Fair winds, old friends.

I'm thinking today about shipmates who are gone.

Mike. Steve. Mark.

I'm not a member of the World War Two generation whose whose sacrifices are honored daily at funerals and memorial services. I barely make it into the Social Security generation. But none of us are immortal. We all, eventually, go.

Phil, my barracks mate; gone. Bill, gone.

My commanding officers were older than me, so it's only natural that they go before I do. Commander Field. Lieutenant Commander Clemens. They're gone.

Some were young sailors who worked for me, kids that drove me crazy. Pitty-Pat, the Young Buck. They're gone.

Only a few decades ago, you might never hear of the loss of Jack or Pat. Today, the news is on your screen and in your eyeballs within seconds. Ricky is gone. And Thumper. And Ben, and Noonie, and Doug.

Seen with grand perspective, they were veterans, leaders, sailors, Marines, Americans who gave years of service to their country.But to me, they were people I worked with, worked for, played with, ate with in the chow hall, bitched with when we were passed over for promotions and drank with when we sewed on our new stripes.

Our lives are the results of the lessons we learn. I am fortunate that so many of my teachers wore gold anchors, silver bars, red hash marks and bell-bottom trousers.

Washington, D.C., Navy Yard Security, 1974.

In early 1974, set up an audition for the Navy music program. Since I lived in suburban Washington, D.C., I was told to report to the U.S. Navy Band at the Sail Loft in the Navy Yard.

The bus dropped me off in Southeast D.C., and I walked a few blocks to the Navy Yard. It was morning rush hour, and a Marine was standing outside the guard shack, busily saluting uniformed personnel and waving pedestrians and vehicles through the gate.

I walked up to him and told him I was going to the Navy Band.

"Are they expecting you?" he asked.

"Yes, "I have an appointment."

"Okay," he said. "This is Gate One. To get to the Sail Loft, you have to go to Gate Two."

I walked through Southeast Washington, D.C. to Gate Two.

A Marine was standing outside the guard shack, busily saluting uniformed personnel and waving pedestrians and vehicles through the gate.

I told him, "I have an appointment at the Navy Band. The guy at Gate One said I had to come here."

"Do you have a pass?" he asked.

"No."

"You can't get on base without a pass."

"Where do I get a pass?"

"Gate One," he said.

I walked through Southeast Washington, D.C. back to Gate One. The first Marine was saluting uniformed personnel and waving pedestrians and vehicles through the gate. I looked straight ahead, picked up my pace like I was in a hurry and strode through the gate, past the guard shack and all the way to the Sail Loft.

Rifle Company MUs: Navy Music's Champions

(WASHINGTON, DC) NavyLyresNews - The Bureau of Personnel has authorized a special designator for Navy Musicians who completed recruit training as members of regular rifle companies.

"Rifle Company musicians are a special breed," said RADM Vincent Tremont, Vice-chief of Training Systems Command. "They are the vital core of Navy music, the salty MUs who went through boot camp 'the hard way.'"

Recruit training commands traditionally form bands from volunteer recruits who, in exchange for playing at graduation ceremonies and occasional off-base functions, skate through boot camp, skipping drills, flitting from rehearsal to performance and marching in civilian parades.

"The new designator recognizes that boot camp is not a party;" says RADM Tremont. "It is an experience designed to test and train the Navy's future leaders. And the Navy MUs who have undergone training in regular rifle companies have proven to be the he-men, the she-women, the muscle of Navy music."

The new RCMU crossed-rifle insignia is worn beneath the lyre on the MU rating badge and identifies the bearer as a member of Navy music's elite.

Notable Rifle Company Musicians include Jack Dye, Frank Mullen and the legendary Rocky Palumbo.

Massive Cuts at Navy Band Mid-South.

This is not a joke.

The following text is copied verbatim from Navy Band Mid-South's Facebook Page:

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****IMPORTANT NOTICE TO OUR CUSTOMERS****

 Due to manpower reductions executed within our organization Navy Band Mid-South will no longer have the capability to provide the following:

-Parade Band
-Ceremonial Band
-Woodwind Ensemble

 Military ceremonial support will be provided by a Brass Quintet and restricted to indoor events.

We appreciate your patience as we transition to a smaller organization. If you have any questions, please contact band operations at (901) 874-5785 or nbms.ops@navy.mil.

It's called "dance band" for a reason...

Flute 1 and Flute 2

Angelina Dowell, of the Fleet Forces Band, and the NMA's George Dietzler have a lot in common. They're both flute players, both Navy musicians.

Their enlistment periods don't quite match up, though; Angelina joined the Navy in 2009, whereas George signed up a bit earlier--1947, to be exact.