[Submariner409]

Here was my last Navy sea duty job - hauling 16 of these birds (Poseidon C3) around - waiting................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uljVI4m5e3c

Take 20 minutes to watch these. Very eye-opening and this ain't "virtual" or "reality" - there are no rehearsals - it's real. Somewhere within 10 minutes of the NIMITZ (CVN 68) there's a nuclear fast attack submarine. During flight ops we always hung back there, somewhere - to pick up the pieces (if we could).

http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/carrier1.html

http://www.angelfire.com/ak2/intelligencerreport/carrier2.html

 

[vincentm]

I'll show these to my nephew, he's recently enlisted and is going to Alaska soon.

 

[talismandave]

Wow....I am sitting here so tensed up you'd think I just had to land on that deck!

Pretty wild stuff. Thanks Sub.

 

[Cadillac Kid03]

Hey Sub if you don't mind me asking when were you Enlisted? A buddy of mines Father was a cook in the 50's i can't recall what ship it was but i believe it was a small one.

 

[Submariner409]

I was in from 02/58 to 02/82. 18 years of sea duty: 4 years diesel boats, 4 years fast attacks, 10 years ballistic missile boats. 6 years of submarine staff and instructor duty. Finished the last 6 years (of 30) in the Fleet Reserve. All East Coast, N & S Atlantic, Barents Sea, 2 North Pole runs, Mediterranean, Caribbean. Retired as Master Chief Quartermaster (Operations, Navigation, Intelligence) (Chief Of The Boat [all subs]) (SCUBA Diver [rare gas]). Never worked one day of it all - it was all fun.

 

[Cadillac Kid03]

Wow Sub you never cease to amaze me. So i'm assuming you saw action in Vietnam? How was it workin on a Sub?

 

[Submariner409]

I never "saw" action in country. :lildevil: No idea what you're talking about.*

Go stick your right hand up in the air and try it - you'll like it. A grandson went in last July, Electronics Technician (Nuclear) A-school in Charleston, SC, did very well, came out as an E-4 and is now in Nuclear Power School/Prototype in Charleston. Surface Warfare. If he decides to walk in 6, he can go into a teriffic job at a civilian nuclear power plant. Don't let the weirdos faze you - I have a LOT of time underway in nuke boats and have less whole body radiation dose than you do. A citizen of Denver, CO gets more whole body radiation in 2 weeks than we did in an 80 day patrol.

* I received a PM about this quip .......... it's a way of expressing the old question/answer of "Where did you go ?" ..... "Out" .... "What did you do ?" .... "Nothing".

 

[orconn]

Hey, Sub were you in that "yellow" submarine the Colonel called us about?

 

[dkozloski]

There is also a surface Navy and an airborne Navy. They still have the very best technical schools in the world. The best part of all is that if you lack selfmotivation to better yourself they will also provide that for you as well. They can't force you to anything but they can sure make you wish you had.

 

[EcSTSatic]

I remember those days on the flightdeck. We got hazardous duty for it. We lost a crewman due to a cat malfunction. I have launched and trapped a couple times and rode the rescue copter. One time we departed the carrier for Okinawa on CH47s. I took a lot ofpics with my 35mm and 110.
Semper fi.

 

[Submariner409]

There is also a surface Navy and an airborne Navy. They still have the very best technical schools in the world. The best part of all is that if you lack selfmotivation to better yourself they will also provide that for you as well. They can't force you to anything but they can sure make you wish you had.

The carrier guys can have it - and keep it ............. it's safer underwater .............

 

[RetiredSFC 97]

I work with a guy who was an Air Traffic Controller on a carrier. He retired an E8 about 7 years before I did. He has some interesting stories. Thanks for posting those videos.

When I enlisted in the Army I was actually going to enlist in the Navy and wanted to be a submariner or on an AC Carrier. Navy recruiter wasn't home that day and the rest is hisory.

 

[dkozloski]

I was in the Navy for three years, eleven months, and eighteen days. In retrospect it was like a jolt in the slammer but they taught me a very lucrative trade. I would have made it a career but I couldn't handle the loss of personal freedom. Going from less than 1 person per square mile to 200 pairs of sweaty feet under my nose was too big of a culture shock. They got four years of my life but I got it back in spades.

 

[Submariner409]

Cadillac Kid03 asked how it was "working on a sub". Hard question. Diesel boats were total immersion - you knew you were underwater at all times - particularly because a diesel boat spent more time on the surface than it did underwater. A nuke missile boat is/was different - the only factor limiting the time spent underwater was the crew itself and food (we made our own air from seawater). The boat was happier submerged. Once you were down and trimmed, there was absolutely no sensation of "being underwater". Yes, when we would occasionally go to periscope depth for communication needs or position fixes there was motion and tilting, but that was soon part of the routine. Otherwise it was 6 on, 12 off for 75 days. The fast attack boats were more like living inside a 747 jet aircraft - there were constant speed and attitude changes, and some of the "work" involved chasing the other guys while they were chasing you chasing them. Tense. I have personally heard the whine of high speed torpedo propellers passing down the starboard side of one of the boats I rode.......... not fun. "Cold war", my butt.

 

[Stoneage_Caddy]

if you all were flinging torpedos around like that its amazing the alaskan crab fisherman dont bring them up with the crabs ...must be tons of unexploded goodies down there

 

[Submariner409]

"Hunt For Red October" was a bit over-dramatic...........

 

[CadillacLuke24]

These are some sweet videos Sub! Thanks for sharing!

I couldn't imagine being a carrier pilot. That would be intense.

The best part is that he defended our country, and had fun doing it. What's better than that? Thank you Jim! :salute: