USS Annapolis visits academy

The nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine USS Annapolis visited the Naval Academy this weekend, less than a week after some academy seniors were told they will be assigned to submarine duty instead of their first service choices upon graduation.

The Annapolis' visit coincided with the Naval Academy's homecoming weekend, and an academy spokesman said yesterday that the ship's visit was unrelated to the recent announcement concerning service assignments.

"This port visit has been scheduled for quite some time," said academy spokesman Cmdr. Joe Carpenter. "These port visits are more for the plebes (freshmen) who have never seen a submarine" than they are for the seniors who already have been exposed to various aspects of the Navy and Marine Corps.

On Tuesday, the academy's director of professional development, Capt. Stephen Evans, wrote to seniors, telling them that some of them will not be getting their first-choice career assignments.

The problem is that too few qualified seniors made submarines their first choice when submitting their service requests in early September. While the Pentagon said it needs for the academy to provide 125 officers for the nuclear training program, only 92 mids were accepted by the Naval Reactors program, which is one of the three schools a submarine officer must pass.

The result is that the academy needs an additional 33 qualified midshipmen to volunteer - or be assigned - to serve on submarines.

In 2006, the academy sent 88 new officers into the submarine corps, and the number has varied from 115 to 119 in the past three years, Carpenter said.

At the same time, unprecedented numbers of new officers have elected to serve in the Marine Corps, Special Warfare and Explosive Ordnance Disposal, high-risk branches that are in demand in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Carpenter said that requiring some mids to switch service assignments "is not unprecedented" in an effort to fill the demands of the Navy and Marine Corps.

He said that submarine officers generally come from "highly technical" academic majors, such as engineering.

"You have to be qualified for whatever your choice is, and no one is going to be assigned to submarines that lacks the qualifications to serve in the nuclear and submarine programs," Carpenter said.

Nuke visit

The Annapolis' interim commander, Capt. Michael P. Holland, took some reporters on a tour of the ship yesterday.

The ship normally carries 15 officers and an enlisted crew of about 150 sailors, he said. A normal tour of duty is a little less than three years for commissioned officers, and between four and five years for enlisted personnel.

When asked about the statements by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead stating that regulations should be changed so that women can serve as officers on submarines, Holland said he wouldn't anticipate any problems with that, especially on the larger classes of submarines.

"The berthing may not have to be changed much," he said. "The issue is the number of bathrooms."

"Whoever shows up on the ship will get trained," said Holland, who noted that female midshipmen already get to train on some subs during their summer cruises, even though they can't yet make submarines a career choice.

Holland said the life of a submariner isn't for everyone, but it has some distinct rewards.

"What keeps us coming back is the unique things we get to do," he said.

A trip Holland made to the Arctic onboard a sub is among those unique experiences.

"If you get to surface and get the crew up on deck, they can experience the vast(ness) of the Arctic; only about a thousand people have ever been able to do that," he said.

Holland said Annapolis will start heading back to its home port of Groton, Conn., today, and will conduct training exercises along the way. The ship is scheduled to deploy early next year for a lengthy tour, he said, and is bound for the Arctic.

When asked what was the hardest part of commanding a ship such as Annapolis, Holland said "maintaining the focus over the length of time you are in that position."

'Cream of the crop'

Annapolis, which is 360 feet long and 33 feet wide, is powered by a nuclear reactor with a 12-cylinder Fairbanks Morse diesel-electric backup system. It carries torpedoes and Tomahawk missiles, and can deliver underwater mines in coastal areas and place special forces teams ashore for covert deployment, according to the Navy.

Annapolis is sometimes deployed as part of a carrier battle group and can operate at depths of more than 800 feet, according to the Navy. The ship makes its own oxygen and water.

"You are only limited by the amount of food you can take on," Holland said.

"From a personal point of view, the hardest part is spending so much time away from your family," said Holland, who is married and has three children. The best part, he said, is being able to work with "the cream of the crop" of officers and enlisted personnel.

Holland said the average age of his crew is about 20, and at age 45, he is the oldest person aboard.

Gilligan's Island

Annapolis, launched on May 18, 1991, is the fourth hull to bear the name of the Maryland capital. Earlier iterations have included a patrol gunboat commissioned in 1867, a 1944 patrol frigate and a communications relay ship from the World War II era. The ship's motto is "Born free, hope to die free."

The Annapolis anchored in the shipping channel at the mouth of the Severn River late Friday. Visitors stayed on board longer than was expected during yesterday's tour, as both of the launches being used to transport visitors broke down, leaving some visitors stranded for more than three hours either on route or aboard the submarine.

On Annapolis, while the submarine crew passed around fruit, candy and granola bars, visitors laughed good-naturedly, and some recited bits of the theme from the TV sitcom "Gilligan's Island," which featured castaways who went out for "a three-hour tour."