Keeping the blogosphere posted on the goings on of the world of submarines since late 2004... and mocking and belittling general foolishness wherever it may be found. Idaho's first and foremost submarine blog. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me; don't call me at home.)

Monday, November 14, 2005

Classic Sub Force "Feel Good" Story

Found this old story that more than anything shows the differences between boomers and fast attacks while trying to play it down. It's a few years old, but still offer some good insights:

"...(LTJG) Kevin (Moller) got to see how the 'other half' of the Submarine Force lives, and we benefited enormously from his superb tactical skills. My junior officers gained a new respect for their boomer counterparts...
"...This "SSN SPECOP ride" initiative is the brainchild of Rear Admiral George Voelker, Commander, Submarine Group Nine. "So far we've had three JO's take advantage of this program, and all have enjoyed great success," Admiral Voelker said. "This program is not meant to diminish the importance of our vital strategic mission, but simply to give our JO's the opportunity to gain more experience across a wider breadth of submarine operations. My hope is that it will give them a better basis upon which to make career decisions. I'm real proud of our three officers who have participated thus far." And Admiral Voelker is backing his program with full TAD funding. "I will pay to fly officers anywhere in the world - the Mediterranean, Japan, the Persian Gulf, …you name it. The key is finding a SSN whose schedule can support us." Admiral Voelker also stressed that the program is "purely voluntary" and will continue as long as the results continue to be as positive as they have been to date.

Interestingly, I don't remember any "Guys on operational SSNs to SSBNs" program...

Seriously, though, although I never served on SSBNs, I had several friends who did, and officers can do very well moving between both types of subs. The Navy tries to get officers to have both SSN and boomer experience in their first three tours, but often aren't too successful; for example, I had orders to a fast boat for XO, so I never would have served on a boomer (although it's not unheard of an officer having his first SSBN tour be his CO tour).

Update 2146 14 Nov: I just noticed that the author of the article is a LCDR Kevin Mooney...

1 Comments:

Blogger Bubblehead said...

Actually, CDR Mooney is still on active duty; this was written several years ago, when he was XO on Georgia.

11/15/2005 8:32 PM

 

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