all I remember is they put me in a car with one of my homeboys I was the driver and my homeboy was the passenger next you know 22 rifle comes into the car with this huge banana clip on it brother I never seen such a long big banana clip on a 22 rifle ever in my life at that point put it here by my lap and it was time for a mission all right my name is Raul Ramos I served in the United States Navy from 1998 to 2022 I retired as a E9 Master Chief I'm from Los Angeles California and I want to go back a little bit I want to start talking about my parents and how they came here and obviously they brought me into this world but both of my parents from Mexico um my mother's from Cala me Mexico my my father's from a halisco Mexico and they both came to California they didn't know each other initially uh but they came to chase that California Dream uh they found their way to Los Angeles California where they met they first met in the apartment building that they both lived in and uh next thing you know they hooked up and then they had my sister and I uh years down the way uh my sister and I she's a year apart from me and we grew up in Los Angeles single family home they were doing okay initially my mother and my father had had a job and you know they provided food and the things that we needed to survive in the inner city um but uh my father was a heavy drinker and um my earliest memories were uh seeing him and my mother at each other's throat you know um myself and my sister running around in diapers drinking those those bottles that of of beer or alcohol that we thought were empty but we just wanted to get that taste yeah just in the middle of them at each other's throat and those those were the early memories and then when uh I turned 5 years old uh that's when my father decided to leave you know there it was just too much for uh my mom and and him both and of course Us in the middle of it my sister and I so I remember when he left like it was yesterday I remember that my sister and I kind of followed him followed him outside to the front of our apartment where we walked into his car and and uh we didn't see him again for years down the way but when he left uh that's when I started uh heading in the wrong direction uh at the age of five so right outside of our apartment building there in Los Angeles a whole bunch of homeboys and home girls were hanging out there street gang members it was a gang infested neighborhood and as I would go outside I would kind of just be intrigued about what I saw there you know they were dressed down they had the music out out loud coming out the trunk at their cars they have some cool low rider cars tattoos dress crispy down you know panel 10 shirts with the button up at top open at the bottom uh so to me that was intriguing and um bring me in at times and you know kind of just like talk to me give me a little bit of their their their drink you know their little 40 o in their little brown bag and there's also times where they' like hey go to the liquor store man yeah here's some change or here's some dollars go bring us these Munchies whether it's chips or or chocolate bars or whatnot uh and so I had that sense of belonging with him once my father left my mother became a little bit more distant you know she was working trying to support my sister and I you know we no longer had that dual income so things started getting really hard at home and my mother did what she could um but I found myself alone a lot you know and uh we were hungry a lot too I remember that clearly so we grew up we grew up pretty poor uh but not so poor where um where we we couldn't eat you know uh again there was times that we we were hungry I remember walking to school in the morning hungry during the school day hungry walking home hungry so there was many of those days uh wasn't easy uh so as I started hanging out with that crowd outside of our apartment building um then I decided that I wanted to be like them so I started to walk like them I started to talk like them and then sure enough I I started to dress like them and in Elementary School uh gangs were becoming more and more active and then I was like man I really want to be a part of this so instead of doing my schoolwork in school I would turn over my little math problem paperwork or whatever it was my little homework and turn it over start tagging it man I was tagging it and doing like cursive writing block letters Old English and then I got pretty good at it and I was like man this is cool and you know I was a little wannabe gangster at that point that's what they called us back then you know you weren't officially part of the gang but you wanted to be part of the gang so again you walked the walk but you weren't part of it officially and at that time my we were still struggling we became um we ended up on welfare where we would get rent assistance uh we' get check a check a monthly check and then also a booklet of food stamps to help us with the food my mom was losing jobs here and there and then we ended up moving so I was still about that little wannabe gangster lifestyle but across the street there was two young men named uh Eddie and Larry I'll never forget him man uh Filipino Americans their father was American mother was Filipina I'll never forget them well anyways they were into skateboarding and I remember seeing them uh riding up and down the street on their skateboard and I was like man that's pretty cool and during that time I remember there's this movie that came out and I think it was called a thrasher or thrashing something of that sort and I was like man that's pretty cool and um I ended up talking to them I connected with them and they brought me into their house I met their father and I remember it was a tall white man and he had like this green green army like jacket on and I was like and he had this uh hat on and had like a couple ribbons on it and I had no idea what that was later on down the line I figured out that he was a military veteran when he was got to meet him he was pretty cool and then I met their mom man she was mean as hell or at least she had that face like she wanted to whoop my ass for whatever reason uh but she warmed up to me later they were really cool and what I remember from Larry Edy's father also is uh his garage he had like a whole table setup of GI Joe figurines like the figures and that was one of my favorite cartoons man and uh he brought me in there and showed me all the little GI Jo's I thought it was pretty dope pretty cool uh anyhow uh we couldn't afford a I couldn't afford a skateboard at the time so they had an extra skateboard and they hooked me up with one and we're like hey they're like hey man here you go I was like okay appreciate it thank you next thing you know we're skating throughout the city man skateboarding so I was distracted from that gang life for a little bit I was like man this is pretty cool I still kind of dress like it TR you know I did still the graffiti stuff thought I was cool um but it distracted me a little bit you know we would get lost in the city