Commander Stephanie Markam, USN

It is difficult to summarize twenty four years of a professional career. This morning, you will hear many citations and witness presentations that will recognize various aspects of Master Chief’s time in the Navy; some things will have to do with his leadership and devoted service to his country, others will honor his technical expertise, still others will address his commitment to the chiefs community. I would like to share with you my experiences with Master Chief Goehring because I think it will give more meaning to some of the formal statements you will hear later in this ceremony. For many of you, this will sound like a history lesson, because the majority of this takes place at the Naval Security Group Activity, Skaggs Island, Sonoma California.

Yes, there was in fact such a place that the Navy owned called Skaggs Island which was not unlike this command of Northwest, with a Wullenwebber antenna, the tradition of High Frequency Direction Finding and Net Control Operations, communications support to the fleet, a great working relationship with Public Works and the other base civilians and lots of farmers fields and country back roads. Skaggs Island is actually an island, located in the northernmost part of San Francisco Bay, over 3000 acres of hay fields surrounded by slough water. But Skaggs Island was very special... it was nestled between Sonoma and Napa Valley wine country, nearly 45 minutes from the Golden Gate bridge and a bit over an hour to Silicon Valley where the world of computers was King. Quality of life was exceptional.

The quality of the work environment was equally exceptional if you happened to be a Cryptologic Technician, Maintenance, or ‘M’ Brancher, for Skaggs was the Mecca of maintenance in the mid 1980's. The EMO department was the largest department on base: state of the art equipment, such as PDP-11/70's for MUSIC or MICRO-VAXES for FLAGHOIST, sat in the same buildings with the dinosaur GYK-3's for the Net Control Operations and OPU’s for the HFDF outstations. Micro chip technology next to tubes. Most importantly, we had the Organizational Focal Point, or OFP, which was where mat men worldwide could call for advice in troubleshooting equipment, replacement parts or technical assistance in CASREP situations. It was designed to assist maintenance technicians worldwide keep high priority equipment operational, because the big Navy supply system couldn’t respond fast enough or with high enough quality to meet Naval Security Group mission requirements. The concept was simple: Mat men helping mat men. In short, to be a ’M‘ Brancher in the Naval Security Group in the mid 1980's meant to be AT Skaggs Island or work WITH Skaggs Island. And that’s where I met Master Chief Goehring.

I was ordered to the command to be the Training Officer. I thought it was a bad joke when I got a call from a Commander Suierro the night before I left San Vito. The message was that I was going to be EMO. Now, all I knew about EMO’s was that they were very smart...like they always were the guys in the wardroom that helped me fix my car or hooked up my VCR’s to the TV when I needed some help. And mat men were the guys with pocket protectors and big key rings. Something was seriously wrong if this is where I was going to be assigned. If you listened to LT Keller’s introduction, you will note the absence of any technical, mechanical or electrical training in my background. I did not appreciate the importance of the maintenance department to the claimancy or the significance of the department head job within the command....all I knew was this was a big mistake.

To their credit, the maintenance chiefs stepped up to the challenge. They welcomed me to the department and begain a long series of instructional lectures about 3M documentation, safety requirements and the basic operation of some of our mission essential equipment. They presented a united front to me of loyalty to the department, support for their technicians and enthusiasm for their mission that impressed me. This wasn’t just the OFP guys, this was the entire department. I credit the chiefs for accepting me and setting that positive tone from the very start.

Bob Goehring was a new chief when I became EMO, but I couldn’t tell then. He wasn’t as gray and crotchety as he is now, but he was part of the team of khakis that did what needed to be done in the department. He knew lots about the technical skills of being a HFDF maintenance technician but he was willing to learn lots more: how to work for Senior Chief Binki Heston who had a story on EVERYTHING (written down in the Binki Book of Life) which covered repainting your automobile in this goofy, stealth sky blue scheme to a comparison of the conical monopole antenna vs. a Wullenwebber (antenna lectures were 30 minutes minimum); how to conduct bomb drills, small weapons training and kill skunks all in the name of national defense, and not look like you are having the time of your life while you are doing it. (Why half the maintenance department had to do these night drills and target practice sort of worried me, but since Sharon and the kids lived on base, I figured things wouldn’t get too out of hand) OH, And he learned how to set up coffee and doughnuts for EMO’s since everyone took their turn in helping with the EMO Conference.

The more I got to knowing what my job was, the more I recognized that Bob Goehring was top quality. He was a leader at the command on some very difficult issues and he never whined. He was able to apply good leadership and sound technical expertise at the OFP and dramatically expand their support more and more systems while constantly improving repair times. Since he did so well, I recommended him to Captain Ehret to have him help the command on figuring out what to do with a ten thousand square foot SCIF building on Treasure Island that the reserves couldn’t seem to deal with but there were lots of safety, security and maintenance problems and multiple NAVOSH regulations governing the darn thing and no money available to do anything with.

Tough jobs, but in short, Bob Goehring was a great chief.

Later, I grew to appreciate him more because Master Chief left Skaggs Island and went to the detailer shop, some said because he moonlighted down at Monterey DLI and learned that secret second language that detailers only know. I don’t think that is true. Bob Goehring was selected as detailer because he understood the maintenance community and the criticality of giving mat men all the tools, training and support we can so that their commands could meet their mission.

I appreciated Master Chief’s integrity and his understanding of what the maintenance community needed to keep pace with technology while remembering that the technician looking for a good set of orders was also a sailor with a promising career. He worked with the sailors and the commands with honesty. He tracked training initiatives as well as innovations in maintenance practices. And, as the detailer, Master Chief came back to the Skaggs Island to attend the EMO conference. He addressed larger community issues while still sitting down one on one with EMO’s from around the world and discussing their problems.

I was glad when he got the EMO jobs here and at NSGA Edzell, because he set the groundwork for success. The fine maintenance technicians we have in our claimancy today, the technicians that will be the young chief tomorrow, are here because of the concern that Master Chief Goehring had for the individual maintenance technician, his ability to perform as a chief petty officer and his contributions to the maintenance community as a whole. The claimancy and this command are better places today for all the work that you have done...and you made it fun. On behalf of Captain Ehret, and the rest of the old Skaggs Island crew who send you special greetings, your shipmates present and past, I wish you fair winds and following seas.