Get the F*#k Off My Quarterdeck

Becoming a Vietnam-Era P-3 Pilot

By: Randy Hotton

Narrated by: Robert J. Fossler

In 1966, a Marine sergeant screams, “Get the F*#k off my quarterdeck!” at a young man and changes his life forever. Before those words, Randy was a lost Midwestern boy who wandered through high school and college with no clear direction in his life. But he had an out-of-reach fantasy to become a Navy pilot. Through a chance encounter with a naval aviator recruiter, he finds the path to fulfill his dream.

But it doesn’t happen overnight. The boy from the Detroit suburbs must first make his way through Primary, Basic, Aircraft Carrier Landing, and Advanced Multi-Engine Training. After a two-and-a-half year journey, he finishes his flight training and wins his coveted Navy Wings of Gold. Flying the P-3 Orion Patrol Airplane, he flies “Market Time” missions around Vietnam.

Marrying the love of his life helps Randy through his deployment in Vietnam and beyond as he moves from new pilot to a qualified Patrol Plane pilot. Filled with the challenges in school, the pressure to be accepted into training, and the highs and lows of Navy flight training at the height of the Vietnam War, Get the F*#k Off My Quarterdeck is a humorous and heartfelt memoir.

©2025 Black Rose Writing (P)2025 Black Rose Writing

Critic reviews

“Strap in for an extraordinary ride as a directionless youth from the tumultuous '60s transforms into a decorated Navy combat pilot in Vietnam—Hotton's the real deal!” —Cam Torrens, award-winning author of the Tyler Zahn suspense series