Posted by Al Burnham on November 8, 2007, 3:57 pm, in reply to "Boatswain"
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I will assume you know the role of a Boatswain Mate. The last ship I was on we had a Boatswain assigned to our gun crew. He was second in command of the gun crew and would take over if something happen to the Gunnery Officer. In the Navy at that time the Boatswain Mate rate was the rate that required knowledge of everything that took place on a ship including leadership. On invasions gun crews often had two gunnery officers if they were available and he fit this quite nicely. He also had command of a watch and key position during battle. We were at Iwo Jima and staging for the invasion of Japan and other positions filled with higher rated people then normal. We also had a navy person on board whose sole job was identifying aircraft. A Boatswain rate fit real while in the Armed Guard as he would have had plenty of gunnery training along with all the other skills and tests to make the Boatswain Mate rate. A lot of guys made this rate while in the Armed Guard and continued serving in the Armed Guard. This was the course and rate I was studying for when the war ended and I made the decision to get out and try Ca. This is brief and I hope it is of some help with your question.

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