On Submarining as religion

My impetus for writing was a post on bubbleheads.blogspot.com concerning women on Submarines. I was initially going to post my opinion on this issue but have come up with something larger for your contemplation.

All organized religions have some of the same tenets with the largest being this: a calling to do things that are contrary to basic human nature. So as far as I can see, the Submarine Service is actually a religion. Now all you “navy-haters,” short timers and SNOB’s hear me out and refute my logic. The Submarine service is all volunteer, some of us are raised into it by our families, but still must sign up (several times). You can leave if you want, and I mean really, really, really want and are prepared to accept the consequences. You sequester yourselves for extended periods, following an arduous routine of hard work and self denial. You put your body into a metal tank full of high explosives, nuclear warheads, high energy piping, high voltage equipment, toxic chemicals and nuclear radiation, submerge it and take it around the world. You leave your loved ones at home while you prostrate yourself in whatever position you have to get into to fix/clean/preserve that pump/valve/motor. You flagellate yourselves with traditions that cause sleep deprivation and neurosis (ORSE/TRE/NTPI preps) both at sea and import. You follow arcane rules that no one really remembers the root of and that often lack common sense, because the “great prophet” decreed them (see the EDOM) only to find out that when these rules are disregarded that disaster results. And finally, only a select few in the world have any appreciation for the work you do and the trials you endure. The rest look at you as a group and say “I sure wouldn’t do that, its crazy.” So, you might not like it but, it looks like a religion to me.

The end result of this nuclear powered crucible is one of two things, the first and unfortunate is that the “slag” floats to the top and is skimmed off and discarded. (Please note here that I am indicating how you react to the heat, not how long you are in) The second is that the resulting “alloy” of men (and perhaps women) and machine is a shining example for the world to see. It is a source of pride for each Submariner for his entire life, if he served one tour or an entire career.


This withstanding, my opinion on women on Submarines is this: when the Wardroom and Goatlocker decide that it will happen, it will. Without incident they will do it and they will excel because that is how it is done on Submarines. Yes, there will be wining, and complaining and difficulty and some will not be able to deal with it and fail, much like what happens in the surface fleet today. But with all that I indicated above, the crew will follow orders whenever they come down.

As for the political side, I don’t think that my wife would have been very happy about it, but she didn’t freak out when I went to sea on either tender that I was assigned to. On the first I worked with and for women and had women work for me on the second. And we can all find legal and social excuses for it to not work. And I think that the upcoming administration will have so many other bigger, more terrifying fish to fry that they won’t even get to this issue.