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Bob Trabona of Georgetown |
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by B.J. Carter
Coastal Journal staff
CJ: Let’s start at the beginning. Where were you born?
BT: I was born and raised on Long Island. I left Long Island when I was 18, went to college for a year and a half, then I dropped out and enlisted in the Navy. The Navy had a program that I found out about after I got in where they would send you to college, but for every six months of school you attended, you would owe them nine months of service. But at the end of it, you got a commission. I applied to that program and got in, went through four years of school, and by the time I got through my years of obligated service, I had been in for ten years. I was halfway to retirement already. It was kind of a no-brainer to stick around. After thirty years I wound up getting out as a Captain in the Navy.
My last duty station was in Cape Canaveral. It was a very unique and enjoyable assignment. I was in submarines the entire time I was in the Navy. Most of my time was spent on pre-ballistic missile submarines. The head of the program that’s responsible for the ballistic missile submarine program is in Washington D.C. I spent three years prior to Cape Canaveral in Washington, I headed up the team that was responsible for training and certifying the submarine crews and verifying that they were capable of launching the missiles if necessary. I was the base commander of the naval station at Cape Canaveral the last three years I was in the Navy. It was alot of fun because you got to interface with the Air Force, you got to watch all of the missile launches, including shuttles, and you got to interface with the British Navy crews that we certified. We got to meet different naval officers from different countries. [Laughs] I’ll never forget; the guy that’s the head of Manheim Steamroller went out for a ride on the USS Nebraska when I was down there. He must’ve had some political connection, though what that was I’m not sure.
CJ: Did you have family that served?
BT: I had two uncles that had served in WWII, one in the Army and one in the Navy. Neither one of them saw any combat action, and they never really talked about it. I had a brother who was on active duty for two years in the Navy reserves; between his service in submarines and watching black and white TV, it just intrigued me. When I dropped out of college, and I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do, I figured the Navy was a good place to go to get training and stay out of trouble. I still think the Navy has the best programs to offer the military. I don’t hesitate at all to talk to young people and tell them to join the military. It teaches young people responsibility, accountability, and they’ll see things they won’t see anywhere else. Kids on naval ships today that are 18, 19, they’re steering ships, manning sonars, radars, weapons systems. These are the people defending our nation. And they’re just kids. God bless ‘em.
CT: Was it hard for you to leave the Navy?
BT: Not really. I miss very much the people I worked with in the Navy, and I miss going to sea. But there are certain portions of the beauracracy that I don’t miss [laughs].
CT: What’s your take on the base closing in Brunswick?
BT: I think initially it’ll have a major impact on the economy, there’ll be an awful lot of infrastructure jobs lost. You’re going to be taking at least a couple of thousand people out of the local economy. Those people use local grocery stores, local gas stations. That has an impact. An awful lot of the Navy people volunteer in the community as well, at schools and hospitals, so there will be a big loss to the volunteer community. All that’s in the near-term. Now, if it’s done right, and the people continue to work, as they have been, at bringing new industry to replace it, they can come out further ahead than when the base was here. That said, I think the closure of the base is foolhardy. It’s the only active duty airbase in the Northeast. We’re not in the Cold War anymore, but you still don’t know what’s coming in the future. To take your only active duty airbase in the region and close it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
CT: So tell me about your responisibilities here at the [Maine Maritime] museum.
BT: We put in and take out the waterfront every year, the six or seven of us. We’ve got about 13 or 14 floats that we put in every year. We do a lot of different projects during the year. Did you notice the pirate ship on your way over? It has sand in it, it’s basically a large sandbox. That boat was practically rotted out, so it was decided it should be replaced with something for kids, since kids don’t really get off on going to the static exhibits at the museum. Dave, the head of maintenance, designed that and we built it. Up on the main floor, there’s a tugboat pilot house, the volunteers made that, too. It’s nice to hear kids playing in it when you walk by and to know that you had a hand in putting it together. I’ve taken down trees, I’ve done roofing, electrical work. It varies from week to week, you never know what you’re going to be doing when you come in. And that’s part of the fun of it.
CT: You do some volunteer work for the Georgetown Fire Department as well, right?
BT: I do several different things in Georgetown. I do work with the fire department, I’m also on the financial advisory committee that puts out a budget every year, I am webmaster for the town website, and I’ve been working with the Historical Society the last two years. We just finished work on a new building.
CT: Between all of the volunteer projects you’re working on, how much time does that leave for your own personal projects?
BT: Well, we moved into our house in Georgetown in 2000, and I’m still putting up trim around the windows. I have to give thanks to my wife, she’s been very patient with things not getting done in a timely fashion around the house while I’m out playing [laughs]. That’s basically what I’m doing - going out and playing and having a good time.
CT: You’ve seen lots of places in the world. Which has made the biggest impression on you?
BT: [Laughs, long pause] Each place was the best place to live at the time. We moved from one coast to the other and back again, north, south, and middle of the country. Every single one of them had unique opportunities, unique things about them that made them a great place to live. But in the long term? I’m where I want to be now.
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