The USS Augusta (SSN 710), was my home in the Navy for 40 months from 1997 to 2000.  Now she is being decommissioned as it would be too expensive to refuel her nuclear core.  The alumni are putting together a big shindig in October, but I will not be able to attend. 

The Augusta was a unique member of the Los Angeles class of attack submarines.  As a member of Submarine Development Squadron 12, we got to play with a lot of new toys that were making their way into the submarine fleet.  For one, the Augusta was the test bed for the newer Seawolf's hull sonar array.  We also carried a prototype towed array sonar and was the first boat fitted with modernized sonar equipment that was built on 90's, and not 60's technology.  The best part is that we spent a lot of time in the Caribbean for exercises and testing.  That meant port calls in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as swim calls out in the middle of nowhere.  There's nothing like swimming in the ocean with a 1000 fathoms below you and a guy posted in a sail with an M-14 to watch for sharks.

But probably the best part of sailing in the Caribbean was running through the Virgin Gap on the surface at night.  See, in a submarine on the surface there are exactly two people who can see outside - the Officer of the Deck (OOD) and a lookout.  These two people are stationed up in the sail of the boat (The tall part of a submarine that sticks up out of the water) where they can see everything around them.  So as OOD, you get to sit up there, practically all alone, with nothing around but the sea, the sky and an unbelievable number of stars above while you command a 300 ft long nuclear submarine.  There's not much I miss about being in the Navy, but that I would do again in a heart beat.

Posted by: jcallery at 08:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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