we would go to schools across the cities uh into and then skateboard on The Yards it it was a good time man it was fun then next you know I'm I'm on roofs of houses and jumping off roofs and then ramps all kind of cool stuff man I was actually pretty good um and I was like in my mind I was like man I want to be a professional skater one day you know I would again remember seeing the commercials and that movie that inspired us and then they moved so Eddie and Larry ended up moving across the way a couple cities down the way and um I wanted to stay in connection with them so I would on the skateboard and and make my way over there man and I tell you that was a struggle too man I remember one time I was skating over there couple gang bangers roll up on me talking about give me your skateboard and man I'll never forget how quick I was man paddling that damn skateboard to get away and thankfully I did but it was a struggle getting over there and eventually they kind of went their way uh they did their thing and then we just stopped connecting so I went right back to the gang stuff right the little wannabe trying to be like in hanging out with him well at the age of 10 I started hanging around with these two guys uh my friend Jimmy he's doing great now uh shout shout out to Jimmy and my friend Josh at the time but they were both active gang members hardcore gang members at the time and uh they were white so to me they were part of a hardcore Hispanic street gang and there were two white guys and to me it didn't make sense but I was like man but I watched how they move I watched watching what they were about and they were pretty hardcore they were down for the business and eventually I found my way over to South centrol a where they were from in the Florence District where the Florence gang belongs and uh we found our way to a street known as 58th Street cross street WIS Compton in South Central Los Angeles I was 10 years old started to hang out with them and next you know I became a part of them at the age of 11 so I got jumped into the game I got the gang tattoos on my face on my body and I officially became a part of them this was during the 90s era when gangs were extremely active uh when it was the crack epidemic era one day uh we were at a a a hood party what we called Hood parties and called them Florence parties and this was on a Friday and I remember hanging out with my homeboy Jimmy and Josh at the time and I told him hey man I want to be part of the hood I want to get jumped in next do you know three of the homeboy surround me one of them super tall two of them short but kind of stocky one of the homeboy was getting ready to count 45 seconds so we're going to jump you in for 45 seconds we're going to beat you down for 45 seconds and you better take it like a man and at that time remember I'm a 11y old kid super skinny and man all I remember is you know I showed no fear you couldn't show any fear but I remember my heart beating like crazy man I felt like my heart was going to come out of my chest cuz I was nervous um but I was ready you know I was ready to be part of it and as soon as they said go man all I remember is one of my homeboys that was jumping me in connected right in between my eyes man caught me right in my nose and right away dazed me and next you know I'm on the floor getting pounded on getting kicked getting stomped uh eventually got my way up and started you know doing what I could to throw my my my blows in and get my licks in and uh next thing you know it's like 30 seconds and I felt like it was 30 minutes brother um and then the 45 seconds was up uh shirt was torn off shoes all messed up nose swollen and bleeding busted eye felt kind of Dazed but I was proud at the moment you know it was a proud moment for me and again I'm not trying to glamorize this but uh at that that time that was my mind said I was proud to be part of something uh that was to come for many years for the 45 seconds was what the policy was so to speak in the hood at the time so 30 seconds to get to be part of the actual gang and 15 seconds to be part of the click uh and the click is part of the gang and uh there's many different Clicks in the Florence District from the Florence gang life in South Central Los Angeles once I got jumped in and became an active member man we we describe that as a concrete jungle man in South Central Los Angeles where Only the Strong Survive and even the strong die there so it was like I said it was extremely active all of the time uh law enforcement was was not seen much at all during the 90s era and that neighborhood in the Florence neighborhood uh Los Angeles County Sheriff was responsible for patrolling that area but we didn't see them much and when they came around they came they only came around to see what we were up to and they left us alone for the most part in the early 90s um but there was a lot of shootings a lot of killings uh it was like a everyday thing uh drug slanging a lot of fights we call it the ghetto bird the helicopter in the air always you know every time you looked up there was what we call the ghetto bird always patrolling either chasing someone down looking for somebody hear gunshots everywhere you went um it was very very active when I became officially part of the gang U there were some written and Unwritten rules that I had to abide by not just me all of us uh first and foremost you had to be ready and willing to die for the gang at any any moment by by any means necessary right you were to show no fear right you should never show fear not just to the homies but anyone outside of the homies to the enemies or the opposition uh you were to walk around with a crispy goodlooking cholo uniform is what we call it right the nice crispy looking Cortez uh nice crispy creased Ben Davis you couldn't walk around with double creases cuz you get checked right um You had to have a crispy white T-shirt no you know what called it that bacon neck you can have walk around with a bacon neck stretched out neck had to be crispy and clean you had to have a clean shave bald head um you had to respect your elders you had to respect the neighborhood you weren to break into cars within the neighborhood and and terrorize the neighbors and Rob them for their goods uh respect kids uh a few more a few other things but uh there was definitely structure there was definitely leadership um and there was always someone at the helm uh making those orders and all we had to do is follow those orders Shut Up In Color I found myself in many SC scary situations growing up in the hood one of them I can speak on because uh actually one of my homeboys allowed me to talk about it in my book I'll never forget the moment like yesterday and we're hanging out on the Block in South crole in the hood uh I was actually talking to some girls in the car the car was pulled over here I was talking to some girls and a car roll up really slow behind us there's a whole bunch of us out there and normally we on we're on alert like we're always looking out and for whatever reason that night we just