Federico / DC1 Del
You were prime real estate.
00:40:10
Patrick Riley
Absolutely. Yeah, that was that was the best part that I remember from the Hewitt. Because when I was with the Towers, we were part of that battle group. So we always went with the Midway.
00:40:19
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah, it's a big difference.
00:40:20
Patrick Riley
So I remember Hong Kong, you kind of, it was a little bit better in Hong Kong because you kind of be able to blend in a little more and get away from, you know some of the sailors.
00:40:27
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, always went to Kowloon. I ate in Hong Kong.
00:40:30
Patrick Riley
Oh, yes.
00:40:32
Federico / DC1 Del
I went to the market. and they They killed the fresh food there. They cooked it on the grill.
00:40:35
Patrick Riley
Yep. Mm-hmm.
00:40:36
Federico / DC1 Del
We had our huge San Miguel. We did our our dinner. And then we jumped the Star Ferry straight to Kowloon side every time.
00:40:41
Patrick Riley
Yep. Absolutely. Yeah, we would do that all the time. And the the restaurant always went to in in Hong Kong was Jumbo's Floating Restaurant. And that was over in Aberdeen Harbor.
00:40:52
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yeah. I always tried to go there. I never made it.
00:40:55
Patrick Riley
Yeah, I guess it sank. it It actually caught fire and sank.
00:40:58
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah, I heard it sank. There was a fire or something that sank.
00:40:59
Patrick Riley
Yeah. but Aberdeen Harbor was pretty cool because that's where all the boat people are. A lot of the boat people, uh, where they live on the boats.
00:41:05
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:41:07
Patrick Riley
And, uh, I remember I went to a bar and was actually on a barge and I went to go take a leak.
00:41:12
Federico / DC1 Del
Wow.
00:41:13
Patrick Riley
And I just remember the toilet. You just look in, you just look right down through the bottom of it and goes right to the Harbor. Great.
00:41:21
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:41:21
Patrick Riley
So, and no, not at all.
00:41:22
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah, no no no EPA there.
00:41:25
Patrick Riley
But, uh, yeah, Hong Kong was great. And especially when we were by ourselves, but, um,
00:41:30
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yeah.
00:41:30
Patrick Riley
And that's part of what I'm doing with the next book is that I have to go there because that's part of the story. I need to write that in there. And I have to go back to Hong Kong. I haven't been there in 35 years or so.
00:41:39
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, we were the one of the last ships there when it was still under British rule.
00:41:43
Patrick Riley
Oh yeah.
00:41:44
Federico / DC1 Del
when they when they When they lost the lease and went on back to China, we never pulled in again.
00:41:44
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:41:48
Federico / DC1 Del
We passed by it, but we never we never pulled in again. So I heard it's not the same, that it it kind of sucks now compared to what it was before.
00:41:51
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:41:56
Federico / DC1 Del
But I don't know. I've never been there yet.
00:41:58
Patrick Riley
Yeah, I'll have to go back. And same thing with Highland. I have a good friend that lives in Pattia right now, and ah he's begging me to go back. I would love to go back. I'll figure it out. I'll get back to Pattia someday, but...
00:42:08
Federico / DC1 Del
I have a ah friend.
00:42:09
Patrick Riley
Okay. Yeah.
00:42:10
Federico / DC1 Del
i would You probably know him. Doobie.
00:42:13
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:42:14
Federico / DC1 Del
He went by Doobie on the ship.
00:42:14
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:42:15
Federico / DC1 Del
I'm trying to remember his real name, but ah they he goes by Doobie. He's a, he's a postal clerk now and in Arizona and not Arizona, Las Vegas, Nevada.
00:42:24
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:42:25
Federico / DC1 Del
But he, he just went back recently by himself and he put a lot of pictures and stuff.
00:42:29
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:42:30
Federico / DC1 Del
And it he said it was awesome. And cause he just got divorced and stuff.
00:42:33
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:42:34
Federico / DC1 Del
And and so he was running amok and he went there. I think he also went to, uh, was it not Colombia? He went to
00:42:44
Federico / DC1 Del
and one of those places in South America. ah can't remember his name right now, but yeah, he's gone there.
00:42:46
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:42:48
Federico / DC1 Del
And I told him we need to hook up and go to one of these places. I mean, you go in there by yourself. oh
00:42:53
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:42:53
Federico / DC1 Del
and Enrique Velasquez Madero, if you remember him, he was an A-ganger. He went down to Colombia by himself and in these he likes to travel.
00:42:58
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:43:01
Patrick Riley
OK.
00:43:02
Federico / DC1 Del
He goes everywhere by himself. I told him, dude, we got to hook up and, and, and,
00:43:04
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:43:07
Federico / DC1 Del
and make plans. I mean, I'm divorced now and my kids are gonna be grown soon. And and yeah, we gotta we gotta to make plans and do this.
