Submariners worldwide mourned the tragic loss of MM3(SS) Michael Gentile during a field day accident aboard USS Nebraska (SSBN 739)(Blue) last September. Beebs over at beebsblog has obtained a heavily-redacted copy of the Command Investigation into the tragedy; you can read it -- along with the endorsements -- here, here, and here. (Click on each .jpg to make it readable.)
The bottom line from the investigation is found on page 9: "MM3 Gentile was a hard-working and respected member of the command. The EMT efforts were heroic and inspiring, prolonging the life of MM3 Gentile. The crew united to expeditiously surface and conduct a safe helicopter transfer while treating a wounded shipmate. The death of MM3 Gentile is recommended to be deemed 'In the line of duty and not due to his own misconduct.' "
Hopefully this tragedy will prevent this from happening to someone else. Submarining is a dangerous business, and the inviolable safety rules are written in blood. It's important that all Submariners remember that, and keep in mind Petty Officer Gentile and his tragic fate in everything we do.
Update 0539 03 Feb: Closing comments.
Kings Bay May Get An Admiral
A Department of Defense report spurred by the Air Force's recent problems with nuclear weapons security found that, while the Navy is doing a good job, we should split the "Trident Command" established in 2006 and have a separate Admiral and staff in both Bangor and Kings Bay for the Tridents on each coast. Excerpts from this article:
"That will have big implications for Camden County," McNeill said. "That means 15 or more people on the admiral's staff, and splitting the squadrons will bring more staff. We'll see the community more enmeshed with the Navy.A wise old CO once told me that every decision of this type is based one how the Submarine Force uses the Flag positions they have, and whether or not they can possibly take a Flag position away from some other part of the Navy. The original decision was obviously based on opening up another Admiral slot at the Pentagon; the question now is whether the Sub Force will have to give up the D.C. spot they got, or if they'll take a spot from the skimmers or airdales. The worst possible option, of course, would be for Big Navy to create another Admiral slot -- Lord knows we have enough Flag Officers around.
The report also notes that the Trident Training Facility is at 50 percent of its manning level, reduced from 340 instructors and staff to 150. The report recommends reversing the personnel decision because the cuts limited submarine crews' ability to build high-performance teams in skills including navigation, sonar and communications.
"Submarine commanders were uniformly concerned that the Trident Training Facility was near a tipping point in this regard," the report states.
Investigators also objected to the "manpower drain" resulting from Individual Augmentation assignments in which Navy personnel are used to supplement armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism. It has taken away instructors, the report said, but does not affect nuclear weapons security forces.
Additionally, investigators pointed to a lack of intelligence personnel at Kings Bay and noted "commanding officers at Kings Bay said they had to resort to open-source information as substitute for classified intelligence information of mission importance."
Sali To Challenge Minnick In 2010
Yes! Just as Idaho politics were in danger of getting boring, beaten former Congressman Bill Sali has filed his statement of candidacy for the the seat he was voted out of in November. Hopefully he'll win the Republican primary and continue to provide amusement for all Idahoans with his blatant idiocy while losing badly to new Congressman Walt Minnick.
Maybe Bill Sali Fan will have to come out of retirement...
Maybe Bill Sali Fan will have to come out of retirement...
The Character Of A Submariner
Here's a story that made the local media that I first looked at as a "this is so sad" type of thing -- a man stops on the Interstate to help a crash victim, and gets hit by another car driving down the road. Today, this story became more personal to me when I found out the injured Good Samaritan is a Submariner. Excerpts from the story:
Update 0740 05 Feb: Updates on Mr. Hadden's condition can be found here and here. Nel's old shipmate provided the following update on what people can do to help:
A former shipmate of Mr. Hadden reported this to me:Police say a 46-year old Pendleton-area man sustained critical injuries Monday afternoon when he was struck by an automobile while assisting at a crash scene on Interstate 84 near the John Day River.
Oregon State Police Sergeant Pat Shortt says Monday afternoon at 3:23 PM, a white 2006 Ford Focus driven by 47-year old Juana Fortier of Portland, was eastbound on Interstate 84 near milepost 116 when it hit a spot of black ice, slid off of the south side of the freeway and overturned.
Shortt says that despite sustaining minor injuries, Fortier was able to exit her vehicle. Another eastbound motorist, 46-year old Nels Hadden of Pendleton, stopped to help Fortier.
"At approximately 3:43 p.m. Hadden was standing on the shoulder of the freeway when an eastbound blue 2001 Volkswagen Beetle driven by 18-year old Elizabeth Murray of Pendleton, lost control and slid off the south side of the freeway striking Hadden."
