What a country … (at least it is so far)

As we drove to Church this morning, I was reminded what a great country we live in. We left the house (that we chose to live in) in our car (that we selected from among hundreds of possible choices). We drove on streets that were paved (using money we paid in taxes) and passed at […]

Fenian Ram: The Green Submarine

Any submariner worth his salt has heard of a good Irishman named John Phillip Holland and his submarine design changed the way wars would be fought at sea forever. On March 17, 1898, St. Patrick’s Day, Irish-born engineer John Philip Holland demonstrated a submarine he designed, the Holland VI, for the U.S. Navy Department, off […]

New Coke

My generation grew up in a time where marketing really came of age. We were exposed to subtle and not so subtle messages about the cars we should buy, the shampoo we should use, and of course the soda we should drink. Coca Cola@ was an American icon long before we came along. Coke was […]

Unauthorized Absence

I made it a point of pride to never miss a ship’s movement or a muster for my whole career. I can remember driving like crazy through the erratic traffic only to get stuck in a long line at Makalapa Gate thinking “The Chief is gonna kill me”. But somehow, my angels always made sure […]

Some Track Records Should Be Remembered

1972 was a leap year and changes were going on all over the world. American involvement in Viet Nam was already significantly reduced to a support role and the last combat troops were scheduled to be out by August. The program of Vietnamization was well into its fourth year and the ARVN was placed in […]

Thanks

For all of you who stop in on a regular basis, I owe you a debt of gratitude. Sometime today theleansubmariner site went over 25,000 views. I know that it’s not as large as a website about air soft weapons (thanks Guido) but I am pretty happy with the traffic to date. I am in classes for the […]

Sticks and Stones

WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS LANGUAGE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN TYPICALLY HEARD BACK IN THE DAY WHEN WE WERE MUCH LESS SENSITIVE. IF YOU ARE EASILY OFFENDED OR ABOUT TO TESTIFY BEFORE ANY CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ABOUT HOW UNFAIR LIFE IS, PLEASE STOP READING NOW AND GO ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS. THANK YOU. What’s in a name? This […]

No excuses.

For some who follow my blog, I need to apologize but its been a hard week. Thanks to my friend Joey Sagnis, I found out well after the fact that one of the best sailors the Navy ever had passed away. “Here is Silas’ phone number ***-***-****. He said he would appreciate a phone call. […]

It Happened in 1954

I really like cruising around the “store” in the front of my favorite southern cuisine restaurant. You can see the old fashioned toys and magic sets mixed in with collectables of one kind or another. One of my favorites though is the rotating card stand that holds the little books about what happened the year […]

But look at all the money we saved…

With the current drive to save money, the post Cold War Navy is being reimagined once again. This exercise in policy is as old as the nation itself, but has had some very dramatic consequences over the past 61 years. Studying a white paper recently, the role of the Navy has always been dependent on […]