00:43:11
Patrick Riley
ah huh
00:43:13
Federico / DC1 Del
And he's like, yeah, dude, let's do it. So who knows, maybe next year and the year after, probably in the year after, cause then my my youngest will be 18 and then we'll be able to to to just go do whatever.
00:43:22
Patrick Riley
OK.
00:43:25
Patrick Riley
Absolutely. Well, and that's the nice thing is so I've got, I said, with the second book, um it's pure fiction. I'm writing it, but I need to get the experience of being there. It's been so long and it.
00:43:36
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh yeah, no, it's changed a lot.
00:43:38
Patrick Riley
yeah absolutely. and And I still have to, i think it's really the sights and sounds and smells and just kind of get get you know that down on paper.
00:43:38
Federico / DC1 Del
Changed a lot.
00:43:47
Patrick Riley
But what happened, so I priced it all out for like a 12 day trip in October and it was like $1,400 round trip on air.
00:43:47
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:43:55
Federico / DC1 Del
That's not bad at all.
00:43:56
Patrick Riley
And it was like ah Denver to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Bangkok. And then Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, and then Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. And then Singapore back to Denver.
00:44:07
Federico / DC1 Del
you know, Singapore is a place I'd like to go back to.
00:44:08
Patrick Riley
1400. Yeah. Yeah.
00:44:10
Federico / DC1 Del
I'd like to check out Singapore.
00:44:10
Patrick Riley
yeah yeah i
00:44:11
Federico / DC1 Del
I always loved it. It was beautiful. I had a great time there every time we went. And that that's a place that I'd really like to see yeah again.
00:44:19
Patrick Riley
I do have a shipmate from the Towers who lives in Bangkok. He used to be the post commander for the VFW for all of Southeast Asia.
00:44:27
Federico / DC1 Del
Really?
00:44:27
Patrick Riley
So for all the expats that were VFW members, he was the commander. So I still have his contact information.
00:44:32
Federico / DC1 Del
ah wow.
00:44:34
Patrick Riley
He lives in Bangkok. But yeah, I've got another friend who was never in the Navy, but he sure acts like he is. But he...
00:44:42
Federico / DC1 Del
I got a couple like that. They've never been in the military, but they sure act like they
00:44:46
Patrick Riley
Yeah, yeah. And he he's been living Pattaya for several years now. And I think his rent was only $150 month.
00:44:54
Federico / DC1 Del
No, yeah, I've seen videos on, ah I think on TikTok and and Instagram where the people are talking about, you know, you should retire in these different places.
00:44:55
Patrick Riley
and he
00:45:03
Federico / DC1 Del
And it's incredible.
00:45:04
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:45:05
Federico / DC1 Del
But I mean, I just couldn't. I wouldn't feel safe because I'm used to having my gun with me everywhere I go.
00:45:11
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:45:12
Federico / DC1 Del
you know and if I can't do that over there, then, you know, and and and then of course, you know, you always go through, okay, what if I flaunt too much, know, going to be a target.
00:45:22
Patrick Riley
Yep.
00:45:23
Federico / DC1 Del
Just, you know, I couldn't do it.
00:45:23
Patrick Riley
yep
00:45:24
Federico / DC1 Del
I don't mind going to visit and having a good time, vacation and come back. But I don't think i could ever live in any of those places.
00:45:30
Patrick Riley
Right. Yeah. And I think you're right. I think I want to visit, but getting out there, I'll get there soon enough.
00:45:39
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:45:39
Patrick Riley
Hopefully. yeah And I think that's kind of a retirement gig that I would like to do is just travel to countries like this.
00:45:40
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah
00:45:45
Federico / DC1 Del
That's exactly what I'm looking forward to.
00:45:45
Patrick Riley
ever
00:45:46
Federico / DC1 Del
When I retire, just travel you know all over the states and on top of going overseas and other places, you know just trying to stay stay in good shape and and and health to be able to do that without without a wheelchair or nothing.
00:45:52
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:45:59
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Well, and that's what I look at with writing is I want to be able to write, you know, writing doesn't take too much.
00:46:04
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:46:05
Patrick Riley
And then I can get some of the books published.
00:46:06
Federico / DC1 Del
Exactly.
00:46:08
Patrick Riley
And, you know, I think this podcast is pretty cool because I can, you know, we can talk to people and I can talk to people anywhere. So maybe I take my podcast on the road and interview the guys over in Thailand and stuff.
00:46:19
Federico / DC1 Del
That's a good idea.
00:46:19
Patrick Riley
and
00:46:20
Federico / DC1 Del
you could You could do this anywhere you're at. you know You can run into old salts out there and and interview.
00:46:22
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:46:24
Federico / DC1 Del
If they weren't going to interview you or let you interview them, that'd be awesome.
00:46:27
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:46:28
Federico / DC1 Del
You could do it anywhere, like you said. You could you could be in Thailand, Fatia Beach, you know interviewing people right there on the beach, talking to them.
00:46:30
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:46:34
Federico / DC1 Del
and you
00:46:34
Patrick Riley
Yeah, absolutely.
00:46:35
Federico / DC1 Del
Take a few hours out of each day and you can write it off as a business expense.
00:46:38
Patrick Riley
ah
00:46:39
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah
00:46:39
Patrick Riley
I've done that. I've done that before. So, but yeah, and that's ah that the cool part, you know, kind of going back to the midway and the towers. I remember we were off you know, anchored out there and, you know, just off the beach.
00:46:51
Patrick Riley
And I would remember the the little boats with the, they had the real long props and, you know, those outdoor, outboard moves.
00:46:57
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, yes, yes, yes.
00:46:59
Patrick Riley
Yeah. And, you know, be able to zip it.
00:47:00
Federico / DC1 Del
Yes, we used to ride those in Thailand. They bring us into the pier into port.
00:47:03
Patrick Riley
Yep.
00:47:03
Federico / DC1 Del
We used to give them either a hat or a Zippo to get us there faster.
00:47:03
Patrick Riley
Yep.
00:47:08
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Oh yeah, definitely. But that was a nice thing is that there's so many bars there. it kind of absorbed all the sailors. And I think girls came in from, you know, from the the farms.
00:47:15
Federico / DC1 Del
Yes.
00:47:18
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, they did. They did, because I remember opening that before I was on the Hewitt,
00:47:25
Federico / DC1 Del
Thailand, Patia Beach and Phuket, some of those bars, when you got there early, it was scary. Because I'd opened up the door and there was like maybe five sailors in there and like 30 women.
00:47:33
Patrick Riley
Hmm.
00:47:38
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:47:38
Federico / DC1 Del
And each one of those five sailors had like five or six women on them And youtube when you open the door, they look at you like, help.
00:47:42
Patrick Riley
that
00:47:44
Federico / DC1 Del
They go like this and you like close the door and they come running at you. like, no, not ready for that yet.
00:47:50
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:47:51
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah, no, it was that was ah the only time Before independent steaming that i I shut the door and said, oh, no, no, no, no. That's just way too many women coming at you.
00:47:58
Patrick Riley
Right. Oh, this is great. Yeah, because I was 19 when I was there for the first time. And it was eye-opening.
00:48:05
Federico / DC1 Del
I was already 20. I turned 21 in A school. So by the time I started hitting all those ports, I was like 21, 22, 23, around there.
00:48:09
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:48:11
Federico / DC1 Del
That in the Sabae land. Yes.
00:48:13
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Oh, exactly. And I always remember the the girls, they always had their numbers on them. Yeah. You know like, oh yeah.
00:48:20
Federico / DC1 Del
that was in the subby land yes You go sit there and have a beer.
00:48:23
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:48:24
Federico / DC1 Del
They had the stadium seating behind the glass and you had your menu and you tell them you want number 35 and whatever, how many you want.
00:48:28
Patrick Riley
Uh huh.
00:48:31
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:48:32
Federico / DC1 Del
And then you tell them on the menu what you wanted them to do.
00:48:33
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:48:35
Federico / DC1 Del
And then when you were ready, they'd say, are you ready, sir?
00:48:36
Patrick Riley
Uh huh.
00:48:37
Federico / DC1 Del
You go to the elevator and they go give you your massage and whatever else you negotiated. it was funny.
00:48:43
Patrick Riley
Yep. Yep. Well, I think it was Caligula's the place I would always go to.
00:48:46
Federico / DC1 Del
Caligula's, yes.
00:48:48
Patrick Riley
Yeah. But all their name, all their numbers were 69. That was it.
00:48:52
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:48:52
Patrick Riley
So I was like, ah, I still have.
00:48:53
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah, that's what they did the freak shows.
00:48:55
Patrick Riley
yeah Well, that's another story, you know, and I think that might be a good segue.
00:48:58
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:48:59
Patrick Riley
i I'm looking at creating like an after show. Yes.
00:49:04
Federico / DC1 Del
Yes, we talked about that. And told you, because you got to separate those stories because they're intense.
00:49:06
Patrick Riley
Yes.
00:49:09
Patrick Riley
ah
00:49:10
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah,
00:49:10
Patrick Riley
Exactly, yeah because you were talking about the freak shows. I was like, well, maybe I might have been with one. But I mean, that that's a story for another time.
