The Unhealthy Submarine Agenda

When was the last documented time that the U.S. Submarine service was referred to by the Navy as the elite submarine service? The last document is dated 1970, which ties in with some interesting connections.:

President Richard M. Nixon nominated surface admiral Elmo Zumwalt to Chief of Naval Operations in 1970. As CNO (1970-74), Zumwalt issued a series of directives known as Z-grams. One of his Z-grams curtailed what had been a legitimate isolation perk and recruiting benefit for the U.S. submarine service during the height of Cold War deployments - occasional steaks and lobsters. Another Z-Gram permitted women to serve on ships. Another Z-gram permitted beards and mustaches, which had previously been discouraged by most Navy leaders.

The Surface Warfare Pin was first proposed in 1972, but not until 1980 (under a CNO appointed by ex-submariner, President Jimmy Carter) were such insignia approved for wear. The current Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, served from 1970-1972, yet his U.S. Navy bio originally had claimed he had earned a Surface Warfare designation. A recent check indicates the Navy's overdue retraction.

The decades-old agenda of the surface navy to rewrite history by minimizing the submarine service (no longer elite, and now, like surface ships, open to the vicissitudes of women) may not have always been transparent, but its repercussions are ultimately likely to render one of our nation's premier naval forces just as bankrupt as USS Solyndra.

Submarines are always silent and strange.