The less-than-stellar box office performance of “Battleship” (avoid the rush; pre-order your DVDs now) isn’t stopping a surge in Navy-themed television and film productions. Here’s a quick look at four sailor-heavy releases headed to a movie theater or TV set near you. 1. Last Resort When and where: Thursdays this fall, 8 p.m., ABC What: The fictional USS Colorado is ordered to nuke Pakistan. The commander disobeys the order and is relieved. The sub is shot at by other American forces, escapes to a tropical island, then fires a missile toward Washington. And that’s just the three-minute preview. Don’t believe…
Browsing: nuclear weapons
An Ohio-class ballistic submarine on strategic patrol in the Atlantic Ocean. // U.S. Navy Would you push the button and launch a nuclear missile, if ordered to? By the time Ensign Michael Izbicki was asked this question in a routine psychological screening at nuclear power school, he had had a religious awakening. He had read the book, Choosing Against War: A Christian View, and had embraced pacifistic Quaker beliefs after periods of intense study and reflection. Izbicki — a 24-year-old Naval Academy graduate, who holds a master’s degree in computer science from John Hopkins University — answered no, he wouldn’t…
Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon took a day trip with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead this week. This is the play-by-play report. 1015 We are treated to a quick review of A/C repair – a very important facet of sub life. Not only for reasons of comfort, but for the fact that the four units on a sub keep all the equipment cool. MM1 (SS) Aaron Riedel then gives us the skinny on the “Weapons Team Trainer.” This is where you learn how to fire a torpedo the right way. There’s more to it than plug and…
Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon took a day trip with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead this week. This is the play-by-play report. Sailors assigned to the guided-missile submarine Florida practice skills controlling the boat in the Ships Control Team Trainer at the Trident Training Facility in Kings Bay, Ga. (photo by MTCS (SS) Nicholas Davies) 0930 We are in the “Ships Control Trainer,” where the gold crew from the guided-missile sub Florida is being put to the test. The diving officer of the watch is giving direction to sailors manning the helm on his right, which controls…
Scoop Deck blogger Lance M. Bacon took a day trip with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead this week. This is the play-by-play report. 0900 Scoop Deck is aboard Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Ga., where one-half of the nation’s guided-missile and ballistic-missile submarines are based. We have Lt. j.g. David McCabe at the helm, also known as the steering wheel of a Mod 1 Type A 15-passenger van. He is a very knowledgeable young man, as well he should be having graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a degree in mechanical engineering. If you are wondering why the Navy…
Thanks to Joel “Bubblehead” Kennedy, who reminds us of the 50th anniversary of the commissioning of USS George Washington (SSBN 598), the first ballistic missile submarine. What must it have been like to be there July 20 1960, when the skipper sent a burner 1,100 miles downrange, then sent President Eisenhower the message: POLARIS — FROM OUT OF THE DEEP TO TARGET. PERFECT. I think Bubblehead says it best: Service in SSBNs might not be as glamorous and exciting as being on an attack boat, but the bottom line is that our strategic capability is the cornerstone of our national…
