Not Just A Job

A quartermaster's naval misadventure, as served in the 1970s West Pacific "The Navy. It's not just a job, it's an adventure." So said the television ads, and so, having graduated high-school during America's withdrawal from Vietnam, Gary Thorpe signed up. A quartermaster, his job is to steer and navigate the ship, but he learns quickly that being in the US Navy entails much more -- and much less -- than advertised.

"Not Just A Job" is the story of Thorpe's time aboard the USS Okmok, an ammunition ship stationed near San Francisco, and the experiences he acquires during his ship's service in East Asia, particularly at every port, from Yokosuka to Subic Bay. Throughout it all, he navigates both the arduousness and tedium of Navy life and the riotousness and cluelessness of life so far away from home.

Authored by a former Navy quartermaster, "Not Just A Job" is sure to relate to anyone who has ever found himself in a situation less than he imagined.