the green board - columbusbase · ship. cdr dave minyard is a very fine officer, and is poised to...

Volume 5, Issue 3

Columbus Base Newsletter

April 2009

C O L U M B U S B A S E S U B M A R I N E V E T E R A N S

The Green Board

ALL SEAS ARE NAVIGABLE

2009 Tolling of the Boats Ceremony The above pictured display board was donated to the Columbus Base by Rick Larson who constructed it 2 years ago to be used at the Tolling Cere-mony. The display board indicates by a light, the position of each of the lost submarines. The ceremony began with the presentation of colors by the NJROTC from Franklin Heights High School, followed by Chaplain Sharon Lloyd with the opening prayer. Base Commander Joe Testa gave a brief reading. Treas-urer Jim Koogler and COB Marv Pastor then read the list of Lost Boats while Tim Barker tolled the bell after each was read.

V o l u m e 5 , I s s u e 3 P a g e 2

Happy Birthday US Submarine Service

OUR CREED “ To perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the pursuit of their duties while serving their country. That their dedication, deeds and supreme

sacrifice be a constant source of motivation toward greater accomplishments. Pledge loyalty and patriotism to the United States of America and its Constitution.”


Dear COLUMBUS Base, Greetings from sunny Hawaii. I had thought to offer that the weather must be turning to spring in Ohio, but according to weather.com it's 37 degrees in Columbus. I won't rub in the fact that it's 83 here as I type this. Things are going well on the boat. We had a long operational period and returned in mid-March. We are starting a maintenance period that will last until mid-May. Following that the boat will complete its operational preparations for another Western Pacific deployment. The ship should depart Pearl Harbor in the fall for an extended deployment. We have had a fairly substantial turnover of people, and I am very motivated by the enthusiasm of our new Sailors to learn the craft of submarining. And on the subject of turnover, this will likely be my last note to you as Commanding Officer . My Change of Command remains on track for May 8th. As I've said previously, any and all of you are welcome to attend. As you might imagine, I have mixed emotions about moving on. Serving as Commanding Officer has been a singular privilege that I will always cherish. Since I was an enlisted person on a submarine, I aspired to one day serve as Captain. I am pleased to report that it really was everything that I dreamed it would be. The camaraderie and the spirit of collective effort are things that have no parallel. The feeling has been especially rewarding on our ship, since we started from a very low baseline back in 2006. To see our crew come together and put in the effort to be successful has been the singular joy of my professional career. I am also very gratified to have had your friendship and support throughout my tour. Our meetings have been high points of each of my three visits to Columbus. Being able to sustain and refresh our connection to those who have gone before us makes us better appreciate the legacy that we have to live up to. I look forward to continuing my association through participation as a Base member. Thanks again for all you have done, and will continue to do, for our ship. CDR Dave Minyard is a very fine officer, and is poised to make the ship even more successful. I know that he will benefit from your support. Best regards, CDR Jim Doody Commanding Officer

Commander Doody’s next Assignment is the Nuclear

Propulsion Examining Board, on the staff of Commander, U.S. Pa-cific Fleet Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Upcoming Events

April , 18, 2009 0900 Adopt-A-Highway clean up. Don Gentile Post April , 25, 2009 0900 Rain date for Adopt-A-Highway clean up. May , 02, 2009 1200 Monthly meeting AM Vets, Westerville Rd. May , 23, 2009 Placing flags at Resurrection Cemetery May , 25, 2009 Worthington Memorial Day Parade

Lost Boats

April USS Pickerel (SS-177) Lost with 74 men on 03 April 1943 by Japanese surface attack of Honshu, Ja-pan. USS Grenadier (SS-210) Lost on 22 April 1943, 10 miles west of Lem Voalan Strait in the Indian Ocean. Scuttled after being badly damaged by bombs. 61 men were taken prisoner, 4 men died as POW’s. 57 men survived the war. USS Snook (SS-279) Lost with all hands , 84 men on 8 April 1945 to unknown causes off Formosa. USS Gudgeon (SS-211) Lost with all hands, 78 men during a Japanese air and surface attack on18 April 1944 in Northern Marianas. USS Thresher (SSN-593) Lost with all hands, 129 men on 10 April 1963 off the New England coast.

