Any operational or technical references are in the public domain.
 

No information relating to the national security of the United States is disclosed.
 

First up was Boot Camp.  This was in the lovely, not quite frozen tundra of Illinois.

I had enlisted in the Philippines (dad was active duty there) and it had been a long
trip.  The moonies wanted my money at LA and O'hare.

Since I had come in alone I had to figure out how to check-in.  The bus dropped me
off at the front gate.  What to do?  Oh good there is a guard at the gate.  Well in no
time at all someone shows up, tells me to 'grab my stuff' and he goes a running.  Hell.
After a short run, I guess a mile we end up at the barracks for check-ins.  "Why did
we have to run?"  Unless you are in formation with a company, all recruits at Great
Lakes will Run, not jog, between destinations.  Oh Boy, this was not the Navy that
I had pictured at all.

After a few weeks of this and that, formed up with a company, learning how to do
things the Great Lakes Navy Way, and making some friends, things were not too
bad.  Until the day I decided to buy some cigars:

One day, For some reason, I decided to buy a cigar and hang out with the smokers...
There was a room set aside just for smoke breaks and it looked like some good
conversation was going on, and I was not going to miss out.  Short story is that
someone mentioned that I had turned green about 5 minutes into the smoke break,
and I cleared out.  I have had one (1) cigar since then.

On another fine day I had the honor of standing watch over the 'pieces'+  for the first
half of a visit to the mess hall.  It was only November but that 'ol arctic air had come in
and wouldn't you know it, snow.  The short sleeves and dungarees just didn't cut it and
by the time my relief arrived I wasn't sure if my ears were still with me.  Fortunately I had
the company of about 10 others that were in the same position I was and looking over
and seeing the looks on their faces kept me 'at my post' guarding are WWI rifles from
the wind and snow.

...the swim guys wanted me to take some more tests when
we had our day at the pool, turned that down (UDT test I found out), the dentist
wanted to put me in a 'test study' that would mean 8 weeks out while they broke my
jaw to make my teeth look pretty, turned that down too...hence my pipeline path
continued.
 

Boot camp turned out okay. Our company won the Cheerio and a bunch of other stuff,
I was the NSL nominee, and we didn't trip over each other at graduation.

These were Not the brightest guys on the planet but from what I remember we made a good team.
 

After a week off I found out that I was going to BEE, bee double e, basic electricity
and electronics, at, you guessed!  Great Lakes.  December through March, oh boy.
School was easy, Christmas at the barracks sucked, MTV was just getting on the air
and the roommate loved watching 'Rock the Cazbah' and whatever what being played.
And I got to watch the Lake Freeze over.
The civilian instructors were excellent thou and I really learned allot and liked it. I ended
up in some top percentage but it didn't really mater.  It was fun.

So it's March and it must be time to go to Sonar A-school by now.  No way.  Off to
rotten groten for sub-school.

I had been forewarned about 'teradactyl airlines' but didn't believe it until I experienced
it.  I guess they were the low bidder.  My luggage was lost...in flight.  Enough said.

It was cold, we were non-quals, and every one was busting our balls.

The dive trainer was fun.  But most memorable was the casualty (?) trainer.
Our class was locked into a tank (with box seating for the
instructors and operators) that was similar to an engine room of a 640 class SSBN,
then the water was turned on.  Eventually every pipe seam and valve had water shooting
out of it.  No big deal, until guys had to start diving under water to get to the leaking
pipes.  I don't think that we were supposed to be able to solve all the problems but we
did try.  I recall that the water was turned off before it was over our heads...
I left with the NSL, Navy Submarine League, award for our class.  Still don't know
why or how but it is a good organization.

