Trip to Ephesus

One of my best times onboard was during the deployment of 2002, where the USS Toledo (SSN-769) visited Aksaz, Turkey. I thought that this port call would be a big yawn, but much to my surprise, it turned out to be my favorite stop on the entire run. We drank hot tea in over 100 degree weather, shopped for leather and gold from the many merchants that had set up shop in this town, and chartered a wardroom trip to Ephesus to visit this ancient yet beautiful Biblical city, all now in ruins. I'll share a few of the photos, but cannot begin to describe the feeling of walking down the Curetes Street or viewing the Celcus Library up close and personal. This was the trip of a lifetime, one that I would most highly recommend to any Biblical student or Christian. One hint to anyone thinking of going in the summer months: DON'T WEAR JEANS! Temperatures regularly soared above 100 degrees during this trip.

Driving a nuclear powered submarine on the surface

View the clip to see me driving in towards Gibralter on a brief stop for personnel and equipment in December of 2007. The background noise you hear is the sound of the wind as the ship is heading across the straits.

Africom Deployment, 2007-2008

Here I am, being the Spanish CNO for a few moments. Actually, my stateroom was "volunteered" to be the personal staging area for the highest ranking naval officer in the Spanish navy and his entourage's personal things while they toured the ship for an underway period, so me and a few of the other guys (under pains of torture, I have sworn not to reveal their names) took turns taking pictures of ourselves with his hat on. Boy, sure hope no one finds out about this :oD

Well, I'll fill in more of the the details later, just wanted to get a few photos out of the places that I saw and some of the people that I shared this deployment with. Overall, probably the most boring deployment (mission-related, that is) that I have done in the Navy, but I did manage to see a few interesting things in the four port calls that we made, including conducting an Emerald Shellback ceremony (simultaneously crossing the Prime Meridian and the Equator at the same time/same point) and got to make a once-in-a-lifetime stop in Cape Verde, about 300 nM off the western coast of Mauritana.

Some photos of Lisbon:

Cape Verde:

Toulon and Brest, France:

Other Memories:

Adventures in Spain

Julie & I did something recently that we never thought possible-we actually got the grandparents to come out and watch the kids while she flew out to meet me in Rota, Spain, during the last two months of the 2007-2008 deployment. She made it out on the 29th of December, and spent 5 fun-filled days with me, as we took in the sights of southern Spain, and even managed a spur-of-the-moment day in Gibralter that ended with us and a few friends over in Morocco for dinner and shopping. We ended up getting back to the room safely, but barely missed being part of a head-on collision, had to unfortunately ditch a few people who were slowing us down, forced to invent a parking spot in order to make it to the ferry on time, and placed our complete trust (and lives and money) into the hands of a tour guide (Larry) that showed us a WONDERFUL time in Morocco. He's the one on the right, and managed to do all the talking while walking at a pace that had us at a near-jog the entire time. Not sure how he did that while smoking, but he turned out to be quite knowledgable and ensured we had a fun time, even going so far as to put us onto the right ferry at the end of the night, in front of hundreds of others that were waiting, and stayed with us until we were safely aboard. All things that go right in our travels are now affectionally labeled as having the "Larry factor" attached.

Those days were among some of my most fond memories, for after 18 years of deployments and sea time, I actually got to share some of the liberty time with my wife, who is now my favorite liberty buddy. As Brian Ray would say, 4 is about as large as a liberty party as you want. Any more than that, and you're asking for trouble. How right he was! Anyway, I'll be posting a video of Julie getting the monkey off her back (Gibralter ape, if you want to be technically correct) when I am NOT being overcome by technology.

Here's a few shots of the whole gang on top of point Europa, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

Julie & I taking a photo near Christopher Columbus' tomb.

SOAC

Here's a plug for a great time I had at department head school, named SOAC. Submarine Officer's Advanced Course, where one goes to hone the skills of tactical shiphandling, navigation, periscope skillsets. We were class 07020 (the Navy's way of saying that in fiscal year '07, this is the 2nd class to graduate, or "020), with our sole mission being getting away with as much as possible while simultaneously doing as little as possible to pass the required coursework. My friend Neil gave us the nickname we so righteously deserve-"gouge alone". Here is a photo of all of us, minus one who was sent to San Diego on an emergent job fill. These guys are the greatest, and are succeeding in leading wardrooms around the world, even as you read this.

When did I become the "old guy" on the boat?

After more than 18 years, 4 submarines, thousands of miles traversed both surfaced and submerged, many friends, plenty of good times, some bad ones, and oh yeah, a wife, four kids, two cars, one mortgage, and a travel trailer, I found myself with many memories on how I came to be at this point in my life. This blog will be my futile effort to recall and post some of the stories that have shaped me and my career. I hope that you enjoy them, and visit often, for there's always something brewing at the sub base!