Not only that, but it's one watchstander! And I think I read that they also combined the SCP and BCP, so that one watchstander is no longer the junior section member but a Chief Petty Officer!

So it seems that the helmsman/planesman and COW have been combined into one watch station! Damn the torpedoes...Driving the boat was the most fun I had as a nub. Heck, now you would have to be an E-7 before you can have some fun. Eh! maybe one day I will get to take a tour of one of these.

I was just about to recount almost that same exact story. I guess it isn't as uncommon of a mistake as I had thought. I feel for the dumbass that dogged it while we were a test depth though. He became known for the incident. Also we didn't return to sea, they had the tender land a ****load of lead onto the hatch so it could be undogged. A few hundred pounds per square inch can add up when spread across an escape hatch.:D

Let me know if these questions are coming too fast or too randomly. They really sorta come to me randomly through the day whenever I read about sub life.

Here's are a few general questions about life of a submariner...

1) What motivated you to go into the submarine force? What did you see in the sub force that made you say "that's where I want to serve"? Was it a person that you met and made it sound like a great place to be? Or was there someone that you met that inspired you that subs were more noble? Did you know that you wanted to be a submarine before you even joined the navy?

2) Once you joined the sub force, was the experience what you expected it to be? Better? Worse? Different? If so, how?

3) Do most submariners on there first duty return for a 2nd tour? (if "tours" are what you call them). Why did the ones that stayed stay, and why did the ones that went go?

4) How much more or less is the pay of a submariner than the pay of a 'equally ranked' surface ship sailor (if its not too rude to ask). I guess a good comparision would be a fresh-first-time-on-any-ship-surface-sailor versus a fist-time-fresh-on-any-boat-submariner (if they can be compared). Did pay difference effect decisions to stay?

5) How much more diffulcult was it on your family for a submariner versus a surface ship sailor? Did you see them less often than a surface-ship sailor? Or talk to them less? Were relationships harder to maintain/sustain for a submariner versus other sailors?

6) What do you miss the most about the service?

That is a SERIOUS amount of lead.

We just opted to go back out. They made sure to post on the POD the name of the dumb*** who cost us a day in port. Want to know the REAL fun part, when we got back in, there was a team standing by to perform an exam. The ORSE team. Yeah, fun time for all. A suprise ORSE to add to that weeks fun.

That week has some choice memories when I go back and read my diary.

I did it to be different. I am from a LONG line of aviators. My dad was an LtCdr while I was an enlisted puke (both in at the same time!) Anyway, I just wanted to be different. I turned down a chance at the Naval Academy (I had a free ride if I had wanted it) and looked to enlist to start my own life. I passed the NFQT and decided that I needed to do things on my own. Once I made it out of nuke school subs seemed to be the place to be. All my instructors who were suface nukes seemed to have a corncob up the rectum and the bubbleheads were just laid back.

It was ... different. You can not understand the pressure and expectactions that are placed on you. You can not understand the bonds that are formed unless you are there to experience them. The only thing I rate higher in my life is having kids. Nothing else compares to the experience.

1) The PRIDE of doing a job.

That is where the politics came into play. If I could have just done my JOB, I would have retired from it. But alas, you have to play the game. It is a game with hard rules and harder consequences for failure to abide by them. It is about getting a 'ticket punched', getting that 'bullet' billet. It is not about being the best you can do at your job, it is how well you network and who you do not piss off in doing your job.

2) Trust

I was an oddball on my boat. Everyone picks on everyone to some extent. People would razz me all the time becuase I was easy to razz and just let it roll off me. But when things went wrong or you NEEDED someone who knew their job, I was one of the first asked to be there. I knew I was valued when we had an actual emergency in the engineroom. The question was asked quickly "who is ERUL?" and the answer was 'Merc'; they told me later that they knew everything was going to be cool, They knew I had my end handled and could trust in my abilities.

Joining the Submarine Service was an act of divine providence. I was painting the navy recruiters house and he did what all recruiter are good at and talked me into it. He promised the best schools, pay and chow and he was right in all aspects.

Subs sailors get "sea pay" and "hazardous duty pay" which I believe Teddy Roosevelt authorized after he toured one of the early boats. I am not sure what the figures would be today, but back 20 plus years I guess we made about 30 to 40 percent more money than sailors who did not have those extra pay perks.

The navy invests a lot of time and money in their sub sailors so once you are a bubblehead you remain one unless you get in trouble. So one does not go from subs to lets say a tin can at his discretion. Planned rotation dates (PRD's) came up every two years and often crew members would transfer to another boat or take a stint of shore duty if they were up for it and wanted it.

I found a profound difference between the surface fleet and the sub fleet. I found submariners to be very detail minded and professional and we got things done with little red tape. I found the surface fleet to be oddly disfunctional at times and had little "esprit de corp". I saw intense dislike toward us from skimmers as we called them, especially when tied up to a sub tender. It was not uncommon to have them curse us and try to fight with us when tied next one. yet this behavior on their part was common knowledge and their superiors never did anything to stop them. I vowed to never have anything to do with the surface navy again after those experiences.

What makes one stay? For me it was a sense of belonging. Ithink most sub sailors feel and are an integral part of that sub and its missions. A true sense of accomplishment. I would do it all over again...

Think about it.

Submariner.

It is a unique occupation. It has no civilian counterpart.

What about infantry soldier ? :arrgh!:

Police officer. SWAT member.

Ok .. then artillery crew, ICBM silo crew :|\\

If I had to compare ICBM silo duty with snoopin and poopin on a fast attack, it would be like watching the paint dry as opposed to stalking game in the wilderness. Oh, wait I think EA is coming out with a ICBM silo sim....NOT!:haha: Even though those people are vital to national security I would have to say it would be terminally boring duty. I often thought about getting a job with one of those underwater exploration outfits. But for now it is just supporting the Naval Submarine League and keeping the Pompanito afloat...

Aviation Mechanic

Aviation Electronics Tech

Sheet Metal Worker

NASA Contractor

ESA Contractor

Bomb Squad/EOD

Down Periscope!

Myself, I was born in SE Indiana which meant the only opportunities I saw around me was farming or factory worker. Neither was something I could stand. I had a taste for adventure and I had never seen a submarine or the ocean. So it was my kind of jumping off the cliff into something that promised the most awakening experience.

It was that and more. The time really formed my moral character and my self teaching tendency. Submarine qualifications IMHO are about way more than the knowledge you obtain in that year. It trains you to seek information and find it yourself. With perseverance and attention to detail. I quit high school to join and really got nothing guaranteed but a chance in the submarine program. I got way more than I bargained for and certainly more than the rest of high school and college could have given me.

I actually skirted a number of red tape hurdles miraculously allowing me to obtain an electronics rating and a number of difficult to get in programs. Without graduating HIGH SCHOOL! Today I own and operate a computer and networking consulting company. Most everything I learn by researching and reading myself. I loath "schools".

All that I have done in my 20 years since I got out I can say would not have been possible without having served that time. The skills I will use till I become senile. Then I will probably run for government office!:har: