[Gathnet] News from the Gathman Family

[altgrossvater]

Dear Gathnetters,

I have some good news for all of you.  I got a phone call from our son 
Jim who has been out to sea the last month on the USS Paul Hamilton. 
 They were docked at Pearl Harbor so the cell phone worked OK.  He tells 
me that he has been selected for CHIEF!!!!!!   We are all very happy for 
him as this as been a while in coming.  He need a little bit more of sea 
duty so I guess his present position on the Paul Hamiliton was all it 
needed.   This is an important step in his career in the Navy.  

He also told a story on how they train the new navigators to operate  
for situation where for  some reason the GPS system were not working.   
They returned home from the San Diego area to Pearl Harbor using only 
celestial navigation (for practice).   They were within 5 nautical miles 
of the actual position at the end of the trip, which is pretty good for 
that type navigation.  Jim was printing up special certificates for his 
guys and their accomplishments.  He invented the "Order of Captain 
Cook"  for this feat.   I remember trying to use the sextant when we 
visited him on the USS Lake Erie.   It was very hard for me  to get that 
kind of precision on a single observation.

love from a proud father.... der alt Grossvater