So off to San Diego for the summer.  I am pipe-line (six year tour) so I automatically
get A-school, and if I am a good boy C-school.  Don't know what B-school is/was
but submariners must skip it now.  Did pretty good in A- and C- school, I chose the stuff
that would put me on fast attacks, as I just knew that was where I wanted to be and
got a chance at the 'super-tech' school for another ~XX weeks.
Now San Diego is nice all year round, but these class rooms did not have air conditioning
and it Was summer time.  I remember one time....never mind.  Anyhow I met a really
good person, and  a friend,  IZZY De Jesus.   Izzy had already been on missions
and was back to get his reward, super-tech school in lovely San Diego.  Izzy introduced
me to the Commodore 64 games, weekly haircuts, dry cleaners, and some activities
that I will not reveal until certain statutes of limitations have expired.  We graduated
near the top, got the boat/command we wanted (he had just come from Bergall) and
drove cross country in his Fiat to Norfolk, VA.  Well the Fiat had a bad alternator
somewhere in the desert.  After coaxing the old girl into what looked like a repair
place we got the bad news, no parts, they will be on the Greyhound, sometime.  Oh
boy.  We split the cost, enjoyed the local bar for about 10 minutes, and got the
hell out of dodge.  Of course it was the wrong diode set in the alternator but at least
we made it as far as my families place near San Antonio were we could rest and
get some real Fiat service.  It was fall again, I remember skidding across the ice
outside Atlanta, and Izzy informing me that >30 over the speed limit and they don't
bother taking you to jail.  Overall a real good, career guiding experience.  Izzy got
me through school flying high.  Thanks Buddy.
 
 

Norfolk, VA....ahhhh....seems colder here than in Great Lakes.  I reported on board Bergall
and was immediately classified as A NON-QUAL PUKE *.

Capt Miladenao
xo
weps 'chas'
Tom  Kuntz Shamokin PA  c-school
Chief Laplante

Bergall:    Well they wanted me to sleep on board because there wasn't room in the
                barracks.  That was my first indication that something was just not right.

                Oh yea, mess cook duty...that was interesting.  A lot of people didn't
                like me, hell I didn't know them, didn't know what I was doing wrong
                and such.  Turns out being a non-qual with a bad attitude was the problem.

                I put my nose to the grindstone once I found that out.  Until;

                Something really bad happened one night in port and we ended up having
                to basically re-build the SES.  I might as well have just lived on board
                because we worked 20 hours a day to get things back in order.  The
                end result was good.  I got to work with the tech rep most of the time
                and learned all those neat tricks that you just don't get in school.
                 Guess that no one had really cared about the equipment for a couple
                years and it was not in good shape even before the incident.

                Pat Davis told the XO that I had been living in Sonar during the process
                then during field day in the overhead one day the XO shows up and asks
                about how I became so computer smart and such.  Can't remember
                my answer but he was interested and that meant allot.

                I was awarded  my first Navy Achievement Metal at the next awards
                ceremony, proving that standards had hit a  low point on Bergall.
 

Topside:   Of course the first thing that I qualified was topside watch.  Probably
Watch      should say 'was qualified' as it wasn't my priority.  The Elizabeth River
                is nasty, cold, and only a few feet away.  It was said that several shots
                were required for anyone who went 'for a swim' and a rumor was going
                around that the local Seal Team liked to practice, on us.
                I was starting to wonder why I hadn't taken the nuke test.

Room :    We had the capability to carry these things called SubRocs.  Submarine
Watch      launched rockets.  So of course someone had to sit in the torpedo
                room and baby-sit.  At least it was warm.
 

Quals:                       Non-qual got a NAM.  Things didn't get much better.  Chief
                Laplante was not very happy.  Some kind of personality dis-order
                or maybe it was his hemorrhoids. I don't know.  By the time I
                was ready for my board (so I thought) after only 10 months on
                board, he had decided to line me up with the brain trust on the boat.  You might
                know them.  The guys that had 3.5 floppys  in their pocket and
                had a knack for knowing things about the boat that weren't in the docs.
                Anyway I had the brain trust for my board  and the Chief must have
                told them to give me hell and they did.

                It Took 'em the entire off-watch to fail me.
                I was floored.
                The Chief was happy to see me put in my place.

                Thanks to alot of people, mostly STS1(SS) Pat Davis, walking me
                through things that I had missed and hooking me up with the guys that
                really cared about teaching and in general some really good personal
                guidance, from guys like Powell Barber I passed with the same board a few weeks later.**

                Probably the best / most painful part of  qualifying Submarines is that the crew
                made sure that the dolphins would never come off of my chest.
 
