When times are tough, where do Submariners turn? The Story of the USSV CF Brotherhood Fund

When times are tough, sometimes your family is the first place you look for help. This is the second part of a series concerning the USSV Charitable Foundation. In the first part of the series, I talked about the overall program definitions. Now I will talk about the individual funds within the program. Submariners are […]

Your Table is ready Mr. Ambassador… Serving the USSV CF

Your Table is ready Mr. Ambassador Mac. Petty Officer Mac. Chief Mac. Mister Mac. (and a hundred various civilian titles including manager, trainer, leader, coach, speaker, preacher and on and on). Of all the titles I have had in my life, one that I have never had was Ambassador. At least not until this week. […]

Part time sailors? There is no such thing

I’m still going through boxes of old paperwork and stuff I have saved over the years. Some of the items include pictures and mementoes from my years in the navy. One item that was in an old album was a faded copy of a Welcome Aboard letter from Charleston’s FBMSTC (Fleet Ballistic Missile Training Center). […]

USSVI Charleston Base Meeting September 12 2024

I’m going to keep this short. We have been moving into our new house for the past week and it’s been kind of stressful. I’ll write more about that in a few days because we learned a lot on our twenty first move including what company you should NEVER EVER use. But tonight, I just […]

The Value of Shipmates

A while back, I was on Facebook and called someone a shipmate. Well, to me, the name shipmate is one of honor. But to the person who I was communicating with, it seemed to have had a less than positive meaning. Almost to the point where the name had become an insult. I’m not sure […]

A Great Reunion – Well, Mostly Great

The 2024 Gathering of the Saints is finally over. I have been absent from the keyboard for a while as we executed our latest reunion in Charleston SC. The planning for the reunion started at the end of 2023 and was non-stop until the very last day of the event. One thing about reunions is […]

April 11 2024 – Holland Club

I was honored to have my wife and my Submariner Brothers present last night at the USSVI Charleston Base to see my induction into the Holland Club. I actually wasn’t sure I would ever make it. A special thanks to RADM Mike Sharp and the men from the USS San Francisco SSN 711 that were […]