we weren't all I remember is looking and there was a truck coming and the truck literally like gazed my back and across the street um I had a couple homeboys that were shooting dice um and I was getting ready to go over there and shoot dice with them but we hear a gunshot and that gunshot hit one of my homeboys that was shooting the dice shot him in his back and uh I'll never forget the scream yelling that I heard from him and his main concern was his new newborn baby at the time and he was screaming for his son my son my son man and we all started freaking out and um it was a scary moment for sure you know for the homeboy for his family and just to hear him uh scream for his son the way he did I'll never forget it so just after I got jumped into the gang it was test time you know they wanted to test me to see if I was down for the cause if I was down for the hood but all I remember is they put me in a car with one of my homeboy I was the driver and my homeboy was the passenger next you know 22 rifle comes into the car with this huge banana clip on it brother I never seen such a long big banana clip on a 22 rifle ever in my life at that point so it comes into the car and they put it here by my lap and it was time for a mission there was a car behind us and we were all going to head over across the tracks to go say hello you know to the opposition to to the enemies so to speak and all I remember is I looked over to the right side to my homeboy and he was kind of like scared like you could see he was he had this fear in his heart and his eyes and in my mind I was like man this guy's a punk like he's scared what's he scared about um so I I grabbed the gun and I put it next to him and he's like man get that [ __ ] away from me and I was like man what's up man he's like N I just got out of jail my probation or parole one of those either probation or parole and he just started making all these excuses and um but I was ready at that time that was my mindset I was ready to do what it took uh to let the homies know that I was down down for the hood and I was willing to do everything and anything even risk my own life that was my mindset nothing that I'm proud of but that's the real you know and then my homeboy comes over he had a police scanner he's like nah man the cops are too hot over there and uh he goes we'll live to see another day uh so it didn't happen I said we stood put there they took the gun away and and that was that man there's so many things that inspired me to join the military uh the number one reason was my daughter so when my daughter was born I was 18 years old and my daughter was born a premature baby she weighed in at 2 lb and 6 S as when she was born she can fit in my hand and uh we considered her a miracle baby she wasn't supposed to live she was in a hospital for about three months and thank goodness you made it but at that time when all that was happening a whole bunch of stuff was happening in the hood too a lot of Home boys getting shot killed paralyzed going to jail and I was like man I got to do something for this little girl that I brought into this world uh and give her everything that I didn't have when I was growing up and I wanted to be a real man and a real Gangster and provide for her and give her everything she needed and um and at that time I was like man I got to do something so that mind or my mind started spinning I was like what am I going to do what am I going to do well anyways that that happened a little bit time passed and I remember seeing a commercial and it was a military commercial and it was a commercial of United States Marine man that dude looked cool man he had big old gun you know the the uniform looking sharp and I was like man that's what sparked the the thought of my mind that maybe I should join a military and at that time I didn't know anything about the military I didn't know anyone in the military I didn't know about the ranks I didn't know anything whatsoever and I didn't tell anyone that that thought was in my mind I didn't want anyone to kind of doubt me or say anything to me or to like kind of deter me from going in that route um so at the age of 20 still still an active gu gang member my daughter was 2 years old at the time I go to the recruiting station in Los Angeles and I show up to the recruiting office squared away Marine comes up to me and I told him hey this is my story trying to change my life just had a daughter trying to do good and he noticed the gang tattoos that I had on my face and on my body dressed Down Like A Cholo he's like man we can't help you he's like go on next door the Navy will help you out and I was like all right thanks for your time walk next door and give that recruit the same story that I gave to the Marines and I'll never forget him man uh Mr Lazo he sat me down young Latino dc2 he's a E5 at the time he heard my story out and he goes all right man let's see what we can do for you filled out all the paperwork my neighborhood and my homeboys they actually respected the fact that I left the hood and made it out of the hood to join the Navy because not many have that opportunity uh especially back then in the80s and '90s a lot of the homeboy had a like major felonies under their belt uh you know a lot of them had tattoos all over their face some of them strung out on drugs so a lot of the homeboys wanted to get out and make it out and be successful in life and leave that life behind but they couldn't so since I started with them at a very young age I became part of that family and they respected the fact that I did what I had to do in the hood uh and then my my daughter was born and that situation happened and that I got out of there so they respected the fact to this day I still keep in contact with a lot of my homeboys that been there and done that that were there during that time and I even talked to the new generation but the new generation man I try to talk to him and it goes in one year and comes out the other but that's okay with me I'm going to at least give it a shot you know uh we made it happen man next you know I'm at MEPS you know for our non non-military folks that's where we basically get processed and I'm at man and I'm doing that little duck walk you know I don't know if they do it anymore but back then you did a little duck walk where you're basically in your draws I was in my boxers take your shirt off it pretty much naked so I'm doing the duck walk as I'm doing that you see Personnel back there annotating all those tattoos that I had on my back got a huge one on my back that's still there on my body on my face so they pull me aside they're like hey you need to see the commanding officer here for a waiver and I was like okay what is a waiver I had no idea what a waiver was and they're like oh well you you need higher permission you need permission from higher authority to join the Navy because of your gang related tattoos uh and I was like okay so I remember uh they took me upstairs they're like hey make sure you stand out attention outside of this door and I'm like I didn't know