Work Related, Duty Section!

    Work life at NavSta Midway was basically just like having a job.  Report to work in the Morning, leave at quiting time.  Unless you were in that days "Duty Section" !  If it was your day to stand the duty, at quiting time you reported to the duty office. There were 3 major duty positions to be filled. Duty Storekeeper, Assistant Duty Storekeeper, and Duty Driver.  Duty SK was in charge, usually a third class but sometimes a Seaman.  They were responsible for keeping the duty log, and making sure any emergency issues were properly documented. At times that meant getting up in the middle of the night to go to the Airstation, and get paperwork signed for the Aircraft Refuelers when a Non-Midway flight refueled. at times commercial aircraft would be diverted to Midway because of weather or other problems at Wake or another atoll in the area.We liked this because commercial airlines meant pretty stewardess.
    Assistant SK is pretty basic, he helped the Duty SK, and when the Duty SK was not in the office he was in charge. Then there was Duty Driver, He made messenger runs to the communications  center, checked the security on the reefers and various out buildings. and also kept a log of the reefer temperatures. If a unit was too warm he would go get the Duty SK and they would investigate.  If necessary they would inform the Duty Section Leader, a First or Second Class SK.
    The duty driver was the only member of the duty section to have duties in the workday part of the day. He was the Messenger, Picked up the Mail if we had a Mail Call, and made coffee for the ladies in the office. Also if we had a VIP coming in on on the bi-weekly flight he was chauffeur. I was the Duty Driver the day a new Ensign reported to the Supply Department. I waited for the "Log Flight" to arrive at Midway International, and checked out all  the new Officers. I saw a young man with the supply oak leaf insignia, and approached him. I asked "Ensign Walischien?" (sp) and he said Yes!. I introduced my self as Storekeeper Seaman Apprentice Dickey at you service SIR!!"   He introduced me to his wife, and WOW She was a good lookin lady.and wearing a short skirt.  Keep in mind there were only dependents! NO natives. Well I was impressed lol. I loaded there luggage onto the 3/4 ton Flatbed Ford, and opened the passenger door for them. When I got into the truck, There were her legs right by the 4-speed. DDANG. I composed myself and drove them to their quarters and was real careful when I shifted.  I carried their luggage in and saluted smartly and left. As it turns out They and I became good friends. I was invited to their quarters on occasion to have dinner, and visit. He was in charge of my area, and she worked as a Secretary in the office. I still remember her as one of the nicest prettiest ladies I have ever met. He was a great officer, and coached our department Baseball team. at our first game he informed us that he had reserved the back room of the EM Club for our Victory party! I replied what if we lose? He replied then we will go drown our sorrows. We did a little of each during the season but always had a team party and good time after.
     As the duty section you had to stay overnight in the warehouse. we had a small cubicle by the office, and there was one single bed and 1 bunk bed. At one point my Friend Howie Collins, was usually Duty SK, I was Assistant, and a black man  named Sweat! was our duty driver. we kept this group together because we mad a good team, and we enjoyed each others friendship. Sweat was easily frightened. And Howie and I were always ready to scare him.  Howie was on the single rack, and I was on the lower bunk when Howie started telling scary stories. I waited until Sweat was totally engrossed in Howie's story, and slid my hand up the wall and just as Howie yelled, I goosed Sweat in the back. He wound up in bed with Howie LMAO. I thought he was going to kill me. Another time Howie deliberately left a light on in the front office, he asked Sweat to go turn it off. Well along the aisle going to the office were rows of shelves for supplies. I grabbed a bed sheet, and covered with it, and waited. As Sweat was walking back, Howie was talking to him to assure him, Howie said the secret word (LOL) and I jumped out covered with the sheet. I though he was going to have a heart attack.  We made the duty very fun.

Midway Island Supply Department.

    I was in transit for a few days, probably a week, and was assigned to work in the Disbursing Office. I typed information about a persons pay, deductions and basically worked on their pay records. At the end of the time working there, the DK1 in charge asked me if I wanted to switch from Storekeeper to Disbursing clerk, I politely declined as I did not want to sit at a desk all day. Well I reported to Supply, and was assigned to the Inventory Office. Yep there was my desk. It wasn't too bad because I was to spend a lot of time in the warehouses going over inventory. This was a new department in supply, and in charge was SK1 Rogelio Fernandez, from the Philippine Islands. I was his assistant, and for most of the time the only other person in the department. When staffing was good, I would have another SKSA to work with me, and when we were doing a big inventory there might be 2 or 3 others. Our "Office" was two partitions made from plywood in a corner of the warehouse.  forming kind of a U shape facing the Control Office where a good friend worked, Robert "Bob" McCoy from Cincinnati OHIO. He also worked for a SK1 Filipino. Both were extremely good Petty Officers and great to work for.  Our jobs kept Bob and I at the office late many a night, and they would tell us to sleep in the next morning. 
     My job was to inventory everything in the supply department according to Navy Procedure. Basically one section at a time according to Stock Numbers. LOL  After counting everything with in certain category, I would compare my count against the records. If I needed I would recount a certain item. After assuring my count was correct, I would issue a "Loss/Gain by inventory" and correct the records.  I would then prepare all paper work to be sent to our main office in Honolulu.  We had deadlines to meet so many nights I would work till midnight and at times later to meet them. Roger, always took this into consideration and gave me many afternoons off to compensate.
    Bob and I shared a room in the barracks, and one morning we had "Authorized Late Sleeper" status, but no one had told the duty Petty Officer. This day the Duty PO was an SK2 that Bob and I had been in more than one confrontation with.  He came over to the Barracks and burst into our room, he grabbed McCoy by the shoulder and started to shake him, I was awake as our other room mates had just left and was watching what was about to take place. In the military you are not allowed to touch another person if they are sleeping, if you do the sleeping person is not responsible for their reactions.
   Well as soon as he touched McCoy, Bob rolled over and punched him right in the face. He started screaming assault on a Petty Officer and I'm writing you up!!!. I told him, Hey go ahead I saw the whole thing and you grabbed him and he reacted!! He claimed Bob was awake when he grabbed him and I replied NO  he wasn't he was asleep.     This was one of those "That's My Story and I am sticking to it" Moments because I was the only witness. He was really mad when he found out we were authorized to miss muster that morning.Made him look real bad. He never worried about Bob and I missing Muster again though.
  As I look back, this was going to be the first of many times where I was going to be in a position where I was going to be given more authority than my status called for. I made SKSN, E-3 while I was on Midway, and had a few SKSA's and junior SKSN's work for me at various time. One day I had 2 men working an Inventory in the Warehouse when an SK3 from that area assigned them to a different job.  I of course Jumped his butt for moving my people and he started in about being a E-4 Third Class and out ranking me. I told him I didn't care those people were not working for him they were working for me. Well he called his Department Petty Office over to settle it. He was informed that since those men were assigned to my department he could not reassign them without my permission.  He hated that and it was not the last confrontation between us.
  I have quite a few stories from Midway and they will be told as I remember them not necessarily in order of how they happened.