While America dismantles its forces, others prepare to fill the gap

I am relatively sure that the Chinese are not wasting any resources on sensitivity training as they view the world’s oceans and resources. I wonder if we are maintaining our vision for the last war as they prepare for the next one. China’s Growing Military Might: Top 4 Concerns For The Pentagon Christian Science […]

The hardest work you will ever love should not cost you your vote.

In the short time I have spent on this planet, I have had a number of jobs. All of them have had their challenges and rewards and I feel blest for having had the experiences I have had. Beyond any shadow of a doubt though, my time in the service was probably the roughest and […]

PQ 17 July 4th 1942… 2132… “Scatter”

The summer of 1942 was not just a horrible time for merchant shipping long the east coast of the United States, it was also one of significant losses in the Atlantic U-boats were coming out in larger and larger numbers and even the convoy systems were being tested to the limits with the existing escorts. […]

Bluejackets Manual, eighteenth edition, 1968 (Third Printing, September 1969)

I’m sure I have mentioned it before but I have a modest collection of Bluejackets Manuals dating back to the early 1900’s. I started out with my Grandfather Parkin’s manuals from the Second World War. From that time, I have added them as I find them in old book stores, sea ports, and Army Navy […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

USS George Washington SSBN 598

You never forget your first… When I requested a submarine for my first assignment after sub school , I wanted to be on a Diesel Boat first, a fast attack second, and a Boomer third preferably a 640 class. I vaguely remember an old salt at a bar in Groton talking about how beautiful Key […]

Freedom of the Seas

On this 236th birthday of the United States Navy, we should never forget the reason why the Navy was formed and why it will remain a part of our Freedom as long as there is a United States of America. The free flow of commerce is one way of guaranteeing a free nation. The oceans still […]