what attention was they're like just stand squared away and I immediately went into the little cholo like kind of lean back a little bit T them my head back they're like no no no no they squared me away hey your hands go here your face goes here straighten up your head like man before you go in there you go in there respectfully I will do no worries go in there and talk to the commanding officer at MEPS I walk in there lady in a nice military uniform sat me down heard me out heard my story she had a very thick country accent and uh she was like man what's all this gang stuff that you're talking about like I I don't get it I don't understand it what's all these tattoos what's this all about and I try to explain it to her more and more and then that's when she goes I'm going to give you a chance I'm going to give you an opportunity do not disappoint me and I said ma'am I promise you I won't and what's cool about that once she signed that waiver and allowed me to join the United States navies I found her later on in my career in 2008 so it was about 10 years later she was a retired Captain she was working as a civilian at the naval post graduate school in montere California I showed up in my chief uniform because that year I was promoted to Chief and she recognized me right away you know uh the hug you know the the the tears started coming down the joy and I told her I told you I wouldn't disappoint you and thank you for the opportunity no doubt in my mind that that opportunity saved my life and has done so much for my family and for me to this day that I truly truly appreciate so now my goal is to find her again now that I made master Chief I retired as a mass Chief and again the Navy has done so much for me that I can't even begin to to speak on and and and just thank her once again for that opportunity so when I joined the Navy I didn't get to pick my job I didn't score too high on the ASVAB and to be honest with you I don't even think I passed it man but they made it work I think the minimum requirement at that time was like 33 or 31 if I'm not mistaken I think I scored a bare minimum but again I don't I don't think I passed but anyhow got through that and I'll never forget that day too that I took the ASVAB because my recruiter and shout out to my recruiter again man so my daughter again was 2 years old at the time and no one could hold my daughter without her screaming and crying she just wouldn't go on anyone's arms and during that time that I took the ASVAB the recruiter not happily or willingly but he was holding my daughter out there the whole time I think I think it took about a good hour if I'm not mistaken maybe a little bit more but he help her out there um and I came out there and I was all worried it was all on my mind and and she was fine so I was grateful for that and I remember that day clearly and again I'm thankful for my recruit and and shout out to him for making that happen uh but I didn't score very well so I didn't get to choose my job so at the time they had this program called undesignated Airmen I think now in the Navy is called um apack uh apack program I joined the Navy as an undes undesignated Airman and in the aviation field which meant that they're going to put me wherever the na Navy needed me on whatever ship they needed me to go in the aviation Department known as the air department for me Navy boot camp man was was fun for me the transition from street gang life to boot camp and Military to me I always like to describe that as a easy transition and a difficult transition I felt like I was ahead of the game and I'm going to go to the easy trans transtion first the easy transition was in the streets in the hood as I mentioned earlier we had structure we had leadership we had discipline you know you had to have a squared away looking cholo uniform well in boot camp I found out that you needed that exact same thing and we had to recognize all that structure leadership discipline your uniform had to be crispy man I was already ahead of the game on the ironing game you know I had everyone lined up in boot camp Hey show me how to crease my pants cuz none of them even ever picked up a iron ever in life I was ironing my Ben Davis shirts at or my Ben Davis pants at the age of 10 11 years old I had that advantage that was the easy part of the transition the difficult part of boot camp was the mindset change the mindset change from Hood life to Navy boot camp it was difficult for me when someone was in my face and screaming and yelling at me without me retaliating so I had to BMP you know I had to bite my tongue many times over so that wasn't easy at all and that was very difficult and it took it didn't happen overnight where you change from gang member to you know Navy boot camp it it just wasn't easy it took time right away you know we did a lot of running in boot camp and I hurt my foot immediately I wasn't used to running the only running I was doing in the hood was from the police you know so uh I'm not proud of that but that's the truth uh when I got to boot camp like I said we did a lot of running everywhere we went we were running and next you know I felt like something snapped on the top of my foot and I was one of those that man I didn't want to tell anyone I didn't want to go to Medical because I knew if I went to Medical they were going to set me back and I didn't want any setbacks and uh I made it through that whole boot camp with my foot like that at the end of boot boot camp I found out I had a stress fracture in my foot boot camp uh overall like I said it was fun I met a lot of great people from all walks of life man my bunky man he's stunk though man I I had to have a lot of talks with him I could not stand waking up every morning and man it's it it didn't smell Pleasant brother and I had to have many talks with them and it seems like his friends didn't like me either because of that so I had a little bit of animosity towards a couple of the sailors and they had the same towards me but I got through it uh but it was a great experience overall the feeling when I graduated boot camp was man it's it's hard to describe I felt very very proud you know I looked over and a lot of the uh my Shipmates were were crying I wasn't crying but I felt like inside I was uh because of I was just proud you know that I've come this far and that I can be done um so it felt great man I was very proud for sure I'll never forget so I got to the ship my first ship was the mighty warship USS nits and it was stationed in Newport New Virginia at the time I'll never forget getting off the airport getting off the plane at the airport I was welcomed there by the duty driver from the ship he was cool you know he he was helped me out asked me if I needed anything drove me to the ship and um parked and I'll never forget seeing how big the ship was so I've been stationed on aircraft carries my whole career and I've never seen an aircraft car in person so I remember as we were walking down the pier and this was in the middle of winter it was cold as hell I never felt that cold either that day I'll never forget that also uh I think it was below zero and with the wind chill off the water it was freezing but I'll never forget the just the scene of that huge ship that we were walking up to got onto the ship uh pleasant experience thank goodness uh got to meet and greets and people within my department which was known as the air department on aircraft carrier is is uh known as the largest department at least during my time anywhere from 600 to to 800 Sailors and I got to meet the master chief uh there on the mighty warship nit air department and there was a couple of us that just checked in so it wasn't just me and I remember that the master chief asked everyone in that room all right hey so what divisions do you want to work in and everyone right away was like oh V1 division V3 division V4 division V5 and me I had no idea what any of that meant and I I was like V2 Division and everyone started laughing at me and I couldn't figure out why everyone was laughing at me well come to find out I was assigned to the V2 division in air department and V2 division is known as the primary division on the aircraft carrier primary Mission division V2 is responsible for aircraft launch and Recovery equipment they operate and maintain that equipment which consist of catapults and arresting gear so I was assigned to V2 arresting gear had no idea what I was going to do had no idea who I was going to meet but I tell you they put me to work immediately uh so the ship was in the shipyard period at the time uh the ship was gutted uh because they were doing a major overhaul and uh so they put me in there with a needle gun and a grinder immediately so I started grinding away and sanding and uh I'll never forget that was a all day thing and it and it kept on one story that I do remember uh not too long after I checked in that always stuck with me as well is uh this this sailor was on restriction so he was in trouble for whatever reason he was on restriction and to go and smoke while you're on restriction you had to have someone escort you off the ship to go to the Smoking Pit to have your cigarette and then come back on the ship well this day this restricted guy decided that he wanted to smoke on the ship so he got his buddy him and his buddy went into a compartment that was right below our main compartment where we hung out V2 arresting gear and it was a birthing area and in that birthing area we still get it out and there was a big hole in the bulkhead the wall there so what they did was they went into that hole and this is very high up on the ship by the way it's right below the flight deck level they went into this hole in this bulkhead in this wall and it was super dark in there what they didn't know was if they took a step too far that they were going to fall and they were going to fall pretty hard so one of them decided to take a hit of that cigarette take a step too far and next you know he makes his way all the way down to the bottom of the ship via a ventilation shaft so that's and that's a that's a pretty far fall it's pretty high um any anyways I remember him screaming for his life and and you know the ship was just it was chaos it was crazy they were trying to figure out how they were going to get him out of there so hours later they managed to cut him out and they get him in the ambulance and he passes away in the in the ambulance so uh my condolences to his family and his loved ones but that was an early memory of being in that Shipyard and I'll never forget those those screams man it was it was wild and then a couple weeks later I walked down into that space right below our space where that happened and the bulkhead was still wide open so that kind of it was nuts so I had my challenges uh as I went on my first deployment on a ship and the first problem was uh that I was walking through the mck where we eat and there's a small crowd over there I kind of look over and it's a young crowd of Latinos Hispanics and I was giving that mad dog you know that look like who's this fool you know and it brought me back to the hood a little bit right started bringing the hood out of me a little bit so right back I gave it I gave it right back to him right I gave that mad dog back as soon as I come around and get my drink one of those guys comes up to me and ask me where I'm from and I'm like I'm in shock you know we're in the middle of the ocean on the Navy warship and the guy is asking me what gang I'm from you know so I thought okay well the gangster is going to come out of me the old me and I'm going to tell them where I'm from and that's exactly what I did so we started pushing each other back back and forth and you know that was it nothing much came from that but shipboard life I'm here to tell you it's not pleasant all right but I came in with the Positive mindset and that's what helped me get through all those unpleasant times on the ship living in in close quarters that's not pleasant at all for example I was in a birthing where we had 220 Sailors at the time uh maybe two bathrooms or two heads is what we call them that worked maybe one shower that worked you know um we have six in such a small quarter like it it was it's not pleasant right and you hurry up and wait for everything right um you wait for chow you know you wait for medical uh you wait to run you ready to work out you you wait for everything so you got to hurry up and wait you have to have a lot of patience it's it's not pleasant uh but I've always had that positive mindset that life could be a lot lot worse for me specifically because I could have easily been dead or in jail so IAL I had that selft talk and said you know what this is my jail time right now and I'm okay with that i' rather be here than way worse off so there was a lot of unpleasant moments on the ship shipboard easy shipboard life is not easy for most you obviously some have better than other lives on the ship as each job is different each rank is different uh but starting off at a very very low rank it it wasn't easy at all all so on my first tour I was blessed to make the rank of E5 and as I got promoted and made made my way up into the ranks you know obviously I was responsible for Sailors obviously we went to Port visits we had a lot of fun in Port visits uh Thailand always stuck out to me Thailand was a lot of fun it was a lot of fun for our Sailors and um I'll never forget this one uh we always have those briefs hey watch where you're going don't go into this bar don't go into that bar this is off limits that's off limits and of course that's where the sailors are going to go so we told the sailors do not go to these bars that shoot objects at you from their bodies and try to catch him in your mouth because you're probably going to catch something some sort of disease or some sort of infection right and sure enough right there's always that one uh so one sailor decided to go to one of those bars and he caught a golf ball that shot from someone's body he caught it in his mouth uh and then his Liberty was over makes it back to the ship and his