[Robert Coats]

I was 20 in 1980 when Regan was elected, and joined the Navy reserves as a hedge and to make a few bucks to help pay for college. It worked out well; I only was on active duty for eight months, and spend the rest of the six years going 1, sometimes 2 weekends a month to a base in New Orleans, plus two weeks during the summer (Spain, Portugal, Bermuda). I was an aircrewman aboard a P-3 Orion and tracked (acoustically) Soviet submarines in the Atlantic.

When I graduated in early '85, I was offered to an exit out of my final contract year if I would accept a commission, give up being an aircrew, and work as an intelligence officer on the ground. Oh, and commit to *SIX* more years of service. Sign here, Robert, and you're off to charm school.

With a new wife and no job prospects, it was tempting. But, I'd seen too many other officers come and go. I felt my opportunities in the civilian world would be better in the long term.

And, it worked out fine. When the Soviet Union fell a few years later, and all those subs got parked, the US Navy also parked hundreds of P-3 aircraft, and many of those pilots, flight officers, and ground-based officers were out of work, or faced with an undesirable transfer. I was happy with my time spent, and choices made.