P a g e 4 V o l u m e 5 , I s s u e 3


Commander’s Corner By Joe Testa

I would like to thank everyone that joined us for this year’s Submarine Birthday Dinner and Tolling Ceremony. The Tolling Ceremony couldn’t have happened without the help of Sharon Lloyd, Marv Pastor, Jim Koogler and Tim Barker. The dinner was excellent; the staff of the Don Gentile American Legion did a wonderful job. And of course I did make one rather large mistake. I forgot to thank my lovely wife Mary for making all the arrange-ments, and decorating the room. Actually she did everything, and I did my part in staying out of the way. I have been asked a couple of times about why we had the dinner at Don Gentile and not at AMVETS, and whether we were moving back to Don Gentile for our events. I thought I would clarify some things up for everyone, we will still be holding our monthly base meetings at AMVETS Post 89. We moved the dinner to Don Gentile be-cause the AMVETS had a Easter function for the kids that would not let us in to the room until 1800, which means that we could not begin the Tolling until 1900 at best. That would put our social hour at 2000, and dinner as 2100. I hope that clears up any confusion, and if we are not meeting at AMVETS for any reason, I will let everyone know far in advance. We are about to have our first Adopt-A-Highway cleanup trip to I-270 on Saturday 18 April. We make 4 trips a year, and this one is usually the most work as things have been piling up all winter. But, we did such a good job last year, it shouldn’t be too bad. We will be meeting at the Don Gentile American Legion around 0900 and then head over to highway in groups. So come out and join us, you will get some fresh air, some minor exercise and be doing something good for the environment and our community.

U.S. Submarine Force Inside Story of the Thresher Note: This account is the U.S. Submarine Force mouth-to-ear inside “tribal knowledge” of the Thresher disaster. It is considered reliable but not guaranteed. The Thresher’s initial dive to test depth after a shipyard availability proved disastrous. On the way down, an auxiliary seawater system in Machinery Two upper level (the compartment aft of the reac-tor compartment and forward of the engine room) ruptured and flooded the space. Apparently, at the time of flooding the ship was deeper than the depth of rig-for-deep-submergence, which was 600 feet by procedure. It is possible that the flooding occurred when the ship was near test depth, the deepest operating depth a submarine is allowed to dive. Test depth is assumed to be about two thirds of the depth that the sub should theoretically crush (this is not a known depth because it is based solely on calcula-tions). At this extreme depth, the pressure of the seawater was immense, and when the auxiliary sea-water piping let go, a hole approximately 2 to 3 inches in diameter opened up. From: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Submarines.


Clem graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in June of 1942, he was immediately assigned to Sub School from June to August of the same year. In December 1942 he reported to TF72 in Brisbane, Australia. Clem was assigned to the USS Albacore SS 218 in Brisbane and served on her from Dec. 1942 to October 1944. He qualified aboard the Albacore in April of 1943. After his tour on Albacore he was assigned to the USS 0-8 SS69 from November 1944 to June 1945. Clement retired with the rank of Commander in 1962 after serving 17 years in Aviation. He married a home town girl. They have two sons presently in the service. One is in the National Guard and the other in the U.S. Navy.

Six months after Pearl Harbor in June 1942 Clem figured Submarines would be our first line of offense and that was all the motivation he needed to try Submarines. His favorite port and duty station was Brisbane, Australia. Clem’s memory recalls being bombed by a B24 in November of 1942 and the sinking of the Japanese Air Craft Carrier “ Taiho “ in June of 1944. Thanks Clem for your time and service.

Our Holland Club profile this month is Clem O’Brien. Clem was inducted into the Holland Club in August 2008. He related his experiences to our Holland Club reporter, Marv Pastor.

