How did this thing get so far out of alignment?

Like many submariners, I spent a few weeks in one shipyard or another helping to fix wear and tear issues. As an Auxiliaryman (A-Ganger) I quickly found that there is a special kind of hell reserved for us in a shipyard. Since our equipment and systems run the length of the boat, our work could […]

Target Rich Environment

Google the phrase “Target Rich Environment” and you will get about 5 million hits. One of my favorite quotes comes from a feel good movie released in 1986 Warning: PG 13 applies, if you are easily offended, skip past the quoted area “Top Gun” Maverick: This is what I call a target-rich environment. Goose: You […]

Taffy 3 – Courage Beyond Measure

In the annals of US Naval history, there are a number of instances that demonstrate the courage and determination of a committed group of dedicated officers and men. The one that stands out most in many people’s opinions is the battle which occurred on October 25th 1944. On this day, a small group of […]

Goin’ to the Chapel and We’re Gonna Get Married – Part Three

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/01/first-same-sex-marriage-being-celebrated-saturday-at-west-points-cadet-chapel/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fpolitics+%28Internal+-+Politics+-+Text%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo Oh happy day, break out the bubbly, the Nation’s first gay marriage at West Point. I can barely contain my joy. Oh well. They can explain it to the big Guy themselves when the time comes. I am now officially done with worrying about traditions. Go Navy. Beat Army. Mister Mac I had no […]

The Quality of the Weld

Being a former submariner, I have long had an interest in welding and the quality of welds. When you are riding a ship designed to sink that was built by the lowest bidder, proper and secure welds seem to be pretty important. The hulls of nuclear submarines are made out of a special steel which requiresvery […]

Life is simple… you’re either qualified or you’re not

I don’t know when qualification cards became part of submarine life. I know they were there when I first came aboard the George Washington. I remember Chief John telling me very specifically that the card was as important as any piece of paper I ever held so I better not lose it. Each week, I would […]

In Its Path

One of my least favorite memories of the USS San Francisco was the stop we made in Guam in 1982. In an earlier blog, I talked about the first part of the visit where the wives came to visit. But in the middle of the stay, two things happened that made it a very bad […]

Need a lift?

August 8 1974 was the day when one of the most interesting events of the Cold War came to a dramatic point. On that day, the Glomar Explorer completed a journey and a mission that had been so well cloaked in secrecy, it is doubtful that we even know today all that transpired during the […]

Disrespected

Somewhere, Mrs. Stamps (my third grade teacher) is standing with her shoulders slightly slumped and shaking her head. She has just heard one of her students use a noun as a transitory verb for the hundredth time and feels like her mission of bringing proper English to the children of Mt. Vernon Elementary School has […]

The Anchor’s Missing Sir

Anchors Aweigh is described as the response to the order to weigh anchor when the anchor has been tripped and is no longer attached to the bottom. I am unaware of there is an official response if the anchor is no longer attached to the ship. A number of four letter expletives come to mind, […]