Today I was thinking about
CWO Foust who was the head of the photo lab at
NPIC when I was there. He was a great guy and really helped me to be a more confident young man. He encouraged me and made me feel special. As an officer he was more like a regular guy, because he came up through the enlisted ranks.
CWO Foust asked me to take the college GED test (equivalent to 2 years of college) and when I passed it except for one part he said that he would see that I got a waiver on that part and asked if I wanted to go on to OCS (officers candidate school). I was so overwhelmed with the prospect yet still not very sure of myself and said "shucks no". My self esteem was still not high enough to think that I could achiever something that high. He was father figure to me and I wish he would have pushed me more on the topic.
He was one of those guys you never forget. He had a very peaceful and calm way about him. He also had a sense of humor too. I remember as we met in the passage way and I was mostly in his way he said "One ship, One passage way, One Bloom. I'll never forget this.
Another time when he had put me in charge of the copy camera team he discovered that one of my guys was absent from work. I told him that all the guys had been working hard an I had devised a plan where once a month one person would get a day off.
He looked at me funny and said "I'm the officer in charge and I can't give myself a day off". So we thought that I would have to cancel that program before someone else found out about it.
He as a great guy and a wonderful shipmate that everyone is missing to this day.
CWO FRANK R. FOUST, USN(RET)
DECEASED-Aug 18, 2002
WIFE FOUST EDNA
