The First Time You Dive

You never forget your first There are few moments in any submariner’s life that equal the first time you submerge below the surface of the sea. For each generation or type of boat, the lead up to that dive is different. It might come at the end of a lengthy transit on the surface in […]

Periscopes Off Our Coasts

Seventy years ago, the Korean War was coming to a stalemate and the Cold War was heating up all around the globe. America was weary from back-to-back military conflicts and facing a new future in the shadow of the nuclear bombs that were possessed by both sides of the Iron Curtain. The ability to openly […]

A time to mourn.

I sat watching the television this afternoon and my heart was breaking. Three more dead. Over a hundred wounded. These were not just statistics. Like the thirteen brave heroes who died at Abby Gate, these soldiers had families back home. As time goes by, we will once more see their lives unfold on the same […]

“Well, at least the war is over.” January 23, 1973

Well, at least the war is over. Today is January 23, 2024. I get messages from time to time reminding me of things that happened on this day. For instance, on this day in 1957, the first frisbee was produced, in 1922, insulin is first used to treat diabetes, and Richard M. Nixon declared the […]

Thoughts on a cold day… (if you are content with the way the country is right now, you should probably skip this one)

WARNING: If you like the blog for my submarine, Navy or lean manufacturing stories, but hate anything that smacks of national issues beyond that, please stop reading now. I promise I will get back to those subjects shortly, but I have been thinking a lot today about the America I grew up in and how […]

Who ya gonna call? (What if the answer is no one?)

Déjà vu all over again. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I have a passion for the US Navy and the men and women who keep us safe. I have been enlisted and was later given the privilege to lead so many of them through clam seas and storms. But I also recognize that […]

Want Volunteers? Keep Your Promises!

Fair warning: If you are strongly invested in Societal Permissiveness and DEI as a part of National Defense, this post is probably not for you. Also, a couple of salty words may have accidently slipped in. My apologies for the second. Sometimes the sailor in me has no filter. Final Warning. Some of the pictures […]

Nuclear Power: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963-2023)

(NOTE: This post is a big longer than my usual post, but hopefully it will be worth your time to read.) Nuclear Power: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow I was reading about the two nuclear powered aircraft carriers and their battle groups gathering in the eastern Mediterranean this week and got to thinking about when I […]

Happy Birthday United States Navy – 2023

The United States Navy turns 248 years old this year. Ships and aircraft of the fleet are sailing around the world today in defense of freedom, just as they have for most of her rich history. At this time, despite pressure from many quarters to change her focus, she remains the single most powerful and […]

247 Years later… How Independent are we?

July 4, 2023 – American Independence Day 247 years ago, the American colonies declared their independence from a government that had ceased to honor their obligations in regards to personal freedoms. The journey to that day was long and littered with attempts to reconcile the differences between the rulers and those they ruled. To be […]