face man was so swollen he looked like the Elephant Man eyes closed up mouth closed up super puffy and [ __ ] it was all bad man and uh we had to quarantine that sailor in the barracks man I uh excuse me not in the barracks in the birthing I'll never forget man one of the most difficult deployments was uh the co deployment it was it was difficult at all levels for everyone from the most Junior sailor to the most senior sailor we were very well restricted you know we had to walk around with the mask on her face everywhere we went um we had to limit ourselves as far as being in a space or in the location how many people could be in the space at one time and now was a challenge in itself because you know we live in close quarters um and then we were restricted as to where we could pull in so the poor visits were non-existent so we were out there at Sea and taking care of the mission and not getting any breaks you we couldn't go to the gym that was off limits you know and that was an escapegoat for many right that helped with mental health so that was taken from us we couldn't even get our haircut you know because that was unsanitary and we could uh spread that but it was very very challenging um for many uh I remember even seeing all senior people come and knock on my door like hey I just need to talk like I can't take this it was rough it was rough thank goodness uh the leader ship um did what they had to do to make life a little bit more comfortable with what we had and finally we were able to pull into a port not get out in town but we we were able to pull into a port and have you know some food and listen to some music and a couple drinks sharing there and um but that that deployment was very different and very difficult overall due to co to me the most challenging parts to my Navy career uh was just going away you would think that going away from your love loved ones got easier every time you left but to me it it got more difficult everything else to me is like okay I've been I've I've had a hard life like nothing can top what I've been through in my previous life uh so anything that they throw on me that I I think is hard it's really not but the hard part was again going away from my loved ones it just it never got easier brother communication when I first joined in my early years um in the '90s and early 2000s I think that's just when we started to transition into email but man that email was I mean the internet was slow it was it was pretty bad but most of it was snail mail so that's how we communicated from there was times where we wouldn't get mail for weeks and then the emails everyone and their mom's in line to shoot that email off for example my division consisted of 220 Sailors that were trying to use one or two computers so that was a challenge and then uh at that time also I believe we were getting those phones where you can use phone cards to call home and the lines were wrapping all the way around the ship that was another challenge so communication was not easy uh again another thing that wasn't pleasant going back to the hurry up and wait for something you know so as a Navy leader I've dealt with countless Sailors while on deployment who received that Dear John Letter letter so to speak that uh their spouse or their boyfriend or their girlfriend picked up and left or they moved down with another boyfriend another girlfriend another husband or wife or whatnot and man that's that's hard man um it was always hard to see sailors go through that and for me it was just about having an open door policy right and being approachable and having a little bit of empathy is is key to help and support that sailor right sometimes they just want to be heard man you know um sometimes they just want to be treated like people and not just a sailor a number so so I felt like I was pretty good at that you know um and I can relate to a lot of those things so I can speak on a lot of those things so there was many times where I found a lot of sailors knocking at my door to come talk to me because they knew about my story and they knew what I've been through and and uh that I've been there and done that and they just wanted to talk man and I've always made it a point to be approachable right to put those those anchors down with those two stars down that Master Chief put that aside and just talk to him like a man or a man to a woman woman you know whatever the case was and just have that conversation some were more extreme than others so there was times where we would have to you know make sure that they were closely watched because of fear that maybe they would jump off the side of the ship or they would do something to hurt themselves or hurt someone else so we closely closely watch them in the more extreme cases but the not so extreme cases you know we just constantly have that open door policy let's talk and empathy and understanding what they're going through and those feelings and sharing that and having those conversations was key so there was a situation when I did find myself in trouble in the Navy so I was a master chief at the time and I had a Navy chief that was working with me working under me and he wasn't taking care of business he wasn't taking care of the business that he was supposed to take care of as a Navy Chief so we had a we had a conversation and uh deployment was coming up and he came to me and said hey I want to stay home I want to stay back I don't want to go on deployment so on and so forth he ended up going on deployment he wasn't happy about that he wasn't happy with me and then he started making stuff up that me and my guys our guys in air Department all the senior Chiefs and the Chiefs and myself were hazing him so he went to higher authority saying hey they're hazing me they're cutting holes in my uniform you know they're painting pictures vgar pictures and then putting it on my wall they trashing my rack where he sleeps at he was making all these ACC ation I know what his motive was his motive was to get off that ship and get flown home but me I I'll tell you I was I was really really thrown back by that because I'm No Bully and everyone and anyone that knows me I'm No Bully I don't like bullies and I used to beat up bullies but I did nothing but support that guy from day one as best as I could but anyhow so I found myself being called to a room and there was an officer there and he had a piece of paper there and he sat me down and he says Hey Master Chief I'm going to read you your rights due to an investigation uh regarding hazing and some other things and I kind of looked at I'm like is this a joke I couldn't believe it right and uh he so he started going into the story so on and so forth and I told you man if me or any one of my guys in air Department Haze that guy go ahead and take my anchors right now two stars take it that didn't happen and that will never happen under my watch anyhow that all played out it came back un substantiated once they were finished with that uh investigation so they put they assigned another investigator and that also came back