00:49:17
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah that's a whole, yeah, that's that's after dark.
00:49:18
Patrick Riley
We'll get to that one. That's a teaser. How about that? That's a teaser.
00:49:22
Federico / DC1 Del
Yes, yes.
00:49:22
Patrick Riley
I'm i'm working on the whole. This is only the second episode. I'll work on it. But um i next week, I'm trying to get a hold of one of my friends from the towers. um And I told him about that trip to Thailand and Hong Kong.
00:49:37
Patrick Riley
And he's like, put me down. I'm going. I'm going with you.
00:49:39
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah
00:49:40
Patrick Riley
was like, okay, perfect. So I'm like, all right, I'm just going there to do research and write.
00:49:41
Federico / DC1 Del
That's awesome.
00:49:46
Patrick Riley
But that's fine. I'll take you with me.
00:49:48
Federico / DC1 Del
No problem, yeah.
00:49:48
Patrick Riley
But I'm working on it. But yeah, him and I are are going to talk next week. I kind of just schedule it with him. But like I said, it's exciting talk to sailors and no one we're going to.
00:49:59
Patrick Riley
So looking at.
00:49:59
Federico / DC1 Del
This is good. This is really good. And a lot of the people are going to find it very therapeutic too.
00:50:05
Patrick Riley
Yeah, absolutely. So how long did you spend in the Navy?
00:50:09
Federico / DC1 Del
I did um eight and a half years active duty.
00:50:13
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:50:13
Federico / DC1 Del
I had to get out because my first wife was having complications with her pregnancy and she could, she was bedridden and they could, she had to move this injection from one thigh to the other every week.
00:50:22
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:50:27
Federico / DC1 Del
to keep her from going into labor. She could only get up to go the restroom, shower, and that's it.
00:50:32
Patrick Riley
Yep.
00:50:32
Federico / DC1 Del
And when I tried to negotiate an FTG position in Yokosuka that was counted for C duty, but it was short duty, the detailer wouldn't wouldn't give to me, even though I filled the billet. I was a DC-1. It was an E6 billet.
00:50:48
Federico / DC1 Del
And of course, my type, I'm FTG.
00:50:51
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:50:52
Federico / DC1 Del
And the asshole wouldn't give it to me. And all he kept offering me was a, an aircraft carrier out of Bremerton, Washington.
00:50:56
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:50:58
Federico / DC1 Del
and And so I had to get out because I couldn't leave her in that condition. So I got out for two weeks. I went back into the reserves and I got put on the USS Fredericks out of Pearl Harbor, a Gator freighter.
00:51:13
Federico / DC1 Del
So I was there for a couple of years and then I became, I joined a police department and I started running into issues with the admin, the YN1, on the ship wouldn't reschedule me when she was doing all kinds of crazy crap, even though the CEO was backing me.
00:51:29
Federico / DC1 Del
Of my unit, she kept pulling the the policies and procedures and he just looked at me like, I can't help you. i was like, no problem.
00:51:34
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:51:35
Federico / DC1 Del
So I walked away for like two years. And then I ran into to a Filipino guy.
00:51:45
Federico / DC1 Del
I don't know what his rate was, but he was an E6 at the reserve center. I went in just to get the ID card so I could keep access to the base. And he goes, DC1, you know, if I bring you back in, will you come in?
00:52:00
Federico / DC1 Del
I looked at him, I said, look, man, the Navy told me where to put it. I showed them where to put it. I got the letter, i can never reaffiliate.
00:52:05
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:52:09
Federico / DC1 Del
DC1, if I could do this, will you do it? I said, if you get me back in, I'll stay into route retirement.
00:52:16
Patrick Riley
ah
00:52:17
Federico / DC1 Del
I'll be in touch. Two weeks later, that man calls me up and he says, DC1, when you want to sign your paperwork. So get the fuck out of here. you You got me back. And he goes, I got all your rank back.
00:52:28
Federico / DC1 Del
I got everything. I just can't let you take the E7 exam this year. I was like don't give a shit about the E7 exam. I like, okay I'll come down and sign.
00:52:33
Patrick Riley
right
00:52:35
Federico / DC1 Del
And then he's like, OK, then. So I come down and and then he tells me, oh, where would you like to go? I said, I get choice of orders. He's like, yeah, what do you want to do?
00:52:48
Federico / DC1 Del
ah said I said, I want to stay in my camouflage. I don't want to go back to Dungarees. Okay, I'll put you with military police pro-harbors.
00:52:51
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:52:54
Federico / DC1 Del
Okay. I left. i went I don't know where I went, but then he called me up, and I said, what's up? He's like, I got a better place for you. How about Cunia? He goes, I can get you to Cunia. You can advance better. You got more control.
00:53:07
Federico / DC1 Del
Pro-harbors is just too big. i can give you pro-harbors if that's what you want.
00:53:09
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:53:11
Federico / DC1 Del
but He goes, I'm recommending Cunia. I said, I give a shit as long as I'm in camouflage. He's like, Cunia did. and i have job at kdia so i did a total of ah I did another two and a half years active duty after the 9-11.
00:53:24
Federico / DC1 Del
They put me back in with the military police.
00:53:25
Patrick Riley
ah
00:53:27
Federico / DC1 Del
I did two and a half years doing anti-terrorism for the base and a total of 24 years total.
00:53:34
Patrick Riley
Wow. Oh, that's awesome.
00:53:36
Federico / DC1 Del
yeah and Now that I got my 100%, now I got to start fighting for my retirement because Two of the, I have 24 years, I should have 21 years good, but they have me listed at 18 years, seven months good.
00:53:47
Patrick Riley
Uh-huh. Yeah.
00:53:52
Federico / DC1 Del
So two years, they didn't file my points for reservists, my two weeks training.
00:53:59
Patrick Riley
Oh, wow.
00:53:59
Federico / DC1 Del
And so I i found the points at one point few years back when I was fighting for my disability, bigger paycheck, of course. So now that I got my 100%, now i gotta go back, find those points again and fight for my retirement
00:54:05
Patrick Riley
Yep.
00:54:11
Federico / DC1 Del
i'm not leaving anything on the table. Screw them.
00:54:13
Patrick Riley
Absolutely.
00:54:14
Federico / DC1 Del
no
00:54:14
Patrick Riley
You can. Yeah, yeah. Well, because that's the nice thing. And like I said, then you can move the patio and live like a king off your disability.
00:54:22
Federico / DC1 Del
Exactly.
00:54:23
Patrick Riley
So that'd be nice.
00:54:23
Federico / DC1 Del
Exactly.
00:54:25
Patrick Riley
Yeah, I'm at 70% right now.
00:54:26
Federico / DC1 Del
Costa Rica, that was a place that people are going. Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt, but it just popped in my head.
00:54:28
Patrick Riley
Costa Rica. Oh, yeah.
00:54:30
Federico / DC1 Del
Costa Rica is where they're they're pushing for people, of retirees or VA, disabled veterans who go live because they even have all the infrastructure there.
00:54:35
Patrick Riley
There you go. Oh, really?
00:54:39
Federico / DC1 Del
the The hospitals, the clinics and everything.
00:54:42
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:54:43
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
00:54:43
Patrick Riley
All right. I'll have to do that because right now I'm at 70. I've got some other issues that I was trying to work on, but I'll get there.
00:54:47
Federico / DC1 Del
it took me ah It took me six years and four months to get my hundreds.
00:54:51
Patrick Riley
Yeah, yeah, that works. But um yeah, this has it's been great. oh but um So what did the Navy really do? Because after you retired, um and so you're working as an IT security analyst, is that right?
00:55:04
Patrick Riley
Or IT security engineer?
00:55:05
Federico / DC1 Del
i am and I am an information system security officer, basically cybersecurity for special programs that they do that are isolated, that are not connected to any network, and just to keep them hardened and and isolated and secure from anybody either putting something on there that shouldn't be or taking anything off that it shouldn't be.
00:55:25
Federico / DC1 Del
so
00:55:26
Patrick Riley
So how did the Navy help you get into that role? or Did that help at all? Or was it your military or not the military, but your military police background? What really helped you get into the information security?
00:55:38
Federico / DC1 Del
Well, what helped me was after being a cop and moving back to the to the mainland, Texas, i was ah I took night school at ITT and I got a two-year degree in network systems administration.
00:55:49
Patrick Riley
Hmm.
00:55:49
Federico / DC1 Del
As soon as I graduated with that, um oil and gas industry picked me up as a field service engineer, working with the seismismic but the seismic the software and computers that they use to to find um
00:56:06
Patrick Riley
mm-hmm sure
00:56:08
Federico / DC1 Del
oil and gas. And so they they were like, you know, computers, we can teach you everything else. and And that's pretty much what happened. So I did a lot of it t work, physical IT, running cables, splicing them, ah terminating them, configuring them, replacing hard drives, RAMs, and just everything and anything with them.
00:56:24
Patrick Riley
mm-hmm
00:56:29
Federico / DC1 Del
And then putting the software that the data or software engineers built for the programs through its paces And then they would send us off with the with the equipment for whatever company all over the world. And and you would set them up.
00:56:45
Federico / DC1 Del
And if they had any issues, you would fix it on the spot. And you would stay there anywhere from two months to three months. And I was sent to Norway with a program.
