IT’S IN THE BLOOD

I spent 10 years as a naval officer.  During those 10 years, I had 7 different duty stations.  It seemed that I was destined to move all over the United States and experience firsthand that there really is a difference between southern California and northern California which, in turn, is a whole different world than Albany, NY.  I even managed to get stationed at one of the most remote places on earth…Diego Garcia, BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory).  

 Diego Garcia is in the middle of the Indian Ocean 472 miles south of the equator.  How isolated is it?  We used to say, “Diego Garcia isn’t the end of the earth but you can see if from here.” 

There is no “off base.”  The whole island is a Navy base leased from the British (who also have a small contingency of military members stationed there).  We worked together, played together and lived together 24/7, 365 days a year. 

If you didn’t get along with someone, you were in trouble because there was nowhere to escape.  Luckily it’s one of the most beautiful, pristine places on earth with anything and everything to do that doesn’t require snow.  J

However isolated and remote Diego Garcia is, it was a prime location for getting military flights to Singapore and Japan…which I did.  And because it’s in the middle of nowhere, flights have to stop several times before getting there.  As a result, I made a layover in Europe on my way there and got to visit Naples, Pompeii and Rome Italy, Lucern, Switzerland, and a handful of cities in northern Germany where I stayed with some German friends I had made as a student at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. 

WOW is the only word that can describe that experience.  In the 15 months I spent in the middle of the Indian Ocean, I did more traveling than I had ever done before and I vowed to never stop.