 

La Spezia
La Maddalina
Palma de Mallorca
 

Bergall:    'Chas' was our Weapons Officer, a way cool dude, and he had just lost his wife
               to cancer.  Anyway the good stuff now...I remember him stating 'those with
               the most toys when they die, win.'  Well he had every toy and shared them with
               the rest of the department.  He took us and our families all out to Lynhaven inlet
               for a great day of jet ski and boating.  I still have pictures of STS1 (SS) Pat Davis,
               with his daughters on the boat.  It was a great day and although I cannot remember
               your full name, thanks Chas.
 
 

                                                                                                        "Lets blow this popsicle stand!"  --unknown

                The picture at the top of the page is myself, topside during the Panama Canal
                transit to the yard.  This was probably the best time for me on Bergall.  We
                stopped in San Diego for an off-load and had time to hit the local entertainment
                establishments (The Pump Room).  Since most of the Sonar gang had spent time
                in the area finding the dives was not a problem.
                In Vallejo we found this bar with all kinds of submarine type stuff on the walls.
                I couldn't remember the name until I saw the Parche site.
                It was the Horse & Cow.   That was a dive of first class.

                It took me about 2 days in the yard to realized that I had made a good decision.

                Bergall was going to the shipyard.  I took the opportunity to split tour.  I got
                to pick a boat, not just any boat.  Rickover.
 
 

The 688 class, I was warned, is not as good a platform as the 637. "It's just  too big," was  one  comment  that I   remember. "Still not  enough  bunks," someone   else   mentioned.         I have to agree. ++

                The Rome airport had just been shot up, and americans were on the most
                wanted list for terrorist, according to someone at the State Department.
                 We were told to grow our hair out and travel in civvies.  Yea okay.
                Americans stand out in a crowd just about anywhere in the world and
                the three of us were no exception.
                It was kinda cool going incognito while everyone else was in uniform.
                So we go Norfolk NAS to Philly International (MAC terminal I think) and
                we are not booked for Naples "why aren't you in uniform!?."  It was late at
                night and no help was to be had from squadron.
                So we had to weasel are way onto the next available, in the morning sometime.
                Well we ended up making the flight we were originally scheduled for, how
                I don't remember.
                Naples was fun.  We hung out for two days in a local hotel waiting for our
                'flight' to Sardinia.  The bars were interesting, the taxi drivers were a terror
                and I remember that you could buy gas from little stands on the side of the
                road that were un-attended.  This was my second time in Napoli so I showed
                the guys around a bit.  Pompeii and some bar I can't/won't remember the
                name of.
 
 

After Bergall arrived at the shipyard I spit-toured to H.G. Rickover, already half-way through a med-run.  I had just finished
one so it was nice to fly out to the Rock and get going again...I think...  I'll get a pic scanned in one of these
Days, for now here is a nice page that has some SSN-709 pictures.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Rickover:    I had figured out from the Bergall that attitude Is everything.

                I was going to at least get off to a good start with these guys.  They were
                just out of new construction and were rumored to be the hot boat on
                the river.  I found out why.
                I am not going into an operational stuff but lets just say that Rickover was
                taking names and kicking some butt.  I got the run down during a little visit
                to La Madalina with the Sonar Gang:
 
 

                The Sonar Chief 'Chubby', 'Elmo' , and Pat Bracy are the ones I remember
                I think Art might have come along.  Chubby says that we have to go out and
                find a place to get calzone and 'bigger beer.'  I was planning on a quiet night
                with the UYK's as they were not feeling well.
                Chubby rounds every one up and off we go on the small boat to 'La Mad'

                The beers turned out to be Really Big and the calzone was good. On the
                way back to the pier Chubby and I got in this wrestling match.
                (something about who could kick whomevers ass)
                Chubby ended up in the bushes while the local carabaneri
                and others looked on.  He re-appeared, laughing his ass off and SP didn't
                show up.  We got on the small boat and headed back.  I still worked on
                the computers, much to Arts disapproval as I was slightly inebriated.

                I was having my good start.  "Chasing commies for mommie" would become
                my trademark saying.

                The rest of the run was very good.  Most everyone got their quals completed
                and I re-qualed Sonar Sup for the trip home.  We shot the straights and
                hauled ass most of the way home.  Rickover picked up a MUC for that
               run/year.  First in the med with TLAM-C/LINK-11 and all that good stuff.

                It was too bad that the XO and Chubby didn't get along.   Chubby was booted
                off the boat just before our SRA.  He was the best Sonar Chief and I hope
                that he is doing well.

                LT Young was our Sonar Officer.  He was one of those guys that you just
                have to like.  He worked his ass off making sure that we were taken care
                of and that Sonar Div was #1.  Well I don't think that the nuclear trained
                personnel thought as much of him as he was E.B. Greened a couple times.
 
 

                Capt Cmdr Cohen
                XO Ltcdr Murphy
                LT      (mustang) Weps
                LT Kelso (the admirals kid) Radio/ESM
                Sonar: LT Young
                Chiefs: 'Chubby', William's
                'Two Dogs'
                'Mo'  Elmore
 
 
 
 

Rickover:  So The Nav hates cigar smoke.  He doesn't talk too much and is a pretty good
                guy, so of course is opened to any kind of harassment.  On the way in from
                weekly ops the Nav has the bridge and someone breaks out...a box of cigars.
                (probably a Adm Rickover striker)
                So about 6 of us stand at the bear trap and proceed to blow smoke.
                Nav comes down from the bridge looking a bit green...he made it all the way
                to the head... %

                Postscript;  The Nav save our butts with some quick thinking and positive action.

                This is a 'no-shitter;'

                We were in BFE during an un-namable deployment in a not very well charted area
                of the world.
                I had just been relieved as Sonar Supervisor and was making a quick round in the
                control room.  STS2(SS) Bracy was on the Fathometer, and had that look that he
                got when something just wasn't right.  I looked down at the chart and sure enough
                the needle was heading uphill.  The Nav was the OOD.  Pat calls out the sounding,
                Nav kinda walked over to the fath., takes a peak..."no problem" I think he said.
                There was still plenty of water, relative to what we were doing.
                Well Bracy must have that something something that they look for when selecting
                Sonar Technicians because 10 seconds later the needle bumps up again and he
                shouts out another sounding.
                THis time the Nav didn't even check, he heard the tone in Pat's voice.  "Up 5deg
                on the fairwater planes, helm full left rudder"  (we were at a full bell I believe).  Well
                I just got out of the way and held onto the railing by the QM stand.  A minute or so later
                after slowing down and getting to a more reasonable depth and angle we looked at the
                fathometer chart.
                We had missed the bottom by exactly one needle tip, we figured less than
                twenty feet.   If it were not for the Nav and Pat Bracy, at a minimum we would
                have ended up on the front page of most of the world's newspapers.
                We were glad to remain anonymous and intact.

                The Crew:

                The crew was cool.  We didn't really have the nuke/coner thing going until allot
                of the plankowners had left.  I could go back and hang out in LLMR working
                on re-qualifing and be welcomed.  Anyway this thing about Buckaroo Bonzi
                got started and they were watching it like every night.  I guess it was the cult
                film for the run.  I never really got it.  What was cool is how the guys in the
                crews mess would break out in a song.  I remember 'Happy Trails to You'
               and 'Rawhide' being popular.  It was nice to be accepted into that crew.
 

                Holly Lock Scotland;

                The British base at Faselane was nice but the British Submariners were completely
                out of control.  Sonar was invited over to the HMS Conqueror, so a few of us
                headed over one afternoon to check things out.  Rumor was that they had a bar
                on board.
                The rumor was true.  After a few 'pints' in the crews mess we get the tour of the
                boat 'this is the tube that we fired to sink the Belgrano' and ended up in Sonar.
                Of course they wanted to have, how do you say, an exchange of information now
                that they had us on board and feeling good.  We learned some neat things then
                headed back to the crews mess.  Last thing I remember about the boat was the
                floor in the head.  Somehow I made it back to my rack without falling off the
                pier.  The next day I was told that we had a real good time with the brits.