He is really in bad shape....his wife has been providing updates...I can pass them on if you like. At this point...I think he will make it...but he will never be the same.Here's the Oregon State Police accident report. Please keep Nels Hadden and his family in your prayers. I'll pass on any additional information as it comes available.
I think this is newsworthy because it reflects on the character of a submariner. Someone who is willing to help anyone out...in rough weather...when he could have just driven on with his own business...and in this case he paid a tough price. Nels was an enlisted Sonarman, just a regular guy. He was a hard worker who would give you the shirt off his back, I stood a lot of watches with him as his sonar supervisor.
Update 0740 05 Feb: Updates on Mr. Hadden's condition can be found here and here. Nel's old shipmate provided the following update on what people can do to help:
There are a few things that anyone can do to help. The number one thing would be prayer and just goodwill to Nels, his wife Betsy and the rest of the family. The second would be to spread the word to let people know about his sacrifice.I really like the idea of going down and donating blood -- that helps everyone.
The doctors estimate that Nels has received at least 50 units of blood. He made a one-man assault on the platelet supply at the American Red Cross. You can help by donating blood at your local Red Cross or traveling blood drive.
There are also some financial needs as well. You can to go into any US Bank and tell the teller you would like to donate to the Nels W. Hadden Beneficiary Donation Account. If you have any difficulty with them finding the account, let them know the account was established on 1/30/09. The account has been set up to accept wire transfers.
Also, if you would like to send the family a card, (flowers aren't allowed in ICU and there isn't any room in the waiting room) you can mail them to:
Legacy Emanuel Hospital
Nels Hadden
WWICU Room 13
2801 N. Gantenbein
Portland, Oregon, 97227
Officer / Enlisted Divide In The Sub Force, Or Lack Of Same
Neptunus Lex has a really good post about his sorrow for once "pulling rank" on an enlisted Sailor over what was meant as a good-natured insult. This got me thinking about officer - enlisted relations in the Navy as a whole, and specifically in the Submarine Force.
When I was on the Carrier Group SEVEN staff aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) from '99-'01, I compared the divide between officers and enlisted personnel on the carrier with what I knew from submarines. There are areas of the carrier (marked by blue tile) where it's expected that enlisted Sailors simply not go unless they're on official business. Obviously, a submarine is too small to set aside big "no-go" areas, although I guess it was frowned on to have a lot of blueshirts standing around shooting the sh*t in the CO/XO or WRSR passageways. My stateroom-mate on the carrier, an O-4 aviator, used to have the annoying habit of grabbing his collar and showing his oak leaf to a Sailor he was trying to get to follow his orders. That's something I thought you'd never get away with on a sub -- even if you wanted to. (I also noticed that the carrier frequently had O-4s performing tasks that you'd see E-6s doing on a sub, especially in Radio.) My impression was that the carrier -- and, from what I heard, the surface community as well -- had a big formalized divide between O-gangers and enlisted Sailors that just didn't exist in the Sub Force. Sure, I worked for officers who treated enlisted Sailors like crap, but these people also treated officers like crap; they were just dicks in general.
So what do you think -- are there generally respectful (and healthy) relations between officers and enlisted in the Sub Force, or am I just wearing rose-colored glasses? Do the close working quarters and technical expertise of submariners inherently preclude ridiculous separations between various ranks? Or does it just depend on the boat you're on?
When I was on the Carrier Group SEVEN staff aboard USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) from '99-'01, I compared the divide between officers and enlisted personnel on the carrier with what I knew from submarines. There are areas of the carrier (marked by blue tile) where it's expected that enlisted Sailors simply not go unless they're on official business. Obviously, a submarine is too small to set aside big "no-go" areas, although I guess it was frowned on to have a lot of blueshirts standing around shooting the sh*t in the CO/XO or WRSR passageways. My stateroom-mate on the carrier, an O-4 aviator, used to have the annoying habit of grabbing his collar and showing his oak leaf to a Sailor he was trying to get to follow his orders. That's something I thought you'd never get away with on a sub -- even if you wanted to. (I also noticed that the carrier frequently had O-4s performing tasks that you'd see E-6s doing on a sub, especially in Radio.) My impression was that the carrier -- and, from what I heard, the surface community as well -- had a big formalized divide between O-gangers and enlisted Sailors that just didn't exist in the Sub Force. Sure, I worked for officers who treated enlisted Sailors like crap, but these people also treated officers like crap; they were just dicks in general.
So what do you think -- are there generally respectful (and healthy) relations between officers and enlisted in the Sub Force, or am I just wearing rose-colored glasses? Do the close working quarters and technical expertise of submariners inherently preclude ridiculous separations between various ranks? Or does it just depend on the boat you're on?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
