UNTIAS GOLD 2

one of the coolest parts of UNITAS GOLD was working with the foreign navies. destroyer squadron 40 was embarked on board Mesa Verde (LPD-19), that meant that there were like 50 or 60 extra officers on board, and us junior officers were sent to our an enlisted berthing... ten junior officers in a berthing for 40, we had plenty of space. we even had several foreign officers living with us, 3 ecuadorians and a dominican. so that was good, we got to meet and live with them. in addition to the JOs living with us, we got to tour foreign ships. the foreign ships were beautiful. all our partner-nations maintained lovely ships. the hospitality of our friends and allies was wonderful. i drank whiskey with the canadian JOs and department heads, i drank port with the captain and XO of the new german frigate Sachsen, and i drank johnny walker black with the brasilian commodore, brasilian captain, and a staff officer who i'd made friends with when he was on board Mesa Verde. I got invited to eat with the mexican officers when i was visited their ship, but i was stupid and said no thank you. in retrospect, i should have joined them, it smelled delicious.