P a g e 7 V o l u m e 5 , I s s u e 3

THE DBF PIN By Patrick Meagher TMC(SS) USN RET. Probably none of today’s submariners know the origin or the significance of the Diesel Boats Forever (DBF) pin. Most former Diesel boat sailors are also ignorant of its origins even though it is worn with pride on many SubVets vests. The last diesel attack boat built for the US Navy was commissioned in October 1959. At that time there were five classes of nuke boats along with two “one off” designs in various stages of construction and pre-commissioning trials along with USS Nautilus SSN-571, and the four Skate class boats in opera-tional status. The diesel boat force made up predominantly of modernized fleet boats (Fleet Snorkels, Guppy 1A’s, Guppy 2 ’s, Guppy 2A’s, Radar picket, Regulus missile, troop carrier, and hunter-killer con-versions), six Tang’s plus Darter, Growler, Greyback, the two Salmon’s and the three “B” girls had be-come the source of pre-commissioning crews for the nuke boats. There was a steady stream of 9901’s passing through the diesel boat force, spending seven months onboard learning the boat and earning their dolphins before departing for nuke school. A smaller number of career enlisted electricians, machinist mates, enginemen, and electronic technicians also volunteered for the nuke program. Admiral Hyman Rickover personally interviewed all officers applying for the nuclear power program as well as many of the senior enlisted submariners. Tales of Rickover’s interviews consistently reported on his efforts to intimidate and discredit the accomplishments of the officer interviewee’s, alienating many who interviewed with him. Disturbing reports from senior enlisted veterans of the nuke boat navy in favorite submarine “watering holes” ashore indicated Rickover’s new operating philosophy was at work in the engineering spaces. “Don’t trust enlisted engineers.” Nuke trained officers consistently checked, double checked, and triple checked the work and system lineups of the enlisted engineers, a ma-jor change to the long standing professional relationship between enlisted and officer submariners. In ad-dition, “front-enders” the non-nukes, were reporting excessive wardroom focus on the engineering plant at the expense of the historic mission of the submarine. They were also describing the “no-touch” rule from the reactor compartment aft. If you were not a nuke, you couldn’t touch any part of the engineering plant-period. You could learn it in theory, identify major components, valves and panels, but that was it. Gone was the traditional submarine qualification program that demanded standing all watches under in-struction as well as rigging all compartments for all evolutions. Lost on most submariners was the reason Rickover imposed the new operational Philosophy which is best summarized by Gary E. Weir “The po-tential for major disaster in the nuclear propulsion program caused him (Rickover) to elevate professional competence, discipline, and responsibility to the rank of absolute virtues required of every naval and pri-vate participant…..Unfortunately for a great many people, Rickover’s personal and professional manner made the lesson difficult to learn.” By early 1967 total nuclear submarine crews numbered in excess of one hundred counting blue and gold SSBN crews with sixty four nuke boats (forty one of which were SSBN’s) in commission. The thirty seven Sturgeon class nuke boats would start to commission with the lead ship in March of that year. The Diesel boat fleet in contrast numbered slightly over one hundred in commission with most of the modern-ized fleet type boats nearing the end of their useful lives. Former SSR’s, SSK’s, and Fleet Snorkels would start to decommission within eighteen months to be followed shortly by the guppy conversions.


More and more Rickover trained officers were appearing on squadron and force staffs bringing with them Rickover’s operational philosophy. It was apparent to all that the diesel boat navy were dinosaurs soon to be extinct along with their officer community who were either unwilling to become nukes or passed over by Rickover as unfit to become nuke boat engineers in order to ascend to command of a nuke boat . Diesel boats were still conducting most of the non-deterrent submarine operations including “special mis-sions.” Nuke attack boats were “wowing” many with their performance and potential along with occasional contributions such as “a mission of great value to the government of the United States of America.” The nukes were not without their teething problems however. It was not uncommon for a nuke boat to be unable to get underway as scheduled due to an “engineering problem.” A refueling every three to four years also required a shipyard stay of from eighteen months to two years again reducing the number of nuke boats available for operations. So it was left to the diesel boats to pick up the slack. ‘Dex’ Armstrong describes the thinking of the enlisted smokeboat sailor during these years. “We were it…One crew. Nobody took over our boats when we came in. When the old girl went to sea, we were there. The same names, same faces, same officers forward. If someone failed to maintain a system or piece of equipment, the Chief of the Boat knew precisely what butt to put his boot into when ass-kicking time rolled around. Those were great days… Didn’t know it then, that came later…much later. We knew nuclear boats represented progress but we didn’t think much about it……We could see the future of subma-rining floating in the after nest. The big, fat, black monsters getting all the attention. High speed, deep div-ing ugliness rapidly sending our smokeboat fleet up the river to the scrap yard. To us nuke boats were like elephants… They were big as hell, uglier than sin and none of us had any idea what went on inside of the damn things. They were just there.” This brings us to the DBF pin. In 1969 USS Barbel SS-580, the lead ship of the last class of diesel boats built for the US Navy was deployed to WesPac. While on a “special mission” in early 1970 the control room gang got into one of those nuke boat vs. diesel boat discussions. It was pointed out during the discussion that on a number of occasions a diesel boat would have to get underway for a “broke-down” nuke boat again proving the superiority of smokeboats over unreliable nuke boats. Someone suggested there ought to be a pin for smokeboat sailors, something like the new Polaris De-terrent Patrol Pin for “boomer” sailors, for the times you had to take a nuke boat commitment because they were broke- down. A contest was commissioned to design the pin. ETR3(SS) Leon Figurido’s winning de-sign was a broadside view of a guppy boat with SS superimposed on the North Atlantic sail. There were two bare breasted mermaids, one on the bow and one on the stern facing in with arms extended. Completing the design was a ribbon underneath the boat with holes for stars, and centered on the ribbon the letters “DBF”. ETR3(SS) Figurido received appropriate recognition for his winning design along with a prize of some sort, now long forgotten. Upon Barbel’s return to Yokosuka the design of the DBF pin was hand car-ried to a local manufacturer of nautical gewgaws where a batch were cast and brought back to the ship and sold at cost to Barbel crewmembers that began to wear them ashore. As the DBF pin grew in popularity within the diesel boat community it continued to be cast and sold in shops around Yokosuka eventually making its way to Pearl Harbor, San Diego, and on to the east coast. Most “smokeboat” sailors assumed a gold star would be placed in the ribbon for each diesel boat served on. However, it was confirmed to the author years later by Capt. John Renard, USN RET. Skipper of Barbel at that time, a star was to be placed on the ribbon for each time a diesel boat you served on had to get underway for a broke-down nuke. The DBF pin continued to gain in popularity among current and former smokeboat sailors who wore them with pride as either a pin or on a belt buckle, all the while collecting the ire of the senior nuke officer community. As the wholesale decommissioning of the fleet type boats occurred during the early 70’s scores of career electricians and enginemen were forced to “surface” as there was no room for them on Rickover’s boats.


