Welcome to SixthFleet.Com, the Cyberspace Home of author David E. Meadows. "When Meadows' men set sail, it's sure to be a mission like no other." --W.E.B. Griffin "Rip-snorting, realistic action-adventure from a man who has been there. David Meadows is the real thing," --Stephen Coonts author of numerous bestsellers, including Flight of the Intruder, Saucer, America, and Liberty. "An absorbing, compelling look at America's future place in the world. It's visionary, and scary. Great battle scenes, believable heroes, plus villains you'll love to hate!" -Joe Buff, bestselling author of Straits of Power, Tidal Rip, and Crush Depth. "David E. Meadows is simply the best writer of naval thriller/adventure fiction out there today." --Tom Wilson, acclaimed author of Black Canyon, Desert Fury, Tango Uniform and other best selling military thrillers.

Retirement

On a personal note, I am retiring from the Navy. I will have over 37-years of active service when I drop anchor. My wife and I have decided to remain in Western Maryland for the time being, if the ‘tax-me’ state doesn’t chase us back to Georgia, west to West ‘By God’ Virginia, or north to Pennsylvania. The people are wonderful; the scenery great; and, the small town we live in is everything anyone could want in atmosphere and friendliness. We are looking forward to retirement life, though I will be looking around for something else to do. I think about two weeks of me being home is about all my wife will take before she makes me find something to do during the day. I have been to the mandatory Transition Assistance Program (TAP) at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center. They teach us what our retired benefits are; how to successful fight the VA to get them; and, how to apply for civilian jobs. We were very blessed to have some great speakers who go from TAP to TAP addressing the audience. I was an anomaly among medical personnel, but learned a lot I didn’t know and saw quite a few urban legends de-bunked.

Writing resumes is something new for retirees. Bollocks has a different meaning in the civilian community. Will I work when I retire, or will I write full-time? Writing is a labor of enjoyment, but even I have to put away the computer about 10:00 on the weekends, so if I elected to write full time, I’d be done by ten every day. I think I would find myself bored if I wasn’t doing something continuously because for 37-years I have worked minimum of ten-hour days; deployed at-sea for over 9-years; and, flew for nearly 5000-hours, which includes 115 traps on carriers. (Military types try to keep up with the statistics because we banish them about when we meet new people. It’s kind of like down in Georgia where I grew up when we first meet someone. The first five minutes are spent telling each other to whom you are related; where your family comes from; and, denying kinship to those who have offended the family name.)

Between my retirement date and now, I have a lot of traveling to do. I am honored to be the Navy Day Ball guest speaker in October at Naval Security Group Activity Medina, Texas and at Naval Security Group Activity Norfolk, Virginia. Then, in early November, I get to attend the Navy Day Ball in Ontario, Canada where we have Sailors and help them celebrate our Navy’s birthday with our Northern neighbor. I am looking forward to going to all three of these events. They will be the last Navy Day Balls I do as an active duty Sailor. I spoke recently at the retirement of Master Chief Carol Cooper at the Naval Academy. She was the first female master chief in the Cryptologic Technician rating. I discovered that even when you’re retiring someone and it’s not yourself that your throat can constrict with the emotion of the moment. I wish her and her retired Royal Navy husband, Ivan, all the best in San Diego.

There are few who retire who can keep the moisture from their eyes as they hang up the uniform they wore for over 20-years. It isn’t as if you’re giving up your shipmates when you retire, but it is a step across a divide that will separate you from the active duty shipmates you leave behind. I have reached the point where most of the shipmates I grew up with in the Navy have long ago ‘crossed over’ (Retired, not died) and I am honored that so many of them seem to be waiting in the light at the end of this tunnel to help me adjust to being a civilian. (What tie looks good with Navy Blue? And, why aren’t white socks acceptable with gray pin-striped suit?)

The emotion of the retirement ceremony isn’t only about you retiring; it includes the trappings of tradition, the service member’s speech where he recognizes the sacrifice of family and the mentoring of leaders during his or her career. It includes the centuries-old traditional walking between sideboys as the Boatswain pipes you ashore. Then for the modern ceremony, you walk back through the sideboy gauntlet to escort your family down the same manned ranks. They, too, sacrificed so you could serve your country.

If it weren’t for the family supporting the military member, there would be no volunteer force today. So, when you reach the end of your active-duty career, it is only fitting to recognize the spouse and children who were uprooted every three years and shipped to a new duty station. Children who left friends and changed schools so many times they seldom recognize a specific school as the one they attended. They attended all of them and they left all of them. I have been thinking of hiring a stand-in. Some young college man from a theater group, dressed in appropriate 19th Century Sailor garb to stand in the wings of the stage and when I choke up, I’ll wave him onto the stage and he can read my words until I recover. Then, again, I may just settle for dancers…I wonder if the Rockettes are available? Of course, there will be women at the ceremony so I could wear my Chippendale outfit, but the last time I did that it cleared out 4-city blocks before the screaming and fainting stopped. There are some who do better fully clothed.

I discovered years ago when a Chief and I went to Gibraltar that the longer you stay in the Navy the more distinct your language becomes. Civilian English and Navy English diverge. There were only the two of Sailors at many of the functions we attended and you could see the glazed expressions of the civilians when we spoke because many of the terms we used they had never heard, or they never really understood what they meant--which is one reason I started the glossary. You can read it at http://www.sixthfleet.com. Ignore some of the tongue in cheek humor with the definitions, but I find it hard to be serious for a long period of time.

When you decide to retire from the Navy, you write a letter to the Secretary of the Navy asking for permission to retire. If you have under 30-years of service, then they will transfer you to the ‘Fleet Reserve’ list. Though they have only on a case-by-case basis done it, the Navy can recall you to active duty if you are on the ‘Fleet Reserve’ list. For those such as myself with over 30-years of service, they send us directly to the ‘Retired’ list. I have received my message approving me for the ‘retired’ list effective March 31, 2005.

Does that mean I work until March 2005? Nope. In fact, most Sailors, when they retire, take something called ‘terminal leave.’ (I wish we had a better term than ‘terminal.’) You add up the number of days you have on the books and add another 20-days to cover the time off the Navy gives you to find a house and another job, and calculate when you can cease work. I will probably have my retirement ceremony around the first week in January and then start terminal leave.

JOINT TASK FORCE AFRICA is Meadows' newest novel scheduled for release in March 2005.

Read More About JOINT TASK FORCE AFRICA

JOINT TASK FORCE AFRICA A Navy EP-3E is hit by a missile and before the pilot can recover control of the aircraft four aircrew bail out over West Africa, landing in the middle of an African civil war. It is a fast-pace story as Admiral Holman races to rescue the Sailors before they are killed or captured. "Meadows will keep you turning pages and thinking new thoughts." --Newt Gingrich "Rip-snorting, realistic action-adventure from a man who has been there." --Stephen Coonts "When Meadows' men set sail, it's sure to be a mission like no other." --W.E.B. Griffin "Fast-paced, roller-coaster ride with this exhilarating military thriller. Dynamic writer with a fresh voice in this technical-ridden, yet intriguing genre." --Midwest Book Review "An absorbing, compelling look at America's future. Visionary, scary. Great battle scenes, believable heroes, plus villains you'll love to hate!" --Joe Buff, author Tidal Rip.

ORDER JOINT TASK FORCE AFRICA At Amazon.Com

ORDER JOINT TASK FORCE AFRICA At Amazon.UK ORDER JOINT TASK FORCE AFRICA SOON At Barnes & Noble.Com

David E. Meadows / SixthFleet.Com David E. Meadows Washington D.C. E-Mail readermail@SixthFleet.Com