Every Moment Mattered – The Life and Death of Cassin Young, Captain, USN MOH Recipient – Chapter Five: The Spanish Revenge

Chapter Five: The Spanish Revenge Being a Second Classman brought with it increased privileges for Midshipman Young and his classmates. They would also have a more comfortable setting to live and study in. A Second Class Suite with a bath as the boys called it in Bancroft Hall. Two stripes adorned each arm on his service […]

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 […]

Home 2024

Home We attended the highland Games in Charleston SC yesterday. It was a pretty nice affair held down on the waterfront in North Charleston. I hadn’t been to a gathering for a few years so hearing the pipes and drums was a special treat. I have to give the bands credit though. They played well […]

“to become a leader, you must learn the following essential points: (What a bunch of antiquated ideas!)

As my regular readers probably already know, I collect Bluejackets Manuals. I’m lucky enough to have one from both of my grandfather’s eras as well as a few from my dad’s. The ones from their generation were produced by the United States Naval Institute in Annapolis Maryland. The oldest one in my collection was […]

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 […]

Purple Heart Day July 7 2023 – Leadership Matters

Leadership I have studied leadership for most of my adult life. Watching the ultimate example of my own Father and the men of his generation was my first exposure to what it should look like. Honesty, even when it hurts. Integrity, even when it costs you. Dependability, even in the face of extreme challenges. My […]

Ready on day one. Really???

Ready on day one. Quite often in interviews with potential employees, a candidate will tell the interviewers that they are “ready on day one of the job”. They make this very bold claim based on their previous education or experience in a related field. But my personal experience in a number of fields makes me […]

What is a Warrant Officer? A View from the Navy

We have a great group here in the Pittsbugh Area called the Veteran’s Breakfast Club. Men and women of all branches of the service and all eras gather together for breakfast and conversations. I was featured earlier before the Pandemic and had an opportunity to talk about my submarine service. The have on line and […]

Old Chiefs Never Die… They Just Get Recycled

Chief times 3 Looking back over the last three plus decades, it’s interesting how my life has had a theme. That theme has revolved around being a Chief. Growing up, I always looked up to my Dad for many things. But one of his best achievements was being the fire Chief in the small town […]

The Three Plane Navy – The Story of Rear Admiral Fullam’s Vision

A little bit longer of a post than normal, but I found this to be an interesting story about a visionary man who played a key role in the Navy in the early 1900’s. Twenty years before the attack on Pearl Harbor, many voices were actively trying to warn about the narrow-minded vision of naval […]