Larry Wavra's Military Experience

Larry graduated from Rio High School in 1980, then earned a B.S. in Electronics Service Engineering at Herzing College in Madison, Wisconsin. In July 1985, he joined the U.S. Navy and went to bootcamp in Great Lakes, Illinois. While at boot camp his company was all musicians, so Larry played his trumpet as the command bugler, which allowed the boot camp graduation to go smoothly. At Great Lakes, he then went to Electronics Technician Advanced (ETA) School.

After graduation from Advanced Electronics School, Larry went to Fort Gordon, Georgia. The base’s mission was satellite

communication, and he worked at ensuring the mission went smoothly.

Then he moved to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, where tactical satellite operations supported the communications of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As a military joint command, Larry operated with the various branches of the military. They all wore purple hats with the insignia JCSE, which stands for Joint Communications Support Element.  He lived off base and would start his workday with exercise and a formation run. He traveled a lot and often flew in C-5s (big cargo planes). The missions were often classified, so they didn’t know where they were headed or what the mission was until they were in the air. His job was to monitor the electronics. One time, Larry was with the Navy Seals in Scotland, another time he went to the Panama Canal. The U.S. invasion there followed the failed negotiations with Noriega to resign after his annulment of the general election.

While at MacDill, Larry heard of a need for volunteers to serve in Antarctica. He volunteered and was accepted. He went to Miramar Naval Air Station in California--home of the Top Gun pilots--for training. Before going to Antarctica, he was interviewed by two psychologists who decided that he was “crazy enough to go to the ICE.” He then went to Port Hueneme, California, for a year of training for Antarctica. Then he was off to Christchurch Antarctic Center/USA Base, to get his winter-over gear and survival/safety training.

He had only been in Antarctica a short while when he was sent back to New Zealand for R & R, where he did some bungee jumping and white-water rafting.

When he returned to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, on a C-5, the summer folks were getting ready to leave. There was slush all over the huge-tired amphibious vehicles as they made their way from the annual sea ice to the base. The mission of the United States Antarctic Program, referred to as “Operation Deep Freeze,” was to support the communication requirements of the National Science Foundation scientists, and to keep the two-way radios and remote repeaters operating. 1990-91 was before cell phones were common, so Larry  helped folks call home by connecting to a short-wave radio operator in the U.S., and they would then make the phone call for the person in Antarctica. Sentences had to end with “over” throughout the conversation. The Antarctic call-out was ”NNN0ICE over” to establish US shortwave operator contacts to make these personal calls possible. Larry’s nickname on the ICE was MoPo, because he was always looking for more power to make the right transmitter and antenna match. One day he put the wrong antenna with a transmitter and smoked the antenna!

Larry cited a few more unique things about McMurdo. His first entertainment in Antarctica was to throw a hot cup of coffee into the outside air. It was so cold that it vaporized into a cloud, and no coffee hit the ground! In the Antarctic winter, the sun sets and doesn’t come up for months. The wildlife included seals, penguins, and killer whales. Greenpeace activists were in the area making sure people did not disturb the animals, and orders were to leave the wildlife alone.

Larry had a few other unique experiences at McMurdo, including a night of survival training which meant going out on skis to either dig into the ice or build a shelter to get out of the wind. Larry dug down into the ice and stayed there through the night. He survived with very little sleep. Another time, Larry assisted the base fire department to help out a fire in the main building. One time, one of the New Zealanders got ill and had to be evacuated. In order to bring in a plane during the mid-winter darkness, they lit fires in 50-gallon drums to outline a runway.

Larry pointed out that Antarctica is the largest desert in the world, and that means static electricity can be a problem. Larry figured out that he could use a key to touch door handles so the key would take the arc and reduce the shock to his hands. Operation Desert Storm started in the winter of 1991; some of the folks at McMurdo requested a transfer, but they were not allowed to go to the battle zone. When the summer people started coming back, the winter folks started to get colds and flu, although they were fine during the isolation of the winter-over.

Toward the end of his stay in Antarctica Larry decided to re-enlist in the U.S. Navy. He requested a ship to see what the “real U.S. Navy” was like. After some delay he was sent to the USS Moosbrugger, an anti-submarine ship, which was stationed out of Charleston, South Carolina. Whenever the ship pulled out of port, word would pass that “THE MOOSE IS LOOSE.” He said it was day two or three on board the “Moose” before he got seasick.

The Moosbrugger traveled throughout the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Carribean. Barcelona, Spain; Scotland; pyramids of Egypt, and the island of Curacao hold special memories for Larry. However, in 1993 the crew experienced a hurricane named “Super Storm 93.” Larry said he truly feared for his life during that ride. Once “the Moose” had cleared the storm, it had to go into Norfolk, Virginia, for repairs.

One of Larry’s jobs on board the ship was to keep the microwave data link between the ship and the helicopter pilot operational. One time they lost the link, so Larry had to climb the tower to the highest point on the ship to check on the microwave dish antenna. . . where he noted that the problem was elsewhere! Another time, the Moosbrugger worked in a joint naval force training with eight countries in the Atlantic. Larry was the Electronics Dept. Supervisor on board. A service that Larry instituted, using some of his own money, was a repair process for circuit boards. When someone asked him to fix one, he asked for a $5 donation to Make-A-Wish. When he got back into port, he turned the money over to the charity. He estimated that between what it would have cost to replace the circuit boards and the cost for his repairs, he saved the navy around $200 thousand dollars!

The end of Larry’s navy experience came in 1993 when the navy was ordered to downsize. He now wishes he had stayed in the navy, and he thinks it’s a good option for younger folks who are looking for a path in life, a chance for travel, educational opportunities, and some unique life experiences.

Submitted by Rio American Legion