Cool thread, very interesting read!
During my 20 years as a Hospital Corpsman I managed to stay out of sea/shore rotation and missed out on any ships deployments. My NEC 8486 - Urological Technologist kept me hospital based although I did have to rotate overseas, if you consider Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico and Pearl Harbor Hawaii overseas
While stationed at Naval Hospital Oakland in the late 80s and early 90s, I was attached to the USNS Mercy Hospital ship docked in Alameda. I trained and supplied her for deployment in Desert Shield, though as personnel wave 3 by chance I never deployed before her return home.
Side note, my active duty wife at the time was on a very long waiting list for elective surgery needed to conceive and once the first wave deployed she was moved way up on the list. My daughter is 30 now, born right there at Oakland Naval Hospital.
