[Henson]

I like Tom Clancy too. I have read all of his books and believe him to be an outstanding storyteller.

I also realize that his books are fiction, and that he is a writer of fiction. His job is not to KNOW things, it is to make them up. All of the 'information' in his books is just that: made up.

I stand by my original statement. That is no smear on Mr Clancy or his books (which are outstanding); it is simply the truth. The man knows less about submarines than my father (who spent 24 years in naval aviation). A week on board a VIP tour does not a submariner make, or every member of congress and the mayor of Jefferson City all know just as much about submarines as Captain Zumbar, my current CO. The claim that Mr Clancy is an expert at anything aside from storytelling (a claim that he himself has never made btw) is preposterous.

My intention here is not to create a pissing contest. I only intend to bring the discussion (which I thought was about the realtive differences in modern CCS/Sonar suites...my bad) away from fantasy and into reality.

I have learned through other military forums that there is a certain type of military enthusiast who will always refuse to listen to the voice of actual experience no matter what the topic. Those people are best dealt with as bluntly as possible, because only extremely blunt dialogue has a hope of jarring them from their fantasy world where everything they say is true. After all, why would a rational person of knowledge waste words on an ignorant self-appointed expert when there is finite time in the day?

It is for the above reason that I post bluntly. Blame the colorful language and the artful throw of the referee's yellow 'bull****" flag on my years of service in the Navy.