00:56:52
Patrick Riley
Oh, wow. Mm-hmm.
00:56:53
Federico / DC1 Del
And so I spent like two weeks on an oil platform and 30 days on a ship with the equipment that I had already worked on and and was there just in case they needed anything. If everything if something went wrong or broke,
00:57:05
Federico / DC1 Del
We were there to fix it. I wasn't there by myself. I had like another two field service engineers. And so that opened the door to the IT world. And then I did some some ah freelance stuff myself.
00:57:15
Federico / DC1 Del
People would hire me to simple shit. let me They didn't know how to take the computer out to box and set it up. So I would i would set up everything. I'd do all the up updates and get it running. So all they had to do was get on there, log on and those things um or clean out their their computers still running slow whatever.
00:57:32
Federico / DC1 Del
And then i got into HVAC thinking I needed to get a job that was self-sufficient.
00:57:36
Patrick Riley
Okay.
00:57:39
Federico / DC1 Del
So the HVAC, I didn't have to work for anybody. I could work for myself and still make money. That was the idea. And so four years into it, I almost fell through a two-story building, a house through the ceiling.
00:57:53
Federico / DC1 Del
And when I went to catch myself, I ripped my shoulder tendon. And so I was on the But because I did that, I didn't fall between the beams, I fell across the beams. So that kept me from going through two stories.
00:58:06
Patrick Riley
Right.
00:58:06
Federico / DC1 Del
ah So messed up my arm, but I saved myself from going through two floors.
00:58:13
Federico / DC1 Del
And so while I was out on on workman's comp getting repaired, I decided to get back in the computer. So i was like, I'm not getting any younger. I'm not no spring chicken anymore. And I don't want be crawling in attics anymore.
00:58:24
Federico / DC1 Del
The money was great, but the time you spent getting it was ridiculous.
00:58:29
Patrick Riley
right
00:58:29
Federico / DC1 Del
So I was working 70, 80 hours week. It was stupid. ah Good money, but it was long hours.
00:58:34
Patrick Riley
yeah
00:58:35
Federico / DC1 Del
And so I jumped on the bandwagon to get the certification and security for computers. And then it just so happened that the guy that was stationed on his shore duty from the submarines with me at NAS Barber's Point, oh he's always been in computers, even when I worked with him. We were both E6s and we were together on NAS Barber's Point.
00:58:57
Federico / DC1 Del
He... um He stayed and in computers and was working as cybersecurity information systems manager.
Entering Cybersecurity: An Unexpected Offer
00:59:06
Federico / DC1 Del
ah He was a corporate manager for a company called Aerojet Rocketdyne.
00:59:11
Federico / DC1 Del
And they did the defense rockets and stuff.
00:59:11
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
00:59:14
Federico / DC1 Del
And so at one point, he would always come to Houston because his grandma lived there. So every time he came to Houston, he'd let me know. And before he left, we would have brunch on a Sunday. He'd drive back to Alabama.
00:59:27
Federico / DC1 Del
We'd always hook up. So we kept in touch and when I explained to him what I was doing because of what had happened to me, like a month later, he contacted me and said, I got a position if you're interested in cybersecurity, but it's in Arkansas.
00:59:41
Federico / DC1 Del
And I said, well, you know if they pay me, I will go to Arkansas, I have no problem.
00:59:45
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
00:59:46
Federico / DC1 Del
And so he asked me flat out, he goes, what what did what will it take for you to go to Arkansas? I said, well, understanding that i you know i don't have i have limited experience in cybersecurity,
00:59:57
Federico / DC1 Del
but my experiences in IT t and and and regular computers and stuff and the other stuff I can pick up.
01:00:03
Patrick Riley
Mm-hmm.
01:00:04
Federico / DC1 Del
I said, i you know I hate to look a a gift horse in the mouth, but for me to get up to so Arkansas, I'd have to be 85K a year. And he said, well, he says, don't be shy. Tell them what you want.
01:00:14
Federico / DC1 Del
They got money. i was like, okay. And I know he had something to do with it because before I could even tell them what I wanted, ay the recruiter contacted me. He said, we're ready to give you an offer. he goes, they came in at 85.5.
01:00:28
Federico / DC1 Del
And I didn't think about it at the time. I was like, okay, done, I'll sign. And I went in late, like couple months later, I thought about it. it this, because he knew a lot of people in the company. he'd been working for them for 20 years.
01:00:37
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
01:00:38
Federico / DC1 Del
I was like, yeah, he told him, just give him 500 more, he'll come. And so I did.
01:00:42
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
01:00:42
Federico / DC1 Del
And that that opened the door to cybersecurity for me in ah in a great way, because there was nobody there that had been taking care of that facet of what they needed for like three years.
