In late 1986 I joined the US Navy Nuclear Power Program as a Machinist’s Mate, to serve my country and earn money for college. After nine months of classroom training I was deployed to upstate New York to learn how to run a nuclear power plant at a prototype facility. My training led me to being selected for a new school in nuclear chemistry and eventually being selected as an instructor at a new facility being built in Charleston South Carolina. It was the first time that a real submarine had been used in the construction of a training facility; only the best for our sailors.
In Charleston I helped supervise construction crews while the missile section was removed from the USS Sam Rayburn (SSBN 635). The following two years saw the prototype being completed and transferred to the Navy Weapons Station where it sites today as MTS-635. During my time there I trained thousands of sailors (enlisted and officer) and lived through hurricane Hugo.
USS Bluefish at commissioning
Pictured with my daughter in 1990
From there I was able to obtain billet on the USS Bluefish (SSN-675) stationed in Charleston, deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, specifically alongside a tender in La Maddalena, Italy. Upon arrival I was immediately suited up and sent into the reactor compartment to help repair a leaking drain valve. While on the Bluefish I was promoted to First Class Petty Officer, became the Leading ELT, qualified every enlisted watch station aft and eventually qualified as the only non-chief Chief of the Watch up front.
After nearly nine years in the Navy I sat on the pier and cast off lines as the Bluefish was transferred to Hawaii to be decommissioned. My experiences while in the Navy were full of little sleep, too much work and challenges that I’ve never seen since. The people I worked with and the technologies I encountered are truly one of a kind and could only have been experienced in a military environment. I was taught to value the experience, rely on my shipmate and solve any problem that came our way.
Together we were stronger than any one and today, after being out for 15 years, I would like to recognize those sailors I served with.
You have made my life more valuable.
You have opened my eyes to the opportunities that our world holds.
You will forever be my shipmates.
If you are/were a member of the USS Bluefish, drop-by and join our Facebook Group. Be with friends.
This article has been Digiproved © 2010
Nice entry, the Bluefish facebook site is great!
Those experiences changed my life. I served next to you for about three years. The worst and best three years of my life.
[...] This morning he attended the bible study with me. For the last 13 years of our friendship I have shared my faith but never forced it upon him. We share a respect for each other that goes beyond normal friend; he is also my shipmate. [...]