unsubstantiated and that was that so I really didn't get in trouble but I felt like I was uh and I didn't like it I'm actually a golden shellback so I did uh cross the international uh line and I am a golden shell back so yes that was a lot of fun back then when I went through it uh there was a little bit more hazing going on you know so yeah I got to eat a lot of funky stuff smell a lot of funky stuff swimming a lot of funky stuff um you know sing a lot of funny songs uh wear all kinds of funny uniforms uh so yeah it it was fun it was a good time but there was some that were pushing the limit too uh that I didn't like and I had to bite my tongue and shut up in color so there was a couple times that I want to punch somebody in the face but I didn't you know it didn't happen uh but overall it was fun and it was a great experience it's just a tradition that we have once you cross uh the international line is you know was tradition and we have all kinds of reindeer games and uh it's all fun good stuff man one thing that I appreciate about my Navy career and my job and the jobs that everyone around me was doing uh in the Navy on that flight deck was just the hard work the tenacity the the relentlessness um just man taking care of business every day you know my day consisted of and my early career is we get our equipment ready our catapults and wrestling gear equipment ready at an early time in the morning next thing you know we're up on that flight deck and we're launching and recovering aircraft up to 20 hours a day with minimum breaks minimum food to eat in 120° weather and for 9 10 11 months out of time so man salute to everyone that made all that happen on that flight deck nothing but respect and people from all walks of life man I really really appreciate all of that during my career um I'd like to describe these moments as Bittersweet moments up on that flight deck of that aircraft carrier you know I've had the privilege and honor to serve uh on several combat deployments oif OE and I'll tell you man when that c that aircraft that bird lines up on that catapult full of bombs we know what's about to happen right once that aircraft takes off the sweet moment is we know we're going to provide overhead support for our brothers and sisters at Arms down on the on the ground taking care of business right but we also know that those bombs are going to be dropped on the enemy right we call that Warheads on foreheads right so to speak and when that aircraft comes back empty uh we know that's exactly what happened right and that's what we do and that's what we do every day while we're out there the bitter moment is that yeah we took some lives and maybe we took some innocent lives too um and I like to paint that picture to the young Sailors as I moved up into ranks is you're not out here because we want to make it difficult for you or life difficult for you or because we want you to sweep this deck or we want you to mop this deck no we're out here for the bigger picture the primary mission of this aircraft carrier is to launch and recover aircraft so we can drop bombs on the enemies and support our ground troops that are fighting down there every day for the freedom of the people of the United States there were times where some of us mostly higher ranks were able to watch the aftermath of that aircraft launching off that catapult dropping the bombs on the enemy but not many got that opportunity I had an opportunity to watch a few of those videos man it was a again Bittersweet moment moment you know it was like wow we took care of business we helped the ground troops down there on the ground and uh the bigger picture right uh the bigger picture is we're fighting for Freedom we call that launching um launching Freedom recovering Victory that's what we call that okay so now I'm at my 23e mark in the Navy and mentally I'm tired because I am on my second uh C Duty tour which means I did two sh back to back I'm tired man and it's time for sh Duty I'm ready to go to a base somewhere right and and maybe do some instructor Duty or something of that sort and I reached out to the detailer I get it I understand where the Navy wants us and where they need us we go I get that I've been playing this game for 23 years now at that point and but if you have anything in San Diego which is where I was at at my last command in San Diego California man please sign me up took a couple days he came he comes back and says all right hey we have an opportunity for you here uh in North Island Senior enlisted leader at the seir schoolhouse like man sign me up let's do it I mean I can literally see that location from the balcony of the building I was living in let's do it why I wanted to stay in San Diego specifically was because of my children at the time I think my son was about 12 going on 13 very critical age in his life and I wanted to make sure that I was close by um just in case he needed me for whatever reason and my daughter was going through some things at the time so I wanted to be close for the first time uh in my career I wanted to say hey I want to choose me this time so I can help my kids out and I get it right again I don't want to sound like oh me me me I get it everyone in the military has that situation U but there was an opportunity I get a phone call I think it was a week or two later and of course my heart dropped because I already knew it was the detailer and I already felt what they were going to tell me he goes well that job uh in North Ireland it's not going to happen for you uh we need you to go to Whidby Island Washington and I was like what at that time I already had talked to the master chief that was over there at North Island and that was ready to be relieved that was ready for me to go and take that job on like I was already communicating with them like yeah man I'm excited I'm getting ready to go over there and um when that came I was just like man I couldn't believe it I couldn't understand it because again I wasn't asking them to create a job for me I wasn't telling them hey I have to go there but the opportunity was there so let me take it it makes sense it makes more sense for me to go to this Schoolhouse and be a senior listed leader as a master chief then to go to Whidby Island in Washington where the Navy's got to pay money to send me out there right to do a job that an E6 is doing so I fought to andell to try to stay in San Diego um I had to make some phone calls knocked on some doors nothing but crickets reached out to a couple Master Chiefs out there in Tennessee is where they do all that business nothing in return emails well finally someone put a bug in my ear and said hey go ahead and fill out the survey go ahead and and speak your mind tell them about your situation this situation goes all the way up to the Admiral again I wrote this long message like hey I understand where the military needs us we go I get that but there's an opportunity here it makes more sense for me to go here in North Island versus Washington please let me have that opportunity and this is why um and I was