[Frame57]

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...