So one night I walked right off the gangplank
When I was in the Navy (Royal Australian Navy - RAN) in the 1980s I walked right off the fo'wd gangway one night and off the ship (a DDG air defence destroyer) onto my motorbike. I was AWOL for 4 months, although technically I was a deserter as I had never any intention of coming back.
While I was "jumpers" (jumped ship) I had to have a job to support myself - claiming the dole probably wasn't a good idea. Naturally the Navy stopped paying me. I took a gopher job with a construction company. They had one job on 'the Island' (Garden Island, Sydney), which is the main east coast Navy base if you didn't know and the scene for my scarpering off the DDG.
I drove straight up to the gates and the veggies (naval police) let me straight through. My real name was given at the gate before I arrived. 'Yes Mr M-----, Building E is ..." - "Its ok I know where building E is!".
After a time, I had another job, at an electronics company. Anyway it turns out that the receptionist was the girlfriend of my mortal enemy on board the ship. Well just this guy who is a dickhead and I didn't get along with him. Anyway, about a month later some plain clothes Naval Police turn up to the community radio station where I did a bit of volunteer work looking for me. It was the weekly meeting and we were upstairs at the time. Someone came up and said 'Theres two cops looking for you' and I took the bolt.
They caught me running down the corridor and arrested me. My friend nearly got arrested too because I demanded to see their ID and they wouldn't show it, and my friend grabbed me in a bear hug and asked for them to show their ID. After some threatening of arresting him for obstructing a commonwealth officer they relented and showed some ID and dragged me off to face martial punishment.
They took me back to the 'Island', processed me, and handed me back to my ship. Once I was on board the chief coxswain asked me if I had been back onto the island while I was gone. I, tentatively, said yes and told him about the gopher job. He was then right pleased with himself and said - with some admiration - that I had been seen by someone but people refused to believe the witnesses.
Anyway the coxswain wanted to give me my leave back until my charge was heard, on my promise I wouldn't run away again. Which I gave him. However next day I was transferred to HMAS Watson where I was thrown in the brig for the weekend and my summary charge was heard the next Monday by some officers I had never seen before. I explained my intention in going AWOL was so that I would be discharged. He sentenced me to 28 days 1MCE (1 Military Correction Establishment), Ingleburn.
After a month of the army drill (stupid army drill, navy drill is heaps better and the uniforms are sexier anyway) I told the psychologist if they didn't discharge me I'd keep running away until they did. On the day of my release I was sent to HMAS Penguin (at Balmoral) and paid out and discharged (a 'Snarler' - Services No Longer Required). I even got to keep most of my toolkit!
ABSMN V.Xray S12895x (retired)
victorxray December 23, 03 at 11:06 am (on mono.net)