Answers to Submarine Q.O.T.W. from AUG 11, 2016

Related information, photo(s) and links for questions are found in the original posting. 

Questions of the Week (Q.O.T.W.) with ANSWERS

1 - Which, if any, of the 5 closures on the SecDef's 2005 hit list were major naval installations?
ANSWER:  Two - (1) Naval Submarine Base New London and, (2) Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. 

2 - Which, if any, of the major naval installations on the SecDef's 2005 hit list were submarine related installations?   ANSWER:  Originally, Naval Submarine Base New London and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, but both were later removed from the original closure list. [ibid]

3 - How many members are appointed to serve on the BRAC Commission?  ANSWER: The latest (2005) Defense Base Closure and Realignments Commission (BRAC) was comprised of 9-members.  [ibid.]

4 - Who chaired the 2005 BRAC Commission?  ANSWER:  Anthony Principi 

5 - When did a SecDef last seek a new BRAC Commission, and who was he?  ANSWER:  On March 2015,  Defense secretary Ashton Carter directed his (acting) Asst. Secretary of Defense, John Conger to request authority for another BRAC during Congressional testimony.  

6 - What high ranking Navy appointee spoke very recently of a new BRAC round?   ANSWER:  Navy Seretary Ray Mabus was quoted August 9th as supporting another Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round.   

 7 -  State officials recently claimed that there are national security interests in keeping waterways clear for the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, Conn., and U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.  What state expressed such a claim, and in what context was that claim made?  ANSWER: Connecticut, of course, made the national security claim to defend its controversial plan to relocate dredged materials into New York state Long Island Sound.    

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Inappropriately Close

Background  

Submarine Mystery Rumor of the Next 3-4 Years  (from 2013)  For which woman will another new navy submarine be named in the next 3-4 years?    ANSWER  - This name will be a last-minute political choice and that decision is vastly unpredictable in the current administration of SecNav Mabus.   Our guess would be f) none of the above, at this point.

Now

 

INAPPROPRIATE  (26 February 2015)

Navy ship naming controversy:  Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) is a Independence-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. The ship is named after former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot along with eighteen other people during the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Arizona.  No U.S. warship should ever be named for a man or woman, particularly one yet living, who seeks to disarm U.S. citizens in violation of the 2nd amendment to the U.S. Constitution. "USS Gabrielle Giffords" is an inappropriate name for any U.S. warship, and such naming is a heinous political act perpetrated by members of a ruling class of lawyers.

APPROPRIATE (2 March 2015)

[South] Korean Navy names submarine for woman martyr.  The Korean Navy is building a submarine named Ryu Gwan-sun, the young martyr who fought for independence during Japan’s colonial rule and who led the March 1 Independence Movement.  The Japanese arrested teenager Ryu Gwan-sun and sentenced her to seven years in prison, where she died in captivity at age 18, apparently due to harsh torture in 1919. 

In M.E.'s opinion it is appropriate to name the submarine for a woman who fought and died for her country's independence.

The FUTURE

As predicted, and in continuance of this regrettable trend, a U.S. submarine (warship) may soon be named for a woman of little military note to our country nor to the sailors who must take a submarine in harms way below the seas.
 
Submarines are always silent and strange.

Very, very odd Backtracking

Then (2010 & 11)

SECNAV: Women will serve on attack subs
The Navy lifted its ban on women serving aboard submarines in 2010 and started assigning female officers to  SSBN and  SSGN subs. Female officers are due to begin reporting to attack submarines by January 2015, and,  (27 APR 2011) Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said enlisted women would also have the opportunity to serve onboard attack submarines, not just the guided-missile and ballistic boats open to them today.

"The Navy is "doing whatever needs to be done [ed. APPARENTLY NOT; (see below)] to integrate women into attack submarines as well. That will be a little further down the road. The same thing is true for enlisted, moving forward doing the things we will have to do to integrate them. That effort is well underway and I don't see any insurmountable hurdles to what's happening to women with submarines. I don't think that should be an area that's off-limits to women in the Navy," Mabus said during a breakfast meeting with reporters Wednesday.

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Everyone knows the horse goes before the cart, right?  Apparently, reality recently struck SECNAV Mabus.  Admirals now say, the Navy is considering enlisted women for sub duty:

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Now (2014)

Navy to gauge interest among female sailors in serving on subs      
 - 25 FEB 2014, The Day Publishing Company New London  

Enlisted women may join crews starting in 2016  -  The Navy will soon ask every female sailor whether she is interested in joining the submarine force, and the answers will help shape the strategy for bringing enlisted women aboard subs.

One group is responsible for gauging how many enlisted women will want to serve aboard submarines. Other working groups are looking at ship configuration, what submarines to integrate, or what modifications will be required and when; sailor rate conversion, or what specific rates, or jobs, the submarine force will use to bring current female sailors into the submarine force; and recruiting development and accession planning, or whether any changes are needed in the recruiting practices and policies or in how the training a sailor completes before reporting to a submarine is structured, Hawkins said. Another group will use the findings to craft the initial plan.

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Apparently, the experiment with women officers already onboard more spacious subs has suffered a higher than expected lost-interest rate that makes putting women on even smaller attack subs less auspicious

Submarines are always silent and strange.