My early years in the US Submarine Force

Many people when they find out I spent 20 years attached to the United States Naval Submarine force ask “How could you do it in submarines?!” sometimes I ask myself that. How could I spend 20 years underwater why the rest of the world was busy making money, having a ‘normal’ life and going to college?

When I first joined the navy, the hardest part was not fully realizing the importance and the quality of the training I was receiving. Many of my friends from home went off to college to major in whatever they wanted to. While I heard about their fun escapades at college parties, girls they were meeting, and classes they were taking in World history, I was quickly being pumped through the military course pipelines. I learned courses in hydraulics, electronics, acoustics and intelligence. In my adolescent mind, these classes were not equal to the history and art courses that my friends back home were taking.

After about a year of schooling in places like Great Lakes Illinois (electricity and electronics), Groton, Connecticut (submarine school) and San Diego California (acoustics, sonar) I was sent to the USS Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP) in Norfolk Virginia. When I reported to MSP I was only 19 years old, still a baby. My adolescent male mind had one thing on my mind-girls. Being onboard a submarine is not the place to find girls.

I quickly realized that my life was going to suck. I went on deployment quickly. 3 months underwater can try any ones sanity, but try it when you are a 19 year old boy. There were times I was delinquent in my qualifications, times I was behind in my studies and my work. It doesn’t take long to find out that the crew of 120 men relies on you to qualify on time and to complete your work correctly and on time. That is a life long lesson that benefits me today.

The submarine force can be a very lonely place. One of the strengths of the military is their teamwork. Submariners rely on each other very closely. They do everything together. However, if it is difficult for you to understand this sense of teamwork, or if you are an outsider, it can be painful. Such was my case. I did not go out drinking with many fellow sailors. I did not ‘hang out’ with them. I wanted to get away when I could. This sometimes created a sense that I did not want to be a part of them. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I just wasn’t a drinker, I didn’t smoke, and I was a hiker that wanted some freedom. I knew that I would get in trouble if I drank since I didn’t know how to control it; therefore I choose to stay away. I respected and admired everyone I served with, the greatest men of all time; I just wasn’t good at fitting in.

It was difficult not fitting in, looking for girls in a navy town, and feeling that life was passing me by. However, nothing could have been further from the truth. There are many people that feel life passes them by, not just the military. It is only after talking with people 20 years after the fact, that many wish they had my experiences. They wish they had seen the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Israel, or the Fiords of Norway at 3AM. I questioned the military training when I was young, only to find out that it is the best training in the world. It was very easy for me to graduate from college with two BAs and a Masters because of all this training (all without spending a dime). Where else can you find one person how works with Quality Assurance, Acoustics, Training, Education, hydraulics and electronics? This is the typical submariner, not just me.

Viva la submarine force!