like okay I can't wait for a reply so I got that reply and I was excited uh I'll never forget uh opened up my email in the CC line was the Admiral and all of his you know his little captains and everyone there his staff I was being addressed by a captain and he basically said in that email hey Master Chief congratulations on your accomplishments thus far in the Navy thank you for your service uh we need you to go to Whidby Island or put in your retirement paperwork man I tell you I was I was not happy about that again because I knew the opportunity was there for the taken and then come to find out after all that was said and done that job in North Island was gapped which means that wasn't filled like they lost that opportunity for someone to fill it it took some time for someone to get into that job the other job in Washington was also gapped so I felt like they lost someone that could have filled spot in North Island and could have gave back to the Navy right because I owe I owe the Navy they've done a lot for me I wanted to give six more years of my life to the Navy so I can complete 30 years so I think the fact that uh the empathy wasn't there caused me that opportunity and quite frankly I feel like I I could have given again more leadership and mentorship back to the Navy because they've done so much for me so then it was time to hurry up and get out and I was one of those guys in my 23 years at that time that never went to Medical something was hurting or something was wrong with me I never went to Medical so it was time to take care of my medical stuff and then I was like I looked at my medical record and it was razor sharp and everyone was like Master Chief why is your medical record like razor thin sharp it's like I never really went to Medical but there were so many things that I messed up on I being up on that flight dick on in them boots all day like messes you up and everything else right so I had to play catch up with that there was no time for a retirement ceremony which I wanted to do uh there's so many things I had to take care of in a small time frame to get out because I wasn't going to Washington I made that choice that I'm not going to go there I need to be with my kids this time time came I I retired and I'll never forget get the first day of retirement I woke up my alarm goes off and I remembered in my mind like why did I put an alarm I don't have nowhere to be and nowhere to go today and then I jump out of my bed quickly and I run to the shower and I'm in the shower like hurrying up like and I start thinking like why did I jump out of my bed and run so quickly to the shower and why am I hurrying up to take a shower and it was just like man I don't got nowhere to be nothing to do slow down you know living that life on that flight deck on those aircraft carriers you know you're going 110 miles an hour and then when that stops and comes to a stop it's like all right what I do you know so that's what the first day was like so the transition from the military world to the civilian world was a struggle at times for me uh there was times where there was absolutely nothing to do or so I thought right and I felt like I didn't have have a worth anymore like I didn't I didn't have a purpose anymore I found some healthy ways out and I started running I started running a little bit more I'm a runner I also had a lot of selft talk and said hey I was put on this Earth for a reason and my purpose is to give back to the youth I already gave 24 years of my life to the military to the Navy now it's time to give back to the youth as I said I was going to do so I pushed all that stuff to to the side you know those feelings of feeling you know like hey I'm nobody now and I said you know what now I'm going to start giving back so I got into gear I I went out to Inner City schools and programs and I had speaking engagements and I shared my story my story of comeback and resiliency and succeeding in the military with atrisk youth uh jenal Halls as well uh I wrote a book and I started promoting my book I started going on book tours so I stayed busy and those two years man flew by like that um so that helped me a lot um and of course making up for lost time with my loved ones the best I could so the name of my book is called essay to master he from Street gang life in South Central Los Angeles to US Navy Master Chief and it's my story it's my story of transformation change coming out of the street gang life in South Central Los Angeles and how all that happened and went down and then my transition from street gang life to Military and then what I'm doing today so lots of great stuff in that book a lot of cool pictures of me back then now uh in the military and I think there's a lot uh for everyone in that book my recommendation to any youth at risk youth specifically who's maybe already heading in the wrong direction or maybe thinking about heading in the wrong direction is think about your end game in life what is your end game going to be is it going to be two time in jail be part of a gang get strung out on drugs live a miserable life Behind Bars maybe do the rest of your life behind bars or stick to school get an education so it can open up doors for you in the future or maybe learn a trade or join the military and live a meaningful life what is it going to be for you and you got to go out and get it cuz no one's going to give it to you but the good thing about today is there's many resources many resources that will help you along the way on your journey back then when I was running the streets we didn't have those opportunities that they have today so I would tell those youngsters it seize those opportunities you got great programs in the inner cities you've got counselors you got teachers you've got mentors you've got education opportunities you've got trade opportunities you got opportunities to remove your gang tattoos for free so there's so many things that you can seize but you got to start with step one is wanting to change right you can't just say I'm going to change you got to want to change and then take action and I get it everyone has a different situation it's easier said than done but if I can do it if I can change and transform and join the military and be successful and have a meaningful life and provide for my family then so can you I tell them I'm no different than what you are right I didn't have any superpowers I wasn't Superman I wasn't educated right I had a little bit of Street smarts I had a lot of great people in my life in the military right that helped me along the way and I seized every opportunity that came my way and they can do the same if you're interested in my book my book essay to master he can be found on almost every in any platform it comes in a paperback format ebook format and also audiobook uh you can find it in places like Amazon uh book baby Barnes & Noble and audiobook form you can find it on Audible so you can literally go on Google type in the title and you'll find it and whichever format you you'd like thank you brother I appreciate you