How many of you remember the USN/USCG RM Rate? You know, those radio
operators that could work CW at 30 WPM, typing on a mill (manual
typewriter) drink coffee, and carry on a conversation with you at the
same time. I remember visiting the old USCG NMC Radio Station on the
top of San Bruno Mountain when based at San Francisco Intl Airport
before NMC moved to Pt. Reyes and seeing them in action. It was a
couple of years ago that the Coast Guard retired it's last CW key on
active duty. RM's were no longer required to know morse code. Now
the RM rate is phasing out completely. They haven't been called RM's
(Radiomen) for awhile, the new name is Telecommunications Specialist
but they still wore the Sparks on their arm like a RM. But now the
Sparks insignia is also being retired.
Here is a write up from an unofficial Coast Guard site:
Telecommunications Specialist "A" School Class 06-03 is the last class
to go through TC training at
Training Center Petaluma, CA. The Telecommunications Specialist rating
will soon be incorporated
into either the Information System Technician (IT) or Operations
System Specialist (OS) ratings.
Many of us remember the old Radioman (RM) rating - long known as
"Sparks". Not only are we
witnessing the passing of the TC rating but also the passing of the
"sparks" rating designator.
These men and women will be the last people to wear "sparks" on their
arm.
We will follow this class through their training period. Each week we
will post photos of their
progress.
You can see more at:
http://www.fredsplace.org/photo/tc/
--
__________________________________________________________________________
Alan Zack
Amateur Radio Station K6ACZ
Anaheim, Southern California, USA
Home of the World Series Winners ANGELS
Quality Engineer, The Boeing Company, Retired
Aviation Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, Retired
U.S. Coast Guard, Always Ready, Always There
Every hour, Every day, Around the Clock and Around the World
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