Two Views of Courage: April 1862

"At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth…could not by […]

A submariner at heart

April 19, 1927. In the town of Boston Pennsylvania, a baby boy joined the world to begin his own life adventures. The Youghiogheny River ran pretty wild back in those days and you could expect some flooding along its banks. The town itself was just a whistle stop sitting at the base of […]

Originally posted on theleansubmariner:
In January 2005, an event happened on the USS San Francisco (SSN 711) that serves as a reminder that even in this day of modern technology and science, the ocean is still mightier in its capability to test man’s limitations. On January 8th 2005 at 0243 GMY, she collided with…

April 24th, 1972: The Oath

April 24th, 1972 is a day that I first raised my hand. Like most kids, I was cocky, self centered, in too much of a hurry to be grown up and not as disciplined as I should have been. But everything began to change on that day. Up until that point, my recruiter had been […]

Apollo 16: Losing the Dream

I was an astronaut in the 1960’s. Our launch facility in Western Pennsylvania was incredibly busy from 1963 to April 1972. We were cutting edge at the time. Not only did we have unlimited supplies of oxygen and “space” food, we journeyed well beyond the moon to find planets that even NASA had not discovered […]

3800 of the best and brightest

Yesterday was Pennsylvania’s annual FBLA conference. The three training sessions were great! The young people who attended were very engaged and challenged me on some very good points. The subject was leadership but covered three areas that I feel from my education and experience are important to developing yourself and others. Those three things are […]

One of the greatest men I ever knew… Uncle Jack

I am a traditionalist and still believe in the idea that you respect your elders. The elders I am referring to came from a different time (in my case most were of the World War 2 generation). Jack Stuart Patrick was no exception. Like all men, he had parts of his life that he lived […]

Field Day ~ The Legends, the Myths, the Reality

When I was on submarines we would occasionally rewrite the words to songs to fit our purposes. Submarines on patrol are notorious for being either very exciting or incredibly boring. For that reason, the Executive Officer will hold a “Field Day” where all of the crewmembers are wakened and set to the task of cleaning. […]

How Hef saved the world from Communism

I first published this post in 2012. On September 27, 2017 Hugh Hefner Passed away at the age of 91. When asked how he would like to be remembered he said: “I would like to be remembered as somebody who has changed the world in some positive way, in a social, sexual sense, and I’d […]

USS Hunley AS-31 (Cold Warrior Extraordinaire)

Its hard to believe that a little over twenty years ago I checked on board the USS Hunley. The ship was already about thirty years old when I got to her as the Machinery Division Officer (later Auxiliary Division). The previous two years had been spent in Holy Loch Scotland where the Hunley had spent […]