Worth Mentioning: Enlisted Submarine Nucs

Background
The parties, celebrations, picnics, games, etc. of enlisted nucs were tops, in my opinion.  And why was that?  Unlike nucs assigned to CVNs (CVANs in those days), submarine nucs not only have to make the sacrifices of all submariners, they often had to stand the rigors of in-port 2-section duty.

Consequently, nucs planned the utmost use of their free time.  And since many of them had married educated women during nuclear power school, their wives shared higher social expectations.  Some of their wives were career women in degreed professions (nursing, university professor, etc.). Such women insisted on planning very nice recreational activities.

Other Scarifices
In contrast to the foregoing, enlisted nucs are assigned to 4 or 5 section aircraft carrier duty.  And, even when at sea their service requires considerably less sacrifice than submarine crews at-sea:

                Extreme Creatures by Juan Caruso
Who suffer no attrition upon news their kind are sunk,
Who endure sunless weeks on end in want of their own bunk.
Disturbed from precious sleep by those dreaded, alarming sounds,
When the latest hazard has sprung out of its nearby bounds.
Sacrifices are certain for these devoted volunteers,
Qualifications demanded by a jury of their peers.
In clear illustration of “24-7’s” meaning,
There is no phoning home during silent submarining.

Why More Sacrifice Matters
All else being equal, what is the surest way to minimize the criminal element? Answer: require more individual sacrifice.  Criminals like the concept of something for nothing.  The lower they can get the nothing, and the higher the something, the happier they are.  Before leaving the Navy, ET1 Michael J. Burhman, mastermind described below, had completed two deployments on the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). --- Not on a submarine!

Example, Please
Former Dresden licensed senior reactor operator charged with hijacking now missing and on the run - a 32 year old Navy veteran with a high-paying job as a licensed senior reactor operator at a nuclear power plant decides that life is not exciting enough, and chooses instead to live a life of crime on the run.

Four Exelon employees arrested in the last 18 months
In 2012, two licensed senior reactor operators from the Dresden nuclear power plant – which is owned and operated by Exelon, hijacked a young woman’s car at gun point and attempted to flee the scene.  One of the operators, Michael Buhrman, had concocted the plan, held the gun, and been caught at the scene with both the weapon and a mask.  The other operator, Landon Brittain, was later incriminated by statements he made to the police.  After criminal charges had been filed against Buhrman, both operators ran from the law to Venezuela in an attempt to flee.  Brittain was captured in Venezuela on May 15th of this year.  Buhrman was not apprehended until October 1st.

The Saga of Michael Buhrman and Landon Brittain
Buhrman did succeed in recruiting at least one other worker, Landon Brittain, a senior reactor operator at the Dresden nuclear power plant.  Landon Brittain, 31, had studied at Washington University in St. Louis, and was living in Joliet, Illinois while working at the Dresden nuclear power plant.

Together, they lurked in Burhman’s Mercedes Benz SUV in the Kohl’s parking lot on the 1000 block of 75th Street in Woodridge, Illinois.  When a young woman, Carrie Bradley, exited the store into the parking lot on break from her job, Buhrman leapt into action. Wearing a realistic mask that resembled a bald old man and armed with a loaded handgun, Buhrman ambushed the victim and pointed the loaded .45-caliber handgun at her chin, telling her to hand over the keys and walk away.
 
Bungling nuclear worker-turned-armed-robber jailed after he was caught stealing getaway vehicle while disguised as an old woman in plot inspired by Affleck movie
Michael J. Buhrman, a senior reactor operator at the Dresden nuclear plant, was extradited from Venezuela late last month after a year on the run and has started serving his 40-year sentence for the carjacking.  He is still awaiting possible additional charges in connection for his alleged smuggling, which happened in the South America country where he was hiding from authorities.



Submarines are always silent and strange.