The Submariner’s Wife

Navy wife… the toughest job in the Navy Mrs. Mac spent a few hours underway on the USS San Francisco SSN 711. One of my favorite memories is the dependents cruise from Maui back to Oahu back in the 80’s. I had just qualified as Chief of the Watch and was on watch when it […]

Happy Anniversary – Three years

When I first started the blog, life was very different… The intent was to share some ideas on lean manufacturing while celebrating the heritage of the United States Navy submarine forces. A lot of water has gone under the bow since those days. Over 260,000 views later, I find that the submarine stories have continued to […]

Patches

If you look to the right side of my blog, you will see a number of patches that reflect my duty stations (boats and ships) along the way. My sub vets vest has a fair representation of them and it is a matter of some pride that I wear each one. They all stand for […]

Sub Pay

SUBMARINE PAY Teddy Roosevelt was the first American president to go aboard a submarine and participate in a dive. The USS Plunger dove beneath the surface of Long Island Sound on August 25th 1905 with the President on board. President Roosevelt not only achieved this historical first but was the man directly responsible for […]

Another milestone for theleansubmariner

I had anticipated going over one of my goals by Memorial Day weekend but thanks to a couple of greatly received posts in the past few months, the blog went past 150,000 views early this morning. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support and the many repeat visitors. I will continue […]

WE ARE SUBMARINERS – Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Throughout the generation where men have gone to sea on submarines, a bond has formed that crosses all of those generations. This anonymous quote comes from one of the web sites I frequent. I can’t identify the author so I have taken it directly from the posting but will gladly give credit if the […]

A little respect… 42 years later, its still not that big of a deal

Recently I was following a post on one of my submarine Facebook pages. The original guy had posted about a lack of recognition. To be fair, he had a lot of supporters and frankly I can’t give him a hard time since I have seen some of this through the years myself. “Okay I have […]

#earnednevergiven

For my brothers… April 11, 2014 Mister Mac

The Smoking Lamp is Out

From the Navy Department Library: The Smoking Lamp “Sea dogs who sailed the wooden ships endured hardships that sailors today never suffer. Cramped quarters, poor unpalatable food, bad lighting and boredom were hard facts of sea life. But perhaps a more frustrating problem was getting fire to kindle a cigar or pipe tobacco after a […]

Coming Home

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. (Robert Frost) Can there be any better feeling than coming home after a journey? It’s always exciting for me to travel around the world and in the past forty two years I have been blessed to see many […]