Their designation was changed by BUPERS from “SS” to “SQ” indicating they were excess to sub-marine force manning requirements although they were still allowed to wear their dolphins. Soon they too would be gone along with their collective histories. In 1973 Rickover issued an edict that Midship-men would no longer go on summer cruises on diesel boats. Rumor had it that too many were showing up at his interviews with “bad attitudes” about nuke boats picked up on their summer cruise on the smokeboats. It was reported in favorite submarine hangouts ashore that on more than one occasion nuke boat skippers banned the wearing of DBF pins by their crew members, typically “front enders” the non-nukes, implying that to do so would indicate disloyalty to the nuke submarine force. In the mid 70’s the DBF pin went into the display of submarine insignia maintained at the Pacific Submarine Mu-seum then located at the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor. The caption alluded to an “unofficial” insignia worn by a disappearing breed of submariner nostalgic for the days of diesel boats. In July 1975 the last guppy submarine in US service, USS Tiru SS-416, decommissioned in Charleston SC. A handful of the guppies sailed on in foreign service into the late 90’s with two, ex-USS Cutlass SS-478, and ex- USS Tusk SS-426 continuing to serve today in the Republic of China (Taiwan) navy as training boats. The last diesel attack boats in US service were USS Darter SS-576, USS Barbel SS-580, USS Blueback SS-581, and USS Bonefish SS-582. They decommissioned be-tween 1988 and 1990. Two Tang class boats, ex-USS Tang SS-563, and ex-USS Gudgeon SS-567, re-cently decommissioned in the Turkish Navy with ex-Gudgeon slated to be Turkey’s museum submarine. The Turkish skipper of ex-Tang when asked about the difference between the Ger-man designed and built replacement boats for their retiring ex-US boats is reported to have said, “American submarines are built for war, German submarines are built for export.” It’s ironic that 15 years after decommissioning of USS Blueback SS-581 at the Submarine Base in San Diego, a Swedish Navy Type A-19 Gotland Class Air Independent Diesel Boat is conducting weekly ops there to “familiarize” US Navy ASW forces with the operating characteristics of advanced non-nuclear submarines. When the Swedish crew comes ashore on Friday after a week at sea they still look and smell like the smokeboat sailors of old. Our current crop of submariners avoids them. The DBF pin, originally designed by a USS Barbel SS-580 crewmember as an unofficial insignia to recognize the diesel boats ability to fill-in on very short notice for broke-down nuke boats, now resides with pride on the blue vests of Submarine Veterans who qualified and served on smokeboats. Today the DBF pin is the unique symbol of the professionalism, discipline, and camaraderie of American smokeboat sailors who sailed on, unloved, unwashed, and underpaid as their era was coming to a close. DBF! Best regards, Len Heiselt, Commander USS Scamp Base Submitted by, Phil Philipps

Remember to bring your donations of cof-fee, tea, or hot cocoa to the monthly meet-

ings. Your donations are very much appreciated by the veterans at the Chalmers P. Wylie

Veterans Clinic.

C o l u m b u s B a s e S u b m a r i n e V e t e r a n s

P a g e 1 0

The Conn

Base commander

Joe Testa

Vice Commander

Jim Tolson

Treasurer

Jim Koogler

Secretary

Tom Baughman

Chaplain

Sharon Lloyd

COB

Marv Pastor

Membership Chairman

Storekeeper

Frank Lloyd

Web Master

Cliff Dodson

Editor

Jan Creekmore

Editor’s Note If you have comments or articles, please contact the base newsletter editor. Jan Creekmore at e-mail [email protected]

April Birthdays

John Leers 04 Dave Creekmore 05 Denver Smith 07 Walt Fleak 15 Tim Barker 24 David Carman 25 Dick Estell 25 Bernie Kenyon 28

Spouses

Marcia Dreiseidel 02


P a g e 1 1

"The idea of the Tokyo Raid using land-based bombers belongs to Admiral Francis S. Low, a submariner on the staff of Admiral Ernest S. King".