01:00:52
Patrick Riley
Right.
01:00:54
Federico / DC1 Del
And so when I walked in, I was walking in with a blank canvas and, and, and, Unfortunately for me, and fortunately, i had the Google was my best friend.
01:01:03
Patrick Riley
Yep. yeahp
01:01:04
Federico / DC1 Del
ah Google, my friend that was in Alabama, and then the system senior system administrator that works out of LA office who would come down every three months. So I was picking brains left and right.
01:01:16
Federico / DC1 Del
I got them to get a good audit. They had either SAT, commendable, and superior. oh I got them to a commendable along with the the team. But because I was able to dig out information from the computers that was lost, I got them from a set to a commendable.
Corporate Changes and New Opportunities
01:01:34
Federico / DC1 Del
and And so then the time came where L3 Harris bought Arrowjet Rocketdyne. And it was getting ugly when a big corporation takes over another big corporation. It starts getting ugly. And I saw the writing on the wall, so I started applying different places.
01:01:50
Federico / DC1 Del
And To my surprise, even though saturated Texas, Florida, Virginia, and a couple other places, i only applied two places in Utah, Hill Air Force Base and the place I'm at now, Space Dynamics Laboratory.
01:02:06
Federico / DC1 Del
And of course, this is the place that calls me. And we negotiated.
01:02:08
Patrick Riley
ye
01:02:10
Federico / DC1 Del
And just when things were getting really stupid at the company, we agreed on a number and I ended up up here. And I don't regret a second of it. This company is amazing.
01:02:21
Patrick Riley
Oh, that's great.
01:02:21
Federico / DC1 Del
So that's how i ended up getting in cybersecurity and now I'm just building on it.
01:02:24
Patrick Riley
Perfect, perfect. So, you know, that, you know, in the Navy, you you were damage pat control and the military police.
Navy Influence on Career Skills
01:02:33
Patrick Riley
Does just thinking about the Navy itself, not just the training you received, did that set you up for success where you are today?
01:02:42
Federico / DC1 Del
I think it gave me a ah good foundation to set me up for success because being and a Navy engineer, um they don't take any excuse.
01:02:51
Patrick Riley
Yep.
01:02:54
Federico / DC1 Del
They just tell you, do it. And then you have to figure it out. I know a lot of times they throw some equipment at me that I've never seen before.
01:02:58
Patrick Riley
Yep.
01:03:03
Federico / DC1 Del
I even know what it did. And they'd say, Hey, Dale, you need to fix that.
01:03:05
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
01:03:07
Federico / DC1 Del
Or you're not getting off in Thailand or Hong Kong.
01:03:09
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
01:03:10
Federico / DC1 Del
And we're not going to be there in three days or something. I'm like, well, what is it? And then they throw a book at you, figure it out. What do you want me to fix it for you too? You're like,
01:03:18
Patrick Riley
yeah
01:03:18
Federico / DC1 Del
chip So there you are, you know, figuring, reading this tech manual and figuring it out as you're taking it apart, putting it together. And miraculously, that showed me that, you know, there there is no, I can't do it or no, it's I'll figure it out. and And I just had that it discussion with one of the managers at my company. Now we were talking and they have all these different programs coming up. And and he looked at me and most of the guys I work with now are its military in some form or another.
01:03:48
Federico / DC1 Del
either Air Force, Army, ah Marine. And this guy is ah an ex-officer from the Air Force. And he came into my office and he's like, hey, Rico, I'm thinking of making you the information system manager on this program.
Advancing to Information Systems Manager
01:04:03
Federico / DC1 Del
You think you're up for it? I just looked and said, do you need me to do it? And he's like, yeah, I said, done.
01:04:10
Patrick Riley
yeah
01:04:11
Federico / DC1 Del
you know He's like, but how do you feel? I said, I feel like I'm gonna take care of it Don't worry about it. And if I can't, I'll figure it out. Don't worry. What do you want me to do?
01:04:17
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
01:04:18
Federico / DC1 Del
And I'll do it. And he's like, I like that. OK, yeah, I'm going to make you the the acting information system managers. OK, just tell me when I need to start, what I need to sign and and what you want me to do. I'll take care of it. Don't worry about it.
01:04:31
Federico / DC1 Del
And the other guy that was an ex-Air Force, too, he said that he starts. They put him in my office like a month ago. He looks over. He starts laughing. he goes, that's how you do shit. I said, hey, that's that's the only way Navy engineers work.
01:04:40
Patrick Riley
Yeah.
01:04:42
Federico / DC1 Del
You know, just tell me what you need. I'll make it happen.
01:04:45
Patrick Riley
Yeah, yeah. And that's exactly it because i ran a software development team in Illinois from 2008 to 2012. And they would always give me, my team members would always give me a hard time because my go-to phrase was, we'll figure it out.