                A few of us adventured a taxi ride out to town to do some Christmas shopping
                and check out a bar or two.  This time we stayed civil as I recall.
                On the way back, just outside of the gate, looked like the parking lot to Woodstock.
                Painted up VWs, anti-this and anti-that signs.  Wow that was a time warp and
                I didn't even remember the 60's but there they were.
                So It was mission accomplished, presents in hand and feeling real good.

                Oh yea, I managed to swap dolphins with one of the Sonar Techs from the
                Conqueror.  Brit dolphins are way cool.  Still got'em too.
 
 
 

                Now it wasn't all happy happy.  I had my problems.   But with the 1980's
                crew of the Rickover just about everything came out all right.
 

                                                                                I'm so short I can sit on a dime and my feet won't touch the deck.

                                                                                                                                                        --unknown

                I don't know exactly when I officially became 'short' but when that happened myself
                and 'Scotty'  had a good time of it.  xxxxxxxxxx
 
 

Diving the Dome:
The sonar dome is a 20+ foot diameter sphere at the front of the boat.  This is the
working end of the sonar system.
Without too much detail lets say that there is some electronic equipment inside and
with a 1000+ of anything something is going to break once in a while.
Hence:

There are two types of dome diving:

        1. From the inside
        2. From the outside

1:        While underway is probably the most fun.  The dome has >1000 hull penetrations
           in it where the transducers pass thru to allow the cables.
            It takes a special kind of submariner that will dive the dome underway.
            Most 688's had this dolly that could be used to run back and forth but we had
            removed it because it was hitting cables.
            On the 667 it was a real short trip from the hatch to the floor in the dome so no
            big deal.  Plenty of room to work and stand.

            Basically you crawl through someone's rack, taking out the access door, and open
            up a hatch.  Then, after sliding into the tunnel it gets shut, but not dogged, behind
            you.
            I dove the dome underway twice, to fix 'screamers.'  It is an interesting feeling,
            something that the guys on those deep submergence vehicles might feel.  Alone.

2:        Once in a while the face of the transducers has to be cleaned.  This is a Sonar
            Div event that usually takes two days.  One to pump out the dome, the other
            to get everyone in to clean.
            Access was from topside and you were inside the dome but standing on rungs
            on the sphere itself.  Hoses buckets of soapy water and greenies were used.

            Both times that I was in there it was a lot of fun.  Sliding down to the bottom,
            mostly after being knocked off the rungs by the fire hose, telling sea stories,
            and getting the 'rider' to give us that tech assist that we just couldn't do without.
           ( dunking him at the bottom of the dome )
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

footnotes

*             not qualified in submarines.

**            After reading some of the stories here on the 'net about how qualification
                was handled I now feel that I was treated about the same.  No hard feelings
                to Chief Simons, DS1, and the others that were on my board.  Actually
                that is what I needed to snap me out of the 'me is great I am a tech'
                state of mind.  Chief LaPlante can still kiss my ass thou.
 

***        Who ripped it off from Rod Martini, who probably got it from a xeroxed copy
               of a copy on his last boat.
                I remember seeing  a copy (4th generation at least) while in Sonar School.

****    Rickover ended up with a 'boatload' of awards.  The one that I most
            appreciated was the Hook'em.

+             M-1 Rifles
 

++           It (688) was designed to protect and escort the fleet, with most everything else a second
                thought.  But, since it was so big (long) there was lots of room to make up for that mistake.
                Searching the web I found out that de-commissionings are being conducted based on
                funding for a new core.  If that is true then someone in congress thinks well of the 637's
 

%             It was ironic to find a cigar.com site when I was doing a search for the HGR
                on the www.
 
 

                Adm Rickover never did visit the boat.  Rumor was that he wanted an aircraft carrier named after
                him.  His wife, Mrs. Eleanor B. Rickover, did make a visit shortly after the Admirals death in 1986.
 
 

Although there have been some stories in the news media and books
written about those accounts this doesn't mean that the dam has broken.
We need to put a plug in it and keep the "Silent" in the Silent Service.
There are shipmates underway right now that are depending on this.
              The stuff in the media is 95% bull shit anyway.

                                                                                --David Trolinger