http://www.historynet.com/jimmy-doolittle-commander-of-the-doolittle-raid-during-world-war-ii.htm In response to the president’s persistent urging, Captain Francis S. Low, a submariner on Admiral King’s staff, approached Admiral King and asked cautiously if it might be possible for Army medium bombers to take off from a Navy carrier. If so, could they be launched against Japan? ------------------------------ http://www.militarymuseum.org/Doolittle.html The problem seemed unsolvable until an idea came to Captain Francis S. "Frog" Low, the operations officer on the staff of Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet. Captain Low advised Admiral King that when he was taking off from Norfolk, Virginia, on a flight back to Washington, he had noticed the outline of a carrier flight deck painted on the runway of the naval airfield used to train Navy pilots. "I saw some Army twin-engine planes making bombing passes at this simulated carrier deck. I thought if the Army had some twin-engine bombers with a range greater than our [carrier planes], it seems to me a few of them could be loaded on a carrier and used to bomb Japan." After listening to Low, a submariner, King, who had been both an aviation and submarine officer, leaned back and thought a moment. Then he said, "You may have something there, Low. Talk to Dun-can about it in the morning. And don't tell anyone else about this." Thus, the plan was born for the first direct attack against Japan. It was the evening of January 10, 1942, on board King's flagship VIXEN, a former German yacht moored at the Washington Navy Yard. The next morning, Low met with Captain Donald B. Duncan, a pilot, who was King's air operations officer. Duncan told Low that it was impossible for an Army twin-engine bomber to land on a carrier. If it could be lifted on by crane, a fully armed plane might be able to take off, but it would have to fly back to a land base. -------------------------------- http://www.military.com/forums/0,15240,131318,00.html Enter Captain Francis S. Low. Hailing from the U.S. Naval Academy class of 1915, Low had been a submariner since World War I. But he had served on the staff of Admiral Ernest J. King for more than a year and was able to think out of the box. During a trip to Norfolk, Virginia, he saw Army bombers practicing attacks on the chalked outline of a carrier deck. It proved an inspiration. The joint bug bit hard: here was a submariner conceiving the idea of launching Army bombers from a Navy ship to strike the heart of the Japanese Empire. Low hustled back to Washington, D.C., deter-mined to sell the idea to Admiral King, then-commander-in-chief, U.S. Fleet. Submitted by, Cliff Dodson

P a g e 1 2 C o l u m b u s B a s e S u b m a r i n e V e t e r a n s


P a g e 1 3

USS Sam Houston (SSBN 609)

Keel laid: December 28, 1959 Launched: February 2, 1961

Commissioned: March 6, 1962 Sponsor: Mrs. John B. Connally, Jr.

Decommissioned: September 6, 1991 Recycled: February 3, 1992

Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, VA First Commanding Officers

CAPT. William P. Willis (Blue) CDR. Jack H. Hawkins (Gold)

Accidents Aboard Sam Houston September 28, 1982: USS SAM HOUSTON spills less than 50 gallons of low-level radioactive wa-ter during a test while she is in the PSNY undergoing maintenance. The Spill was stopped, the water was contained within the ship, and no radioactivity was released to the environment. The submarine’s reactor was not operating. Two individuals were in the areas during the spill and one of these individu-als receives low-level radioactive contamination. April 29, 1988: USS SAM HOUSTON runs aground in Carr Inlet off the southeast tip of Fox Is-land in the Puget Sound while operating in shallow water to determine how quite the vessel is in the water. The submarine is frees the next day by four tugs and the USS FLORIKAN (ASR 9) while the submarine crew remained aboard. The USS SAM HOUSTON suffered minor damages to the exterior hull equipment. Following shakedown, the nation’s seventh Polaris submarine fired her first missile on 25 April off Cape Canaveral, Fla. The gold crew, commanded by Comd. J. H. Hawkins, then took over, completed its missile firing on 11 May 1962 and then departed from Cape Canaveral for its own shakedown train-ing. On her first patrol, SAM HOUSTON, manned by the blue crew, operated continuously submerged for 48days and 2 hours, then moored alongside the submarine tender PROTEUS (AS 19), in Holy Lock, Scotland. Following upkeep, the gold crew commenced its first patrol on Christmas Day, return-ing to Holly Loch in February 1963. The crews were again alternated, and SAM HOUSTION departed on her third patrol in March. On this patrol, she was the first fleet ballistic missile submarine to enter the Mediterranean where she joined the NATO forces. On a short operational visit to Izmir, Turkey, she became the first Polaris submarine to make a port-of-call during a patrol. With the two crews alter-nating every 90 days, SAM HOUSTON completed 6 successful Polaris patrols by the end of the year.


