NavDEC

by Kay Fisher

A significant portion of armed forces personnel serve in technical capacities and seldom or never are in harm’s way. Mothers and fathers have no idea what their children might go through in the service of their country. This memoir by Kay Fisher shows what it is like to learn a technical trade in the service and take that knowledge and experience into civilian life.

From repairing radar, bombing systems, and computers in the Navy to teaching computer maintenance and then doing software engineering for 30 years with Digital Equipment Corporation, follow Kay as he takes us on adventure after adventure.

The tragic fire aboard the USS Oriskany cost the lives of 44 men, but the Navy’s official version of the event is not the real reason so many men died.

See the progress of large and personal computers from Kay’s perspective.

A small town kid’s path through Navy boot camp to fixing radar and bombing systems on Skywarriors and Intruders, then on to Digital Equipment Corporation to teach PDP-8s and eventually manage the largest VAXcluster in the world.

390 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 20, 2024

About the author

Kay Fisher grew up in Hawley, Minnesota, spent eight and a half years in the Navy fixing bombing systems for aircraft, went on to work for 30 years for Digital Equipment Corporation (which was eventually bought out by Compaq, then later HP). Kay and his wife Pat retired to Arizona in 2002 when he started teaching computers and working on artistic endeavors.