How many of you remember the USN/USCG RM Rate? You know, those radio operators that could work CW at 30 WPM, typing on a mill (manual typewriter) drink coffee, and carry on a conversation with you at the same time. I remember visiting the old USCG NMC Radio Station on the top of San Bruno Mountain when based at San Francisco Intl Airport before NMC moved to Pt. Reyes and seeing them in action. It was a couple of years ago that the Coast Guard retired it's last CW key on active duty. RM's were no longer required to know morse code. Now the RM rate is phasing out completely. They haven't been called RM's (Radiomen) for awhile, the new name is Telecommunications Specialist but they still wore the Sparks on their arm like a RM. But now the Sparks insignia is also being retired.
Here is a write up from an unofficial Coast Guard site: Telecommunications Specialist "A" School Class 06-03 is the last class to go through TC training at Training Center Petaluma, CA. The Telecommunications Specialist rating will soon be incorporated into either the Information System Technician (IT) or Operations System Specialist (OS) ratings. Many of us remember the old Radioman (RM) rating - long known as "Sparks". Not only are we witnessing the passing of the TC rating but also the passing of the "sparks" rating designator. These men and women will be the last people to wear "sparks" on their arm. We will follow this class through their training period. Each week we will post photos of their progress. You can see more at: http://www.fredsplace.org/photo/tc/ -- __________________________________________________________________________ Alan Zack Amateur Radio Station K6ACZ Anaheim, Southern California, USA Home of the World Series Winners ANGELS Quality Engineer, The Boeing Company, Retired Aviation Chief Warrant Officer, U.S. Coast Guard, Retired U.S. Coast Guard, Always Ready, Always There Every hour, Every day, Around the Clock and Around the World SEMPER PARATUS ------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/unsubscribe, feedback, FAQ, problems, etc DX-NEWS http://njdxa.org/dx-news DX-CHAT: http://njdxa.org/dx-chat To post a message, DX NEWS items only, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news%40pro-usa.net -------------------------------------------------------