01:04:59
Patrick Riley
You know, whatever we're going to do we'll just figure it out.
01:04:59
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah.
01:05:01
Patrick Riley
And I still have that attitude today because we had to do that in the Navy.
01:05:01
Federico / DC1 Del
Exactly.
01:05:04
Patrick Riley
I was electronic warfare.
01:05:05
Federico / DC1 Del
Exactly.
01:05:06
Patrick Riley
You've got to figure it out. And, you know, you're you're out at sea.
01:05:08
Federico / DC1 Del
Exactly. there's there's no There's no I can't or no.
01:05:12
Patrick Riley
No, no, you just do it.
01:05:12
Federico / DC1 Del
You just do it. You find a way to do it. That's it.
01:05:16
Patrick Riley
Yeah, so hopefully people nowadays recognize that. and yeah And whenever I hire people, I do look for those people that came from the military, ah especially the Navy.
01:05:24
Federico / DC1 Del
you have to.
01:05:26
Patrick Riley
Yeah, and I always heard about that with the Air Force is that, you know, when they're repairing a plane, you get a 16 pull into the hangar.
01:05:26
Federico / DC1 Del
Yes.
01:05:34
Patrick Riley
You've got like... 20 different groups all working on that plane for different areas and of course when you have an fa 18 sitting on the midway well you might have two groups that are working on that plane or or three groups so a lot fewer no exactly exactly so cool man well hey we've gone over an hour and i really appreciate the time i mean this is uh incredible
01:05:47
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah, and you can't just go to this corner store and buy a part. You got to make it work. it's so there's That's all there's to it. Yeah. Yeah.
01:06:00
Federico / DC1 Del
No
Reflecting on the Discussion and Future Plans
01:06:01
Federico / DC1 Del
problem.
01:06:01
Patrick Riley
And I'll probably, what I'll do is I'll just work on the production. You know, I'll push all this up and it'll be up in a couple of days, but you know, like you said, thanks so much for your time. And you know, Hey, who knows?
01:06:12
Federico / DC1 Del
My pleasure.
01:06:13
Patrick Riley
I'll probably even do more of these. I mean, with you even, that's like a great conversation, you know, same thing last week was Rob Clements, uh, him and I, you we're good friends also on the Hewitt.
01:06:18
Federico / DC1 Del
Appreciate
01:06:23
Patrick Riley
So, um, I think I'll just keep building these out. And, um, I know I need to get ahold of some of the guys from the Mount Whitney because that was the East coast. ship I was on which was right exactly exactly one of the guys I know he was he was brand new to the ship on the Mount Whitney and he was just out of a school and was telling about all the stories on the the west coast and after I left he did go over to the west coast so I want to get a hold of him and um
01:06:33
Federico / DC1 Del
Oh, they're not worth it. All stories on the West Coast.
01:06:57
Federico / DC1 Del
You got the comparison there.
01:06:57
Patrick Riley
yeah Yeah. Now like, Hey, we did talk, what was the big difference and how, and it was something i did put in the book because that was the discussion we had when we were in the Bahamas where I was like, it was just, it wasn't the same.
01:07:09
Patrick Riley
The Palm was wasn't same was a port call as the Philippines.
01:07:12
Federico / DC1 Del
i can't imagine it being the same, but I'm sure it's pretty.
01:07:14
Patrick Riley
No, because you had, you had, it is nice, but you had all the cruise ships in. So you got a lot of cruise ships.
01:07:19
Federico / DC1 Del
oh yeah.
01:07:20
Patrick Riley
It's not the same as just being with a bunch of other sailors and, and, and Patia.
01:07:21
Federico / DC1 Del
Different.
01:07:26
Patrick Riley
So. I'll get to the patio stories later, but.
01:07:27
Federico / DC1 Del
Yeah. That's probably going to be the difference of like when you're in Patia compared to going to Phuket. Because Phuket was where all the the airline stewardesses were and the tourists.
01:07:33
Patrick Riley
Oh.
01:07:36
Patrick Riley
Oh, yeah.
01:07:37
Federico / DC1 Del
But Patia was just the Wild West.
01:07:39
Patrick Riley
Yeah. Oh, it was great. So cool, man. Hey, I'm going to end the podcast. But again, thanks so much for the time. And um yeah hang on for a couple minutes.
01:07:47
Federico / DC1 Del
Thank you. I appreciate the honor of being on you.
01:07:48
Patrick Riley
Let this thing process. Awesome, man.
01:07:50
Federico / DC1 Del
Thank you. Take care.
01:07:51
Patrick Riley
We'll talk, guys. right. Thanks. All right.