Short, Jewish and From an Unspectacular background… Welcome to the Naval Academy Class of 1922

Overcoming being Overcome. Once upon a time, I began to write a story about the importance of overcoming being overcome. We had grand illusions that this would be the book of a lifetime. At that point I had so many examples and thought the time was right. Well, the moment passed but the idea never […]

Agent Orange and Guam… Fifty Years of Consequences

UPDATED INFORMATION AT END OF POST (FEBRUARY 2025) A little over fifty years ago, I came to the island of Guam for the very first time. The crew flight from Hawaii was one of the longest I had ever been on. Frankly, it was THE longest in my young life. Along with the officers and […]

Off to Alaska – Submarines Explore the Last Frontier

Port Call Alaska 1934 – Just Another Routine Port Call… Or Was It? I love Alaska. I had previously been on one boat that had travelled near the coast of the Last Frontier, but it wasn’t until many years later that I was actually able to see the forty ninth state up close and personal. […]

The Silent Service Needs You (1950’s version)

After World War 2, the US Navy had a surplus of many items from the big war. On both the east coast and the west coast, temporary resting places for many of the ships and submarines were teeming with no longer needed ships and submarines. I remember seeing large numbers of ships tied up and […]

“Air Conditioning? Real Submariners Don’t Need No Air Conditioning”

“Air Conditioning? Real Submariners Don’t Need No Air Conditioning” From the very beginning of the submarine service in the United States, there were a number of constants. First, there was limited space. Priority was given to the machinery and support systems that would make the submarine effective. The engines were small at first but grew […]

Not for glory, but for victory – The need for Auxiliary Ships

Not for glory, but for victory Submarine tenders are near and dear to my heart. My seagoing career was launched and finished on the decks of two Cold War era tenders (USS Proteus and USS Hunley). Although Proteus was actually built as a World War 2 era tender, she was later converted to support the […]

“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 […]

I never thought to question it. It was just my place in line.

In 1972, one of the first things that happened after getting my first official navy haircut, I stood in a long line of civilians that was about to be issued their first seabag. It was the third week of June and Great Lakes was unseasonably cold. Living next to one of the Great Lakes 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 […]

Alert 1, Alert 1… This is not a drill

Sleeping soundly in our beds Last night, before I went to bed, I checked the doors to make sure they were locked. I also turned on our security system and listened for that familiar female voice to say “Simply Safe on. Home”. That means that we are snug in our house and if for any […]