Radarman Second Class Zack Martin finds himself with time for reflection while taking a smoke break on a moonlit early morning aboard a Navy aircraft carrier. He'd prefer to be almost anywhere else than aboard a "damned bird farm" crossing the Gibraltar Strait. The veteran sailor is not happy and longs to find a way to get back to destroyer duty in the Pacific.
The trick will be to accomplish that without sinking his Navy career. Carrier sailors find it challenging to transfer back to the surface fleet, and an ensign fresh from training who is bursting with self-importance isn't helping matters. Yet another bungled job by a shipmate leads to a life-altering decision by the brass and before long Martin may have the opportunity he's always wanted. In hindsight, however, he might have wanted to stay right where he was.
Drawing on author Bob Stockton's twenty years as a Navy man, Stories from the US Navy: I. A Suicide in the Mediterranean puts readers in the heart of the action aboard an aircraft carrier and its dedicated crew.