Sub Moms
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Group Administrator: Kaye S.
submarine visits to foreign ports
My son is currently in DEP. He is considering volunteering for subs (as a YN) and he has a question. He has been researching the types of subs and thinks he has read that attack subs occasionally pull into foreign ports but boomers do not. He wants to know if this is correct? And what about guided missile subs? He would prefer a boomer or guided missile sub because he is married and he thinks this would maybe be a little easier for his wife but he knows he probably won't get to choose so he is curious about ports of call. Any info would really be appreciated.
Mark
Your son has done his studying well so far - that bodes well for him as a sub YN. He's correct with respect to boomers and fast attacks; SSGNs (the guided missile boats, two on each coast) do make foreign port visits, though probably a little less frequently than fast attacks. When they get to request though, at least historically, they can only request by home port, not the type of submarine. If they want a boomers and SSGN crews are homeported at Kings Bay, GA and Bangor, WA - tho the SSGN boats deploy out of Guam (for Bangor) and Diego Garcia (for KB - Diego is a British base in the middle of Indian Ocean). The crews fly from Bangor and Kings Bay to the boat for crew relief every several months, and the boats return to the mainland periodically when more involved maintenance or repairs are needed. Bangor (or Kitsap) is also homeport to two true fast attacks and a third boat that technically is a fast attack, but is very specialized with a crew that is pretty much hand-picked (the Jimmy Carter). Because there are only three fast attacks in WA and a slew of boomers, picking Bangor is most likely to land a sailor on a boomer. The homeports that are fast attacks exclusively are Groton and Norfolk on the east coast, San Diego on the west coast, and Pearly Harbor and Guam in the Pacific. Groton and Pearl together account for more than half of all the US Navy's fast attack fleet.
Jul 18, 2015
cybergrouch
His ranking in his class also helps determine whether he gets his choice or not. The higher the better. My son just graduated ITS and they went down the rank (he was 4th) and each person picked which sub he wanted based on what was available. My son wanted fast attack but got the names mixed up and pick the H.M. Jackson which turns out to be the only boomer not named after a state. So he's on his way to Seattle. Probably should have paid more attention to that part of the "Intro to Subs". LOL.
Jul 20, 2015
Lorraine
My son has been on Fast Attack for 3 years. The advantage is they get to stop in ports and he has some wonderful experiences in Spain, Norway, and Scotland. The disadvantage is they are often out for more than 6 months BUT they get to communicate with you when they surface.
Boomers are out for usually 3 months and little to NO contact with anyone. My son has a family now so he is considering boomer for his next assignment. Not sure if he will get it or not, he's been waiting awhile due to open heart surgery last September.
Submarine service is nice because the crew is smaller than a surface ship so they get to know each other and everyone works together on a lot of duties. My son is a nuke.
Hope this helps.
Jul 21, 2015