USS SAM HOUSTON, continued

BY the end of 1964, SAM HOUSTON had completed 10 patrols. During 1965, she completed four additional deterrent patrols. During 1966, SAM HOUSTON completed 3 more patrols, includ-ing her longest which was 71 days. On 10 August 1966, she returned to the United States for the first time since her deployment in 1962 and commenced a major overhaul at the Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth, NH. On 30 October 1967, she got underway for sea trials, and, a month later, her blue crew began shakedown training. In January 1968, the gold crew conducted shakedown operations. Following further teats, she got underway for her 18th deterrent patrol, and put into Holy Loch on 25 May. By the end of the year, she was on her 21st patrol. During 1969, SAM HOUSTON com-pleted her 22nd through 24th patrol. In 1970, she continued to operate with Submarine Squadron 16. She operated out of her advanced base at Rota, Spain, until October of 1972. On 27 November, she entered Charleston Naval Shipyard and began an extended in– port period, which included regu-lar overhaul and the updating of her weapon and propulsion systems. After 18 years of service, the SAM HOUSTON was re-designated as SSN 609 to comply with the SALT 1 treaty on November 10, 1980, and concrete blocks were placed in the missile tubes to disable the missile launch capability. From September 1982 to September 1985, the SAM HOUS-TON underwent conversion to an amphibious transport at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. This conversion allowed the SAM HOUSTON to carry special forces. Modifications included additional troop berthing and removal of some missile tubes. The SAM HOUSTON was finally deactivated on March 1, 1991, and entered the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ships and Submarine Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington. The Submarine was both decommis-sioned and stricken from the Naval list on September 6, 1991. Recycling of the SAM HOUSTON was finished on February 3, 1992. From: “41” for Freedom by Dale Schoephlin

It’s that time again! Adopt-A-Highway clean up starts April 18th 0900. Meet at the Don Gentile Post on Demorest road. Come support your Base and the community. Rain date 04/25/09 0900


USS Columbus SOQ/SOY presentations Submitted by Jim Koogler

Bonnie and I took a cruise to Hawaii in January. While there, we had the privilege of spending some time with the USS Columbus crew… and the distinct honor of presenting Sailor of the Quarter and Sailor of the Year awards. I thought you might be interested in seeing some pictures from those presentations. Please note that the 2008 3rd quarter Junior Sailor of the Quarter, EM2 (SS) James Hutchinson, transferred from USS Columbus prior to our arrival.

That’s me, addressing the crew. My wife Bonnie is on the right. Note the leis we’re wearing… presented in the “aloha” spirit by the crew.

Presenting the 2008 3rd quarter Sailor of the Quarter award to CS1 (SS) Harry Robinson. USS Columbus Commanding Officer, CDR Jim Doody, is on the left.

Presenting the 2008 4th quarter Sailor of the Quarter award to MM1 (SS) Priestly Mance. CDR Doody on the left, Bonnie in the center.

Presenting the 2008 4th quarter Junior Sailor of the Quarter award to MM2 (SS) Robert Siefers. CDR Doody on the left, Bonnie in the center.

P a g e 1 6 C o l u m b u s B a s e

USS Columbus SOQ/SOY presentations Continued

Presenting the 2008 Sailor of the Year award to MM1 (SS) Jason Jacobs. CDR Doody on the left, Bonnie in the cen-ter.

Presenting the 2008 Junior Sailor of the Year award to ET2 (SS) Ronald Fedrick. CDR Doody on the left, Bonnie in the center.

MANNING THE GANGWAY L-R: Commander James Doody, Commanding Officer USS Columbus (SSN-762); CS1 (SS) Harry Robinson; ET2 (SS) Ronald Fedrick; MM1 (SS) Priestly Mance; MM2 (SS) Robert Siefers; MM1 (SS) Jason Jacobs; Bonnie Koogler; Jim Koogler. The sail of USS Columbus is to the left, the Ko’olau Volcano mountain range in the background.

the green board - columbusbase · ship. cdr dave minyard is a very fine officer, and is poised to...

Documents